The pitch-black, giant spiny hedgehog skimmed across the sea surface like a skipping stone. Nergigante rolled its eyes, allowing its body to slam repeatedly into the ocean, feeling its wounds split open and then heal again. It was unclear whether this was because its injuries were too severe, or because it had once again been violently blasted away, but in any case, it felt deeply stifled inside.
In short, having just pulled itself out of a wall once more, Nergigante had now completely given up resisting. After all, if it crashed a few more times, it would eventually come to a stop.
The two Velkhanas, however, were having a much harder time. Although the younger Velkhana did not have much experience in this regard, the Arch-Tempered Velkhana certainly did.
Those long years had not been lived in vain. The vigilant elder had already begun flying toward higher altitude the moment it saw Logan make another move, and the Velkhana that strictly followed its senior's lead immediately followed suit.
What they did not expect, however, was that in order to make maximal use of the opening created by Nergigante and deliver the highest possible damage, Logan had pushed his speed to the absolute limit.
As a result, neither of the two Velkhanas managed to escape the attack range of the Terastal missiles.
Unlike Shara Ishvalda's vibration waves, Velkhanas could greatly mitigate this kind of vibrational damage through layered defenses, needing only to account for the impact force itself.
Logan's attack, however, carried extremely intense elemental energy. Even though they were not at the center of the explosion, and the primary damage of the attack was not focused on them—
The long-condensed icy battle-skirt was also completely shattered under the high temperature. Even the volcanic-glass armor that had been painstakingly prepared—specifically made before the battle began—was affected as well, and began to fall off in large amounts.
Whether Shara Ishvalda had been severely injured by this strike was still hard to say, but Logan's teammates had, in a very real sense, suffered a brutal hit from their own ally. The damage even exceeded what Shara Ishvalda had inflicted on them earlier.
Logan hovered within the smoke and dust, carefully observing the ground below, not letting slip even the slightest bit of information amid the chaotic scene beneath.
This was the first time he had output such an enormous amount of Terastal energy in an instant at such a high power. If it were Logan from before he obtained the Orichalcum Pulse trait, he simply could not have done it!
It was not that he could not draw out that much energy in an instant, but rather that he had no way, within such a short time, to complete the corresponding energy conversion and storage while outputting energy on that scale.
Previously, like Xeno'jiiva, he had possessed power in abundance, yet had been unable to control it perfectly.
Now, while completing an internal energy circulation, he was also further taking command of the energy within his body. It could be put this way: even though he had reached the present stage, Logan's strength could still grow stronger day by day.
Below, various elemental energies intermingled and continuously intertwined with the bioenergy from the end of the Everstream. Even for Logan, his perception was still a complete mess—he could only observe with his own eyes.
Yet how could the thick smoke raised by an island-crushing explosion be so easily seen through? He had intended to drive Gale Wings to generate a vortex and blow away the surrounding smoke and dust, but with the chaotic energies being stirred by Gale Wings, it would likely trigger secondary explosions instead.
Such explosive power was essentially useless against an Elder Dragon, but it was more than sufficient to completely block vision.
After not seeing any trace of Shara Ishvalda for quite some time—and with even Nergigante returning from afar within his perception—Logan paused to think, then slowly descended.
That earlier attack had indeed been terrifying, but Shara Ishvalda's defensive capabilities were no joke either.
An attack capable of directly inflicting severe injuries on ordinary Elder Dragons and stripping them of combat capability—even if fully taken head-on by it—would at most result in a wound that affected its mobility.
Severe, but not fatal!
What was more, as a Creator Dragon, Shara Ishvalda's command over Everstream energy far surpassed that of Kulve Taroth and other Elder Dragons that dwelled underground year-round.
To truly bring it down, he could not allow it even the slightest chance to escape.
With both feet planted on the scorching, charred ground, Logan's body—radiating a crimson glow—was like a lamp, flickering in and out of view within the smoke and dust.
His perception was fully unleashed. Whether it was the flow of air or the activation of energy, he gathered every detail one by one.
At the same time, his mind operated on multiple fronts as Terastal energy continuously flowed from the claws anchored into the ground, injecting itself into the earth.
Just as he had done when dealing with Xeno'jiiva, he intended to completely construct a battlefield that belonged solely to him—severing Shara Ishvalda's connection to Everstream energy!
All to lay the groundwork for the coming fight to the death!
"When—?!!"
Suddenly, Mind's Eye issued a warning. An extremely dangerous signal came from behind and below!
Without any hesitation, the Terastal energy that had just been injected underground rapidly unfolded.
A massive crimson Terastal crystal burst up from the ground!
Behind Logan, it formed a thick, enormous crystal wall.
And it was not over yet—multiple massive turbines appeared beneath his wings. Surging Terastal energy generated thrust, about to launch Logan rapidly skyward!
But Shara Ishvalda was no novice in battle either. Its grasp of timing was in no way inferior to Logan's, even with Mind's Eye.
A tremendous buzzing roar rang out as the airflow violently oscillated and instantly detonated!
Shara Ishvalda did not burrow out from underground. Instead, it activated the eight wing bones concealed by smoke and flying ash, and at the very instant Logan descended, unleashed the full power of its attack since its emergence!
Super Vibration Wave!
Among Shara Ishvalda's instant-cast techniques, this was its most powerful vibration wave, covering a wide-angle area extending over a hundred meters directly in front of its wing bones.
The massive crystal wall was ground apart layer by layer under such an attack. It barely formed any effective blockage before being completely breached.
The remaining vibration waves struck Logan directly while he had yet to fully take flight.
In that instant, crisp cracking sounds rang out amid the overwhelming vibrational noise.
Logan's massive body was blasted into the air by the impact. One after another, the enormous Terastal spines at his joints snapped apart, and even the Terastal membrane—his strongest defensive layer—was torn to shreds.
Having landed a successful blow, Shara Ishvalda panted heavily, using its eight wing bones like a desert spider to haul itself up from beneath the ground.
Its still-bleeding chest heaved rapidly, and multiple areas of its body still retained various elemental energy residues that had yet to be dissipated.
It had deliberately refrained from immediately purging these lingering energies—including Terastal energy—precisely to disrupt Logan's perception.
Over endless ages, this was the first time it had suffered such a loss. Even while forcibly enduring its injuries, it was determined to strike back with a sneak attack!
Moreover, based on its observations, Logan—like the two Velkhanas—appeared to enhance his defense by forming armor, thereby reducing the damage caused by vibration waves. His true body, however, should still be quite fragile!
At the very least, he was nothing like that disgusting Nergigante!
Therefore, for Shara Ishvalda, trading wounds for wounds was a profitable exchange.
But was that truly the case?
That dragon, having slept for far too long, likely did not yet know that although Logan possessed the skeletal structure of a flying wyvern, he was by no means some high-attack, low-defense fragile caster.
After all, he was someone who could engage Nergigante in close combat and forcibly trade injuries head-on.
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