A large number of Terastal pillars suddenly burst from the ground, surging toward the onrushing Shara Ishvalda.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, the Shara Ishvalda—an Elder Dragon that should have been a turret-type artillery unit—displayed astonishing mobility at this very moment.
Among the wing bones on its back, the four lower ones transformed into auxiliary limbs like spider legs, continuously driving its body in rapid movement.
All of the Terastal pillars that coiled toward it were either effortlessly evaded or shattered by the vibration waves released from the remaining four wing bones.
An attempt was made to form a Terastal wall to block its path, but the wall was brutally smashed apart the very next second.
Suddenly, accompanied by Logan's dragon roar, the ground trembled violently as countless Terastal pillars erupted from the earth, instantly transforming the surrounding area into a massive Terastal forest.
Dangerous crimson light flowed along every single Terastal pillar.
In the next moment, a super oscillation wave and Terastal explosions erupted simultaneously, releasing a piercing roar capable of tearing eardrums apart.
But the Shara Ishvalda was now fully activated in its combat state. Aside from the deep-seated pride in its heart that prevented it from fleeing, every combat method that could lead it to victory—those fighting instincts long buried in the depths of memory by the passage of time—had all been reawakened.
The originally omnidirectional oscillation wave visibly converged at high speed, clearing away the aftershocks of the explosions while locking directly onto Logan's direction.
There was no need for any precise targeting. The Shara Ishvalda only needed to know Logan's general position—everything else could be left to its all-sweeping super oscillation wave!
Logan was somewhat speechless. When this guy had just been fighting Nergigante and the others, it had been orderly and disciplined, deliberately choosing stamina-efficient tactics. So why did it turn into a rabid beast the moment it faced him?
What happened to that so-called Monster Hunter Shiva?
Sliding rapidly to escape the attack range of the super oscillation wave, Logan was currently charging up something big. He could not stay away from the ground for long, lest the injected energy spiral out of control.
But just as he had barely stabilized his footing, he saw the Shara Ishvalda leap high into the air and crash down onto the spot he had just vacated.
Its crimson eyes were locked firmly onto him, yet it did not seem to have completely lost its reason.
Just as Logan was feeling puzzled, he saw the creature slam a small "Rasengan" straight into the ground beneath its feet.
The spinning, condensed vibration wave spread outward, not only blasting apart the Terastal pillars Logan had prepared for a counterattack, but also transforming into a drilling missile that immediately began tearing apart the ground beneath it.
And deep underground at that location lay a node of a geomantic vein tributary!
"I knew it wouldn't be that simple!"
Logan drove the surrounding Terastal energy, once again unleashing a burst of Terastal explosions to force the Shara Ishvalda back, while guiding the energy to rapidly repair the ground that had been blasted into a massive crater.
Countless Terastal pillars, like giant pythons, would—though unable to draw near the Shara Ishvalda's vibration-wave barrier used for defense—still be detonated by Logan at the final moment.
However, the Shara Ishvalda also seemed to have noticed Logan's current state. While resisting the Terastal pillars attacking from all directions, it tried every possible way to pursue Logan—or, at the very least, bombard the direction he was in with a full volley.
In an instant, the battle between the two shifted from a straightforward clash at the start into a tug-of-war: one side maintaining the Terastal domain, the other exhausting every method to destroy it.
Overall, Logan—already possessing a fully formed Terastal domain—held a certain advantage in this kind of drawn-out struggle. But if he wanted to deal with the Shara Ishvalda at the smallest cost, he had to endure the torment of giving up his aerial advantage.
As for the three Elder Dragons in the sky that had already recovered, seeing the nonstop explosions below and the continuous output of vibration waves, they simply had no way to intervene at all!
They could not even enter the battlefield—so how could they talk about attacking the Shara Ishvalda?
And as time continued to pass like this, most of the wounds left on the Shara Ishvalda after Logan's surprise attack had largely healed. Even the Merciful Eye Carapace atop its head had recovered for the most part, and it once again became the all-knowing "deity," counterattacking Logan from every possible angle.
Bang!
Seizing an opening, the Shara Ishvalda—closing in on Logan's position with spider-like speed—successfully rushed right in front of him. It raised its ferocious forelimb high, gathered the strength of its entire body, and slashed down at Logan with a single claw.
The enormous crystalline wing, empowered by the Hot Blade Wings, collided with it amid white light and a roaring boom.
The sharp claw nails—capable of easily piercing rock and digging deep underground—were gouged open with a massive notch by the searing heat, yet Logan was still driven back by that exaggerated monstrous strength.
His feet clamped tightly onto the ground, and amid a harsh screech of friction he was forced to slide backward at high speed. One Terastal pillar after another erupted, linking to the Terastal shell on Logan's body and directly stretching into long crystalline ropes.
Only after snapping several of them did he finally halt the retreating momentum.
The Hot Blade Wings dispersed. Flakes of Terastal scales scattered down, and threads of scorching fresh blood—laden with tremendous energy—seeped out and dripped to the ground, punching one tiny pit after another into the earth as the heat instantly vaporized it.
As the Shara Ishvalda brought its eight wing bones together, another pursuit attack in the form of a super oscillation wave followed.
Logan violently whipped his head around, and a beam of pure crimson Terastal laser shot forth. Launched later yet arriving first, it struck the target dead center, directly forcing the Shara Ishvalda back. However, because he did not take a defensive stance—relying only on a few Terastal walls that erupted from the ground to block the front—Logan himself failed to evade the Shara Ishvalda's super oscillation wave.
His massive body was blasted away once again, this time only coming to a halt after retreating all the way to the edge of the domain.
The Terastal membrane on his chest had already shattered. Large swathes of scales were riddled with extensive cracks, and some barely contained Terastal energy continuously seeped out from between the fractured scales, only to be automatically reabsorbed by Logan's body moments later.
Logan gasped heavily, swallowing down the metallic sweetness that had risen to his throat.
Put simply, the Shara Ishvalda's attacks were pure blunt-force physical strikes. Not only were they devastating to dragons with weaker defenses, they also carried considerable power even against a heavily armored giant dragon like Logan.
Chest scales were different from back scales. Between the back scales and the flesh beneath lay a certain hollow buffer, and their hardness was greater as well; after withstanding an impact, the damage was not nearly as exaggerated.
But the scales on the chest were pressed tightly against the flesh. Thinner by nature, and even with the largest amount of Terastal membrane serving as the first layer of defense, the injury Logan suffered from that single hit far exceeded the one he had taken on his back.
Even so, the Shara Ishvalda had not come out unscathed either!
Logan's laser breath had once again been aimed straight at its Merciful Eye Carapace!
Although it made an emergency evasive move at the final moment, a considerable portion of its head was still hit. The fact that one of its eyes was now closed made it clear that the Shara Ishvalda had suffered no light injury.
At this point, on the surface, the two sides could be said to have traded blows evenly—appearing to be a situation where both were wounded.
But!
Logan had deliberately abandoned his aerial advantage and forced himself into a prolonged ground engagement with the Shara Ishvalda, and the moment to reap the rewards had finally arrived!
After long preparation, the ultimate finishing move he had replicated by relying on his gradually perfected Terastal domain was now fully primed!
"Roar!!"
High in the sky, Nergigante heard Logan's call and stared in utter disbelief.
You two are already fighting this fiercely, and you still want me to go down there and risk my life—aren't you taking Nergigante's life a bit too lightly?!
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---