Outside the Secluded Valley, the Fire Wyverns helped transport supplies to the entrance. After casting a worried glance at their long-term meal ticket, they hurriedly departed.
Simply approaching the valley was enough—the malice saturating the air inside surged straight into their skulls. If not for the fact that they were Ancient Tree Fire Wyverns, long accustomed to the oppressive aura of Elder Dragons, ordinary Fire Wyverns would not have dared come near this place at all. Even sparing it an extra glance would have required considerable courage.
With the supplies delivered, the hunters each shouldered their assigned loads and, in batches, cautiously entered the Secluded Valley.
Safi'jiiva was not like Nakarkos. It could fly, and its destructive power and level of danger were on an entirely different scale. There was simply no way to bypass it and set up large-scale equipment within the Secluded Valley.
In other words, this time the Research Commission could only rely on the hunters' individual performance—filling the gap with their lives.
Under the guidance of the recommended team, the hunters infiltrated various locations throughout the Secluded Valley one after another.
Whenever the crimson figure streaked across the sky, every heart tightened. They remained carefully within the shadows, terrified of being discovered and causing the encirclement plan to fail.
Fortunately, each time passed without incident. As time went on, everyone reached their designated positions and silently swallowed the pills from their packs.
Only after Safi'jiiva completed its territorial patrol and descended to the center of the Secluded Valley did a red signal flare shoot into the sky.
Led by Darren, the hunters swiftly rushed out from cover, drawing their weapons and charging toward Safi'jiiva.
At the edge of a cliff, the Commander stood with his arms folded, expressionless as he watched the hunters' advance. When Safi'jiiva reacted immediately—shattering the ambush at the very first moment—the fingers gripping his arm unconsciously tightened.
Though it had been expected—after all, how could a monster of this level have poor control over the ecosystem it inhabited?
Perhaps it had sensed something amiss much earlier. It simply had not regarded the hunters as a threat and had chosen to ignore them.
"The medical support squad is ready, meow. Lady Chameleos has also prepared potent emergency medicines, ensuring that the hunters receive treatment the moment they are transported out, meow."
A calico Felyne popped up from the ground, bringing the Commander welcome news.
At least the cats had successfully opened up the passage between the Secluded Valley and the outside world. That way, the hunters at least had one more route of retreat.
Inside the battlefield, the hunters had already collided with Safi'jiiva. But compared with Safi'jiiva's enormous bulk, the hunters were like a swarm of ants, charging one after another without fear of death.
Perhaps it was unsure how aggressive the hunters could be, or perhaps it was simply extremely confident in its own defenses—Safi'jiiva did not take off immediately, and it did not even launch an attack right away.
Only when the first hunter's Dual Blades scraped across the black-red scales, throwing off a shower of sparks, and a faint prickle of pain followed, did Safi'jiiva finally roar and recoil in fury.
The exaggerated dragon roar carried intense intimidation. Even if the sheer volume was not as over-the-top as Brute Tigrex's, the pressure contained within it still made some hunters instinctively cover their ears in defense.
Fortunately, the battlefield had enough space, and the manpower deployment had been handled well. Quite a few Light/Heavy Bowgun users reacted in time, decisively raised their guns, and—without caring whether it was the optimal firing distance or what kind of rounds they had loaded—decisively pulled the trigger.
In an instant, streaks of light in all kinds of colors cut over the hunters' heads, striking Safi'jiiva's body with perfect accuracy as it tried to take off.
The clattering impacts rang without end. Although only a small number of rounds could barely break through its outer layer of scales, under this kind of concentrated fire they still managed to press it back down onto the ground.
The Dual Blades user was a little unable to believe it. As a member of the recommended team, his weapon and gear were unquestionably in the first echelon beneath Darren. These Teostra Dual Blades might not have had especially high damage, but when facing their previous investigation targets, they could always break through the enemy's defenses with ease.
And yet now, against Safi'jiiva, he could only carve out a spray of sparks?
The Dual Blades user's astonishment did not last long. The moment Safi'jiiva was forced back down again, he charged in once more.
But… was it his imagination?
After being shot down, this monster showed no sign of panic at all. If anything, those icy vertical pupils actually welled up with a trace of delight and fervor.
Why?
The Dual Blades user activated Demon Mode, and his speed surged. The Clutch Claw shot out and latched onto the spines on its neck; his biceps bulged with blood as he yanked hard!
"Uraaah!!"
With the fighting aura spilling out after entering Demon Mode, he adjusted his position midair. Driven by the rapidly spinning body, the Dual Blades—bearing the alchemical effect of Master's Touch—were like crazed, whirling blades. Amid a chain of sparks and lightning, he carved from Safi'jiiva's head all the way to its tail.
"Watch out!"
The hunter's keen hearing allowed the spinning Dual Blades user to catch his companion's startled shout.
Just as he wondered what danger could possibly remain when his technique was already reaching its final phase—
From an angle he could not see, streaks of azure bioenergy flowed across the scales and gathered along the tail.
Boom!
The moment his blades struck the point where the energy had converged, a pure energy detonation erupted.
Completely unprepared, the Dual Blades user was struck head-on. Like a rag doll flung aside, he was hurled into the distance.
Barely ten minutes into the battle, the first severely injured hunter had appeared—and he was a member of the recommended team.
Just a single information gap had led to such massive consequences. This was precisely what hunters most often faced when hunting without intelligence.
There was no time to worry about the Dual Blades user. Safi'jiiva suddenly raised its body and leaned back. A glow of energy condensed instantly within its mouth before it unleashed a slanted breath.
Darren and the few hunters beside him, facing such a clearly telegraphed attack, easily dodged to the side.
The breath struck the barren ground, carving a scorched arc across the surface.
But as Darren searched for a suitable opening to attack, the corner of his eye keenly caught a faint blue glimmer within that curved blackened mark.
In that instant, a scene from his battle with Xeno'jiiva surfaced in his mind.
"Not good—get clear!"
Even as he shouted, his body lunged farther away.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A chain of detonations erupted from the scorched arc. Pure bioenergy explosions continued in succession, ultimately converging into a massive blast.
Delayed geomantic energy explosions were a specialty of the Red Dragon lineage.
If even the immature Xeno'jiiva could instinctively use similar techniques, how could the adult Safi'jiiva possibly not?
It was only that perhaps the geomantic energy within the Secluded Valley had already been largely absorbed by it. The supply was insufficient, so this explosion was purely bioenergy—unlike Xeno'jiiva's attacks, which carried dense Dragon element and Fire element mixed damage.
Even so, hunters were still forced out of the fight by the blast.
With reddened eyes, Darren pushed himself up. Ignoring the drain on his stamina, he gritted his teeth and raised the Blazing Wing Greatsword horizontally at his waist, taking a draw stance.
Charge. Condense fighting spirit. Gather spirit blade energy!
Draw!
Spirit Roundslash!