│ "To stop a Behemoth… You need another Behemoth!"
Bai Chen's declaration stunned the Commander for a heartbeat.
The logic was sound… but where was he supposed to find a giant right now?
Before the Commander could question further, Bai Chen raised the white Dynamax Band on his wrist.
The Commander's pupils contracted.
"Could it be… that device?"
Two more siege ballistae, still struggling to restrain Zorah Magdaros, snapped violently—steel mounts ripped straight from stone.
Bai Chen didn't waste a second.
│ "Commander, there's no time! Order the logistics teams to reinforce every ballista—now!"
If Zorah could truly be captured today, the rewards would be beyond extraordinary. Even just that blank Ancient Dragon gene egg alone made this worth risking everything.
Bai Chen shot forward, Indeedee beside him as they flew toward Zorah's massive form.
The Commander watched him go—hesitation flickered only briefly.
Then resolve hardened.
"ALL UNITS! Reinforce the ballistae! Do NOT let that monster escape!"
A unified roar echoed across the canyon.
Hunters and technicians scrambled with renewed urgency.
Ahead, Bai Chen soared over Zorah's head, stopping about five hundred meters in front of its path.
He drew out the Monster Ball holding Brachydios.
│ "Go—Basarios!"
The moment Basarios appeared, his forty-meter frame loomed like a mobile mountain of living stone.
The Commander narrowed his eyes.
Large—far beyond normal—but still dwarfed by the 260-meter colossal Elder Dragon approaching.
"Is he… actually planning to stop Zorah with that?"
Questions rippled through the onlookers—
—and then Bai Chen raised the Dynamax Band.
│ "Basarios—Gigantamax!"
The Galar particles surged.
Scarlet light spiraled upward, engulfing the monster.
Boom—
Boom—
BOOM—
Basarios swelled in size, his back erupting into an active volcanic ridge. Wings of fire burst from his arms, molten streams dripping like waterfalls.
In seconds, his body expanded to 220 meters—even larger than his previous Gigantamax in Alola.
Gigantamax Basarios descended like a living volcano.
The canyon erupted in shouts.
"What IS that!?"
"That's Basarios!? How can he be THAT big!?"
Even the Commander—usually unshakable—momentarily froze.
"So this is what he meant… a real giant. What kind of power is that…?"
Aiden, watching from the wall, felt cold sweat slide down his temple.
│ "Is this… really just 'potential activation'?"
The Commander forced himself to focus.
"Everyone—strengthen the ballistae! Don't waste the chance Basarios is giving us!"
Even Zorah Magdaros halted, confused.
A titan had risen before him—one that hadn't existed seconds ago.
Bai Chen pointed.
│ "Basarios—Charge!"
The Gigantamax beast thundered forward, each step shaking the canyon floor.
Hundreds of meters meant nothing at this scale.
The two giants collided—
A volcanic mountain slamming into another.
Stone cliffs cracked.
Rocks cascaded from the canyon walls.
The very earth trembled.
Gigantamax amplified not only size but mass.
Even if Basarios couldn't match Zorah's full weight, he could still move him.
Zorah's forward advance was halted.
│ "Aim at its head—Volcano Might!"
Basarios reared back, volcanic flames gathering in his throat.
A pillar of fire shot upward—then crashed down onto Zorah's skull.
The entire canyon floor was set ablaze, transforming into a searing G-Max Volcanofield.
Zorah, thanks to its Fire and Rock typing, endured without major damage.
But that wasn't the goal.
Bai Chen only needed to stop him.
He looked back.
Hunters hurried to reinforce the ballista mounts.
Shattered ones were dragged back and remounted.
Zorah's movements slowed further.
The binders began holding again.
Finally—
"SECOND PHASE! ALL HUNTERS—BOARD ZORAH MAGDAROS!"
This was the moment to weaken it from within—by destroying its heat vents.
Bai Chen shouted:
│ " Basarios, hold on! If we capture him, I'll give you a full month off!"
He and Indeedee flew upward, landing on Zorah's molten shell.
Bai Chen released Tinkatuff.
She held her mining pick like a professional—eyes gleaming at the wealth of rare materials across Zorah's body.
Indeedee and Tinkatuff formed a support team; Cosmog would teleport supplies.
Zinogre had his own mission:
Get to Zorah's head and attack relentlessly.
Once atop the Elder Dragon, Bai Chen opened his Super Sense—
He immediately found the first target: a glowing volcanic node, the shell around it glowing red-hot.
He drew the Basarios Greatblade.
│ "Quick Attack."
He vanished.
One slash—
A vent ruptured.
Lava burst outward.
Attacking Zorah's hardened plates would do nothing; only the heat vents were vulnerable.
│ "One."
There were many more.
Destroying two-thirds was required to meaningfully drain Zorah's strength.
Bai Chen accelerated.
Within minutes—before many hunters even landed—he had destroyed seven vents by himself.
│ "North side is mine! You take the south!"
He sliced through the eighth vent without slowing, sprinting toward Zorah's head.
Overhead, lightning cracked—Zinogre had already begun assaulting Zorah's face, snarling with electric fury.
Hunters arriving on wyverns could only stare.
He was doing half the operation alone.
Aiden landed and shouted:
│ "Move! Don't drag Bai Chen down!"
Hunters charged toward the tail vents, breaking into teams.
Everything was going perfectly.
Perhaps… they really could capture Zorah today.
Then—danger arrived.
Karin, observing beside the Commander, froze.
"Commander… something in the sky!"
The Commander looked up.
His face hardened.
│ "Nergigante…"
The Eater of Elders.
Zorah's eternal shadow.
Bai Chen spotted it too and exhaled.
│ "So… you're finally here."
In the original timeline, Nergigante's arrival doomed the capture attempt.
It shattered the plan, then departed.
Normally, no hunter needed to fight it.
Bai Chen turned away—
until Nergigante looked directly at him.
Then dove.
A claw glow—
A crushing Nergi Smash descending toward his skull.
Bai Chen's danger sense screamed.
He dodged—barely.
The blow cratered Zorah's shell.
Before he could steady himself, a tail whip hit him full force.
He shot across Zorah's back like a fired shell—
slamming into the molten carapace.
Gold-tinged blood sprayed inside his helmet.
│ "He's here for me!"
Bai Chen staggered up—
just as Nergigante lunged again.
Bai Chen met its gaze.
Golden slitted eyes burned with killing intent.
This Elder Dragon… had chosen him as prey.
It made sense.
With Master-level Ancient Dragon Blood, Bai Chen's vitality was comparable to an Elder Dragon's.
To Nergigante, Bai Chen—along with Zinogre and Basarios—were high-grade meals.
And far easier prey than Zorah.
Bai Chen pulled up its status:
Level 57.
Master-tier Regenerating Spikes.
Grandmaster-tier Super Regeneration.
Master-tier Nergi smash, Ruin Crush, and more.
But the major difference was its Trait.
His own Nergigante possessed Unyielding, growing stronger the longer the battle lasted.
This one possessed Apex Predator:
Apex Predator: Gains the Dark typing; all Normal-type moves become Dark-type.
Dragon + Fighting already gave it a 4× weakness to Fairy.
Adding Dark made it 6× weak.
Was that a buff or a self-nerf? Hard to say.
But one thing was clear:
It was immune to Psychic—Indeedee couldn't help him.
Bai Chen ignited his Ultimate Aura, a blood-red pressure wave slamming into the monster.
He glanced down.
His chestplate—some of the sturdiest low-rank armor—was dented inward from a single tail strike.
Escaping was possible.
Cosmog could teleport them all away.
Normally, he would retreat without hesitation.
But this time—
Capturing Zorah was within reach.
The rewards were once-in-a-lifetime.
Bai Chen steadied himself.
│ "Thirteen levels above me? So what."
│ "If you want to hunt me—then we fight!"
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