Nergigante entered the battlefield!
When Bai Chen was in danger, there was no way she could continue staying inside the ball.
There were no other hunters near Bai Chen, so his Nergigante remained undiscovered by anyone else.
Bai Chen patted her lightly and warned,
│ "Be careful. His adaptability is extreme."
Earlier, Bai Chen's flight speed had reached a terrifying level—
He could have endlessly kited this Nergigante.
But this creature's combat instinct was practically cheating.
After barely a dozen sneak attacks, it had already grasped Bai Chen's movement patterns and launched effective counterattacks.
After ten minutes of fighting, it had completely read him—
seizing an opening and nearly killing Bai Chen outright.
"Truly an Elder Dragon born for battle…"
Bai Chen sighed inwardly.
His Nergigante let out a furious roar, staring at the wild one with nothing but killing intent in her eyes.
In the next instant, she lunged forward.
Boom!
The two Nergigantes collided, their Nergigante Slams crashing head-on.
Due to the level gap, Bai Chen's Nergigante was pushed into a disadvantage in the first exchange—
—but only slightly.
Ultimate Aura, combined with Bulk Up, compensated for the raw difference in power.
Bai Chen quickly reminded her,
│ "He's weak to Flying-type attacks!"
Hearing this, Nergigante spread her wings and lifted into the air, massive wings beating powerfully.
Blade Storm!
Blades of compressed wind filled the sky, crashing down upon the wild Nergigante below.
On a distant platform, Karin exclaimed in shock,
│ "That's a second Nergigante?! Where did that one come from?!"
The earlier Nergigante was clearly smaller than this one.
The Commander looked up in astonishment and asked,
│ "How is the capture progressing?"
Karin reported,
│ "Half of the ballistae have been reinforced. The hunters have destroyed most of Zorah Magdaros's heat vents."
│ "Good. Tell everyone to speed it up."
│ "Yes!"
Karin responded, then hesitated before asking worriedly,
│ "Commander… what about that second Nergigante?"
│ "Leave it for now. Let the two of them fight it out."
│ "And Bai Chen?"
│ "Trust him. He'll be fine. Go notify the hunters."
│ "Understood."
Karin hurried off the platform, preparing to ride a wingdrake to relay the orders.
Meanwhile, the battle between the two Nergigantes continued.
After suppressing her opponent with Blade Storm, the wild Nergigante charged straight through the storm.
The two slammed together midair.
The wild one seized her head and smashed her violently into the ground.
Enduring the blow, Bai Chen's Nergigante activated Smoke Eruption, transformed from Nature Power.
Flames burst from her body—
Scorching heat mixed with thick black ash engulfed the wild Nergigante.
The sudden attack stunned him completely.
He shoved her away in panic, eyes filled with disbelief and confusion.
We're both Nergigante—
So why can you summon windstorms… and breathe fire?!
The look in his eyes was the same one used to stare at a heretic.
But the truly shocking part was yet to come.
Bai Chen's Nergigante straightened her upper body.
A Z-Ring hung around her neck, embedded with a sky-blue crystal.
In front of the wild Nergigante, she crossed her foreclaws.
The radiant Z-symbol manifested before her.
Her body lowered slightly.
Power flooded into her legs.
│ "ROAR—!"
Natural energy surged into her body.
She leapt high—
soaring three hundred meters into the air.
The power of the Flying-type Z-Move erupted fully, her body cloaked in azure light.
Supersonic Skystrike Crash!
She plunged downward.
BOOM—!!
Zorah Magdaros's volcanic shell shattered.
The impact was so immense that the million-ton colossus sank downward violently.
Hunters destroying heat vents in the distance felt the earthquake beneath their feet.
Zorah Magdaros let out a pained, low roar.
At the center of the battlefield—
The Flying Z-Move had inflicted heavy damage.
The wild Nergigante's spikes were completely shattered, deep wounds were torn across its body, and blood flowed freely.
With Grandmaster-tier Regenerating Spikes and Super Regeneration, such injuries should have healed in seconds—
Yet now, recovery was sluggish.
Four or five seconds passed before new spikes barely began to form.
Bai Chen's Nergigante possessed Dragon Seal Force, a skill that weakened Elder Dragons.
Naturally, this wild Nergigante was affected as well.
Fear crept into his expression.
After a brief moment of calculation, he spread his wings and retreated from Zorah Magdaros's back.
He could sense another Elder Dragon approaching in the distance.
One-on-one, he had no certainty of killing her—
With Bai Chen and another Elder Dragon joining, his odds would be even worse.
Not long after he took off, Zinogre finally arrived.
Watching the retreating Nergigante, Bai Chen gave no chase order.
Though it looked like they had the advantage—
Bai Chen knew the truth.
At their current strength, only his Nergigante—
with her first-stage release—
posed a real threat to the enemy's life.
If it came down to a true deathmatch, Bai Chen and Zinogre's odds were effectively zero.
Driving him away was already a victory.
Bai Chen murmured,
│ "A level 57 Nergigante… I wonder how strong he'll be the next time we meet."
Creatures that thrive on slaughter grow at terrifying speed.
In two or three days, he could easily reach level 60—or higher.
Bai Chen patted his Nergigante gently.
│ "Next time we meet him… we hunt him."
│ "Roar."
She answered softly.
Sensing hunters approaching, Bai Chen said,
│ "You withdraw first. I'll have Cosmog send you back to the outpost."
She nodded and spread her wings, departing immediately.
She had stepped in to save him—
Bai Chen would never blame her.
But for now, the fewer people who knew he had a Nergigante as a companion, the better.
When the truth could no longer be hidden—
Then he would reveal it openly.
Moments after she left, the Swordmaster and Aiden arrived.
Both were shocked that two Nergigantes had appeared here.
│ "Bai Chen, are you alright?!"
Aiden rushed over, scanning him from head to toe.
│ "I'm fine," Bai Chen replied calmly.
│ "Luckily, the two Nergigantes fought each other. Otherwise, I'd really be in trouble."
│ "Good. You're unbelievable…" Aiden sighed.
│ "Surviving a direct clash with Nergigante."
Bai Chen smiled vaguely and asked,
│ "How's the capture going?"
│ "Just look at the thing under our feet," Aiden said.
│ "It's barely moving. We're almost there."
│ "Good. I'll help."
Bai Chen rejoined the capture operation.
With Nergigante gone, the entire team worked in perfect coordination, burning through nearly all remaining supplies.
After twelve long hours—
at dusk—
Zorah Magdaros was successfully captured.
And Bai Chen finally received his system rewards.
150,000 Skill Proficiency points.
And a Blank Ancient Dragon Gene Egg.
Bai Chen immediately opened his system inventory to inspect it.
Pure Ancient Dragon Egg [Normal Tier]
Can absorb Normal-tier Ancient Dragon genes to generate a corresponding monster egg.
Note: Only gene fragments are required to activate the egg.
Bai Chen fell silent.
This was the first time the system explicitly acknowledged the subdivision of Elder Dragons into
Normal, Super, and Calamity tiers.
In his previous life, players lumped Elder Dragons and Elder Dragon-level together.
They used vague power scales—
Weak Elder Dragon, super Elder Dragon, Calamity-Level—
—but ultimately, they still fell into three broad tiers.
Normal-tier was easy to understand—
ordinary Elder Dragons, such as the Kushala Daora, are once seen deep in the forest.
Super-tier had a special origin.
In the past, players often encountered Hunter Rank caps.
To break those limits and access harder content, one had to defeat an exceptionally powerful monster.
These monsters surpassed normal Elder Dragons—
thus earning the name Super.
As for Calamity-tier—
Those were beings so powerful that the Guild actively suppressed all information about them.
Fatalis.
Alatreon.
Classic Calamity-tier Elder Dragons.
Ordinary Nergigante belonged to the Normal tier—
But even within that tier, they were near the peak.
Close to Super—but not quite there.
At first, when Bai Chen's Nergigante lost control, he had suspected she might be Super-tier.
But after truly sensing her power—
He was certain.
She was Calamity-tier.
That realization only strengthened his resolve to keep her existence hidden.
At least until they were strong enough.
One day—
She would hunt Calamity-tier beings.
Perhaps even something beyond that.
Bai Chen pulled his thoughts back.
│ "If Zorah Magdaros were at full strength, he'd be at least Super-tier," he mused.
│ "Yet this capture only yielded a Normal-tier egg… Is the system judging based on his weakened state?"
After some thought, he shook his head.
│ "It's a pity it isn't Super-tier—but a Normal Elder Dragon is already incredible."
Compared to monsters that merely matched Elder Dragons in combat—
True Elder Dragons existed on an entirely different level of life and potential.
│ "This is the most precious 'first time.'"
│ "I need to plan carefully and make sure this egg is used to its fullest."
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