By dawn, the Apex Zinogre tried once more to summon and compress the currents of Thunderbugs into its palm—but it failed to bring the strike down. Purple venom mixed with saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth as it collapsed, lifeless.
After a full day and night of battle, with three monsters dead and many more grievously wounded, the Apex Zinogre finally fell at the entrance of the Great Ravine.
Watching that mountain-sized corpse crash heavily to the ground, blood and venom pouring from its wounds, Thunderbugs scattering in panic, the Huntsman finally let out a long, slow breath.
Aki was thoroughly exhausted as well. Her injuries were not too serious, but with her recent molt, her once-weak flight ability had improved significantly. Though still not at the level of a Rathalos, it was enough to sustain her through long stretches of aerial combat.
What truly drained her was the emptiness of her flame sacs and the immense stamina loss from her poison glands working endlessly to generate venom.
Indeed, the venom mixed with blood that poured from the Apex Zinogre's wounds had all been inflicted by Aki whenever she seized the chance.
To keep an Apex monster constantly poisoned required a staggering dose—and yet Aki had managed it.
When the battle ended, the terrain here had been scarred and reshaped, but the Huntsman could not afford to relax.
It was all too common in hunts for monsters, once finished fighting among themselves, to turn on the hunter.
What he overlooked, however, was that the monsters had been fighting for so long without the benefit of potions as he had. Their stamina was already at its limit. Other than finding a safe place to rest, they had no thoughts left at all.
And as for the corpse of the Apex Zinogre, none of the monsters present showed the slightest interest. All the more reason for them to leave.
And so, with a lingering wariness between them, the monsters dispersed one by one. In the end, only the Huntsman, Aki, the Tempered Rathalos that had idled away most of the night, and the equally puzzled Tempered Azure Rathalos remained. The latter had called out to Aki several times, only to find she had no intention of leaving.
Aki landed on a relatively flat patch of ground, watching as the Huntsman sheathed his greatsword and sank down against the corpse of the Apex Zinogre, slowly taking a seat with his back to it.
Before long, four wingdrakes descended, carrying the logistics team.
Each carried a large pack. After landing, one immediately hurried over to check the Huntsman's condition, while the other three sprinted straight toward Aki.
It was worth noting that this squad consisted of one human and three Palico.
And these Palico were not ordinary—they were Grimalkyne of the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern Tribe, specially hired by the Research Commission.
The Tempered Azure Rathalos, having landed a little farther away, stared in stunned disbelief as the three heavily armored Palico opened their packs.
They pulled out stacks of green potions and a pre-prepared Rathalos-style roast meat Felyne meal, setting them neatly before Aki and the Tempered Rathalos.
Without hesitation, Aki and the Tempered Rathalos began eating with complete peace of mind.
The entire wyvern was dumbfounded!
What was happening here?
Why had three Grimalkyne suddenly appeared? Weren't they supposed to be working with that powerful little creature?
Why were they drinking that strange green liquid? Was that really safe to drink?!
And most of all—why were they so damn practiced at this?!
Just as the tempered Azure Rathalos found itself in a rather awkward moment, the last cat finally scrambled over a heap of ruins and appeared before it. Much like the two before, this one swiftly placed the same item at the Rathalos's feet, gazing up at it with eager, expectant eyes.
The Azure Rathalos glanced toward Aki in the distance, then back at this unfamiliar cat. In the end, appetite won out.
Internally it cursed its own weakness, yet its jaws never paused.
Bracing itself as if for death, it gulped down the healing potion. Yet the bitter, nauseating taste it had anticipated never came. Instead, a sweet flavor slid over its tongue and down into its belly.
The next moment, a warm current spread from its stomach, flowing through every part of its body. Its wounds prickled and tingled—astonishingly, they even began to show signs of healing.
"Now that hits the spot!"
The Azure Rathalos's eyes lit up. But catching sight, from the corner of its eye, of the beaming face of the cat clad in Rathian armor, it deliberately turned its head away with feigned composure and began eating the food instead.
It was, after all, a mighty Azure Rathalos—not some ignorant creature without pride!
What the cats had brought was enough only to ease Aki and the others' hunger and fatigue. Yet compared to other monsters, forced to drag their wounded bodies to hunt, this treatment was far too luxurious.
At that moment, a logistics officer approached with a small pack on her back. She spoke a few words to the Grimalkyne standing before Aki, who then began translating for her.
"Meow, Lady Fire Wyvern, meow! Sister Shiru says that according to hunter custom, half of this Zinogre's corpse will be given to us, meow. So she wants to ask whether you'd like to take some materials back as trophies, or hand everything over to Astera to be counted as our reserve funds, meow."
Aki couldn't quite grasp what "reserve funds" meant, but she figured it was something like reserve food. She had no interest in the corpse of the Zinogre. Since the Research Commission wanted it, they could have it. Either way, she would still be getting free reserves—funds or food, the difference didn't matter much.
Besides, weren't the rewards the Fire Wyverns brought back often given to the cats' catches, only to end up in the hands of the Research Commission anyway?
So, after hearing Aki's reply, the cat was overjoyed and quickly relayed her decision to the logistics officer.
Though it was expected, receiving a clear answer made Shiru nod in satisfaction.
After all, Aki and her companions had contributed greatly to this battle, so the formal step of asking her choice still had to be observed.
As for the other monsters who had also fought hard—
Heh.
Sorry. Not acquaintances!
They weren't allies of the Research Commission, had no connection, let alone friendly ties.
And so, a dirty little transaction was completed. Both sides obtained what they needed.
Watching the three Fire Wyverns take to the skies, Shiru raised a flare into the air.
They had to call in reinforcements at once to haul the corpse back. Otherwise, they would have no choice but to rouse the Sword Master who had dozed off against the wall. On their own, they couldn't possibly safeguard such a massive carcass in this open terrain.
With the Zinogre's threat gone, the chaos in the Great Ravine finally subsided. The monsters surging into the chasm dwindled greatly.
...
In the Coral Highlands, Logan was still scouring the land for traces of the Gore Magala.
Using the lair of the previous Gore Magala as a reference, he deliberately ventured into darker, damper places where monsters were few.
And sure enough, within just three days, he managed to track down another one.
This time, Logan finally fought a proper battle.
He first used a Fire Wyvern Twister to disperse its scale dust. When the Gore Magala, bewildered, could no longer rely on heat sensing or dust feedback to pinpoint Logan's position, panic began to creep in.
From afar, a blast of breath rained down.
Distracted by the flames twisting in the air, the Gore Magala never even managed to enter Frenzy. Utterly stifled, it collapsed under Logan's ranged assault.
Though in Logan's eyes this particular Gore Magala had been rather disappointing in strength, he still had to admit—
Bullying a blind beast was just far too delightful~
Against a creature like Gore Magala, reliant on scale dust yet weak to fire, close combat was the most foolish approach. As long as one found a way to restrict its senses, the Gore Magala became nothing more than a headless fly—a living target.
With another 10% progress bar added, Logan had tasted the sweetness of victory. For the time being, he didn't even bother with frenzied monsters that crossed his path, focusing all his efforts on hunting more Gore Magala.
In the Coral Highlands, many wyverns caught sight of Logan, his aimless, erratic flights sending everything into chaos.
And whenever a monster tried to drive him away, that overwhelming Pressure would surge forth, throwing the area into panic once again and forcing the creatures from their nests for days at a time.
At last, after Logan had slain his seventh Gore Magala, a Kirin appeared before him. Its body stretched nearly 9 meters long, wrapped in terrifying lightning.
Its sapphire-blue horn gleamed like the most exquisite gemstone in the world. Overhead, dark clouds began to gather, thunder rolling within them.
Just as Logan assumed the Kirin intended to strike and began weighing how he should fight, a great brown lion with massive horns leapt down from the cliff above, straight toward the Kirin.
The next instant, blinding lightning exploded.
The Kirin's figure vanished, leaving the Rajang lunging at nothing but air.
While it was still glancing around in search of the Kirin's trace, Logan caught sight from afar of the Kirin descending in a burst of thunder and lightning.
Its sharp horn thrust downward, while below, the Rajang acted as if it had not noticed at all, still darting its gaze about to find where the Kirin had gone.
"A rather clumsy performance."
That was Logan's assessment of the young Rajang.
Though it pretended to be looking around, one arm had not shifted in the slightest. Looking closely, he saw that it had gripped a conch shell embedded in the platform.
Just as the Kirin's strike was about to fall, the Rajang suddenly erupted into motion. Lifting the conch, it swung fiercely, while its other arm was already poised to try to pin the Kirin in place.
Yet in the next instant, the Kirin's body vanished again in a storm of lightning, and the Rajang's counterattack struck only empty air!
Through a flicker of illusion, the Kirin reappeared behind the Rajang, its long horn once more thrusting with simple, unadorned force.
This time, the Rajang had no way to dodge. It could only twist its body and take the blow head-on.
At that point, Logan lost interest in watching further. The Rajang was clearly far too young, while the Kirin—its sheer size approaching the species' upper limit—was plainly an ancient beast that had lived for untold years.
This battle had been decided from the very start.
What's more, the thunderstorm zone was drifting in Logan's direction. If he didn't want to get struck by lightning, he had to leave at once.
Suddenly, in the distant sky, Logan spotted a figure he had once encountered before.
"Nergigante?"
It was only a rough outline, but judging by its shape and structure, he was certain he wasn't mistaken.
What was strange, though, was that despite the massive commotion here, the Nergigante showed no intention of approaching. Instead, it was flying off in another direction.
"Did that thing find prey easier to hunt elsewhere?"
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