With a piercing roar, the Shagaru Magala folded its wings, detonating a mass of scale-dust infused with a high concentration of Frenzy Virus.
The blast forced back the charging Nergigante while also breaking it free from the grip of lightning.
It shot upward in a swift takeoff, dodging the oncoming stream of water and concealing itself within the black haze.
Never had it imagined that upon waking, it would be besieged by three Elder Dragons at once.
Yesterday, a two-on-one had already pushed it to its limits. It knew well that its strength was insufficient to face multiple Elder Dragons at once—let alone three.
And among them, this one with an absurd degree of power and Regeneration was especially troublesome. It never once tried to dodge, charging straight into every strike as if with no regard for life, fighting as though determined to drag its foe down with it.
Even with its body bristling with spines, in close combat the Shagaru Magala found itself unable to gain the slightest upper hand, no matter if it had another set of wing-claws.
The pressure it faced now was many times greater than yesterday.
Yesterday's two opponents, Logan and the Chameleos, had begun the fight without the faintest cooperation, fighting completely at cross purposes like weather-controlling forces canceling one another out. What's more, the Chameleos was not skilled at offense; as long as it didn't become a burden, that was already a victory. That was the only reason the Shagaru Magala could go back and forth with them.
But what about today's three Elder Dragons?
There was no mutual restraint between them. Instead, they found precise opportunities to coordinate, leaving it utterly suppressed and hardly able to strike back.
"I have to escape!"
The Shagaru Magala could already sense the stench of extreme danger. Under the siege of three Elder Dragons, if it continued the fight, death here was certain.
It had struggled so hard to carve a bloody path through countless Gore Magala and become the first to molt into a Shagaru Magala. It refused to die here.
At the very least—at the very least—it had to transform the Forbidding Grounds into another deathland, to give its Gore Magala kin an environment in which they could survive the initial perilous stage.
Heart set on retreat, the Shagaru Magala deepened its release of scale-dust. As visibility across the area fell, it shifted its position constantly, evading the pursuit of the Nergigante and the others, planning to replicate yesterday's method of escape.
As the black haze thickened, the Namielle was first to sense that something was amiss. It abruptly increased the density of water vapor in the air, currents of electricity spreading outward from its wings and dispersing through the mist.
Unfortunately, this was no water source, much less the sea. It could not fully unleash the might of its domain.
The Kirin followed close behind, weaving lightning through the haze. Thunder roared wherever it passed, ripping the surroundings to shreds.
As for the Nergigante, it simply flailed about like a headless fly, darting here and there, relying purely on chance.
It had to be said—Elder Dragons of raw, physical might possessed strength that surpassed most others, but the price was a cripplingly narrow set of combat methods. At times, they fell into situations painfully awkward.
Like now.
Through heat-sensing and the Frenzy Virus's feedback, the Shagaru Magala could pinpoint the movements of the three Elder Dragons in the area, seizing the initiative.
And none of the three were the type of Elder Dragon capable of dispersing scale-dust or unleashing seamless, wide-range attacks. The only one with such potential—the Namielle—was crippled by the terrain, unable to wield its power in full.
The closer it drew to the boundary of the scale-dust's reach, the more the Shagaru Magala's tense heart began to ease.
Just as it believed escape was within grasp, the air's temperature suddenly surged.
Two blazing suns hung high overhead.
Waves of azure flame swept out with crushing wind pressure, and in the searing heat countless motes of scale-dust ignited on their own.
Next came an eruption of absolute heat like that of the scorching sun itself. In an instant, the dense scale-dust saturating the air had no chance to detonate—reduced instead to nothing but blue smoke, scattered by the winds.
Vast stretches of land coral withered, the surface of the reef crystallizing.
This was the Teostra's might—the same overwhelming force that could, in a single night, crystallize an entire desert under its furnace-like heat.
A torrent of flame hundreds of meters long roared from the Teostra's jaws, engulfing the Shagaru Magala in an instant.
Not to be outdone, the Lunastra unfurled its wings, funneling crushing wind into the inferno while wrapping its own blue flames within. Not only did this greatly amplify the Teostra's breath, but it also doubled the reach of the blaze.
The Kirin, caught unawares, blinked directly into the flames. Under the blistering heat, its scales turned scalding-hot in an instant. With no other choice, it first reinforced itself with lightning, hardening its defenses, and only then managed to blink precisely beyond the range of the flames.
The Nergigante and Namielle arrived belatedly. The heat-heavy atmosphere from the Teostra and Lunastra's entrance left the water-loving Namielle deeply uncomfortable. It drew in thick water vapor, layering its body with a dense film, then infused it with life energy to insulate against the scorching heat—only then did it feel even slightly relieved.
The Nergigante, face grim, gazed up at the couple of Flame Dragons. Memories of death surged violently within it.
For as a Nergigante born in the Elder's Recess, its very first hunt after coming of age had naturally been set upon the Elder Dragons dwelling within that land of dragon crystal.
The saying goes that ignorance knows no fear. Back then, the Nergigante had been just such a reckless fledgling, daring to set its sights directly on the Flame Dragon couple. The result was obvious: under their combined assault as mates, it had been forced to flee in humiliation, nursing its wounds for two full days before it could restore its drained energy.
The Teostra and Lunastra were much like the Fire Wyvern pair among the Elder Dragons. One on one, many Elder Dragons could still put up a fight against either of them; even a Nergigante could, through relentless pursuit, eventually complete the hunt.
But when the two of them were together, aside from some green, reckless fledgling, few Elder Dragons would be foolish enough to seek out such torment.
Under the fiery barrage of the Flame Dragon couple, the Shagaru Magala was forced to a halt.
Even hiding beneath a coral platform was useless against the overwhelming heat. The coral itself began to melt, dripping molten stone onto its scales.
"Five! A full five Elder Dragons! What virtue or merit do I have to deserve such treatment?"
The Shagaru Magala mocked itself bitterly in its heart. In the next instant, it once again entered its Frenzied state, drawing on the power of the Frenzy and its own defenses to withstand the onslaught of the Flame Dragons, then decisively dove toward the Rotten Vale below.
Now, with Elder Dragons blocking it from above and below, perhaps only by entering the Rotten Vale—this resting place of Elder Dragons—did it have the faintest chance of survival.
When the Shagaru Magala burst free of the flames and plummeted at speed, the Elder Dragons present instantly understood its intent. They all roared in fury and rushed after it, determined to cut off its escape.
The Shagaru Magala did not know, but as longtime denizens of the New World, they understood perfectly: the Rotten Vale was not only the Elder Dragons' graveyard, but its terrain was a tangled labyrinth. Countless creatures had entered, only to be lost forever. If the Shagaru Magala made it down there, pursuit would become nearly impossible.
Unfortunately for them, once Frenzied, the Shagaru Magala's speed surged. For the moment, none of them could catch up.
The Nergigante let out an enraged roar, flapping its wings with every ounce of strength it had. To gain more speed, it even tore off the spines on its own wings, forcing them to move more flexibly.
Of all the Elder Dragons, Nergigante was the one who least wanted the Shagaru Magala to escape.
After tasting the sweetness of the Gore Magala's power, it now hungered for the even greater, even more extravagant life force that radiated from Shagaru Magala. Simply put—it was addicted!
And with so many Elder Dragons hemming Shagaru Magala in, the difficulty of the hunt had dropped sharply. It was almost as if the prey had been delivered right into its jaws. In such a situation, there was no way it could allow Shagaru Magala to get away!
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