Closer. Closer!
The Shagaru Magala could already see the rotting fossils, the decayed rock walls, and the yellow miasma! A fleeting surge of joy washed over it, the joy of one who had just escaped calamity.
Suddenly, the miasma below began to churn. A pair of glowing crimson orbs appeared within it, locking firmly onto Shagaru Magala's direction.
An ominous dread welled up in its chest.
Sure enough—within the rolling miasma, a massive breath of effluvium came rushing forth in an instant.
Even though Shagaru Magala folded its wings together to defend, the toxic breath still drove it back by sheer force, blasting it upward toward the Coral Highlands plateau.
From the haze emerged the Blackveil Vaal Hazak. As master of the Rotten Vale, in this environment saturated with effluvium its strength was greatly magnified. It could call upon the miasma of the vale at will, without the slightest need to conserve its own energy.
Its half-open jaws, lined with double rows of fangs, released a grating hiss. Coldly, Vaal Hazak stared at the one who had thrown the Coral Highlands' ecosystem into chaos and, in turn, disrupted the delicate balance of the Rotten Vale—the culprit itself.
It would make sure this intruder became the vale's next "food."
Shagaru Magala, forced back onto the Coral Highlands, slammed hard against a pillar. Crashing down with the collapsing rubble, a flicker of despair rose in its heart.
The sixth one!
How was it supposed to escape now?
Was this New World nothing but hell?
So many Elder Dragons, mobilized all at once just to block its path—as if terrified it might slip away!
Back on the Old World, it could feel the malice of the world as well, but at least when confined to its forbidden grounds, few Elder Dragons came seeking trouble.
But here, in the New World—how long had it even been? Already six of them had come!
No—that wasn't all.
Shagaru Magala remembered. Yesterday, there had been that Chameleos, and that unique Rathalos that could sustain Elder Dragon-level power for long periods—those two weren't even counted yet!
Which meant—eight in total!
Such a lineup… there were few Elder Dragons that could withstand it.
From above and below, fire, lightning, torrents of water, suffocating effluvium—and a massive spiked brute—closed in slowly from every direction.
Their cautious advance was meant to prevent Shagaru Magala, in its despair, from lashing out recklessly in a suicidal frenzy that might wound them beyond expectation.
And it also ensured that escape was utterly impossible.
Gazing at the Elder Dragons closing in, Shagaru Magala pulled its body free from the rubble. The black aura that had once only drifted around it now wound tightly about its whole frame. Driven to its limit, it unleashed the power of Frenzy—clouds of Frenzy Virus spreading outward in waves.
He… he really was about to fight with everything he had!
Seeing this, all the Elder Dragons slowed their advance, at the same time channeling their own power to fortify themselves.
The Flame Dragon couple's blazing auras, the Kirin's lightning mantle, the Namielle's water veil, the Nergigante's black spines—all manifested at once. Determined to send this mighty Elder Dragon to its final end, each of them opened with their strongest state.
In that instant, even before the battle began, heat waves, storms of thunder, and torrents of water raged across the southern half of the Coral Highlands. The natural disasters wrought by Elder Dragons no longer remained confined to one area—they spread outward over the entire plateau.
And at this taut, blade's-edge moment—
"Quaaak!"
A voice, one-third arrogant, seven-tenths mocking, rang out.
In midair, shrouded in white mist, the Chameleos glared provocatively at the Shagaru Magala!
"Outsider, accept your punishment—quaaak!"
That was how it sounded to Logan. To him, there was only one thing to say:
"Funny… yesterday when you were the one getting beaten up, you weren't half this cocky."
At the sound of the Chameleos's cry, the gathered Elder Dragons turned their gazes toward it, catching sight of both the mist-cloaked beast and Logan at its side.
But Logan keenly noticed—those gazes didn't seem very friendly.
The Chameleos, however, acted as though blind to it all, continuing to taunt the Shagaru Magala.
Logan quietly edged a bit farther away.
"Quaaak! Quaaaak!"
Perhaps because the Chameleos was far too noisy, the Kirin lost patience. A bolt of lightning struck down, silencing the chatterer on the spot.
Truth be told, had Logan not seen the Chameleos yesterday with his own eyes, he never would have believed that such a creature even existed in the New World.
And thinking of the Coral Highlands' ecosystem—if there had truly been such a poison expert here from the start, there was no way things would have turned out like this.
Which meant, if the Shagaru Magala bore blame, then the Chameleos surely carried part of the responsibility too!
With the Chameleos shut up, the Elder Dragons once again faced off against the Shagaru Magala.
Logan, caught in the middle, looked entirely out of place.
Eighteen years old, crashing an Elder Dragon party—standing there like some lowly underling!
That was Logan's exact thought at this moment.
Utterly awkward.
To ease his own discomfort, he turned his gaze toward the Flame Dragon couple overhead.
"Rooaaar!" (Hit me with fire!)
A bizarre demand!
Teostra glanced down at Logan in confusion. Why would he ask something like that? Had he grown tired of living?
The Nergigante, hearing this, snapped its eyes upward at Teostra in warning.
The Rathalos—good. That was the wyvern it had set its sights on. Who dared touch him?
Teostra only snorted in disdain, turning its head away. It couldn't be bothered with either Logan or the Nergigante.
Seeing no response, Logan shifted his gaze toward the visibly irritable Lunastra.
To ask it plainly to spit flames? With an Elder Dragon's pride, there was no chance it would obey him.
So—
"Rooaaar!"
"Shrew!"
In the next instant, a blazing torrent engulfed Logan, wrapping him entirely in fire.
The Nergigante was dumbfounded. The wyvern it had set its hopes on—was he really so bent on death? To hurl such an insult?
What a shame… such potent life energy, wasted!
As the searing flames rushed into him, Logan felt a faint sting, just for a moment.
The flames of the Lunastra, though not as terrifying as those of the Teostra, were still among the rare high-temperature flames of this world. Even Logan, whose fire resistance had reached such extremes, felt a faint sting at first impact.
But as those flames were absorbed into him, strengthening his own fire, that sensation vanished in an instant.
The already searing air grew hotter still.
At the tip of the Lunastra's breath, the flames began to twist and warp, as though drawn into a vortex that devoured them whole.
Bit by bit, dazzling white light flared out. Blue-violet fire swallowed the orange-red blaze. Yet another Elder Dragon's aura erupted.
The fourth blazing sun rose into the sky.
A sleek, silver-white figure slowly unfolded amidst the inferno. Its metallic scales gleamed beneath the sunlight, and from the corners of its jaws jutted two sharp spines as it threw back its head in a triumphant roar.
"Huh? The damned Silver Rathalos!!"
The Nergigante's eyes bulged. It could hardly believe that the dragon it had admired had turned into one of the very creatures it despised most in all its memories!
It felt deeply betrayed.
"Good. Now we're all on the same footing!" Logan growled.
At last, the scene fit. Surrounded by Elder Dragons, he no longer felt so absurdly out of place.
With the Radiant Sun ablaze, Logan too could be counted among the Calamities of nature. His Flame Body combined with his Charred Body granted an amplification effect akin to the Teostra's aura. Apart from being unable to draw upon life energy, he now stood no different from any other Elder Dragon present.
The Lunastra stared at him in disbelief, then turned toward her mate.
If not for the difference in form and fire, she might have thought she was looking at another Teostra entirely!
"Rooaaar!"
Suddenly, the Shagaru Magala bellowed and lunged straight at the Chameleos!
It seized the chance while the other Elder Dragons' attention was on Logan, hoping to drag one down with it.
Among those present, the Chameleos was the weakest, and happened to be closest. The Shagaru Magala chose its target without hesitation.
But while the Elder Dragons' gazes lingered on Logan, not one of them had truly relaxed their guard against Shagaru Magala.
It only seemed they were distracted—when in fact, they were deliberately waiting for it to make the first move, to reveal an opening on its own.
As for the Chameleos, it had drawn close to Shagaru Magala on purpose. Even its earlier taunts had been part of the plan.
All of the Elder Dragons here—except for Shagaru Magala and Nergigante—were ancient beings, each with centuries of battle behind them. The moment Chameleos made its move, they knew exactly what to do. Logan's strange performance was the only new variable.
And so, the instant Shagaru Magala surged forward, the Elder Dragons unleashed their attacks in unison.
Chameleos, thrilled, croaked out once and vanished into invisibility. Its entire body disappeared, leaving Shagaru Magala striking at empty air, its target gone in a blink.
Logan and Nergigante reacted immediately, both joining the fray at once.
Under the storm of wide-ranging elemental assaults, Shagaru Magala had no chance to release its Frenzy Virus. It was forced instead into a brutal melee with the charging Nergigante, caught within the rain of catastrophic blows.
The others knew well of Nergigante's Regeneration. That was why they made no effort to avoid him—their energy attacks blanketed him as well, without reservation.
"Quaaak, quaaak!" (Let me spit a breath! Just one!)
The Chameleos tried to unleash its deadly venom breath, but its casting was always too slow. Each time, before the toxins could reach their mark, Logan and the Flame Dragon couple's fire burned them away into nothing, leaving it stomping furiously atop the coral platform.
It wanted revenge!
Yet, none of the other dragons paid it the slightest attention.
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