On the cliff beside the Dragon Graveyard, a platform had been carved out. It was piled high with ammunition and ballistae. Six of the latest-model cannons dismantled from the Fifth Fleet's ship, along with two Dragonators developed by Astera based on models excavated from the Ancient Relic Basin and reverse-engineered using principles derived from the Ancient Wyverian prophet, had all been fully loaded with ammunition and precisely calibrated.
Noah raised his binoculars to observe the distant Dragon Graveyard. Watching the bones rise and fall with the waves, a heavy sense of oppression welled up in his chest.
A sea of bones steeped in the aura of death was, for the living, deeply uncomfortable even on a purely visual level—let alone the countless grim skulls of various creatures scattered throughout it.
Even the thin layer of pale green mist drifting above the bone sea at this moment seemed saturated with the breath of death.
As the recommended group of hunters arrived, Noah turned back to look at the fully armed hunters. Without saying much, he clenched his right hand into a fist and struck it against the area over his heart.
"From here on, I'll leave it to you!!"
Everyone nodded. Noah took a deep breath, turned around, braced himself against the simple wooden table in front of him, and spoke calmly: "Hunting plan, begin!!"
As Noah's order was given, five Radiant Fire Wyverns spread their wings and glided off the cliff. Flames ignited along their wings, and as they beat them, fierce winds blew away part of the mist. Together, they charged up and unleashed fan-shaped streams of fire.
The flames stretched for over a hundred meters, directly clearing out a section of the Dragon Graveyard's shoreline and completely exposing this area of the Dragon Graveyard to the hunters' view from the cliff.
At this point, the Radiant Fire Wyverns' task was considered complete. Taking advantage of the fact that the Nakarkos, whose whereabouts were still unknown, had yet to make any move, they quickly gained altitude and withdrew far from the Dragon Graveyard.
The recommended group of hunters exchanged glances and nodded to one another. They then blew their whistles to summon Wingdrakes, extended grappling hooks from their slingers, latched onto the Wingdrakes, and rapidly descended onto the bone sea of the Dragon Graveyard. Following the initial team assignments, each group put the appropriate protective measures in place.
The sea wind howled, and the waves stirred the bones, producing a cacophony of clattering sounds.
Three hunter squads stood ready in strict formation, pushing their senses to the absolute limit as they captured every trace of environmental information around them.
However, even under such a tense atmosphere, the Nakarkos that was supposed to charge out according to the plan still showed no movement for a long time.
On the cliff, Noah frowned as he watched the Dragon Graveyard. According to the preliminary reports, at this time Nakarkos should have been patrolling within the Dragon Graveyard; just the Radiant Fire Wyverns' earlier, utterly unrestrained clearing of the mist should have been enough to draw it out.
But why was there still no movement at all even now?
"Could it be that Nakarkos just happened to go out hunting?" a young hunter who had grown up in Astera asked softly. But as soon as he finished speaking, he realized everyone around him was looking at him with a strange expression.
"W-what's wrong?"
Glancing at the young hunter, who was starting to panic, Noah let out a speechless sigh. In his heart he reminded himself that, at least, the kid was his childhood friend; only then did he swallow his irritation and explain, "Monsters, when there is no external interference, usually don't casually change their living habits. During this period, our observation and surveillance of the Dragon Graveyard has never stopped, and nothing abnormal has appeared."
"So it's unlikely that it would leave the Dragon Graveyard at this time to go out and forage. It's more likely that it's hidden inside the Dragon Graveyard for some special reason."
Before the young hunter could raise another question, Noah lifted his right hand and issued the next order: "All cannons, aim at the ocean section of the Dragon Graveyard—five-round salvo, fire!!"
Along with a rumbling roar, several cannons emptied their barrels in one burst. The shells howled as they flew over the hunters' heads and landed in another area of the Dragon Graveyard that was still shrouded in mist.
Amid the continuous explosions, the bone sea shook, and the shockwaves spread across the entire Dragon Graveyard.
Beneath the bone sea, Nakarkos—currently digesting a large Lagiacrus-like sea wyvern species monster that had accidentally wandered into the Dragon Graveyard this morning—was irritated by the tremors from the blasts.
Its good mood from having gained a morning meal, a "gift from nature," was ruined just like that.
For Nakarkos, which possessed endless greed, the only reason it would temporarily set aside its urge to prey was that it was in the middle of eating.
Over these years, Lunastra and Kirin had come to make trouble for it from time to time, and occasionally that pair of Elder Dragon spouses over by the Ancient Tree would also run over to use it to test new moves. Life had been miserable beyond words.
Don't be fooled by how many bones were in the Dragon Graveyard right now—at least half were actually there to make up appearances and serve as a foundation, and among the remaining half, there weren't many high–ecological niche monsters either; quite a few had been deliberately destroyed during battles.
Therefore, on days like these, Nakarkos had learned to cherish the present—only what was thoroughly eaten and taken into its mouth truly belonged to it.
Digesting as quickly as possible and converting as quickly as possible—only in this way could it ensure that, the next time it faced two Elder Dragons, it would hold a sufficient advantage.
Moreover, Nakarkos had its own little secret. That foolish Lunastra, Kirin, and the pair of Elder Dragons who clearly did not even know what they were here for were all unaware that it had already mastered a technique for preserving some high–ecological niche monster bones even amid fierce battles. If it just kept storing them for another ten years, it would be able to let those four Elder Dragons know exactly what it meant to be the strongest existence at the apex of the ecological hierarchy!!
Holding such thoughts, Nakarkos carefully sensed the situation within the Dragon Graveyard. After confirming that this disturbance had not been caused by any of those four Elder Dragons, and that there were no other Elder Dragon auras nearby, it began to writhe its tentacles wrapped in bones, roaming proudly through the piles of bones.
This ocean formed by heaps of hard bones was, to it, little different from water.
...
As the sounds of bones colliding grew clearer and more rapid.
Raspy roars, like they came straight from hell, rang out from the bone sea in waves.
Very soon, the hunters present precisely locked onto Nakarkos's movement trajectory. Without anyone needing to give orders, they immediately spread out according to their assigned tasks.
Amid the increasingly chaotic noise, Darren—who had been quietly holding the Gunlance user in front as cover—seemed to notice something unusual.
He lowered his body slightly and touched the ground with his hand, immediately understanding what was happening.
Driving force from his waist, he shoved the Gunlance user forward with all his strength, then his legs suddenly exerted force. At the same time as he crushed the tibia of some unknown creature beneath his footing, he leapt high into the air.
In the next instant, a mimic tentacle wrapped in a Fire Wyvern skull burst out of the bone sea. Amid a dull yet massive collision of bones, the mimic tentacle snapped shut on empty air.
At the same time, before the Gunlance user who had been pushed forward by Darren could even steady his footing, another mimic tentacle surged out from not far ahead of him, crackling with arcs of electricity, and launched an attack toward the support squad.
After all, they were hunters from the recommended group. Even if their strength was not among the top within the group, their ability to react was just as outstanding.
Using the forward-leaning momentum of his body, the Gunlance user quickly chambered the weapon, then lunged forward to a position not far from the sea-wyvern mimic tentacle. Sparks burst from the tip of the lance as a small shell was fired straight out of the barrel, detonating violently within the gaps of the tentacle!!
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