A piercing screech stirred up massive waves of sound. By all logic, Nakarkos's physical structure should not have been capable of producing such a tearing noise—yet this miraculous world had granted it amphibious abilities across both sea and land.
It was like being surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes that bit frantically, impossible to kill. Ignore them, and they would still buzz at your side with shrill noise—some of them could even tear your house apart.
In that instant, Nakarkos's blood pressure nearly burst through its skull.
To avoid dropping dead—and to assert the dignity of an Elder Dragon—it finally decided to go all out.
Crimson dragon element energy spread from its gaping, blood-filled maw. Countless small, whisker-like tentacles seeped blue mucus from their surfaces, and when entwined with the dragon element energy, they appeared even more ferocious.
At this moment, Nakarkos was like an evil god crawling up from the abyss, wrapped in innumerable bones. Energy coursed through those masses of bone, releasing wave after wave of sound, like the dying wails of their former owners.
Whether it was the recommended team on the battlefield or the support hunters on the cliffs, everyone was perfectly aware that the true battle began at this very moment.
"All support weapons, prepare! Complete calibration in advance—once Nakarkos shows an opening, fire immediately!"
With a sweep of his hand, Noah issued the order with the resolve of a Commander.
One hunter after another responded swiftly, carrying consumable ammunition such as ballista bolts, calling out to the trembling wingdrakes, and flying toward the large concealed devices along the edge of the dragon graveyard.
The emergence of Nakarkos's main body—combined with the frenzied dragon element energy and the many additional tentacles crackling with red-black lightning—instantly placed far greater pressure on the hunters.
Dragon element energy could weaken armor's defensive capacity. Once it adhered to equipment that was already only barely sufficient, that gear became extremely fragile. If struck, very few hunters would be able to withstand it—either collapsing from exhaustion or losing combat capability entirely.
As a result, the recommended team of hunters, who had already been subtly at a disadvantage, found the battle even more arduous.
Aside from Darren—who dodged left and right, broke through the energy attacks from time to time to rush in and land a couple of slashes, and still looked unhurried—the other hunters could be said to have spent the entire time doing nothing but evasive maneuvers. Let alone counterattacking; they barely even managed a few defensive blocks.
Once again, Darren twisted aside to evade Nakarkos's tentacle thrust. The Greatsword in his hands flipped, and with a precise leaping strike, he brought it down on the tentacle, leaving a wound. He then raised the Greatsword in front of himself, blocking the lightning that came crashing down from above.
His steps shifted beneath him, each one landing precisely on the bones underfoot, steady and swift as he closed in on Nakarkos's main body.
But in the very next second, a faint sound came from the Greatsword in his hands. That made Darren's stride pause; in the next instant, he decisively rolled backward, retreating back into the squad.
Beneath the face-covering helmet, Darren's brows knit slightly.
From morning until now, this Radiant Fire Wyvern Greatsword had been used for both slashing and blocking, and its sharpness had dropped quite severely. The blade's durability had also worn down too much; if he did not quickly repair and polish it, then even if he successfully closed in on Nakarkos, the Radiant Fire Wyvern Greatsword—with its sharpness greatly reduced—would not be able to deal much damage.
And if he could not break through Nakarkos's defense, that would be a real headache.
He took a deep breath, charged quickly, and cleaved apart an incoming mimic tentacle in a single strike. After taking an arc of electricity head-on, Darren rolled behind the Gunlance user and quickly reached out to pat the other man's waist.
Receiving the signal, the Gunlance user did not hesitate—he braced his shield, took a defensive stance, and planted himself firmly in front of Darren.
Seeing this, the support squad advanced at a quick pace under the cover of the Lance user leading the team, taking over from the combat squad to draw Nakarkos's main attention.
Darren quickly pulled a whetstone from his pack, reversed the Greatsword, rapidly found the dulled edge, and began sharpening right there—sparks flying.
As a seasoned hunter, he knew perfectly well what angle to use and how much force to apply to restore a dulled edge in the shortest time. Although it could not restore the weapon's durability, at least on the offensive side, there would be no problems again for a short while.
"Ballista, fire!"
At the same time, Noah, who had been watching the battlefield closely the whole time, issued the corresponding order.
The ballista hidden in the nearby forest quickly aimed at Nakarkos's main body and those two mimic tentacles. Large numbers of heavy bolts shot out, pierced through the region saturated with element energy, and rapidly struck all around Nakarkos.
In an instant, bone fragments flew everywhere, and the clashing sound of bolts colliding with bone shards rang out without end.
With the combined assault of the support squad added in, they finally bought Darren a stretch of time.
As he swallowed a potion, Darren's stamina—now that his sharpness had been restored—recovered rapidly, and he hefted the Greatsword and rejoined the fight.
Sensing that the most irritating ant—the one that stung the most—had charged in again, Nakarkos could no longer restrain its violent temper.
Its main body's blood-filled maw closed briefly, then opened once more. As the surrounding tentacles stabbed into the sea of bones to act as supports, massive amounts of dragon element energy rapidly gathered within its mouth.
"Evade!!"
Although Nakarkos's wide-area attacks temporarily halted due to the need to charge, Darren did not rush in blindly. While quickly warning those around him, he stowed the heavy Greatsword, turned, and without hesitation threw himself into a forward dive.
In the next second, a crimson beam of dragon element energy erupted. Having received the warning, the hunters each used their own methods to evade this overwhelming attack.
Only the support squad's Lance user—who had just served as the primary defender during Nakarkos's previous assault—had no time to put away his shield. Seeing that it was already too late, he clenched his teeth, raised the shield, and chose to take it head-on.
But—
This attack of Nakarkos was the terrifying move known as "Genesis." Setting aside the suppressive effect of dragon element energy on other energies, even its sheer penetrating power alone was not something a Radiant Fire Wyvern greatshield could withstand.
"Uraaagh!!"
In the instant of contact, the exaggerated impact force and searing heat were transmitted directly to the Lance user.
The crimson beam pierced through heaven and earth; even struggling with all his might behind the shield could not stop it.
As the Lance user's figure began to sway and the originally thick greatshield started to crack, the Bow user—who had already escaped the range of "Genesis"—swiftly changed arrows, drew the bow, and fired toward the bones beneath Nakarkos.
With a blast, a pile of bones beneath one of Nakarkos's anchoring tentacles—already rendered extremely fragile after repeatedly bearing its dragon element energy—collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Nakarkos's body tilted slightly, and it could no longer control the direction of "Genesis."
As the crimson beam traced an arc, the sea's surface ahead and the white clouds in the sky were cleanly cut apart, as if heaven and earth themselves were torn asunder at that moment.
The shield was blasted away, and the Lance user collapsed onto the bones, completely spent.
The Ancient Wyverian girl's teammates rushed forward at once. Several smoke bombs were thrown, obscuring vision as they hurriedly dragged the Lance user away—leaving even his weapon behind.
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