"It's Nergigante!!" someone exclaimed in shock.
Noah clenched his fists, staring fixedly at the rapidly approaching Nergigante.
"Is this thing here to support Nakarkos, or is it here to cause trouble?"
Over the years, the Research Commission's understanding of Nergigante had become sharply divided.
Some scholars believed that Nergigante was part of the New World's ecosystem. They held that it was inherently hostile to the Elder Dragons involved in the Elder Crossing and served as an important counterbalance preventing Elder Dragons from causing excessive destruction to the New World. The strongest supporting evidence for this view was the previous Yama Tsukami operation, during which Nergigante and Yama Tsukami had displayed extremely intense combat intent toward one another.
Another group of scholars, however, believed that Nergigante had a deep connection with the Elder Crossing. According to this theory, it was precisely because Nergigante worked together with the existence that triggered the Elder Crossing that Elder Dragons were drawn to the New World by some method unknown to humanity, only to be hunted afterward. As a result, the frequency of the Elder Crossing had increased in recent years, making Nergigante one of the chief culprits behind it.
But regardless of which viewpoint one supported, there was one point on which all scholars agreed without dispute: Nergigante had a profound connection to the Elder Crossing.
Because of this, prior to the campaign to hunt Nakarkos, the most frequently discussed topic was whether Nergigante would come to provide assistance during the operation, once Nakarkos—the so-called "mastermind" behind the Elder Crossing—came under attack.
In response, the Research Commission had already prepared several contingency plans, and had even braced itself for the possibility that this hunt could fail due to Nergigante's involvement.
Moreover, in the eyes of the Research Commission, whether Nergigante would appear this time was also an excellent opportunity to determine its true nature.
If it did not appear, that would suggest Nergigante truly was nothing more than a maintainer of ecological balance.
If it did appear, then it would serve as conclusive proof that Nergigante was indeed one of the culprits, and their stance toward Nergigante going forward would have to be firmly established.
"Hoo— Since Nergigante has appeared, then this hunt… we can already declare it a fai—wait! What are the Radiant Fire Wyverns doing?!"
Noah, who was just about to declare a retreat according to the contingency plan, had not even finished speaking when he saw a large group of Radiant Fire Wyverns charge up into the sky and, with the bodies of ordinary wyverns, take the initiative to launch an attack on Nergigante!
"Roar~!"
"Follow the King's command!"
"Drive off any creature that might interfere with the battle!!"
The monster civilization that Logan had maintained for many years truly showed its results at this moment.
In the past, the Ancient Tree Fire Wyverns' first reaction when facing an Elder Dragon was to avoid it, and only after they could not avoid it would they try to fight back.
But now, these Radiant Fire Wyverns followed the King's command! Even if it was an Elder Dragon, so what! Even if they fought to the very last moment, they would carry out the King's command to the end!
At this time, sensing the abundant aura of energy, Nergigante felt like its saliva was about to drip down.
After being schemed against by Logan back then and beaten into a serious injury, although it had relied on its own Regeneration to quickly restore its bodily damage, the deepest-level loss of life energy had been too great. It not only lost what it had drawn from Qurio, but even consumed a considerable amount of what it had stored up over many years.
Nergigante's quietness these past years was not because it had realized its own mistake. Rather, its life energy consumption had been so great that it did not even dare to casually pursue Elder Dragons, and could only keep hunting those Tempered monsters in the Elder's Recess, slowly restoring its energy to its peak state.
This time, it had originally only planned to head to the Wildspire Waste again, to see whether it could encounter a creature like Qurio, and let it feel that "something for nothing" sensation once more.
But it had not expected that just after flying past the Great Ravine, it would detect the energy fluctuations here.
After Nakarkos became enraged, that glaring Elder Dragon aura and the continuous output of life energy were like a bright lamp, guiding Nergigante, this moth, along the way.
But now, this large group of Radiant Fire Wyverns who were fearless to the death made Nergigante's anger flare up.
Nergigante, which had already become frightened of poverty, could not be sure how long Nakarkos would stay there, and it was extremely anxious inside.
Yet these Radiant Fire Wyverns firmly blocked its path forward.
For an Elder Dragon like Nergigante that fought with its body, it still could not do "one slap per large monster"; at the very least it would take two or three hits to deal with one.
Moreover, with the Radiant Fire Wyverns fighting together, that flame vortex that had once made Nergigante extremely disgusted not only stirred up those painful memories, but also further obstructed its path forward.
"Roar!!"
"Get the hell out of my way!!"
A single palm covered in spikes slapped a Radiant Fire Wyvern away, sending it spurting blood from its mouth as large numbers of scales shattered, and the Radiant Fire Wyvern fell straight down.
Yet their companion's severe injury did not instill fear in the Radiant Fire Wyverns. Instead, one after another, their eyes reddened as they roared and spat out searing flames, circling Nergigante as they flew and continuing, with tacit coordination, to delay its advance.
"The Radiant Fire Wyverns actually—damn it, let's try again! Is the Dragonator loaded? Seize the timing and prepare to fire!!"
Watching the Radiant Fire Wyverns' performance, Noah's blood surged. Gritting his teeth, he turned toward the Dragon Graveyard and urged the Dragonator to be loaded again.
"Not yet. The fine filling of the gunpowder takes time!"
The operator responded quickly, while the speed of his hands remained unchanged.
The more it was at a moment like this, the more he could not rush. Even the slightest mistake would ruin this precious shell engraved with alchemical patterns.
Hearing the response, Noah clenched his fists and took deep breaths to calm himself down.
Suddenly, three furious dragon roars came from within the swamp forest.
Against the moonlight, Aki and the Flame Wyvern pair no longer concealed themselves. With their auras fully unleashed, flames ignited along their wings as they charged toward Nergigante, which was slaughtering its way through the Radiant Fire Wyvern group.
Although their presence was meant to be a contingency for hunting Nakarkos, as one Radiant Fire Wyvern after another was struck down by Nergigante, Aki could no longer endure it.
She had never held any favorable feelings toward Nergigante. When Logan was undergoing his metamorphosis in the Elder's Recess, this creature had once attempted to attack Logan, and afterward had occasionally appeared near the temporary nest in the Elder's Recess, watching Logan with hostile intent.
And now it was even carrying out a "slaughter" of the Radiant Fire Wyverns. Given that Aki's temper was never particularly good to begin with, how could she possibly hold back?
The appearance of Aki and the Flame Wyvern pair was undoubtedly a powerful shot in the arm for the Radiant Fire Wyvern group, as well as for the hunters below who wanted to provide support but, lacking aerial combat capability, could only watch helplessly as their "companions" were struck down by Nergigante.
Aki's Elder Dragon pressure pressed down on Nergigante at full force, successfully drawing its attention.
Nergigante, which had still regarded this as an unexpected windfall, casually slapped away another Radiant Fire Wyvern and then shifted its gaze, only to see the beautiful Aki—and those two damned Elder Dragon–class Flame Wyverns!
Three Elder Dragon–class combatants! Nergigante did not even need to think to know that this was a deal that could result in a catastrophic loss, and one it might not even be able to win!
This was simply going too far!
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