Nergigante's arrival was abrupt, and its departure was just as swift.
It completely seized the moment when Nakarkos, on the verge of successfully escaping, was willing to forcibly endure the attacks of the Elder Dragons and was, in that very instant, at its most mentally lax—charging out to precisely deliver the final, decisive killing blow.
Within what remained of the Dragonbone Graveyard along the coast, the Elder Dragons did not react immediately. By the time they realized what Nergigante had done, it was already too late.
Aki was the first to let out a roar, surging forward on a gale of violent wind, but all she saw was a retreating back that had already submerged into the sea, leaving behind only scattered traces of black shadow.
Drawing in a breath, she directly spewed scorching flames toward that direction.
However, even for Elder Dragons acclaimed as incarnations of nature itself, when faced with the ocean—terrain that could be called one of the world itself—those flames could not stir up much of anything.
Aside from raising an enormous volume of white steam and blasting open a broad gap, the depth was not very great.
As the breath attack ended, in just a few short seconds, that gap formed by the sustained high-temperature flames once again returned to its original state.
Faced with Aki's venting attack, the ocean did not give the slightest concession. As long as one could not swim, even forbidden beings should not expect to gain any advantage over nature itself.
Seeing that Nakarkos's remains could no longer be recovered, Kirin silently ran off toward the distance.
The short-tempered Lunastra, after angrily spewing a long stream of flames at the remaining bones in the Dragonbone Graveyard, spread her wings and left this revolting place that had delayed her for a full five years, causing her "search for her mate" plan to be postponed by five years as well.
As for Nakarkos's corpse, for Lunastra and Kirin, they had originally only wanted to confirm whether Nakarkos was truly dead; whether the body could be retained was fundamentally irrelevant.
But for Aki and the Flame Wyvern couple, Logan had mentioned Nakarkos's corpse, saying that if possible, they could choose to bring the remains back to the Ancient Tree.
Although Logan had not made any hard requirement, for Aki and the Flame Wyvern couple, they would certainly make their greatest effort to do the best they possibly could.
Unexpectedly, it ended up being Nergigante that picked up the spoils.
Sure enough, Aki's earlier premonition was correct—Nergigante had deliberately dropped into the waterway earlier, slipped into the sea along the waterway to lie in ambush, endured humiliation and shouldered the burden, and waited for precisely this kind of opportunity.
After Aki finished venting in a bout of impotent rage, this battle came to a complete end.
Darren used a whetstone to maintain and polish Blazing Wing, watching the back of little Loren as he left together with the Radiant Fire Wyvern pack led by Aki, and he felt something strange in his heart.
He had not expected that one day he would be able to fight in cooperation with an Elder Dragon. Although it was still only a juvenile Elder Dragon that had not yet matured, for him, this was still an experience he had never even imagined in the past.
And what was most astonishing was that, even though it was their first time working together, the two sides had extremely good tacit understanding in battle.
This was different from cooperating with other hunters; there was absolutely no need to consider lowering his own strength in order to accommodate the overall coordination.
He only needed to fully bring his own advantages into play: when he swung, little Loren would proactively charge up; when he dodged, it would also launch powerful attacks, forcing Nakarkos to be unable to further pursue him; even when he charged, little Loren could, at the right time, just right, clear a path for him.
One man and one dragon were like old friends who had worked together for many years. Without any need for verbal communication, just by watching the other's movements, they could predict the other's next move, thereby achieving near-perfect coordination.
"The New World really is a magical place." On Darren's face, calm all year round, a faint smile appeared without him noticing.
He was looking forward to the next hunt.
This Nakarkos subjugation battle ended just like that, under preparations that were not exactly ample.
Originally, the Commander had already made mental preparations for the subjugation to fail, but he had not expected that the hunters would be able to bring him such a surprise.
Not only was the "culprit" behind the Elder Crossing dead, the hunters even brought back a pile of Elder Dragon materials.
Although they were all only scraps that had fallen off during the battle, and quite a few had become incomplete from being caught up in the aftermath, they could not withstand the sheer quantity!
For the ecological research on Elder Dragons, this was undoubtedly an extremely good thing!!
...
On the conference dais.
"That's how it is."
In Noah's eyes there was reluctance, but his tone was extremely firm.
The Huntsman glanced at Noah, then looked to the side at Darren, who seemed a little embarrassed, and finally chuckled softly and nodded.
"Since you've already made your decision, then let it be so! This is an extremely outstanding weapon. If it weren't for the fact that I can no longer wield it, I would not hand it over to you so easily. You must take good care of this child!"
The latter part of the Huntsman's words was directed at Darren.
Although he could not see the expression beneath the Huntsman's mask, Darren still solemnly clenched his fist and struck his chest, indicating that he would definitely make good use of this Greatsword.
Although taking Noah's Greatsword just like this made Darren feel quite embarrassed, speaking honestly, this Blazing Wing always gave him the feeling that it had been tailor-made for him.
At this moment, Blazing Wing, in terms of weapon tier, was still inferior to the weapons he had used back in the Old World era, yet whether in weight, the opening of the blade edge, or even the weapon's appearance, it felt as though it was lodged straight into his heart.
It had never felt this natural to wield!
Not to mention those few strikes after being "charged" by little Loren's Calamity Flame— that sense of violence where both physical effect and elemental energy were pushed to the extreme truly matched his preferences perfectly!
Seeing the three hunters reach an agreement, the Commander, who had remained silent to the side all this time, spoke up again: "Darren, your outstanding performance in this battle has already been recorded. Shortly, this record will be sent to the Ancient Tree along with the transport team."
"You can also obtain rewards from the Sunblaze Dragon. After you receive the scales, you can try communicating with the Sunblaze Dragon to see whether there is any way to obtain some additional materials. This Greatsword still has considerable room for improvement, but the corresponding materials will have to be obtained by your own efforts."
Darren nodded in understanding. This matter had already been mentioned to him by the Ancient Wyverian girl on the way back, and she had also stated that she could give him some opportunities to obtain the Sunblaze Dragon's latest materials.
Although he did not know why, as a shrine maiden, she would specifically tell him about this, it at least gave him something to look forward to.
For Darren, who had already tasted this weapon's unique qualities, if nothing unexpected happened, this weapon would become his exclusive weapon in the New World, and even for the rest of his life.
...
On the Ancient Tree, within the palace.
Logan carefully listened to the Ancient Wyverian girl's report. Although he had already heard it once from Aki's side, overall, the Ancient Wyverian girl's account was more detailed.
He simply had not expected that this time, the boss of nature would be so generous, allowing Nakarkos's corpse to be taken away by Nergigante.
Could it be that it felt it had been too harsh on the child, and was planning to give a reward?
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