In any case, Nakarkos was finished, and the specific performance of the recommended team was more or less understood. Logan's objective had already been achieved.
How should it be put? There was both relief and a sense of loss.
The relief was that the overall performance of the "Sapphire Star" did not display such exaggerated combat power. It did not give the same feeling as in the game—where killing a Disaster-level monster feels no more difficult than slaughtering a chicken, and where, with a bit of effort and some support, even forbidden monsters can be slain, always leaving the impression that this person simply should not belong to the human race at all.
In his previous life, when he only watched the game without understanding the background, judging solely by the Sapphire Star's performance, there was absolutely no sense of humans being at the lower levels of the ecological hierarchy, struggling to survive in the world. It was purely a heroic narrative—although, after immersing oneself in it, it was indeed very satisfying.
Now, however, it seemed that Darren, who was suspected to be the Sapphire Star, was still extremely strong. Relying on armor that could only serve as a skill-loading device and weapon support frame, with little defensive capability, and a weapon that was merely just capable of breaking defenses, he nonetheless forcibly held back a Nakarkos that was already half-dead in terms of strength.
Even later, after using that Greatsword, what he displayed was merely combat power that posed a threat to Disaster-level Elder Dragons.
For Elder Dragons with such extremely exaggerated vitality, the threat was significant, but it was not lethal.
As long as one did not fall into traps or engage in a fight to the death, even if unable to win, it would still be possible to withdraw safely.
As for the sense of loss—Logan, as a member of the New World, would not be able to avoid the series of troublesome events that would happen there next. Xeno'jiiva was manageable: a newborn hatchling that could barely even fly. Even though it possessed Disaster-level strength at birth, it was not something that could not be dealt with.
Leaving aside everything else, just mobilizing the current top-tier combat power of the Ancient Tree would be enough to give Xeno'jiiva a hard time, not to mention the existence of the Research Commission.
But what about Shara Ishvalda?
Although it was jokingly called the "little brother" of the Elder Dragons, this creature might be the monster closest to a "god" among Disaster Elder Dragons.
Its combat power might only barely contend for the top three among Disaster Elder Dragons, or perhaps only rank within the top five.
But in terms of its influence on the ecosystem, it was absolutely the most exaggerated existence among Disaster-level monsters!
Ordinary Elder Dragons probably were not even qualified to face it!
Logan, who had come back to his senses from his contemplation, caught sight at a glance of the Ancient Wyverian girl's expression of wanting to speak but hesitating.
He lowered his head slightly, and his throat let out a deep, muffled low roar.
With Logan's permission, the Ancient Wyverian girl still asked, somewhat conflicted, "His strength is indeed very strong, but that is, after all, your materials, and it contains far too much of your power. If it is analyzed over on the Research Commission's side on that basis, and they deduce your general situation, wouldn't that—"
"Roar~" (No need to worry. My power is still far, far from its limit!!)
Logan's confident low roar came through. The Ancient Wyverian girl froze slightly, and a look of admiration flickered in her eyes. After bowing deeply, she slowly backed away, retreating toward the outside of the Ancient Tree.
...
In the coastal region of the Ancient Forest, at a place connected to the Everstream.
Nergigante violently dragged Nakarkos's main body, forcibly hauling this enormous corpse into the cave.
It warily swept its gaze around, pushing its senses to the maximum, observing every slightest movement in its surroundings. Having already gone through many failures, Nergigante still did not lower its guard at this final moment.
It did not start eating immediately, but instead stayed by Nakarkos's corpse. Only after confirming that there truly were no living creatures around that could stop it from feeding did it finally become unable to restrain its desire. Spines all over its body exploded outward; with eyes burning crimson, it pounced onto Nakarkos's corpse. A pair of forelimbs dug firmly into the flesh, afraid that Nakarkos might suddenly revive and escape from its grasp!
Nergigante could no longer suffer another blow like this; otherwise, even it would not be able to withstand it and would begin to go mad!!
Fortunately, this time it seemed that "Boss Nature" had finally shown mercy once, sympathizing with the hardships of this so-called best employee, no longer being stingy with this vast life energy. Nergigante's feeding went unusually smoothly. Apart from the sound of the waves and the sound of magma flowing inside the cave, this passage of the Everstream was utterly quiet.
At the beginning, Nergigante still tore and bit in a normal way, using its own sensory perception to find, as much as possible, the places within Nakarkos's main body that contained the most energy to start eating.
But as time passed, as Nakarkos's life energy poured into Nergigante itself along with its digestion capability, Nergigante was no longer "restrained." Bite after bite, it tore off large amounts of blue flesh; without any chewing at all, it simply swallowed it down whole.
This child was truly starving!
The feeding behavior lasted a full day. Even the rare bones on Nakarkos's main body were not spared by Nergigante. It sucked them completely clean, leaving not a trace of flesh behind, before casually throwing them into the magma.
After finishing its meal, Nergigante's entire body of spines gleamed with a metallic luster. On its right wing, some spines that had long undergone transformation through repeated battles—but had always been stuck at the final step due to insufficient energy—successfully turned into adamantine spines, with both attack power and defensive capability seeing a substantial increase.
The entire dragon looked radiant, with no sign at all of its former state of decline.
Of course, compared to strength, what Nergigante was about to do next was the true top priority.
As a spine popped out from Nergigante's chest, this spine—jet black in color, yet carrying faint rhythmic pulses—was the embryo that Nergigante had carefully nurtured for many years, continuously infusing it with large amounts of life energy to activate its cellular vitality.
Although this feeding could absorb only thirty percent of Nakarkos's life energy, it was still thirty percent of a Disaster Elder Dragon's energy. Together with what had been accumulated in the past, it finally reached the minimum requirement for reproduction.
After Nergigante actively guided the energy, gently yet rapidly injecting it into this spine—
The spine gained life in that very instant!
The originally chaotic patterns began to twist. Large amounts of bone tissue started to proliferate. Gradually, a "little Nergigante," as if its wings were stuck to its body, resembling a spherical sculpture, appeared just like that.
At this moment, however, although this "little Nergigante" possessed a heartbeat, it had not yet fully taken shape.
Suppressing its own excitement, Nergigante continued to inject more life energy into it.
A process of asexual reproduction unique to Nergigante thus proceeded as the sun rose and the moon set.
One week later, a little Nergigante with a body length of only one meter was born.
Its eyes, not yet fully opened, remained tightly shut. The white regenerative shell, affected by exposure to the air, began rapidly turning black.
Nergigante lowered its head and bit into the little Nergigante's wings, which were still stuck together. Accompanied by the hatchling's painful, immature roar, it forcibly tore them apart. The blood-soaked wounds then rapidly healed under the effect of Regeneration.
This was the first lesson given by the previous generation of Nergigante to the newborn little Nergigante.
Its name was—pain!
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