The hunters naturally couldn't understand what Asterion was roaring about, but they could see his movements and clearly understand his intent.
"Master! Quick!"
With a shout, Hara was the first to run beneath the massive rock, closely followed by the Huntsman and Dot. As for the two lance-wielding hunters further away... well, good luck to them.
It wasn't a huge problem, though; they were far enough away, and Nergigante's target wasn't them.
To be honest, the feeling was somewhat surreal. Hara and the others only had to turn their heads to see Asterion's powerful thighs, and looking up revealed the razor-sharp saw-blade tail—it made them acutely aware that they were hiding behind a monster.
Nergigante's roar was exceptionally clear even through the rock wall. Frankly, the situation offered zero sense of security because right behind that wall, not far away, Teostra was also battling Bazelgeuse.
One was constantly breathing fire or spreading explosive powder across the battlefield, while the other was honking honk-honk and frantically slamming its body into Teostra. The explosive scales on its chin and tail seemed to drop without costing any stamina—the secretions didn't stop, and neither did the explosions.
The entire coastline had turned into a chaotic mess. Hara and his team had never so vividly felt the passion and vitality of the New World's monsters.
Roars, explosions, the sound of the earth being torn apart... when all these sounds intertwined, the hunters couldn't even clearly hear what the person next to them was saying.
They didn't even know why they were hiding right now, or how long they had to hide behind a rock wall that was actually quite unsafe—Teostra's fire was practically burning their butts.
Fortunately, this anxiety didn't need to last long. In less than two seconds, Asterion completed his envisioned defensive measures. Even he didn't know if it would work; he didn't want to tank Nergigante's diving spike spin with just his flesh. That would definitely skew him through and turn him into a hedgehog.
Nergigante dove.
With an aura capable of destroying heaven and earth, pitch-black spikes even shot out toward the battlefield of Teostra and Bazelgeuse. This greedy creature wanted to use its strongest wave of attacks to take out all three annoying dragons at once!
It possessed a greed that matched its power. But precisely because of Nergigante's greed, the rock wall Asterion used for cover wasn't directly facing the sky-piercing drill that was Nergigante.
Boom boom boom boom boom!!
A series of dense, deafening shattering sounds erupted, accompanied by a pervasive mist. Nergigante assaulted the earth like a tornado!
Crack!!
A pitch-black spike suddenly pierced the stone wall resting on Asterion's shoulder. Before Asterion could alertly adjust his posture to support it with his foreclaws, several more spikes penetrated the rock wall and pierced right through Asterion's shell!
"Roar!!"
Before the pain could even register, in the next instant, the stone wall Asterion was holding in front of him suddenly exploded into powder!
Large boulders, shattered rocks—given enough speed, they became bullets capable of beating a person to death.
But the danger didn't just come from the rocks, but also from the spikes mixed within them!
"Watch out, meow!!!"
Sharp feline eyes and powerful reflexes allowed Dot to clearly see a spike shooting toward the Huntsman. He sprang up from the ground, swinging his Great Sword to intercept it in mid-air!
Clang!
The hard Great Sword and the spike collided, emitting a crisp metallic ring. The slash Dot unleashed couldn't even deviate the spike's flight path by much; the force of Nergigante's spinning spike launch was far greater than the strength of a single cat, even if he was a muscle cat.
Luckily, deflecting it by just a few degrees was enough—at least the Huntsman wouldn't be skewered.
Everything happened in a split second; time was so tight there wasn't even room to shout.
Gritting his teeth as the Great Sword in his hands was bounced upward by the spike, Dot exerted force a second time, forcibly bringing the Great Sword down to block his own body—
Clang!! Crack!!
It shattered.
A hard spike drove straight into the flat of the blade. Perhaps because it had already tanked too much damage before, the Palico Great Sword—made of unknown materials—shattered into pieces large and small at that moment.
"Meow-ya!!"
Dot let out a painful scream. A fragment of the Great Sword, carried by the force of the impact, slashed across his right eye, leaving a deep gash.
"Dot!" Noticing his partner was injured, Hara shouted nervously, but he couldn't make any further moves. The spikes piercing through the rock wall weren't just attacking Dot; they were attacking everyone.
"Tsk, Huntsman! You take Dot and retreat first!" When Nergigante's tornado offensive paused briefly, Hara glanced roughly at Dot and issued the order.
"What about you?"
"Boss Glavenus's battle isn't over yet. I have to stay and witness it to the end." Wiping the blood flowing down his face, Hara revealed a wild grin. "But Dot's injuries need to be treated as soon as possible."
Forty years from now, he could hand the job of staying behind to witness things over to a certain Sapphire Star, but not yet.
Because right now, the pillar of the Research Commission wasn't some Sapphire Star, but Hara himself.
"I understand. You be careful." The Huntsman nodded and swung Dot onto his back.
"Stay safe, meow." With one paw covering his right eye, Dot spoke in a hoarse voice.
Blood had already dyed the fur on half his face red, and strands of crystalline, semi-transparent viscous liquid were dripping from his whiskers.
"Yeah, don't worry."
For a hunter, injury and even death were common occurrences. Since Dot was still alive, that was enough; the rest could be discussed once they were truly safe.
Without another word, Dot left the battlefield riding the "human cart."
Asterion naturally noticed this safety incident caused by a broken weapon. One could only say that Palico weapons were made from the leftover scraps of materials used for hunter weapons... Cough! Those who know, know.
So, poor quality was a normal thing.
Asterion's gaze was locked dead on the spot where Nergigante had drilled into the ground. That guy had turned into a drill and forcibly bored a wide, long tunnel into the earth, creating a bottomless hole at the end.
Seawater was surging in along this newly appeared channel; it probably wouldn't take long to fill that large hole, creating a new coastal lake here in the future.
Splash! Smack!
A few seconds later, a giant palm covered in mud and sand emerged from the water in the hole and slapped hard onto the rocky shore. Nergigante climbed out of the hole, cursing and swearing, constantly spitting out mud and seawater.
Unlike before, the pitch-black spikes that had covered his entire body were now completely gone. If one looked closely, on Nergigante's back and limbs, milky-white spikes were currently growing rapidly like fresh sprouts.
He quickly leaped out of the hole. Compared to earlier, Nergigante's movements were much lighter and more agile. After all, carrying those long, thick, hard, fully-hardened spikes was a considerable weight; maintaining that state for a long time was actually a burden.
He was fierce. Extremely fierce.
Asterion didn't really want to see those new spikes harden again and come at him with another Dive Bomb.
"Roar roar!! Roar roar roar!!" (Hey, you two! Let's team up!)
Asterion suddenly turned his head and shouted at the distant Teostra and Bazelgeuse.
Even if they didn't know each other before today, in the face of Nergigante's threat, everyone should unite to resist—
"Roar!!" (I refuse!)
Teostra refused without hesitation.
"Roar-honk?" (Team up?)
Bazelgeuse was somewhat interested, but not resolute. The guy seemed to still hold onto the mindset of "I'm going to fight the whole field."
"Roar?!" (Why refuse? Do you want to die that badly?)
As he said this, Asterion couldn't help but think of that old Kushala Daora... was this Teostra also a stubborn old mule?
"Roar roar roar!" (If I truly die in battle, then that is no problem.)
Teostra's expression was very dignified.
"Roar roar?!" (You're a battle maniac too??)
Asterion couldn't hold back his reaction. He turned his head to bite the base of a spike stuck in his side to pull it out, but finding it inconvenient, he turned his side toward Hara, signaling him to help pull out the spikes that had pierced the rock wall and stuck into his surface shell.
Hara, understanding the dragon's intent instantly, knew what Asterion wanted. He was very curious about what these monsters were roaring about right now, but unfortunately, he couldn't understand. He could only suppress his curiosity and pull out the spikes while waiting.
It is worth mentioning that Asterion had already discovered the nature of communication between these high-ecological-tier monsters. It wasn't so much that they used a "Dragon Language" to clearly express their intentions, but rather that they were just roaring.
When the roars fell into Asterion's ears, he would instinctively use his own knowledge and comprehension to translate these information-laden roars into words he could understand—even polishing them with his own vocabulary.
It felt like a direct mental connection. This method of communication currently only existed between high-tier monsters... with the exception of Kulu-Ya-Ku brother. Asterion suspected that bird-brain was just riding on his coattails.
The principle likely had something to do with Bioenergy, but Asterion wasn't clear on exactly how. Unless he met a knowledgeable Elder Dragon in the future and listened to the Elder Dragon tell stories of the past.
"Roar roar, roar?" (Battle maniac? You mean like this guy who loves fighting?)
Teostra cast his gaze toward Bazelgeuse on the other side. Bazelgeuse showed no sign of shyness; instead, he proudly lifted his thick neck.
"Roar-honk!" (This is what living is!)
"Roar roar roar." (No, I do not love battle.)
Teostra shook his head slightly. His tone remained calm, his breathing only slightly heavy due to the intensity of the great battle.
"Roar roar, roar roar roar." (But if I die in battle and get eaten by this kind of guy, that is also a reasonable thing.)
Saying this, Teostra glanced at the tiger-eyed Nergigante, who was licking his paws—the reason that guy hadn't attacked yet wasn't that he wanted to chat, but that he was seizing the chance to recover stamina.
High-speed regeneration consumed a lot of Bioenergy and stamina. Even Nergigante was feeling the strain, especially since Asterion had dealt him a heavy blow.
And Asterion... he seemed to somewhat understand this Teostra's meaning.
Simply put: while alive, he would strive to live, doing his best to fill his belly and defeat enemies. But if he really couldn't win, then if he died, he died. There would be no unwillingness; instead, he could calmly accept his fate of being killed, eaten, and turned into dung.
Wait, is the mindset of Elder Dragons this zen?
Asterion really couldn't hold it together. From this Teostra's words, he heard no "will of iron" or "steely resilience," nor any desperate thirst for life. Instead, it was filled with a dragon-view that if something happened in the real world, it was reasonable and should be accepted.
"Roar roar! Roar roar roar!" (What about you? Are you preparing to fight to the death like this old guy and not team up to take him out?)
Asterion turned his gaze to Bazelgeuse—a Bazelgeuse, not being an Elder Dragon, should be able to understand him, right?
"Roar-honk roar-honk!" (Not enough. Fight.)
Bazelgeuse's words were a bit stream-of-consciousness, but combined with his movements, Asterion guessed what the guy wanted to say—he hadn't fought enough yet and didn't want to turn into dung so soon.
Adjusting his direction, Bazelgeuse aimed his explosive scales at Nergigante.
And facing this provocation, Nergigante's response was simple.
"Roar!!" (You will all die!!)
Hajime, you guy, your brain is filled with nothing but eating.
Nergigante, charging in low, didn't even reach Asterion before being forcefully intercepted by Bazelgeuse. Asterion was starting to like this guy a little; at the very least, he was an excellent meat shield, perfectly using explosions to draw the enemy's attention and energy, allowing Asterion to do some sneaky stuff on the side.
For example, taking a cheap shot.
Today's second cheap shot, and again on Nergigante—Asterion, having charged up his strength, slammed a spinning tail bite directly into Nergigante's lower back!
"Roar!!!"
Roaring with head raised in anger from the bone-deep pain, but roaring took time too. Bazelgeuse excitedly raised his neck and pressed his upper body forward, pouring droplet-like blasting scales right into Nergigante's wide-open mouth!
Simply brutal!
Boom boom boom boom boom!!
At this moment, Hara finally understood what Boss Glavenus had been roaring about earlier. Clearly, Boss Glavenus had allied with that exploding monster... How rare. Monsters can form alliances against an enemy through communication?
Asterion and Bazelgeuse had already developed a bit of tacit understanding. When Nergigante tried to pounce on Asterion, Bazelgeuse would bomb wildly from the side, focusing on battlefield disruption. And when Nergigante, annoyed to death, wanted to kill Bazelgeuse, Asterion would fiercely steal some damage.
Simply perfect.
One Tank, one DPS. Add a Healer, and they'd be a standard fantasy adventure party.
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