That's right.
In the Pukei-Pukei's eyes, this Rathian was completely insane.
She was clearly smaller than it, yet she dared to drive it away. When intimidation failed, she even charged straight at it.
Everyone knew that Pukei-Pukei judged combat power purely by size.
If the opponent was smaller, it meant "I can win."
If the opponent was bigger, it would immediately turn tail and surrender.
That was why, in some regions, Pukei-Pukei would even foolishly attack Rajang—creatures capable of threatening smaller Elder Dragons.
And the result?
They would be beaten senseless.
If not for their poor meat quality and toxic bodies, they would've ended up as someone's dinner.
This was also why, despite being a mostly herbivorous bird wyvern and suffering such heavy injuries, this Pukei-Pukei was still willing to keep fighting Aji.
If this had been the old Kael, relying only on Acceleration, he really would've been able to do nothing more than scratch it once.
Whether that scratch could break skin was questionable.
But the chance of his claw snapping was quite high.
Now, however, things were different.
With Huge Power combined with Acceleration—
And paired with his highly deceptive "harmless hatchling" appearance—
Kael was fully capable of giving anyone who underestimated him a nasty surprise.
Like this Pukei-Pukei.
It flared the feathers around its neck to make itself look more intimidating.
In doing so, it completely exposed its back to Kael.
And it would pay dearly for that mistake.
One claw.
Just one claw.
A long gash was torn open across its exposed back.
Flesh split apart.
Scales were forcibly ripped away.
The tearing pain made the Pukei-Pukei's frog-like eyes bulge wide.
Its defensive stance against Aji's charge faltered—
And in the next instant, it was slammed away by her headlong rush.
It had to be said.
Under the nourishment of leyline energy, the muscles and bones of giant monsters in this world were terrifyingly strong.
After taking Aji's full-powered charge head-on, the Pukei-Pukei still managed to scramble back up and launch a counterattack.
Kael, who had just delivered his strike, hadn't even landed yet.
His wings flapped rapidly.
After gliding a short distance, he rose back into the air.
His claw throbbed faintly with pain.
But once battle began, he ignored it completely.
His mind was crystal clear.
On the ground, he would only hold Aji back.
Only by staying airborne—constantly diving in to harass—could he truly help her.
Below, the two giant beasts clashed again.
Grappling.
Biting.
Venom.
Tail swings.
Brutal charges.
Every collision was a contest of raw power.
The Pukei-Pukei's venom was deadly.
But Rathians also had strong resistance to toxins.
Aji's flames were dangerous.
Yet the Pukei-Pukei was highly experienced, constantly sticking close and engaging in melee, never giving her time to charge her fire.
So their battle devolved into pure close combat.
The difference now was that—
There was a third participant.
A sneaky "sixth man" who kept diving down like a hunting crow, striking the Pukei-Pukei and immediately pulling back up.
Again and again.
Kael didn't land a solid hit every time.
But every dive targeted weak points—its neck, its eyes, its head.
Forcing the Pukei-Pukei to defend constantly.
And whenever it did, Aji seized the opportunity to smash it.
In this righteous two-versus-one fight, even a tough, battle-hardened Pukei-Pukei with abundant stamina began to sense danger after repeated losses.
After one fierce clash, it forcibly endured Aji's tail strike.
Then it opened its mouth wide and released a massive cloud of poison mist.
In an instant, both it and Aji were engulfed.
From the sky, Kael temporarily lost sight of them.
The next second, the Pukei-Pukei burst out from the other side of the fog and fled miserably into the depths of the forest.
It was done.
It had surrendered.
It was abandoning this territory.
The Pukei-Pukei still had strength left.
If it focused on escaping, neither Kael nor Aji could kill it at their current state.
So Kael had no intention of pursuing.
Below, Aji flapped her wings, dispersing the poison mist.
This level of toxin didn't affect her much—it mainly blocked vision.
After confirming that the enemy was gone, she let out a triumphant roar.
Victory.
But when her gaze turned to Kael, who was diving toward her, her expression became complicated.
Kael was thrilled.
This was his first real battle.
Even if he had only played a support role, it was still genuine combat.
It meant he was no longer the weakling who had been chased all over the place by Diablos a month ago.
He now had the ability to survive in this world.
He thought this would be a touching reunion.
That Aji would rub against him affectionately and celebrate their victory together.
Instead…
What greeted him was hostility.
"W-What… what's going on?"
Kael didn't understand.
Why was Aji being hostile toward him?
Whenever he got close, she would let out a low growl and lower her body in a clear posture of rejection.
"Aji…"
He tried approaching again.
A fireball exploded in front of him.
Aji stared at him coldly.
When she saw the disbelief and confusion on his face, a trace of struggle flashed in her icy eyes.
But it vanished just as quickly.
After glaring at him once more, she turned around and left without hesitation.
Kael instinctively followed.
She suddenly turned back and roared.
The sound was filled with rejection and warning.
He seemed to understand something.
Yet he still refused to give up, trailing behind her from afar.
He watched as Aji, even while injured, easily hunted another prey.
Watched her devour it completely.
Leaving him nothing.
Watched her accelerate back to her territory and return to the forest above the nest.
There, a Pukei-Pukei—slightly smaller than Aji, with a pair of "wise" big eyes—ran straight into her.
After freezing for a second, it panicked.
The poison mushroom in its mouth flew out as it fled in terror, showing no intention of fighting.
"So… this is the Pukei-Pukei I know?"
"Then who was the one from earlier?"
Kael was stunned.
Aji was stunned too.
She had just…
Apparently…
Mistaken her opponent.
But so what?
The fight was over.
The territory was secured.
Whether she'd mistaken it or not didn't matter anymore.
What mattered most was this—
Her hatchling could now fly.
He could live on his own.
He…
No longer needed her protection.