With Logan flying at full speed, a trip that would normally take over three days was completed in just a day and a half.
When the Research Commission noticed a Fire Wyvern appearing above the outpost, everyone immediately assumed a defensive stance. Some ballistae crafted by the Second Fleet were even already aimed at Logan.
It wasn't until Tonkotsu, who was also aboard the ship, confirmed Logan's identity—and with the Admiral, leaning on his cane, personally vouching for him—that unnecessary conflict was avoided.
Logan landed on the roof of the ship's cabin and had the Grimalkyne quickly begin communicating. Meanwhile, he took the opportunity to rest and recover his stamina.
Everyone in the Commission was curious about a Fire Wyvern resting so brazenly atop the ship, but under the Admiral's orders, no one came to disturb him.
"So that's what happened. The Rathian was injured that badly?"
After hearing the translation from Tonkotsu, the Admiral quickly understood the situation. He immediately ordered the materials in the basket to be sorted and, calculating the previously delivered materials and the remaining reward balance from the Zinogre batch, filled the basket with a sufficient amount of stored medicine.
The Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes who had been training at the Astera outpost wanted to return with him, but after being refused, they could only watch helplessly as Logan took off again with the basket and flew urgently into the distance.
This time, the return trip was much heavier due to the basket's contents. By the time Logan made it back to the nest, he was panting heavily.
After instructing the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne leader to apply the medicine and administer the oral drugs to Aki, Logan gulped down several mouthfuls of water, ate some food, and lay down beside Aki with his eyes closed to rest.
Fortunately, the rewards from the Rajang hunt had been quite generous. Even now, Logan remained in a state of passive life energy absorption.
As a result, his stamina recovered rapidly. After two days of nonstop travel, just half a day of sleep was enough to nearly restore him fully.
After eating a little, Logan quietly stayed by Aki's side.
But only Logan himself knew that beneath his calm exterior lay a volcano on the verge of eruption—an anger suppressed for far too long, now approaching its limit.
On the second day of using the healing medicine, Aki's wounds had visibly improved, and her overall condition had become much better.
With the Fire Wyverns' natural regenerative abilities combined with the Research Commission's high-grade healing potions, her recovery was well underway, with little risk of lingering damage.
Seeing Aki's recovery, Logan could no longer hold back. With firm resolve, he declared that he would go out and hunt down the Deviljho—to avenge her!
Aki didn't stop him. Now that she had regained some strength, her emotions were no longer as fragile.
Just as Logan had unwavering confidence in her strength, Aki had the same faith in Logan's power.
With Aki's support, and her trusting gaze behind him, Logan took flight from the nest, heading toward the area indicated in the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne leader's report.
That's right—during these days, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes hadn't been idle. They had been continuously searching throughout the Ancient Forest.
And the Deviljho hadn't even tried to hide its tracks. Even after its battle with Aki, it continued roaming and hunting.
Carnivores or herbivores, adults or juveniles—any creature that crossed its path became prey for its jaws.
This unrestrained disruption of the food chain had triggered alarm among many other species.
Driven by instinct, some of the more powerful monsters had also begun to seek out the Deviljho's trail.
Every Deviljho is an enemy to all life within the ecosystem. Even if its behavior follows its own ecological pattern, it still cannot escape the fate of being besieged by other creatures.
In fact, being reviled and surrounded by all other lifeforms is itself part of the Deviljho's ecological nature.
The forest was vast. After two days of searching, Logan finally found it—at the outskirts of the Ancient Forest.
What he hadn't expected, however, was that some other monsters had already found the Deviljho before him.
Clamped tightly in the Deviljho's jaws was a sizeable Great Jagras. With its overwhelming bite force, it held the Great Jagras firmly and, as if wielding a greatsword, swung the poor creature's body like a weapon, striking at the monsters surrounding it.
By now, the Deviljho's body was already covered in wounds of varying sizes.
But such injuries meant little to the Deviljho, whose entire body was practically a mass of muscle.
The ambush had only just begun, and already, the unfortunate Great Jagras had become the first casualty.
A blinding flash of lightning lunged toward it. Without hesitation, the Deviljho hurled the Great Jagras forward.
At the moment of collision, its massive, muscular tail whipped upward, slamming into the Glavenus's throat—specifically, the fire sac where molten flames were being charged.
Flames erupted inside Glavenus's mouth. The resulting impact forced its head to the side, sending it crashing to the ground.
Meanwhile, the Fulgur Anjanath's "Raikiri" clashed directly with the airborne Great Jagras in the Deviljho's jaws, snuffing out the last of the Jagras's life—and bringing the attack to a halt.
"Gyoyoyoyo~!"
Taking advantage of the opening, the Ebony Odogaron—lurking at the edge of the fray—leapt nimbly onto the Deviljho's back. Its sharp claws and dragon-element-infused bites tore into the Deviljho's flesh, carving deep gashes across its body.
The Deviljho finally released the nearly-bitten-through Great Jagras from its mouth and rolled across the ground, forcing the Ebony Odogaron to jump off.
Just then, an Arch-Tempered Anjanath soared into the air and came crashing down with a powerful stomp.
But even this assault was taken head-on by the Deviljho. Its muscles surged as it braced and heaved upward, flipping the Arch-Tempered Anjanath off its feet.
By the time Logan arrived, the Deviljho was already locked in a standoff with these four monsters.
A dragon's roar, filled with boundless fury, echoed through the skies as Logan's figure appeared above the battlefield.
He hadn't expected to encounter an old "friend" here—the Fulgur Anjanath, which he hadn't seen in ages.
But Logan's target right now wasn't it. The one that had injured Aki—that damn Deviljho—was his primary objective.
The Deviljho—this beast was practically composed entirely of muscle. Its coarse hide boasted a level of defense akin to dragon scales. Enormous in size, unmatched in strength, and not particularly slow, it could be described as the most archetypal specimen of the Brute Wyvern class.
Its ability to disrupt ecosystems was unmatched among apex predators, and its combat strength was just as outrageous. Once it harnessed its dragon-elemental power and its muscles swelled, it could even match Elder Dragons in battle.
That said, among the apex predators monsters, it was relatively the easiest to deal with. Compared to the Rajang—with its broken, cheat-like capabilities, supreme reflexes, and combat instincts—or Bazelgeuse, with its aerial superiority and versatile explosive scales, the Deviljho had one fatal weakness.
Hunger.
Hunger dulled its mind and weakened its combat awareness.
During battle, its massive muscle mass meant it burned through stamina at an alarming rate, which only intensified its hunger.
Among all the apex predators, it was the one least suited for prolonged combat. Extended fights often forced it to burn through its life force to make up for lost stamina.
Once pushed beyond its limit, the insatiable hunger would drive it mad—so crazed that it would ignore enemy attacks just to snatch a single bite of food, even if it meant dying in the process.
Of course, few monsters ever managed to push it to that point.
The Deviljho had also noticed Logan hovering above. But due to its size, its focus remained fixed on the Fulgur Anjanath and the Glavenus.
Logan, being ignored, had no interest in wondering what the Deviljho was thinking.
His fury surging, flames began gathering in his throat. Down below, the Fulgur Anjanath spotted this and immediately gave up its offensive, darting to the side.
Sure enough, a charged fireball burst from Logan's jaws—a blazing greeting—hurtling downward and striking the Deviljho squarely as it wrestled with the Ebony Odogaron.
A thunderous explosion rang out.
The massive Deviljho was knocked off its feet by the blast, and even the nearby Ebony Odogaron was sent flying by the shockwave.
Scrambling to its feet, the Ebony Odogaron glanced toward Logan with a faintly aggrieved expression.
But Logan couldn't care less about the Ebony Odogaron's look.
When the Deviljho got up, the spot on its back that had taken the full brunt of the fireball was badly scorched. The muscles there still twitched from the pain.
Logan dove down, his claws engulfed in raging flames, aiming straight for the Deviljho's head.
The Deviljho instinctively opened its massive jaws, flexing its muscles to snap toward Logan's predicted landing point with incredible speed and precision.
[Crack!]
It missed!
The attack had been a feint. Logan had halted mid-dive directly above the Deviljho. With a beat of his wings, he released a stream of liquid fire that rained down, coating the beast's head in flames that clung and continued to burn.
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