Under the watchful eyes of the Investigation Team, Logan flew over the ship, heading toward the forest's depths.
At that moment, a Chameleos sprawled on a cliffside beneath the ship's hull glanced at him, then closed its eyes again.
It remained confident in its camouflage—confident that even while it slept, no creature could detect its presence.
In the several hundred years it had spent in the New World, not a single creature had ever truly discovered its whereabouts.
If not for that fool from its last clutch—hatched unusually early by sheer luck—causing a massacre in the middle of the forest a few years back, the creatures of the New World might never have known a Chameleos was here at all.
For that reason, it had been furious with the young Chameleos. And with its bonds of kinship being so thin, it had felt little concern over the younger one's ultimate fate. Whether it lived or died was its own doing; there was no sorrow or regret in its heart.
Like the Astalos, Chameleos laid its eggs and then buried them in soil, covering them with a layer of rotting branches or leaves—never again paying them any mind.
Whether the hatchlings could survive to birth—or what might happen to them afterward—the parents didn't care. They raised them entirely in the wild.
Still, Chameleos had one advantage over Astalos: a young Chameleos could instinctively turn invisible and disperse mist from the moment it was born. Astalos hatchlings had no such ability, relying only on their natural camouflage to eke out each day in constant fear.
During its juvenile stage, a Chameleos fed mostly on insects or wild mountain delicacies. Because its habitats were humid mountain forests or swamps, such food was never in short supply.
With the ability to hide itself, a young Chameleos could live out its vulnerable youth in relative safety. Perhaps it was this early experience that made Chameleos spend its entire life in a state of cautious vigilance, developing a nature that avoided conflict with stronger creatures and kept to itself.
That was why, in this adult Chameleos's eyes, the young one that had caused that massacre must have been utterly mad.
In its long lifetime, it had birthed more than one Chameleos, but never had it seen one so ostentatious—practically begging to be killed.
Well, look how that turned out.
Ever since that incident, it had never laid eyes on that young Chameleos again.
...
The thought of a Chameleos's presence did cross Logan's mind, but since the Investigation Team had not asked for his help—and he himself had found nothing amiss—he chose not to dwell on it.
Besides, with the Investigation Team's current setup, unless it was one of those absurdly powerful Elder Dragons, or one that avoided direct combat and used disasters as targeted attacks, the safety of Astera was nothing to worry about.
Those dismantled Dragonators weren't just for show.
As Logan flew over the forest canopy, the scene below came into view.
The outer forest bordering Astera was much like the Fire Wyverns' current territory—large monsters had increased in number, skirmishes between hunting grounds were frequent, and even Tobi-Kadachi had begun appearing to clash with Great Jagras.
The deeper he went, the more the air grew thick with effluvium.
When drifting clusters of effluvium spores came into sight, Logan slowed to a halt.
Astera was much closer to the Ancient Tree's depths than the Fire Wyverns' settlement. After only a few hours' flight, he was already seeing effluvium spores.
There was no need to go farther. A single circuit of the area was enough to gauge the state of the forest's interior.
Logan hadn't expected that, in such a suffocating environment—where effluvium and spores choked the entire inner forest—creatures were still managing to endure.
A herd of Aptonoth, their hides covered in ashen spores, looked gaunt and unwell.
Yet they kept forcing their weakened bodies to eat and drink.
The larger Aptonoth used the horns on their heads to scrape away the spores clinging to the smaller ones, and once the young had fed, they nudged them into the grass. The adults would then surround the young, pressing their bodies into the tall grass, mixing themselves into the heap to cover as much of the calves as possible—doing everything they could to keep their fragile bodies hidden from exposure.
For the low-intelligence Aptonoth, they had no idea that simply following the river downstream for about half a day's journey would take them out of the spore zone entirely.
To them, these spores and the effluvium were everywhere. After their initial migration failed to carry them beyond the spores' reach, they gave up on leaving altogether. Instead, they began instinctively using their own bodies as living shields, buying the calves a slim chance at survival.
Given their limited intelligence, this was the best solution they could come up with.
During this latest "stroll" of the Blackveil Vaal Hazak, who knew how many lives it would claim? Yet under such a natural disaster, the creatures unable to escape each fought to survive in their own way.
After circling twice and realizing that going deeper would reveal nothing new, Logan began the return flight.
Deeper in the forest, the Blackveil Vaal Hazak that had ventured out was finally intercepted by the Teostra.
In the Teostra's fury, the entire forest went up in flames. The battle raged for half an hour, scouring the area clean of both effluvium and spores.
But in the end, a sudden wave of effluvium obscured the Teostra's vision, and by the time it cleared, the Blackveil Vaal Hazak had already vanished.
During the fight, the Blackveil Vaal Hazak had gone all out from the very start, unleashing its full strength immediately—a tactic that even left the Teostra a bit stunned.
Since when did Elder Dragons skip the opening probes and go straight into an all-out assault? Were all the Elder Dragons in the New World this insane?
Fortunately, the Teostra was no pushover and quickly adapted to the rhythm of the battle.
But just as it tore apart the hide draped over the Blackveil Vaal Hazak, revealing the silver-white scales beneath, the creature turned tail and fled.
Though it hadn't completely crushed its foe, the Teostra had at least uncovered the Blackveil Vaal Hazak's weakness.
From the very start, it had noticed that one side of the Blackveil Vaal Hazak's body lacked that layer of hide, and throughout the battle, its opponent had gone out of its way to protect that area.
From this, it was clear that only by striking the areas covered in those silver-white scales could one truly wound the opponent.
Armed with this knowledge, the next time it met the Blackveil Vaal Hazak would be the moment it drove it back.
With that realization, the Teostra once again set off in pursuit.
Because of their battle, the area the Teostra had cleared was massive, and the flames it left behind blocked the effluvium from flowing back in.
After a rainfall extinguished the flames, the effluvium spores still failed to re-cover that territory, giving any creature that wandered into the area an unexpected window of respite.
...
Logan remained in Astera for three full days. During that time, aside from eating, he spent each day flying about. He found himself longing for that ley line branch—the way its life energy enveloped him, flooding every corner of his body each day, the sensation like a sauna's steam soaking into his scales. It was the kind of comfort a wyvern could truly become addicted to.
Fortunately, with the Investigation Team working hard, both the personnel for departure and the supplies to be carried were soon ready. After calming the Noios, which had grown restless and uneasy in Logan's presence, the group finally set out.
This time, besides Tonkotsu—who would guide the way home—there were two technical advisors for preliminary surveys, two hunters, and several Felynes carrying supplies, all suspended beneath the wingdrakes, swaying as they flew.
Logan grew impatient with the wingdrakes' pace, but after some persuasion from the Grimalkyne Fire Wyvern leader, he reluctantly slowed to match them.
Thus, what would normally have taken him a single day and night to fly alone instead stretched to a full two days.
When they finally returned to his territory, Logan wasted no time in calling Aki to join him, heading straight for the ley line branch.
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