Soon, after several collisions, the Nergigante calmed down. It stopped its attacks, beating its wings and brushing away the flames that had stuck to its chest almost absentmindedly.
Logan also ceased his assault, wingbeats slowing as he exhaled a long breath.
This Nergigante really put a lot of psychological pressure on him… but after that brief exchange—about a minute or so—why did it feel like they'd fought to a standstill?
The thought had barely crossed his mind before Logan dismissed it himself.
The Nergigante's strikes had been strong, yes, but there'd been no sign of its signature black spine volleys or its reckless, trade-blow-for-blow berserker style.
It had even actively avoided some of his attacks—almost as if it wasn't fighting seriously.
And in truth, that was exactly the case. The Nergigante was angry, but not brainless. What was done was done—every bit of its life energy had already been drained by Logan. No matter how furious it was, it wasn't about to risk its life battling a Silver Fire Wyvern over such a small amount of energy.
Even though this Silver Fire Wyvern was somewhat weaker compared to the others it had seen before…
The Nergigante might be brutal, but it valued its own energy greatly. A Silver Fire Wyvern could wield combat power on par with an Elder Dragon, yet it lacked the kind of energy reserves an Elder Dragon possessed.
To the Nergigante, fighting a Silver Fire Wyvern was a losing bargain—unless it could kill it instantly upon first contact. Otherwise, win or lose, the outcome would be a loss.
But that was unrealistic. If it had the strength to one-shot a Silver Fire Wyvern, why would it be slogging through exhausting chases after Elder Dragons in the first place?
What's more, after this brief exchange, it understood that without going all out, it couldn't bring this Silver Fire Wyvern down. And if it did go all out, even defeating it didn't guarantee it could finish the job. The energy consumed in the battle would be a complete waste—pure loss.
Its energy reserves were directly tied to the survival of its species. Breeding a new Nergigante required an enormous amount of energy—something only an Elder Dragon could provide in sufficient quantity. That was why, in normal circumstances, the Nergigante conserved its energy as much as possible.
So when the cost far outweighed the gain, it would abandon its target without hesitation—even if that target wasn't a Silver Fire Wyvern, but an Elder Dragon.
One last point: in its experience, where there was a Silver Fire Wyvern, a Gold Fire Wyvern was never far away.
It had no desire to keep fighting, lest the Gold Fire Wyvern show up, forcing a drawn-out battle that would drain even more energy. Better to leave now.
With that thought in mind, the Nergigante kept its guard up in case Logan launched an attack, while preparing to retreat.
Likewise, with the countdown timer ticking away before his eyes, Logan began thinking of ways to shake off his opponent. He couldn't afford to keep burning stamina either.
Just then, within the Nergigante's line of sight, far above in the sky, a figure glinting with a golden, metallic sheen in the sunlight faintly appeared.
The color seemed… slightly off. But with the distance being so great, it couldn't make out exactly what it was.
But since the thought had already taken root in its mind, it instinctively assumed the approaching figure was the Gold Fire Wyvern.
With a roar, the Nergigante spiraled upward, every muscle in its body surging with power as countless spines erupted from its frame in a violent volley.
The moment the Nergigante moved, Logan began quietly charging up. Just as the spines shot outward, he released a compressed, fully charged fireball.
Spines and fireball collided midair, the resulting explosion shrouding both sides' vision.
Without the slightest hesitation, both the Nergigante and Logan made the same choice—
A tactical retreat in opposite directions.
Logan sped toward Aki's position, not even glancing back to see what the explosion had left behind, focused solely on getting away.
Even after his Sunlight state faded and his mind's eye no longer sounded any alarms, he didn't slow down. Carrying a confused Aki, he flew a long distance without stopping.
"Damn, that was intense!"
On a mountain ridge, Logan and Aki finally landed. Only then did Logan exhale, lowering himself to the ground to ease his fatigue.
Aki didn't care about appearances either—first her flame sac had been drained dry, then she'd had to hover in the air, and before she could recover, Logan had called her into a high-speed flight. By the end of it, she was utterly exhausted.
They leaned against each other on the mountaintop, feeling the cool breeze wash over them. Their wounds still throbbed faintly.
Only now could Logan calm himself enough to fully take in the gains from this battle.
He had to admit, the effect of that special life energy was incredible—not only had it slightly increased the upper limit of life energy capacity that usually took painstaking effort to grow, it had also greatly relieved his post-battle fatigue, and even seemed to have strengthened his body overall.
The only downside now was that he was hungry again—and Aki was even hungrier. After catching their breath, they exchanged a glance and, without a word, came to the same decision.
"Hunt!"
The next hunt went smoothly. Even though neither of them was in peak condition, they had no real trouble driving off the original predator. Once Logan and Aki tore open the shell on the back of the massive shell-armored herbivore, they began gulping down huge mouthfuls.
This trip had left them both starving, so even the less desirable cuts of meat on the shell-armored herbivore weren't spared—swallowed whole without hesitation.
Before long, they had eaten nearly two-thirds of the adult shell-armored herbivore. Only when their stomachs felt painfully full did they finally stop.
They found a wide, open area to rest, regaining their strength while waiting for their food to digest. Eating this much in one go made flying a miserable task.
Logan hadn't expected to run into a Nergigante in the Wasteland. By all logic, with the Blackveil Vaal Hazak making such a ruckus in the forest—and with a Teostra sighted there as well—Nergigante's usual habits should have driven it toward the forest. So why was it here in the Wasteland?
"Could it be that there's another Elder Dragon in this area?"
It was the only explanation Logan could think of. The Nergigante must have caught the scent of an Elder Dragon and decided to linger in the Wasteland to look for an opening. Otherwise, why would the so-called Elder Dragon Slayer ignore chasing after the Teostra or the Blackveil Vaal Hazak, or skip drooling over the powerful neighbors in the Elder's Recess, only to wander into a resource-poor place like this?
Still, whatever its reason for staying, the fact remained that Logan had crossed paths with it. He didn't know if that meant he'd now been marked.
Though the odds were slim, he had disguised himself as an ordinary Silver Rathalos before Nergigante spotted him. Even so, he couldn't shake the unease in his chest if he did nothing about it.
"When we get back, I'll have the cats pass word of Nergigante's whereabouts to the Research Commission!"
The Admiral had been chasing Nergigante's trail for some time. With a confirmed sighting in the Wasteland, there was no way he'd stay put. The Commission would certainly jump at the chance to observe an unknown Elder Dragon up close.
With that in mind, Logan and Aki, rested and recovered, set their bearings and headed home.
The Grimalkynes guarding the nest noticed that Logan's hunt had taken far longer than usual, and his appearance was disheveled. Aki even bore visible wounds.
They were startled at how dangerous the outside world seemed to have become and worried that Logan might have failed to find suitable prey. Quietly, they began planning to rally the other Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes to set aside their rations for the day and offer them all to their leader.
So when Logan saw Tonkotsu and a group of cats pushing a cart piled high with Mosswines, he was utterly baffled.
Since when had the cats' livestock production grown to the point that, even after feeding themselves and the hatchlings, they still had this much surplus meat to spare?
When he learned they had simply assumed he'd failed to catch prey and had voluntarily pooled their own food for him, Logan firmly refused.
What a joke. Never mind that he and Aki had completed their hunt successfully— even if they had come back empty-clawed, unless he were too badly injured to hunt at all, he would never stoop so low as to let the cats go hungry by giving up their own rations for his sake.
After firmly stating that they had completed their hunt—only running into some strong opponents, which was why they hadn't brought back extra meat—and sternly refusing the cats' offer, the Grimalkynes finally pushed the food cart back.
Even so, before leaving, they left behind two Mosswines, saying it had been far too long since they last offered tribute. This was their heartfelt gesture, and they hoped their Fire Wyvern boss wouldn't refuse.
At that point, Logan couldn't turn them down any further. A misunderstanding was a misunderstanding; time would clear it up.
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