At the highest point of the Ancient Tree, the new resource gathering team that included Jagras was fully prepared. As a gust of wind pressure swept past, four Cats and two Jagras successfully soared into the sky, drifting far away amid cries of amazement.
Logan, speechless, glanced at the Admiral, who was full of curiosity, flicked his tail in annoyance, and intended to go patrol his territory.
Without even a description or a rough sketch, just relying on some inexplicable guesses to ask him—was this the work of some unknown Elder Dragon of the New World?
Wasn't this a joke?
Just with a through-and-through wound on a Rathalos's wing, dismantling the abandoned dwelling place in the Wildspire Waste, and seemingly driving away, all on its own, the monsters that had occupied that dwelling place.
With only these conditions, there were too many Elder Dragons in the New World capable of such things. How was Logan supposed to guess? Did they really take him for an encyclopedia?
Unwilling to deal with the scatterbrained Admiral, Logan and Aki, who was already somewhat impatient, flew out of the nest together.
"Uh… has Boss Fire Wyvern been in a bad mood lately?"
The Admiral gave Tonkotsu a sheepish smile. Although Logan had shown impatience before, it had never been like today, leaving without a single word.
"Sigh~"
Tonkotsu let out a breath, shook his head without saying anything, and simply pulled the Admiral toward the Fire Wyvern and Cat Pavilion to get something to eat.
In Tonkotsu's view, the Admiral must have been starving to the point of confusion to come up with such an abstract description.
...
In a basin of the Ancient Forest with a massive fissure, the Cats of the resource gathering team were using detectors for surveying. Not far away, a broken stone pillar over 10 m tall was covered in moss.
From the sky, one could clearly see that within this basin there were many such stone pillars. Some bent and broken pillars even had sections strung together with hanging vines, still maintaining connections.
Steak looked at the detector in his hand, which was beeping nonstop. It seemed that in many parts of this underground area, metal or metal ores were buried.
Steak put away the detector and slowly let out a breath.
"Bring the ropes, we're going down to take a look, meow!"
The great fissure in this basin seemed to have split open only in recent years due to earthquakes. It was just over 20 m wide, the soil on both sides looked freshly exposed, and many broken tree roots had not yet fully rotted.
At the command, the Cats each took out a rope, and after approaching the fissure, they were about to find spots to set anchor pitons.
Just then, from the bushes beside the fissure, a blue-black, hyena-like figure slowly poked out its head.
Drool dripped from the slightly parted corners of its mouth.
Its nostrils flared, constantly sniffing the surrounding scents, and the long fangs beneath those nostrils were vicious beyond compare.
Its forepaws, bearing 10 sharp claws, reached forward and stepped soundlessly onto the soil, and it quickly locked onto its target.
With light and swift steps, the Ebony Odogaron sprinted like the wind toward the two Jagras following behind the Cats.
"Ah! A monster, meow!!"
As an endemic species of the New World and a subspecies of Odogaron, the Ebony Odogaron had no entry in the Research Commission's records, and because its numbers were not large, even though it lived in the Ancient Forest, it was still rarely seen.
The Ebony Odogaron accelerated, then leapt from the highest point on the opposite side of the fissure!
For an Ebony Odogaron with a body length of 16 m, this distance was nothing more than a single jump.
With soil fountaining between its claws, the Ebony Odogaron skidded to a halt in a drift-like pose. With that strange low growl, it glared unkindly at the Cats, who had already drawn their weapons.
As a hunter Cat personally trained by Tonkotsu, Steak also wielded a hammer—but unlike Tonkotsu, Steak's hammer was actually shaped like a cat paw.
At this moment, a hunter Cat and three Palicoes, along with two Jagras crouched low on either side in attacking stances, faced off against the Ebony Odogaron.
As a subspecies of Odogaron possessing Dragon element power, the Ebony Odogaron did not care about these little things. It had only one thought now—to eat those two Jagras and fill its belly!
Just as the three Palicoes quietly pulled out Flash Pods, preparing to give the Ebony Odogaron a surprise, a loud sound of a massive object scraping the ground came from inside the basin nearby.
Both sides in the standoff turned to look.
And there, swaggering in, was the Ahtal-Ka dragging along its "dowry."
The Ebony Odogaron's nose twitched rapidly again, its severely weakened eyes only able to make out a rough outline.
'This size, and no wings! A feast!!'
That was the only thought in the Ebony Odogaron's mind!
This basin had originally been its territory. But ever since the sudden earthquake two years ago that not only altered the river's course but also split open this fissure, the number of Aptonoth coming here had begun to decrease.
The lack of prey, coupled with its uncontrollable Dragon element that left it perpetually hungry, often had the Ebony Odogaron starving.
Therefore, now, as long as a monster entered its territory, if it could not fly, it would pounce to try and hunt it.
At this moment, with this unknown monster appearing—one that carried no aura of an Elder Dragon—the Ebony Odogaron, true to the "fearless" trait inherited from its kin, abandoned the Cats and Jagras and boldly charged at the Ahtal-Ka.
Under the sunlight, the Ahtal-Ka's carapace gleamed, its pair of purple compound eyes reflecting the Ebony Odogaron's figure. As its scythe-like forelimbs exerted strength, a massive wooden pillar was drawn out from the "dowry" behind it, and under the pull of silk threads, came crashing straight down toward the Ebony Odogaron.
This pillar was over 10 m long, almost as long as the Ebony Odogaron itself. If it really struck, then just that one blow would be enough to flatten the Ebony Odogaron.
[Boom!]
Soil splattered, weeds and leaves burst apart. With a loud crash, a broken log swept past above the Cats' heads with a sharp whoosh. The gust it stirred made the fur on their heads stand straight, both pairs of ears flattening into airplane ears, leaving them frozen in place, not daring to move.
The Ebony Odogaron made a narrow, desperate side-leap to dodge, and at the spot where it had been standing, a deep pit was smashed open.
Without the slightest pause, the Ebony Odogaron pressed its limbs into the ground and launched another charge, dodging Ahtal-Ka's retracting silk. Its sharply defined muscles gleamed in the sunlight with explosive power as it closed the distance.
Its two hind legs stomped hard, claws jutting from the phalanges of its forelimbs, slashing across toward Ahtal-Ka, who had not yet drawn back the long pillar.
Closer, closer!
The Ebony Odogaron's blood-reeking jaws, still dripping with foul saliva, opened wide. As long as this strike landed, it could hook its claws into the opponent's body, then follow up with endless tearing and gnawing until its foe's life was gone!
[Whoosh~]
A massive stone sphere suddenly flew in from behind Ahtal-Ka, and the Ebony Odogaron, with no way to dodge mid-pounce, was smashed full in the face.
In the Cats' sight, the Ebony Odogaron flew back just as fast as it had lunged forward.
"Hurts, right, meow?"
"It must hurt, meow!"
The Ebony Odogaron's body crashed down, rolling uncontrollably several times before its powerful limbs steadied it again and it scrambled back to its feet.
Its aching jaws clicked with crisp cracks as it worked them—just now, that blow had nearly knocked it unconscious.
After taking that hit, the Ebony Odogaron regained some reason. Dark gas seeped from the corners of its mouth, and its neck was flushed red by the special high heat of dragon element energy.
This time its opponent was indeed very strong, but it refused to yield!!
It still wanted to fight!!
Its eyes, under the full surge of dragon element, turned scarlet and profound, and at this moment the Ebony Odogaron's entire body radiated a violent aura.
In this world, anything that possessed dragon element—no matter its ecological niche—was a top-tier monster. Though it carried all sorts of side effects, it could not be denied: dragon element was indeed one of the strongest elemental forces in this world.
"Captain, aren't we leaving yet, meow?"
At this time, a Grimalkyne follower carrying a little shovel and wearing a small set of leather armor, looking just like an engineering Cat, softly reminded Steak.
Steak stared at the two enormous beasts not far away and began stepping backward little by little.
"Quietly, don't draw their attention, meow!"
At the order, several Cats maintained their defensive formation and carefully edged backward, terrified of making too much noise and drawing the attention of those two monsters.
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