The Radiant Crystal Butterflies and Qurio, which had originally been locked in fierce combat, suddenly froze mid-movement. Right before the shockwave arrived, both sides simultaneously ceased fighting and rapidly piled together into separate spheres, like ant balls, sacrificing their outer companions in order to protect the more important ones inside.
Meanwhile, aboard the Mobile Research Base, which had been loading shells while observing the situation, they sensed that something was wrong the instant the white light flashed.
Even at such a distance, their vision was still damaged; through the blur they caught sight of the Qurio's movements, and the Third Fleet Master made a snap decision, ordering everyone to brace for the impact.
Sure enough, only a few seconds later a violent shockwave struck. Like a ship hit by a tsunami, the entire Mobile Research Base shook wildly under the impact, with creaking sounds of strain coming from every part of the hull.
However, fortunately, this vessel had been refitted from the Third Fleet's flagship, and all of the materials used and construction techniques applied back then were the very best available. On top of that, they also had Logan and Mother Chameleos to thank; if it had not been for their presence, the Third Fleet would never have expanded, the number of forces joining would not have increased, and they would not have received aid from the kingdom that allowed every material used in the hull to be upgraded.
Precisely because of this, although the Mobile Research Base was blasted far back by the shockwave, it still managed to hold together, and no catastrophic midair breakup occurred.
After the violent shaking, everyone aboard the Mobile Research Base quickly scrambled to their feet, fighting through their dizziness as they pulled a bulging little sealed pouch from their person, pressed it over their mouth and nose, and took a deep breath.
As sufficient oxygen entered their bodies, that dizzy feeling was greatly reduced.
After two Wyverian scholars had poured a bottle of potion down the throat of the Third Fleet Master, who had already fainted, they put a mask on her and carried her into the cabin. While waiting for her to wake up, they quickly began tallying the damage and checking whether they could still fly back to rejoin the battle.
Even the Mobile Research Base that was relatively far away had suffered such an impact, so it was easy to imagine just how astonishing the power of the supernova Logan had created with Calamity Flame as its core truly was.
Once the light faded, Nergigante and Logan could no longer be seen in the sky. Both the Radiant Crystal Butterflies and the Qurio had also suffered heavy losses in the aftermath of the explosion. Only the portion protected in their cores remained, and after wobbling back into the air, they once again began a new bout of slaughter in the sky.
On the shallow marsh flats, Nergigante, deeply sunk into the mud, looked utterly miserable at this moment. On the head exposed above the mire, his two huge demonic horns had broken off irregularly; one of them had even snapped vertically, with that crack running all the way down to the base, and a large amount of scarlet blood was flowing out from the fissure at the root.
One of his arms hung limp, the thick regenerative shell there shattered. Let alone growing new spikes, he could hardly even heal the wound or stop the blood from pouring out.
With the injuries outside the mud already this severe, there was no need to even mention the parts of his body buried in the mire.
Thinking back to that moment, he had already been in a rampaging state and not only failed to dodge in time, but had directly taken the brunt of the damage.
The violent explosion had, in the very first instant, broken through his Rending Thorn Extinction Spiral - Heaven. Then the pure blast damage snapped off his spikes, smashed apart his taut muscles, tore open his flesh, and shattered his bones, and in the end, like a cannonball, he was hurled into the marsh along with the shockwave.
Nergigante had never imagined that in just these few short years Logan would actually be able to come up with a technique like this. The way this move manifested was very familiar to him—after all, he had once hunted down Teostra as well—but although the move was the same, its power was completely different.
This strike from Logan had already surpassed the attacks a regular Elder Dragon could unleash. The last time Nergigante had been this miserable was when he had taken the initiative to provoke Kulve Taroth and had taken a blast of ultra-high-temperature heat wave head-on while she was in a berserk state.
In other words, this attack from Logan was already an attack that only a disaster-level Elder Dragon could unleash.
"What a loss, what a disastrous loss~"
Nergigante, looking utterly bereft of hope, gazed at the faint stars in the sky now that the sun had set. The pain in his body was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
Back to where he had started all at once?
No, no, no! With this one exchange, he had not only lost the pure life energy he had gained from the Qurio over this mere half year, he had even paid out all the life energy he had, over these past years since his battle with Kulve Taroth, finally managed to accumulate again.
After that battle with Kulve Taroth back then, he had spent quite a long time just to regrow his severed limbs, and then more than three years more to build his energy back up again, only then filling the deficit in his body so that, under the summons of nature's consciousness, he could join the fight to stop Yama Tsukami.
Then this time, how long would he have to spend?
Suddenly, Nergigante's pupils contracted. The silver-white figure that had wobbled as it flew back up into the sky pulled him out of his state of brooding over gains and losses.
As the one who had caused all of this, even Logan had not expected that this move, unleashed at full power, would actually have such tremendous force. Even though he had prepared multiple layers of protection and had precisely adjusted the direction in which the energy would be released, he was still left with considerable injuries from the subsequent explosion.
Fortunately, this strike had been released high in the sky. Apart from blasting away the clouds in this region, it did not deal too much damage to the ground below; otherwise, the terrain of this entire area would have changed in elevation, and the underground currents might even have shifted their course during the quake.
In the sky, the battle between the Radiant Crystal Butterflies and the Qurio had already reached its end. Fortunately, the number of Qurio had not exceeded Logan's expectations, and quite a few Radiant Crystal Butterflies still remained. Aside from those that continued chasing the fleeing Qurio, the rest flew toward Logan's wings under Nergigante's eye-popping gaze.
Their needle-like, beak-shaped mouthparts pierced through Logan's battered and scarred scales, willingly offering up all of their energy.
As that pure energy poured into him, large numbers of Radiant Crystal Butterflies died, while Logan's condition, thanks to the replenishment of energy, began visibly recovering.
Especially those injuries on his body that looked particularly miserable—under the effect of Regeneration, they continued to heal, returning to an unharmed state.
Nergigante, watching all of this unfold, trembled all over. It was impossible to tell whether it was from anger or from pain.
Wasn't what Logan was doing right now exactly what he himself had been aching to do just moments ago?
Moreover, these butterfly-like insects not only possessed the combat strength to fight the Qurio, but also the ability to provide energy to their host.
With such a stark contrast, if this wasn't cheating, what was?
A giant question rose in Nergigante's heart. He could not understand: clearly both he and Logan were doing similar things, so why had they ended up with completely opposite outcomes?
Seeing Logan's aura gradually stabilizing, Nergigante knew he could not sit and wait for death. Dragging his body—which had barely recovered a bit of mobility—he struggled out of the mire. Driven by a powerful will to survive, he desperately suppressed his own aura, fixed a direction, then spread his wings to float atop the mud and used his still-intact hand and foot to paddle himself toward that side.
By the time Logan finished scanning his surroundings and finally found Nergigante's figure, he saw the big black hedgehog—whose horns and tail were both broken—dive headfirst into the outlet of an underground current and vanish within the rippling water.
Looking up at the bright night sky, and hearing the Fire Wyverns in the distance—who had found his trail and were roaring as they rushed toward him—Logan, beneath the newly risen moonlight, raised his head and answered with a roar that was weary yet still resoundingly loud!!
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