After receiving a notice from Boss Nature, Logan, having deactivated his Sunlight trait, came early to rest on the Mobile Research Base. While he was enjoying the delicacies prepared by the logistics personnel on the base, the weather suddenly changed.
At first, Logan thought it was Kushala Daora or some other Elder Dragon capable of bringing gales and torrential rain coming to wrap things up for this marshland whose ecology had already collapsed. But as his line of sight shifted, he quickly locked onto the Elder Dragon that was whipping up the storm.
Dragon-like yet serpent-like, its whole body was a grayish white, about thirty-four meters long. Many white dorsal fins like coral grew along its back, joined together by smooth white membranes, and as it moved, large amounts of white vapor coiled around its body.
If it were not currently flying within the clouds, anyone who saw it would probably just think it was a very good-looking sea-dragon type.
But in reality, this being stood at the very top of the ecological niche, a disaster-class Elder Dragon—a calamity dragon that symbolized storms, the "Heaven's Catastrophe": Amatsu!
"There's actually an Amatsu in the New World?"
Logan's eyes narrowed slightly. The membrane over his pupils opened, forcing out the raindrops that had gotten into his eyes.
Unlike ordinary Elder Dragons, which only occasionally unleash their authority and bring about disasters, for Amatsu, which has mastered multiple powers of wind, water, and thunder, a storm is merely its mount. Whenever it pauses somewhere even briefly, it will trigger terrifying floods in that area.
Compared with Amatsu, Kushala Daora, which can likewise cause storms, is practically a perfect gentleman.
A being like that would not deliberately make a special trip just for a swamp that had only just undergone a great purge and whose ecology had already gone extinct. In Logan's view, it was most likely merely passing through.
"That guy—is it a new enemy?"
At Logan's side, the Admiral noticed the change in Logan's mood. Standing in the rain, he squinted at Amatsu, which was moving along atop the storm, his tone grave.
After all, the investigations over this period had already shown that the Qurio and Nergigante were most likely only in a cooperative relationship, and that the master of the Qurio was someone else. This had led to the current situation where, whenever the Admiral saw an unfamiliar Elder Dragon appearing in the marsh region, he would subconsciously make certain associations.
Logan's body paused, and he looked speechlessly at the Admiral.
He had not expected that the Admiral actually did not recognize Amatsu—and even seemed to harbor some hostility toward it.
"Roar~" (It is most likely just passing through. Don't do anything that could cause a misunderstanding with it.)
Logan let out a low growl as he gave his warning. Amatsu was extremely powerful, but compared with most Elder Dragons, its desire to attack was low, while its territorial sense was extremely exaggerated.
It would not take the initiative to attack other creatures along its migration route, aside from hunting. But once it was provoked, or once it had fixed a territory, even a monster like Zinogre, which occupied that kind of ecological niche, would still be miserably driven out by Amatsu.
Therefore, as for this Amatsu that was passing by right now, both the Research Commission and the Fire Wyvern flock only needed to act as if they had not seen it.
"Passing by, huh? Fine. By the way, Boss, are you really not going to reveal a bit more information about the Qurio? Like who their master actually is or something?"
Hearing Logan's words, the Admiral relaxed his tensed muscles again and asked in a tone that was half serious and half joking.
Logan could not be bothered to pay this guy any mind. He did indeed know who the master of the Qurio was, but from the current situation, there was no trace of that being in the New World. Otherwise, with the number of Qurio in this swamp alone, the Malzeno who served as a knight would already have come to resolve it—would there still be any need for Logan?
After taking one of Logan's eye-rolls, the Admiral only scratched the back of his head awkwardly and watched together with Logan as Amatsu flew past in the distance.
Only when it drew near the Mobile Research Base did Amatsu's gaze, almost in an instant, lock onto Logan, who had folded his wings and was standing on the deck. It gave him a few deep looks, memorized his appearance, and then hurried on its way again.
...
On another small continent that was almost one with the New World, a monster that could be called the enemy of the world had finally revealed its presence. Multiple Elder Dragons, including Amatsu, were all rushing there, and the consciousness of Nature had already issued its final ultimatum: if this encirclement failed, then the ones to go next would probably be the collaborators of the world, those forbidden-class terrifying existences.
This storm came quickly and passed just as quickly.
But simply because Amatsu had just paused briefly to observe Logan for a while, the underground currents of the marshland, which had originally begun to dry up from prolonged high temperatures, were drawn out again. Amid massive loss of water and soil, a flood thus took shape.
Not only were the fish that had slipped through the net in the deep-water area flushed out, but even those shriveled corpses were washed into the sea.
Fortunately, almost all the Hunters conducting the ground-clearing operations were equipped with Wingdrakes; otherwise, in this flood, there might have been some casualties.
Looking at the marshland below, which—apart from those hills—no longer had any place to stand, Logan abruptly beat his wings and let out a roar to summon the surrounding Rathalos, then flew into the wind and rain toward the Ancient Forest.
"The mission's over, huh."
The Admiral let out a long sigh, wiped the rainwater from his face, and looked at the gradually thinning dark clouds at the horizon. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the clouds, and the Hunters hanging from the Wingdrakes' feet were returning one after another.
...
On the Ancient Tree, the little one was biting the barb at the end of Aki's wing as if sharpening its teeth, letting out a clicking sound from time to time. Aki, who did not need to patrol or personally hunt, could only move her body carefully—afraid that if she suddenly exerted strength, the little one's not-so-sharp milk teeth might get damaged.
Logan had already been away for more than half a month. During this period, the little one's growth had been extremely fast; it was already able to leave the nest and waddle on its two short legs around the lair, chasing after the cat.
It had to be said that the little one, who had inherited its parents' excellent looks, now that the barbs and scales on its body had grown out, looked childish yet carried a faint sense of nobility.
Suddenly, at the entrance of the nest, that silver-white figure appeared. A moment ago, Aki had been lying down, but she now sprang to her feet, rushed toward her returning husband, stretched forward, pressed her neck against his, and released a heavy nasal sound.
As for the little one who had been sharpening its teeth, it was lifted by its mother's sudden large movement, its teeth aching, its body spinning once in midair, and then landing in the soft nest. With its pair of bright blue eyes wide open, it stared blankly at the ceiling, its head dazed.
Logan spread his wings and gently wrapped them around Aki. He sniffed the familiar scent, their body heat interweaving as they soothed each other's emotions.
Just as the atmosphere grew intimate, an ill-timed whimper came from his nest.
Hearing the sound, Aki finally realized what she had just done. Under Logan's dumbfounded gaze, she hurriedly dashed back.
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