Under the well-practiced coordination of one person and one cat, the framework of a basic paralysis trap was completed in no time.
At the same time, Darren glanced at the upgraded Blazing Wing in his hand while running. The silvery blade spine was already largely stained by a crimson sheen. Although Bazelgeuse's flames could not compare to little Loren's Calamity Flame, there was simply far too much of it being sprayed in this rampage.
After absorbing so much fire-element energy, Blazing Wing had already reached the minimum enhancement threshold.
"Admiral!!"
A somewhat muffled voice came from inside the helmet.
The Admiral did not turn around, but from the current situation, he already understood Darren's intent.
"No problem—leave it to me!!"
His gaze locked firmly onto the Terastal Bazelgeuse, which was still dizzy and unsteady, swaying as it tried to climb back to its feet, its eyes unfocused and hazy. With a few short, quick steps, he rapidly fixed on a target point.
"Hah!!"
With a low shout, the Admiral made a slight backward hop to build power. By the time the Terastal Bazelgeuse had fully stood up and was shaking its head, trying to clear its mind, the Admiral's charge was complete.
Battle aura flared around his body as he poured all of his strength into the lance in his left hand, concentrating every bit of damage into a single point.
A devastating strike!!
The sharp lance tip precisely shattered the massive Terastal crystal at the joint of the Terastal Bazelgeuse's leg. In the midst of cracking sounds, it pierced through the thick scales, tore through flesh, and finally struck bone.
"ROAR!!"
Under the searing agony, even though its head was still spinning and its bodily perception greatly dulled, the Terastal Bazelgeuse felt intense pain. Its body, which had only just stabilized, collapsed once more with a piercing roar. At that moment, aside from the overwhelming pain, the entire leg could feel nothing else.
Seized by immense panic, the Bazelgeuse instinctively flung out a large number of explosive scales while beating its wings, struggling to stand back up.
Just like this, such aimless, unstructured attacks were almost useless against the few hunters.
From the earlier battle, the hunters had already grasped the blast radius of those Terastal explosive scales, easily completing the corresponding evasions and quickly closing in at close range.
Seeing that Darren had already successfully charged beneath the Bazelgeuse, the Admiral seized the opportunity to quickly put his helmet on. With one piece of protective gear missing—especially something as crucial as head protection—even the Admiral felt a bit uneasy at this moment.
He was already past the age of "even if I die, it'll still be worth it as long as I get to see an Elder Dragon fight with my own eyes." Although hunters had long since been prepared for the possibility of dying somewhere out in the wild, dying because of a low-level mistake like not wearing a helmet would truly be something he could never rest in peace over.
Just as the Admiral finished putting on his helmet and was about to go up and help Darren share some of the pressure.
He saw the Blazing Wing in Darren's hand suddenly flare with blue-violet flames, completely enveloping the entire blade.
And battle aura surged around Darren, the greatsword-user's charged red glow constantly appearing along with his swings. This exaggerated state made the Admiral halt mid-step, with a sense that if he went up, he would probably only get in the way and restrict the other's performance.
"Y-you can do that too?"
As an old rival's most treasured weapon in his youth, the Admiral was naturally very familiar with Blazing Wing.
Although its appearance and color had changed somewhat, the Admiral could be certain this was absolutely the upgraded form after obtaining new materials from Boss Fire Wyvern.
But!
Upgraded was upgraded—what was this flame that looked so much like Calamity Flame?
Did this weapon even have that effect? Why was it that when the Huntsman used it back then, after absorbing flames it could only turn the blade red?
And this one-swing-per-charge—was that really something a person could do?
You had to know that even the Huntsman at his peak could only compress a three-stage charge into about one second. Even so, that already made him a top-tier hunter on the same level as the Admiral, a hunter blessed with extraordinary talent.
But this young fellow was…
For a moment, the Admiral's feelings were complicated beyond description. In the end, after observing Darren's fighting habits, he still charged over with heavy steps to help divert the attention of the Terastal Bazelgeuse, which was continuously resisting.
As the weakest among the enforcer-level combatants, the Bazelgeuse's strength declined even further after its wings were broken. Under the combined assault of the Admiral and Darren, those thick Terastal crystal blocks simply could not provide it with sufficient defensive power.
Even as it continued, as always, to urge the Radiant Crystal Butterfly hidden within its scales to provide it with more Terastal energy.
But—
The Radiant Crystal Butterfly operate on the principle of give and take!
The amount of refined life energy they could filter from the Bazelgeuse was limited. Aside from maintaining their own daily needs, they also had to reserve sufficient energy for Logan. How could they possibly supply the Bazelgeuse with even more Terastal energy?
They were not some kind of evil Qurio—they simply could not bring themselves to exploit their host like that.
Thus, after receiving no response for a long time, the Terastal Bazelgeuse finally came to terms with reality amid repeated wails. Once it understood that these small targets it had treated as outlets for its emotions were truly opponents it could not afford to provoke—and might even be capable of killing it—the furious vertical pupils instantly dilated, and its entire gaze cleared.
Just as it was about to forcibly endure the incoming damage, preparing to detonate a large number of explosive scales for a strategic retreat, a faint crackle of electricity sounded.
Immediately afterward, amid a burst of crackling noises, massive currents surged rapidly from beneath its feet and spread throughout its entire body, instantly severing its muscular control. The whole wyvern lay there twitching, completely unable to resist for a short period of time.
At the very moment despair welled up in the Terastal Bazelgeuse's heart.
It saw that small creature wielding a Calamity Flame weapon—the one that had been slashing at it while helping drain its blood—walk up to its front and toss several round objects onto its head.
As several tranquilizer balls—improved by Mother Chameleos, a senior member of the First Fleet, and infused with neuro-paralytic toxins—were thrown, a strong fragrance filled the air. The Terastal Bazelgeuse's already weakened body, further restrained by the paralysis trap, quickly went limp and powerless.
Perhaps because it had long been stimulated by Terastal energy, or perhaps because Terastal energy possessed certain special resistances when facing negative status effects, the Terastal Bazelgeuse was still groggy but could barely muster enough focus to keep its eyes from closing.
"Let me do it!"
At this moment, the Felyne trotted over to Darren with weapon in hand, stopping Darren from making a move. After carefully aiming at the Terastal Bazelgeuse's forehead, it raised the cat hammer high overhead.
If chemical sedation was not quite effective enough, then they would add a bit of physical sedation!
Bang!!
The Terastal Bazelgeuse's eyes finally closed. This robust, still-young flying wyvern displayed astonishing sleep-inducing potential at this moment.
With a single blow, it dropped straight into deep sleep. For the next while, no matter what the hunters did to it, it likely would not wake up.
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