Logan knew that his recent activity had been a bit too conspicuous, and that being targeted by this thing was only a matter of time.
Although it was somewhat annoying, when he thought about how he had already been watched by Nergigante to begin with, then adding a Ruiner Nergigante on top of that did not seem like a big deal after all—after all, when there are too many lice, they stop itching.
What he had not expected, however, was that this Ruiner Nergigante was actually so different from Nergigante.
Its concealment of its own aura, and even the stability and control of airflow during flight, far exceeded that of ordinary Nergigante. Despite being so close already, it did not erupt with that glaring malice until the moment it truly made its move.
This showed that the Ruiner Nergigante could actually restrain even its own endless greed toward Elder Dragons!
Logan's Mind's Eye Trait had grown stronger and stronger along with his increasing strength, yet even so, he had almost been struck by the Ruiner Nergigante. From this, it was clear that when other Elder Dragons that were not particularly adept at perception faced a Ruiner Nergigante, they would often be hit once first.
At that point, the initiative of the subsequent battle would inevitably tilt toward the Ruiner Nergigante's side.
Logan had already been in a poor mood due to failing to make any progress with thunder-element energy for several consecutive days. Now, after being ambushed by the Ruiner Nergigante, the irritation buried deep in his heart was detonated all at once.
The Terastal shell that had previously retracted over his body slowly spread open again. The temperature of the surrounding air began to rise sharply, and in many places spontaneous combustion without flame even began to occur.
Faced with this suddenly oppressive atmosphere, the Ruiner Nergigante—having already realized that Logan's burst speed was in no way inferior to Valstrax—had originally been considering a temporary retreat. It thought that since this ambush had failed, facing an ultra-high-speed Elder Dragon like Logan meant that this hunt was effectively over, and that it would have no further opportunities.
At least, there would be no chance again before it found another ambush opportunity like today's.
However, looking at Logan's posture, clearly intent on fighting it out, the Ruiner Nergigante suddenly felt that it might be able to do this after all!
As is well known, speed-type Elder Dragons, in order to withstand the damage brought by high-speed movement, are often the kind with high defense and low attack, and Nergigante is least afraid of exactly this kind of opponent—so long as there is no means to heavily injure it in an instant and cause the energy within its body to be greatly depleted.
Other fighting methods are nothing more than mutual attrition.
Therefore, toward Logan—this young Elder Dragon it had never seen before—the Ruiner Nergigante truly was not afraid of a head-on fight.
"Roa-agh?"
Its belligerent, brutal factor was stirred up, and the Ruiner Nergigante habitually let out a roar first as provocation.
But the roar had only come out halfway when it got stuck in its throat.
Logan, no longer hiding his own might, released the pressure belonging to the very top ecological niche among Elder Dragons together with Pressure; in an instant, a force on the same level as that Kulve Taroth that was still recklessly releasing its own might within the volcano swept across the entire Elder's Recess.
It scared a bunch of large monsters so badly that they stopped fighting altogether and hurried back to their nests.
As for ordinary Elder Dragons, they kept casting frequent glances this way, yet not a single one intended to come over and join the commotion.
Among the Bioenergy Crystals, the Nergigante, sensing this former "good buddy's" even stronger might, seemed to feel a faint, hidden ache again at the place where its horn had once broken, and at the place where its tail had once broken.
With its throat muffled, it let out two low roars, and the Nergigante directly flew away from the Elder's Recess, planning to go out for a period of time to lie low and avoid trouble.
With two Disaster-level Elder Dragons gathered in a row, plus an even stronger one of its own kind, it was obvious that something big was going to happen here.
Not long after it had just completed its breeding duty, and having already "feasted" once, the Nergigante was currently still in a rather laid-back state; that endless greed toward Elder Dragons had also quieted down during this period, simply like how, after finishing a huge project, a shameless boss finally deigned to give subordinate employees a stretch of vacation.
In short, for the Nergigante in the near term, compared with trying to muddy the waters and fish for gains in some future major event, it was better to properly rest for a while and adjust its physical condition.
At this time, above the basalt cliffs, the Ruiner Nergigante looked speechlessly at Logan not far away on the opposite side. It had not expected that this young little fellow would actually have might of this level. Having itself gone through multiple battles with Disaster-level Elder Dragons, it was very clear that next, it would probably have to take a beating.
But! As Nergigante, there has only ever been it actively attacking dragons—no dragon can actively attack it! None!!
"Roar!"
Its wings rolled up a burst of black wind, and the Ruiner Nergigante howled as it was about to charge in!
Bang! Bang, bang, bang!
In the next instant, a massive cloud of dust exploded with a thunderous bang at the spot where the Ruiner Nergigante stood. Immediately after, its huge body—covered in adamantine spikes—was seen blasting straight down toward the ground at a sharp angle, like a cannonball.
After consecutively smashing through several enormous Terastal crystals and Bioenergy Crystal pillars, it became embedded in the basalt ground.
At its original position, Logan was now slowly drawing back a massive claw that reflected prismatic light.
That was right—prismatic light.
It was not that Logan had added special effects. Rather, at the moment he delivered that kick, under the effect of the Adaptability Trait, Terastal power instinctively reinforced his body's muscles, shifting him into close-combat mode.
In particular, the kicking hind claw was directly enveloped by high-concentration ice-blue Terastal crystal, forming an enormous Terastal claw.
Those diamond-like Terastal crystals, illuminated by the surrounding flames that were combusting without wind, reflected dazzling, multicolored streams of light.
Within the dragon-shaped crater below, large sections of the Ruiner Nergigante's shattered adamantine spikes rapidly regrew, quickly restoring themselves to their original state.
The Ruiner Nergigante's ability to grow even stronger adamantine spikes meant that its bodily toughness was equally exaggerated. As a result, crashing into the ground and blasting out a deep pit did not cause it particularly serious injury—far less than being kicked head-on by Logan. Although it had already recovered during the flight, its chest still ached faintly at this moment.
But from that single blow alone, it already knew what awaited it in the period to come.
Zzzzzz!!
As expected, a devastating beam followed closely after, striking straight down toward it while it had not yet managed to climb back up.
The Ruiner Nergigante barely drew its spike-covered forelimbs together in front of its body, attempting to rely on the hardness of the adamantine spikes to resist Logan's laser breath.
However, its greatest reliance—the adamantine spikes—did not perform as well as imagined when faced with Terastal energy, a form of power different from conventional energies of this world. In terms of energy tier, Terastal energy was in no way inferior to dragon-element energy. Thus, the faint dragon-element power contained within the adamantine spikes, along with their limited dragon-sealing effect, was simply not enough.
Just as the adamantine spikes were about to be completely melted by the breath, the Ruiner Nergigante finally tore its wings free from the basalt. With a violent flap, it endured the massive beam and forcibly twisted its body, wrenching itself free from the laser at the very last moment.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---