Hearing the Admiral's murmured words, no one else responded. After all, they did not know whether the Admiral was referring to how the Sunblaze Dragon looked vastly different from the past, or to the ferocity it was displaying while beating down this special Nergigante.
Or perhaps it was the tremendous impact the Sunblaze Dragon had exerted on the ecology of the Elder's Recess along the way.
In any case, at this moment there was no need to say anything—one simply needed to wait quietly.
As Logan grew familiar with Ruiner Nergigante's primary combat patterns, his suppression over it became stronger and stronger. He even beat it to the point that it had no time to regenerate its adamantine spikes; they were shattered while still in the black-spike phase.
They had originally thought that the Sunblaze Dragon would grind this special Nergigante down and kill it outright. Unexpectedly, however, the battle ended rather abruptly.
The reason was a somewhat dull roar, carrying a heavy metallic timbre, that came from an unknown direction.
Upon hearing that roar—and sensing pressure of the same level erupting in the distance—Logan, who had finally found a suitable punching bag and, after getting into the rhythm of the fight, had even activated the violent factor buried deep within himself, striking heavier and heavier and wantonly venting his power, suddenly came back to his senses.
Looking down at Ruiner Nergigante climbing up amid the pile of shattered rocks below, panting heavily, its miserable appearance and the obvious exhaustion caused by prolonged high-speed regeneration made Logan recall the subtle relationship between the two sides.
Before Xeno'jiiva was born and then killed, they shared a common objective. In response to Ruiner Nergigante's earlier malicious attacks, Logan could give it a lesson at this stage—but he could not kill it outright.
Otherwise, when the time came to face a missing combat-capability gap, it would have to be filled by Logan or Kulve Taroth.
Logan himself did not mind, but Kulve Taroth certainly would. In fact, among the Elder Dragons of this world, there were very few true "workhorses." When faced with orders issued by their boss—nature itself—they would save effort whenever possible, and if a group beating was an option, they would never choose a solo fight.
Until Kulve Taroth's dissatisfied draconic roar came to an end, Logan did not launch another attack. He simply allowed Ruiner Nergigante to warily leap off the cliff and vanish into the dense fog below.
The Terastal Transformation parts on his body slowly receded. Logan's slightly bloated combat posture returned to his long, ordinary form. Only then did he notice the research squad below, beneath an enormous Terastal pillar.
Although he was somewhat surprised that the research squad had come here, Logan did not make any extra moves. He controlled the airflow and let himself descend slowly to the ground.
The instant his paws touched the ground, a large amount of Terastal crystal rapidly grew outward with Logan at the center. Very quickly, an ice-blue crystal nest—made of Terastal crystal and resembling a bird's nest—took shape.
Logan lay down on it comfortably. Under his control, crystal stairways connected up to this nest platform.
This power of creation—utterly inconsistent with biological nature and almost fantastical—made the Admiral, who had never seen it before, let out astonished "wow, wow" sounds. Even the usually calm Wyverian hunter stared with burning eyes at the ice-blue figure lying in the Terastal nest; once it had calmed down, it had once again returned to a state of pressure and rationality.
"Let's go. Looks like Boss Fire Wyvern has calmed down. Fifth Fleet, you'd better think through the questions you want to ask in advance—this old friend of mine isn't exactly patient, you know~"
The Admiral joked to Darren and the others.
Although Darren and the others had once paid their respects to Logan at the Ancient Tree, and Darren had even received face-to-face praise from him, that kind of contact had been a meeting of subordinates with a superior. They did not know what Logan was like in everyday situations, nor what his personality was like. Therefore, after hearing the Admiral's joking remark, not a single one of them dismissed it. They all grew a bit nervous and, on their own initiative, began to confer.
After compiling the questions they wanted to ask, the four pairs of eyes all turned to Elu, whose body was trembling slightly.
"I've only been learning the Fire Wyvern language for a short time, but I'll do my best, meow!"
That's right—because there was no Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne accompanying them, Elu, who had once studied for a period with the Grimalkynes of Blazefire Village back at the Ancient Tree, was appointed at a critical moment and became the translator for this trip.
But in the end, the time he had studied was far too short. Elu had never had much confidence that he could translate Logan's words during communication between the research squad and Logan, and the Admiral's remark only made him panic outright.
The Admiral looked at Elu, who had suddenly become nervous, not quite understanding why. He scratched his head, set his weapon and shield off to the side, and then led the group—several people and one cat—onto the Terastal stairways that Logan had created specifically to make it convenient for them to approach.
On the way, Mia looked at the Admiral's completely empty back, then turned her head to look at the gunlance and shield placed at the entrance of the stairway. Unable to hold back, she asked, "Admiral, aren't you bringing a weapon?"
Back at the Ancient Tree, not carrying a weapon was a matter of following local customs and respecting the rules of Blazefire Village.
But this was the wilds, and it was still uncertain whether the Sunblaze Dragon had undergone any unfavorable changes. A hunter without a weapon could be said to have almost no capacity to resist when facing monsters—let alone when facing an Elder Dragon like the Sunblaze Dragon, whose power was nearly comprehensive in every respect.
"Haha, decades-old habit. Can't change it." The Admiral did not explain much, but between the lines his words conveyed that he and the Sunblaze Dragon seemed to be on very good terms.
And this was not idle talk. For many years now, whenever the Admiral visited Logan and entered his nest, he would set his weapons aside. This was both a sign of respect toward Logan and a form of trust between friends.
"Yo, old friend. Long time no see!"
At the familiar greeting, Logan cast the Admiral a lazy glance, as if he could not be bothered to deal with him, then rolled his eyes to look toward the other members of the research squad.
As for Logan's attitude, the Admiral showed no other reaction. Instead, amid the tense gazes of Darren and the others—who had already stopped walking—he approached Logan, making clicking sounds beneath him while widening his eyes to examine Logan's new appearance.
"This new look—truly gorgeous and domineering!" After exclaiming, the Admiral shifted his tone. "But this should be the final form, right? You're not going to change again, are you? If you keep changing, I might really not recognize you next time we meet~"
Change?
Could Logan say that he himself did not know whether he would change again?
So, faced with the Admiral's question, Logan decisively ignored it. The corners of his mouth parted slightly, and a dull sound issued from his throat.
Seeing Logan's gaze turn toward them, and hearing the sound that seemed like a question, Darren and the others all turned their heads in unison toward the tense Elu.
"Meow! H-He's, he's—"
"Boss Fire Wyvern is asking how we managed to find this place."
Before Elu could finish considering his wording, the Admiral's voice came over.
In an instant, everyone shifted their gazes to the Admiral, who had already sat cross-legged on the crystal ground beside Logan, tilting his head as he looked at them.
There was a considerable distance between him and Logan, and the research squad.
This scene—so clearly divided by that distance—made the members of the research squad feel inexplicably uneasy.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---