MHGA Chapter 158 – The Dreaded Elder Dragon
When the Hunters and Laios's companions arrived at the place where the Winged Lion and Laios had been, the Winged Lion had completely vanished.
In its place was a massive, translucent egg.
This egg didn't have a hard shell—only a semi-transparent membrane, allowing everyone to see the creature being nurtured within.
Three entirely different heads lined up from left to right: wolf, rhinoceros, and eagle... its left foreleg resembled that of a tiger, the right was an eagle's talon, one wing feathered and the other leathery, its tail a serpent's, and its hind legs ended in hooves…
No matter how you looked at it, this thing seemed like some greedy freak's patchwork monstrosity—
"That's totally Laios!!!"
Everyone who knew Laios was already fuming the moment they laid eyes on the creature.
That bastard Laios, in the end he still fulfilled his dream of becoming a monster… and he had to turn into that monster…
While everyone was staring in shock, the gigantic chimera slowly began shedding the membrane around its body, its wings unfurling.
"Damn it…"
As the membrane peeled away, Kairo Retsu noticed some peculiar additions to Laios's transformed body.
In addition to the usual chimera composite seen in the original timeline, this one had spines akin to Nergigante's embedded all over its body like ornamental armor.
"Tch!"
Kairo Retsu slowly lowered his stance and drew the massive weapon from his back. The other Hunters did the same, pulling out their weapons one after another.
Then, Kairo Retsu called out to the stretching chimera:
"Laios! I told you, we Hunters are part of the endless, invisible ecology—there's no escaping it. And when it gets out of balance… something will emerge to restore it."
"Now! As the Guildmaster of the Hunters, before you spin completely out of control—let me be the one to rein you in!"
As Kairo Retsu's rousing words rang out, Laios-Chimera completely shook off the last of the membrane and stretched its body.
The moment it finished stretching, its many eyes locked directly onto the group nearby, eyes glinting with unmistakable malice.
All of the chimera's mouths opened at once in a bestial, mismatched roar—baring hostility toward the gathered crowd.
The next instant, the creature crouched low and rocketed into the sky, clearly preparing for an aerial assault on the assembled people.
Laios's teammates and the villagers of the Golden Country watched with unease.
As exasperated as they were with Laios, his monster form looked overwhelmingly powerful.
All they could do now was trust in the Hunters…
But—
Just before Laios-Chimera could dive down upon them, an unexpected event occurred.
"ROOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!"
A roar even more soul-shaking than the last thundered through the air.
In an instant, the skies changed.
Laios-Chimera, which had been charging straight downward, was struck midair in one of its heads by a smaller—but infinitely more forceful—figure. The attack violently disrupted its trajectory, sending both it and the intruder crashing down to the earth.
With a thunderous crash, Laios-Chimera was driven into the Dungeon below, carving out a massive crater not far from Kairo Retsu and the others.
Everyone could now see the assailant clearly.
Kairo Retsu's eyes went wide. "Nerg—Memeiko?!"
Why was Memeiko here!?
That agile, devastatingly powerful figure—branded with the wrath of destruction and rebirth—was unmistakably none other than the Elder Dragon known as Nergigante.
Kairo Retsu's mind went completely blank.
How had Nergigante suddenly appeared in the world of Delicious in Dungeon? Had he accidentally summoned her somehow!?
But the sheer presence, the overwhelming strength to swat Laios-Chimera out of the sky in one blow—
Everything about this monster screamed authenticity. It wasn't some pseudo-creature conjured with "monster magic."
No—this monster, this dragon… was the very same Elder Dragon Kairo Retsu and Laios had once seen with their own eyes.
This was a true Elder Dragon from the world of Monster Hunter—Nergigante.
"ROOOAAAAAAARRRRR!!!"
Memeiko now stood over the Chimera-Laios, one massive forelimb pinning one of its heads into the ground. Her claws dug deep, visibly distorting that head's shape.
The moment Nergigante's overwhelming pressure filled the air, the Hunters responded immediately.
They raised their weapons, placing themselves protectively in front of the others. Naofumi Iwatani in particular stood ready to deploy his shield at any moment.
Yet even with that, they felt no sense of safety.
Right now, they were like slightly thicker water balloons—if the enemy so much as poked them, they'd all pop on the spot…
That was the fear Nergigante instilled.
Kairo Retsu also noticed some faint clues on her body.
On this Nergigante's form were fragments of Seregios scales embedded in some areas.
Apparently, before arriving here, Memeiko had silently hunted and devoured a Seregios drawn in by the residual traces.
"Wh-What is that…?"
One of the civilians behind the Hunters trembled as they looked upon Nergigante.
These weren't people unfamiliar with powerful monsters—they'd seen dragons, they'd even fought them.
But the pressure this creature radiated went far beyond anything they'd ever imagined.
Kairo Retsu's heart felt like it had stopped beating.
All the strategies they'd prepared to deal with the Winged Lion…
Were now utterly meaningless.
Plans, strategies, traps—none of it mattered anymore.
They had no chance of defeating a real Elder Dragon like Nergigante with the strength they had now.
They needed time to grow stronger.
So now—what could they do?
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