Logan stood in the shallow waters at the edge of the swamp, carefully examining his current reflection in the mirror-like surface.
He possessed a magnificent physique paired with vigorous limbs. His body was covered in snow-white scales that shimmered under the sunlight, and the tail behind him whipped about like a restless spirit snake. With the flowing mane on his head, back, and outer limbs, combined with the pair of massive Azure Horns on his head, he increasingly embodied the divine aura of the Kirin from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
His head had also grown a size larger. Rather than looking out of place, it added a sense of majesty—a beauty entirely different from human standards.
It was quite curious; for creatures like cats and dogs, sturdy limbs and a large head were seen as signs of excellent breeding and striking looks. But for a human, being thick-limbed with a giant head would undoubtedly be considered ugly. It seemed that humans and animals held entirely different aesthetic standards for the same physical traits.
...
A Vespoid flew out from the woods behind the swamp. As large, social insects, their unique omnivorous habits allowed them to remain active even as temperatures dropped. After all, when fruit and flowers became scarce, they could still feed on the flesh of small animals.
To satisfy the Queen's voracious appetite, the workers toiled tirelessly every day. A white behemoth ahead caught this worker's eye; it wobbled through the air toward the giant beast, hoping to scavenge a meal.
However, the moment its wings entered a ten-meter radius around Logan, the massive amount of static electricity accumulated in the surrounding electromagnetic field instantly found a path to discharge. With a crisp crack, blue-white lightning flickered. The worker bee—the size of a human forearm and shaped like an oversized mosquito—fell charred from the sky, wisps of green smoke rising from its corpse.
The sound snapped Logan out of his self-admiration. He glanced at the Vespoid on the ground, picked it up without hesitation, and popped it into his mouth.
The proteins had undergone a Maillard reaction due to the high heat, emitting a unique aroma. Combined with the crispy, charred shell, it tasted surprisingly good.
But this was just a minor interlude. Logan hadn't come to the swamp just to use the water as a mirror. For some reason lately, the surrounding wildlife had significantly decreased. He had even seen unconsumed animal carcasses—an extremely rare occurrence.
In nature, nutrients are precious. Few creatures abandon their kill. This anomaly concerned Logan; this area was his hunting ground, and he had to investigate.
...
Logan flared his nostrils slightly. Compared to sight and hearing, smell could resist the interference of time to an extent and often provided more information.
This wasn't his first patrol, but while previous attempts yielded nothing, he finally found a lead.
A faint scent of blood in the air caught his attention. Following the "scent navigation icon" generated in his mind, he quickly tracked it down. Moments later, the carcass of an Aptonoth appeared before him.
It appeared to be an adult male Aptonoth, about nine meters long. Its normally sturdy body looked strangely gaunt. The corpse was covered in numerous claw marks and lacerations, and its small head looked as if it had been struck by a sledgehammer—the entire skull was shattered.
Logan extended a claw and pressed lightly on the Aptonoth's back. Beneath the tough hide, the muscles felt exceptionally soft, lacking the elasticity of a normal organism. It felt like a piece of meat that had been frozen in a freezer for a long time and then thawed.
But this Aptonoth had clearly just died; this shouldn't be happening. Was it caused by some kind of toxin?
Logan noticed a purple liquid in the wounds. This fluid likely contained some sort of dissolving enzyme, similar to spider venom, which helped predators digest prey externally.
Was the killer a giant mosquito-like creature that killed prey and waited for it to dissolve into a puddle of mush before drinking it?
Before he could ponder further, a booming explosion echoed from the distance, likely providing the answer.
He immediately headed toward the sound. This time, Logan lightened his steps. His elastic paw pads hit the ground silently as he tried not to alert his target.
After rounding several large trees, leaping over a massive boulder, and passing under roots that twisted like giant pythons, the two combatants came into view from beneath a dense canopy.
One side was a Rathalos, about 16 meters long, with a bright red carapace and black flame-patterned markings on its broad wings. It was clearly a young adult male, still looking a bit green.
Its opponent was a Yian Garuga, about 15 meters long. Its carapace was a dark, dull purple, covered in various scars—clearly a battle-hardened adult.
Although the Rathalos was larger, it was being almost entirely suppressed by the Yian Garuga, unable to fight back.
"What's going on? The 'King of the Skies' is getting beat up again," Logan mused.
Then, he noticed something wrong. A layer of black mist swirled around the Yian Garuga's body, resembling the black smoke left behind by burning plastic.
This strange sight sent a shock through his heart. A specific monster surfaced in his mind—Gore Magala.
Gore Magala is a powerful juvenile Elder Dragon whose scattered pollen (Frenzy Virus) drives creatures into a madness, creating an uncontrollable desire to kill—commonly known as the Frenzy State. Yian Garuga was already bellicose by nature, sometimes acting like a lunatic and challenging monsters far stronger than itself.
Now that "insanity" and "frenzy" were combined, it likely wouldn't stop fighting until someone's brains were scattered.
But how could there be a Gore Magala in the New World? And where did this Yian Garuga come from? The real world was indeed more complex than the game; surprises never ceased.
While he was distracted, the Rathalos was knocked out of the trees. Its carapace was shattered in multiple places, and it was bleeding profusely from the pecking of the Yian Garuga's shovel-like beak.
Logan realized it was time to step in. A creature completely controlled by the urge to kill would severely disrupt the local ecological balance. Since this area was his daily territory, wasn't this the same as someone trashing his personal cafeteria?
The Azure Horns on his head began to glow with a brilliant blue light. An invisible electromagnetic field expanded, his flowing mane stood on end, and currents of electricity rippled across his scales like water. With a powerful kick off the ground, his entire body turned into a bolt of white lightning, charging straight toward the Yian Garuga.
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