Logan and Kushala Daora, eyes reddened with ferocity, were already trading blows with the mindset of exchanging injury for injury.
Kushala Daora's body temperature hadn't dropped even once through their repeated collisions—and likewise, the scales covering Logan's body had been shattered in many places, with deep wounds now visible across his form.
Spewing flames, Logan forced his way straight through Kushala Daora's hurricane breath, charging right up to it. At such close range, a massive explosion of combustible liquid detonated point-blank. The blasted Kushala Daora wasn't about to yield—its steel wings, torn open and still slick with blood that hadn't yet cooled, beat violently, unleashing a hurricane strong enough to tear through metal and sending Logan flying backward.
Kushala Daora countered with a spiral wind pressure attack. Logan dodged, and the blast landed on a distant part of the Ancient Tree. Countless branches and fragments of stone were shredded and flung away by the high-speed vortex, leaving behind an ugly "scar."
Yes—the battlefield was no longer controllable. The precision and destructive power of both sides' attacks were extreme. The ground was already devastated—cratered and broken in some places, and in others, flames still burned fiercely, refusing to be extinguished even by the rain.
The splattering blood no longer gave pause to either Elder Dragon. Their overstimulated nerves had already filtered out the pain of their wounds almost entirely.
Were it not for their high intelligence—and the fact that each had long since internalized their use of elemental energy into pure instinct, fully aware of how to handle an opponent of equal rank—they would already have been locked in brutal, visceral close combat by now.
Of course, Logan would have gladly taken it that far—but Kushala Daora had no such desire.
Fighting hand-to-hand against a creature blazing like a Teostra, its entire body wreathed in fire hotter than molten metal—wasn't that just asking to be punished?
Moreover, Kushala Daora could no longer match Logan in breath combat. In this pure contest of energy-based breath, its once-proud tornado breath was now completely overpowered by Logan's flames.
This wasn't merely an increase in temperature—it was an elevation in the very quality of his fire-element energy, a fundamental transformation.
The rage toward death that Kushala Daora had accumulated during its journey across the sea now found release in this all-out battle, gradually dissipating. Only the unyielding pride of an Elder Dragon continued to drive it onward.
...
To the north of the Ancient Tree—if Logan and Kushala Daora's clash was one of energy against energy, then this was a confrontation of hunt and counter-hunt.
Within the dense fog, as time went by, several Fire Wyvern squads gradually lost contact.
In the poisonous haze, the Chameleos acted like a master assassin. Within the intense heat radiating from the Fire Wyverns' blazing wings, part of the toxins in the fog had been heavily weakened, prompting Chameleos to alter its strategy—shifting from mixed toxins to poisons specifically targeting sensory nerves.
It sought above all to maintain perfect invisibility within the poisonous mist.
Although there was the Flame Rathalos—its entire body engulfed in fire just like Logan back then—Chameleos's mastery over the fog allowed it to sense and react precisely, often finishing its attacks on other Fire Wyverns before the squads led by Flame Rathalos, Aki, and the Tempered Azure Rathalos could arrive.
One strike, then retreat—never lingering!
This infuriated the already short-tempered Fire Wyverns, who could only stay in close formation, using repeated probing attacks in an attempt to pinpoint Chameleos's location.
Under Chameleos's influence, the battlefield was gradually drifting closer to where Logan and Kushala Daora fought.
Those obstructive Fire Wyverns had never been its true target—the Elder Dragon that had crossed the sea, Kushala Daora, was!
Since that lesson years ago, when it had nearly died for real, its temper had mellowed considerably. Unless absolutely necessary, it truly had no intention of starting another massacre.
With its invisibility, long life, and Elder Dragon power, wasn't it far better to live peacefully?
If not for the need to atone for its past mistake, it would never have stepped once more into this sorrowful territory.
...
"Faster! Faster! Even faster!!"
Logan nimbly dodged the tornado breath that had scattered the clouds, darting like a leaping comet as it circled around the whirling breath, leaving behind looping trails of tail flame arcs.
Sensing danger, the Kushala Daora immediately ceased its attack and instead summoned a sudden updraft, forcibly lifting Logan's flight path—causing his projectile to veer off course and soar into the distance.
The Kushala Daora gasped heavily, struggling to recover its stamina as quickly as possible.
Its eyes glowed faintly crimson. Through the defensive wind barrier surrounding it, the Elder Dragon locked its gaze on Logan, who was twisting midair to realign his flight path. Whirlwinds once again gathered densely around its form, and under the propulsion of the gale, it rapidly shifted positions to avoid being targeted a second time.
Under such high-intensity combat, even if one's energy could still endure, stamina was an entirely different matter. Though it wasn't to the point of collapsing after fighting through most of the night, for the aged Kushala Daora, this level of physical strain had already exceeded that of most battles in its long lifetime.
It had finally realized—this unknown Elder Dragon, just like the Teostra, was an almost flawless all-rounder. In fact, that eerie, ever-increasing speed made it, in certain ways, even more troublesome than the Teostra.
Fortunately, its omnipresent storms could restrain Logan's speed—otherwise, this battle would have likely ended long ago.
As the dark clouds born of the Kushala Daora's gales gradually dissipated amid their ceaseless clashes, rare moonlight spilled down and illuminated the land below. Yet under Logan's blazing Sunlight State, this faint moonlight seemed to have no effect at all.
In midair, relying purely on the might of his own body, Logan forcibly twisted his trajectory. After circling wide, he once again locked onto the Kushala Daora.
Weaving through several cyclone zones and breaking straight through its tornado breath, Logan's accumulated expenditure finally reached its threshold at that very moment—his Blaze Trait advanced to its next stage.
The blue-violet flames flared once more!
The conversion efficiency between his life energy and fire-attribute energy surged again—and faint traces of stored life energy mixed within the flames, emerging alongside them.
This abnormal change was noticed by Logan, who instinctively increased the flow of life energy.
In an instant, the flames covering his body grew even brighter.
Those radiant flames suddenly burst into an intensely dazzling flash—the entire area was engulfed in blinding white light.
"Roar!?"
The Kushala Daora, which had been closely tracking Logan's movements to avoid a collision, was caught completely off guard and struck hard by the blinding light, as if hit by a powerful flash bomb.
Even for the Kushala Daora, this level of brightness caused a brief daze when unprepared.
The hurricane fields concealed around it revealed openings in that moment, and under the disorienting dizziness, the Elder Dragon could no longer use the air currents to pinpoint Logan's position.
Opportunities like this do not come twice!
Without the slightest hesitation, a massive dragon-shaped fireball slammed into the silver-white, slightly blackened carapace with a thunderous impact. Spikes shattered, and the 23-meter-long metallic monster was sent hurtling downward like a burning meteor—its body glowing red as it crashed through the blazing cloud and airburst, plunging into the forest below and triggering a small-scale earthquake.
In the air, Logan clenched his teeth, enduring the pain from the fractured spikes and shattered scales caused by the recoil. With torn muscles straining, he beat his wings to maintain stability.
His azure eyes locked firmly onto the crater below.
From that strike, the Kushala Daora's injuries were definitely worse than his!
However, Logan still couldn't be certain whether the damage was severe enough for the Elder Dragon to be unable to withstand it—for even in old age, such beings possessed unimaginable vitality.
Sure enough, accompanied by an enraged dragon's roar, the Kushala Daora once again took to the skies.
Yet this time, it looked utterly miserable—the area on its chest struck head-on by Logan had caved in, and many parts of its body were split open like fractured steel, revealing faint glimpses of flesh within.
One had to know—the Kushala Daora's entire body was clad in metallic shell. Beneath that armor, there was no "skin" in the conventional sense—that shell was its skin.
And within that furious roar, Logan clearly heard weakness—and fear.
Moreover, as the Kushala Daora rose again, the whirlwinds that had once entwined its limbs and wings were gone—its energy flow had been successfully disrupted.
It had suffered an injury it could no longer endure!
Separated by several hundred meters, both Logan and the Kushala Daora were gasping for breath. Yet unlike Logan's eyes, which still burned with fighting spirit, the Kushala Daora's gaze now held little trace of fury. Though they remained locked in a standoff, the will to continue fighting was gone.
The dignity of an Elder Dragon was indeed important—and it was true that its remaining lifespan was only a few decades at most.
But to be defeated in battle by another Elder Dragon of the same tier—such an outcome was something it could accept.
The opponent before it was younger, more vigorous, and far more willing to risk everything.
In most cases, a desperate struggle to the bitter end was never an Elder Dragon's first choice.
Enduring its injuries, the Kushala Daora once again stirred up a tornado—it had to find itself a way to retreat.
The battle was about to resume.
Suddenly, a stream of virulent green breath appeared abruptly in the sky, striking straight toward the Kushala Daora's flank.
With all its attention fixed on Logan, the Kushala Daora failed to dodge in time, and the strain from its wounded wings prevented it from reacting at the first moment.
The poisonous breath grazed past it.
Toxic fluid seeped into its body through the open wounds, greatly impairing its control over the wind.
With a roar of frustration, the Kushala Daora quickly pulled back, its sharp eyes staring intensely toward the seemingly empty space.
Through the feedback of the surrounding air currents, a faint, indistinct outline formed within its mind.
"Chameleos!"
The Kushala Daora recognized it through the airflow, while Logan identified it by that all-too-familiar attack.
His expression changed in shock as he looked toward the direction of the Ancient Tree.
If the Chameleos had appeared here—then what about the Fire Wyverns? What about Aki?
Fortunately, several figures burst out from the thick mist that had quietly spread beneath the Ancient Tree.
Though their numbers seemed noticeably reduced, Logan immediately locked onto Aki and the others.
Relieved, yet at the same time puzzled, a question rose in his mind.
Why had this Chameleos suddenly attacked the Kushala Daora—and done so without first dealing with the Fire Wyverns blocking its path?
Logan sensed that he might have misunderstood something.
Just like when the Research Commission conducted certain investigations—sometimes, they had targeted the wrong creature and blamed the disaster on an innocent dragon.
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