Yama Tsukami had also never imagined that the New World would actually use such a lineup to "welcome" its arrival.
Five Elder Dragons—this was already a number sufficient to contend against most Disaster Level Elder Dragons, not to mention adding an Ahtal-Ka and an adolescent Chameleos that was just there to make up the numbers.
Those small creatures called humans had also displayed a level of combat power that in the past could only be mustered in large settlements with extremely large populations.
Just what kind of heinous, heaven-defying things had it done to be worthy of such an array?
Yama Tsukami could not quite figure it out, but it was very clear that its physical condition was already insufficient to support it in forcing its way into the New World, especially that one tentacle which had been pierced through by the silver Elder Dragon over there. Because the battle had been continuing the whole time, the other Elder Dragons had even craftily focused their attacks on that tentacle in particular, causing the wound to keep worsening further.
If things continued like this, then even with the recovery ability of a Disaster Level Elder Dragon, it would probably be unable to make a complete recovery.
To pay such a price merely to enter a continent with more abundant life energy was obviously not cost-effective.
Having already made its decision, Yama Tsukami began to change its way of fighting; it was retreating, not fleeing, and there was no need to run away in a panic.
It only needed to show the movements of wanting to leave for the creatures present to understand.
For a time, as Yama Tsukami consciously began to move away from the coast, retreating back to the sea and letting most of its attacks become primarily for driving the others away, except for Nergigante, the other dragons instantly understood Yama Tsukami's intention and also began to lower their attack frequency, gradually disengaging from the battle.
Down below, inside Astera.
The Admiral's right hand, somewhat trembling, gripped the great shield tightly. A whole daytime of high-intensity combat, and the opponent was even an existence of the level of Yama Tsukami. Even though he and many hunters were not the main attackers, and Yama Tsukami's attention would not be overly focused on them, just the aftershocks of the battle between Elder Dragons and that terrifying power of Yama Tsukami had still brought him enormous pressure.
It could be said that he had exhausted all his strength just to barely grit his teeth and hold on.
The duration of this battle had truly been far too long. Under normal circumstances, when facing such a monster, it would basically be large-scale equipment taking the lead, and at most the hunters would only seize the right moments to go over and destroy important organs on the enemy's body, increasing the chances of a successful repulse for the front line.
Instead of being like it was now, where the ammunition of the large-scale weapons was quickly used up and then the hunters charged forward with their bodies to confront it head-on.
For the hunters, this was a huge drain in terms of both physical strength and mental pressure.
The same was true for the Ahtal-Ka on the ground.
At this moment, the difference in stamina between Elder Dragon-class and actual Elder Dragons was truly displayed to the fullest.
After a whole day, the several Elder Dragons in the sky were still able to maintain the same combat intensity as at the beginning; their speed and energy output all remained at normal values. But the iron balls swung by Ahtal-Ka were no longer fast, and the force behind them was also much weaker. In the collision just now, the iron ball that smashed down had not even been able to knock Yama Tsukami back.
The amount of golden silk threads it spat out also began to decrease, and its attack frequency dropped sharply.
It was undeniable that at the beginning, Ahtal-Ka's threat to Yama Tsukami had even surpassed that of Nergigante, which was likewise engaging in close combat, and Yama Tsukami had also devoted much of its attention to Ahtal-Ka.
Unfortunately, as the fight went on, when facing the simultaneous attacks of Ahtal-Ka and Nergigante, Yama Tsukami began to focus on defending against Nergigante's attacks.
"Chirp, chirp~~"
Ahtal-Ka was gasping for breath; several huge iron balls were just being dragged along to the side like that, and it was not even lifting them with its tail.
It was not just the drain on stamina; in close combat, it was inevitable to suffer the opponent's attacks. Even though Ahtal-Ka's defensive ability was no worse than that of an Elder Dragon, its vitality, however, fell far too short. For Logan and the others, after taking a hit from a tentacle, at most they only needed to take a few breaths before they could charge up again to continue fighting; injuries of that level could not even affect their movements.
But when Ahtal-Ka had taken a few blows, it had to take quite a long time to recover, and in the subsequent battle it would even have its actions affected by its injuries.
Therefore, if one were to say who most hoped for Yama Tsukami to hurry up and leave, Ahtal-Ka would definitely be ranked second.
As for the first, there was no need to say it—it was precisely Mother Chameleos, who had been forced to meet it head-on.
As Yama Tsukami drew farther and farther away from Astera, Nergigante became more and more anxious.
Logan and the others had all begun to stop attacking!
Only Nergigante was still, eyes red, relentlessly launching charge after charge toward Yama Tsukami.
Without the restraint from Logan and the others, Yama Tsukami had more energy to deal with Nergigante.
After once again being whipped away by a tentacle, Nergigante tumbled backward through the clouds.
Pain! It was truly too painful!
Not only physically—its heart hurt even more!
In today's battle, as the dragon mainly engaged in close combat, it could be said that it had taken the fiercest blows from Yama Tsukami. Its spikes broke and regrew, regrew and broke again, and because the white spikes were useless in battle, Nergigante had, at the very moment the white spikes grew out, used its energy to catalyze them into black spikes.
Added to that was the constant regeneration to restore its injuries. Several times even its regenerative shell had been shattered, and only thanks to Mother Chameleos's medicinal mist had it stabilized.
It could be said that in this long war of attrition, its energy consumption had even surpassed the last time it was beaten senseless by Kulve Taroth.
After paying such a huge price, the result was simply letting this big guy leave?
Nergigante could not accept it!!
"Roar, roar, roar!!"
With an unwilling roar, Nergigante's eyes were incomparably red; whether it was blood surging up or some reaction of the energy within its body, no one knew. In any case, this guy forcibly stopped its backward tumble and began, without regard for any cost, to launch a suicide-like charge toward the gradually receding Yama Tsukami.
Unfortunately, in such an enormous absolute difference, a mere burst of power was not enough to make up for the absolute gulf in strength.
In the end, Logan and the others saw Nergigante once again struck into the seawater by Yama Tsukami, with no further movement.
"…Mm, not dead."
Carefully sensing Nergigante's life energy, Logan noted that this guy was just floating quietly on the surface of the sea like that; no one knew whether it had fainted or simply given up completely.
'The latter is more likely.'
Logan gave it a simple thought, then tossed Nergigante to the back of his mind.
The four Elder Dragons, at a distance that was neither too near nor too far, watched as Yama Tsukami's enormous figure turned into a black dot and completely disappeared at the edge of the sky, and their hearts loosened.
In the next second, soreness spread from joints all over their bodies, and the pain that had been suppressed by adrenaline during the battle all erupted at once.
Fortunately, with the healing from Mother Chameleos's medicinal mist, they did not fall from the sky.
Just as they were preparing to return to Astera, the Nergigante on the sea suddenly stirred.
It abruptly flew up from the water, beating its wings desperately as it flew toward Logan and the others.
Knowing this big black hedgehog's temperament very well, the Elder Dragons did not even need much communication; those that were slightly scattered immediately drew closer again.
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