When Nergigante once again flew up into the sky and looked over with bloodshot eyes.
He saw the Flame Dragon couple leaning against each other, orange and blue sparks dancing around them, clearly showing a posture of a pair of mates who would not be separated.
At just this glance, Nergigante gave up on the idea of taking them on personally.
Its scarlet eyes swept past Logan, and without needing to think much, Nergigante directly excluded Logan as well.
Do you still remember what Nergigante hates the most?
That's right, it is Elder Dragons that fly ridiculously fast!!
In the end, Nergigante's gaze decisively locked onto Mother Chameleos; it had just opened its mouth to let out a dragon roar, when it saw this fellow Mother Chameleos, completely without Elder Dragon dignity, flapping her small wings and darting in an instant behind Logan.
"We two are on the same side, gwa! If you've got the guts, just try it, gwa!!"
Don't look at how Mother Chameleos at this moment was tired like a little dog, with her tongue hanging out and panting heavily, looking as if she were about to collapse, these few croaking shouts of hers were still quite forceful.
Nergigante's gaze moved along with Mother Chameleos's movement and turned onto Logan; even under its extremely intimidating look, Logan still did not show the slightest intention of backing down, and it was very clear that what this strange Chameleos said was true, the two of them really would join forces!!
Nergigante let out a low growl, its gaze moving back and forth between the Flame Dragon couple and Logan and the others, and in the end it suddenly folded its wings and dove toward Astera.
"This guy—wait, little Chameleos!!"
Logan very quickly understood Nergigante's target; since it could not find an opening here with Logan and the others, it was planning to take that little Chameleos, who had been playing the extra in the battle all along before, to make up for its own loss!!
Just as Logan was about to follow, he subconsciously turned his head to look back at Mother Chameleos, only to find that in this fellow's big eyes there was actually not the slightest trace of worry, and she even let out a relaxed "gwa" after Logan looked over.
Alright then, seeing Mother Chameleos like this, Logan also understood something, and he slowed down his own diving speed, leisurely flying down toward Astera.
Sure enough, very soon, Nergigante's skyward roar came from within Astera.
That sound, tsk, tsk~~
When Logan landed on the cliff of Astera, he saw the hunters of the Research Commission who still had the ability to move, currently surrounding Nergigante under the Admiral's lead, and at the side, Ahtal-Ka was also glaring at Nergigante with a covetous gaze.
As for the little Chameleos...
All around, no one could see its figure, nor could they sense its life energy.
Obviously, it had long since hidden itself somewhere, and no one knew where.
Nergigante, having gained nothing, was also completely uninterested in Ahtal-Ka, who could fight very well but had very little life energy.
Today, it had basically taken a beating all day for nothing!!
Seeing Nergigante in this state—wanting to get angry, yet unwilling to consume more energy on useless effort, its face full of conflict and in the end only flaring up for a moment before helplessly giving in—even Logan felt that the boss of nature had indeed gone a bit too far this time.
However, seeing this big black hedgehog suffer a setback, for some reason there was always a secretly pleased feeling in his heart.
Helplessly, Nergigante in the end flapped its wings and, under the wary gazes of the hunters, flew away into the distance in dejection.
Watching Nergigante's departing figure, the Admiral actually very much wanted to stop this fellow.
For some reason, he always felt that Nergigante seemed to have countless ties with the Elder Crossing, even though this feeling had no basis at all.
It was just a pity that he also understood that, given Astera's current condition, they fundamentally could not stop this guy.
He could only, just like before, quietly put his weapon away, look at the ruined walls all around, and let out a heavy sigh.
Astera, after experiencing a great battle, besides the Celestial Pursuit at the very top, could be said to have basically preserved nothing; all the facilities had basically been destroyed, and even the circulation areas had collapsed by nearly one quarter in the various explosions and earthquakes.
It was no exaggeration to say that Astera had been knocked back to its original state overnight.
Gazing at the tattered Astera and at the hunters, all wounded and supporting one another, the Admiral could not help feeling somewhat sorrowful in his heart.
"Chirp, chirp!!"
Yet, in such an atmosphere, there was always an ill-timed sound that rang out.
Turning his head to look at Ahtal-Ka, who even seemed somewhat happy, the Admiral of course understood what this fellow was happy about; a surge of anger thus rose up, but it was quickly pressed back down by the Admiral again.
"Forget it, having more debts doesn't make them heavier; we'll just owe it."
After softly muttering to himself and adjusting his mindset, the Admiral took the initiative to walk toward Ahtal-Ka.
He needed to communicate with Ahtal-Ka; if Astera wanted to rebuild quickly, it could not do without this fellow.
As for Logan's side, he could only wait until the situation had stabilized a bit before coming to talk again.
...
At night, beside the 1F circulation area of Astera, on a piece of land that could still be considered stable, tents of various sizes were set up.
Clusters of campfires were lit beside the tents.
Ahtal-Ka slept carelessly in the nest of silk it had spat out, showing no reaction at all to the sounds from the tent area not far away.
On the Celestial Pursuit, facing the sea breeze, the Admiral had a calm expression, his hands crossed before his chest, gazing toward the horizon and quietly waiting for news from inside the cabin.
The Huntsman was wiping his blade beside him, his eyes occasionally looking toward the brightly lit cabin; at his side, a sturdy young boy with reddened eyes watched the cabin door nervously.
The Wyverian hunter held the Kinsect, which had already lost its life energy and whose body had become stiff; lowering his head, no one knew what he was thinking.
Very soon, as the cabin door opened and the figure of the Field Master appeared, several people immediately shifted their gazes over, silently asking something.
The Field Master opened her mouth several times, and in the end shook her head.
"That leg cannot be saved."
[Clang!]
The Huntsman's hand paused, his vambrace knocking against the smooth blade, his voice somewhat hoarse.
"Is there really no way?"
The Field Master stayed silent; this attitude already explained everything. The young boy beside the Huntsman finally could not hold back and began to cry out loud.
The Wyverian hunter placed the Kinsect's corpse back into his pack and looked expressionlessly at the cabin, as if he could see the Commander, who was in a fainting state inside the cabin, through the door.
After a long time, he said: "I will not leave the New World. The secret of the Elder Crossing— even if it costs my life, I will definitely unravel it."
Regarding the Wyverian hunter's words, the Admiral did not say much; he heavily patted the other side's shoulder.
Everything was said without words!
The Wyverian hunter had originally planned, after this battle, to return to the Old World once the Fourth Fleet arrived.
The Kinsect that had accompanied him for several decades had died; originally, he had already prepared to retire, but now he dispelled that thought.
Setting aside those decades of companionship, the fact that the Commander's leg was lost because of his own mistake was enough for him to remember it for a lifetime.
And the way the Wyverian hunter could think of to repay this was to, as the Commander's partner, complete their shared dream: to find the secret of the Elder Crossing!!
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