"Indeed, inhaling this much would surely be unbearable for the body."
Li Fan also sensed the problem.
It was common in the areas around Honoka Village for hunters to use flower chain bracelets in the wild to attract Ghostfire Birds, absorbing their collected pollen to provide themselves with buffs.
And similar to Demonblight Dust and Harden Dust, the more the powder content, the greater the boost to the body when inhaled. However, buffing agents had strict material ratios when combined.
Although the Ghostfire Bird's pollen was not combined, its carrying capacity was limited by body size.
The one before them was completely different. A massive amount of shimmering pollen covered the surface of its air sacs. Judging by sight alone, the type of buff it provided was indiscernible.
Under the flowing, iridescent light, it looked like an RGB lighting effect had been activated.
"I suspect this is meant for monsters, meow," Dilu suggested.
"That makes sense. Only a monster's physique could withstand it..."
Roar! Just as Li Fan agreed, the Anjanath looked up and let out a roar at the giant Ghostfire Bird.
The giant Ghostfire Bird lowered its altitude, observing the three parties about to battle the Thunder Wyvern, and seemed hesitant.
At this moment, Lei Ge, Xi Xi, and Wan Pi arrived behind the Anjanath, finding positions and gathering. Pufu and Zhan Zhan, seeing the free buffs, also squeezed in beside them.
"With so many monsters diluting the dust, let's go get some too," Li Fan suggested.
"Will it be alright?" Yudolra asked uncertainly.
"This is the essence condensed from all the insects in the entire ruined shrine area. If it affects us, it might be the key to defeating the Thunder Wyvern."
"Alright! Hooo... hooo~" Yudolra said, opening her mouth and taking deep breaths.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm practicing. I'll inhale more later."
"That makes sense! I'll take deep breaths too. Let's go!" The team immediately set off.
"Li Fan! Don't go closer!" Pazhizhi quickly warned as the team moved towards the Anjanath.
While the Rampage allowed many monsters to ignore humans, it certainly didn't mean they could coexist safely.
There were a total of six monsters gathered around the Anjanath, five of which belonged to Li Fan.
However, he couldn't reveal that they were all his allies, so he replied, "Don't worry! We have a thorough plan."
"Sigh... the same fearlessness. Is this the way the Dragon Calendar Institute operates?" Pazhizhi couldn't help but marvel.
Seeing the team approach, Pufu flicked its purple-haired tail to the side, making space for Li Fan and Yudolra.
The two groups merged. Although the composition looked strange, the giant Ghostfire Bird immediately made its choice.
Whoosh~ As the giant Ghostfire Bird flew, it rapidly shook its body, scattering a large amount of shimmering, iridescent pollen towards the ground.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~...
The two humans and the cat tilted their heads back and inhaled deeply.
"Uh... I don't feel anything."
A moment later, Li Fan felt only a slight coolness when he breathed, with no discernible effect.
"Perhaps we're standing too far back?" Yudolra speculated.
Thump-thump!
Two heavy, rapid heartbeats suddenly sounded in Li Fan's ears.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump! Thump-thump!...
As the heartbeat intensified, Li Fan's breathing quickened. Driven by his instincts, he placed his Iron Tower Greatshield on the ground, preparing to assess his condition after gaining protection.
The Iron Tower Greatshield feels so light... No, my strength has increased!
"Thunder Wyvern! This kitty wants to challenge you one-on-one!" Dilu's eyes widened as she raised her small iron shovel and pointed it at the Thunder Wyvern, which was circling the corpse of the Wind Wyvern.
"It seems the pollen contains not only buffing agents but also unknown components that enhance combat intent," Li Fan surmised.
"Where is my mount, Qingtian?... Oh! It's in the ball." Dilu said, pulling out a Poké Ball from her pouch.
"Yudolra, we need to shake Dilu awake." Yudolra turned her head. While her emotions didn't show anything unusual, the two streams of blood flowing from her nose were hard to ignore.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I feel great right now. You want me to shake Dilu awake, right?" Yudolra said, grabbing Dilu's hind paws, while Li Fan grabbed her front paws. The two began to shake her rapidly!
Buzz!....
Dilu became a blur as she was shaken, and when they stopped, her eyes were full of stars.
"What's going on, meow? My head is so dizzy..." Before Dilu could figure out what was happening, a deafening roar sounded. The Anjanath's roar drew the Thunder Wyvern's attention.
Chirp! Li Fan pushed open the observation port of his shield and said as he watched, "The final battle is about to begin. Are you all ready?"
"Yes!"
"Uh... I can join the fight, meow!" Dilu quickly shook her head and instantly became much more alert.
"Good! Then let's work together to finish the Hundred Origins Thunder Wyvern here!" After Li Fan finished speaking, the Anjanath roared again.
The sonic wave struck the shield, causing the Iron Tower Greatshield to shift back slightly. Feeling provoked, the Thunder Wyvern straightened its body and lunged forward in a spin, several lightning rings scattering from its sides. The three brothers, thinking the Anjanath had a tactic, quickly spread out to provide support from the sides.
But no one expected the Anjanath to simply leap and pounce. The Thunder Wyvern, which had stopped its advance, tilted its body upside down and gently raised its right claw. Whoosh~ A rising vortex of wind emerged from the ground. The Anjanath, mid-air, forcibly twisted its body, avoiding the wind vortex while stomping on the exploding Ghostfire orbs, and advanced to the upside-down creature's head.
Crack! A golden lightning pillar struck down precisely on the Anjanath's back armor. With a puff of smoke, the Anjanath plummeted downwards, but even in this state, it still lunged forward and swiped with a claw.
Scratch! Its sharp claw grazed the Thunder Wyvern's jaw, sparking electricity. The Anjanath flipped and landed on its back, then rolled to its side, avoiding a strike from the Thunder Wyvern's left claw, and quickly got back up.
"It was a feint!" Li Fan exclaimed. In the shield's observation port, the eyes of the two humans and the cat all showed surprise.
However, although the strike was avoided, the wind vortex and golden light injected into the ground by its claws continued to spread.
Sizzle! Shattered earth and rocks floated off the ground. Facing the gathering energy below, the Anjanath did not flee or dodge.
Click! The tip of its gun-blade tail unfolded into a three-pronged shape, igniting Ghostfire as it rapidly spun, forming a purple halo around its tail.
Boom! Boom! Boom!... Explosive air currents continuously erupted from the ground. The Anjanath leaped forward to dodge, then turned its body to the side after landing, thrusting its gun-blade tail into the Thunder Wyvern's massive maw.
Buzz! Boom! The purple halo at the tail's tip vibrated outwards, sending ripples of shockwaves through the air. The purple Ghostfire exploded. The Thunder Wyvern, which took the hit head-on, was pushed back slightly, its upside-down body retreating. It swung its right claw back, and a golden lightning orb condensed in its palm.
With nowhere to retreat, the Anjanath began to exude a large amount of Ghostfire pollen, its body quickly engulfed by the rising wind vortex and falling lightning.
Boom! Fierce winds swept, lightning flashed, and a violent explosion leveled everything in the vicinity. When the shock subsided, the Thunder Wyvern, seemingly unharmed, slowly drifted towards the Anjanath, which lay on the ground with large areas of its shell shattered.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!... At this moment, a rapid friction sound came from above. The Thunder Wyvern glanced upwards and saw an electric dragon, its crown flashing with yellow and green light, diving diagonally towards it. The fully condensed golden orb was flung from its right claw. Xi Xi dodged the orb sideways, passed through two spinning lightning rings, and continued its dive. On its crown, the Ship Slicer, mixed with golden lightning and its own emerald electricity, was raised. The Thunder Wyvern stopped its movement, allowing the Ship Slicer to strike its jaw. The surging electricity, upon contact with the gelatinous-looking hide, not only caused no damage but was rapidly decomposed and absorbed. The Ship Slicer shrunk at a visible rate. Xi Xi didn't persist and quickly flew away after the failed attack. However, before it could fly far, it was hit by a distorted, diagonally descending golden lightning strike. Xi Xi felt the damage wasn't severe and could fly and land on its own. But Li Fan saw the problem. Xi Xi could indeed absorb the Thunder Wyvern's lightning to unleash a more powerful Ship Slicer. But the problem was that the Thunder Wyvern was completely immune to lightning. Although Xi Xi also had strong lightning resistance, its accumulator organ clearly couldn't withstand the opponent's attack, and it even actively guided the lightning, drawing attacks upon itself. This wasn't right. Xi Xi should have known this.
"The Anjanath has been taken away!" Yudolra exclaimed. Li Fan withdrew his thoughts and continued to observe, realizing that Lei Ge was now carrying the Anjanath and moving rapidly.
"So, it was a coordinated operation. Xi Xi distracted the Thunder Wyvern, and then Lei Ge took the Anjanath away." Li Fan suddenly understood. He hadn't expected that during their long coexistence, monsters would develop tactical cooperation. The Thunder Wyvern did not pursue but turned back.
"It didn't pursue and returned to the center of the pit. Its desire to attack isn't very strong," Li Fan observed, finding the situation unusual.
"The警戒 area is limited to the bottom of the deep pit, which doesn't seem logical." Yudolra pondered. According to the habits of Elder Dragons, the bottom of the pit alone was insufficient to serve as a territory.
"It's shrinking its territory and fixing its position... Could it be about to lay eggs, or has it already finished laying them!" Li Fan speculated.
"Highly likely. Otherwise, why would the heavily injured Wind Wyvern be fighting on the surface, while the Thunder Wyvern hides underground... I feel like we're running out of time!" Yudolra agreed.
At this point, another question arose. No one knew how the Thunder Wyvern laid its eggs, nor what they looked like. This was not even indicated in the game.
"Underground... Impossible. The Thunder Wyvern just injected energy into the ground, causing a massive explosion. It's definitely not where the eggs are." Li Fan looked up and scanned the surrounding rock walls, finding nothing. Then his gaze fell upon the Thunder Wyvern's glowing air sac. It hadn't attacked with its tail hammer earlier, but had kept it hanging in front of its air sac. Could the eggs still be gestating within its air sac? It still didn't feel right! If that were the case, why would it confine itself to this deep pit? Especially when countless monsters and humans were coming to attack, escaping would be the best option. Possessing both lightning and wind vortex abilities, if it truly flew into the sky, even Hui Hui would have difficulty attacking it. Even from Li Fan's perspective, he still couldn't pinpoint the location of the eggs. Whoosh~ Air blew past him. Li Fan followed the trajectory of the airflow and realized it was the residual energy from the earlier wind vortex and lightning explosion, which had been swirling upwards from the bottom of the pit. Just like when the Wind Wyvern exposed the view below the clouds to Hui Hui at the pass. The cloud gap in the sky, which had almost closed, was once again torn open by the rising wind vortex. Li Fan looked at the swirling, rolling cloud wall in the sky and suddenly realized something. "Right, they originally lived in the sky."
"Did you find something?" Yudolra asked anxiously.
"The eggs are in the Thunder Wyvern's abdomen." Li Fan said with certainty.
"No way. If the eggs are inside it, why is the Thunder Wyvern guarding this place?" Yudolra couldn't understand.
"The wind-eroded patterns on the rock walls are horizontal, proving that wind vortex airflow has been constantly erupting upwards. If my deduction is correct, after the Wind Wyvern and Thunder Wyvern mate, they will launch the eggs from this deep pit."
"This... is there any chance of survival for such eggs?" Yudolra found it hard to believe.
"There are two possibilities. The first is that their eggs are naturally gestated in the air, possessing small air sac tissues. The clouds provide cover and concealment, while lightning provides energy. The second possibility is that the number of eggs is countless, and they can drift and scatter on a large scale with the wind vortex airflow, making them impossible for any creature to stop. Perhaps their reproduction once occurred in the air, but with ecological resistance, they had to find safer places. And once this method is successful, it cannot be stopped," Li Fan explained his speculation.
"Not on the ground, but in the sky..." This peculiar characteristic deeply surprised Yudolra. She hadn't expected the Thunder Wyvern and Wind Wyvern to be able to reproduce in the air.
"Looking at it this way, the deep pit is the most suitable place. Because even if two Elder Dragons attacked, even if they used the same attributes, the confined space would create mutual constraints. And as long as the Thunder Wyvern is not killed, there is a chance to use a deep pit, similar to a well, to carry the eggs into the clouds with the wind vortex airflow."
"In that case, it seems I need to make my move in advance." Yudolra said, dragging her Dragon Slicer Greatsword out from behind her shield.
"Me too, meow!" Dilu also prepared to leave, but Li Fan stopped her.
"No, Dilu, you need to go tell Pazhizhi my deductions first, and have her send someone back to the giant airship to quickly devise a solution."
"Alright, meow..." Dilu said. Seeing Li Fan lift his Iron Tower Greatshield, she tentatively asked, "Are you going out too, meow?"
"Yes, but don't worry. This time I'm using a Lance. Before my stamina runs out, it's the safest weapon." Li Fan began his warm-up exercises.
Bang! Bang! Bang!.... On Pazhizhi's side, two heavy bowguns in the rear of the formation fired piercing rounds from a distance. But the Thunder Wyvern was completely unfazed. The projectiles either missed due to the interference of the wind vortex airflow or caused no effective damage upon impact. Pazhizhi also noticed the Thunder Wyvern's abnormal behavior. However, with only nine people in total, a rash advance would be suicidal.
"Isn't that an Felyne from Li Fan's team?" Seeing Dilu running over, Pazhizhi was quite surprised.