The wind picked up, and Dilu, looking up at the sky, felt her fur swaying. "It's windy, meow," she said softly.
"If it's that, it's not good... Dilu, quickly launch the rainbow flare!" Li Fan, who had stopped to observe, reminded her.
"Okay, meow!"
Soon, a seven-colored flare burst high in the sky. This was the highest level of warning during the Hundred Beast Night, only to be used when the Wind God Dragon was sighted.
"Yudora, the Wind God Dragon is about to appear. Quickly take Dilu and hide in the city tower of the third checkpoint." Li Fan warned.
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine. Huihui is in the ball, and even if something goes wrong, she can protect herself."
"Alright." Yudora hesitated for a moment, then picked up the somewhat bewildered Dilu and ran towards the city wall.
"No, meow! I want to be with Li Fan." Dilu's four paws moved rapidly, but her body was already suspended in the air, and she could only watch as she drifted further away from Li Fan.
"Dilu, you have to trust Li Fan," Yudora comforted her.
"Wuwu... alright, meow." Dilu drooped her head powerlessly and stopped struggling.
The wind sweeping through the Jade Leaf Fortress intensified. The circular hole in the clouds rapidly expanded within the swirling vortex of wind.
Clang! Clang! Clang! ... More rainbow flares exploded in the sky from various locations, clearly sensing the possibility of the Wind God Dragon's arrival from this unusual weather anomaly.
Boom! ... Boom! ..... Boom! ... The large gongs on the second checkpoint were struck at long intervals, signifying a collective retreat. The sky changed, and the intercepting artillery fire ceased. The monsters became even more excited and surged towards the gate of the second checkpoint with near-frenzied intensity.
The three members of the monster squad all saw that something was wrong, but the Rage-horn still lowered its head and ate voraciously. Li Fan, swinging with Wirebugs, arrived at a rock platform on the side and directed them with gestures and shouts.
"Pack it up and take it away!" Wani, Xixi, and Leige understood. They picked up the monster carcasses and continuously transferred them towards the mountain. The Rage-horn, as it ate, saw that the surrounding carcasses were being taken away to the forest above and could only leap up to join its three brothers.
The cloud hole expanded again, revealing a rapidly rolling ring of cloud walls within. The other end of the hole was pitch black, as if connected to some unknown world. Seeing that the monster squad had hidden in the rock crevices and should be safe, Li Fan also found a vertical rock crevice two people wide to take shelter.
Whoosh~ Whoosh! Amidst the howling wind, the leaves on the branches were blown away, and gravel and sand rose rapidly in a swirling motion. Crack! Under the scouring of the strong wind, a small tree leaning to one side was uprooted, and its roots flew into the air. Even larger trees, rocks, the spherical cannonballs on the city walls, and small to medium-sized monsters with lighter weight were swept up into the air by the surging wind. A super tornado, covering the entire second checkpoint of the Jade Leaf Fortress and connecting to the cloud hole, took shape.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! ... Li Fan, in the rock crevice, was not in any danger, but the piercing sound of the wind was quite torturous if listened to for a long time.
Whoosh~ In an instant, the strong wind dissipated, and the world suddenly fell silent, as if all sound had vanished. Li Fan, able to hear his own heartbeat, emerged from the rock crevice and looked up. Inside the cloud hole, a terrifying triangular maw opened to its widest extent. Air currents and wind masses, flashing with red and black lightning, were continuously compressed and condensed within the maw.
"Sigh, I shouldn't have looked." Click! Click! ... The clinking sound of armor echoed in the rock crevice. Li Fan, turning and sprinting, ran for more than ten meters before directly diving and prostrating himself.
Whoosh~ The falling air mass of wind smashed into the ground, and a counter-clockwise swirling tornado erupted from the impact point. The surging wind was even more violent than before. And the trees, rocks, monsters, and cannonballs that had been blown into the sky were now falling, bombarding the ground.
Boom! Crack! Clang! ... Various sounds emerged amidst the wind. After a while, the strong wind dissipated again. "It should be fine now..." Li Fan got up, brushed off the gravel embedded in the gaps of his armor, pushed aside the tree trunk that had fallen diagonally into the rock crevice, and poked his head out to observe again.
In the sky, a giant creature resembling a seahorse was floating upside down, head facing downwards. Its outer jaw had no bone, like a cracked membrane, fluttering in the wind. Four inner jaws with sharp teeth extended from its throat, swaying as its mouth widened, giving it a ferocious and terrifying appearance. There were several strips of wind sacs glowing white on its forearms, chest, back, and tail hammer, with countless air currents swirling around them.
"The Wind God Dragon likely controls the airflow around its body with these wind sacs and uses its fin-like feet to float and fly," Li Fan concluded through observation. Seeing the Wind God Dragon slowly descending, Li Fan did not want to remain hidden in the rock crevice, as being trapped inside would be fatal. Even if the creature had no intention of attacking him.
He reached the top of the mountain. If he hadn't experienced it himself, Li Fan would never have believed that this was the second checkpoint of the Jade Leaf Fortress. The city walls were already in ruins, with only a few bases of the artillery and ballista remaining. Monster carcasses, broken tree trunks, and shattered rocks were scattered randomly on the ground. Everywhere he looked, there was devastation. The only positive aspect was perhaps the fresh air.
As the Wind God Dragon descended to about a person's height from the ground, it began to swim forward in a floating posture. "This height... something's not right. Does the Wind God Dragon also need to break through checkpoints?" Li Fan became puzzled. The city walls were indeed a difficult obstacle for land-based monsters, but for the Wind God Dragon, couldn't it just fly over? It's not like it's collaborating with the monsters from the Hundred Beast Night, is it? You were the one who killed the most earlier.
Just as Li Fan was wondering, the Rage-horn, charging on the opposite mountain path, came into view. Following the Rage-horn's gaze downwards, it was clear that its attention was locked onto the Wind God Dragon. "Quick, stop it!" Li Fan waved his hand, giving instructions. The appearance of the Wind God Dragon had disrupted all their previously formulated capture plans. To capture it, they would have to find another opportunity. Leige accelerated, overtook the Rage-horn, and then slowed down by pressing its four paws to the ground, its body twisting in a tail spin to block the Rage-horn.
Roar... Leige let out a low growl. Xixi and Wani, although not following, quickly dug out several monster carcasses by pushing aside tree trunks with their heads and kicking away rocks, and sent them to the Rage-horn.
Roar? Li Fan heard the Rage-horn's implied question, as if asking if the other monsters were blocking its pursuit out of fear.
Roar! Leige responded with a roar that could startle the Wind God Dragon, clearly stating that they were not afraid, but that it was not suitable to act at the moment. If there were a real opportunity, they would willingly die with their elder brother!
Roar... The Rage-horn sighed deeply, turned its head, and lowered it. Soon, a crystal tear dripped onto the rock. "Monsters who have been pack leaders are indeed different," Li Fan couldn't help but exclaim. A moment later, the Rage-horn let out a sky-shattering roar that echoed through the fortress, declaring that it would defend this bond to the death and complete their mission.
"Damn it, do you have to roar so loudly?" Li Fan quickly observed the Wind God Dragon. The pupils in its yellow round eyes flickered slightly backward before quickly returning to the front, as if it hadn't paid any attention to the Rage-horn's roar. Before, when it ate monsters, there was at least a process of subduing and hunting. Now, the scattered carcasses were like a buffet. The Rage-horn did not hesitate and began to eat without reservation.
Li Fan waved to the monsters and slid down the back slope. Soon, Leige, Xixi, and Wani arrived on the other side and met up with Li Fan.
Roar... Xixi drooped its head dejectedly, stating that it didn't want to be a mole anymore. If Huihui found out that it had betrayed its friends, it would be looked down upon. Moreover, the Rage-horn had treated it very well, and even though it knew it was for the sake of becoming teammates, it couldn't bring itself to act.
"Don't worry about that for now. Because of the sudden appearance of the Wind God Dragon, the undercover plan can no longer be implemented. Just make sure the Rage-horn doesn't impulsively throw its life away. I want to ask, does any of you know why this Wind God Dragon is flying so close to the ground?" Li Fan asked.
Xixi turned its neck to look at Wani, and Wani looked at Leige.
Roar? Leige, who couldn't fly, exclaimed in surprise and then looked at Xixi.
Roar... Xixi had to force its head up and reluctantly answer. "The Wind God Dragon is looking for something on the ground? Hmm... this answer sounds a bit simplistic, but it does make sense," Li Fan said, stroking his chin. A creature capable of flight not flying, but floating close to the ground, wasn't it looking for something? But what was it looking for? The Wind God Dragon was an Elder Dragon-level monster. Even if it had shortcomings in perception, it shouldn't be...
As he pondered, Li Fan suddenly remembered the information Huihui had given him. They were too unfamiliar, not belonging to this world, and thus cursed by the entire natural ecosystem. This made sense. It wasn't that the Wind God Dragon's perception was problematic, but that its method of perception was simply unusable in the natural ecosystem. It could only search in a primitive way, by probing its surroundings. Thinking of this, Li Fan couldn't help but feel puzzled. If its own perception could not be used in the ecosystem, then this species would not even meet the conditions for its existence. Could the Wind God Dragon be an extraterrestrial or interdimensional creature? Li Fan felt this was the most reasonable explanation at the moment.
"Do they really lack any method of perceiving the ecosystem..." Boom! As Li Fan was murmuring, a loud noise suddenly came from the front of the second checkpoint. The heavy metal gate, along with countless city wall stones and artillery bases, rose into the air and slowly rotated around the Wind God Dragon.
Boom! Boom! Boom! ... As the flying cannonballs collided with the stones, several plumes of black smoke emerged. However, as the Wind God Dragon swayed its body, the black smoke instantly blew away and dissipated. The objects floating around it, as if driven, slanted downwards towards the city wall with the boost of the airflow. Li Fan realized that even though the gate had been breached, it was still not enough for the Wind God Dragon to float over, so it simply destroyed the entire city wall as well.
"If this destructive power were used on the Flame Village, it would flatten the entire village." Li Fan felt that the greatest advantage at the moment was that the Jade Leaf Fortress had previously repelled the Wind God Dragon. And knowing that it would return, they had made many preparations in their defenses. However, Li Fan did not consider this to be very secure.
"You guys continue to follow the Rage-horn and try not to let it get too agitated." After the monsters left, Li Fan slid down the back slope and reached the bottom of the mountain. Looking up at the dark clouds that obscured the sky, he murmured, "The clouds gathered by the Wind God Dragon are a bit high... Never mind, I'll gamble that you won't see it."
A moment later, a blinding red light rose from the mountain range and shot into the dark clouds. After breaking through the second checkpoint, the terrain in front of the Wind God Dragon became open. Soon, its movement changed from a straight line to a serpentine probing, as if unwilling to miss any inch of land. Its floating and searching speed slowed down considerably.
On top of the curved city wall of the third checkpoint, the entire Flame Village was preparing for battle. Seeing the countless seven-colored flares exploding in the sky above the Jade Leaf Fortress, many villagers, in addition to the more than a hundred members of the village reserve team, had voluntarily come to help. The third checkpoint, besides having a more robust and thicker city wall, also deployed a giant Dragon-Slaying Cannon aimed at the sky. The village defense captain, who was in command, shouted with surprise upon seeing Li Fan flying over with Wirebugs, "The Chief Hunter is back!"
Hearing this, Yudora quickly stuffed the spherical cannonballs she was carrying into the cannon's chamber and hurried over with Dilu. "Are you okay, meow?" Dilu asked with concern. Dilu had clearly seen the terrifying scene at the second checkpoint through her binoculars.
"I'm fine, but the third checkpoint is a bit dangerous," Li Fan sighed.
"Will there be a mysterious power to help?" Yudora pointed to the sky.
"There will be, but if it acts here, it will definitely be known by everyone. How is the situation here?" Li Fan asked.
"The city defenses are under great pressure for Flame Village. In the past, even when they repelled the Wind God Dragon, it was a hard-won victory. Moreover, Puxian predicted that because the second checkpoint fell too quickly, more pressure will be concentrated on the third checkpoint, and they have already begun evacuation work in the village," Yudora said helplessly.
Li Fan looked at Puxian, who was standing with his arms crossed at the edge of the city wall, his face serious. He couldn't help but worry about the fate of Flame Village. With its rich mineral resources, Flame Village had developed a powerful smelting industry. Now, with the large-scale production of Wirebugs, it was another rare and valuable pillar industry. The massive amount of monster materials obtained from the Hundred Beast Night had an efficiency that ordinary hunting could not match. Li Fan felt that if Flame Village continued to develop, it had the potential to become a top-tier city-state like East Doruma. But because of the arrival of the Wind God Dragon, all of this would come to an end. The efforts of several generations would be destroyed overnight.
"We need to stop the Wind God Dragon. Are you ready?" Li Fan asked.
"We've been ready for a long time, meow!"
"Of course!" Yudora, seeing Li Fan's confident demeanor, was also inspired.