The careful investigation by the Wind God Dragon bought time for the fortress's defenses, but it also placed immense psychological pressure on those involved.
When the Wind God Dragon appeared in the distant mountain pass, many were too terrified by its immense pressure to continue fighting. This was because most of them weren't even reserve members of the village defense force and would typically avoid a monster like the Arzuros in the wild. They had rushed over upon seeing the signal flare, driven by a passion to protect the village, but had no real understanding of the Wind God Dragon.
After arranging for an evacuation, Puxian delivered a brief speech to boost morale. The team, meanwhile, was dispatched ahead to try and cause some trouble for the Wind God Dragon before it reached the pass, further delaying its advance.
Atop a slope, two people and a cat lay prone, three binoculars raised side-by-side, slowly panning as the Wind God Dragon moved.
"The mountain pass leading to the fortress is getting narrower. From a defensive perspective, this allows for concentrated firepower, but it makes it difficult for the team to maneuver," Li Fan stated his assessment.
"Aren't those cannonballs floating around the Wind God Dragon? Can we detonate them?" Yudora tentatively asked.
Li Fan was surprised Yudora had immediately recognized an attack pattern similar to game mechanics.
"Actually, we don't need to trigger the explosions. Before the second pass, the Wind God Dragon carries so much due to the wind currents that the cannonballs will explode on their own from collisions. However, they're too far from its body to cause any damage," Li Fan explained.
"I see," Yudora said, enlightened.
"I feel like detonating them within the innermost wind currents might be possible, meow," Dilo offered her opinion.
The observed wind currents were divided into three layers, outer, middle, and inner, swirling around the Wind God Dragon like nesting dolls. The wind speed in each layer varied, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, seemingly without pattern, yet possessing an indescribable rhythm when observed from afar. The outermost layer was the one carrying the floating cannonballs.
"Items are indeed transferred between wind current layers, but the cannonballs can't withstand the impact, so they wouldn't be able to reach the innermost layer," Li Fan explained.
"Then that's strange. With three layers of wind current protection, its body is still covered in dents and cracks, and some wounds don't look healed. It doesn't seem like the condition of an Elder Dragon," Yudora voiced her confusion.
"Perhaps it spends most of its time in pursuit and combat. Still, I'm curious what kind of monster could inflict such dense wounds."
Just as Li Fan was speculating, with a boom, several cannonballs detonated prematurely while being transferred to the middle wind current. With a slight flick of its left claw, the Wind God Dragon shifted a single metal gate from the second pass into the innermost wind current, where it began to orbit close to its body.
*Screech!* The warped frame of the metal gate scraped across the Wind God Dragon's back carapace, leaving a trail of sparks. The Wind God Dragon, flying upside down, lightly pressed its right claw downwards. The inner wind current changed, positioning the metal gate horizontally. After another round of orbiting, the scraping sound ceased.
Li Fan noticed that the Wind God Dragon's body would move whenever it adjusted its wind currents. Unlike the Kushala Daora, which used air currents as armor, the Wind God Dragon focused on precise control of the wind. The currents acted like invisible hands, easily grasping and moving massive objects.
"Kuku, Zaz, Puff... I don't see any opportunities," Li Fan said dejectedly after observing for a long time.
"Can the team following the Anjanath not participate?" Yudora asked.
"If the Anjanath were to join, there would be too many variables. Let's observe for now." While having more monsters might be advantageous, rushing into battle with an Elder Dragon without a plan would surely lead to a significant disadvantage.
After a brief discussion, the team decided to probe with ranged attacks.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!* ... Soon, Zaz, chewing on explosive minerals, appeared at the top of the slope, charging forward.
*Whoosh!* It spat out viscous, black, ball-shaped minerals. While the range of "Explosive Shot" was typically not for long-distance attacks, the extreme mountain drop allowed the diagonally descending minerals to hit their target precisely. However, as soon as they entered the outer wind current, they were pulled away and stretched into strips. Fueled by the wind, the rapidly cooling minerals immediately detonated, transforming into a ring of fire that exploded in mid-air.
The Wind God Dragon glanced upwards, then quickly returned its gaze, seemingly unconcerned by Zaz's attack. Kuku continuously spat fireballs downwards from high in the sky. While the explosions briefly disrupted the flow of the outer wind current, allowing some fireballs to enter the middle layer, they could do little more.
Puff was about to attempt an attack when the Wind God Dragon suddenly stopped and turned its attention to the rocky mountainside to its side.
"Let's wait for Puff for now," Li Fan said. He felt that while Puff's cutting beam might penetrate the three wind current layers, it was unlikely to inflict enough damage, so it was better to wait and see.
The Wind God Dragon stared at the rocks for a moment, then inverted its body, arching like a shrimp, and began to rotate in place. The striped wind sacs on its back suddenly glowed intensely.
*Whoosh! Clang!* ... The rocks and turrets carried by the outer wind current were released from their floating state and fell to the ground. Around the Wind God Dragon's curled body, wind currents imbued with dragon energy condensed, one after another. Once six had formed, the Wind God Dragon swiped its claw, guiding them, and fired them towards the rocky mountainside.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* ... Earth and stone cracked, trees were uprooted. After each energy blast dispersed, an updraft emerged at its impact point, blowing everything around it into the air. Amidst the raging winds, the team could only crawl and take cover.
It wasn't until the wind gradually subsided that Li Fan got up and peered out. He saw the Wind God Dragon retreat backward a distance, its body's wind currents accelerating their rotation. The items carried by the middle wind current also began to detach rapidly.
*Whoosh!* The Wind God Dragon spun its body, like a fish in water, and crashed directly into the rocky mountainside.
*Boom!* Countless massive rocks were blasted into the air, and the entire mountain range began to tremble.
"Damn it, what did this mountain ever do to you..." Li Fan grumbled in his mind as the ground shook violently. He could only recall Puff and Zaz and use the Wirebug to hover and evade. Although the impact wouldn't cause the mountain to collapse, the team didn't want to take the risk.
*Clang! Clatter!* ... A heavy metallic scraping sound came from within the mountain, followed by two enormous objects slowly floating out. One was a half-metal gate, bent in the middle, with intricate carvings on its surface. Judging by its size and thickness, it should have been installed at the third pass, but it was likely damaged in an attack and discarded within the mountain. The other was the head of a giant Dragonator.
Under the Wind God Dragon's manipulation, these two colossal objects were quickly brought into the innermost wind current by the swirling winds, moving slowly close to its body.
"What is happening?" Yudora had a bad premonition.
"I don't know, but in the past, the Wind God Dragon didn't have this kind of object-gathering characteristic," Li Fan said, equally shocked.
"The Wind God Dragon... could it be planning to use the two gates as shields and the Dragonator as a weapon, meow?" Dilo speculated, recalling the shield and lance Li Fan had recently crafted.
"Perhaps you're right... Sigh, I feel like the situation is getting more and more out of control," Li Fan said weakly.
"Don't worry, meow. Although it was a short time, the team has gathered a lot of useful information through observation," Dilo said, holding up a notebook with her cat paw.
"Yes, the wind sacs on its back control the outer wind currents, its left claw controls the middle, and its right claw controls the inner. If it wants to use the wind currents from different layers, its defenses will disappear simultaneously. If we can exploit this gap, we might be able to attack the Wind God Dragon directly," Li Fan speculated.
"Then what are the tail hammer wind sacs for?" Yudora asked, confused.
"The Wind God Dragon hasn't shown that yet, meow. Li Fan can't possibly know," Dilo explained.
"It's for pouring wind currents into the ground when I smash down. The attacked area will surge with extremely strong updrafts, and one will be blown into the air with a *whoosh*," Li Fan informed them.
"You... you know that too, meow?" Dilo asked incredulously, as the Wind God Dragon hadn't used the wind sacs on its tail hammer in front of them.
"Haha, Dilo, I wouldn't ask the wrong person... If you can be blown into the air with a single smash, wouldn't a charged attack in mid-air be perfect?" Yudora mused.
"That state would likely be like floating in near-weightlessness, possibly even spinning. Forget charged attacks; just landing without getting dizzy and vomiting would be an accomplishment," Li Fan thought it wouldn't work.
Yudora extended her hand and opened the decorative cap on her Zinogre Braces, revealing two large, shining yellow gems. "These are Tremor Resistance Jewels. I've embedded seven on my armor, precisely to ensure I never get stunned in battle."
Seeing Yudora's confident smile as she displayed them, Li Fan could only concede, "This can indeed resist dizziness, but if your aerial posture is wrong, you'll have to rely on the Wirebug to adjust. Even a single mistake during that time could lead to danger." Unlike in the game, where three Tremor Resistance Jewels achieve maximum effect, the actual activation of abilities here could theoretically be increased infinitely. The downside was that even with high stacking, effects like stun immunity from the game couldn't be achieved, and the crafting cost was exorbitant. Furthermore, the higher the stacking intensity, the more likely it was to trigger assimilation. However, decorative jewels were generally mild; as long as one didn't excessively stack a single type of jewel, assimilation rarely occurred.
"Don't worry, the training during this time wasn't in vain," Yudora said with great confidence.
Returning quickly to the third pass, Puxian and the village defense force had also noticed the Wind God Dragon's use of collected objects as weapons and shields. However, this was the first time Puxian had heard about the control points corresponding to the three layers of wind currents.
"It seems the Wind God Dragon has been preparing thoroughly over the years," Puxian remarked, gazing at the Wind God Dragon, which was continuously probing forward.
"So, both its use of collected objects as weapons and shields, and its manipulation of wind currents, are things the Wind God Dragon has only recently mastered?" Li Fan inquired.
"Yes. In the past, the Wind God Dragon would also come to investigate, but it didn't have such complex control over air currents. While it did have object-gathering traits, it generally only used things it carried with it and didn't deliberately crash into mountainsides to find them... I wish the discarded gates and Dragonator hadn't been buried in the mountainside back then," Puxian said with some resentment.
"What about its injuries?"
"Injuries? The Wind God Dragon is an Elder Dragon; no one should be able to threaten it. If it weren't in peak condition, it wouldn't have approached the Felyne Fortress recklessly." Puxian said, somewhat surprised.
"The team observed earlier that the Wind God Dragon was covered in wounds. While none were too severe, they likely resulted from multiple battles," Li Fan reported his findings.
"Could it be... that the Wind God Dragon came to Felyne Fortress after undergoing prolonged combat training?" Puxian's gaze deepened.
At this moment, the defense captain ran up to report. "Village Chief! The Guild has sent word that the Hunter and the Eternal will likely arrive overhead in about five hours! Hunters from surrounding branches are being urgently assembled. The Guild wants to know for sure if Felyne Fortress can hold out until they arrive." If Felyne Fortress fell, it would no longer be able to intercept the Wind God Dragon, and even with Guild reinforcements, it would be difficult to confront it directly. Engaging an Elder Dragon without meticulous planning was a suicidal act.
Puxian closed his eyes and pressed his forehead, then let out a long sigh. He responded with resignation, "Let the Guild make their own judgment. Crimson Glow Village has completed its evacuation. Felyne Fortress can only go all out now."
"Aren't we going to fight for it anymore?" The defense captain was surprised by the answer.
"I know the Wind God Dragon too well. Even if the Guild's two giant airships arrive, they can only organize hunters for ground combat... There's no need to increase casualties further," Puxian said through gritted teeth, explaining his reasoning.
"Understood!" The defense captain turned and ran quickly to relay the message.
"Chief Hunter team, all city defense battle contracts are now void. You should also evacuate as soon as possible," Puxian informed them.
"Why evacuate before we've even fought?" Yudora asked, confused.
"The Wind God Dragon has changed in ways we didn't anticipate. Felyne Fortress is now very difficult to defend," Puxian sighed.
"Let's try our best. I think there's still a chance," Li Fan insisted.
"You are the top hunters on this continent. I don't want you to perish here meaninglessly," Puxian tried to persuade them.
"Then why are you staying to defend it?" Yudora asked.
Puxian looked around the weathered Felyne Fortress and replied, "Because this is our home. We don't want it to be trampled by monsters at will. Even if the Wind God Dragon destroys Felyne Fortress and Crimson Glow Village together, the villagers will return and rebuild it. The purpose of the village defense force is to show the Wind God Dragon that we have never feared you."