Awooo!
With a final howl to the sky, several faint red and black electric arcs flashed around the Zinogre's body.
As no Thunderbugs or Corcelian insects were summoned to provide energy, a state akin to Supercharged Activation did not occur.
The scene was like someone shouting about charging up for a transformation, but after shouting for a long time, their body showed no change.
It looked rather awkward.
But the Zinogre didn't care, continuing to roar at the Ignis, as if to declare its ability to activate Corcelian insects.
However, the Corcelian insects only absorbed energy from the ship's hull, and paid no attention to the Zinogre.
The idea seemed right, but this mutation was likely only in its nascent stage. Thinking of having Corcelian insects provide power for a two-way activation now was too hasty.
Li Fan commented internally.
Boom! Boom!...
Heavy footsteps approached. The Zinogre, which had been looking at the Ignis, finally noticed the Ceanataur closing in.
The two monsters' eyes met for a moment, and the Ceanataur greeted with a low growl.
"What did the Ceanataur say?"
Eudora inquired.
"This is my territory, get lost."
Seeing that the Ceanataur was not in a hurry to attack, Li Fan's mood slightly relaxed. After all, as long as the Zinogre retreated now, its life would at least be guaranteed.
The Zinogre on the rocky platform began to retreat, as predicted.
After a few steps, the Zinogre looked up at the swarm of Corcelian insects on the Ignis, a hint of determination flashing in its eyes.
Awooo!
With a fierce roar, the Zinogre leaped off the rocky platform and confronted the Ceanataur.
"What's going on?"
Eudora couldn't understand. It was on the rocky platform and could have retreated, so jumping down was like seeking death.
"The howling earlier failed to attract them. The Zinogre wants to prove itself through battle."
Li Fan observed for a moment and provided an answer.
"Isn't this suicidal?"
Eudora commented.
"Perhaps in this Zinogre's eyes, the lack of key activation ability is more unacceptable than death. Moreover, such a large swarm of Corcelian insects must have been explored in the volcano for a long time before being encountered for the first time... The creature probably believes it's worth a gamble even at the cost of its life."
Li Fan voiced his speculation.
"A monster with such aspirations, perhaps we shouldn't call it a Zinogre Gauntlet anymore..."
Eudora, understanding the Zinogre's motive, felt a bit of admiration.
"You wait on the Ignis. I'll go with Wanpi to observe from low altitude. I'll signal if assistance is needed."
Li Fan thought that since the Zinogre wanted to fight, he would just watch. He would capture it when it was severely injured.
The Ceanataur had very limited aerial capabilities. As long as it wasn't hit by the Ignis's flame breath, it would be safe.
The Zinogre, now in combat mode, moved sideways at a slow pace while keeping an eye on the Ceanataur.
The Ceanataur, apart from slightly turning its head to maintain focus and tucking in its clawed wings, remained motionless, like a rock protruding from the ground.
In the Monster Hunter world, the extremely defensive Ceanataur was always discussed alongside the aggressive Diablos.
If the weapon used was not sharp enough, even its stone-like hard carapace could not be penetrated.
Li Fan felt that although both were five-star monsters, fighting in the volcanic area, let alone a fully depleted Zinogre, even a full-power one might not have an advantage.
Whoosh~ The slowly advancing Zinogre suddenly accelerated, circling sideways.
The Ceanataur's slow head-turning frequency was clearly unable to keep up.
Reaching its flank, the Zinogre leaped into the air and landed on the Ceanataur's back.
One foreclaw dug tightly into the rock-like carapace to maintain balance.
The other foreclaw was then spread to its limit, striking and clawing at the Ceanataur's back.
Crack! Crack! Crack!...
Crash!
Fine white rock fragments scattered everywhere.
Aooo....
The Ceanataur took two heavy steps forward and let out a mocking low growl.
"The Ceanataur doesn't seem affected at all, meow."
Felyne said in surprise.
"It says... too weak."
Li Fan translated helplessly.
However, the Zinogre did not stop attacking despite the poor results.
Instead, it consciously shifted its focus of attack to a specific area of the carapace.
Crack! After a while, under continuous striking, a larger piece of rock-like carapace was shattered and fell off.
The Ceanataur shook its body. Seeing that the Zinogre was still holding on firmly, it extended its two hind legs to the side.
Boom! With a sideways impact into the ground, the Ceanataur rolled over.
The Zinogre leaped off, and upon touching the ground, used its four claws to perform a somersault, extending its tail backward to whip.
The Ceanataur, still rolling on the ground, was naturally unable to defend.
But unfortunately, its tail struck the stone-like horn protruding from the Ceanataur's head.
Crack! Crash!
A small portion of the Zinogre's blue carapace on its tail shattered and scattered, revealing pale pink flesh.
Its body froze for about three seconds. The Zinogre breathed rapidly, lifted its head, and calmly turned back.
"Why is the Zinogre injured, meow?"
Felyne asked curiously.
In the battle just now, the Zinogre was clearly the aggressor.
"It's like your cat's paw pads. If you were to bash them against a table leg, even if you initiated the attack, due to the difference in strength, you would be the one getting hurt."
Li Fan explained.
Different parts of a monster's body have different carapace strengths.
Activating its power or sustaining damage would further alter the carapace's defense and strength.
The difference was even more pronounced when comparing the two monsters.
The Zinogre's choice of attack was not wrong; it just had terrible luck.
It attacked the rolling Ceanataur and hit its horn with its tail.
"It hurts just thinking about it, meow.... Hmm? Why does the Zinogre seem fine?"
Felyne looked at its own cat paw and asked.
"It originally wanted to use a strong performance to attract the swarm of Corcelian insects, so it probably didn't want to show any weakness."
Li Fan speculated.
The Ceanataur got up, lowered its body, and charged with a Dragonator.
The Zinogre dodged by circling sideways. As the two monsters brushed past each other, the Ceanataur's broad, heavy wings suddenly unfurled.
This was to slow down the Dragonator charge!
Li Fan immediately recognized the Ceanataur's intention.
Since evolving from a Rathian to a Ceanataur, it had no natural enemies except for higher-tier monsters like the Fatalis.
With a low combat drive and extremely high defense, Li Fan always thought the Ceanataur wouldn't possess very refined combat skills.
But its current performance was beyond expectations.
Having completed the deceleration and prematurely ended its Dragonator charge, the Ceanataur quickly turned around to face the Zinogre.
The Zinogre sensed something was wrong and tried to maneuver with its usual sideways movement. However, before it could take a step, it was surprised to find itself in a corner formed by a towering rock formation and a lava pool.
Charging on the lava pool was clearly impossible. Climbing the rock formation would mean turning its back to the enemy, leaving only the option of facing the enemy head-on.
"It's a trap. The Ceanataur has figured out the Zinogre's movement patterns."
Li Fan didn't believe this was a coincidence.
Awooo...
The Ceanataur let out a low growl.
Awooo!
The Zinogre raised its growl by a pitch.
"What are they saying, meow?"
Felyne was eagerly trying to know.
"The Ceanataur says you should have fled earlier, and now there's no chance. The Zinogre says I've been running all the time and I've had enough."
Li Fan translated.
Awooo...
Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!
"What does that mean, meow?... Li Fan?"
Seeing Li Fan in a daze, Felyne extended its cat paw and gently stroked his wrist.
"The Ceanataur says your actions are not only foolish but also meaningless."
"What about the Zinogre, meow?"
"Uh... let me think if there's a suitable phrase to express it... Got it!"
"What does that mean, meow?"
"I've run for a whole year, just waiting for a chance. I want to prove myself, not to show I'm amazing, but to tell them that what I've lost, I must take back with my own hands!"
As Li Fan finished translating, the Zinogre braced itself on its paws and howled towards the sky.
Awooo~ Awooo~ Awooo...
Crack!
Its back's Thunderpiercer opened, and the drooping electrified fur stood on end, turning into sharp spikes.
Blue lightning flashed on its body for a moment, quickly replaced by red and black draconic lightning.
The Dragon element energy has become stronger?
Could it be that the ancient dragon bone it swallowed earlier is starting to take effect?
This is too fast... Participating in battle has increased the Zinogre's metabolic rate!
Li Fan speculated internally.
"The Corcelian insects above are not right, meow!"
Felyne shouted a warning.
Li Fan looked up and saw that the Corcelian insects, with their black shimmering spots, were flying away from the ship's hull in groups.
Descending to the area above the Zinogre, the Corcelian insects gathered and flew in circles, quickly forming a black ring.
Awooo!
The Ceanataur let out a furious roar upon seeing this!
It seemed the Zinogre's action had greatly angered it.
"The Ceanataur is so angry, meow!"
Felyne exclaimed.
"Monsters of the Ceanataur's tier must detest Dragon element energy, which represents Elder Dragons."
Li Fan explained.
Finally, amidst persistent howling, the first Corcelian insect flew towards the Thunderpiercer on its back.
Crack! A blue electric arc flashed, and the Corcelian insect fell to the ground, legs up, electrocuted and stunned.
What's going on now?
Before Li Fan could speculate, more Corcelian insects rushed towards the Zinogre's back one after another.
Crack! Hiss! Crack! Hiss...
Red and black draconic arcs and blue arcs flashed continuously.
Facing the collision and the blue light generated by the Thunderpiercer, the Corcelian insects naturally couldn't achieve two-way activation and return Thunder element energy to put the Zinogre in a Supercharged state.
But when the red and black arcs flashed, some of the Corcelian insects would release all the Dragon element energy they had collected in their abdominal sacs at that moment.
With the accumulated Dragon element energy, the Zinogre released it again, attracting more Corcelian insects to contribute.
As for the formation of Supercharged Corcelian insects, Li Fan observed visually and found very few.
It's not a Brachydios, it hasn't mastered the method of two-way activation with Corcelian insects. So, is this... one-way activation?
Li Fan hadn't expected it to work like this.
The reason why Corcelian insects co-exist with Brachydios is not complicated.
Simply put, I provide you with energy to enter a Supercharged activation state.
You are responsible for controlling the Dragon element to trigger it, turning me into a Supercharged Corcelian insect.
This symbiotic collaboration was originally flawless.
But if the Zinogre tried to do it, the overflow of electric energy would stun some Corcelian insects.
And it hadn't mastered the step of turning Corcelian insects into Supercharged Corcelian insects at all.
Only a few, by chance, had managed to activate into Supercharged Corcelian insects.
The first swarm of insects that contributed Dragon element energy but did not become Supercharged Corcelian insects began to flee.
Li Fan seemed to hear their cries.
"Brothers, this is a sweatshop! Don't come!"
However, the mass arrival of Corcelian insects continued.
The reason was not that the Corcelian insects' perception was too poor to distinguish that this Zinogre was not quite right.
It was because after a certain period of absorption, the Dragon element energy in their abdominal sacs was full.
The next stage of their life was to activate into Supercharged Corcelian insects and then mate.
As more and more Dragon element energy gathered, the Zinogre's entire body was enveloped in red and black electric light.
"Will the activation succeed, meow?"
Felyne asked nervously, its eyes wide.
"I'm not sure..."
Just as Li Fan was discussing, a sharp cry sounded.
An orange beam of light struck directly at the dense red and black electric light.
"It's the Ceanataur's flame breath..."
Li Fan turned to look at the Ceanataur.
Although it had cornered the Zinogre between the rock formation and the lava pool, the Ceanataur was not advancing. Instead, it had retreated a distance.
Hiss! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!....
The black swarm of Corcelian insects scattered and fled, and numerous scorched and burning Corcelian insect corpses fell to the ground.
Awooo!!!
A roar that shook the heavens erupted.
The shockwave emanating from the Zinogre's body blew away all the surrounding red and black electric light.
Pfft! Pfft!
As the Zinogre breathed, the Dragon element energy in its Thunderpiercer switched back and forth between red and black.
On the silver-white, straight electrified fur, dark glowing patches flashed continuously.
The Zinogre has entered the Brachydios's Supercharged Activation state?
Li Fan didn't know how to evaluate it.
The Zinogre charged forward, and the Ceanataur stomped its feet, continuously shifting its body backward.
The convergence of Dragon element energy made it angry, but after reaching a certain level, it turned to fear.
However, recalling the Zinogre's previous state, the Ceanataur roared, lowered its body, pushed its horns forward, and charged with its legs to initiate an attack.
Seeing this, the Zinogre did not dodge. It dug its claws into the ground, straightened its upper body, and swung its right claw upwards.
Dragon element energy from several Thunderpiercers on its back turned into arcs and wrapped around its right claw.
Crack! As its right claw slammed down, it emitted a burst of condensed electric light, exploding into countless tiny spheres with red exteriors and black interiors.
Sizz! The red and black lightning produced seemed to have a life of its own, drilling into the gaps between the Ceanataur's carapace.
However, this did not stop the Dragonator charge. The Ceanataur's horns collided with the Zinogre's chest with a dull thud.
The Zinogre's body only leaned back slightly, its eyes showing no reduction in fervor.
The Ceanataur's charge not only did not lessen, but as it pushed its horns forward, it swung its clawed wings.
Hiss! Several small streams of air were expelled from the Ceanataur's abdominal vents.
Crack! The Zinogre, completely disregarding the injury to its chest, slammed down its second claw, which had gathered a massive amount of Dragon element energy.
The Ceanataur's body sank slightly. As it continued to push forward, several clumps of orange dust were expelled from its abdominal vents.
"This... is this a mutual destruction?"
Li Fan felt that the situation was not right.