"So, in the eyes of the other party, the Nergigante is the main enemy."
Li Fan hadn't expected that even when restraining three Elder Dragons simultaneously, the target of their defense would still be the Nergigante.
"What's the next step?"
Yudora asked.
"Let's hide and observe the situation. We can only hope the Nergigante inflicts more damage."
The longer this dragged on, the more advantageous it would be for them. Li Fan certainly hoped that Meow-meow could hold on longer.
The two of them and the cat moved swiftly, following the attention-grabbing King of the Flames couple into the combat zone.
*Bang~*
The Kushala Daora, its left wing bone bent and broken, fell to the side.
With rapid movements of its four claws, it quickly righted itself, leaped, and shifted sideways.
*Boom!* The Nergigante's right claw struck down, cracks spreading outwards like a spiderweb, causing large sections of the crystal ground to collapse.
The Kushala Daora retreated again, avoiding the sinking ground, and white mist gathered in its mouth.
The Nergigante slammed its left wing onto the ground, and black spikes shot out amidst the tremors.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*...
Hit by multiple black spikes, the Kushala Daora leaned back, the mist in its mouth lost control and spilled outwards.
The Nergigante swung its wing back, close to its body, and its two claws pushed off the ground, one in front of the other.
The half-embedded spikes on the outer side of its wings shattered and fell as it dragged forward.
On the gaps around its wing bones, white spikes were rapidly regenerating at a visible pace.
It was clearly too late to recharge its storm breath.
The Kushala Daora could only fully extend its wings, quickly drawing them in front of its body.
After a brief charge, it lowered its head towards the gap enclosed by its wings and unleashed a blast.
*Hoo~* A white mist vortex spun rapidly in the confined space.
The Kushala Daora spread its wings, and propelled by the strong wind, several small tornadoes advanced along the ground.
However, the Nergigante's brute force charge completely ignored these small tornadoes.
*Bang! Bang!*...
Each time it made contact, the swirling airflow dissipated on the spot.
Seeing this, the Kushala Daora could only turn its body to avoid being struck by the downward charge in a vital area.
In fact, if it were a simple charge, the Kushala Daora might have considered taking it head-on to prevent losing its balance and falling into a passive state.
But the spikes attached to the Nergigante's body elevated the threat of the charge by several levels.
*Bang! Crash~*
The Kushala Daora, positioned sideways to defend, had no means of counterattack. The Nergigante then accelerated again and sent it flying.
The Kushala Daora tumbled twice in mid-air before crashing to the ground.
The Nergigante flapped its wings and leaped into the air, hovering and aiming at the Kushala Daora's position. It arched its back, stretched its body, and then raised its right claw high.
The sun in the Kushala Daora's eyes was obscured, and a massive shadow cast upon the ground enveloped it.
Seeing the sharpness emerging from its claw tip, the Kushala Daora felt its life was about to end.
But at that moment, the sunlight obscured by the Nergigante suddenly diffused outwards from behind its silhouette.
Two intertwined beams of light turned the blue sky orange-red.
The Nergigante didn't turn around, merely glancing back obliquely with its eyes.
*Hoo~* A blazing fireball flew in diagonally.
Sensing the attack approaching, the Nergigante lowered its raised right claw and quickly flapped its wings to distance itself. After a circling maneuver in the air, however, its direction was still towards the Kushala Daora's area.
*Roar! Roar!*
The Teostra and Lunastra roared simultaneously, plummeting downwards at full speed and arriving in front of the Kushala Daora.
The Nergigante, having failed to strike, landed not far away and entered a standoff.
The two of them and the cat, who had just arrived, immediately pounced and lay down on the crystal pillars.
Due to their close proximity, they could clearly observe the battle without binoculars.
"Is the Kushala Daora going to die?"
Yudora asked uncertainly.
"It's gotten up. Although its injuries look severe, its vital areas are not seriously damaged. It likely still has the strength to fight."
Li Fan informed her.
"Good that it's not dead. My quarrel with it isn't over yet."
Yudora breathed a sigh of relief.
The King of the Flames couple stood on either side, while the Kushala Daora retreated a short distance and stopped.
There was no communication between the three Elder Dragons, and they soon adopted fighting stances with tacit understanding.
The Nergigante moved sideways slowly, observing.
"No, there's no opportunity to attack at all. As soon as the Nergigante approaches, the King of the Flames couple will block, and the Kushala Daora can launch ranged attacks."
Li Fan observed for a moment and stated the Nergigante's current predicament.
Monster battles were mostly savage and unrestrained. Many pack species couldn't form effective tactical cooperation.
But the three Elder Dragons before them clearly possessed extremely tacit cooperation.
*Roar! Roar!*...
The King of the Flames couple continued to roar, advancing slowly to drive it away.
The Nergigante showed no reaction, merely remaining in place.
When the distance closed to a certain point, the King of the Flames couple stopped advancing, and the situation became a stalemate.
"Are Elder Dragon battles always... like this?"
Yudora asked curiously.
"You mean, lacking the wildness of other monster battles?"
"Yes, that's the feeling."
Yudora confirmed.
"Perhaps both sides have too much combat experience. Making a move rashly could expose weaknesses."
Li Fan speculated.
According to the information he'd heard from Burst, the two sides had clashed many times.
They must have known by now that the other party was not to be trifled with.
The Nergigante's weakness was that it was alone.
Its advantage was that it had very little, or even nothing, to worry about.
Reproduction, traits, pack, prey, companions...
There was nothing in this world that could restrain the Nergigante.
The King of the Flames couple, however, was different.
Not only did they have to worry about the Kushala Daora, but they also needed to maintain their own condition at a high level to deal with the Safi'jiiva.
Repelling the Nergigante at the cost of severe injury was clearly not worth it in their eyes.
After a long silence, the Teostra let out a low growl and took a step back.
This stance seemed to indicate they had completely abandoned the idea of settling the fight through close-quarters combat with the Nergigante.
The Lunastra immediately leaped into the air and hovered, flapping its wings.
As hot wind blew, orange sparks continuously drifted out from its blue mane.
The Teostra did something similar, but since it had just unleashed its Supernova, the amount of Teostra dust dispersed was much less in comparison.
Were they planning to unleash a Supernova together?
No, given the Nergigante's flight capabilities, even a double Supernova could be escaped before it was released.
Just as Li Fan was wondering, the Kushala Daora, with its severely damaged wing bones, also struggled to take to the air and hover.
"This move is..."
"What move?"
Yudora pressed.
"A combo move, meow?"
Dirl asked expectantly.
"Uh... this move could be considered a combo, but it doesn't seem to have a name yet. Let's call it the Extreme Flame Storm."
Li Fan informed them.
"Extreme Flame Storm... A combo move initiated by three Elder Dragons together, why does it feel a bit familiar?"
Yudora couldn't help but be curious.
"When they awakened the Zorah Magdaros in the volcanic region, they used this move: a double Supernova plus a storm tornado."
Although he had only seen eyewitness reports, Li Fan was very sure.
"Wait a minute, doesn't this mean they're using their strongest move right at the beginning of the battle?"
Yudora found the act of playing their trump card at the start somewhat incomprehensible.
"It's a bit risky, but it's likely the optimal choice derived from past combat experience."
"Optimal choice... I don't see it."
"Simply put, if their injuries were the same as the Nergigante's, this battle would essentially be half lost. Because by the time the Nergigante recovered and returned, they would likely still be recovering from their injuries. With repeated battles, they would eventually be worn down by accumulated injuries."
Li Fan explained.
"So the best tactical choice is to repel the Nergigante in one move."
Yudora realized.
"Exactly... We need to retreat further. They dared to unleash this move in front of the Nergigante, which proves they are confident in their range."
Li Fan finished speaking, and the two of them and the cat got up to retreat.
The Nergigante seemed to have experienced the power of the Extreme Flame Storm and did not choose to be reckless, flapping its wings and ascending into the air.
Seeing the large amount of Teostra dust drifting towards it, it turned its body and flew away rapidly.
The two figures running away on the ground caught its eye.
The Nergigante initially paid no attention, but when it saw Li Fan in his bright yellow armor, its pupils suddenly contracted.
"The Nergigante is returning to face them head-on, meow."
Dirl, sitting on Li Fan's shoulder, called out.
"Ah? It's not running away?"
Li Fan, running, looked back at the sky in surprise.
The Nergigante's regeneration was indeed strong, but this was a combo move unleashed by three Elder Dragons together.
The energy released was enough to awaken the Zorah Magdaros and make it cross the ocean.
Even if it couldn't dodge the wide area of effect, it should at least have moved further away to reduce the damage taken.
The three dragons in pursuit, seeing the Nergigante return, naturally did not continue forward.
The dust dispersed by the King of the Flames couple, blown by the wind stirred by the Kushala Daora, quickly spread evenly into the air.
However, contrary to Li Fan's expectations, the airflow behaved abnormally. It could be almost static at times and explode in the air when moving fast.
"This is... the wind vortex airflow of the Raging Brachydios!"
Li Fan observed for a moment and quickly saw through it.
Wait, wind vortex airflow combined with Supernova? Was the Extreme Flame Storm being released now an improved version?
When the Kushala Daora attacked the Xeno'jiiva, judging by its application of the Raging Brachydios's dragon gem, it seemed they hadn't yet developed a very effective way to use it.
But based on the current observation, it seemed they had integrated the wind vortex airflow into the combo move.
*Hoo~*
"This is..."
Seeing the orange particles drifting and emerging from behind, Yudora was startled.
The two of them and the cat, enveloped in orange-red, immediately sensed something abnormal.
"It seems that with the addition of wind vortex airflow, the attack range of the Extreme Flame Storm has been greatly extended... We won't be able to escape this."
Li Fan immediately took out his handheld device and summoned the little fool.
Towards the Nergigante charging head-on, the three Elder Dragons were somewhat bewildered.
Because since the first battle between them, after the Nergigante took one hit from the Extreme Flame Storm,
it had never tanked the move again. Its current proactive approach was completely unexpected.
The Nergigante offered no explanation, merely hovering in front.
*Roar~*
With a sigh, it looked back with a look of relief.
However, after looking at the ground for a long time, it did not find Li Fan's figure.
But a Golden Rathian appearing in the distance quickly drew its attention.
Seeing the blurry figure hanging from its claws and rapidly moving away, the Nergigante's gaze paused.
*Roar...*
After a moment of thought, the Nergigante let out a low growl.
Its meaning was that he had the ability to escape.
The scorching wind and increasing bright light interrupted the Nergigante's thoughts.
*Hoo~* Folding its wings, the Nergigante plunged vertically downwards.
Although this response was fast enough, the three Elder Dragons did not want to miss this opportunity.
*Boom~ Hoo~*
Even though it had flown out of the attack range, the shockwave generated by the Extreme Flame Storm forced the little fool to hover and stabilize its posture.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
"Meow!"
The two of them and the cat, dangling on silk threads, let out cries of alarm in mid-air.
After waiting for the impact to subside, they looked back.
In the mountain range where they had been moments before, scorching winds swept across the land, magma continuously erupted from fissures, and all the crystal pillars turned orange-red.
"This combo move, Extreme Flame Storm, is quite powerful..."
Li Fan exclaimed.
"Let me see how the Nergigante is, meow?"
Dirl said, raising his telescope.
However, after searching for a long time, he couldn't find the Nergigante's figure.
"It should be able to withstand this move..."
Just as Li Fan was making a conjecture, the flight path of the three dragons immediately put him on alert.
"That direction... is Huihui. Little Fool, hurry!"
Li Fan gave the order while taking out the retrieval ball from his shoulder strap.
*Rustle~ Rustle~*...
Xixi was digging into the ground with its head, clearing away collapsed crystal fragments.
Suddenly, three shadows were cast from high above.
Xixi twisted its neck, looked up at the sky for a moment, and then continued to dig.
The Teostra and Lunastra exchanged glances, their curiosity piqued about the species of the monster below.
.
Zhao Lala reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.