"Insolent creature, I will make you pay... Silver Rathalos' fighting spirit is strong."
Li Fan provided the translation as they charged.
"It's flying over!"
Yudora said, pointing to the sky.
*Bang~*
The Silver Rathalos retracted its four claws and landed with a light and elegant movement atop a stone pillar on the ruined city wall.
Cheche, who had overshot, executed a 90-degree sharp turn and continued her charge.
Seeing the opponent actively engaging, Meimeizi didn't rush to attack. She also found a stone pillar and attempted to land on its top.
*Kuchaa!*
The moment her hind claws touched, the stone pillar shattered, and Meimeizi fell to the ground.
*Roar~ Roar~*
With the full moon behind it, the Silver Rathalos, shimmering with a faint pink glow, let out a series of joyful growls.
The roars were not loud but were exceptionally clear.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*...
Cheche, now at the base of the stone pillar, did not slow down. Her powerful sharp claws dug into the stone surface, and she rapidly climbed upwards vertically.
*Roar~*
After deeming the opponent overconfident, the Silver Rathalos forcefully pushed off the rock pillar beneath it and spread its wings to take flight.
*Bang! Bang!*
The rock pillar fractured and crumbled downwards, rapidly increasing the distance between the two dragons.
However, Cheche paid no mind. Just before the rock pillar toppled and shattered, she exerted force with her four claws, propelling her body upwards.
*Roar!*
A circular sonic wave erupted from its mouth.
Its sharp right foreclaw flashed with cold light as it swiped upwards.
The claw strike, tearing through the air, surpassed the Silver Rathalos' understanding of a Brachydios.
The tri-pronged tail, swinging low, quickly moved horizontally to defend against this attack.
*Clang! Riiip!*
The forked tail club, a moment too late, missed its mark and grazed past.
The tail armor, shredded into pieces by the sharp claws on the right, scattered from the air.
Cheche's leaping body showed no sign of descending, and her left claw was already following up with a swipe.
The Silver Rathalos' eyes flashed with crimson light, and it transformed into a wisp of black mist, vanishing into the night sky.
*Roar...*
Cheche, having lost her target, paused, her suspended body plummeting downwards.
*Whoosh~*
The teleporting Silver Rathalos reappeared in the distance.
"Underestimating Cheche will bring you bad luck."
Li Fan mused.
"That teleportation move is a bit troublesome,"
Yudora said with some concern.
"Don't worry, once we form a complete encirclement, that teleportation move will become completely ineffective."
Li Fan said with confidence.
Cheche's formidable combat prowess prompted the Silver Rathalos to temporarily change its target and fly towards Meimeizi.
Although it sensed a peculiar energy from the other creature, lacking dragon element perception, the Silver Rathalos felt that this spiky fellow would be easier to deal with than Cheche.
Meimeizi welcomed this, charging headfirst into the air.
*Sizz~ Sizz~*
A red dragon element breath, wreathed in black energy, shot out in a beam towards Meimeizi.
As it released the breath, the Silver Rathalos' left wing stopped flapping, and a dragon element energy sphere gathered and grew on its left claw.
"A very good tactic, but you chose the wrong target."
Li Fan recognized this as a continuous attack tactic only employed by monsters with extensive combat experience.
Using its breath to force the target to retreat and dodge, compressing its aerial maneuverability, while simultaneously accumulating another ranged attack for a precise strike.
Facing the dragon element breath, Meimeizi didn't dodge at all. Instead, she turned her body sideways and retracted her wings tightly against her body.
*Sizz~ Sizz~*
A dark red burning light flashed on her spiky wings. Meimeizi's forward charge momentarily halted, and then, by flapping one wing, she continued to fly forward.
Her speed wasn't particularly fast, but for the Silver Rathalos, which was simultaneously breathing fire and charging its left claw, closing the distance would be quick.
Cheche's unusually strong combat performance earlier made the Silver Rathalos reluctant to engage in a direct confrontation.
The breath attack ceased, and as its body rotated, the left claw holding the accumulating dark red sphere was immediately swung forward.
*Whoosh~* A sound of air being torn apart.
An unexpected situation occurred: a small section of the city wall flew in from below.
The thrower was Cheche, who was on the ground.
Nourished by the life energy of the New World and tempered by endless combat, Cheche's forearm strength had greatly increased.
Although no specific mutation had been triggered, attacks delivered by throwing objects could now pose a certain threat to a Seven-Star monster.
*Bang! Crash! Whoosh~*
The white rock bricks that formed the city wall exploded in the air. The Silver Rathalos, struggling to maintain its balance, did not fall.
However, the dark red sphere gathered in its claw had already exploded, spewing out a large amount of black mist.
Before the Silver Rathalos could disperse it, a sharp claw emerged from the black mist and pressed down on its head.
*Swoosh! Whoosh~*
Under Meimeizi's pressure, both dragons plummeted towards the ground together.
*Boom!*
A heavy impact sound echoed, sending earth and stone fragments flying.
"Cheche! Maintain the encirclement!"
Li Fan, seeing Cheche impatiently about to approach the landing spot, issued a reminder.
The strategy of surrounding without engaging was to ensure that there was always support from any direction, preventing the Silver Rathalos' bizarre teleportation.
Furthermore, if Meimeizi were to engage in full combat, Cheche's involvement at close range would lead to significant friendly fire.
After finally cooperating with Meimeizi to bring the enemy down to the ground, being unable to participate in the fight made Cheche somewhat dejected. However, she patiently stopped her advance about a hundred meters away.
*Roar!*
A roar of unwillingness sounded.
The squad guarding another direction reached the predetermined distance and stopped.
"What is Cheche roaring about, meow?"
Dill asked curiously.
"Cheche says if the Silver Rathalos wants to escape, it must run towards me."
Li Fan replied with a hint of exasperation.
"What a strange request..."
Yudora said, then unslung her greatsword, preparing for battle.
On Cheche's back, a yellow hexagonal scale was pushed open from the inside.
*Puchi~*
A small amount of blood seeped out, and a Kinsect emerged, flying towards the landing point.
Cheche was puzzled. Normally, these creatures were lazy, only moving when changing their absorption points, and rarely mobilized without combat.
Why was one suddenly detaching and flying remotely today?
*Puchi~ Puchi~*...
More Kinsects flew out from under the scales.
This situation also caught Li Fan's attention, but before he could analyze it, he noticed a red light appearing on the ground and quickly looked up.
Several Kinsect clusters in the air were rapidly heading towards the landing point.
Other clusters flying in from different directions were also becoming visible, being quite conspicuous in the night sky.
*Roar~*
Seeing her painstakingly accumulated Kinsects rapidly draining away, Cheche frantically crawled back and forth.
"No need to worry, Cheche! You're on the path of aberrant overcoming! A few less won't matter!"
Li Fan called out to comfort her.
Compared to the Jagras, Cheche had indeed acquired more Kinsects through combat and plunder.
However, she had no talent for symbiotic control. Aberrant overcoming was her best option.
Anxious Cheche immediately calmed down, no longer as concerned about the loss of Kinsects.
*Bang~ Bang~*
Two shockwaves came from the ground, caused by Meimeizi's claw strikes.
Beneath the crater, the Silver Rathalos, having endured a claw strike, immediately abandoned any thought of counterattack.
*Swoosh~*
Transforming into black mist and creating distance, it glanced around and suddenly realized that these hunters and monsters were allied.
The reason for this realization was simple: the Silver Rathalos indeed had no allies, but through years of commanding large Kinsect swarms, it had grasped some basic strategies.
Furthermore, the coordination of the Brachydios earlier confirmed this was no mere coincidence.
This was not due to the Silver Rathalos being slow to react, but rather that this type of team-based coordinated attack was incomprehensible to normal monsters.
The ground was no longer safe, so the Silver Rathalos had to find an opportunity to escape in the air.
It raised its head, rapidly flapped its cloak-like wings, and continuously ascended.
At this moment, a blue star in the night sky caught the Silver Rathalos' crimson eyes.
A moment later, it stopped ascending, hovering in mid-air, quietly observing Meimeizi, who was pursuing it.
"To be so calm after realizing it's completely surrounded, no wonder it could suppress the Velkhana for so many years."
Li Fan praised.
"Hmm... If you were the Silver Rathalos, what would you do in this situation?"
Yudora, looking up, asked curiously.
"First, find the weak point, unleash all your combat power without reservation, and try to break through..."
As Li Fan spoke, he vaguely sensed something was amiss.
"The Silver Rathalos is looking at us, meow... What is it looking at us for?"
Dill voiced her observation, feeling curious.
"It couldn't possibly be considering us the weak point, could it?"
Yudora's gaze deepened.
"Judging by size and past experience, it really might be."
Li Fan said with a hint of helplessness.
While the Silver Rathalos might not have considered this specifically, the biggest drawback of group combat was clearly friendly fire.
Pressing hard on a "weak point" would severely limit the support from other monster members.
"Li Fan, Dill, you two stay far away."
Yudora plunged her Dragon Heat Mechanized Drill into the ground and stretched her arms.
"Understood, be careful."
"Good luck, meow."
The human and the cat spoke, then began to quickly retreat.
The Silver Rathalos, locking onto the small team as its target, continuously lowered its flight altitude.
With agile movements, it dodged the city wall debris thrown by Cheche and teleported away from Meimeizi, soon reaching a considerable number of Kinsects, which began to converge towards it.
"This is... a symbiotic relationship without absorption, meow!"
Dill exclaimed in surprise, flipping through her book.
The Kinsect swarms were not attached to its body or burrowed into the gaps of its scales and armor, but were completely guided by the Silver Rathalos, flying around it.
"This must be the ability of an ultimate host."
Li Fan speculated.
*Hiss~ Hiss~*...
The Silver Rathalos waved one of its wings, and immediately a swarm of Kinsects erupted with red light and flew towards Meimeizi.
*Roar!*
The Silver Rathalos roared, declaring, "Reckless monster, feel the terror of the Kinsects!"
Seeing the swarms flashing with red light, Meimeizi's pursuit suddenly paused.
*Roar~*
The Silver Rathalos, flying away rapidly, let out a joyful cry.
It declared that you, who only use brute force, would never understand the existence of such power.
Meimeizi, now hovering, did not respond, but simply watched the swarms.
*Roar~*
A moment later, Meimeizi declared, "So small."
The Silver Rathalos became displeased and immediately directed a giant individual Kinsect to show off.
However, even leading a swarm, the giant Kinsect was extremely reluctant to approach Meimeizi.
Meimeizi remembered having similar swarms and arched her back, shaking rapidly.
*Hiss~ Hiss~*...
A large number of giant Kinsects flew out. Seeing the "all-you-can-eat buffet" all around, they circled Meimeizi, seemingly ready to attack collectively at her command.
The Silver Rathalos, which had flown far away, quickly retreated to get a clear view of these giant Kinsects upon seeing this scene.
*Roar~*
"Just so-so."
The Silver Rathalos' lips curled downwards.
"Sigh~ So even super-regeneration has its drawbacks."
Li Fan sighed upon seeing this.
"Why do you say that, meow?"
Dill asked, puzzled.
"In terms of mutation paths, aberrant overcoming is more suitable for Meimeizi than ultimate host. However, due to her own strong regenerative ability, she lost the possibility of achieving aberrant overcoming. On the other hand, ultimate host has great potential; not only are its traits favored by Kinsects, but it can also mutate into giant Kinsects."
Li Fan explained his reasoning.
"Can't we have Meimeizi practice guiding Kinsect swarms more, meow?"
Dill inquired.
"By the time she guides them, Meimeizi would have already fought her way through. If the Silver Rathalos hadn't released the Kinsect swarms, she probably wouldn't have realized it even after the fight ended."
Li Fan pointed out the difficulty.
Meimeizi had her own combat strategies.
To summarize her style, it was to trade blows to gain opportunities for heavy close-range attacks.
All her focus was on the application of strength, leaving no time to command Kinsects.
To put it bluntly, the time spent guiding Kinsects could be better used to deliver a couple of more hits, and the enemy might have already been defeated.
"Looking at it this way, the ultimate host mutation seems a bit weak, meow."
Dill lamented.
"Not necessarily. The Silver Rathalos hasn't revealed everything it can do yet."
While the human and the cat were conversing, the Kinsect swarms began to attach themselves to the Silver Rathalos' body.
*Hiss~ Hiss~*
The first swarm flew off, and the second swarm followed closely.
Numerous eerie blood-red light spots appeared all over the Silver Rathalos.
"The amount of blood-劫 (jie -劫 can mean calamity or a period of time, here likely referring to a type of energy or essence) injected is too much..."
Li Fan's eyes widened in surprise.
Even normally, monsters that achieved aberrant evolution could not have Kinsects inject their entire blood-劫 into themselves.
The reason was simple: this was reserved for ultimate hosts, but the Silver Rathalos had no such limitations.
However, Li Fan was not entirely sure what would happen.
*Swoosh!*
Meimeizi's close-range strike missed, leaving only wisps of black smoke as the Silver Rathalos instantly reappeared at a lower altitude.
But it did not use this opportunity to attack Meimeizi. Instead, as it lowered its flight altitude, it continuously scanned the ground.
"As expected, it's attacking the weak point, meow!"
Dill said nervously.
"Compared to before, the Silver Rathalos' speed and strength have greatly increased. Yudora, you must... huh?"
"Uh... it seems to be heading towards us, meow."
Dill said with a hint of helplessness.
"Damn it, we're all team members, why are we being identified as the weak point?"
"Exactly, this Silver Rathalos is underestimating us, meow! Li Fan! What do we do next?"
Dill puffed out her chest and asked.
"In this situation... let's run quickly."
The human and the cat immediately took off.
*Roar!*
"Come back here!"
Meimeizi and Yudora immediately began to pursue.
Cheche, seeing the enemy rapidly distancing itself, felt a pang of despair.
She immediately dropped the section of city wall she was holding and followed closely.
At this moment, the Jagras, which had been tilting its head in thought in the distance, suddenly straightened its head.
*Roar... Roar!*
My instinct... is the guiding light for the team's advance!