Boom!
A dazzling azure blast radiated outwards from the center of Xiu Leid City.
Whoosh~
Sensing that something was wrong, Puff quickly retracted its neck, turned, and slid rapidly down the gully.
Hiss~ Boom!
The azure blast surged overhead, instantly leveling the mountaintop.
A massive flow of life energy, like a monstrous wave, engulfed the surrounding mountains as it spread.
When the sky darkened once more, Mie Miezi tilted its head and sniffed.
Detecting the unique腥血 (xīngxuè - bloody) scent of the forbidden, it immediately bared its fangs, its expression ferocious.
Squeak~ Squeak~...
Numerous giant parasitic insects, their wings beating, flew out from its back.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~
Flapping its wings, Mie Miezi flew out from the largely flattened mountaintop.
The sky, shrouded by dark red clouds, resembled a demonic realm.
The land, scorched by azure flames, was like the Nine Netherworld.
With the red and blue contrasting, the world that had existed before seemed to have vanished.
Roar~
"So beautiful."
After exclaiming, Mie Miezi confirmed its direction and flew off.
Li Fan confirmed that the black dragon was at least severely wounded this time.
The moment the shockwave dissipated, he ordered Hui Hui to return at full speed.
The current Xiu Leid City was no more, replaced by a colossal circular crater.
Xiao Ming descended into the crater, stepped onto the nether flames, and let out a low growl at the black dragon, which lay toppled in the center of the pit.
"I thought you were so powerful, but you're nothing special."
Whoosh~
The azure flames on the black dragon's body, like a candle flame encountering a strong gust of wind, instantly extinguished.
Screech~ Hiss...
With a sound of shattering scales, the black dragon rose to its feet, its four claws planted on the ground.
Roar~ Roar~...
"That's more like it. How could an opponent worthy of my full attention be defeated so easily?"
Seeing this, Xiao Ming appeared very excited.
At this moment, Hui Hui and Mie Miezi appeared from mid-air.
Li Fan and Dilu continuously opened Poké Balls, deploying numerous monsters.
The black dragon's purple eyes swept left and right, finally tracing the source of the monsters' appearance and locking onto Li Fan and Dilu.
"It's over!"
Li Fan, unfazed by the dragon's gaze, declared loudly.
"Next is the Monster Squad's strongest tactic... a group assault! It's already heavily injured, everyone attack together and finish it off!"
As Li Fan extended his finger, the Monster Squad members immediately sprang into action.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~...
Several golden silk threads shot out from Shanshan's tail, wrapping around the black dragon's foreleg joints.
The scythes on either side quickly twitched, rapidly retracting the silk threads.
Screech~ Screech~...
Seeing its body being pulled forward uncontrollably, the black dragon dug its claws into the ground and retreated. However, before the tug-of-war with Shanshan could be decided, Mie Miezi, diving from above, struck its head with a claw.
Thump~
As its neck snapped back, a swarm of giant parasitic insects burrowed into the gaps between its scales and began to gnaw ferociously.
Clatter~ Clatter~
Hui Hui, landing beside the black dragon, angled its twin gun-wings forward, converging them in front of its body.
Buzz! Six streams of azure flames merged into a beam, striking the black dragon's body.
Scales, already damaged, were now swept away in large quantities.
Xi Xi, emitting golden lightning all around, did not attack directly. Instead, it used magnetic force to pull a half-buried Dragon Slaying Spear from the earth of the giant pit.
Seeing that the black dragon was completely suppressed, Shanshan immediately released the silk thread restraining one of its foreleg joints and instead used the half Dragon Slaying Spear, which floated nearby, as a binding target.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~...
With a single scythe swinging downwards, the rapidly spinning Dragon Slaying Spear whistled through the air.
Bing Bingzi's cold energy was forged and infused into the spearhead.
As soon as the azure cold energy manifested, Jue Juezi released a dense black fog that enveloped the Dragon Slaying Spear.
"Shanshan, your target is the chest!"
Although Li Fan did not know the black dragon's anatomy, he knew that any part of its body that glowed orange from its own heat must contain immense energy within.
Shanshan's purple compound eyes narrowed slightly as it began to aim.
"We should get ready too."
Li Fan said, drawing the Thunder God's Blade from his back. When Hui Hui had rushed over at full speed earlier, he had already refilled the blade with Qi.
"Is this the finishing blow?"
Yudora asked tentatively.
"It should be."
Li Fan glanced at the black dragon's current state and made his prediction.
"It's finally over. I'm so glad you didn't disappear."
Yudora said with a light smile.
"Yes, but we still need to be careful. Since it's a forbidden entity, it will surely fight back fiercely when near death."
Li Fan reminded her.
"Trust me, I'll get you out safely! Zhan Zhan! Prepare the Iaijutsu stance!"
Yudora said, gripping the hilt and taking the orange-yellow Dragon Heat Mechanism from Zhan Zhan's mouth.
Bending at the waist, stepping forward with one leg, and tightening her grip on the hilt, she assumed a charging posture.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~
Three Wirebugs, flying out from the Bug Box, circled Yudora's upper body.
After multiple green silk threads bound her arms, she bit down on the tail blade, and with her body tensed and twisted, she began to charge for the [Iaijutsu Whirlwind Slash].
"Che Che! Dig a hole quickly!"
Under Li Fan's command, Che Che immediately complied.
Li Fan and Dilu leaped into the hole together.
Clatter~
The tail blade, spinning forward, struck the outward-flowing Aura on Yudora's body, releasing its power before deflecting at an angle to the side.
The taut silk threads, vibrating at high frequency, scattered countless orange and blue light dots.
Sensing the immense power flowing into her body, Yudora immediately shifted to a three-stage charging slash posture.
"Dilu, I'm going in!"
Li Fan, peeking out from the hole, felt that the time was ripe.
"Go, meow! If any monster is in danger, I'll recall it immediately!"
Dilu said, holding up the two recall balls on her cat paws.
"Mm... I'll be back."
Li Fan finished speaking, leaped out of the pit, and ran directly towards Yudora's location.
Whoosh~
Shanshan, raising its swirling scythe, suddenly changed direction and swung horizontally, accelerating the Dragon Slaying Spear with its silk threads to its limit before throwing it.
Seeing this, the black dragon staggered and pushed Mie Miezi aside, attempting to dodge.
At this moment, Jue Juezi, appearing suddenly in mid-air, spread its wings and injected a trace of dark red dragon attribute into the fog-wrapped Dragon Slaying Spear.
Squelch~
As the black fog peeled away and drifted, explosions of flames continuously propelled it forward.
The thrown Dragon Slaying Spear accelerated again, reaching the black dragon's chest as if teleporting.
Screech~ Squish~
The tip of the Dragon Slaying Spear, emitting cold air, pierced the black dragon's chest armor and stabbed deeply.
Sizzle~
A high-temperature fluid, resembling lava, flowed out from the wound.
Thump~ Whoosh~
Li Fan, now clinging to its leg again, had the golden lightning radiating from his Thunder Dragon Armor completely merged with the swirling wind.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~
The swirling wind began to try to inject into the wind sacs of the Thunder Dragon Armor, causing them to swell.
As the two energies poured into the armor, Li Fan felt his light body slowly lifting off the ground.
Yudora, on the other hand, discovered that the golden lightning spreading across her body was flowing through her arms and converging into the Dragon Heat Mechanism.
However, for both of them, there was no time to investigate this anomaly.
"Hiyah!"
Boom! Yudora took off from the spot, aided by the red flames spewing from her propulsion vents.
Although the black dragon's chest was pierced, its gaze quickly locked onto the two figures attacking from mid-air.
Whoosh~
After a deep breath, a few blue sparks appeared in its mouth.
Buzz!
An extremely compressed azure beam swept across, piercing the half-handle of the Dragon Slaying Spear and striking the black dragon's chest.
Under Xiao Ming's precise attack with [Energy Beam], the black dragon's flame breath not only failed to launch but its entire body was uncontrollably thrown backward.
Li Fan and Yudora detached themselves as they fell, attacking with synchronized slashes from left and right.
Clang!
The Qi blade, capable of slicing through anything, slashed straight across.
Boom!
The charged slash, imbued with ultimate power, struck heavily.
Screech~ Screech~
Two crisp sounds of skull-shattering echoed.
The black dragon's neck swayed uncontrollably, then tilted forward, its body crashing into the pit.
"Hoo~ Hoo~... Is it dead?"
Yudora, panting heavily, looked at the silent black dragon and asked tentatively.
"Dead or not, it's the same. The Monster Squad will continue the group assault until this body is completely erased from the world, so we need to leave this area quickly."
Li Fan informed her.
"Okay, I'll use my propulsion to take you away."
Yudora said, hoisting the Dragon Heat Mechanism over her shoulder.
"Farewell, black dragon..."
Li Fan looked at the black dragon, and an unusual detail caught his attention.
"Yudora."
"Huh?"
"Did I... cut off a toe from the black dragon's right claw before?"
Li Fan asked, staring intently.
"Yes, what is it?... This!"
Yudora's gaze shifted to its right claw, and her face suddenly contorted in shock.
While the black dragon's right claw was indeed damaged in several places, there was no sign of a severed toe.
Sizzle~ Sizzle~...
A sound of electrical interference echoed in his ears.
The sights before him began to flicker with short intervals of blackness.
After several flashes, the silhouettes of countless dark red, dilapidated buildings appeared.
The ruins of Xiu Leid City, completely erased by Xiao Ming's [Starfall], reappeared before them.
Sizzle~
Li Fan shifted his foot, kicking aside a broken brick near his feet on the rubble-strewn ground.
Pat~ Pat~...
The broken brick rolled away, colliding with a half-standing wall and stopping at the corner.
Confirming that everything that had appeared was real, Li Fan looked at Yudora beside him.
"The black dragon's corpse is gone..."
Yudora, having returned to Xiu Leid City, still couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Boom~ Boom~...
A low thudding sound emanated from the void within the core of the dark red clouds.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~...
The whistling sound of heavy wings flapping came from the sky, and a black dragon silhouette descended, approaching.
The black dragon's shining purple eyes once again locked onto Li Fan.
"Its injuries are all gone... Why?"
Yudora clenched her fist, unable to accept that the black dragon had returned to its full strength before the battle began.
"Calm down. The Monster Squad is still in good condition, their deployment positions are just completely disrupted. If we fight again, we'll most likely win."
Li Fan informed her, checking his handheld device.
The previous battle was the black dragon's first encounter.
Li Fan believed that if the squad fought again, their attack coordination and responses to various moves would be more proficient.
"But if this battle continues endlessly, won't the monsters eventually collapse?"
Yudora said with a worried expression.
"This ability, which seems like time reversal, I don't think it can be activated indefinitely. As long as we pay close attention, we'll definitely find a way to break it."
Li Fan was also uncertain, but he had to appear confident at this moment.
"That's right, there are no monsters in this world that cannot be killed."
Yudora finished speaking, removed the Dragon Heat Mechanism, and gripped it tightly.
Seeing numerous monsters converging, the black dragon made no move, simply hovering in mid-air, waiting for everything to unfold.
Why wasn't the black dragon concerned? This was the Monster Squad that had defeated and killed it.
Sensing something, Li Fan quickly took out the pistil-shaped amulet of the Yuan Yuan Lan Yu and retrieved the teleportation talisman given by Geralt.
Being brought to the Witcher world by the sorceress, there was at least a chance to return, which was better than mysteriously disappearing...
"Yudora, Hui Hui will take you and Dilu away. Before I return, do not engage the black dragon."
"What? Could it be..."
Hearing this plan, Yudora suddenly realized something.
"Trust me, no matter what happens, I will definitely return!"
Li Fan said, channeling a trace of golden lightning from the surface of his Thunder Dragon Armor into the teleportation talisman.
The talisman, infused with elemental energy, soon began to glow.
"What's going on here, meow... Uh! It's that talisman!"
Dilu, who had arrived, suddenly realized something.
But Li Fan had specifically instructed that once he took out this teleportation talisman, they should recall the squad's monsters into their balls and escape with Yudora.
Pat~
Tears fell, and Dilu wiped them away with the back of her cat paw, shouting at the sky, "All monsters except Hui Hui! Quickly get into the balls! We need to evacuate now, meow!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...
The monsters turned into white light and continuously converged towards Dilu, entering the recall balls.
Sizzle~ Sizzle~...
The electrical interference sound echoed again. After several flashes, the light of the teleportation talisman dissipated, quickly turning dim.
"Cannot be used..."
Li Fan looked at the teleportation talisman in his hand and froze.
He speculated that the reason for the failure was related to the black dragon, but by now, even if he found the problem, it was too late.
Sizzle~ His long tongue swept across his fangs.
The black dragon charged into the sky, its massive wings spread wide.
Under its purple gaze, Li Fan, looking up, found the world in his eyes beginning to distort.
"Li Fan~ Can you hear me~..."
Yudora's call became increasingly indistinct amidst the distortion, until it was replaced by the sound of electrical interference.
In the pitch darkness, a boundless grid of squares appeared above and below Li Fan's head.
The two grids curled and converged, forming a cylindrical passage that enclosed Li Fan.
Sizzle~...
The electrical interference finally stopped, and the grid patterns on the passage instantly lit up with blue light.
Buzz~
The grid began to rapidly recede, and Li Fan could feel himself traveling through the passage at an incredibly fast speed.
In a state of weightlessness, Li Fan strained to turn his head back.
Behind him, the end of the Monster Hunter world was rapidly changing, like a movie playing at high speed.
"This is... spatial expulsion!"