But this doesn't mean ordinary monsters are helpless in the face of Tempered monsters.
Small-bodied monsters might be kicked to death by larger ones in a single strike—for instance, Asterion had kicked an Odogaron to death with one blow. However, if the two sides are similar in size, or if there isn't a difference of an entire tier between them, then generally speaking, the battle cannot be ended quickly.
The massive bodies and vitality of large monsters give them this capital.
Claw swipes, charges, biting, grappling and rolling—ordinary monsters will engage in this kind of brawling with Tempered monsters. Whether they can win or not, they will fight first.
Even if they have to roll around on the ground twice before fleeing, a fight is inevitable. Dragons with a strong desire for combat and a heavy killing intent, such as Glavenus or Tigrex, will chase their enemies down to kill them. Meanwhile, dragons with less bloodlust will stop pursuing once the enemy retreats, thereby reducing their own stamina consumption and the risk of injury.
This is a Turf War. No dragon will easily give up its own hunting ground. A lack of food means death; being driven into another dragon's hunting ground means having to fight that dragon to determine who that territory truly belongs to.
It is just like in the game where the activity of Amatsu causes a Zinogre to descend from the mountain. After the Zinogre descends, it comes into conflict with the local monsters. After a battle, the local monster that isn't a match for it gets driven away, and the cycle continues, fighting onward until it occupies an area that can keep it fed.
Asterion wanted to determine exactly what position he currently held in the food chain. After all, if he really wanted to get technical, could he still count as a Glavenus?
Was he about the same as a Deviljho or a Rajang? Or had he already become the kind of dragon that isn't an Elder Dragon, yet possesses power rivaling one?
Only battle could provide the answer to this question.
He launched an extermination operation against a herd of Kestodon. Having just completed his evolution, Asterion had an unprecedented appetite; he was starving.
After eating and drinking his fill, that sensation of every cell in his body screaming with hunger finally disappeared. Asterion narrowed his eyes; he didn't want to wait even a second longer. He was going to find the old Kushala Daora.
Following the tunnel he had carved out himself, he returned to the Rotten Vale. It still looked like the underworld here, with lingering yellow-green Effluvium everywhere.
Following the historic question of "Where is the Seregios?", a new question had emerged—where is the old Kushala Daora?
Asterion felt dizzy just thinking about it. Why the hell was the Rotten Vale so big?!
What Asterion found most strange was that he actually discovered the corpses of dragons that didn't live in this environment, such as Diablos and Rathalos, inside the Rotten Vale. He didn't know how they got here—or perhaps, when the Rotten Vale's environment wasn't as harsh in the past, did these guys used to appear here?
After winding around endlessly, Asterion even found a path leading to the upper layer of the Rotten Vale. In reality, he saw the corpse of the Dalamadur that he had seen countless times in the game.
A skeletal snake head of incomparable size. Even though the flesh on the body had long since rotted away, leaving only brownish-yellow bone, that massive snake bone still filled Asterion with yearning.
Awe.
It was just like a mountain. Asterion felt that his current body size might only be as big as that Dalamadur skeleton's eye socket—he might not even fill it.
It really made a dragon envious... It would be great if I could be as big as a mountain too.
The real Rotten Vale was no different from a maze. Not only was it huge, but it was also winding, with caves nested within caves. If divided by altitude, it could be split into three layers. The upper layer was basically composed of the fossils left behind after the Dalamadur passed away, featuring all sorts of ring-shaped terrain along the path. This was the place closest to the Coral Highlands.
The middle layer was submerged in Effluvium. It was the area with the densest Effluvium in the entire Rotten Vale, composed of caves of various sizes and full of intricate, complex tunnels. This was where Asterion had gotten lost.
As for the bottom layer... Asterion didn't go down there. He had absolutely no intention of meeting a Vaal Hazak in such a closed environment. Furthermore, the skeletons of the Diablos and Rathalos he found earlier made him feel uneasy.
He was a little afraid that the corpses of these outsider dragons had been carried in by a Nakarkos. Similar to Vaal Hazak, the Elder Dragon known as Nakarkos also liked to appear in cave areas and would pile the skeletons of its prey together.
This was not good news. An Elder Dragon like Nakarkos was completely different from the landlord of the Rotten Vale, Vaal Hazak. Vaal Hazak had a peaceful nature, regarding itself as nature's scavenger, and generally wouldn't leave its nest without cause.
But Nakarkos was different. This Elder Dragon had a cunning and cautious nature, with a habit of bringing captured large monsters back to its nest to enjoy. It even possessed a predatory desire close to that of a Deviljho and would even eat all the monsters in an area.
Extremely dangerous.
After staying in this subterranean world far from the sun for a long time, even one's perception of time would become blurred... Asterion didn't know how long he had actually stayed here; he only knew that Legiana tasted pretty good.
These flying fellows fell from the crevices of the Coral Highlands to the Wildspire Waste at the bottom. Asterion ate them clean, and incidentally ate a few Odogaron and Great Girros that came over to scavenge.
He was starting to live a bit like a local dragon of the Rotten Vale, but Asterion still hadn't found any trace of the old Kushala Daora. He suspected that the old geezer might have found a random cave to curl up in after drilling into the Rotten Vale and hadn't taken a single step out since.
By now, Asterion had even found the Hunter, yet he still hadn't managed to find where the old Kushala Daora was hiding.
Her whole body had no skin exposed; she was wrapped up tight. She even wore a gas mask on her face, and her eyes could only be seen through two panes of glass—Asterion had actually guessed who this was.
Master Hara.
A Hunter who would take root in the Rotten Vale in the future and conduct research for decades at a stretch. She had great perseverance and was worthy of admiration.
After arriving in the Rotten Vale, Hara found a stone cave that could only be crawled into with a human body to serve as her safe zone for resting. However, she never expected that there would be a dragon like Asterion in this world who didn't follow the usual path.
Having had enough of the winding, broken roads of the Rotten Vale, Asterion simply opened his mouth and started eating, determined to eat out a broad, open road in this broken place—and then he ate his way right to Hara's safe zone, opening a front door for the originally safe cave right on the spot.
Now it wasn't safe at all.
The encounter between the two sides was very sudden. Asterion was eating and eating when he suddenly discovered a hollow space ahead. When he poked his head in to look, he found a Hunter wrapped up like a zongzi, holding a weapon and looking at him nervously. Beside her was a lit campfire and a small tent.
Running into a Hunter in a place like this made Asterion feel a bit dazed for a moment. He had already lost his accurate positioning of time and didn't know how long had passed since his departure; even Hara had begun to penetrate deep into the Rotten Vale for investigation.
He didn't intentionally scare the incredibly nervous Hara. Asterion pulled his head back and continued carving out a new path according to his original plan.
However, from this day on, when he was idle and bored, he began to stare at Hara and observe her.
[Investigation Log 1]
After the disaster caused by the two Kushala Daoras temporarily subsided, I left the HQ and followed the route we had once taken to head toward the valley filled with Effluvium.
Although there is no evidence to prove my conjecture, I still insist that it was precisely one of those two Kushala Daoras that led the Commission from the Old World to the New World. That was definitely an old Kushala Daora.
I am very curious why it entered the Effluvium-filled valley back then, because among all the areas where the Guild has found Kushala Daoras appearing in the past, none had the factor of Effluvium. Or is the secret of the Elder Crossing hidden in that valley?
I hope my questions can be answered.
[Investigation Log 7]
Revere the Elder Dragons, revere the power of the Elder Dragons.
I didn't expect that after being on the road for more than two months, I would still be able to discover the effects brought about by the storm whipped up by those two Kushala Daoras when they fought.
A large amount of moisture penetrated deep into the interior of the Wildspire Waste via that storm. For the life originally living here, such rainwater must be extremely rare. After all, I don't think Kushala Daoras fight each other every year.
They received an excessive amount of rainwater.
"Excessive" here is not an exaggeration. The Commander and the others could definitely not imagine what beautiful scenery I saw. In a desert where life should have been extinct, flowers of life blossomed impressively.
Unlike the brownish-yellow low shrubs we are used to seeing in the Wildspire Waste, a large amount of green vegetation grew rapidly under the irrigation of the rain. They were seizing this rare opportunity to absorb and store as much water as possible.
I cannot describe the emotion in my heart at that time. These plants cannot speak, yet they seem to possess wisdom-like intelligence. For them, this was definitely not a natural disaster.
[Investigation Log 34]
I was wrong. Even for those plants, this rainfall was a natural disaster.
As I continued to advance, I gradually discovered that among these plants seizing the time to grow, many desert locusts had appeared. They were gnawing on the stems and leaves of the plants. Many plants had already been eaten until only the main trunk remained. This type of locust is reproducing in large numbers.
Only then did I realize that the scarce rainfall in the past also meant scarce vegetation, and scarce vegetation could only satisfy the lives of a minority of desert locusts, causing them to live scattered apart.
But with the storm brought by the Kushala Daoras, the plants suddenly began to grow in large quantities, and consequently, the desert locusts that feed on them also reproduced in large numbers.
I am somewhat worried. I hope these locusts will not cause any destruction to the ecology of the Wildspire Waste. After all, plants here are originally very scarce. Once the bottom-level ecology collapses, it will sooner or later affect the large monsters at the upper levels.
[Investigation Log 77]
I have penetrated deep into the Rotten Vale. Currently feeling good.
The Tech Chief's craftsmanship is as reliable as ever. After this Effluvium is filtered, it cannot cause any harm to my body. As long as I don't expose my skin, I can explore the valley with peace of mind.
I really am curious. I wonder what kind of monsters are born in this unique environment. I hope I can handle them.
I found traces left by the Kushala Daora, but the traces are divided into two types. The first type is decayed dragon scales that are still somewhat complete in shape, but the other type is rust flakes. If I hadn't carefully read the Guild's research on Kushala Daora before setting out, I would absolutely not have been able to recognize that these rust flakes also came from a Kushala Daora.
The time of the decayed scales is earlier than the rust flakes. But strangely, some traces lead outward, and some traces lead inward, and the difference in height on the stone walls is not great.
Does this mean my guess was correct? That the Kushala Daora the Commission tracked is one of the members that caused that natural disaster? It drilled out after entering the Rotten Vale, and after fighting with another Kushala Daora, it returned here again.
I can imagine it—a Rusted Kushala Daora hitting protruding rocks with its body when entering the valley, the hard rocks scraping off a portion of rust flakes from its body surface.
There are only traces of one Kushala Daora entering and exiting. I am very sure that when the Commission last saw that Kushala Daora, it still had silver-gray skin... So did it turn into the appearance of a Rusted Kushala Daora inside the Rotten Vale?
In such a short time? Does this conform to the normal growth laws of a Kushala Daora?
Unanswerable. Is it natural rusting? Or was it corroded by the Effluvium?
Rusted Kushala Daoras have a more violent temper and aggression than normal Kushala Daoras. If the Rotten Vale really corroded its body, why did that Kushala Daora want to come to a place that would cause it pain?
I need to find it.
I have a premonition that the secret of the Elder Crossing might lie therein.
[Investigation Log 159]
The investigation progress is abnormally slow. It is more dangerous here than in the Wildspire Waste. However, I have discovered many new plants and insects here. Truly interesting. Even in this environment full of Effluvium, a unique ecosystem has still developed.
But what's more prevalent here are the corpses of all kinds of monsters. It is precisely these rotting corpses that make this place perpetually filled with poisonous Effluvium. The things living here are all creatures capable of scavenging.
A monster graveyard—this was the first impression I had when I saw the rotting corpses piled up like mountains.
Did that Kushala Daora choose this place as its own grave?
Rare good news. Just as I was tracking and investigating that monster in the Rotten Vale that seems to have no skin day after day, after such a long time, I once again found the rust flakes of the Rusted Kushala Daora.
I found it.
[Investigation Log 193]
I was found! By a monster!!
But strangely, this monster did not launch an attack on me. It seems to feed on rocks, and it happened to eat its way to my hiding spot. And after noticing my existence, it had no reaction at all, but instead backed out and continued eating stones...
...Why? It seems very familiar with me?
Having lived in the Rotten Vale for so long, this is the first time I've seen this kind of monster. It has a head like a Glavenus and a tail similar to a Glavenus, but its back lacks the Glavenus's signature flame-shaped shell.
Its body surface is extremely smooth. Aside from those shell protrusion points distributed evenly like a grid, every other scale is just like a mirror. Even in an environment with dim light like the Rotten Vale, I can see myself clearly through its body.
This is probably not a Glavenus. It is a bit too friendly.
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)