Food.
In Nergigante's eyes, Asterion saw only that single word.
That hunger, that greed, that longing—the look of someone who wanted to swallow their opponent whole, skin, bones, and all—was exceptionally familiar to Asterion.
It was like looking in a mirror. Asterion usually looked at other wyverns with that exact same gaze—they were all just bioenergy to him!
You dare look at me with my own eyes! Nergi!
"Roar!!!"
Asterion was furious.
He could tolerate many things, but he absolutely could not stand another person—another dragon—looking at him like that!
Damn you, Nergigante!
The more he observed this spike-covered monster opposite him, the more disgusted Asterion felt. Perhaps it was true that people always hated those most similar to themselves?
Dragons were no different.
Asterion liked to hunt large monsters to accumulate bioenergy; Nergigante also liked to hunt large monsters.
Asterion sought opportunities to hunt Elder Dragons to obtain their power; Nergigante also liked to hunt Elder Dragons, not for evolution, but to stockpile bioenergy for reproduction.
Whether analyzing their behavioral logic or their roles within the ecological niche, there was simply too much overlap between Asterion and Nergigante.
The most critical issue was that while the New World had a high population of Elder Dragons, there certainly weren't enough to split between two dragons.
Powerful Elder Dragons were often difficult to kill. A time-consuming, strenuous battle might end with nothing to show for it.
Under these circumstances, if Nergigante found a weaker Elder Dragon first, killed it, and ate it, that meant one less viable target for Asterion.
This was no longer just a question of bioenergy; it was a question of survival strategy!
Because of this, unlike his previous encounter with the old Kushala Daora, Asterion had no intention of exchanging pleasantries with Nergigante, even knowing that Elder Dragons possessed extraordinary intelligence. Or rather, his greeting was the restless revving of his serrated tail!
Whirrrrrrrrrrr!
Accompanied by a deafening hum, Asterion violently twisted his body, whipping his tail around in a slash aimed directly at Nergigante!!
Kill!!
Seeing a dragon like Asterion for the first time, Nergigante behaved unexpectedly cautiously.
Asterion's tail blade, vibrating at high frequencies, was something entirely new to the monster. Nergigante didn't know the damage potential of that oscillating blade, but it knew the thing was loud and unique. Therefore, it didn't attempt to tank the hit. Instead, it flapped its wings and flew backward.
"Roar!!!"
Nergigante roared back. With the pride characteristic of an Elder Dragon, it would not allow a common monster like Asterion to provoke it.
It wheeled around in mid-air, its agile body landing lightly behind Asterion just as his serrated blade swung through empty air and before he could retract his body.
Not good!
Asterion's combat intellect, honed as a Glavenus, came back online after a long dormancy. He had absolutely no intention of engaging in close-quarters wrestling with Nergigante. This was completely different from when he faced the rusted Kushala Daora.
This was Nergigante. An existence that legitimately brawled with various Elder Dragons in melee combat. unlike Asterion's old tactic of grappling onto a dragon's back and making things difficult, Nergigante only attacked head-on, fighting force with force.
Unable to directly manipulate the environment with cataclysmic powers like other Elder Dragons, Nergigante was compensated with super-regenerative abilities and raw physical strength—strength enough to flip a Kushala Daora over right where it stood!!
Nergigante's claws and teeth were strong enough to tear through Kushala Daora's steel-like hide, and the black spikes on its back could pierce right through that metallic skin.
It was no exaggeration to say that among Elder Dragons, Nergigante could stand tall and declare, "I was born with supernatural strength." Asterion dared to wrestle with Kushala Daora, but he didn't dare wrestle with Nergigante.
If he were grabbed or flipped over, given Nergigante's strength, he likely wouldn't get a chance to get back up.
Intel regarding Nergigante's combat capabilities flashed rapidly through Asterion's mind. He wasn't arrogant. Even though he had evolved, Asterion still positioned himself as the challenger—because he knew he couldn't tank a direct hit from Nergigante, nor did he dare let it land a solid blow.
If even Kushala Daora's genuine steel skin couldn't hold up, his own carapace and scales—even if derived from Kushala—likely wouldn't be much use.
The bladed scales on his body lay flat and still. Asterion didn't plan to use them to inflict any bleeding status on Nergigante; with Nergigante's regeneration speed, the wound would probably heal before it could bleed much.
He couldn't stop moving. Asterion leaped continuously, dodging Nergigante's pounces while stabbing, slashing, lifting, and slicing at the Elder Dragon with his screaming serrated tail.
"Roar!!!"
Suddenly, Nergigante roared in pain. Asterion had executed a sideways rising slash that sheared across its right hind leg. Like a hot knife through butter, it easily sliced open the carapace on the leg and severed the muscle beneath without feeling any resistance.
The wound was deep. Nergigante's physical defense had been breached.
This fact made Asterion let out a sigh of relief. It seemed his evolved tail blade was potent after all. He had been afraid that even his full power wouldn't break Nergigante's defense—at least his previous Glavenus Great Sword tail couldn't have cut so deep with a casual, uncharged rising slash.
This was a body born to slaughter Elder Dragons, a physique evolved for war. Neither Kushala Daora's gales nor Teostra's explosive flames could easily harm Nergigante, and even if they did, it would heal rapidly, its regrown spikes becoming harder than before.
Glass Cannon.
Asterion clearly understood his role now. He kept himself in constant, irregular motion, making it impossible for Nergigante to predict his position and launch a raid. Every now and then, he would land a sneaky cut—not seeking massive damage, but ensuring Nergigante bled.
A fragile skirmisher.
"Roar!!"
Believing itself to be far stronger than this dragon that wasn't even an Elder, Nergigante's fury burned hotter after being wounded.
The wound on its hind leg had already healed. That regenerative power made Asterion envious.
Slamming down from the sky, Nergigante raised its right palm high, four claws sharp as razors—BOOM!!!
Nergigante's strength smashed the massive rock they were standing on into pieces!
Shattered rock fragments pinged crisply against Asterion's scales. He showed no panic. Instead, bending his legs at the very last second, he leaped violently into the air!
Don't forget, unlike in the past, the current Asterion possessed forelimbs that were actually useful in combat.
His enhanced jumping ability allowed him to strike Flying Wyverns near the ground with a single leap. This was his first such jump since the battle began. Asterion closed in on Nergigante, who was still hovering in mid-air—and reached out!!
His outstretched forelimbs grabbed the root of Nergigante's thick tail. Under the influence of Asterion's heavy weight, Nergigante began to fall rapidly, no matter how desperately it flapped its wings in panic.
"Roar!!"
Asterion's move was completely beyond Nergigante's imagination. It roared, trying to take flight, but plummeted toward the ground even faster. However, Asterion's killer move was far from over.
Grabbing the base of Nergigante's tail meant he had a fulcrum in mid-air, a point of leverage.
While his forelimbs pulled Nergigante downward with force, Asterion immediately arched his tail blade high, slashing upward from below toward Nergigante's head!!
"Roar!!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Having truly been dragged into unknown territory by Asterion, and witnessing such a bizarre fighting style for the first time, Nergigante instinctively released the spikes from its body—specifically the ones facing Asterion: the ones on its forelimbs.
Those banging sounds weren't the spikes hitting Asterion's body; they were the sounds of the spikes being launched by Nergigante.
"Roar!!"
This time, it was Asterion who roared. The spikes Nergigante fired at point-blank range pierced his body. It wasn't an illusion; Asterion actually heard the sound of his scales and shell fracturing—those black spikes had punched through his carapace and bitten into his flesh!
Pain caused Asterion's body to contort. He instinctively released his grip on Nergigante's tail, hearing Nergigante's mocking roar in his ears.
Asterion was falling!
Relieved of the massive iron weight dragging it down, Nergigante slammed its wings and hovered in the air.
But this wasn't the end. As he plummeted, Asterion gritted his teeth and whipped his serrated blade toward Nergigante!
Hiss—!!
Jet Propulsion!!
According to normal trajectory and speed, the slash Asterion threw out while falling would have passed futilely beneath Nergigante due to gravity. But that was only "normal."
A burst of superheated steam violently erupted from the four exhaust ports at the end of his serrated blade. Propelled by this sudden force, Asterion's blade accelerated with astonishing speed in that instant.
Crack!!
The convulsing, vibrating blade swept across Nergigante's lowered head. At the last moment, Nergigante jerked its head up and flapped its wings to fly higher, but alas, under its stunned gaze, half of a diagonally sliced horn fell slowly from the sky.
Nergigante's giant horn had been severed.
Not a large piece, just a parallelogram sliced off the tip, but it was broken nonetheless.
"Roar!!!"
Furious and anxious, Nergigante roared in rage. Its pride as an Elder Dragon urged it to kill the offender who had already landed on the ground below, to avenge its dignity!
Without a moment's pause, Nergigante spun in the air—flapped its wings—and dove!!
Dive Bomb!!
It wasn't Nergigante's ultimate move, but a dive from the heavens with one wing wrapped around itself, thrusting the hard, sharp spikes on that wing like a shield of spears toward the enemy. Nergigante's innate supernatural strength gave this move devastating destructive power.
But Asterion—Ding!!
The instant he hit the ground, Asterion endured the pain and scrambled up with maximum speed, then executed a Foresight Slash!
A practiced Foresight Slash!!
From the second he hit the ground, he had been preparing for this moment. Asterion knew Nergigante wouldn't let things slide—after all, he had seen that dragon horn falling almost simultaneously with him.
"Roar roar! Roar roar roar!" (Haha! Your horn is broken!!)
While executing the Foresight Slash, Asterion let out a thunderous roar. Well, it was actually a mockery, but the volume was so great that even the noise of Nergigante destroying the ground couldn't drown it out.
This was a strategy!
Psychological warfare!
Whether Nergigante could understand Draconic like the old Kushala Daora didn't matter; Asterion would mock it regardless. He needed to disturb Nergigante's state of mind.
Sure enough, hearing Asterion's laughter after missing its strike, Nergigante instantly became even more furious, grinding its teeth with a crunching sound.
But before it could do anything, Asterion's counterattack following the Foresight Slash arrived—he didn't need his mockery to stall Nergigante for long; he just needed an opening!
Having evaded with the Foresight Slash, he was back at Nergigante's side in the next instant. Asterion's tail blade rose high—diagonal drop, upward slash, diagonal pick, vertical swing!!
The sequence of sword-tail movements flowed like water. Under the cruel cutting of the serrated blade, Nergigante's flesh sprayed up like minced meat on a chopping block, turning into a fluffy mist of blood!!!
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!!
His body was trembling with excitement. White steam poured from the corners of Asterion's mouth and his heat vents. Yes, yes, this was the feeling!!
Spirit Roundslash!!!
One last turn, one last horizontal slash! Asterion's serrated tail swept across Nergigante's body like a dull knife with teeth, tearing away a strip of rough flesh.
A faint white glow filled Asterion's tail blade. He felt fantastic.
As for Nergigante... the injury wasn't severe.
Well, the damage Asterion's "Great Sword" could inflict was certainly countless times greater than a Hunter's small knife. At the very least, the damage from that Spirit Roundslash combo he just danced was enough to equal what a Hunter squad would deal in months.
But Nergigante recovered faster.
Almost visible to the naked eye, Nergigante's wounds were closing rapidly. Hardly any dragon blood flowed out.
Pain, suffering... Nergigante's fury flooded the Wildspire Waste. Its spikes—
"ROAR!!!"
Suddenly, a loud dragon roar pierced through Nergigante's rage. Accompanying it was a rain of oval seeds, each fully half the height of a human, falling from the sky—but those were definitely not plant seeds. With no wind or rain, whose seeds would fall from the sky for no reason?!
Motherfucker.
Asterion wanted to curse. What kind of day was this? Why was everyone showing up??!!
The moment those "seeds" landed, they began to change, vibrating slightly. The tips began to glow red, a scorching red, as if they were growing—but what bloomed from them would definitely not be the flowers of life, but the flames of destruction!!
Boom!
Explosion.
The "seeds" that had almost completely enveloped Asterion and Nergigante detonated. perhaps it started with just one, but once one exploded, all of them chain-reacted in an extremely short time.
The entire ground seemed to turn into a sea of fire in an instant. Orange-red flames covered everything—and Asterion sprinted out of the fire with large strides.
The high-pitched roar overhead grew even louder.
With such an obvious attack method, Asterion knew who had arrived without even having to think about it.
The New World Police, Bazelgeuse!!
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