"Roar!"
A hoarse bellow rang out as the Gore Magala spread its wings. Clouds of scale dust burst outward, spreading rapidly in all directions. The already darkened sky was soon stained a deep violet.
The Admiral hid behind his shield, peering calmly over its top edge with sharp eyes fixed on the charging Gore Magala.
Tonkotsu drew his weapon and crouched low behind the Admiral, waiting quietly. His task was to let the Admiral take the brunt of the monster's assault, then strike back in the opening that followed.
Closer. Closer still.
[Boom!]
A muffled crash resounded as the Admiral braced his stance, intercepting the Gore Magala with precision.
"Something's off. Why is its strength so weak?"
That was the Admiral's first thought after stopping the attack. With the Gore Magala's 16-meter frame and the natural power of an Elder Dragon, it shouldn't have been this easy to block.
To him, it felt less like enduring the force of an Elder Dragon, and more like withstanding the strike of some higher-tier monster that wasn't even known for its raw strength.
While the Admiral was left puzzled, the Gore Magala itself was utterly stunned.
It hadn't been long since its birth. It had yet to truly experience the brutal lessons of the world. But the intelligence inherent to an Elder Dragon told it one thing for certain—
With a body as massive as a small mountain, there was no way such a tiny creature should have been able to stop it so effortlessly.
Even if its raw strength wasn't great, sheer mass combined with the momentum of its charge should have been enough to send the foe in front of it flying. So why had it been stopped so easily?
The Gore Magala couldn't figure it out, but its assault didn't cease. Its wings spread wide, moving with a dexterity like newly grown arms, and using its massive frame as leverage, the blood-red wing claws slashed in from the Admiral's flank.
The Admiral had originally planned to drive forward, forcing the Gore Magala back to avoid the strike.
But from the corner of his eye he caught sight of Tonkotsu already leaping high into the air. In that instant he changed tactics, choosing to counterattack first.
With a sharp, angled thrust of the lance—just as Tonkotsu's hammer blow knocked aside the wing claw—the Admiral's strike pierced upward, landing squarely beneath the Gore Magala's jaw.
The lance tip carried a dense surge of fire-elemental energy, easily parting the black mist, piercing through scale and flesh until it lodged against solid bone.
The Gore Magala let out a wretched howl. Its wings beat furiously, whipping up a gale as its body reared high before instinctively lurching back to retreat.
The Admiral gave chase without hesitation.
In that brief clash, he had already gauged the creature's strength. He admitted it—he had misjudged.
This thing was weak. In terms of ecological standing, it was about on par with an Anjanath—an opponent he could dispatch with little difficulty.
Wracked with pain, the Gore Magala's mind snapped clear. Its instinctive caution led it to a swift decision.
From its maw gushed a flood of black scale dust, spreading into a thick, choking fog. At the same time, it spun and fled without the slightest hesitation.
Thus, when the Admiral and Tonkotsu burst through the black haze, all they saw was the Gore Magala's silhouette vanishing into the forest.
By then, the sky had darkened, and its obsidian carapace blended seamlessly into the night. In such conditions, pursuit was no longer possible.
The Admiral did not feel any disappointment at the monster's escape. Aside from being a little surprised at how decisively it fled after being wounded, he found nothing unusual about it.
Even the most legendary of hunters had started from weakness, growing step by step.
Spending months hunting a monster—escaping, chasing, again and again until finally killing or capturing it—that was all perfectly normal.
With such a massive body, such abundant stamina, and black camouflage, combined with its determination to flee in the night, it was simply not something a hunter could easily catch.
Gazing at the footprints on the ground and the blood left behind from the battle, the Admiral released his scoutflies, wanting them to remember the scent for future tracking.
But unexpectedly, once the scoutflies emerged, they became utterly frantic when faced with the scale dust, scattering wildly as though choked by smoke.
Only the blood was enough for the scoutflies to function normally.
Taking out bottles and jars, the Admiral carefully collected every bit of residue the monster had left behind. Then he and Tonkotsu began their cautious return to camp.
The forest at night was extremely dangerous. Without familiarity with the terrain, one should never wander recklessly outside.
...
The night passed without incident.
At dawn the next day, Logan flew alone toward that region.
Since it was Frenzy Virus, there was no need to let Aki share the risk. As for himself, it wasn't that he looked down on Gore Magala—rather, the scale dust with its low concentration of Frenzy Virus posed no real threat to him.
A figure wreathed in faint flames cut across the sky at low altitude, startling swarms of endemic life into scattering in panic. In the forest below, many large monsters raised their heads to give disgruntled growls, but their bodies obediently shrank back into the trees, wary of a sudden aerial strike.
After circling once, he found no other frenzied creatures. The forest appeared calm and peaceful, as though what he and Aki had seen yesterday had been nothing but an illusion.
Yet the quieter things seemed, the more uneasy Logan felt.
The existence of the Frenzy Virus was already a fact. That meant a Gore Magala was indeed lurking in this forest, and at any time a much greater threat could appear.
Their Fire Wyvern flock had only just migrated back—they certainly didn't want to move out again.
Besides, with his current strength, even if he encountered an ordinary Elder Dragon, he would dare to test his strength against it. In this world, he already stood at the top of the food chain. There was no reason to run anymore.
Casually snatching away the prey a Nargacuga had set its eyes on, he ate at leisure while the beast fumed, bristling like an indignant black cat. Once full, Logan took to the skies again.
This time, he headed toward the densely wooded regions where life was scarce.
By all logic, the closer one drew to where a Gore Magala resided, the more frequent the appearance of frenzied monsters would become.
Following that reasoning, he should have been able to locate its territory.
But instead of finding the Gore Magala, he first stumbled across the Admiral's temporary camp.
The roaring wind instantly put the Admiral and Tonkotsu on alert. But with Logan's landing, the gusts vanished at once, replaced by a gentle breeze that brushed softly across their faces.
"It's Boss Fire Wyvern, meow! What brings you here, meow?" Tonkotsu was so excited that he hopped and skipped to Logan's side, just like a house cat rushing up to its owner the moment they returned home.
The Admiral finally breathed a sigh of relief. This temporary camp was not well chosen—last night alone they had suffered two attacks. Though it was only mid-sized monsters, it had been enough to put him in a foul mood.
He had originally planned to search the area with Tonkotsu to see if they could find a better site for a camp. He hadn't expected to run into Boss Fire Wyvern so early in the morning.
Of course, the Admiral was certain Logan hadn't come here specifically for them. Most likely he had spotted the camp while passing by and, out of curiosity, landed to take a look.
The Admiral's thinking wasn't wrong—except on one point. Logan had indeed come here for them.
The camp he had discovered by chance, but the landing was deliberate.
The Admiral had been here with Tonkotsu and two accompanying Grimalkynes for some time now. Surely they had gathered intelligence that might interest Logan.
High-altitude searches were efficient, but they also overlooked much hidden in blind spots.
After some questioning, Logan indeed obtained useful information.
From the Admiral's and Tonkotsu's overlapping descriptions of the Gore Magala, and from their estimation of its strength, Logan immediately understood: this period of time was the best possible moment to mount a hunt.
A Gore Magala not yet matured—perhaps only just recently hatched—could be slain even by an ordinary Rathalos.
And at this stage, the concentration of Frenzy Virus within its body was still low. As long as one did not inhale the virus over a long period, or was not already in a weakened state, there was little danger of infection.
Thus, Logan at once conveyed his intent to the Admiral through Tonkotsu.
"This is the Calamity Dragon. If allowed to grow, it will become a nightmare for every living creature in this world. The entire continent could be reduced to a dead land."
Although Logan had not revealed the exact details of that monster, the moment he heard Logan speak with such gravity, the Admiral set aside any trace of disdain in his heart.
He still didn't fully understand why a monster that looked so fearsome yet, in truth, had shown little strength would warrant such a judgment from Logan. But out of trust in him, and from his own instinctive desire to safeguard the natural world, the Admiral gave a solemn nod. He even pledged on the spot that he would devote all his strength to investigating it.
Satisfied, Logan revealed a little more.
"It is one of the sources that drives monsters into frenzy. Its scales spread the medium of that madness. And fire—fire is its weakness."
With that, Logan wasted no time. Spreading his wings, he soared toward the direction Tonkotsu had indicated, where the Gore Magala had fled the day before.
Left behind was the Admiral, deep in thought, and Tonkotsu, wide-eyed and starry-eyed, watching Logan vanish into the skies.
After a round of searching, Logan arrived at the place where the Admiral and his group had clashed with the Gore Magala at dusk the previous day.
But after a full night, few traces remained. And of course, the Gore Magala would not be foolish enough to return.
With no other choice, Logan took that battleground as the center point and began to widen his search in all directions.
...
Beneath the roots of a colossal Ancient Tree, in a hollow where roots and stone entwined, the Gore Magala had curled its body, hiding in the shadows.
The wound beneath its jaw had already healed, but the pain of molting coursed through its frame, making its massive body twitch faintly with each spasm.
Every molting was a struggle between life and death. Already a trial, this one had become even harsher thanks to the Admiral's strike the previous night, which had only added to its burden.
And so, the Gore Magala resolved that in the coming days—even if it starved—it would remain here in hiding to complete its molt, rather than bring more trouble upon itself by venturing out.
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