For a moment, the two dragons stared at each other in awkward silence, wide eyes meeting narrower ones. The tension in the air was oddly… embarrassing.
Yuno narrowed his eyes at the Anjanath, then turned and left without a shred of hesitation.
"Oh hell no! What's this Anjanath doing here?!"
"ROAR!!"
The Anjanath let out a thunderous bellow.
This time, it swore, it would kill him for sure!
Yuno hadn't expected to see the creature that nearly ended him all that time ago. With how vast the Ancient Forest was, how the hell did this Anjanath find its way over here? And to run into him again, of all places? Was this fate?
No, don't be ridiculous. He was a Rathalos, not the Hunter of Astera. And this thing? It was just a large, oversized Anjanath, not some loyal, world-ending goat-dragon like Ruiner Nergigante. What "fate" could possibly exist between the two of them?
Besides, as far as Yuno remembered, he hadn't really provoked this guy, unless wandering into its territory counted. It ambushed him, went berserk, even lit itself on fire the moment it showed up. What, did he break some kind of cosmic law?
What's next? Gonna activate thermal membranes too?
So much rage, for what?
Yuno had no idea, but now wasn't the time to figure it out. Flying took time to prepare, and this Anjanath wasn't about to just sit there and wait. He had no choice but to run.
But he'd barely taken a few steps when a wave of scorching, foul-smelling wind rushed up behind him. Without even looking back, Yuno twisted his body in mid-run, executing a sharp turn using his wings with an agility no terrestrial Rathalos should ever possess.
Behind him came the sharp snap of jaws and a fiery explosion. The Anjanath's bite had missed, but it wasn't discouraged. It had fought this nimble wyvern before, back then, in the forest's tangled terrain, the little wyrmling had darted through trees like a shadow. Dodging with sudden turns was expected.
But this next attack, would be fatal!
With a roar, the Anjanath dug in with its massive hind legs. Its thermal membranes spread wide, spewing crimson mist. Its upper body swelled with muscle, veins bulging. This time, fire wasn't just sparking from its jaws, it was pouring out in waves.
Its pace slowed. Legs tensed like springs. Blood-red eyes locked onto Yuno's retreating figure.
And then, it leapt!
Like a launched cannonball, the Anjanath flew forward, maw agape, flames billowing out, heat distorting the air around it.
Explosive Flame Lunge!
CRACK!!
Its upper and lower fangs slammed shut with a sickeningly sharp snap, followed instantly by a fiery detonation that sent a shockwave racing through the grass.
Unable to stop itself, the massive body tumbled forward uncontrollably, rolling several times before finally managing to stand again.
Yuno, now hovering safely in the air, looked down at the scorched ground where he'd just been. A charred crater lay there, still steaming. The grass around it had been completely vaporized by the blast.
He couldn't believe it, if he'd been even a second late, would he have been torn in half?
The Anjanath stood shakily, glaring up at Yuno, who was now comfortably airborne.
Seriously? With that size, and you can't fly?
It couldn't comprehend it. Just over a month ago, this guy had been nothing but a flightless chicken. How the hell was he flying now? And flying that fast?
"Heh, I can fly now~"
Yuno called out gleefully from the sky, his tone oozing mischief and mockery. His roars clearly translated to one thing: You can't fly, loser.
And he wasn't wrong. Technically, Anjanaths and Rathalos were considered to be on similar tiers. But that one advantage, flight, was enough for Rathalos to dominate in most encounters.
When the two clashed, the records showed one winner more often than not.
After all, if a Rathalos couldn't win? It could just fly away.
But if the Anjanath lost?
Well… heh.
Yuno's smugness pushed the Anjanath over the edge. It lost all rationality. It clamped its mouth shut and began charging power, its throat glowing translucent from the heat.
In his past life, Yuno had been a veteran "hunt-ee." He knew the signs of an Anjanath's moves even if he wasn't a Master Rank hunter.
Staying calm, he pulled back to widen the gap, then flapped his wings and rolled to the side with perfect timing.
Whoosh!
A massive jet of flame roared past, barely missing him. He twisted again mid-air, pulling off a tight aerial roll to dodge the horizontal sweep that followed.
Just when Yuno thought it was over, the Anjanath's eyes flared again. With a thunderous stomp of its hind legs, it anchored itself to the ground and forcibly redirected the fire beam, burning through recoil and pain.
"Oh come on! That's cheating! I'm just a baby wyvern, barely two months old!"
Thanks to his [Acceleration] trait, Yuno dodged again at the last moment.
With another burst of his wings, he soared even higher into the sky.
This time, the Anjanath's flamethrower couldn't reach him anymore.
Its only ranged attack now completely ineffective, the Anjanath gave up. It didn't want to waste stamina on a pointless effort. But it still stared up at Yuno with seething rage, like they had some sort of eternal blood feud.
Yuno didn't understand the Anjanath's hatred, but one thing was certain:
He'd remember today.
He glared back one final time, then let out a young but defiant roar before turning and flying off without looking back.
Behind him, the Anjanath stood trembling with rage, unable to vent it.
At last, it roared at the sky and blasted a long flame into the heavens.
Yuno glanced back mid-flight and couldn't help but chuckle.
A dignified dragon, indeed. Sees me off with fireworks.
Though the Anjanath's ambush had ended without injury, Yuno knew better than to get cocky. Anjanaths were notoriously vengeful. Now that it had moved into this area, this hunting ground was off-limits, at least for now. He wasn't about to spend every hunting trip with a psychopath breathing down his neck.
As for the future? Well, this New World was full of surprises. By the time Yuno grew up, that Anjanath might already be dead in some ditch.
This encounter didn't even count as a real fight. It was just one chasing and the other fleeing, and it didn't even take long, so it didn't delay his hunting schedule much. The only real loss was that tasty-looking Mosswine… now snatched up by that angry brute.
Still, the days of hunting remained blissful. Since leaving that part of the forest behind, Yuno hadn't run into much trouble. Aki's wounds healed rapidly thanks to a nutritious diet, and she'd also heard the news: a powerful Anjanath had entered the area. She wisely stayed far away.
There were plenty of hunting grounds, abundant in resources, and well-separated territories. Their job now was to survive and grow stronger.
Day by day, time marched on.
Far across the sea, a massive ship made of dragonbone cut through the waves, chasing the trail of Elder Dragons, its course set clearly for the New World.
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400 P.S = 2 Extra Chapters