The Diablos's corpse hadn't merely avoided rotting—it was still plump, not dried into a husk by the Great Sand Sea's scorching daytime heat. Only the blood that had flowed from its body had dried, turning into dark red scabs that blended with the patterns on the rock's surface like some bizarre painting.
The great detective Xingyan was on the case. He was certain this Diablos had died in terrible agony. A scale had fallen straight from the sky, severed its spine, and pinned it firmly to the rock.
Pain, massive blood loss, and instinctive struggles that only hastened its death. The Diablos's claws had left white scratches across the rock—and most importantly, its death had been utterly pointless.
It hadn't been hunted for food. It had been killed for the sake of killing.
The Seregios really was just like the Brute Dragon: even when full, it still actively chased down prey to kill. The Diablos had only bled to death instead of being tormented to death by the Seregios trampling and tearing at it. That alone counted as lucky.
Xingyan could even imagine the scene. A Seregios flying overhead spotted a Diablos running across the ground, then flung a load of scales at it from the sky and killed it. In the end, it couldn't even be bothered to come down for a bite before flying away.
As a good dragon who cherished food, Xingyan strongly condemned the Seregios's wasteful behavior. He swore to uphold justice and teach the Seregios ruling this area a lesson.
The corpse hadn't dried out, which meant the killing had happened recently. The golden scales scattered across the rocks were also very fresh, with no sign of wear from wind and sand. Most of the traces Xingyan had found from Seregios before had been old. The scales were dull and gray, either rotted or badly worn.
All signs pointed to this area being the hunting ground of one or more Seregios. If he waited here, they were bound to show up eventually.
There could hardly be anything better.
The scorching sun had heated Xingyan's carapace until it was almost burning hot. That temperature was actually quite comfortable for a Glavenus, so he didn't even bother looking for a cool ravine to hunker down in. Instead, he stood brazenly atop a huge pillar of rock jutting from the ground—so large that a Glavenus could stand and move around on it. It could practically be called a stone platform.
After years of erosion, this platform might break apart into a ravine, or it might be ground down into a smooth, bare plain—
Or, of course, tectonic activity might shove it back deep underground, where it would never see the light of day.
Lying atop the conspicuous stone platform, Xingyan let his thoughts wander. He wasn't going anywhere. That way, if a Seregios flew past, he'd be sure to spot it immediately.
Xingyan had even spent some time wandering around the area. He left huge, conspicuous marks on the rock walls and ground with his Sword Tail, spat out some molten slag, chopped up the rocks here and there, shaved smooth surfaces rough, and rough surfaces smooth.
The only unfortunate thing was that he didn't poop, so he couldn't use dung to mark his territory. That left him with far fewer ways to taunt his opponent.
Sigh. A dragon who can't poop is an incomplete dragon.
Xingyan sighed theatrically. At any rate, as long as the Seregios noticed him, he wasn't worried about the creature running off. In a way, the Seregios was a honey badger, too.
Its ferocity and love of fighting were no joke. And with a large dragon like Xingyan swaggering around in its territory, the Seregios's territorial instincts were sure to make it explode with rage.
Xingyan had already eaten the poor Diablos's corpse, and he'd even eaten the Seregios's scales. He had more than enough time and energy to wait for the Seregios to arrive.
The sun rose and set, then rose again—some dew still clung to Xingyan's carapace, waiting for the sun to rise fully and evaporate it away.
When it came to hunting, he had the patience of a dragon.
At last, in the distant sky, among the dawn clouds that had yet to fade, Xingyan suddenly caught sight of a tiny shadow.
It was like the silhouette of a wild goose: a pair of spread wings, accompanied by a series of sharp, piercing cries.
Adasi, there's a dragon flying like an eagle!
Xingyan had finally gotten his prey. The Seregios's cry was unmistakable. When it roared, it sounded less like a dragon and more like some kind of raptor screeching.
A chicken call.
Come to think of it, before the Wycademy scholars identified the Seregios as a Flying Dragon Species, it had always been classified as a Bird Wyvern.
Alas, the Bird Wyverns had lost a great general.
"Roar!!!"
Xingyan rose from the stone platform and stretched his body, stiff from holding the same position for so long, before roaring.
A taunt! A challenge!
"Guaaah!!!"
The Seregios in the sky had clearly spotted Xingyan. Its cry grew louder and clearer, a shrill, high-pitched screech—not much like a dragon's roar at all.
"Cry" was a far better word for it.
Closer, closer still. The Seregios attacked nothing like a Rathalos or a Zinogre. It was like a giant eagle. As it neared Xingyan, it suddenly drew its wings in against its sides and shot toward him like an arrow!
Xingyan wasn't about to take a move powered by gravity and acceleration head-on. He had no intention of using Tail Bite Great Spin to go toe-to-toe with the Seregios. His eyes stayed locked on the Seregios diving straight down—three hundred meters! Two hundred! One hundred!
He leaped!
Just before it was about to hit the ground, the Seregios suddenly beat its wings. Its head, which had been at the bottom of its body, jerked up in an instant, replaced by a pair of legs that shot forward!
Each foot had two claws at the front and two at the back, forming an X-shaped zygodactyl arrangement. They were hard and powerful, more than capable of locking onto prey and holding it fast.
It wasn't a little pigeon flipping around. Adasi, this was an eagle-like attack!
It really was just like a bird: diving from high above, then grabbing and trampling its prey with its talons just before reaching the ground.
Given how sharp the Seregios's talons were, Xingyan had no doubt that those four claws could easily pierce the vulnerable body of its prey and lock onto it so tightly that it couldn't escape.
That was, if the attack actually managed to catch its prey.
As an intelligence-savvy Glavenus, Xingyan's greatest asset—at least so far—was his knowledge of other monsters. It let him play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses in battle, instead of having to get hurt before learning from experience like an inexperienced monster.
Xingyan already knew the Seregios's general attack patterns inside and out, so he was ready as soon as it swooped down from the sky.
The powerful muscles in the Glavenus's legs unleashed an astonishing burst of force. Just as the Seregios flipped over near the ground and thrust out its legs, Xingyan sprang toward the other side of the platform.
Boom!!
Powered by gravity and acceleration, the Seregios's talons even scraped away a layer of stone from the spot where Xingyan had just been standing, leaving several especially clear gouges.
Clatterclatterclatterclatterclatter!
Before Xingyan's eyes, the Seregios's scales trembled like the workings of some precise machine. From tail to back, wings to head, a wave of motion surged upward like ripples rising across the sea, while the scales clashed against one another with crisp metallic clacks.
Unlike the Female Fire Dragon, the Seregios's skeleton was closer to those of quadrupedal wyverns like the Brute Dragon and Nargacuga. But rather than keeping low to the ground and crawling like them, it had embraced the sky. Even when walking, it kept its upper body upright.
As its golden wings spread, rows upon rows of golden scales could be seen across the wing membranes. Each membrane also had three Wing Bones, but the most striking feature was the huge blade-like horn atop the Seregios's head. Red scales around its eyes gave it the look of a warrior wearing war paint, brimming with murderous intent.
The scales making that dense, crisp rattling sound to intimidate Xingyan were the source of the Seregios's name. It was an exceptionally rare monster covered in reverse scales from head to tail.
Most scaled dragons had scales that overlapped from head to tail. The Seregios was different: its scales grew from tail to head, stacking forward in layer after layer. When it grew angry or attacked, they rose up.
Head, back, tail, wings.
Uh, just like this—like the dry scales of a pinecone in autumn, one layer after another, each clearly distinct.
Though the Seregios didn't get much respect in the games, Xingyan had no doubt about how sharp its scales were. They were thin, sharp, and regrew extremely fast.
After the Seregios fired its scales at an enemy as weapons, it could grow new ones in an extremely short time.
It was a bit like some expert in concealed weapons from a martial arts novel.
To be honest, the Seregios was the kind of opponent Xingyan didn't much like, and it was all because the creature could shoot its scales like flying knives.
Trying to shoot Xingyan to death with scales was a pipe dream. The problem was his carapace—his Air Sac Carapace couldn't counter that kind of attack. It would just be wasted as the Seregios's scales struck it.
Even from this far away, the Air Sac Carapace's explosions couldn't do much to the Seregios.
A complete rip-off.
Having already analyzed their respective strengths and weaknesses down to the last detail, Xingyan had no intention of fighting the Seregios to his heart's content here. Anyway, he'd already accomplished his goal of drawing it in.
"Roar!!" (I'll kill you!)
He let out a threatening roar and turned to run. When the Seregios angrily raised its head, Xingyan took off without the slightest hesitation, leaving it stunned.
Huh?
This Seregios had seen Glavenus before—the kind with a huge lump of ore on its tail, which it used to attack. It had seen and fought them before.
So it knew this kind of dragon well. Glavenus was just as combative as the Seregios itself—so what the hell was with this sudden retreat?!
It took the Seregios a few bewildered seconds to realize it should give chase. It roared furiously, then flapped its wings and took to the air once more.
During those few seconds while the Seregios questioned its life choices, Xingyan had already sprinted a long way.
He wasn't worried about whether the Seregios would catch up. If it didn't chase him, then it wouldn't be a Seregios.
Whoosh! Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The sounds of countless sharp objects tearing through the air piled on top of one another. Xingyan picked his moment, glanced back at the Seregios, and saw it hanging in the sky right behind him. It snapped its wings together, shooting out who knew how many golden Blade Scales!
Clang! Clang-clang-clang-clang!
It was like rain, except it was raining knives. Several Blade Scales whistled past Xingyan, then embedded themselves in the rocks like nails.
And then—BOOM!!!
Shit!
Xingyan couldn't help cursing! Stop scraping up my carapace!!
Yes, the two explosions that went off almost simultaneously had come from Xingyan's Air Sac Carapace. Under the piercing barrage of Blade Scales, it would've been downright unreasonable if they hadn't exploded.
The only saving grace was that when the first few Air Sac Carapaces exploded, the gusts they kicked up threw off the trajectories of some Blade Scales that had been headed for Xingyan. They struck the rocks nearby instead, preventing even more damage.
He was so heartbroken that he nearly ground his teeth to dust. It wasn't physical pain. It was pain in his heart—money down the drain!
This transitional evolutionary feature, the Air Sac Carapace, had exposed its shortcomings time and time again. Once the time was right, or he found a new material suitable for evolution, Xingyan swore he'd replace this expensive, limited carapace!
Something suited to specific situations was no match for something convenient in every situation.
But for now—Xingyan would fight as he retreated!
He pretended to have no way of dealing with the Seregios flying in the sky. Well, all right, he wasn't pretending. He really couldn't do much about a Seregios flying overhead. He kept turning to spit molten fireballs at it, but they were far too slow to have any chance of hitting.
So Xingyan maintained his fleeing posture, with the Seregios behind him constantly firing Blade Scales and the molten fireballs that missed their target exploding on the ground.
Closer, closer still. The battlefield he'd planned—the trap he'd set—was just ahead.
For the first time in a long while, the intelligence-savvy Glavenus had set another trap.
Like flying, do you?
Like shooting me with Blade Scales from up there, do you?
Just you wait!
Running through the rocks, Xingyan grumbled furiously. Dragons that could fly and attack from range were shameless and despicable!
How can you be so selfish?!
The real world didn't have to consider game balance. This Seregios was acting like a madman. It had no intention of landing to trade blows with Xingyan. It just hung in the sky and kept shooting Blade Scales at him.
The strange Glavenus's carapace had suddenly exploded a moment ago, startling it. That had never happened when it fought other Glavenus before, so it had no intention of approaching Xingyan just yet, better safe than sorry.
Keep shooting! Go on, shoot some more! (Grinds teeth)
Before you continue