Chameleos Appears

Within the White Mist, Ya Ji felt powerless all over. She wanted to call for help, but could only make faint sounds.

At first, Ya Ji had merely landed in the forest out of habit, slowed her pace as she moved toward its outer edge, and relied on her camouflage to hide perfectly. All she had to do was wait for Luo Yun to drive the Herbivore Dragon herd over.

But gradually, white mist appeared within the forest. Perhaps Ya Ji had been too confident in her own strength, or perhaps the mist contained toxins that affected the senses.

In any case, by the time Ya Ji realized what was happening, she was already completely surrounded by dense fog. Her ability to move had been drastically weakened. Her normally strong, powerful wings now felt unbearably heavy; even flapping them was difficult, let alone flying.

She tried to call loudly to Luo Yun in the sky, only to find that it was as though she had lost her vocal cords. She could only make the faintest sounds.

The sudden change left her thoroughly panicked. She moved her legs, thinking that as long as she could leave this forest, as long as she reached open ground, her Male Fire Dragon would surely spot her! He would definitely be able to take her out of this deadly Poison Mist.

Unfortunately, after only a few steps, a wave of weakness washed over her. Her legs gave out as though they no longer obeyed her, and the strength she had always taken pride in was being stripped from her body with terrifying clarity. Her stamina began to drain away rapidly, and exhaustion made her drowsy.

Just then, a wave of heat swept over her. A mass of orange flames descended beside Ya Ji, and under Luo Yun's full control, the surrounding fire forcibly carved out a vacuum within the dense mist.

Accompanied by Luo Yun's anxious roar, Ya Ji's muddled mind abruptly cleared. She rallied herself and looked toward Luo Yun.

Unable to make a sound, she could only whimper pitifully and struggle to move closer to him, using that to convey the terror she felt.

Luo Yun had never seen Ya Ji look so weak, frightened, and pitiful. In his memories, Ya Ji had always been strong, fierce, and powerful enough to look down on everything. Even the tender side she showed around him carried a sense of tolerance and protection, as though she could hold up the whole world for him.

Yet this Ya Ji was showing a frailty completely unlike anything before. It was easy to imagine what she had gone through. If Luo Yun had arrived even a little later, Ya Ji might truly have been in danger.

Even if she had not lost her life, her body would have suffered irreversible damage afterward.

Luo Yun's rage surged, and he threw back his head with a roar.

But... all he could do was roar unwillingly.

The dense fog had become thick enough to block their vision. A Rathalos's normally prized eyesight was utterly useless within it.

What enraged him most was that this Poison Mist had clearly been caused by Chameleos, yet it had not deliberately targeted Luo Yun and Ya Ji. There was a high chance that Chameleos was nowhere nearby, so even if Luo Yun wanted to drive it away and dispel the fog, he could not.

After venting his anger, Luo Yun could only keep the flames burning and protect Ya Ji as they headed out of the forest once her own poison resistance took effect and she barely regained the ability to move.

The fiery covering granted by the Body of Flames was not unlimited. The flames outside his body consumed the fire stored in Luo Yun's fire gland. Although the Fire Attraction trait allowed him to absorb fire and form a certain degree of circulation, the flames were now being consumed as they burned away the Poison Mist, leaving far less fire for Fire Attraction to reclaim.

As one side waned and the other grew, the flames would eventually run out. They had to leave the foggy area before then.

Too little time had passed, Ya Ji had inhaled too much Poison Mist, and its toxicity was too complex. Her body was still weak, and she could not fly. They could only travel on foot.

Ever since gaining the ability to fly, Luo Yun had rarely spent so long walking on the ground with his toes curled. Suddenly having to do so again felt rather unfamiliar.

But as time passed, even after Luo Yun and Ya Ji left the forest and reached their previous hunting grounds, the dense fog remained.

Luo Yun's heart sank. This could only mean that they had somehow been moving in the same direction as Chameleos.

The thought gave Luo Yun a terrible headache.

He turned to look at Ya Ji. As though they shared a silent understanding, she immediately grasped what he meant.

Spreading her wings and stirring up a gust of wind, Ya Ji tried hard to flap them. Yet she rose less than two meters before crashing heavily to the ground. Dejectedly, she shook her head at Luo Yun.

It seemed they would not be able to leave by flying.

Luo Yun scanned the surroundings. Visibility in the dense mist was still less than five meters. With such a narrow field of view, he realized that not only had they failed to move away from the fog, they might even have drawn closer to its center.

Only two paths lay before Luo Yun now.

The first was to grit their teeth and continue walking through the dense fog until Ya Ji recovered enough stamina for them to fly away.

The second was for Ya Ji to endure a little longer while Luo Yun hurried into the sky to confirm the fog's direction of movement and its thinnest area, then returned to lead her that way.

But both choices were extremely dangerous. His remaining fire likely could not support them for too long in fog this dense.

Nor could Ya Ji's body endure a second bout of harm from such concentrated Poison Mist.

So in the end, the only path they could choose was to keep enduring.

Having made up his mind, Luo Yun intended to lead Ya Ji back the way they had come. Since he now knew they had been moving in the same direction as Chameleos, they could retrace their route and leave in the opposite direction. Perhaps they could escape the foggy area before his flames were exhausted.

Just then, Luo Yun's Mind's Eye suddenly activated. There seemed to be movement at the pond not far away!

Something was stirring the water's surface!

Was something drinking water?

The discovery shocked Luo Yun!

The only beings that could leisurely drink water within Chameleos's Poison Mist were Chameleos itself or monsters of extraordinary strength.

Whether it was Chameleos or another monster, neither was good news for Luo Yun and Ya Ji.

Luo Yun warily stared in that direction. Suddenly, a purple figure flashed through the mist, then vanished without a trace.

It had only disappeared from sight, however. With Mind's Eye greatly enhancing his senses, Luo Yun perceived a huge transparent figure with a similar-looking head and tail, as well as a pair of small wings on its back.

"Chameleos!!"

Luo Yun instantly confirmed its identity. Chameleos had many distinctive traits, but perhaps to protect the weakness of its head, its tail began in a fan-like shape before extending into a long, slender, curled tail.

From afar, combined with Chameleos's shifting body coloration, it could easily mislead an enemy's vision and make it impossible to distinguish head from tail.

And within Luo Yun's perception, Chameleos seemed to be staring at them as well.