Frustrating—truly frustrating!
Disgusting—truly disgusting!
Luo Yun had never imagined that an Elder Dragon could be this cautious. It had only been tricked once and driven away once. How had it become so overly careful?
He couldn't fool it. There was simply no way to fool it!
Looking down at the Poison Mist that still hadn't dispersed beneath his feet, it continued to reap lives wantonly, yet Luo Yun was truly at a loss.
Chameleos was the Elder Dragon best suited for guerrilla warfare. Luo Yun possessed the Body of Flames and could ignore the Poison Mist, moving freely within it.
But its invisibility left Luo Yun with strength he had nowhere to use.
No wonder Chameleos had never clashed with other Elder Dragons. With Poison Mist and invisibility combined, aside from Elder Dragons that also possessed disaster-like powers and could easily disperse the thick fog to break its invisibility, other creatures could not even find Chameleos's location.
Luo Yun's roar was filled with unwillingness. In his extreme fury, he was furious for a moment.
As long as he lacked a wide-range ability capable of clearing away the Poison Mist, squeezing Chameleos's room to evade, and forcing it to reveal itself, Chameleos would naturally hold the advantage.
At that moment, the Fire Dragon Flock came flying over in a dense swarm from the direction of the Ancient Tree. They had heard Luo Yun's roar and naturally recognized the emotions contained within it. For a time, the sky was filled with endless Rathalos roars.
Amid those furious roars, Luo Yun detected something unusual. The Fire Dragons seemed to have made a decision.
The Fire Dragon Flock scattered apart. Under Luo Yun's astonished gaze, they began continuously breathing fan-shaped flames into the Poison Mist!
Fan-shaped flames were entirely different from explosive fireballs. Sustained fan-shaped flames placed a tremendous burden on a Fire Dragon's fire gland and throat, while also rapidly draining its stamina.
More importantly, those unending fan-shaped flames did not merely disperse the Poison Mist—they turned this entire area into a sea of fire.
Watching the burning forest, Luo Yun finally understood the Fire Dragons' intentions.
Wasn't Chameleos planning to cut off their food supply through mass biological extinction and force the Fire Dragons to leave?
Fine, then they would make the extinction even more thorough!
Under the flames, not even a blade of grass would be left for it!
A single Rathalos indeed lacked Flame Breath wide enough to clear all the Poison Mist, but dozens of Fire Dragons acting together could achieve the same result.
The only reason they had not done this during the previous two attacks was because of creatures' instinct to protect their natural environment.
Completely destroying an area like this would cause food supplies to plummet, damage the ecological chain, and ultimately backfire on themselves.
But Chameleos's actions these past two times had utterly enraged the Fire Dragon Flock. They were leaving anyway, so it would not get to have an easy time either! If they were going to destroy things, then they would destroy them completely!
"Roar!"
Having figured it out, Luo Yun's eyes turned fierce as he fully activated his fire gland. The violent factors within his body were awakened, and he directly joined this feast of flames.
Let this world burn!
Flames replaced Poison Mist as the dominant theme of this region. At some unknown point, Chameleos had slipped away. It had been frightened by the Fire Dragon Flock's mad actions.
For some reason, it even felt a trace of regret.
The trees burned. Though this was merely one area near the Ancient Tree, the thick smoke produced by the blaze could be seen throughout the Ancient Forest.
After venting freely, some Fire Dragons left directly. Only a small number returned to the Ancient Tree to rest due to exhaustion.
Luo Yun lay at the entrance of his nest, staring blankly at the burning corner of the forest. At that moment, he dearly wished he possessed some weather-related trait. He did not need much; even sunny weather alone would be enough to disperse the thick fog beneath the scorching sunlight.
The high temperature could also affect Chameleos's camouflage ability and force it to reveal its true form.
But he had nothing!
The last time he had drawn Fire Attraction was a year ago, and his draw progress bar was only halfway filled now.
Besides, there were so many traits in the Pokémon World. How could he possibly happen to draw a weather-related one so easily?
This great fire had once again stopped Chameleos from entering the Ancient Tree, but Luo Yun understood there would be no next time.
This time, fully two-thirds of the Fire Dragons had left. Even if Luo Yun successfully found Chameleos next time, there would not be enough Fire Dragons to support him.
He had to leave as well.
Inside the nest, the Detters were enthusiastically weaving a large basket from the vines they had gathered. Another one already sat in the corner of the nest, filled with the Detters' supplies.
After the Detters' loyal performance last time and their time together since then, Luo Yun had to admit that he had formed a bond with these adorable feline attendants.
These two baskets had been woven so the Detters could be taken along more safely during the migration.
Early tomorrow morning, he and Ya Ji would each carry one. The Detters would stay inside, and the two dragons would pack them up and take them away.
The sun gradually set, and the flames still burning stood out even more in the darkness.
At some point, fierce winds began to sweep through the forest. Thick clouds hid the bright moonlight, and a sudden downpour fell, extinguishing the flames.
The rain made the air damp, and Luo Yun found the sensation somewhat uncomfortable. He turned and returned to the depths of the nest, squeezing together with Ya Ji, who had lost too much stamina from breathing fire for so long. Breathing in her familiar aura, he closed his eyes.
At the border between the Great Antlion Desert and the Ancient Forest, atop a hidden cliff, the Wilderness Master repeatedly waved the Flashfly lantern in her hand.
"Hey! It's safe up here! You can come up!"
The members of the Investigation Team climbed up the cliff along vines. This was a hidden cave, and the Wilderness Master was currently holding up a makeshift Flashfly lantern while searching around.
"Judging from the claw marks and remains nearby, this should once have been a Rathalos nest. It has been abandoned for quite some time, though."
The Wilderness Master touched the marks on the cave wall, then went over to inspect the nest made of branches. She spoke with certainty to the others who had climbed up.
"An abandoned Rathalos nest? Tsk, that is a headache. I was originally planning to make this our campsite." The Great Leader looked around, his words revealing how satisfied he was with the terrain.
"Look, what is this?"
The Wilderness Master, who had been searching intently, suddenly raised the two scales in her hand. After carefully wiping away the grime on them, she cried out in surprise.
For even the well-informed Wilderness Master to gasp in amazement naturally drew everyone else's attention.
They hurried forward and gathered around her.
One large and one small scale glittered in the light.
The larger scale was clearly from a Female Fire Dragon. Under the lantern's light, it actually appeared orange-yellow, while its original dark green was much less noticeable.
The edge of the smaller red Male Fire Dragon scale was silver-white like pure silver, and that silver-white color even showed signs of spreading toward the center of the scale.
"This, this could it be the legendary..."
The Great Leader's breathing became heavy. His eyes shone as he stared at the scales in the Wilderness Master's hands as though they were priceless treasures.
"Ah! Silver Radiance, golden clear moon—these appear to be scales shed by the legendary, exceptionally rare special Rathalos individuals: the Silver Fire Dragon and Gold Rathian! However, these two should still be undergoing their transformation."
The moment she said that, everyone's breathing became heavy.
These legendary rare species were no less alluring to hunters than Elder Dragons!
If they could find the owners of these two scales, never mind observing them up close—even watching their habits from afar would be wonderful!
"I—"
"I'll do it! Move aside!"
For a moment, the Investigation Team members became excited. They all looked toward the Great Leader, each wanting to receive the investigation assignment from him.
"Heh heh heh, what are you thinking? A dangerous task like this should naturally be handled by yours truly!"
The Great Leader unceremoniously reached out to take the scales from the Wilderness Master's hands, only for her to nimbly dodge aside.
"Leader, you cannot just rush in whenever you see something good. Besides, don't you already have a target? This task should be sealed away for now. Once everyone has recovered, we can decide who should handle it."
The Wilderness Master's teasing words made the Great Leader laugh awkwardly, but he understood her intention.
The legendary Gold and Silver Fire Dragon pair each possessed Ancient Dragon Class Combat Power. Moreover, they usually acted together. Even when temporarily separated, they would not be far apart.
That meant any hunter conducting the investigation might have to face threats from two Ancient Dragon Class creatures at once. Therefore, this was not an investigation task just anyone could accept.
Furthermore, the Investigation Team currently had no ability to undertake such a task. Everything they had experienced in the Great Antlion Desert had made them understand that the Investigation Team was still far too weak in the New World. At this moment, they could not aim too high.
Besides, these were only two scales. The degree to which this nest had been abandoned already showed that the Fire Dragon pair had long left this region. Even if they wanted to investigate, they had no direction to follow.
Thus, preserving the two scales as keepsakes and using them to inspire everyone was the true value of these scales.
As for when the Investigation Team had sufficient ability in the future, suitable people would naturally take the two scales and venture into the unknown lands of the New World to search for those two rare legendary creatures.
The next day, the weather was gloomy, and the dark clouds still had not dispersed.
Luo Yun and Ya Ji each grabbed a basket packed full of Detters and flew out of the nest.
Luo Yun looked reluctantly at the Ancient Tree. Such a fine habitat, yet he could only hand it over to others. It was truly unwilling.
As he beat his wings and rose toward the sky, Luo Yun saw that familiar thick mist appear again on the other side of the Ancient Tree. Chameleos had still not given up and continued carrying out its plan.
But this time, there would be no one left to stop it. It was completely wasting its effort.
Just as he thought that, a figure suddenly flew out from the top of the Ancient Tree.
In an instant, fierce winds howled and clouds churned. A resonant dragon roar startled every Fire Dragon that had yet to leave the Ancient Tree, and they stared in terror at the metallic four-legged, two-winged Elder Dragon.
Looking at the White Mist filled with poisonous gas in the nearby forest, the Steel Dragon finally understood why it had been called to this foothold where it had once stayed briefly.
Its metallic wings beat, stirring up a whirlwind.
Almost instantly, the Steel Dragon arrived above the thick fog.
Surging Life Energy flowed within its body. The fierce wind came under its control, and torrential rain followed close behind.
In just one exchange, the vast blanket of thick fog was blown apart. With the Steel Dragon's beating wings, the storm grew increasingly fierce.
Great trees rooted deep in the earth were snapped apart, smaller trees were torn from the ground, and sand, stones, and branches were swept into the sky by the gale and flung into the distance.
Before Chameleos, within that region, could even react, it was swallowed by the storm.
This utterly unreasonable, enormous storm completely altered the environment around it. With the scenery changing constantly at every moment, its tail could no longer accurately analyze the current situation.
Chameleos's body flickered through countless colors like a broken slideshow. Its camouflage ability had completely failed, instead making it the most conspicuous presence within the storm.
Left with no choice, Chameleos could only abandon its camouflage and prepare to retreat unwillingly.
Unfortunately, this Steel Dragon had no intention of letting it go.
Having lost its camouflage ability and possessing little combat power itself, the juvenile Chameleos had no possibility of escaping from this Steel Dragon.
The Steel Dragon drew in a deep breath as vast wind-element energy gathered in its mouth.
At that moment, the wind stopped!
Realizing something was wrong, Chameleos's eyes widened. It instantly understood the Steel Dragon's intentions. It was already too late to flee, so it could only try to confront it head-on.
Although Chameleos's combat power ranked near the bottom among Elder Dragons, it still had a chance of defeating the Steel Dragon.
Its poison could affect the Steel Dragon's control over wind. That was Chameleos's only possible way to defeat the Steel Dragon.
Charged wind-beam breath!
A powerful hurricane breath, already visible to the naked eye, erupted from the Steel Dragon's mouth.
The restrained gale possessed outrageous destructive force. It expanded and burst apart not far in front of the Steel Dragon, becoming like a horizontal tornado that swept up everything in the forest it could carry and charged roaring toward Chameleos.
In comparison, even after charging up, Chameleos's poisonous breath was utterly insignificant before the tempest. It was even directly scattered by the air currents stirred up by the storm.
The storm completely engulfed Chameleos. Without even a single sound, it was swept inside. In Luo Yun's sight, it was wrapped by the horizontal tornado and flung toward the distant forest.
He did not know whether Chameleos could survive within such a storm.
But he knew Chameleos would never again set its sights on the Ancient Tree.
He had not expected that just as they were about to migrate, the matter would be resolved so easily at the last moment.
Luo Yun was very curious. When had this Steel Dragon arrived? Had it caused yesterday's storm? Why had he failed to sense its presence?
As for whether the Steel Dragon would remain at the Ancient Tree after dealing with Chameleos and attempt to occupy it like Chameleos had, Luo Yun knew the answer clearly.
It would not. The reason was simple.
The Steel Dragon fed on ore, but the Ancient Forest did not contain enough ore to sustain it.
Book recommendation, book recommendation! Let me recommend a book I'm currently following.
It is a very good Dragon Raja fanfiction, and the author has already completed another Dragon Raja fanfiction, so their track record is guaranteed!
Before you continue