"It won't arrive here for some time yet, so now is the best opportunity to prepare."
"Roar? Roar~"
"It'll come looking for me on its own? Excellent. Whatever you need for preparation, I'll lend a hand."
The Ruiner Nergigante immediately became excited.
Li Fan outlined the plan to confront the Frostfang Barioth.
Having gathered sufficient intelligence, the team did not seek out the Brachydios, but instead focused on preparations.
Two days passed quickly. At noon, Dilu was simmering a meat stew at the outdoor camp when she noticed a few snowflakes falling from the sky. She hurried into the tent to wake Li Fan.
Li Fan summoned Huihui to determine the location, then used a signal flare to recall Yidola, who was out hunting, preparing to initiate the plan at any moment.
After circling the Elder's Recess at high altitude for several weeks, Huihui returned to ground level and reported that the Frostfang Barioth had been located.
"The Frostfang Barioth has excellent aerial capabilities and can emit cold air that affects its surroundings. Our primary objective is to lure it into a crystal cavern and deliver a heavy blow. Once it's confirmed it cannot escape, we'll attempt to capture it."
Li Fan reiterated the combat procedure.
Given the team's current configuration and the home-field advantage of the Elder's Recess, the Frostfang Barioth stood no chance in terms of combat power and was completely unprepared psychologically.
However, if an elder dragon simply wished to escape, it could be troublesome to deal with.
"Will Kuku be safe as bait?" Yidola asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, I've arranged the entire process, and other monsters will be accompanying it throughout."
"Uh... why does it have to be Kuku?" Yidola couldn't quite understand.
"Because Kuku is confident enough," Li Fan said with a sigh.
In the outer regions of the Elder's Recess, within a cave formed by rock pillars, a Brachydios emerged, its body covered in a deep blue shell.
As it rubbed its slime-covered palms together, it hummed a tune.
"Roar~ Roar~ Roar~..."
Its melodious and cheerful roars conveyed a sense of contentment.
Feeling a gentle snowflake land on the horn protruding from its forehead, the Brachydios looked up at the sky.
Its mouth turned down, its gaze darkened, and feeling that its pleasant day was over, the Brachydios immediately turned and retreated into the cave.
"Bang~ Bang~"
Its slime-covered palms struck the cave walls, and the residual slime quickly turned from green to orange.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two explosions sounded, and the rock strata disintegrated and collapsed, quickly sealing the cave entrance with rubble.
At this moment, the Frostfang Barioth flew overhead. As it flapped its wings, more silvery-white snowflakes appeared in the air.
Seeing the vast amount of Dragonite ore appearing on the surface below, its eyes flashed with surprise.
"Whoosh~"
Finding a sufficiently thick crystal pillar, the Frostfang Barioth landed on its tip, quietly surveying the shimmering mountain of crystals below.
Before long, the Frostfang Barioth lowered itself onto its four claws and closed its eyes peacefully.
"See the iron hooves, treading across ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers..."
At this moment, a dragon's roar with a strange meaning and chaotic rhythm echoed in its mind.
The Frostfang Barioth's eyes, which had just opened, narrowed, revealing a hint of coldness.
"I stand at the edge of the storm, holding the sun and moon as they spin..."
"Roar!" The Frostfang Barioth shattered the Dragonite ore beneath its claws and let out a displeased roar.
However, as it looked left and right, it found nothing, and a wave of irritation surged within it.
"Wa-oah~ Wa-oah~..."
At this moment, another series of noisy roars sounded.
However, compared to the dragon's roar that directly entered its mind, this sound was clearer and more distinct.
The Frostfang Barioth immediately stood up and looked in the direction of the sound.
A Great Jaggi, spreading its wings and striding forward, appeared in its vision.
"Roar!"
The Frostfang Barioth let out a fierce roar, signaling it to stop singing! Ugly creature!
Kuku did not get angry, nor was it even moved. It merely tilted its head and observed the Frostfang Barioth on the crystal pillar for a moment.
"Roar~"
Kuku let out a low hum, indicating that the Frostfang Barioth must be jealous of its beak being larger and its appearance more elegant.
Then, it continued to spread its wings and moved forward with its chaotic roaring.
"Chirp~"
A sound of freezing and cracking echoed, and a mass of azure ice rapidly spread across the crystal pillar.
Sensing something unusual, Kuku did not show weakness. Its fan-shaped ears immediately unfurled, and it tilted its head back, roaring continuously, declaring that Emperor Kuku was not afraid of it.
"Roar! Who's jealous of you! Go die!"
The Frostfang Barioth flapped its wings and leaped forward fiercely.
Kuku used its Bird Wyvern Charge, but instead of preparing to counter, it accelerated away in the opposite direction on the slope.
"Whoosh~ Boom~"
Giant ice blocks rolled down.
Looking back, Kuku twisted and dodged left and right, its body swaying and weaving.
Unable to dodge a large, round ice ball, it simply jumped up, stepped on the ice ball, and maintained its balance with its wings, rolling down together.
Before long, Kuku, along with the ice ball it was treading on, rolled to the end of the slope and into a spacious and bright crystal cavern.
At the entrance of the cave, the hovering Frostfang Barioth hesitated.
Clearly, the enclosed environment within the cave posed a threat to it.
"Roar~"
At this moment, a roar echoed from within the cave.
Kuku declared that it was once again being envied for its beauty.
The Frostfang Barioth's gaze darkened, and it folded its wings, charging into the cave.
It circled several crystal pillars that connected to the ceiling and found Kuku leaning against the crystal wall.
"Hoo~ Hoo~..."
Its wings, which had been dispersing cold air, stopped moving, and the Frostfang Barioth landed on the ground.
It raised its neck and let out a cold snort.
It declared that Kuku should quickly strike its favorite pose.
"Roar?"
Kuku expressed its confusion about the purpose of doing so.
"Roar~"
The Frostfang Barioth coldly stated that Kuku would be immortalized in this pose.
"Roar!"
Kuku tilted its head back, and thick smoke seeped from its mouth.
"Whoosh~"
The Frostfang Barioth, acting faster, immediately lowered its head and sprayed gelatinous supercooled water.
As misty white cold air surged, the surface of the crystal wall began to form large patches of ice with sharp crystals.
The Frostfang Barioth quickly sensed something was wrong, for Kuku, who should have been turned into an ice sculpture, had suddenly vanished into thin air.
"Boom! Boom! Whoosh~"
In the distance, the blue flames ignited by the Gold and Silver Rathalos caused the cave entrance to collapse in an explosion.
The Frostfang Barioth hesitated for a moment, but instead of stopping the supercooled water spray, it continued to expand the sprayed area.
Before long, the surrounding cave ceiling, ground, and walls were covered with a large amount of ice.
"You can't escape, Frostfang Barioth. Stop your futile resistance."
Li Fan emerged from behind a crystal pillar, his sword in hand.
"Roar!"
The Frostfang Barioth swung its long tail in front of it and let out a fierce roar.
"What did it say, meow?" Dilu asked softly from Li Fan's shoulder.
"It said it can't forgive us for daring to scheme against it," Li Fan translated.
"It seems it won't surrender even if defeated, meow," Dilu said with some concern.
"There's nothing we can do about it, we'll just have to fight it," Li Fan said, then charged forward with his sword.
The Frostfang Barioth scanned its surroundings warily for a moment. Seeing only a small human charging towards it, it was somewhat surprised.
In its memory, such an elaborate plan would at least involve the Gold and Silver Rathalos launching an attack.
"Roar!"
"Rumble~ Rumble~..."
Just as the Frostfang Barioth was feeling curious, a Brute Tigrex suddenly appeared and charged towards it.
In the blink of an eye, a Zinogre also appeared.
The Frostfang Barioth turned its head left and right, intending to re-establish its target.
Suddenly, it noticed a Raging Brachydios, charging with ghost fire, approaching from above.
The Frostfang Barioth panicked and immediately sprayed supercooled water in front of it.
Rows of thick ice pillars rapidly emerged, shooting straight towards the cave ceiling.
A towering, semi-circular ice wall quickly formed, creating a barrier.
Seeing this, Li Fan sheathed his sword and ran to the outer side of the ice wall, taking a roll of cotton cloth from Dilu.
After a simple calculation of the direction, he unfolded the square cotton cloth with a target mark on it and pinned it to the surface of the ice wall.
"Clang~ Clang~"
"Be careful, Frostfang Barioth, don't die."
Li Fan knocked twice on the ice wall with his knuckles, gave his warning, and then led the other monsters to retreat quickly.
"Roar!"
Faced with the inexplicable reminder, the Frostfang Barioth disdainfully replied that such petty tricks could not scare it.
"Thump~ Thump~..."
With dull thuds, large ice pillars and ice shards rained down from above.
The Frostfang Barioth, protected by several layers of ice walls, looked up for a moment and vaguely sensed a hint of danger.
"Roar~ Roar?"
"Heh heh~ it's finally my turn to act... Huh? I can't get into this cave, Li Fan?" the Nergigante, stuck between two crystal pillars, asked in its mind.
"If you're just going to shoot your breath, your head should be able to fit in," Li Fan explained.
"Roar... Roar~"
"This is such an awkward position, but to recruit it, I'm willing to stoop."
"Don't sustain the energy blast for too long, we want it alive," Li Fan instructed.
"Roar~" The Nergigante responded with a sound, slightly tilted its head, and aimed at the cotton target with a pig's head drawn on it on the ice wall.
"Buzz!"
A beam of azure light erupted from the Nergigante's mouth, instantly piercing through multiple layers of ice walls and creating a large-diameter circular hole.
With its wings retracted and its back against the crystal rock wall, the Frostfang Barioth dared not move, watching the dazzling beam of light pass by its side.
It had originally been very confident in the defensive capabilities of its ice walls.
It believed that even if a monster could break through, it would at least take some time.
As for bypassing the ice wall and attacking from the side, it seemed like a favorable option.
However, in the limited space created by the ice walls, the threat of cold airflow and supercooled water would significantly increase.
This was also the main reason why the Frostfang Barioth chose to fortify its position.
But now, the situation had completely changed. If the Frostfang Barioth hadn't dodged to the edge of the ice wall just now, it would have been hit by the energy blast.
"Buzz~ Buzz~..."
Seeing the energy blast continuously sweeping towards it, with nowhere to hide, the Frostfang Barioth raised its claws and pressed them against the ice wall, ready to shatter it and escape at any moment.
On Li Fan's side, due to the blinding glare of the blast and the large amount of steam generated by the evaporation of the ice walls, he couldn't see the situation inside clearly even with protective goggles.
He simply turned his back and rubbed his eyes, which had been stimulated by the strong light.
"Chirp~"
"Buzz~"
Just as its claws embedded in the ice were about to shatter the ice wall and escape, the energy blast stopped.
The Frostfang Barioth, exhaling cold air from its mouth, intended to look outside, but on the crystal wall beside it, it discovered a huge pit melted by the energy blast.
Seeing the orange-red light reflected on the rock wall outside the pit, the Frostfang Barioth peered down and saw flowing lava veins reflected in its yellow eyes.
Li Fan quickly noticed the scorching heat emanating from the pit.
"Something's not right. If it had hit directly, it would have roared at least," Li Fan said. He ran forward to investigate, and all the monsters participating in the battle inside rushed out to provide protection.
He found that the ice wall was empty and then went to observe the melted pit.
"The Frostfang Barioth is in the lava veins below, meow!" Dilu exclaimed in disbelief.
At this moment, the Frostfang Barioth's head was lowered towards a lava vein, spraying large amounts of supercooled water.
The lava vein quickly blackened and became congested.
Where the supercooled water met the lava, a large amount of dark blue gelatinous substance was generated.
"The Frostfang Barioth is creating an ice armor! We need to stop it, everyone attack!" Li Fan shouted, then quickly ran to the edge of the pit and jumped down.
The other monsters who had rushed over also swooped down.
The Frostfang Barioth thrust one of its wings into the dark blue gel, and a hissing burning sound echoed.
"Roar~ Roar~..."
The Frostfang Barioth let out a painful low groan, but showed no intention of stopping.
Seeing the monster team approaching from above, it pulled out its wing and inserted it into its tail.
Then, it raised its neck and sprayed supercooled water wantonly. Amidst a misty white expanse, columnar ice walls formed in circles around it, rapidly building up.
The Frostfang Barioth resolutely inserted its other wing, which was the last thing Li Fan saw before the ice walls sealed it in.
"Roar!"
Cheche's claw swiped, shattering most of the outer columnar ice walls.
Then, it tilted its head and took a fierce bite, peeling off large chunks of ice.
With the efforts of the team's monsters, the ice walls quickly disintegrated.
However, when only the innermost layer remained, Li Fan vaguely saw the Frostfang Barioth's figure through the crystalline ice.
"Retreat quickly!" Li Fan shouted, as the inner ice wall suddenly began to crack.
"Boom!"
The ice wall exploded, and ice fragments scattered everywhere.
The Frostfang Barioth, its body covered in silvery ice crystal spikes, appeared before the monsters.
Under its ice-crystal-forged silver crown, its sharp eyes scanned the monsters, finally settling on Li Fan.
"Roar~"
The Frostfang Barioth let out a low growl and flapped its wings, charging into the sky.
"What did the Frostfang Barioth say, meow?" Dilu asked softly.
"It said it remembers me and will make me pay the price in the future," Li Fan translated with a helpless expression.
Yidola, guarding the cave entrance, was comfortably eating roasted meat by the campfire.
Upon seeing the silvery figure ascending into the sky, carrying a large amount of ice and snow, she immediately drew her sword and flew up.
However, after flying for only a short while, she was intercepted by Li Fan, who was riding on a small, foolish mount.
"The capture operation failed..." Yidola said in surprise.
"Yes, not only did it form an ice armor, but it also gained combat experience. It will be even more wary next time we encounter it," Li Fan sighed.
"Since it escaped into the sky, Huihui should be able to intercept it, right?" Yidola asked.
"Honestly, even if I could severely injure it, I wouldn't have much confidence in capturing it, so I don't want Huihui to take the risk," Li Fan said, looking at the blue starlight in the sky and revealing his concerns.
When the Alatreon would arrive was still unknown. If Huihui were injured and the Frostfang Barioth still not captured, the team would undoubtedly suffer a great loss.
"What a troublesome monster," Yidola exclaimed, watching the receding silver figure in the distance.