Boom! A large hole tore through the dark red clouds.
Huihui, descending at an angle, landed on the back of the Mantis Captain, her four claws gripping the exposed steel beams.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The gun-wing nozzles facing the ground unleashed six streams of blue flame, instantly boosting the Mantis Captain upwards.
"Shanshan will tie down the Black Dragon! Everyone, push forward!"
Li Fan shouted, and the Mantis Captain ascended.
At this moment, the Black Dragon, having smashed through streets and buildings to reach the central city plaza, was about to destroy the Dragonator deployed there.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~...
Sensing something rapidly approaching, the Black Dragon twisted its neck to look at the sky.
Bang!
The metal panel, radiating cold, swung down with the movement of an arm.
Clang! Hum~ Hum~...
A shower of ice shards flew, and a clear humming sound arose.
The Black Dragon's head, struck with immense force, reeled backward.
"Hold it!"
Li Fan commanded, his voice ringing out. The Mantis Captain, having landed, rotated its body, shifting its shoulder to brace against the metal panel driven into the ground. Its legs pushed forward.
Clank~ Clank~
Huihui's gun-wing tips pointed forward, and the six blue flames from the rear nozzles erupted.
Clang!
The metal panel pressed against the Black Dragon's chest, forcing it to retreat with the momentum of the charge.
Bang! Bang!
Seeing that it was about to crash into the city wall behind it, the Black Dragon's claws dug into the ground, its forward momentum gradually ceasing as it slowed.
Tsk~ Tsk~....
Shanshan's scythes tightened to their limit, the golden silk threads emitting a faint tremor as they swayed, clearly having reached their peak in terms of power application.
"Chief Hunter Squad! Deploy!"
After flicking a Wirebug silk and stepping on the Mantis Captain's arm, the two humans and one cat leaped onto the top of the panel shield.
The Black Dragon, embers flying from its mouth, glanced upward with its purple eyes. After a moment, its gaze locked onto Li Fan, clad in the Thunder God Dragon armor.
"If you stop now..."
Li Fan began to speak but saw the Black Dragon inhale slightly, prompting him to crouch down.
Puchi~ Puchi~
Dilu pressed the Silent Gauntlets tightly against Li Fan's ears.
Roar!
A fierce dragon roar erupted, and the shockwave of the circular sound blast pushed them backward, even in their crouched position.
"It seems there's no talking... Retreat to the side!"
As Li Fan stood up, he saw a stream of burning flames emanating from the Black Dragon's mouth and immediately gave orders.
Whoosh~ Whoosh!
A thick stream of orange-yellow flames sprayed onto the metal panel in front of the Black Dragon. The chilling energy from Bingbingzi could only hold it back for a moment before dissipating into steam.
Li Fan, now on the ground, saw the panel soften and melt and immediately signaled Shanshan to retreat.
As the Mantis Captain retreated with its shield, the Black Dragon dug its wing claws into the ground to stabilize itself, and the flame stream shifted from a concentrated blast to a fan-shaped spread.
Hiss~ Hiss~
The Mantis Captain was no longer the sole target of the flame stream, but its ice armor, enveloped by the scattered flames, began to melt rapidly.
The exposed steel beams quickly turned orange-yellow, and large patches of blackened, charred marks appeared on its body.
Whoosh~
The flame stream suppressing Shanshan suddenly stopped. The Black Dragon turned its head, its gaze shifting horizontally, and continued to lock onto Li Fan, who was running to the side.
"Uh... Ever since we met, it seems to have been staring at you, meow."
Dilu, running alongside, offered a reminder.
"Staring at me..."
Li Fan glanced at the sky. Meimeizi, Juejuezi, Bingbingzi, Xixi, Wanpi, and Xiaobendan, all flying monsters, had arrived and were in position.
"Then that's perfect... Dilu! Insert the disc!"
He figured if he could attract the Black Dragon's attention, it wouldn't be a bad thing.
"Done, meow!"
"If you like targeting me, then come at me! Juejuezi! Shadow Infusion!"
Li Fan finished speaking, and Juejuezi dived down. With a flap of its wings, a dense cloud of black energy emanated.
Bang! Bang!
The Black Dragon shifted its claws on the ground, turning towards Li Fan's position on the side.
Crash~ Boom~
Its claws, sweeping low across the ground, gouged up large amounts of rubble as they swung.
Whoosh~
Just as it was about to strike Li Fan, the black energy surrounding him suddenly erupted, transforming into a shadow that instantly vanished.
The Black Dragon, having lost its target, paused.
After looking left and right, it sensed a large concentration of energy gathering beneath it. It quickly looked down and, sure enough, found Li Fan.
Li Fan was now kneeling on one knee, holding the Thunder God Blade horizontally in front of him with both arms.
As the blade was slowly retracted from the palm supporting its back, the gathered energy emanating from his body formed a misty white film on the blade's surface.
Once the Thunder God Blade was completely covered by the film, Li Fan assumed a iaijutsu stance, ready to strike.
Hum~ Hum~...
With a faint tremor, the Qi accumulated from striking the steel beams in the Mantis Captain's cockpit began to dissipate outward.
Under normal circumstances, this Qi would quickly disperse into the air, but with the energy film locking and containing it, all the dissipating Qi was now forcefully concentrated on the blade's surface.
White, yellow, red... blue.
The color of the dissipating Qi changed with the amount being injected.
When all the Qi was released, Bingbingzi's chilling energy followed.
Blue flames flickered across the surface of the Thunder God Blade.
"Divine Might Iaido... Slash!"
Li Fan lunged forward in a drawing and cutting motion.
Zeng! Zeng! Puchi! Puchi!
With two consecutive wide horizontal slashes, the snake-scale-like carapace of the Black Dragon's right forelimb joint shattered and flew off.
Li Fan then leaped up and delivered a powerful vertical slash to the toe joint of its raised right claw.
Puchaa~
A small section of the toe, severed, flew into the air amidst a burst of golden electricity.
Thick, dark red blood splattered onto the scorched plaza floor.
Rolling back, Li Fan's first action upon getting up was to check the Black Dragon's movements.
However, it did not attack, merely watching Li Fan silently.
Whoosh~
A few wisps of embers drifted from its mouth, and its long, slick tongue licked over its sharp teeth.
The Black Dragon casually and calmly exhaled a puff of smoke.
It didn't roar, but the contempt and disdain it exuded were evident, a stark contrast to its previous demeanor.
Something's wrong. It was fighting cautiously just moments ago. What happened?
Puda~
The severed half-toe fell to the ground.
Did the combat power I displayed make it lose its caution... Impossible. Even for a Forbidden One, there's no reason to ignore such damage.
Don't doubt yourself. My main attack isn't on me anyway.
With this thought, Li Fan regained his confidence and pointed to the sky on the side.
The Black Dragon remained completely unmoved and swung its claw to strike.
Bang! Boom!
Meimeizi, falling at an angle, crashed into the city wall behind them along with the Black Dragon, causing a large section of the wall to collapse.
A stone slab was shattered by a flying impact amidst the rubble of bricks and ruins.
"Damn it, I had just finished charging up, and Meimeizi rushed down..."
Yudora, crawling out of the ruins, waved her hand lightly, and the dust clinging to her Wind God Dragon armor quickly dispersed.
Bang! Bang!...
Meimeizi's claws alternated, repeatedly striking the head of the Black Dragon trapped in the city wall.
The Black Dragon, reeling backward from the constant assault, caught sight of various Elder Dragons flying overhead and finally realized that the situation was not right.
General and Frai, observing the battle from a distance, also felt something was amiss.
The initial target for the diversionary tactic was only the Sky Comet Dragon and the Doom Dragon.
Yet now, the Elder Mantis, Frostfang Wyvern, Velkhana, a special variant of the Zinogre, and the Gold and Silver Rathalos had all gathered here.
This was completely beyond comprehension.
"Report! To the east of the ruins, the Golden Lion, the Basarios, the Magnamalo, the Brachydios... and the Glavenus have been spotted!"
The observer reported.
"Are you kidding me..."
The disbelieving General, along with Frai, picked up their binoculars and looked into the distance.
"They seem to be special variants as well. Could this be some kind of awakening that only exists among monsters?"
Although the scene was difficult to comprehend, Frai still attempted to offer an explanation.
Forbidden Ones not only annihilated human civilization but were also the ultimate threat to the ecosystem, especially the Black Dragon, defined as an evil dragon.
Therefore, when signs of its appearance arose, some aberrant monsters would fearlessly charge forward to hunt it.
This deduction, though somewhat far-fetched, was the most reasonable explanation at the moment.
"The current area is no longer suitable for the hunter squad to engage. All personnel, withdraw!"
The General immediately issued the order.
Regardless of the monsters' stances, their battles were incompatible with those of the hunter squad.
Therefore, the best course of action was to withdraw from the combat zone first.
Bang~ Bang~...
Hunter squads moving through the city saw the signal flares exploding in the sky and began to retreat.
Under the protection of the investigation team's elite members, the General and Frai also began to move away from the city wall.
Clang!
The Black Dragon thrust its head forward, colliding with Meimeizi's face. Its swinging body tilted back slightly.
Boom!
A stream of flames erupted from the Black Dragon's mouth.
Clang!
The Mantis Captain, swinging its panel, immediately struck.
The Black Dragon's head swung to the side, and the flame stream was instantly extinguished.
Meimeizi roared upwards, its mouth, full of sharp teeth, opening to its maximum as it bit down on the long, snake-like neck.
Crunch~ Clang~
Numerous sharp teeth shattered, and a few teeth pierced the scales, sinking into the neck.
Puchaa~
Meimeizi braced itself on all fours and, with a head shake and drag, caused the city wall behind the Black Dragon to completely collapse under the impact, toppling into the ruins.
The Mantis Captain circled around, found a position to strike the head directly, and swung its panel, delivering a barrage of blows.
"Good job! Keep it controlled like this!"
Yudora said, shouldering her Dragonic Heat Machine Cannon and adjusting its aim slightly before beginning to charge.
Hiss~ Hiss~
The Black Dragon, lying on its back, had scales on its chest glowing orange-yellow, and a wave of high heat emanated outwards.
Meimeizi, tightly gripping its neck, suddenly felt a scorching stream of flame being injected into its mouth through its throat.
Chara~
Unable to bear it any longer, Meimeizi had to release its grip and intended to switch to its right claw for suppression.
However, the Black Dragon, enduring the blows from the metal panel and forcing its head up, did not miss this opportunity to break free.
Whoosh~ Whoosh!
The flame stream erupting from its mouth enveloped Meimeizi, forcing it to retreat with pain.
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
Amidst the rhythmic smashing of the panel, the flame stream sputtered, but this still did not deter the Black Dragon's resolve to attack.
Roar! Roar!....
Meimeizi, its entire body burning and roaring in pain, no longer shielded itself with its wings but flapped them, attempting to fly away.
Chika~ Chika~...
Bingbingzi, spraying frost, continuously erected ice walls in front of it to reduce the intensity of the flame scorching, thereby assisting its escape.
"Dilu! Quickly switch the disc to Yudora's!"
Li Fan's super-regeneration had not yet reached its time limit. Although Dilu felt it was a pity, for Yudora's safety, she immediately complied.
"Switched, meow!"
As Dilu raised her paw to signal, Yudora roared and took off, spraying upwards.
This sword passed through the scorching flame stream and struck directly at the Black Dragon's head, specifically its left horn, which had been enduring the panel's blows.
Gapeng!
The horn snapped, and as the Black Dragon reared its head back, the flame stream ceased.
Meimeizi, still burning, took the opportunity to ascend into the air.
Zhilang~
The Ruin City arm, pulled by silk threads, rose again.
The Black Dragon, now standing, ignored its broken horn and turned its neck, glaring back with fierce eyes.
It was as if it were saying, "Try hitting me again."
Shanshan, inside the Mantis Captain's cockpit, hesitated slightly.
Whoosh~ The panel descended.
Clang! Hum~ Hum~...
The metallic humming echoed over the ruins.
As the panel was lifted, the Black Dragon continued to stare, its body also turning.
"Shanshan! Attacking head-on won't work!"
Yudora, by its claws, shouted.
Shanshan, somewhat bewildered, did not heed the advice, as based on the previous charge and push, Shanshan was confident it could contend with the Black Dragon in terms of strength.
Therefore, it chose to block with the panel.
Clang!
The Black Dragon adjusted its stance, its four claws splayed, and its joints bent, slightly raising its body.
Yudora swung her Dragonic Heat Machine Cannon, preparing to slash at the toe claws.
Chira~
The Black Dragon, having completed its charge, slid forward along the ground. Even though Yudora was to its side, she was still affected and sent flying.
"Such severe injuries, meow!"
Dilu said anxiously, looking at Yudora's character status on the PSP.
"Fortunately, as long as the Black Dragon's target isn't Yudora, she'll be safe. As for Shanshan... prepare for recovery."
Bang! Bang!
Upon the Black Dragon's first impact, the panel shield was deflected by the immense force.
Before Shanshan could reorient the shield, the second impact directly hit the Mantis Captain's waist, causing the humanoid Ruin City to lose its balance and fall backward.
Boom! The Mantis Captain crashed into the ruins.
Shanshan finally realized that the enemy it was facing had become even stronger in terms of power.
Looking at the flame light appearing on the opening of its chest cavity, a sensation suddenly arose in its consciousness.
Whoosh~... Whoosh!
At extremely close range, the flame stream sprayed from the Black Dragon's chest almost entirely engulfed the Mantis Captain's cockpit.
Seeing Shanshan turn white and successfully fly into the recovery sphere, Dilu let out a sigh of relief.
"That was close, meow."
Tsk~ Tsk~...
Seeing the recovery sphere on its claw begin to tremble restlessly, Dilu immediately released Shanshan.
Chiz~ Chiz~
Shanshan used its scythes to draw on a stone slab in the ruins.
"Muscular arms, meow... paired with an upward arrow... what does this mean?"
Dilu asked, confused.
"Shanshan says the Black Dragon's strength is continuously increasing... The records treasured by the Dragon Cult were indeed correct."
Li Fan, gazing at the stone slab, provided the interpretation.