The Azure Dragon dipped low enough, its breath weapon blasting directly at the ground.
Boom! Boom! ...
Cracked white rock bricks flew and shattered, accompanied by explosions of dark red energy laced with black mist, directly at the fleeing man and cat.
Dilu looked towards the complex terrain to the right, an area of ruins with ample cover, determination in her eyes.
"I'll lure the Azure Dragon into that ruin, meow! It'll definitely slow down there!"
With that, Dilu, her four paws scrabbling, immediately turned.
"Too dangerous..."
Li Fan, running at full speed, tried to dissuade her, but suddenly noticed the Azure Dragon's pursuit hadn't changed due to Dilu's maneuver.
'No way... the weakest link definitely isn't me. Dilu is just too small a target to be pursued.'
Li Fan thought to himself.
The team's current predicament was the Azure Dragon, in its Super Blood Frenzy state, was simply too fast.
Hui Hui could theoretically suppress it with ease, but that required low-altitude combat.
This wasn't the New World, and Li Fan didn't want to negatively impact the ecosystem unnecessarily.
However, to pursue and maintain a pincer formation, they needed to find a way to slow the monster down.
"There's no other way... Dilu! Disc!"
At Li Fan's shouted reminder, Dilu quickly loaded the Hyper-Regeneration Disc.
"Loading complete, meow!"
Dilu announced with a wave of her paw.
Hiss~
Li Fan stopped abruptly, spun, and rolled to dodge the dragon's elemental breath. As he got up, he drew the Thunderclap Divine Blade from his back.
The Azure Dragon ceased its breath attack and its flying body rapidly turned.
Whoosh!
Its taut, trident-like tail dipped and struck diagonally.
Clang! Ssssh~
The twin-pronged blade collided with the trident-tail hammer, a shower of golden sparks erupting.
Li Fan retreated as he slid, the Azure Dragon then slammed down, its wings shielding it as a dark red sphere began to coalesce on its claw.
Hng~
The Thunderclap Divine Blade was charged for an Iaido slash.
Whoosh~
Its cloak-like single wing lifted, and as its foreclaw swung, the dark red energy sphere exploded, a blast of black mist forming an air current that shot forward.
Zeng~ Zeng~ Zeng~
Three ring-shaped Qi blades sliced a circular opening in the blast of air.
Li Fan, who had been charging forward, emerged unharmed from the opening.
At this point, its other wing had already lifted, and judging by its posture, it was clearly charging another air blast.
Seeing that he wouldn't have time to unleash the Iaido slash, Li Fan immediately employed a Throwing Blade technique.
As an advanced version of the Abandoned Blade technique, the Throwing Blade technique didn't have any fundamentally groundbreaking improvements. It simply focused more on choosing an appropriate landing spot for the weapon based on the current situation when throwing it.
A hunter throwing their weapon was extremely rare in the Azure Dragon's perception. However, having already experienced multi-species group brawls, Li Fan wouldn't be surprised by any bizarre move.
Seeing its charge complete, the Azure Dragon raised its wing.
The dark red sphere, no longer in its claw, exploded again.
Black air currents rapidly blasted forward, clinging to the ground.
"Hah!"
Li Fan shouted, his knees bending slightly into a charging stance, a mass of green energy surging from his body.
This was the Harmonious Qi, drawn from within his body after days of cultivation. It was a force of aura born entirely from his physique.
Because it only remained on the surface of his body for a very short time after gathering, Harmonious Qi was extremely difficult to control and apply in hunts.
In the history of the Kingdom, only a handful of hunters had dared to use it in actual combat against powerful monsters.
Boom! Under the impact of the air blast, Li Fan's body was instantly engulfed in black mist.
The Azure Dragon thought it was dead for sure, but to its surprise, the next moment, Li Fan, glowing with green energy, leaped out of the black mist.
"Watch the blade."
Li Fan said softly before he even landed. His feet moved forward, one hand releasing a Wirebug upwards and diagonally, the other reaching for the ground to grab the hilt of the Thunderclap Divine Blade.
Swoosh~ Swoosh~
As the Wirebug silk stretched to its limit, he leaped up in an inverted mid-air posture.
Thump~
Li Fan used the Azure Dragon's chest as a springboard, leaping higher and spinning his body to slash.
Zeng!
Li Fan, blade planted in the ground, maintained a vertical slashing posture.
Puff! Puff! Puff! ...
Intense Qi explosions sounded at the Azure Dragon's neck.
"Using me as the weak link, you picked the wrong person."
Only after Li Fan spoke did he lift his blade, only to discover several clusters of Gnathostoma swarming around him.
"A very good encirclement. No wonder you came up with such a targeted plan. But have you forgotten something? You yourself are also surrounded."
Li Fan's calm words seemed to make the Azure Dragon realize something.
However, it was too late. The shadow of wings waving below had already enveloped it.
Bang~
The Azure Dragon tried to twist its body with a swipe of its claws, but Meowmeowzi's foreclaw, with overwhelming force, pressed down on its back, slamming it into the collapsing ground.
Hiss~ Hiss~ ...
The Gnathostoma on both sides quickly moved, engaging in a chaotic battle as they latched onto and tore at each other.
"I know you've been fighting monsters hidden deep underground..."
Chik~
The crisp sound of crushing rubble reached him. Li Fan, who was trying to persuade it, was somewhat surprised.
The Azure Dragon's claws trembled as it managed to lift itself slightly. Using the gap created, it folded its wings and crossed them in front of its body.
Swoosh~ Whoosh~
A cloud of black energy dissipated, and Meowmeowzi's downward-pressing foreclaw suddenly missed.
Li Fan, following the direction of the dense black mist, immediately turned his head, locking onto the landing point in the distance.
Eudora, running at full speed, had already arrived ahead of time.
"Well done, this is what a pincer tactic should look like."
Li Fan praised.
"You really scared me, meow! Seeing you swallowed by the air blast, I thought something would go wrong."
Dilu, unable to form a pincer on her own, had taken the opportunity to join them. Seeing that he was indeed unharmed, she clutched her chest with her cat paws and let out a sigh of relief.
"Actually... the timing for activating Harmonious Qi to resist the blast was a bit too early."
As Li Fan spoke, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Uh... Ah! Eat the Mega Potion quickly, meow!"
Dilu immediately pulled a black pill from her waist pouch.
"With the Hyper-Regeneration Disc, I'll be fine. It was mainly the atmosphere, I really didn't want to back down... Now it's up to Eudora."
Li Fan said, then sat down on the ground.
The Azure Dragon, having completed its teleportation, had just spread its wings and before it could land, it saw Eudora, standing in a confrontational stance, blocking its path.
It had long foreseen coordinated support, but hadn't expected it to be so fast.
Glancing back, it saw Brachydios and Behemoth waiting menacingly from the other two directions. The Azure Dragon knew that even if it teleported away again, it would ultimately be unable to escape the framework of the encirclement.
To escape, it would have to break through any one point of this triangular pincer.
Staring at the female hunter surrounded by several streams of energy, the Azure Dragon's gaze gradually turned fierce.
Meanwhile, Eudora, holding a Small Barrel Bomb, felt a bit conflicted.
The Harmonious Qi, combined with the Wirebug release, required external impact to amplify the Harmonious Qi that had manifested on the surface of the body and re-inject it into the body.
The power brought by amplified Harmonious Qi, though short-lived, was strong enough for a hunter to unleash a True Charged Slash.
As for external impact, Instructor Arlo had said during training that the best source was monster attacks.
Of course, there was a prerequisite: the impact had to arrive precisely during the brief period when Harmonious Qi gathered on the surface of the body.
This would not only defend against the attack but also amplify the Harmonious Qi injected into oneself, strengthening the attack.
However, if it failed, one could only pray for a robust physique.
Li Fan felt the limitations were too great and proposed the idea of using the explosion of a Small Barrel Bomb as an excitation medium.
"Huh? Why is Eudora holding a Small Barrel Bomb, meow?"
Dilu, watching, asked curiously.
"Small Barrel Bomb... that radical?"
Li Fan quickly realized something.
"Radical... perhaps the Azure Dragon's extreme speed is giving Eudora a headache, meow, so she has to change her fighting style."
Dilu speculated.
The Dragonic Mechanism's aerial slash attack indeed possessed multiple advantages, including power and mobility.
However, it wasn't very compatible with the Great Sword's original ground-based advanced charged slash system.
Eudora's shift to a predominantly ground-based combat style was likely due to the Azure Dragon's extreme aerial agility.
"Purely ground combat is a bit risky... the Guillotine is still safer."
Li Fan analyzed.
"But there aren't enough monsters, meow?"
"We can use a substitute."
Li Fan informed her.
"There's a substitute in the battle plan, meow?"
Dilu asked in surprise.
"Of course, a sufficiently complete lineup has substitutes. However, holding a single position alone could become an escape route for the Azure Dragon, so they can't be deployed too early. But as long as an opportunity to finish the opponent arises, it's worth a try."
"I see, meow, but there aren't enough monsters to form the Guillotine."
Dilu reminded him.
"We don't need to. This Guillotine only requires one monster to complete."
Li Fan said, opening a Poké Ball. The substitute Gold Lion appeared.
Roar~
Facing the support order from the Gold Lion, Meowmeowzi was somewhat surprised but still rotated with it.
Meanwhile, Eudora and the Azure Dragon were in a stalemate, both waiting for the other to make a move.
Sensing a monster approaching from the air, the Azure Dragon looked up.
Seeing that it was Meowmeowzi, it not only didn't panic but sensed an opportunity to escape.
However, as the Azure Dragon's gaze swept over the position it thought was vacant, it saw a Gold Lion carrying a rock pillar on its shoulder.
This Gold Lion, like the Brachydios, had been collecting debris from the ruins as projectiles since its designated standby, its target self-evident.
Roar!
The Azure Dragon let out a roar, and the swarming insect clusters became agitated.
"It's so angry but not swearing. The Azure Dragon has high breeding."
Li Fan said with some surprise.
Bang! Bang! Bang! ...
The two dragons soon became entangled.
Meowmeowzi was limited by Eudora's proximity and couldn't unleash its Spiketail blow, but as long as the Azure Dragon couldn't escape, a pure close-quarters power struggle would give it an absolute advantage.
Bang! Boom!
With heavy slams and blows, the Azure Dragon quickly fell to the ground on its back.
"Well done, Meowmeowzi! Can you control its neck?"
Eudora, mimicking Li Fan, pointed at the Azure Dragon's struggling, shaking neck.
Bang! Bang!
Meowmeowzi shifted its paws back a short distance, freeing the foreclaw that was holding down its wing to press down heavily on its neck.
Bang-chah~
The Azure Dragon's head was immediately buried in the rock bricks, rendering it immobile.
Hiss~ Hiss~ Hiss~
Eudora adjusted its position and placed a lit Small Barrel Bomb in front of the Azure Dragon.
"Hah!"
A green light flashed on its body, and two Wirebugs circled Eudora rapidly, wrapping their silk around the sword.
Bang!
The incoming explosion of the Small Barrel Bomb caused the hazy green light around it to instantly intensify, and power surged in.
Eudora seized the moment without hesitation and swung its Great Sword backward to charge.
The additional power injection brought the charge level directly to the point where a True Charged Slash could be unleashed.
"Ugh~ Heya!"
Bang!
Missing its strike, the Dragonic Mechanism slammed into the ground. Eudora, gripping the sword hilt, flipped forward in mid-air.
On the second swing, it changed to the entire person driving the blade forward in a slash.
Bang-chah~ Boom!
A crisp cracking sound rang out, followed by spiderweb-like cracks spreading outwards from the Azure Dragon's head.
Bang! Bang!
Square rock blocks from the paved roads around the ruins continuously sprang up from the ground.
In the sunken pit, the Azure Dragon's head was buried in sand and rocks, its condition unclear.
However, the experienced Meowmeowzi had stopped pressing down on its body.
Li Fan and Dilu arrived, unsurprised by the situation.
"Cheche, I need to communicate. Help me dig the Azure Dragon out."
Li Fan commanded.
Soon, the Azure Dragon, lifted by Cheche's sharp claws, saw daylight again.
Seeing the monsters gathered around the edge of the pit, the Azure Dragon, with a large hole in its skull, gritted its teeth.
"Everyone, disperse and move freely. I'll talk to it."
The monsters heard this and immediately walked away.
"You are the guardian of the Royal Domain. For years, you have been suppressing the demons beneath the abyss, haven't you?"
Li Fan inquired.
Roar...
The Azure Dragon let out a surprised low growl, then its eyes began to bleed.
"Whether it's out of instinct or to protect your habitat from invasion, you have made great contributions to the ecological balance."
Roar? The Azure Dragon expressed surprise, thinking that in human eyes, it was an enemy.
"I used to think so too, after all, you've brought a lot of disaster to the Kingdom. However, I can no longer view the world entirely from a human perspective. The abyss demons will soon appear, and the spread of aberrant infections will become commonplace in the ecosystem. You are one of only two known monsters with ultimate host capabilities. I need you. Are you willing to travel with the Monster Squad?"
Li Fan asked.
Roar?
The Azure Dragon pondered for a moment, asking if it would be executed if it refused.
"No, you are beneficial to the ecosystem."
The Azure Dragon looked up at the young man sitting by the pit.
Under the red moon, it could only see a pure black humanoid silhouette.
This silhouette, so frail, seemed to contain the power to suppress everything in the world.
Roar~
After a long silence, the Azure Dragon let out an affirmative sound.
A healing sphere fell, and the Azure Dragon transformed into white light, flying into it.
Tsk~ Tsk~ Tsk~
Capture successful!