The arrival of the Astalos caught the squad completely unprepared.
Li Fan, after retracting the great ape into a healing sphere, decided to abort the plan.
But just as he was about to act, a flash of golden light landed on the platform atop the mountain peak.
Its four-toed, bird-like feet, with two claws forward and two back, had sharp talons curved like hooks.
The outwardly spread wing blades bore two rows of sharp, serrated keratin, glinting sharply in the sun.
The diamond-shaped golden scales covering its body seemed to fit perfectly, but as the Astalos moved forward, with a rustling, metallic sound, the slightly vibrating golden scales lifted at the edges, all opening backward, resembling the outer skin of a pinecone.
"This Astalos has no injuries at all?" Yudora exclaimed in surprise as she arrived.
"Not necessarily. Astalos's broken blade scales regenerate extremely quickly, even during combat. So, as long as it doesn't suffer major trauma, it's hard to leave marks on its body," Li Fan explained, keeping his eyes on the Astalos.
"What do we do now?" Yudora surveyed the surroundings. Three Rathalos in the sky and an Astalos confronting them – the level of danger was truly absurd.
"Do nothing. For monsters with abundant combat experience, hunter squads are the easiest to provoke," Li Fan advised.
The Astalos's gaze swept over the hunter squad. Noticing their inaction, it retracted its claws and wings and continued forward.
Zhan Zhan had already noticed the opponent. It approached with large strides, and the two dragons, at a distance of more than twenty meters, stopped simultaneously with unspoken understanding.
*Roar?*
The Astalos let out a low growl, shook its head, and purple fluid dripped from the broken horn on its head.
Yudora and Dilu both looked at Li Fan.
"Hmm... the Astalos is asking where the pink-furred monkey that threw the poison mud ball is," Li Fan translated.
*Roar!*
"Zhan Zhan says that's my little brother."
*Roar!*
"The Astalos says that must be explained!"
*Roar!*
"Zhan Zhan says who do I need to explain myself to when I'm out here!"
*Roar! Roar!*
The two dragons roared at each other!
"This... in short, it's about to start fighting. Yudora, watch for an opening to support, but don't push yourself too hard," Li Fan said, drawing his Dragon Slicer Greatsword and running quickly towards Zhan Zhan.
The current situation was simple: the squad, Zhan Zhan, and Little Idiot were all exposed.
If the monsters were retracted into spheres, the Astalos would definitely shift its target to the squad.
If the squad couldn't resist, they would have to release the monsters to defend. It was better to defeat it in one go.
Seeing this, two of the three Rathalos fled.
After all, neither Zhan Zhan nor the Astalos were their prey.
Only the oldest one remained on a mountaintop, watching from afar.
With a Wirebug pull, Li Fan easily leaped onto Zhan Zhan's back.
The Astalos looked up and down warily, completely unable to understand this combination.
"Zhan Zhan, Astalos usually have rich combat experience. Perhaps it has fought with dragons many times. Let's try some moves it hasn't seen before."
*Roar!* Hearing this, Zhan Zhan immediately swung its tail blade in front of its body and bit down on it, grinding it.
After being scorched and ground in the Ancient Forest for this period, Zhan Zhan's tail blade had gained considerable thickness.
Moreover, compared to other dragons, Zhan Zhan's tail blade had a deeper, purer azure hue.
When heated and scorched in its mouth, a jade-like white appeared at the red-hot edge.
This white color was something that only occurred when a dragon overheated its tail blade during heating.
It was one of the mistakes dragons often made when grinding their tail blades in their youth.
Since this was not recorded in ecological records, Li Fan, after communicating with Zhan Zhan, began to study it.
He unexpectedly discovered that the white-hot edge, when heated to this state, was at least one level stronger in cutting ability than the orange.
Unfortunately, its strength was also pitifully low. The most fatal flaw was that impurities often infiltrated during the casting and forging of the ore, forming small bubbles or insoluble debris within the tail blade. If the biting and grinding time was extended, and it was forcibly heated to a white edge, it could lead to the tail blade shattering during a slash.
Li Fan devised a compromise for this.
First, strictly control the grinding and heating time and temperature, so that only the sharpest edge of the blade was heated to a white state, ensuring both strength and cutting ability.
Second, minimize the infiltration of impurities during the casting and forging of the tail blade.
To this end, Li Fan spent a fortune to buy a giant whetstone, allowing Zhan Zhan to scrape off any impure parts in a timely manner.
Only Zhan Zhan could control the heating temperature, so Li Fan had to rely on continuous experimentation to help it summarize and compare.
As for the time...
Li Fan, watching the color change of the flame-like shell on its back, counted down: "3, 2, 1... Time's up!"
*Screech!*
Zhan Zhan released its bite, and enveloped in a wave of scorching heat, the tail blade, with its edge glowing white, was quickly swung behind it.
The Astalos was stunned.
"Zhan Zhan! White Emperor's Sacred Sword!"
As Li Fan shouted, he expertly attached Iron Wire to the flame-like shells on both sides.
Zhan Zhan twisted its body and exerted force, swinging its tail blade into the air and smashing it down with all its might.
The Astalos lowered its body and shifted sideways, its scales all bristling.
*Boom!*
The rock was split, and with a sizzling sound, the white edge embedded in the ground began to melt the rock, continuing to descend slowly.
At this moment, the Astalos felt immense pressure.
Firstly, a human inexplicably stood on the dragon's back, which it couldn't comprehend. Secondly, there was this terrifying tail blade.
Just as it was considering a retreat, a stream of purple liquid flowed into its eyes from above.
The forgotten poison mud ball juice reawakened its hatred.
The Astalos's eyes glinted with ferocity, and it leaped up suddenly.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
With two quick shakes of its head, three broken blade scales from its neck were flung out.
Li Fan raised his sword, facing the diamond-shaped broken blade scales head-on, and unleashed a "Insightful Strike."
One was coming at me, two were heading for Zhan Zhan's head. These things, upon impact and explosion, would split into more sharp fragments... They're coming!
As Li Fan thought rapidly, a sharp glint behind the flying broken blade scales caught his attention.
It was the Astalos's clawed feet!
When flying, they usually had two attack postures: a direct strike and a sideways movement... No! There wasn't enough time!
Li Fan had never anticipated that this Astalos would combine both attacks.
*Buzz!*
The distortion in his vision disappeared. The Dragon Slicer Greatsword swung horizontally, striking the broken blade scales.
*Clang!*
The golden diamond-shaped scales instantly shattered into six pieces.
Li Fan had deliberately adjusted the angle of his slash at the last moment, causing them to fly outwards.
Zhan Zhan was out of luck. Even with Li Fan's power control and angle selection, the speed of its tail blade swing couldn't keep up with the direct strike of the broken blade scales.
*Clang! Clang!*
The broken blade scales shattered upon impact with its carapace, and the scattered fragments sparked.
One piece grazed its throat, which was not covered by carapace, and a bloodline instantly appeared.
"Die!"
Facing the flying clawed feet, Li Fan, with no way to dodge, chose to meet the attack head-on.
However, the falling Dragon Slicer Greatsword was blocked by the Astalos's quickly retracted wing blades. This strike had no effect whatsoever on the incoming attack.
Just as the Astalos's outstretched claw was about to close in and grab Li Fan, the sky suddenly darkened.
The dragon-shaped shadow, with its wings spread, seemed to engulf everything.
*Bang!*
Little Idiot, with a sideways collision, used brute force to push the Astalos away.
Zhan Zhan saw the golden tail hanging down from the sky approaching.
Even though it knew the scales were sharp, it resolutely opened its mouth and bit down.
The Astalos, hit by the impact, intended to retreat, but halfway through its backward movement, it suddenly felt its tail being pulled down.
It fiercely swung its broken blade scales, attacking Zhan Zhan, which was biting its tail.
Zhan Zhan closed its eyes and lowered its head, deciding to withstand the attack with its carapace.
The shattered fragments scattered like raindrops.
Zhan Zhan retreated continuously, still refusing to let go.
"Hiyah!"
Yudora, who had fully charged her Dragon Slicer Greatsword, roared and slashed down from high above.
*Bang!* The Astalos's flight altitude dropped several meters as its back was hit by the greatsword.
A large number of shattered broken blade scales were blocked by the greatsword held horizontally, but due to the density of the fragments, the exposed parts of its armor still suffered several cuts.
The Astalos saw the female hunter attacking it as she fell.
It quickly swung its head twice, and two broken blade scales flew out.
"In the past, this move would have been unavoidable, but now..." Yudora said, swinging her Dragon Slicer Greatsword horizontally in mid-air.
*Whoosh!* The greatsword was thrown!
Yudora turned and threw a Wirebug backward.
With the pull of the wire, she moved over ten meters away.
"It's Li Fan's ultimate skill, 'Discarded Sword Technique,' meow!" Dilu exclaimed from below, watching.
Yudora landed steadily. At the same time, the two broken blade scales plunged into the ground in front of her.
"Is this the five-star monster Astalos? It doesn't seem as terrifying as the legends say."
As Yudora spoke and reached for her greatsword, she suddenly felt her entire body soaking wet, as if something was flowing over her skin.
"So much blood..."
Looking at the blood dripping like rain from her Dragon Slicer armor, Yudora felt her head suddenly grow dizzy.
"Yudora! You can't move anymore, meow!" Dilu, running over quickly, unscrewed a healing potion and held it to her lips.
Yudora wanted to take it herself, but with a *hiss*, a new wound split open on her shoulder.
"This... I didn't even know when I was hit," Yudora said incredulously.
"Li Fan said that as long as you stay still and drink plenty of healing potions, meow, most shallow cracks will heal quickly," Dilu explained.
"Alright, give me two more bottles." Yudora said anxiously, looking at the tense battle.
Zhan Zhan's biting force was indeed formidable, but the Astalos's tail, known as the "Absolute Spear Tail," was covered in broken blade scales, making it an excellent offensive weapon as well as incredibly strong.
It would be difficult to bite it off in a short time.
Furthermore, the *crackling* sound of scales exploding in its mouth made Li Fan feel uneasy.
"Zhan Zhan, are you sure you want to keep going?" Li Fan asked.
*Whimper!*
Zhan Zhan, with heat steaming from its mouth, responded with unwavering determination.
"Good! Come on! You little trash, what are you looking at! I'm talking about you!" Li Fan pointed at the Astalos. Though his words were fierce, he actually dismounted and used a Wirebug to leap off its back. Seeing that it couldn't shake him off, the Astalos simply changed its target.
After three consecutive Wirebug attacks in mid-air, Little Idiot, with its head lowered, arrived, and Li Fan happened to be riding on its neck.
The keratin protrusions at the end of its carapace were indeed uncomfortable, but much better than the poisonous thorns covering its back.
Utilizing the Astalos's short-range weakness for its broken blade scales, Li Fan climbed to a height that the Astalos couldn't reach. He closed one eye, aimed for a moment, and then began to move Little Idiot's head.
"Little Idiot, your problem is that your aerial hover-fireball has too much recovery time. Remember, just before the fireball leaves your mouth, your wings must be parallel to your body. If you swing them to the top and bottom, the wind pressure changes will cause your body to shake, easily shifting the firing angle. Also, you don't need to tilt your neck too far forward. I know doing so can counteract a lot of the recoil after firing, allowing your head to straighten quickly, but for long-range fixed-point strikes, accuracy is the most important thing."
*Roar....*
Little Idiot let out a confused cry, seemingly wondering who was the dragon between them.
"I may not be a dragon, but I watched dragons grow up. Your attack movements have never been very standard in my eyes."
*Roar!*
Little Idiot responded with a cry and began to try and follow his instructions.
"Inhale your chest! Relax! Keep your wings parallel to your body when firing! It's okay to hover briefly in flight, don't let your flight affect your firing angle!"
Li Fan held Little Idiot's head, teaching it hand-in-hand.
*Boom!* A fireball plummeted downwards.
The Astalos, looking up at the sky, had no choice but to turn its body sideways and defend with its clawed wings.
Seeing this, Zhan Zhan began to move sideways, dragging its tail.
It forcefully turned the Astalos's orientation to face the incoming fireball.
*Boom!* Flames erupted!
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
The Astalos had no time to tend to its injuries and flapped its wings vigorously to maintain altitude.
This was to prevent being dragged too low by Zhan Zhan, thus avoiding the risk of a tail blade strike.
"Good! Keep going!" Li Fan patted its carapace to encourage it.
Little Idiot, finding its rhythm, let out a joyful roar.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!....*
The Astalos was thus bombarded like a living target for about a minute.
Since it wasn't a fixed target, its hit rate was around forty percent, which was a pretty good result.
Suddenly, a sharp cry echoed. The Astalos, using its clawed feet, flew directly towards Zhan Zhan, seemingly driven to desperation.
It's important to note that both had carapace protection, but the penetration power of Zhan Zhan's tail blade was incomparable to the Astalos's claws.
Therefore, once they engaged in ground combat, Zhan Zhan could afford countless mistakes, while the Astalos would pay a heavy price for a single slip-up.
*Screech!*
The black claw, glinting with metallic luster, didn't strike or scratch but suddenly stopped in front of Zhan Zhan.
Before Zhan Zhan could react to what was happening, the two hind claws of one foot hooked its upper jaw.
The other foot, with its two front claws, pierced its lower jaw and pressed down forcefully.
"Is it... trying to pry Zhan Zhan's mouth open?" Li Fan knew the Astalos was desperately trying to escape, but he hadn't expected it to use such a method.
*Hiss! Grrr!*
Zhan Zhan bit down hard, its body shaking violently.
But its mouth was being pried open little by little.