novelraw Chapter 455: The Aggrieved Blackveil Vaal Hazak
Chapter 455: The Aggrieved Blackveil Vaal Hazak
In the northern reaches of the Ancient Forest, in the dark, damp lower strata.
Large numbers of effluvium spores were proliferating there. Layer upon layer of foul-smelling miasma drifted through the air, and the carcasses of monsters that had died for various reasons—before they could be devoured by Revoltures—had already become fertile breeding grounds for those effluvium spores.
Amid a rustling of ferns, Blackveil Vaal Hazak, its body cloaked in a layer of white spores, emerged from a branching path. As it took in the scenery of the Ancient Forest, so completely different from the Rotten Vale, which never saw daylight year-round, the extreme irritability it had been suffering during this period due to constant noise eased considerably.
Its double-layered jaws opened, expelling a large volume of effluvium from its branchial glands to increase the concentration of miasma in the air. After reducing the sense of suffocation further to a level that satisfied it, it began to wander aimlessly toward the forest’s middle layers.
This time, it had not come with a task.
Just as Logan had expected, the New World at present was rich in energy. Life at all levels was flourishing, and there was no need for it to assist in maintaining the ecological cycle.
However, as one of the most ancient Vaal Hazak, its dwelling was located closest to the source of the Everstream. This caused the noise created by Shara Ishvalda on this occasion to affect it the most—almost equivalent to someone holding a noise horn and constantly blaring it right next to its ears.
Even a good-tempered thousand-year homebody Elder Dragon could not endure this kind of noise assault.
With no choice, it could only go out to ease its mood.
And the concentration of bioenergy in the New World had risen sharply, allowing these effluvium spores, to a certain extent, to break free of environmental limitations and forcibly rely on bioenergy to reproduce. As a result, this gave Blackveil Vaal Hazak the conditions it needed to be able to move about.
What it had not expected, however, was that the Ancient Forest, this ownerless land since time immemorial—after only a few decades since the last time it had left—now actually had an Elder Dragon settling here, and it was even an Elder Dragon at the very pinnacle of the world!
Feeling the warmth of sunlight that could not be felt in the Rotten Vale, Blackveil Vaal Hazak, which had been about to continue forward, stopped in its tracks, and its heart began to waver in hesitation.
If it were in the Rotten Vale, it definitely would not fear Logan.
But this was not its home ground. The help provided by those effluvium spores was, at the Elder Dragon level, truly not enough to matter.
Last time it came to the forest, the rotten hide armor that had been shattered by that special individual of a Fire Wyvern took decades to replenish. This time, if it carelessly ran into that Disaster-level Elder Dragon, it would probably truly suffer massive losses.
But turning back now would mean enduring that omnipresent noise pollution again.
Neither option was easy to choose!
Blackveil Vaal Hazak was truly torn!
However, that hesitation did not last long. The arriving Fire Wyvern pack helped it make a choice.
It had only been basking in sunlight for less than half an hour when scorching high heat swept over the surroundings.
Sheets of white effluvium spores dancing through the air were rapidly dissolved under the effect of the scale dust scattered by a group of beautiful Radiant Crystal Butterflies.
The effluvium that had not received an infusion of Blackveil Vaal Hazak’s life energy also died off at high speed within the high-temperature zone formed by the assembled Radiant Fire Wyverns.
In just a few short seconds, the high sky above the location where Blackveil Vaal Hazak stood was completely cleared, forcing it to release a portion of its life energy to strengthen the surrounding effluvium so that it could maintain activity in such a high-temperature environment.
"Roar!!"
Aki had never seen Blackveil Vaal Hazak, but the Flame Rathalos had!
It recognized this creature at a glance!
After all, the combat experience of jointly opposing it together with Logan back then had truly left a deep impression on it.
Although that battle had ultimately ended with their retreat, at that time they had merely been special variants among ordinary creatures. For them to have been able to join forces and injure Blackveil Vaal Hazak was already nothing short of unbelievable.
But now!
Times were different!
Although the Flame Rathalos was only an Elder Dragon–level lifeform, when combined with Aki, who had already transformed into an Elder Dragon, as well as the Radiant Fire Wyvern guard led by little Loren, fighting together they could even face Nergigante head-on—let alone a Blackveil Vaal Hazak that was countered by them and had lost its environmental advantage!
In this battle, the advantage was on our side!
Before Aki could even react, the Flame Rathalos took the lead and dove straight down. Blazing flames ignited across its body, and on the areas covered by Terastal energy, the flames burned as blue-violet Calamity Flame.
It intended to wash away its past humiliation and display the fruits of its efforts over these years!
In the very next second, it was knocked flying back at exactly the same speed at which it had dived down.
Its movements were far too obvious, and Blackveil Vaal Hazak, the moment it sensed Aki’s Elder Dragon aura, had already completed its charge-up in advance—precisely to guard against a surprise attack from this unfamiliar Elder Dragon.
What it did not end up waiting for was Aki, but a Flame Rathalos charging in like a reckless hothead.
A long-accumulated effluvium breath blasted forth. After forcibly tanking the Flame Rathalos’s diving attack, it directly knocked it back.
If not for the flames on the Flame Rathalos’s body—which had been strengthened to a great extent and even carried Calamity Flame, helping it offset part of the effluvium damage—then merely being parasitized by such a large amount of effluvium in that single exchange would have ended badly for it, even as an Elder Dragon–level lifeform.
Blackveil Vaal Hazak’s counterattack was a signal. Little Loren, who had long been unable to hold back, was the first to launch an attack under the cover of the Radiant Fire Wyverns. Large numbers of Radiant Crystal Butterflies spread throughout the valley, and together with the fire-attribute domain formed by the assembled Radiant Fire Wyverns, they created an isolation ring that cut off the effluvium spores outside the valley from the interior.
Relying on its innate Calamity Flame, it continuously used ranged attacks in an attempt to shatter the spores covering the opponent’s body.
Calamity Flame might not be able to inflict tangible damage on Blackveil Vaal Hazak in a short time, but it posed an extreme threat to the effluvium spores cloaking its body.
Though it wanted to eliminate little Loren as much as possible, Aki at its side became Blackveil Vaal Hazak’s greatest obstacle.
Aki, utterly without shortcomings, caused Blackveil Vaal Hazak immense trouble whether through flames or toxins. The unreasonably forceful dragon-charge collisions were more than even the four-limbed Blackveil Vaal Hazak could comfortably withstand.
Golden scales and the Terastal shell covering them reflected one another. While blocking the omnipresent effluvium assault, clusters upon clusters of Calamity Flame fire zones—capable of secondary detonation and carrying potent toxins—left Blackveil Vaal Hazak with nowhere to set foot.
In the end, it was forced to flap its tattered wings and take to the air, engaging the Fire Wyvern group in aerial combat.
And at this moment, the return of the Flame Rathalos that had been knocked flying earlier only made Blackveil Vaal Hazak’s situation even more stifling.
Relying on their powerful flight capabilities, the sky above the valley was like a fireworks display, with fireballs constantly detonating in midair.
With Aki and the Flame Rathalos as the main force, little Loren and the Radiant Crystal Butterflies in support, and the Radiant Fire Wyverns that were clearing out creatures controlled by effluvium occasionally adding one or two breaths from time to time, a perfectly formidable Blackveil Vaal Hazak found itself unable to bring even eighty percent of its combat power to bear, instead being tightly confined within this sea of flames.
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