Monster Hunter: This Dragon's Built Different

Chapter 504 504: The Little Scorching Heat Rathian

The Commander's fingertips turned white from the force with which he gripped the letter. His brows were tightly furrowed, and his expression was extremely grave.

The soldier who had delivered the message stood to one side, not daring to breathe too loudly. As the courier, he naturally knew the contents of the letter. After all, he had to answer related questions on behalf of the general, who was personally commanding operations in advance to scout the defensive measures of ancient Schrade.

The Commander set the letter down and, after sitting heavily, leaned back against the chair, slowly exhaling a long breath.

He rarely allowed himself to appear so discourteous in front of outsiders, but now he truly felt exhausted.

The Black Dragon was absolutely a taboo in human history that could not be lightly mentioned. Its power was unquestionably beyond doubt.

Moreover, the letter stated that the Black Dragon that had been observed was very likely the same one that had destroyed ancient Schrade a thousand years ago.

A taboo that had lived for at least a millennium—just how terrifying would its power be?

If it had been the Commander from before the Safi'jiiva campaign, he would probably already be considering how many hunters to dispatch to the Old World to participate in this suppression.

But after experiencing the Safi'jiiva battle, he had already gained a preliminary glimpse of just how terrifying a being could be when scholars described it as transcending the ecological chain.

Even in a large-scale encirclement led by top-tier hunters clad in full Elder Dragon armor sets, it had still dealt such enormous damage to the hunters with apparent ease. If the Sunblaze Dragon had not arrived in time, it might even have departed safely.

Not to mention the various anomalies that occurred in its subsequent battle with the Sunblaze Dragon—phenomena that far surpassed natural disasters.

At this moment, the Commander even began to doubt whether the Black Dragon was truly something humanity could hunt.

No—speaking of hunting was far too arrogant!

It should be asked instead: could humanity even drive it away?

Would those large-scale weapons they were so proud of—capable of inflicting tremendous damage upon Elder Dragons—truly be effective against It?

That answer was truly impossible to know.

At the very least, one thing was certain: according to the research conducted by the scholars at the Ecological Research Center, they had reached a conclusion—at least the large-scale weapons currently available in the New World were already of little effect against the Sunblaze Dragon as he had been during the Zorah Magdaros campaign.

In a scope of terrain devastation at that level, immobile large-scale weapons were nothing more than targets that could be easily destroyed, one after another.

"Go get some rest first. I need to think this through."

Think through how many hunters the Research Commission could still reassign without affecting Blazefire Village and Astera.

If there were no Blazefire Village, no Ancient Tree civilization, the Commander would not be so torn. Death in the hunt was not something hunters found hard to accept, so even if he brought the entire Research Commission—already having completed the main exploration mission, the "Secret of the Elder Crossing"—back to the Old World, there would be no problem at all.

But… many hunters had already fully integrated into the Ancient Tree civilization. Those newly born children were also about to grow up, and they regarded themselves as villagers of Blazefire Village, as hunters of the New World. They had truly taken root here—this was their home.

"Ah~~"

On the command platform, a deep sigh drifted away with the sea breeze.

...

At the top of the Ancient Tree, the patrolling cats would, after barely taking a few steps, turn back to look toward the nest, confirming that the radiant figure was still there. Only then could they continue forward with peace of mind.

Yet moments later, out of fear and worry, their eyes would shift back again.

The Grimalkynes, though they were lynian "cats," had a loyalty and bond that leaned more toward that of dogs.

Logan and Aki's disappearance this time had left them with a psychological shadow. Afraid of being "abandoned" again, they could only reassure themselves in this way.

Inside the nest, little Loren—his entire body ignited with Calamity Flame—roared as he launched another charge at Logan. A massive flaming dragon cart, accompanied by fluttering Radiant Crystal Butterflies, slammed viciously into that languid figure ahead.

Bang!

A crystal wing-claw abruptly condensed a huge amount of energy. After the entire wing-claw enlarged several times over, it forced its way through the Calamity Flame and clamped down hard on little Loren's long neck. With an exaggerated burst of brute strength, it pressed down—little Loren's dragon cart came to a dead stop.

The entire dragon was pinned to the ground by overwhelming force, unable to move.

After becoming a taboo, Logan had also grown accustomed to abandoning many flashy fighting styles. Against an Elder Dragon of little Loren's level, even relying purely on physical attributes, he could brutally crush him.

To beat It, one claw was enough!

"Huff… huff…"

Little Loren's nostrils spewed clusters of flame again and again with his furious breathing, yet in the end, unable to break free from Logan's "demonic claw," he could only subside.

Tonkotsu and his child, watching from the side, saw little Loren gradually calm down and the flames on his body recede. Only then did they let out a sigh of relief.

Little Loren lay prone on the ground, his eyes vacant. His halberd-like tail slapped the earth absentmindedly. The entire dragon simply lay there quietly, as if the world had turned gray.

He was already close to adulthood. These past years had been the prime period of his physical development. Whether it was muscle or energy organs, he could be said to change with each passing day.

During this highly active phase in the New World, in order to maintain the stability of the Ancient Tree, he had frequently left its territory to clash with those Elder Dragons.

There were victories and defeats, but at least he could feel that the gap between himself and those veteran Elder Dragons was steadily shrinking as his body matured. He could even judge that in the future, he would surely surpass most Elder Dragons.

Yet in front of his father—who had changed once again—compared to the past, the only difference was that he would no longer be rolled into a ball.

As for everything else, it was still that same deep sense of powerlessness.

Crunch, crunch!

Just as little Loren was doubting his dragon life, he suddenly felt an itch at his heel.

Tilting his head and twisting free from the wing-claw lifting him, he looked downward.

A Scorching Heat Rathian hatchling—with a "big head," sparkling large eyes, small wings not yet fully unfurled, and dark-gold patterns tinged with crystal—was gnawing on the Terastal crystal at his heel to grind its teeth.

When it noticed little Loren looking at her, she even loosened her bite for a moment and let out a "ga," as if greeting him.

Logan had noticed this little creature even earlier than little Loren. It was precisely because he saw it toddling over on its still-clumsy short legs that he did not spare little Loren any face, directly pinning him down in such a confidence-shattering manner.

He was simply afraid that the aftershock of little Loren's battle would affect her.

Little Loren looked at the little thing, which was about to open its mouth again to grind its teeth, and truly wanted to kick it flying.

But when he thought that if he did so, the Flame Rath pair would probably give him a husband-and-wife double beating, he very sensibly chose to yield.

For some reason, this little thing—who had only just left the eggshell and only recently learned to run—compared to her more familiar parents, actually preferred to cling to little Loren.