With manpower and logistics swiftly arranged, matters in Astera were settled. Meanwhile, in the Coral Highlands—
Logan had already been here for several days. He had to admit, the life force within the Coral Highlands was truly abundant. Apart from the environment being somewhat unsuited to Fire Wyverns, and the occasional foul-smelling updrafts vented from the Rotten Vale below, everything else was fine.
And in truth, the situation here was not as decayed as Logan had first imagined.
At the beginning, Logan had thought this place had become a paradise for the Frenzy Virus—monsters in frenzy fighting each other everywhere, black scales drifting in the air from time to time, and Gore Magala lurking in the shadows.
His initial arrival, when he was attacked by a frenzied Odogaron, seemed to confirm his suspicions.
Yet after several days, Logan discovered that although quite a few monsters here were indeed infected with the Frenzy Virus, many others still remained in normal condition.
Perhaps it was because the monsters of the New World were, overall, more robust than those of the Old World—their resistance naturally greater as well.
And with the Coral Highlands being so rich in nutrients, the monsters fed well, and thus their bodies thrived in kind.
Thus, for the moment, the Frenzy Virus here was still at a controllable stage.
Most importantly, the Legiana, apex predators of the Coral Highlands' ecosystem, had not been heavily affected by the Frenzy Virus. Only a small portion of them showed signs of infection.
And perhaps because those frenzied monsters had seriously encroached upon their territory, these top-tier Flying Wyverns had taken to large-scale hunts against the Frenzied beasts.
That's right—hunts!
Legiana possessed dark-blue skin, a yellow underside, beak-like mouths, and keen, sharp eyes. Both head and tail could spread wide membranes, while their sharp, powerful talons were perfectly suited for seizing prey. Yet compared to Fire Wyverns, they were even less suited to movement on the ground.
But in truth, like Rathalos, they too were high-tier Flying Wyverns. What made Legiana rare was that they wielded the ice element—one of the few Flying Wyverns to do so—and were fiercely territorial. Strangely enough, despite such territorial instincts, they did not clash over boundaries. They would even roost or migrate together, forming a distinctly social and communal structure.
Within the Coral Highlands, Legiana's main rivals were the Odogaron and its subspecies climbing up from the Rotten Vale below, or invasive species such as the Pink Rathian coming in from the outer regions of the New World.
Among the lower-tier monsters, aside from the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku—an infamous troublemaker regarded as a bane to Flying Wyverns—nearly all others were nothing more than prey for the Legiana.
It was no exaggeration to say that the status of the Legiana within the Coral Highlands was far greater than that of the Fire Wyverns within the Ancient Forest.
These frenzied monsters, rampaging and slaughtering everywhere, were undoubtedly provoking the nerves of the Legiana. More than once, Logan had spotted two or three of them together, besieging a Frenzied monster from afar.
The two Legiana flared their wings and tails, casting out the frost within their bodies to slow their opponent. Then, like an eagle snatching a chick, another Legiana dove with absolute speed to deliver the finishing strike.
Besides the Legiana, the figures of Zinogre and Nargacuga were also darting back and forth across the plateau. These monsters had all taken it upon themselves to purge the Frenzied creatures disrupting the balance of the Highlands.
This was not a territorial dispute, but a life-or-death war tied to the survival of all monsters.
"Gaaah!"
A sharp, piercing cry rang out beside his ear. Logan twisted midair, disrupting the air currents around him.
A Frenzied Legiana streaked past beneath him. But because the currents were thrown into sudden disarray, its flight path was disturbed. The whole wyvern rolled and pitched, then crashed heavily onto a coral platform.
This was a little technique Logan had developed—especially effective when facing Flying Wyverns with weaker aerial control.
Normally, a Legiana's flight was formidable. But this was a Frenzied one, its mind gone, flying on nothing but instinct. Without any restraint, it had rushed forward headlong. In such a short span, it had no way to readjust its course.
The platform collapsed under the sudden impact, sending rubble and coral tumbling down.
The Frenzied Legiana burst free from the debris, its hide torn, eyes glowing crimson as it searched frantically for Logan's silhouette.
Suddenly, a sonic boom split the air. By the time the Frenzied Legiana reacted and turned its head, a massive dragon-shaped blaze was already upon its face.
The fire exploded, and the Frenzied Legiana was like a plane struck by a missile, engulfed in lingering flames. Its wings lifted weakly, then gave out entirely, and it plunged straight down into the Rotten Vale below.
With a graceful swallow turn, Logan halted his momentum amid the raging winds. He gazed at the Frenzied Legiana plummeting downward, its figure swallowed entirely by the miasma below. Whether or not it had perished from that strike, once it fell into the Rotten Vale, there was no chance of survival.
The monsters down there were always waiting for such a feast.
What's more, Logan had confidence in his attack. The improved version of his "Let's Snuggle Forever Slam (Jet-Boosted Edition)" might have been somewhat slower compared to when he had faced the Tempered Azure Rathalos, but both the flames' damage and the force of his impact had advanced by leaps and bounds.
The most obvious difference was that back then, Logan had struck with his talons, but this time he had attacked with the barbed spines on his wings.
Coupled with the searing heat of the flames and the instant fiery explosion, against a Frenzied Legiana that hadn't even defended itself—it might not have been a clean one-hit kill, but at the very least, a grievous wound was unavoidable.
"Gah!!"
Again came that sharp, piercing cry unique to the Legiana. Logan thought it was another Frenzied one, but when he turned his head, he saw three Legiana posturing threateningly at him.
Their wings spread wide as they hovered opposite him, ice beginning to crystallize at the wing joints and along the tips of their tails.
This wasn't a stance used to drive other monsters away—it was clearly the prelude to an attack.
"What the hell? I just took down one Frenzied Legiana, so what are you lot getting so riled up about?"
The thought had barely formed when realization struck Logan.
Yes, he had killed a Frenzied Legiana. But these Legiana didn't know that.
With eyesight rivaling that of a Rathalos, they had clearly misunderstood something.
But misunderstanding or not—it didn't matter!
Who did these Legiana think they were? And what was his status?
How dare they screech and posture at him? Especially after he had just slain a Frenzied Legiana!
He wasn't about to humor them. With a snap of his wings, a roaring wind laced with flames surged toward them. The Legiana, already wary, immediately split apart to evade, dodging his assault while simultaneously shifting into a triangular formation to encircle him.
'Fools who don't know their place!'
Logan shot skyward, claiming the higher ground. His wings whipped the air into spirals as combustible liquid seeped between his scales. He was ready to unleash a blazing vortex to crush all three Legiana in one decisive strike—when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something on a nearby coral platform.
A Bird Wyvern, its body covered in shimmering blue scales, with a sturdy carapace crest atop its head and two foldable thin-film "flash membranes," was skulking there.
Those membranes were pulsing with light, building toward a charge.
From that angle, it was aimed squarely at the Legiana opposite him.
"Shit! Tzitzi-Ya-Ku!!"
Logan instantly aborted his attack. With another sweep of his wings, he kicked up a gale to climb higher, turning his back toward the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku as he shut his eyes tight.
The next instant, a grating screech ripped the air as blinding light engulfed the sky. Even with his eyes closed, even with his back turned, Logan still felt his vision drowned in blinding white.
The three Legiana that had been preparing to pursue Logan were the ones who truly suffered.
The blinding flash stabbed into their already keen eyes, the overwhelming visual shock plunging them into temporary blindness. The stimulus carried through their eyes into their brains, which instinctively entered a protective state, causing them all to collapse into a dazed stupor.
Their bodies lost balance, and like mosquitoes knocked senseless by smoke coils, they tumbled from the sky.
Having finished its work, the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku cast a disappointed glance toward Logan—who, eyes closed, was still flying steadily above. With a mocking screech toward the Legiana plummeting onto who-knows-which coral platforms below, it then strutted away with exaggerated swagger, tail swinging proudly behind it.
For such a low-ranking creature in the Coral Highlands' hierarchy to carve out its own niche here, even swaggering openly across the territories of stronger monsters to hunt Raphinos—what allowed it such arrogance?
Nothing but that flash, as potent as a living flashbang.
Flying Wyverns at the top of the food chain, blessed with extraordinary eyesight, were utterly defenseless before its blinding burst.
As for massive monsters like Zinogre or Nargacuga—within this terrain, lacking the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku's agility, and with the aid of its flash, it could slip away from them with ease.
The only real threat that could spell its death was the Odogaron which also roamed the Coral Highlands.
These Odogaron, accustomed to dwelling at the bottom of the Rotten Vale where the light was dim—nearly pitch black—had long since seen their eyesight degrade. Though the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku's flash could still affect them. Odogaron could brazenly charge straight through the blinding light and savagely beat the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku into submission.
With physical prowess that utterly crushed it, and with its flash rendered useless, once entangled by an Odogaron, the Tzitzi-Ya-Ku almost always ended up as its meal.
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