Monster Hunter: This Dragon's Built Different

"Meow! Meow meow!"

Urgent cries came from the nest's opening. A Grimalkyne that had gone on patrol burst in, clearly panicked, sprinting on all fours straight to the chief.

The two Grimalkynes meowed back and forth rapidly, exchanging information at lightning speed.

Their abnormal behavior stirred a sense of unease in Logan. Today was Aki's turn to go out hunting. If something had gone wrong, would it affect her?

Soon, their exchange ended, and the Grimalkyne chief quickly turned to report.

"The forest... is in chaos. Many, many monsters from the deep have come this way. A massacre is underway. Our food sources will be affected. Many giant wolves of thunder and lightning have started fighting on the lower levels."

The deep parts of the Ancient Forest are in chaos?

Giant thunder wolves... Zinogre?

What could possibly cause a Zinogre—a creature with such a defined ecological niche—to migrate? And to the lower layers of the Ancient Tree, no less?

This was bad. Zinogres were notoriously territorial. Their intrusion into this area would undoubtedly clash with the Rathalos population. And considering how weak fire wyverns were against lightning... a major battle was inevitable.

Not far from the Ancient Tree, in the hunting grounds, Aki was gnawing on a Kestodon corpse when the sound of branches snapping in the forest put her on alert.

She dropped the prey from her mouth, shifted into a combat stance, and stared intently at the figure slowly emerging from the trees.

The approaching beast resembled a colossal wolf, but atop its head sat two soil-yellow horns shaped like wolf ears. Its body was armored in thick, earthen-yellow plating, fine blue scales, and tufts of white fur. Its forelimbs were heavily muscled and wrapped in thick, bracer-like scales.

Surrounding the white mane on its back, thunderbugs fluttered and buzzed.

Its massive body—measuring at least 17 meters—radiated intense pressure. Its malicious eyes locked onto Aki as it approached with wary, deliberate steps.

"Rooaar!!"

Faced with this blatant hostility, the toxic barbs on Aki's back stood on end. Her strong hind legs tensed, and her patterned wings slowly spread open.

No need for words.

Fight!

The terrifying green wyvern charged straight at the Zinogre like an unstoppable chariot, kicking up dust in its path.

The towering Zinogre had originally planned to stop her with sheer muscle strength, aiming to intercept her with both arms.

But upon impact, the muscles in its forelimbs screamed in agony—pushed beyond their limits from the very first clash.

The barbed spikes on Aki's wings tore through the Zinogre's scales with brutal force, sinking deep into its flesh.

A moment later, the entire massive wolf-like beast was rammed backward into the forest, smashing through tree after tree.

Upon impact with the ground, the Zinogre felt as if its forelimbs were about to snap. A gaping wound on its chest gushed blood like an open pipe, quickly soaking the forest floor in red.

It couldn't understand—it truly couldn't understand!

What exactly had it just faced? A Flying Wyvern or a Fanged Wyvern?

A Rathian, supposedly a ground-combat specialist—how could she possibly possess such terrifying power?

One charge—just one—and it had been devastated, its body torn apart as if made of paper.

Because of that one moment of misjudgment, its injuries were now so severe that even stimulating its bioelectric organs to attract thunderbugs was impossible.

Heavy footsteps thudded closer.

The Zinogre had barely managed to raise itself halfway with its trembling forelimbs when a massive force stomped it back into the earth.

A piercing roar rang out.

In that moment, bones shattered. A burst of searing purple fire exploded upon impact.

The Zinogre's consciousness slipped completely into darkness.

Aki took to the skies without fear. Like a queen surveying her domain, she scanned the surroundings once more before flying off toward the nest at the Ancient Tree.

By now, the Ancient Forest had plunged into chaos.

On the lower levels, several Anjanaths were locked in a standoff with other Zinogres. Tobi-Kadachis lurked in the shadows, ready to launch a deadly ambush at any moment.

Hundreds of male and female Rathalos and Rathians swooped down from the sky, circling overhead, continuously roaring down at the 'invading species' on the forest floor.

Yet neither the Zinogres nor the Tobi-Kadachis, nor even the scattered other behemoths, were willing to give ground. They were dead set on claiming enough territory to survive here.

The tree trunks nearby were crawling with Jagras, and in the distance, a massive Great Jagras of tempered strength observed the chaos, flanked by several of its kin.

No matter who won, it wouldn't affect them. As bottom-tier beasts in the forest hierarchy, they weren't even qualified to take part in such high-level battles.

Grimalkynes that had gone out on missions were now returning one after another, anxious and fearful, waiting for the war to pass.

A conflict of this scale—one tied to species survival—was destined not to end in a matter of days.

This abnormal wave of migrations had turned the inner depths of the Ancient Forest into a boiling cauldron of turmoil. At almost every moment, life-and-death battles erupted across every corner.

Even herbivores in the hunting grounds, sensing the growing threat, began to migrate elsewhere.

The shortage of food had finally begun.

With not enough herbivores to go around, carnivores turned on each other. The bloodshed escalated once more.

The entire ecosystem of the Ancient Forest had suffered massive upheaval.

And during all of this, the First Fleet was still deep in the Wildspire Waste, diligently tracking the trail of Kulve Taroth—completely unaware of the disaster unfolding in the Ancient Forest.

...

Once again, he was jolted awake by that faint, elusive noise in the middle of actively absorbing the leylines' energy. Annoyed, Logan got to his feet, his irritation manifesting as a deep gash torn into the vine-covered ground beneath him.

Anyone could see how visibly irritable he was.

Ever since the Ancient Forest had fallen into chaos, every time he tried to absorb leyline energy, he could sense its turbulence—along with waves of intermittent noise that severely disrupted the flow. His efficiency in absorbing the energy had become patchy and unstable.

It was like finally finding a perfectly quiet place to meditate, and just as your mind begins to ease into peaceful sleep, a construction crew starts up nearby—mechanical clanking breaking the silence rhythmically, constantly jolting you between sleep and wakefulness.

Then, just when you finally lose your patience and wake up fully… the noise stops completely.

Once or twice was bearable. But this had been going on for several days. The fact that Logan hadn't started lashing out randomly was already a testament to his impressive self-restraint.

Just look at Aki. She'd been experiencing the same thing, and two days ago her temper had already turned explosive. Every day she'd go out looking for lone Zinogres, unleash a few furious fire breaths or slam into them with wyvern charge strikes before coming back in a slightly better mood.

And yet, even after all this time, the chaos in the Ancient Forest had only worsened.

With the migration of various creatures from the deeper parts of the forest, not only had meat become scarce, but even herbivores and vegetation were in short supply.

At this rate, the ecosystem would collapse long before the chaos resolved itself.

When the Zinogre packs first arrived, they used their overwhelming strength and pack coordination to drive out most of the Anjanaths from the lower layers of the forest. Possessing a strong sense of territorial dominance, the Zinogres then shifted their focus toward the mid and upper levels of the forest.

The battles between Rathalos and Zinogres were no longer confined to the designated hunting grounds; both sides were now engaging in brutal combat across the middle layers of the Ancient Tree.

Zinogres had an absolute advantage in the lower levels, thanks to their thunder affinity and incredibly tough carapaces. But once they ascended to the upper canopy, the narrow platforms and tight passageways severely restricted their ability to dodge.

Rathalos, on the other hand, leveraged its flight to dart among the treetops, launching strikes with superior mobility—forcing the Zinogres into a purely defensive position.

And so, an unspoken stalemate formed: Rathalos wouldn't descend, and Zinogres wouldn't climb.

Logan and Aki had joined several skirmishes in this ongoing war. The battles involving tempered male-female Rathalos pairs, and especially the Azure Rathalos that inhabited the upper layers, had been eye-opening for Logan.

The agility of the Azure Rathalos in mid-air surpassed that of even the tempered males. It rarely landed during combat, instead executing relentless aerial assaults using flame breath and venomous claws—far more precise and patient than the brute-force dive attacks typical of standard Rathalos.

You could say the Azure Rathalos had completely abandoned the usual reckless, one-hit-kill tactics of its species, opting instead to wear down foes through skill and minimal risk.

As for the tempered male Rathalos, their combat power was just as absurd. One of them had managed to snatch a 19-meter-long Zinogre—ignoring its desperate thrashing—and soar into the sky, dropping it from a great height to crush it on impact. That was sheer, overwhelming power.

The tempered female Rathian, however, struck Logan as slightly underwhelming. Other than having more stamina, stronger toxins, and slightly hotter flames, they didn't particularly stand out.

Compared to them, Aki—who consistently overpowered her opponents despite being smaller in size—made Logan seriously wonder if his own Powerhouse Trait had somehow transferred over to her.

Her 16-meter frame was hardly impressive among the giants, maybe even on the smaller side. Yet throughout all her fights, not a single opponent had managed to outmatch her in raw strength.

With her formidable combat abilities, balanced physique, and dazzling appearance, she had even drawn the attention of a few amorous Rathalos males.

Those hopeful suitors, however, had the misfortune of encountering the brutal duo of Logan and Aki. It wasn't until one particularly stubborn fool was roasted into charcoal by Logan himself that the rest finally gave up their intentions.

To be able to burn a male Rathalos—renowned for its fire resistance—into charcoal, Logan had undoubtedly become an anomaly among them.

Weaker monster species might exile an anomaly from their ranks, but stronger species often revere them.

What's more, the Rathalos in the Ancient Forest didn't truly form a cohesive pack. They were, at best, neighbors of the same race.

Under such circumstances, Logan and Aki were simply classified as untouchables—those not to be provoked.

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