As for the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes reaching out to the Felyne Sita, Logan wouldn’t mind.
At that moment, he was out hunting alone—a rare occasion. His massive form moved freely through the clouds, occasionally diving into flocks of wingdrakes, scattering them in panic. Watching them flee in all directions lifted Logan’s spirits.
By a lake, Logan spotted a herd of herbivores. With a precise freefall dive, he struck the fattest one dead-on.
His sharp claws tore through the creature’s throat, and while it was still warm, Logan eagerly began enjoying his delicious lunch.
A Flashfly buzzed past his eyes, its flickering tail blinking like a faulty bulb, instantly catching Logan’s attention.
Lifting his head warily, he saw—far off in the distance—a towering Zinogre, its entire body covered in old battle scars. Clutched in its jaws was the corpse of a black Great Jagras, and it was approaching slowly, step by step.
The Zinogre Alpha moved like a warrior hardened by countless battles. Every gesture, every movement exuded pressure, as if every muscle in its body was poised to unleash explosive power at any moment.
Its gaze toward Logan was completely indifferent—like it was staring at a corpse. No emotion. No reaction.
That kind of look made Logan deeply uncomfortable.
It had been four years. Given the recent disturbances among the Zinogre population, he had assumed this Alpha was long dead.
And yet, not only was it alive—it had effortlessly taken down a black Great Jagras.
That kind of target might be nothing for a Rathalos, but for a Zinogre, which couldn’t fly, it certainly wasn’t an easy feat.
Yet the truth was undeniable: there wasn’t a single fresh wound on the Zinogre Alpha’s body. Even the white fur along its back remained mostly undisturbed.
That belligerent Great Jagras hadn’t made the slightest dent in it.
“Awooo~”
The howl of wolves echoed from afar. Three more Zinogre leapt down from a distant slope, charging toward Logan and the Alpha.
In the blink of an eye, Logan’s Powerhouse Trait activated—those three newcomers had locked onto him.
Without hesitation, Logan shot into the air.
His sixth sense was screaming. That Zinogre Alpha radiated an overwhelming danger, and if it was joined by the other three, his position would become seriously precarious.
Watching Logan take flight, the Zinogre Alpha’s expression didn’t change. To it, he was just another decent-looking Rathalos—nothing worth paying attention to.
But then, as Logan’s Charred Body Trait activated, flames erupted from his wings, the tip of his tail, and his claws.
That surge of energy made the Zinogre Alpha’s eyes widen.
In just that instant, it knew—this was the special existence it had been searching for all this time!
Its previously placid gaze turned ravenous.
And that look made Logan’s skin crawl. That kind of greed... it didn’t belong on a monster like Zinogre.
He realized—he had been marked!
If the goal of this pack of Zinogres was merely to claim this hunting ground, then even in the presence of a leader strong enough to make Logan feel threatened, it wouldn’t have mattered if he simply backed off.
After all, engaging in battle would consume far more energy than just moving on to the next hunting ground.
But now, the target of this Zinogre pack was unmistakably him. And the gaze of that Zinogre leader had made everything crystal clear.
From the moment that near-maniacal greed emerged, it was evident that this was a fight to the death.
In the eyes of the Zinogre leader, the anomaly Logan presented was the key to extending its own life—and perhaps even going further, ascending to become the King of Zinogres, one worthy of rivaling an Elder Dragon.
And Logan had no intention of letting any Zinogre that made him feel threatened—and had already shown such deep hostility toward him—walk away alive.
As if reaching a mutual understanding, Logan and the Zinogre leader roared at each other. In an instant, fire coiled around Logan’s entire body, and the surrounding air temperature began to rise under the heat of his draconic flames.
Almost simultaneously, the Zinogre leader gathered enough Thunderbugs to enter its supercharged state.
Golden-blue arcs of electricity coiled between its flared charge sacs and the white electrified fur. Its horns—far larger than those of a typical Zinogre—glowed a brilliant golden yellow under the surging current. Clad in armor made of lightning, every movement of the Zinogre leader crackled with thunder, radiating a savage and brutal aura.
To enter its supercharged state without even needing to build up energy, and to wield Thunderbugs and current in such overwhelming amounts… It was worthy of being the alpha of the Ancient Forest’s Zinogre clan.
Unfortunately, even though its form remained formidable, it had clearly declined since four years ago—back when its carapace was already turning golden, and it could sustain its supercharged state nearly full-time, seemingly just one step away from becoming the Thunderlord Zinogre.
Years of accumulated injuries… not even the Ancient Forest’s immense life energy could heal them.
“A warrior past his prime?”
For some reason, that image crossed Logan’s mind.
As he glanced at the three approaching Zinogres, he decided to eliminate them first!
His flaming wings swept through the air like a blazing meteor streaking across the sky.
These past four years hadn’t just brought physical growth—his overall power had surged, and the acceleration boost granted by his Powerhouse Trait had grown terrifying. With just a flap of his wings, he triggered a sonic boom.
On the ground, the Zinogre leader instantly understood Logan’s intention. Stimulated by lightning, its muscles surged with explosive strength. Accompanied by a roar of thunder, it carved a straight, blazing trail across the earth as it charged after Logan toward the three incoming Zinogres.
Lowering his altitude, Logan dove low through the air. Merely brushing past the ground was enough to ignite the dry grass below.
The three Zinogres watched helplessly as Logan charged straight toward them—but none of them were foolish enough to face him head-on.
A dive attack from a regular Rathalos was already dangerous. But this one—this special variant, cloaked entirely in flames—was on a different level altogether.
After following their leader in its search for powerful monsters for some time now, they were well aware of how fearsome these special individuals could be. Just like their leader, they defied all common sense.
So, the three Zinogres quickly split apart, forming a triangular formation with overlapping fields of vision. No matter which one was attacked, the others could support it instantly.
It was a sound tactic. Clearly, these Zinogres had strong discipline and excellent coordination.
But their strategy only worked under normal circumstances.
Logan’s dive wasn’t meant as a predatory attack at all.
Given the spacing between the Zinogres, all he needed to do was trigger a massive explosion at their center—and the resulting blast would be more than enough to seriously wound all three.
[Zzz—]
The faint crackle of electricity reached Logan’s ears, subtle but unmistakable.
In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of two golden orbs of lightning—hurled from the charging Zinogre leader, one to the left and one to the right, aiming to catch him in a pincer strike.
Logan swerved mid-air, halting his dive and shooting skyward once again.
The two thunderballs collided right at the pivot point of his ascent—and exploded in an instant. Blinding golden lightning tore through the area, reducing the grass to ashes and scorching the earth into a patch of blackened soil.
The Zinogre leader hadn’t known Logan’s exact intention, but it had accurately predicted his landing zone and preemptively struck.
With this interception, it successfully rejoined its subordinates.
There was no need for words. Under the protection of their leader, the three Zinogres immediately began to charge up, entering their supercharged states.
Logan felt no frustration from having his attack cut short—only mild surprise at the Zinogre leader’s sharp intuition.
He looked down at the four Zinogres below, his heart utterly calm.
In this wide-open space, so what if there were four of them?
So what if one of them had once nearly transformed into a being on par with an Elder Dragon?
They hadn’t grounded him in their first move—so this battle was already decided from the very beginning.
A normal Rathalos would’ve been limited by the finite combustible material stored in its flame sacs. In the end, it would’ve either run out of fire and been forced into a low-altitude melee—where the Zinogres would tear it apart—or simply retreated in disgrace.
But Logan… he wasn’t like them.
Flames coiled rapidly, gathering inside his throat.
Inject.
Compress.
Under extreme compression, the flames still turned a bluish-purple hue.
When the temperature of the flames reached the maximum threshold his body could withstand, Logan decisively unleashed them.
The compressed fire burst outward, expanding rapidly in the air—like a second sun. The searing heat could be felt from afar.
“Awooo!!”
With the Zinogre leader's howl, the other three Zinogres didn’t hesitate. They immediately darted away, scattering at high speed. Swarms of Thunderbugs and charged lightning orbs dispersed along with the howl, weaving a massive web of electricity centered on their leader.
The blinding lightning then surged across the entire area, crashing into the massive fireball with a thunderous roar.
In an instant, the earth shook violently. Huge patches of land within the electric domain were torn open. The blast wave tilted trees far in the distance and flung a storm of shattered leaves into the air.
From the edge of the smoke, the Zinogre leader burst forth, panting heavily. The golden lightning coiling around its body had clearly diminished. Its white, electrified fur was now disheveled and charred in places.
It had assumed that Logan—after unleashing such an attack—would pause to recover, even briefly.
But what it saw instead was Logan, still in the sky, unleashing explosive fireball after fireball, one after another, relentlessly bombarding the ground below.
The three Zinogres fled in a panic, scrambling to dodge—but the terrain was far too open. There was simply nowhere to hide.
With no terrain to limit him, Logan’s aerial advantage was on full display.
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