After going into the sea, I met the witch.

"Never mind, this is the place."

Ryan made a decision.

At the end of the stream, he dug a small hole and buried the [Pure Water Crystal] inside.

While waiting, he began setting up "pitfall traps" around him.

Although the "pitfall traps" that were dug in advance when we were fighting the female Rathian did not work at all.

But that has always been the case when hunting.

You might not be able to make arrangements, but if you don't, you'll regret it when you actually need them.

Setting up a few "pitfall traps" is nothing to Ryan.

Thanks to his increasingly powerful physique, Ryan completed the trap setup in fifteen minutes.

Considering the Rathalos leader's even larger size, he also enlarged the "pitfall trap" a bit; otherwise, he could have finished it in less than ten minutes.

After fifteen minutes of preparation, a "water vapor environment" with a radius of ten meters has appeared here.

"We need to wait a little longer..."

Ryan muttered something to himself, then sat down on a rock by the stream and waited silently.

Two hours later, the expansion of the "water vapor environment" reached its limit.

Ryan stood outside the water vapor environment, looking at the "large water vapor environment" with a radius of nearly fifty meters in front of him, and a satisfied look appeared on his face.

At this moment, the water vapor content in the "large water vapor environment" has reached an extremely alarming level.

In such an environment, it would be a pipe dream for an ordinary flame to ignite.

Even though the Rathalos leader's flames are extremely powerful, they will definitely be greatly affected in such an environment.

Ryan turned around and looked in the direction of the female Rathalos's nest.

Now, everything is ready, except for luring the Rathalos leader over.

This is actually the easiest thing for Ryan.

A flash of light appeared on the spatial ring on his finger, and the next moment, a thick, red dragon tail several meters long appeared on the ground beside him.

This is the tail of the Crimson Tyrannosaurus Rex.

During this period of "spending time together," Ryan has gained a rather profound understanding of the Rathalos leader.

The Rathalos leader's sense of smell for blood is almost exaggerated, or rather, it is extremely sensitive to the smell of blood from powerful creatures.

In the past, whenever Ryan finished defeating a special species, the Rathalos leader would launch a surprise attack, targeting the corpses of these powerful special species.

And this time, it's no exception.

Or rather, the Rathalos leader will not only come this time, but will definitely come faster and more urgently than ever before.

The Rathalos leader, having just lost his mate, harbored an indescribable hatred for Ryan.

As the stench of blood spread, a little over a minute later, a deafening dragon roar echoed through the sky.

A crimson shadow suddenly appeared from the horizon, accompanied by a gale and intense killing intent, its target being Ryan's location.

"coming!"

Ryan's expression turned solemn as he raised his hand to grip the hilt of the greatsword behind him, poised to strike.

The Rathalos leader showed no sign of slowing down, charging straight at us. As it drew nearer, it opened its gaping maw, filled with sharp teeth, and a torrent of flames swept down like a tidal wave.

Standing in the "large water vapor environment," Ryan looked at the raging flames that had caused him so much pain countless times, but his heart remained calm and undisturbed.

He is no longer the weak "newbie hunter" he once was.

His full set of "fire resistance" and "fire resistance equipment" allows him to "swim freely in a sea of ​​fire," which is no joke.

The flames swept across the land, but after being weakened by the "large-scale water vapor environment," by the time they reached Ryan, only a faint flame remained. With 12 points of fire resistance, it couldn't even break through his defenses.

Ryan shouldered the greatsword, his spirit surging forth, power flowing in layers and finally converging in his hands.

Looking at the "aerial claw attack" that followed the sea of ​​fire above, Ryan couldn't help but think to himself, "It's the same move every time. Can't you come up with something different?"

Of course, despite his complaints, his expression remained extremely serious.

In fact, he had always been defeated by this move from the Rathalos leader.

The manner of their death was quite gruesome.

With his eyes fixed on the massive dragon claw descending, Ryan rapidly calculated the distance in his mind.

When the dragon claw was five meters away from his head.

"It's now!"

Without hesitation or delay, following the plan before the battle began, Ryan opened his mouth, and a sound wave imbued with spiritual energy spread out.

The sudden appearance of the powerful sound waves caused the Rathalos leader, which was directly in the path of the attack, to have its ears jolted violently.

The effects of spiritual sound waves on it are indeed exceptionally significant.

Losing control and balance, the Rathalos leader's body began to fall, passing over Ryan's head.

Ryan's eyes narrowed. With the "morale boost," his strength and speed increased further. He unleashed his greatsword, completing a "one-and-a-half-stage charge," and his target was none other than the Rathalos's tail hanging down behind it.

The tail is a very important part of a living organism.

The body's balance and turning are closely related to the tail. And creatures with strong tails have even developed the habit of using their tails to attack.

As a powerful flying wyvern species, the tail is extremely important to the Rathalos leader. It plays a crucial supporting role in stabilizing airflow and steering during flight.

Ryan's original target was the Rathalos leader's wing membrane, but this target was too risky and the reward was not high, not as good as attacking the tail directly.

The male Rathalos leader's tail is similar to that of the female Rathalos, covered in thorns. The difference is that the male Rathalos's scales and thorns are deep red, while the female Rathalos's are dark green.

Furthermore, the male Rathalos's crimson scales appear thinner because, compared to the female Rathalos, which spends most of its time hunting various monsters on the ground, the male Rathalos leader spends most of its time flying in the sky and rarely needs to engage in close combat with special species. Therefore, its evolution points are allocated to "attack and flight".

This is undoubtedly a good thing for Ryan.

Thin scales mean weak defense.

The surging power infused into the silver-blue greatsword, along with a Physique stat of 26.63, brought Ryan's wandering clone's physical attributes to an inhuman level.

And this power, enhanced by abilities such as "morale boost," is ultimately unleashed through the [Storm Sword Skill - Wave Severing], and its might...

"Tear-!"

The sound of scales, flesh, and even the tailbone being torn apart suddenly rang out.

A severed section of the dragon's tail fell to the ground.

The dragon's blood splattered all over Ryan, causing a burning stinging sensation as it hit his skin.

"Dragon's blood is corrosive!"

The thought crossed Ryan's mind.

However, at this point, he had no time to concern himself with such "minor details".

He took out a handful of "Abundant Pearl Powder" and put it in his mouth. Because he needed to use [Soaring War Cry], he couldn't put the powder in his mouth beforehand.

After his physique improved further, Ryan did not feel exhausted even when he reached the limit of "one and a half stages of charging". If it weren't for the limitations of his spirituality, he would have been able to try charging to the second or even third stage long ago.

and so……

With one hand, he ran over the fallen dragon's tail and put it into his spatial ring. Ryan rushed to the head of the Rathalos leader, who was lying on the ground, seeing stars, and began to perform the ultimate "one and a half charge" again.

Spirituality is surging, and power is gathering.

This time, the combination of the spiritual sonic wave, the severed tail, and the ground slam inflicted heavy damage on the Rathalos leader.

In particular, the Rathalos leader was unlucky, as it crashed headfirst into a cliff face, causing severe secondary damage.

Having lost its tail, its balance was disrupted, and it lay on the ground unable to get up for a while.

It couldn't stand up until Ryan had finished charging up.

"die!"

Ryan roared, and the greatsword, brimming with spiritual energy, crashed down.

In the dense, humid environment, the Greatsword - Ferocious Ice left behind streaks of condensed ice crystals in its wake, beautiful yet deadly, as it struck the Rathalos leader's head with tremendous force.

"Boom!"

This powerful downward slash slammed the Rathalos leader's head directly into the ground.

good chance!

Ryan was overjoyed.

The recoil forced the greatsword upwards, and he used the momentum to turn around, lifting the greatsword again to gather his strength.

1.6 seconds!

The "charge" was completed, and the greatsword fell again.

"Boom!"

The Rathalos leader, who had just raised his head, was slammed back into the ground.

This scene was so heartbreaking that anyone who heard about it would be saddened, and anyone who saw it would be moved to tears.

The once mighty overlord of the ancient forest region suffered a brutal beating on the ground simply because he was caught off guard and ambushed.

Two heavy blows left a huge wound on the Rathalos leader's head, and the skull inside was clearly visible.

With one more heavy strike, Ryan is confident he can shatter the Rathalos leader's skull.

However, these two heavy blows completely pulled the Rathalos leader out of its "stunned state".

"Roar--!"

A deafening roar erupted, and visible ripples of sound waves spread outwards. Ryan, who was right next to it, was blasted away by the sound waves. His body tumbled all the way until he crashed into a giant tree, leaving large cracks on it, before he finally came to a stop.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Ryan planted his sword on the ground and knelt on one knee.

He looked up at the Rathalos leader who had risen from the ground, his face grim.

Strands of crimson light appeared on the surface of the Rathalos leader's body, causing it to swell. The light spots outlined a peculiar shape on its chest, resembling a vertical eye.

Even at the broken end of its tail, the rich, crimson energy formed a brand new energy tail.