Silence. There was only silence. In this moment, even the infinite, distant roar of explosions seemed to soften, and time itself felt as though it had ground to a halt.
"A—! Partner!!" Looking completely terrified, Eileen lunged toward Karl, grabbing the wet cloth on her own face and trying to press it firmly over Karl's mouth and nose.
But Karl caught Eileen's arm. With his strength, a small Handler like her stood no chance of resisting. Naturally, the wet cloth was pressed back onto Eileen's face instead.
"Mmph! Mmmph!!"
To an outsider, the struggle might have looked bizarre. Eileen hammered desperately at Karl's arm, but unable to overcome his power, she resorted to stomping on his foot—which was entirely useless.
Monster-material boots! Women, truly!
"Do not stop me."
That single sentence froze the other three in their tracks. Even Vanilla, who had been trying to scramble up Karl's arm, went still. Karl's expression was exceptionally firm; he needed no further words to prove himself. With just a single exchange of looks, the others understood that Karl was prepared and filled with absolute resolve.
It was the determination of sacrifice.
After the initial shock, Aiden and Sophia quickly realized what Karl's intention was.
"You want to undergo Blue-transformation too?!" Brows furrowed, Aiden grabbed Karl's arm with such force that his knuckles turned white. "While the scholars mentioned the possibility, it has never happened to a human before. No one knows what will happen! Calm down, don't make a choice in the heat of the moment!"
As he spoke, Aiden tried to force Karl's hand up to press the cloth back over his face, but his strength was far inferior to Karl's. His hand was easily pushed down, and Karl simply tossed his own cloth to the ground.
"This day was coming sooner or later," Karl's tone was unexpectedly calm. He spoke as if he were discussing something entirely unrelated to himself—even though this matter concerned his life, his pain, and whether he might lose something irrecoverable in the change.
He was still young, but the resolve he showed now was nothing like that of a young man. Instead, he seemed like a veteran warrior who had weathered countless storms and was walking toward death by choice.
"As long as we still want to fulfill the mission of the Elder Dragon Research Commission, as long as we want to continue our investigation in the New World, we must accept this energy." His gaze swept over the half-covered faces of his companions. Karl had already pierced through to the heart of the matter, and he spoke with unwavering conviction: "Unless we return to Astera right now and take a ship back to the Old World... and you wouldn't want that."
Karl didn't even phrase it as a question; he stated the truest thoughts buried in the hearts of the other three humans and the cat as a simple fact.
Yes, that was exactly it.
They might get hurt, or they might even die, but not a single hunter who had volunteered to cross the sea to the New World would choose to flee this continent, to flee this brand-new world!
"Even with masks, we can't hide behind them forever... they won't protect us indefinitely. Since we have to accept this energy eventually, we might as well start now."
He said no more, but it was enough.
Sophia looked at Karl, then at Aiden. She knew Karl was right... from hunters to scholars, many had thought about this, but no one had ever truly put it into practice.
From the moment Karl removed the wet cloth and took a deep breath, the three people and the cat could clearly see countless fine shards of crystal mist mixing into the air and flowing into Karl's nose and mouth. With every subsequent word, their companion acted like someone submerged in seawater, constantly inhaling those broken crystal fragments and exhaling them.
Every time he breathed out, there was a faint blue glimmer, fine as dust. It flowed in and out, occasionally dimming or dissipating, but it was undeniably there—it had truly entered his body.
Silence.
A stillness amidst the roar.
There was only the howling of the two giant beasts in the distance. The Blue-transformed Seething Bazelgeuse and the Savage Deviljho were constantly trying to overpower one another, rolling and crashing down, emitting heavy, muffled thuds.
Before these two monsters, the vast Ancient Forest seemed to have become their playground. Even in their daze, the group couldn't help but look over, only to find that even on the surface of the Savage Deviljho's wounds, large clusters of crystals were blooming like flowers.
These newborn crystals hadn't existed in this world for long before being smashed to pieces by the Blue-transformed Seething Bazelgeuse. Yet, even so, it proved that this Savage Deviljho was evolving toward a Blue-transformed state.
After all, from the start of the battle until now, the high-intensity combat had forced the Savage Deviljho to inhale countless breaths of air. The omnipresent Bio-energy of the Blue-transformed Ancient Forest had already unknowingly invaded the body of this visitor from afar, beginning its brand-new transformation.
The Bazelgeuse brother fought while retreating; the Bazelgeuse brother was caught between a rock and a hard place; the Bazelgeuse brother had no way out; the Bazelgeuse brother looked ashen! —The Bazelgeuse brother won!!
At the very least, he had pinned the Savage Deviljho beneath him once more, even shoving a blue explosive scale right into the Savage Deviljho's mouth.
Boom! Boom!!
"He's right, meow."
Watching the distant explosions and the twisting giant beasts, Vanilla suddenly shrugged. The wet cloth she had been holding over her nose and mouth loosened, falling to the ground.
"We have to eat eventually, meow. Even the Aptonoth on the edge of the forest are gradually becoming Blue-transformed Aptonoth, meow. Sooner or later, we'll ingest enough Bio-crystals anyway, meow. Besides, isn't the life energy of the New World supposed to be more abundant than the Old World's to begin with, meow?"
"...Your head is full of nothing but food, you Felyne." After a moment of silence, Aiden suddenly laughed. The tension in the air loosened slightly as he followed suit, dropping the wet cloth in his hand. "Though, you really don't need to worry too much. Haven't there been plenty of Blue-transformed Grimalkynes in the Glavenus Tribe already?"
"Grimalkynes are Grimalkynes, and Felynes are Felynes, meow!" Vanilla's fur immediately bristled, her ears standing straight up as she argued, "We're different, meow! This is a matter of principle, meow!"
"They're all Lynians," Eileen said with a laugh, rubbing Vanilla's head. She also tossed away her wet cloth. In the time it took to rub her nose, she could faintly feel the friction of tiny crystal grains in her nasal cavity.
"Speaking of which, I'm a bit curious what I'll look like once I become a Blue-transformed human. Will my skin turn blue? Or will there be Bio-crystals inside my body? Will I be able to spit energy directly at monsters? I'm so curious!"
This girl was actually getting excited as she spoke. Eileen seemed to have already fantasized about the image of herself opening her mouth to blast Bio-energy—would she be able to call herself a hunter then? She could help her Partner even more!
"Let's hope not?" Sophia interjected, a bead of sweat on her forehead. The tension and uncertainty from earlier had gradually left her, replaced by her usual composed demeanor. "According to the records, when the Blue-transformed Grimalkynes first appeared, they couldn't control their bodies well and almost hurt others—heavens, I don't want my hair turning into crystal spikes or to have weird things coming out of my mouth. That would be terrifying!"
Sophia's words made the group burst into laughter, especially Eileen, who slapped her leg as she laughed.
"Maybe after Blue-transformation, I'll be able to eat even more food at once. Hmm, my digestion would improve, and my body would be stronger? Thinking about it that way, it's all benefits!"
"True. When the time comes for hunting, we might not even need weapons," Aiden said, rubbing his chin. "I feel like the combat styles would become much more diverse?"
Even though they were standing in the middle of a battlefield between two giant monsters, with the ground beneath them shaking like a constant earthquake, the expressions and words of the group were as relaxed as if they were on a picnic. They were truly at ease.
"Everyone..." Karl was stunned.
He looked at his companions, his mouth hanging open as he struggled to find words. The stony, statue-like lines of his face, which had been set in a mask of solitary sacrifice, developed a subtle crack—but it was certainly not from wavering.
"I could have done this alone."
This was Karl's honest thought. He wasn't using his actions to force his companions to make a choice. After careful consideration, he had decided he was willing to bear the cost and risk, and thus removed his mask. He had no requirements for the others.
Or rather, Karl had intended to use his own body to blaze a trail for his companions, so his friends could avoid the mistakes he might make... he just hadn't expected his companions to be far more resolute than he imagined.
"No need, Karl." Directly cutting him off, Aiden clapped Karl on the shoulder, hitting harder with every strike as if in retaliation. "Don't look down on my resolve. I've already come to the New World—I'm going to be the White Wind of the New World!"
"Even if it costs me my life, I will uncover the secrets of the Elder Dragons. How could a little energy infection stop me?"
The words the Commander had spoken on the night they first arrived in the New World resonated in the hearts of every member of the Fifth Fleet. The tension and hesitation when crossing the vast ocean, the excitement and sense of achievement of stepping onto a strange land where humans had never set foot—every time they remembered it, the hunters of the Fifth Fleet grew more determined.
It wasn't blind or simple passion; it was a more solid conviction.
"The White Wind... yeah!"
Aiden's words caused Karl to completely abandon the idea of further persuasion. After all, he wasn't good with words to begin with. Since his companions had made their choice, they would move forward together.
Even the lines of his rugged face softened. Karl nodded and said, "Me too."
"Haha, then every—"
"Guh-gah?"
"Waaaaaaaahhh!!!"
Just as Aiden was laughing and about to say something inspiring, a massive avian head suddenly curved down from above. It appeared in the center of his vision without any warning, so close that he could almost count the individual textures on its feathers. At the same time, it let out a loud, slightly puzzled squawk—
Aiden practically launched into the air from a standstill. His head hit a nearby tree root, and he tumbled ungracefully on the ground twice while clutching his head, drawing his weapon in the process.
"What is that thing!!!"
The group didn't even care about hiding behind the roots anymore. They scrambled to a more open area, ignoring the battlefield that seemed to be drawing closer, and drew their weapons, pointing them at the uninvited guest.
Huge. Slender. Ridiculous.
Eileen squinted her eyes and then blurted out subconsciously, "A Kulu-Ya-Ku??"
She had recognized exactly who the owner of this bird head was, but that didn't solve the problem—it only raised more.
"Why is this Kulu-Ya-Ku so big!!"
It was at least three times the size of a normal Kulu-Ya-Ku. That rounded yet slightly pointed bird head was almost as wide as half of Aiden's torso. Its two sparkling, round eyes were staring at the humans with an innocent, tilted-head curiosity. What a look of feigned innocence!!
It was as if it were the one who had been startled. It tilted its head back and squawked at something. The three feathers at the very top of its head were a layered four-color blend of red, orange, gold, and blue—at a glance, they were clearly high-value, rare materials.
"Guh-gah!!"
The bird-thing proudly craned its neck and puffed out its chest.
Indeed, who else could it be but the Kulu-Ya-Ku brother?
One could tell he really liked the title "Kulu-Ya-Ku Boss." Hearing Sophia identify him, he immediately puffed out his bird head with pride, and the three beautiful, vibrant feathers on his head seemed to glow even brighter.
The Super-Invincible-Giant Kulu-Ya-Ku!
On the road from the Wildspire Waste to the Ancient Forest, the hunters of the Fifth Fleet had seen Kulu-Ya-Ku many times. But those Kulu-Ya-Ku were nothing compared to the one standing before them!!
Normal Kulu-Ya-Ku looked a bit dim-witted and were always causing strange mishaps—they could be categorized as "clumsy thieves." But the Kulu-Ya-Ku in front of them was different; he was like the King of all Kulu-Ya-Ku!
This didn't just refer to his massive size, but also to the shimmering jewelry and the complex decorations he wore!
————
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