Werewolf Hunting Rules.

Chapter 480 Defeating the Howling Lion
Before the new guest even showed up, he had already begun greeting the people who were fighting.

"Dili dili dili-chacha-ku-tata-"

"Dili dili dili-ku-cha-cha-"

The lively music drifted leisurely from the far end of the merciless, bloody night street. The melody was light and cheerful. If you closed your eyes, you could feel as if you were in the venue of a southern festival celebration. Wandering artists swayed their bodies and played drums and flutes. Agile young men and women danced in the open space around them. Not far away, exotic vendors sat on the ground and dealt with the crowds.

There were some intermittent noises, but they didn't disrupt the harmony of the music. Instead, they sounded like the applause and laughter of the participants in the celebration, or like close friends whispering in each other's ears in the bustling crowd, making people curious and wanting to find out more.

The beautiful sound slowed down Clayton and Lamia's movements, allowing the shaman to catch his breath.

However, when the instrument that plays the music appears, its appearance completely destroys the wonderful feelings that Clayton had accumulated.

Sphinx with human face.

However, the fact that these two elements are the same does not mean that the visitor is a close relative of the Sphinx. On the contrary, anyone who looks at it can clearly see the difference between the two.

Compared to the well-proportioned Sphinx, the thing before them was utterly bizarre.

Its fur, a color between ochre and dusky yellow, was smooth as pearls, but that was all that could be called beautiful about it. It was more like a sphinx with the body and head of a human than a sphinx, its thick neck narrowing abruptly at the end to reveal a man's head of average size, covered with thick black hair.

The man's head had a split mouth like a werewolf's, reaching all the way to his ears. His lips were missing, and because of this gap, the three rows of white teeth on the upper and lower jaws were clearly visible.

A long, narrow, scarlet tongue moved back and forth between the three rows of teeth, like a hand frantically pressing piano keys. As the monster breathed, air flowed through the gaps between its tongue and teeth, producing the beautiful sound that Clayton had just heard.

Behind this monster, a tail resembling a foxtail grass was covered with many long, dark thorns that swung around from time to time.

Mandikela.

Clayton instantly connected it to a story he had heard before.

This is a very special beast that looks like a lion but is twice the size of a lion. It only appears in desert areas and attracts prey by making beautiful sounds or human cries for help. The sound we just heard must have been that beast.

Fortunately, it was nighttime, and the surrounding residents were people whose curiosity had been worn down by reality. Moreover, no one wanted to turn on the lights, so no one went out into the street just because they were woken up by the noise outside. The doors and windows of the houses were still tightly closed.

Legend has it that when Edom was still a great power, a certain strong monarch was very fond of the Mantikora. He regarded its beautiful sounds, which it used to lure prey, as the best music in the world. Therefore, he sent people to capture Mantikora in large numbers, cut off their limbs and venomous tails, and kept them in the palace. They were fed only enough food to keep them alive each day, so that these hungry Mantikora would keep singing.

They may sound like a weak creature, but in the story, they are captured by an army.

Even so, the hunting party suffered heavy losses. It is said that the hunting of Mantikora depleted Edom's strength, causing it to decline rapidly after the death of its monarch. Many oasis city-states were conquered by enemy states due to lack of defense, and its territory shrank to its present state.

It is precisely because of this well-known legend that Clayton is somewhat unable to distinguish whether Mantikora is a Darkborn or a wild animal.

All he knew was that this guy was definitely very strong.

Mandikela looked at them with its bizarre face. The music finally stopped, and instead, its tail rose up, the tip of which rapidly expanded, reaching its peak as Clayton slowed his breathing, and then burst open instantly!

Black venomous stingers, as long as pens but densely packed, erupted in all directions, striking with the density of a torrential downpour.

Lamia immediately abandoned her pursuit of the shaman. Her long, powerful snake tail coiled up, enveloping the vulnerable human body. The venomous barbs that flew towards her struck the hard scales on the outside of her snake body, either breaking or bouncing off.

Although the shaman had his back to Mandikura and couldn't see what was happening, the ribbons on his robes danced as if alive, deflecting the poisonous thorns for him.

The celestial cartographer was stung by a poisonous sting, but it paid no heed, continuing to flap its wings and circle. The monstrous creatures are immune to toxins, which is one of the reasons the angelic order considers them the perfect form of humanity.

Clayton did not attempt to use the werewolf's pelt to block the poison sting, although his pelt had indeed become tougher after eating the leatherworker, or perhaps the werewolf's enormous size could dilute the effects of the poison sting. There were many possibilities, but there was no need to gamble on such a thing, was there?
He simply raised the mummy to block the danger in front of him, thus stopping all the peril.

It was so useful that Clayton hesitated for a moment on the idea of ​​banishing the ghost.

After missing its target with its venomous stinger, Mandikela did not leave. Its eyes were fixed on Clayton, its head appearing unusually small compared to its body. Its deformed body made its observation posture as bizarre as a person sitting in a chair stretching their face forward desperately.

No matter how you look at it, this guy isn't the weakest one on the field, but now he's become this guy's target.

With its powerful, lion-like body, it leaped forward on all four paws and landed right in front of Clayton, only to be met with a kick aimed directly at his nose.

Clayton had used this move to hunt lions and even defeated a Sphinx named Simon in Sasha City. However, this move had little effect on Mandikela. Compared to its deformed human head, which was very hard, Clayton's right foot didn't even crush its nose. Instead, it gave the illusion of stepping on a hard pebble.

The moment he sensed the strength of his opponent's body, Clayton threw away the mummy with his left hand, grabbed the Builder with his right hand, and thrust it into the ground diagonally behind him. Using the reaction force of the kick and the Builder as an anchor point, he flipped backward, dodging Mandico's next sweeping claw attack.

The sharp claws that swept past made a dull whistling sound as they cut through the air; without armor, a human would likely find it difficult to withstand them.

"What a formidable fellow," Clayton thought.

However, he noticed that Mandikela's eyes did not glow like his own at night.

The degree to which an eye glows at night indicates the quality of its night vision. The fact that the Mantikora's eyes do not glow suggests that its night vision is not outstanding. The fact that it continued playing music after appearing before them, only stopping when it approached within thirty meters, proves Clayton's point and also demonstrates that it lacks another sensitive sensory organ sufficient to replace the eye—a significant disadvantage.

Having forced Clayton to retreat, Mandike stretched out his right forepaw and placed it on the mummy he had dropped, affectionately playing with it.

Mantikora is a creature of the desert, and the mummy's ability to create deserts makes it feel somewhat close to this land far from its home, which is why it attacked Cretton.

It wants to use this fellow villager to create a familiar environment in unfamiliar surroundings, and then continue its past hunting activities.

Awakening from the joy of its harvest, it slightly raised its eyes, only to be horrified to find a warhammer right in front of it.

Mandicarb instinctively arched its back and leaped backward with all four paws. The mummy, which had just been caressed by its paws, was struck hard again and returned to the process of continuous recovery.

"Just as I thought!" Clayton stood where it had been, laughing as he kicked the mummy away.

What terrified Mandicalar was not his speed; on the contrary, it was that he was slower than Mandicalar had expected and appeared abruptly before it without making a sound.

Just as Clayton had guessed, Mandicora did not have strong night vision. Slowing down to reduce its noise was a more effective way to attack than to go all out. If it looked away, it would not know where he would appear next.

It must keep a close eye on its opponent.

This is the etiquette of dueling.

When Mandikella was forced to focus his gaze on Clayton, Clayton felt a surge of heat coursing through his body, and he longed to howl at the moon. Ordinary people probably couldn't understand the pleasure he derived from fighting, but if he had to explain, he would tell them that a very important part of the pleasure of fighting was earning the respect of his opponent.

Whether your opponent despises you or ignores you, you can use your strength and skill to force them to never dare to disregard you again, to pay attention to your every move. Faced with your deadly attacks, your opponent will temporarily forget even their parents, lovers, and life's ambitions, their eyes and hearts filled only with the approaching you and your deadly move. This is the most thorough respect.

Clayton's body, bathed in pleasure, moved again at top speed without making a sound, closing in on Mandica.

In the absence of sufficient light and other sensory comparisons, most organisms would lose their sensitivity to speed and distance if they relied solely on vision.

To Mandico, Clayton's movements at that moment resembled a moth swirling under a nighttime lamplight, its trajectory seemingly leaving several afterimages, making it difficult to discern whether it was slow or fast.

Especially those glowing yellow eyes, which left two thin, twisted trails of light in the air.

Because of his exceptionally bright eyes, his figure seemed even more ethereal in the night.

But it's nothing serious. Mandikela has also seen some humans whose eyes glow after drinking special water, but their bodies are very fragile.

In terms of strength and speed, it is definitely superior to its opponent. If the opponent chooses to turn its back and run away, it will be handing its life over to its jaws. The only thing to worry about is what the enemy has.

Mandikela recognizes weapons.

With weapons, even a frail human can hurt himself, but as long as he avoids them, he can do nothing.

Its forelimbs are longer than the weapon, and if it is careful, it will not even get hurt.

Clayton suddenly jumped to the left, and Mandikela hurriedly pounced on his landing point. But while it was still in the air, Clayton smoothly stepped to the right. His movement was not fast, but he timed it perfectly and leisurely dodged its attack as if taking a stroll.

The lion-like body twisted and swung its claws, while the tongue in the human head's mouth flicked again, emitting a loud roar.

However, this tactic was exactly what Clayton had anticipated. He would interject his roars between attacks to intimidate his opponents, a move he also frequently used, and it always worked against unsuspecting humans.

But he is not human.

Without any hesitation, he turned and stepped back, like a dancer teetering on the edge of a cliff, his body once again narrowly missing the lion's claws.

Pounce, sweep tail, swing claws.

Each time, Clayton teetered on the edge of danger.

His speed varied, making it difficult for Mandikela to grasp the timing and distance of his attacks.

Inheriting the gift of a thief ancestor, Clayton is extremely adept at moving silently. Even when he needs to keep quiet, he can still maintain a speed that appears fast to ordinary humans, only slower than his full strength.

Repeated mistakes allowed its opponent to escape, and the frustration was like trying to catch the moon's reflection in water—it was impossible. Mandikela lost its patience. It raised its head and called out something in high and low tones, perhaps in the language of its native humans. The voice sounded like a man's, a woman's, and a child's tone, a chaotic and mixed sound that seemed to be pleading for help, or wailing.

In its homeland, any cautious warrior who hears such a sound will lose his mind and rush forward, only to be devoured by it.

The enemy before them seemed to be no exception.

He roared and leaped high into the air, raising the long-handled hammer above his head as if to smash it into its head.

This was Mandikela's plan: since the enemy could accurately calculate the distance and evade attacks time and time again, he would let him approach him on his own initiative.

Mandikela took a step back, its lion-like body opening its claws like a feline, waiting for the warrior to miss his attack so it could grab him, drag him over, and bite off his neck.

The hammer struck the ground heavily, but its instinctive attempt to grab at the ground also resulted in grasping nothing.

Clayton was just a little short of its claws!
His hammer was supposed to land in empty space at that distance, but he mistakenly thought the other party would hit his head, so he took a step back, which actually gave the other party a safe distance!
For the first time, a look of astonishment appeared on the deformed man's head, but then it didn't have to think about anything anymore.

It takes at least a second for the clasped paws to loosen and resume the fighting stance, and Clayton won't give it that second.

Turning and twisting his waist, he swung the club with the precision of a golfer, driving the builder's beak-shaped hammerhead into the most vulnerable area of ​​Mandico's head, the lower jaw.

Next, he slightly turned his body, as if swinging a sack from his shoulder in front of him.

The heavy lion's body, which he couldn't lift even with full force, was thrown over Clayton's head and slammed to the ground backward due to the intense tearing pain in his jaw.

The patient's own weight was the biggest contributor to the injury.

Mandikela struggled to his feet, only to see the long-handled hammer reappear before him.

The crow's beak, moving from top to bottom, though not completely piercing the hard skull, did break through the skin and flesh, lodging on the top of the skull and stirring the rich nerve plexus of the scalp.

Blood flowed down from his head, blurring Mandikela's vision.

It shook its head, trying to get rid of the weapon, but it couldn't sense how much the weapon had penetrated its skull. Its intelligence, far superior to that of ordinary beasts, made it afraid that its head would crack in the struggle, so it dared not use its full strength.

Having lost its sight, the "baton" once again exerted its force, guiding it to rush forward.

The enormous, human-headed lion ran through Lamia and the shaman, its head colliding with the sharp edges of the pharmacy building like the ramming horn of a warship, producing a sound that was even somewhat satisfying—the cracking of stone.

The sturdy red brick building was smashed open by Mandicarb's head, sending brick fragments flying like water droplets. Its head was also sliced ​​open by the building's sharp edges, causing it to collapse completely. From the top, a V-shaped dent could even be seen.

Clayton, carrying his hammer, passed between Lamia and the shaman, and the once lively local battlefield suddenly fell silent.

Both hunter and prey fell silent, watching him walk to the limp Mandico, pry open the challenger's skull with his long, black raven-beaked warhammer, and grab a handful of red and white contents to stuff into his mouth.

"It's not a waste of my time."

Savoring the delicious taste on his tongue, Clayton exclaimed, then turned his wolfish eyes back to his two old rivals.

Lamia paused for a moment, then suddenly turned around, her snake-like body slithering into a small alleyway on the side of the street, disappearing into the darkness in an instant.

The shaman threw down his horse-head staff and knelt down with a thud.

"Please, spare me! I'm willing to be your slave!"

The celestial cartographer, seeing the situation, grumbled a few times in dissatisfaction, then turned and flew away.

All the enemies have made their statements, but the mummy is still lying alone not far away, recovering its body.