Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 349 Only this way will you know you're wielding a shield and axe.
In any case, being cautious is never a bad thing...

Thinking this, Lin Lin thrust his sword into his shield and forcefully blocked the thick tail hammer that was being swung at him. His body slid back several meters, his blood and qi surged, and his arm also felt a little sore and numb.

Looking up at the horned dragon, its body covered in numerous wounds and frostbite, it looked somewhat disheveled, yet remained energetic and showed no signs of fatigue. Although it had many wounds, most of them, including those from the ice blast, were only superficial. While they caused pain, they did not affect the horned dragon's fighting ability; instead, they only made it more frenzied.

Only the wound on its leg tore through the outer muscle fibers of the horned dragon, making it somewhat difficult to exert force smoothly, thus causing some inconvenience when turning and running.

If the fight continues like this, the Diablos won't be able to do anything to me, but it's also unlikely that I can leave this guy here directly. It's more likely that the Diablos will eventually give up its killing intent and retreat on its own after its stamina is depleted.

So here's the problem: this horned dinosaur has claimed this trade route as its own territory. Lin Lin was attacked by a horned dinosaur in this same area last time, meaning it's very likely that it was the culprit behind both attacks.

If it retreats this time, will other caravans be attacked in the same way next time, and the time after that, when they pass through this area?
Based on Lin Lin's understanding of the guild's operating style, once this attack was reported to the guild, the horned dragon would definitely be placed on a hunting quest. It's even possible that it had already been placed on a quest, had already fought with the hunter, and had successfully survived.

Lin Lin's guess was mainly based on the various old and new wounds on the horned dragon's body, as well as its extremely fast reaction speed in the previous battle—for small creatures like humans, this guy always seemed to be able to find the most suitable angle and method of attack in the shortest amount of time, as if it had a lot of experience fighting hunters.

If he couldn't kill it on the spot and it got away, he would probably have to wait until he got to Lokrak to accept the commission, then cross the desert back here to search for the guy again, spending ten days to half a month to kill it. Obviously, he didn't have that time.

If only there was a guild receptionist nearby, they could just stamp the official seal and immediately accept the commission to start the hunt, without having to go through all that trouble...

In the current situation, to complete the hunt on the spot, we must unleash as many powerful attacks as possible, or, depending on the circumstances, use a shorter-acting powerful attack to inflict a fatal blow on the Diablos. This, however, requires gambling, just like before, hoping that this attack will cause a stun, or hoping that we can break its shield and block before the next attack arrives.

Lin Lin couldn't help but click his tongue. The current weapon technology is still not mature enough. When will the Charge Blade be improved so that it doesn't have to disarm due to overheating after the Super Amped Elemental Discharge? Then there will be enough flexibility to deal with things, whether it's rolling to dodge or using the Wirebug for movement.

A crossbow bolt made of iron ore flew in with a whoosh, aiming at the angry eyes below the horn of the horned dragon. Unfortunately, the horned dragon's eyes were not large to begin with, and it kept moving around during the battle. The arrow only hit its pair of majestic horns, leaving a white dot with a ding, before bouncing off to the ground to the side.

"Roar!"

The horned dragon roared in anger. That arrow was extremely dangerous; it had almost blinded one of its eyes. Realizing the threat posed by that seemingly harmless attack, it temporarily shifted its attention away from Lin Lin and turned to bow to the nearby dragons, Yezao and Tiaotiao. Fortunately, Tiaotiao reacted quickly and dodged the arrow with a backflip.

As the horned dragon turned around, its rear end was facing Lin Lin, and its thick tail swayed above Lin Lin's head.

It's a weakness; this move is a gamble!
In the heat of battle, opportunities are fleeting. After clarifying his thoughts, he made a decision almost instantly. As the horned dragon turned its rear end towards him, he released a Wirebug with one hand and swung the Shark Guardian, which was in the form of an axe, high into the air with the other.

Axe jump! Aerial super-automatic!
Smash it for me!
Lin Lin clenched his teeth, suppressing his habit of shouting out loud in order to exert maximum strength, and only roared in his heart.

"Crack!"

That's the sound of the brownish-yellow ring-shaped carapace on a ceratopsian's tail breaking.

"laugh!"

That was the sound of a chilling axe blade piercing the tough flesh of a horned dragon's tail.

"squeak"

This is the sound of an ice-blue axe blade colliding and rubbing against the stark white bones within the flesh of a horned dragon.

"Ow!"

This was the painful howl of the horned dragon that had just been about to take a step to chase after the nimble, leaping horned dragon.

Lin Lin landed and, without even catching his breath, hurriedly pressed the mechanism, attempting to speed up the automatic separation of the sword and shield.

Unfortunately, this maneuver only offered psychological comfort. The brownish-yellow behemoth, panting heavily, turned around again, and the pair of deadly weapons above its head swept towards Lin Lin with a whistling sound.

Damn, that's a really fast reaction time. This thing has definitely fought with hunters more than once!
Seeing the pair of giant horns sweeping over, Lin Lin had no choice but to abandon the sword and shield that had just been split in half and lunge backward.

Feeling the wind whistling past behind him and the gravel and pebbles that were being whipped up by the airflow and made a crackling sound as they hit his body, Lin Lin's adrenaline surged. He didn't even look back, nor did he try to get up. Instead, he simply rolled around on the ground like a lazy donkey.

However, this roll was not in a direction away from the horned dragon, but rather it rolled towards the horned dragon.

This action startled Date Palm, who was watching from the side, and she almost instinctively threw a flashbang to interrupt Diablos's movement.

However, the next moment, Yezao realized that Lin Lin's choice was correct.

But the horned dragon twisted its body dramatically, using its horns as weapons to sweep from left to right. It did not stop there, but instead used its immense strength to forcefully twist its body and take a step forward, sweeping from right to left at an even faster speed.

With its size, a horned dinosaur can cover four or five meters in a single step. If Lin Lin had rolled away from it, he would not have been able to escape the range of the second attack that was following closely behind.

The horned dragon's step and Lin Lin's choice to roll towards it saved his life. Apart from his armor being covered in dust and making him look a bit disheveled, he was completely unharmed.

The injury Lin Lin sustained during his initial Super Amped Explosion did indeed have an effect. The Diablos took two consecutive large twists of its body, relying entirely on the powerful muscles of its legs. This burst of power caused the wound on its leg, which had already stopped bleeding, to reopen, causing it to stagger and sway before regaining its footing.

Taking advantage of the moment, Lin Lin pounced and quickly retrieved his sword and shield. He then rolled over and stood up again, cautiously observing the horned dragon's movements and condition.

Blood gushed from its left leg, and nearly half of its tail was sliced ​​open. The heavy, thick tail club was only held together by the remaining half of its flesh, and it looked precarious. It seemed that it didn't need to attack anymore; if it just swung its tail a few more times, it could easily fling the other half of its tail off.

A sinister smile crept onto Lin Lin's lips. Although this gamble was extremely dangerous, the potential rewards were considerable. The horned dragon's tail was already half-destroyed. If he could completely sever it, he could not only disable one of the horned dragon's most powerful weapons, but also affect its balance and make it easier for Lin Lin to stun it.

It's a pity that I dealt two heavy blows to this horned dragon, so it will definitely focus more on me and it won't be easy to find an opportunity to completely sever its tail...

A familiar low-frequency hum came from the corner of Lin Lin's eye, and he saw a bright red light rushing towards the horned dragon.

That is……

As the red figure rushed towards the horned head, it nimbly drew an arc, bypassing the pair of hard, bony horns, and slammed into the rather small side of the face compared to the horns.

Yoko's predator, Koka!

With a sudden tug on the flying insect, Lin Lin moved several meters to the side, dodging another sandstorm attack from the horned dragon's double-horn ploughing attack, and glanced to the side in the process.

A figure soared through the air, wielding a double-headed sword that danced like a windmill, leaving white marks on the horned dragon's body. The marks were then scorched into faint char by the red and black lightning.

The visitor was none other than Ye Zi!
A smile involuntarily crept onto Lin Lin's lips, but this smile was much more peaceful than the previous ferocious one.

He was genuinely happy.

If he and Date Jumper were to rely solely on himself, he would still need to gamble to have a chance of successfully holding the horned dragon. However, with Yoko's help, he could confidently go all out.

"Yoko! I'll distract it. You try to cut off its tail first!"

The female hunter, also clad in the emerald-green Zinogre armor set, slashed the tip of her insectoid glaive across the Diablos's massive body, using the momentum to propel herself lightly towards its tail. At the same time, a clear voice echoed in mid-air:

"understand!"

The horned dinosaur sensed something above its body and was about to turn its head to look and attack when Lin Lin had already lunged forward and slashed at the horned dinosaur's side, the wound overlapping with the one-horned piercing wound left by the trebuchet beetle.

"What are you looking at, motherfucker? Your opponent is me!"

The aggressive and provocative remarks successfully drew the horned dragon's aggro. It slightly bent its neck and then slammed its head down hard towards Lin Lin's position.

However, such an obvious pre-movement could not escape Lin Lin's notice. He shifted his feet slightly, took a sliding step and slashed backward to create distance, and then used his sword to strike the giant horn that was piercing into the rock in front of him.

"when!"

The sound of metal clashing rang out, and Lin Lin felt as if his sword had struck a refined sparrow stone. The force of the recoil was so great that the sword almost slipped from his hand.

That's fucking hard...

"Don't panic, brother, I'm here to help you!"

Another figure rushed over, leaping off the back of the hound as it approached the battlefield. In mid-air, it drew its amber-colored Ice Fang Crimson Blade and, using the force of its spin, slashed the katana diagonally down in front of it.

"when!"

With another crisp sound, Brave landed on the ground, his arm trembling slightly involuntarily, causing his long katana to shake as well.

"Damn...it's so hard..."

Lin Lin: ...

I admit you looked cool when you shouted "I'm here to help you" and descended from the sky wielding a knife, but you also looked really pathetic when your hands were shaking uncontrollably.

What does it mean to be cool for only three seconds? This is it.

What? I'm a mess too? Never mind then.

Lin Lin moved his left arm slightly, quickly suppressing the soreness and numbness, then turned his head slightly and nodded to Bref beside him:

"I'll take the front, you and Yezi cut off its tail first!"

Bref glanced at Lin Lin's condition. Apart from being covered in dust and looking a bit disheveled, he was basically fine. So without saying a word, he grabbed his katana and circled around to the side of the horned dragon.

He was very familiar with cutting off the tail. It was simple: first, let it accumulate three layers of energy blades, then use Kamui Iai, and he was guaranteed to cut it off!
If Lin Lin alone could hold his own against the Diablos, with the addition of his teammates Ye Zi and Bref, as well as the support from Ye Zi and Tiao Tiao, the Diablos quickly became overwhelmed and unable to defend itself effectively.

Another sharp pain shot through its tail, followed by a sudden lightness behind it. The abrupt change in the distribution of its weight caused the horned dragon to involuntarily take two steps forward. At the same time, the wound on its leg, left by Lin Lin and deepened by Brev, also hindered the horned dragon's ability to exert force. After two steps, the horned dragon completely lost its balance and tumbled to the ground.

The three hunters, of course, would not let such a wonderful opportunity to attack pass them by. They each found their positions and began to hurl their weapons at the Diablos.

At this moment, the horned dragon's brain, consumed by raging fury, finally regained some of its rationality. Its tail was broken, its body was covered in wounds, and its once heavy body, capable of destroying everything like a cannonball, now became an obstacle to movement. The massive depletion of its stamina and the pervasive weakness and pain coldly told it one fact:
This time, the few little ones it encountered were far more troublesome than the other members of its kind it had casually dealt with before.

No, I have to run! If I don't run now, I might die!

Driven by its survival instinct, the horned dragon somehow mustered another strength and managed to stand up despite the attacks of the three hunters, covered in blood. Without even glancing at the three, it charged single-mindedly towards the fine sand beyond the rock platform.

As long as I can get there...

(End of this chapter)