Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 454 Another Broken Horn

Under the gaze of the Qilin, Lin Lin couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He didn't want to fight this little electric scooter right after driving away the Heavenly Returning Dragon.

To avoid any misunderstanding, Lin Lin resisted the urge to lick the blood off his shield and axe, put the weapon behind his back, and showed Qilin his empty hands to indicate that he meant no harm.

Qilin's gaze lingered on the shield and axe behind Lin Lin for a moment before its eyes, like red agate, turned back to Lin Lin.

To be honest, until Lin Lin launched his sneak attack on Tianhuilong, Qilin never imagined that such a seemingly small body could contain such powerful strength. Coupled with that strangely shaped and extremely sharp golden weapon, its destructive power was even more threatening than Tianhuilong's wing claw strikes.

Having discovered that the other party was not a weak life that needed its protection, but a powerful being that could pose a threat to it, the Qilin focused its attention on Lin Lin after driving away the Tianhui Dragon, remaining vigilant and wary of him.

At this moment, Lin Lin slung the weapon behind his back and then spread out his empty hands towards it. Although there was no communication, the Qilin still understood his body language.

There was no hostility...

As the Qilin thought this, the electric light dancing on its body gradually dimmed. It carefully looked at Lin Lin, deeply imprinting his aura and image in its mind, before slowly turning around and limping away from the scorched battlefield.

Hey! We were temporary comrades-in-arms fighting side by side, weren't we? You just turned around and left without a word?

Lin Lin wanted to catch up and try to get closer to this "family member," but he had only taken two steps when a dazzling bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, the intense flash forcing him to raise his hand to shield his eyes.

When the flash disappeared and Lin Lin looked up again, the Qilin was no longer in sight; only the large crater left by the lightning strike remained.

"This is... teleportation?"

The Qilin made its appearance in the same way, but Lin Lin hadn't thought of that at the time. He just assumed that the guy was very fast and had arrived at the battlefield under the cover of lightning.

But after a fierce battle with the Heavenly Returning Dragon, this Qilin was already walking with a stagger and a limp. How could it still run so fast? Apart from using the lightning teleportation, Lin Lin couldn't think of any other explanation.

Lin Lin suddenly remembered something else: every ten years, ancient dragons would undertake a large-scale migration known as the Ancient Dragon Crossing.

Master Kevin once mentioned in a casual conversation that in order to investigate the phenomenon of the Elder Dragons crossing, the guild organized an Elder Dragon Investigation Team to go to the New World to explore the truth of the Elder Dragons' migration. The first and third teams chased the Kushala Daora, the second team chased the Teostra, and the fourth team, which set off a few years ago, tracked another Elder Dragon, the Kirin.

—Well, to be precise, it should be a large-scale abnormal lightning strike phenomenon caused by tracking the Qilin's movement. After all, it's really too difficult to find a monster about the size of the Great Wild Boar King on the vast ocean.

Both Kushala Daora and Teostra have wings and can fly, so it's understandable that they could cross the vast ocean to reach the New World. But Kirin can't fly, and its body structure means it's not a good swimmer. So how did it get to the New World? Surely it didn't run across the sea?

But looking at the empty crater left after the lightning struck, Lin Lin felt as if he had found an explanation.

Perhaps the Qilin crosses the ocean by transforming into lightning and continuously teleporting...

Shaking his head helplessly, Lin Lin turned around to pick up the broken horn of the Heavenly Returning Dragon, tucked it into his waistband, and was about to turn back to find Ye Zi and Tiao Tiao when his movements suddenly froze. He turned his head in surprise to look in the direction where the Qilin had just left, where thunderclouds rolled in the sky and lightning kept falling.

Wait, isn't the battle already over? What's wrong with this guy?

No, I sensed it just now; the Qilin's mental state was fine! It's fighting with something else again!
Thinking of this, Lin Lin did not hesitate at all and ran towards the direction where the lightning struck.

Fortunately, perhaps due to exhaustion, the distance the Qilin had teleported was not far. Lin Lin rushed to the scene in less than a minute, and as soon as he arrived, he saw the Golden Lion fighting the Qilin.

The golden lion, its fur jet black, neither golden nor lion-like, roared, raising its head. Its thick forelegs stretched out to the sides, revealing its strong, black-furred pectoral muscles. Its arms were spread wide, and its powerful hind legs pushed off the ground, lunging towards the qilin.
Predation! Dude! Where did this golden lion spawn from?
The Qilin was clearly aware of the threat posed by the black-haired ape. Ignoring its exhaustion, it forcefully raised its horns, and several bolts of lightning struck down from the sky, accurately hitting the black-haired ape in an attempt to stop it.

Unfortunately, the fur covering the entire body of the golden lion is actually a hollow conductor, while its skin has excellent insulation properties. This means that if struck by lightning, most of the current will be conducted to the ground through the fur, making it difficult to harm the golden lion's body.

If the Kirin were still at its peak, the power of the lightning it summoned might have been enough to stun its opponent even after being weakened by its body hair. However, it had just gone through a fierce battle with the Tenkai Dragon, and was severely lacking in stamina and had also suffered considerable injuries. Even the lightning it summoned seemed somewhat weak, and such an attack couldn't even cause the Golden Lion's movements to change in the slightest.

By the time the Qilin realized it had failed to interrupt its opponent's actions, it was too late to leap away and create distance. The Golden Lion's outstretched hand grabbed the Qilin's head with one hand and pressed down on its back with the other. With its immense strength, the Golden Lion pinned the Qilin firmly in place, and no matter how much the Qilin struggled, it could not break free.

Just as the Golden Lion was about to change its posture, forcibly wrapping one arm around the Qilin's neck while the other hand, which was holding the Qilin's head, reached for the lightning-wrapped horn on the Qilin's head, Lin Lin, without even taking a moment to catch his breath, immediately threw out the Flying Insect and propelled his entire body toward the Golden Lion.

Looking at the golden lion's scarlet eyes and the blackish-purple saliva dripping from its mouth, Lin Lin felt a headache coming on. This was a golden lion infected with the Mad Dragon Disease!
Although he couldn't be sure if it was the same one he had encountered on Mount Latio, Lin Lin was absolutely certain of one thing: he must not let this guy eat Doritos!

The Golden Lion in its berserk dragon form is already troublesome enough. If it were to activate the electricity within its body, and even unleash its battle qi transformation or harden its battle qi, given its ferocious nature of attacking any living thing it sees, this guy would undoubtedly become a super huge threat!
"Crack!"

As the golden lion exerted force with its paw, fine cracks gradually appeared on the horn on the Qilin's head, and the cracks grew larger and larger as the force increased.

Just as the Golden Lion was about to exert one more force to break it off completely, Lin Lin finally arrived.

Without the slightest hesitation, after releasing the iron silk from the Wireworm, Lin Lin drew his shield axe, swung the shield, and delivered a powerful downward strike. "Bang!"

The Golden Lion is known for its immense strength, but Lin Lin's strength is equally formidable. This powerful shield smash knocked its head slightly off-center, and the arm that was firmly gripping the Qilin also lost some of its strength.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Qilin exerted force with its four hooves, twisted its body, and forcibly broke free from the golden lion's control. Then, it leaped several times in succession, widening the distance between itself and the golden lion. Its eyes were fixed on the golden lion and the figure that had suddenly appeared and attacked the golden lion.

The golden lion was incredibly powerful. Its thick arms gripped its already injured body, causing it excruciating pain. Its horns were torn open with large cracks. Even though they were still connected by the surrounding lightning, they were already teetering on the brink of collapse and would break completely at the slightest impact.

In the past, upon realizing the opponent's strength, the Qilin would have admitted defeat and, to save its life, would have had to abandon the dignity of an ancient dragon and slink away. But now, after seeing the figure of a shield falling from the sky and striking the golden lion on the head, it hesitated.

The golden lion, infected with the Mad Dragon Disease, was already quite irritable and aggressive towards everything. It had only crossed half the continent and found this place because of its obsession with eating Doritos and completing its coming-of-age ceremony. Now that the Doritos it had finally obtained had suddenly grown hooves and run away, it was furious.

Without a second thought, the Golden Lion raised his fist and delivered a heavy punch to the culprit right in front of him.

"when!"

The magnificent golden shield rose precisely to meet the punch, and after receiving the blow, it simply sank downwards to absorb all the immense force contained within the heavy punch.

Lin Lin let out a muffled groan, gritting his teeth. He felt himself sink a bit from the punch, but when the golden lion straightened up, it found that its opponent was not injured. The golden sword then slashed down at it.

The golden lion instinctively raised its arm to defend itself, and the blade struck its forearm, shaving off a tuft of black fur while leaving a bloody gash on its strong arm.

It wasn't deep. After cutting through the skin, the blade was blocked by the tough muscles inside. If Lin Lin hadn't changed his force in time, turning the slash into a cut, the sword would probably have gone a little deeper and gotten stuck in the muscles. And once the movement was hindered, the Golden Lion's fist would probably have come down.

The golden lion was slashed on the arm, which brought a sharp pain, but the pain only fueled its ferocity. It completely ignored the wound on its arm and instead leaped back to create distance. Then it opened its arms again, but this time it was not aimed at the Qilin, but at Lin Lin.

Predation, again?
Lin Lin had no intention of defending against this move. He wanted to test whether a real shield could block a throwing technique. If it couldn't, wouldn't he become a "Lin Lin figurine"? He didn't want to experience what it felt like to be loved so much.

Lin Lin glanced at the distance and slid back, narrowly avoiding the pair of dark hands. He twisted his waist and spun around, aiming a spinning slash at the golden lion's head, but it was blocked by the pair of large horns.

It's very hard, and I feel it's no less hard than the horn of the Heavenly Dragon. I just don't know how it compares to the horn of the Qilin.

While Lin Lin and the Golden Lion were engaged in fierce combat, the Qilin watched the battlefield with its agate-like eyes. It neither moved away nor rushed up to fight the Golden Lion. It only tentatively summoned a bolt of lightning when it slightly distanced itself from Lin Lin and the Golden Lion, which struck the Golden Lion.

Of course, it was completely outmatched by the Golden Lion, so this attack was insignificant, at most it slightly distracted the Golden Lion, giving Lin Lin, who was directly confronting the Golden Lion's pressure, a chance to catch his breath.

Facing the small but agile Golden Lion, Lin Lin dared not switch to axe mode rashly, fearing that the opponent would catch him during the recovery of his attack and punch him. He simply waited for the right opportunity to use Insect Guard, activate Red Shield, and fill up his bottles.

In direct combat, Lin Lin was extremely cautious, mostly dodging or using his shield for defense. His few counterattacks were merely swinging his sword, leaving no room for error and giving Golden Lion no chance whatsoever. When Golden Lion tried to ignore this "iron turtle" and go back to Kirin to break some Doritos, Kirin would quickly and alertly create distance and circle around to Lin Lin's rear, forcing Golden Lion to face Lin Lin's shield again.

The situation remained deadlocked for a time, with the three sides on the battlefield seemingly only able to test their physical strength and see who would give up first and who could hold out until the end.

However, the course of a battle is always subject to change.

"Dragon Subduing!"

With a roar full of heroic spirit, the Golden Lion subconsciously looked up and saw a bug club rapidly enlarging in his eyes.

It only managed to turn its head to avoid the vital spot near its eyes, but its wrinkled, demon-like cheek was slashed open by the sharp blade, and blood splattered out.

As the Insect Stick landed, Yoko didn't hesitate; she immediately flipped over, creating distance between herself and Shiki.

While there was certainly a consideration to avoid being attacked by the Golden Lion's counterattack, the main reason was to dodge the second attack that followed closely from the sky.

"Oh!"

Leaping down, its talons slammed heavily onto the golden lion's head with tremendous force. Before the golden lion could react, it shoved its head into the ground, creating a large, spiderweb-like crater.

The Qilin, which had been thinking it was cooperating quite well with Lin Lin, was suddenly stunned and couldn't quite process the change in the situation.

Ye Zi's appearance is understandable; his physique is very similar to Lin Lin's, so they might be of the same kind. It's normal for people of the same kind to help each other. But what is this dark-skinned guy that appeared later?
If I remember correctly, didn't I just team up with that human to drive away something that looked similar?

(End of this chapter)