Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 465 Extremely Dark
"Roar!!!"

The roar of the Heavenly Dragon became the clarion call for the official start of the battle.

Fabius took the lead, raising his spear and charging towards the Heavenly Dragon, almost shoving his great shield into the dragon's face to draw its attention and create opportunities for his teammates to attack.

Julius crossed his twin swords above his head, gave a slight tremor, and activated his Demon Transformation. He lowered his body and followed behind Fabius, using Fabius's cover to execute a Demon Charge Slash, spinning his body and slipping into the side of the Heavenly Dragon.

Although Aiden was also charging, he did not immediately draw his sword. Instead, he circled around to a relatively wide-viewing area on the flank of the Heavenly Dragon. When the enemy's attention was not on him, he would take the opportunity to sneak up and attack. Most of the time, he was constantly observing the situation of his three teammates so that he could provide support at any time.

Nadia, naturally, was holding the Fire Dragon Destruction Cannon in her hands, constantly pouring fireballs at the Sky Returning Dragon. The platinum scales that had just regenerated were scorched by the flames and quickly turned charred again—the hair-like scales growing on the Black Corrosion Dragon's wing membrane were particularly easy to ignite with fire-attribute energy. Although the opponent had now transformed into a Sky Returning Dragon, it seemed that its resistance to fire had not increased much, which was undoubtedly good news for them.

With Fabius providing cover, Julius burst into the flank of the Sky Dragon, slashing rapidly with his twin swords at an extremely high frequency, constantly colliding with the Sky Dragon's wing claws. However, these weak slashes landed on the scales with a crisp "clanging" sound, leaving shallow wounds that could not even break through the outer shell's defenses.

This startled Julius slightly. After molting, the strength of the Sky Returning Dragon's wings and claws was clearly much greater than when it was the Black Eclipse Dragon.

"Watch out, it's noticed you!"

Fabius, who was constantly thrusting his spear at the Sky Returning Dragon from the front, noticed the dragon's gaze shifting downwards and immediately shouted.

Without hesitation, Julius remained in his demon form and quickly took two steps to dash out from under the wings of the Heavenly Dragon.

"call--"

The enormous wing claws grazed Julius's back, leaving a huge, arc-shaped claw mark on the flat ground of the restricted area.

Feeling the strong wind behind him, Julius was not too upset. As a seasoned high-ranking hunter, he had experienced such dangerous moments countless times.

Without stopping, he quickly turned back and burrowed under the body of the Heavenly Returning Dragon once more. This time, however, his purpose was to test the changes in the Heavenly Returning Dragon's defensive strength. He rapidly changed his footing and, in just a few breaths, slashed from head to tail.

"Be careful, this guy's defense has improved a lot compared to before! Only his head and forelegs can be considered weak points!"

Using his large shield to forcefully block the heavy blow from the Heavenly Returning Dragon's wing claws, Fabius maintained his defensive stance, but his body involuntarily slid back several meters. A metallic taste rose in his throat, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
"Physical strength too!"

Before his transformation, Fabius's great shield could usually block most of the attacks, but now that the transformed Tianhuilong's physical strength has increased dramatically, he is obviously struggling to defend himself. If he is attacked continuously, he probably won't be able to withstand it.

Fortunately, Aiden increased his attack on the Heavenly Returning Dragon, diverting some of his attention and giving him a chance to catch his breath.

This time, facing their former rivals again, the top team felt significantly increased pressure. Only through the tacit cooperation of the four team members was they able to barely maintain a stalemate.

However, even when the Celestial Dragon was fighting with its physical body and had not used the power it possessed as an Ancient Dragon that was enough to be called a calamity, the scales of victory were already tipping in its favor.

From the moment they pushed open the stone door and stepped into this forbidden area where the sunlight was obscured by black mist, the four members of the elite team were once again infected with the Mad Dragon Disease due to the ubiquitous, dense scale powder. However, the immense pressure brought by the Heavenly Returning Dragon made it difficult for them to find an opportunity to take the antidote.

Even if they manage to take the antidote, the dense scales in this place are eroding their bodies every second. They are cured one second and infected again the next.

The amount of supplies they carry is limited. Once the antidote and the antidote fruit are consumed, the top hunters will inevitably become weak due to the onset of the Mad Dragon Disease. At that time, the situation they have managed to maintain by barely holding on to it will quickly collapse.

Of course, besides the antidote and the fruit of destruction, constantly unleashing power to attack and activate the body's immune system can also effectively suppress the onset of the Mad Dragon Disease. However, for top hunters who are directly under the pressure of the Heavenly Dragon, they simply cannot find any opportunity to unleash a suppressive attack.

What's worse is that even when things are already this bad, they can still get even worse.

Tianhuilong originally thought that he had completed the most important transformation in his life and greatly increased his strength. He should be able to easily wipe out this enemy who had once made him feel troubled, beat him into a rout, and then play him to death in fear.

However, the current stalemate is clearly not what it wants to see, which makes it quite dissatisfied and angry.

Having abandoned its initial cat-and-mouse mentality, Tianhuilong flapped its wings forcefully, its body soaring into the air. Using the strong winds from the mountain in the sky, it hovered in mid-air, its wings raised high, forming a halo radiating a cold, white-gold light.

"Roar!!!"

It has decided to go all out!

With a change of thought, the raging dragon power surging within its body was activated, and the black mist that had been obscuring the sky above the forbidden area became even thicker, completely blocking out the sunlight. The forbidden area itself changed from dim to pitch black.

Within this domain formed by the power of the mad dragon, it, the Heavenly Returning Dragon, is the only sun!
Apart from the Sky Dragon, which is extremely conspicuous in the dark, hunters can only rely on the muzzle flash of the fire dragon's cannon and the faint light from the flames ignited by the fireballs to identify their surroundings. If it weren't for the relatively flat terrain of the restricted area, with almost no steps, their movements would probably be extremely restricted.

"Roar!!!"

The Heavenly Dragon roared again, its orange-red eyes revealing a human-like mockery as it looked at the four hunters who were on high alert.

Back then in the primeval forest, it had just completed its metamorphosis and was not yet proficient in mastering the abilities of the Heavenly Returning Dragon. It was only because of the interference of the Qilin that it had to retreat. However, the intense battle with the Qilin also allowed it to quickly master the unique combat abilities of the Heavenly Returning Dragon. Now, prepare for your belated defeat!
As the Heavenly Returning Dragon roared, a cluster of dark purple lights suddenly appeared on the ground below, amidst the darkness.

Although they didn't know exactly what had happened, their instincts told them that it was definitely not a good thing, and the hunters quickly dodged out of the range of the dark purple light.

Almost instantly, the condensed eerie light shot upwards, accompanied by a muffled roar—the highly condensed dragon dust, controlled by the Heavenly Returning Dragon, had exploded. Even though the hunters avoided the exact center of the blast, the shockwave still caused a tightness in their chests, resulting in minor convulsion injuries. Causing such an explosion seemed extremely easy for the Heavenly Returning Dragon. As it flapped its wings and landed back on the ground, it almost immediately raised its head, blackish-purple light surging from its mouth.

The next moment, a breath formed entirely of high-concentration Mad Dragon Virus roared out, accompanied by the twisting of the Heavenly Returning Dragon's head, and swept precisely towards the four hunters.

The elite team was horrified, never expecting that after transforming into the Heavenly Returning Dragon, it would possess a breath attack similar to the Armored Dragon's high-heat ray.

Faced with the immense threat posed by this attack, Nadia decisively put away her ballista and sprinted towards the direction of the Heavenly Dragon. Just as the breath was about to reach her, she suddenly lunged forward, allowing the breath to narrowly graz the edge of her body. Even from the slightest contact, Nadia let out a muffled groan, and her dark face suddenly turned three shades pale.

"Get behind me!"

Fabius roared and raised his heavy shield, which was as thick as a fortress, in front of him. Aiden and Julius did not hesitate either, and rushed forward, hiding behind Fabius before being caught by the breath attack.

"drink--"

Fabius pressed almost his entire weight onto the heavy shield, yet he was still forced backward by the force of the breath attack. The impact of the collision caused Fabius, who was already seriously injured, to cough up a mouthful of blood.

Seeing that Fabius was about to give up, Aiden quickly grabbed a handful of life dust and a handful of hardening dust, and threw them at Fabius at the same time.

With this support, Fabius, who was about to reach his limit, managed to hold on until the terrifying breath of the Heavenly Dragon ended.

The instant he sensed the breath attack cease, Julius drew his twin swords again, activated his Demon Transformation, and charged at the Heavenly Dragon once more, determined not to give it another chance to unleash such a powerful breath attack.

However, after the Tenkai Dragon took flight, the distance between them became too great. Before Julius could even get close, the Tenkai Dragon had already adjusted its stance, opened its mouth again, and aimed at the fast-moving dual-wielder.

Julius's pupils contracted slightly, his adrenaline surged, and his gaze was fixed on the mouth of the Heavenly Returning Dragon. After seeing a purple light shoot out, he did not hesitate to gather his strength and take two consecutive sliding steps forward.

Out of the corner of his eye, Julius saw the purple light streak past him, and he felt a sense of relief; he had finally dodged it.

In just a few seconds, Julius had successfully closed the distance. Without hesitation, he focused his mind, spun around, and swung his twin swords like a top, aiming for the head of the Heavenly Dragon.

Feeling the blade slice through scales and tear through flesh, Julius thought to himself, "If this continues, it might work..."

"Watch your back!"

As Nadia's voice rang out, Julius's pupils constricted sharply.

How is this possible? The Heavenly Dragon just exhaled another breath, how can it launch another attack so quickly?

Without time to think, he tried to dodge to the side. However, the demon transformation was extremely taxing on his stamina. Even though he had drunk a stamina-boosting drug before the fight, the repeated dodges and long-distance sprints still exhausted him. Now, when he tried to dodge again, he was a fraction slower in putting his weight on his feet.

"Oh!"

Struck hard from behind, Julius's vision went black for a moment, and he was thrown several meters forward by the powerful impact.

"Julius! Fabius! Aiden!"

After a cry of alarm, the sound of ballistae firing rang out continuously. Nadia gritted her teeth and endured the dull pain in her body, trying her best to attract the attention of the Heavenly Returning Dragon so that it would not have time to pursue her teammates.

She had barely managed to dodge the breath attack and had just gotten up when she saw Tianhuilong exhale another breath attack.

Somewhat strangely, for some reason, the Heavenly Returning Dragon's accuracy seemed to have deteriorated significantly this time, and the dark purple energy ball landed far behind Julius, Fabius, and Aiden.

The next moment, she saw the high concentration of the Mad Dragon virus split into several smaller energy balls, and as if summoned by the Heavenly Returning Dragon, they rushed towards the Heavenly Returning Dragon again—and between the energy balls and the Heavenly Returning Dragon were three melee hunters who were completely unprepared behind them.

None of them expected that the Heavenly Dragon's attack could be so insidious. While focusing on fighting it head-on, they also needed to guard against a guided, delayed sneak attack from behind.

Enduring the pain from the flames burning its body, the Heavenly Dragon paid no attention to Nadia. It knew that this was an opportunity it had created with great difficulty. If it could take care of the three melee hunters now, then only the archer would remain, whom it could easily handle.

Just now, to ensure a hit, it deliberately dispersed a ball of energy into several smaller balls. Although it successfully knocked down three people at the same time, these humans were protected by armor, and its power was not enough to kill them. So the Heavenly Returning Dragon opened its mouth again, and purplish-black dust condensed in its mouth, about to be spat out.

Once this breath is exhaled, the hunters, who have lost the ability to resist, will have no chance of survival.

At that very moment, a golden flash suddenly exploded in the dark, restricted area.

Having stayed in this dim environment for a long time, Tianhuilong's pupils were dilated to the limit in order to see the enemy clearly so that his eyes could capture more light. However, it was precisely because of this that when the golden flash exploded, the intense light poured into Tianhuilong's eyes without reservation, and the excruciating pain of burning the retina was all too familiar!
"Phew, Brother Lin Lin, thank goodness we made it in time!"

"Yes, seniors, leave the rest of the battle to us!"

(End of this chapter)