Overlord: Start from the Goblin Lair.

Chapter 54 Manticore

"Oh, poor horse."

The team rushed down immediately. Sera looked at the blood and flesh residues on the ground that had not been completely washed away, and shook her head with regret.

"There's not even a bone left. It seems the creature we're looking for has a good appetite." Victoria looked at the ground where the horse's outline was clearly pressed. It was obvious that the hunter had his meal here.

"But it's clear that its brain is not very smart, or rather, it is not very focused? It won't even choose to eat all the meat from the packhorse and then gnaw on the bones."

Ivy looked around and soon found other carriages and horse wreckage - several of the carriages once had large amounts of wood piled on them, but now the wood was scattered across the fields. Presumably it was Sulina's goods.

These horses pulling the carts were "luckier" than the first one that was eaten completely. The ferocious monster only picked out some flesh and tendons.

"There's a dead body here!" Driver called the others to see what he had found. "See? That big guy probably doesn't like to eat people!"

When everyone gathered around, they saw the body of a young man with gray-green skin, a sloping forehead, a protruding jaw, and exposed teeth. A sharp claw had ripped him open, and his internal organs were scattered all over the floor. These days, the small creatures nearby had torn them apart.

"An orc... This guy fought a desperate battle with the monster to protect his employer's property," Sera whispered, "I hope there will be a place for you in Valhalla. Your heroic battle with the monster will be repeated again and again in front of Grom's temple."

Ron: "..."

He didn't quite understand this custom or belief. Although the orc boy was indeed brave, he was killed over and over again by the monster that killed him in his lifetime? This didn't look like a blessing, did it?

"Don't mind her," Ivy whispered, "Only she and the orcs can understand this culture."

See, this is not a time travel issue.

"Stop arguing and bring me a handkerchief," Victoria bent down, took the handkerchief handed to her by Ivy, and picked up something that looked like a needle and a nail from the orc's body.

"what is this?"

Ron watched curiously, some mysterious technique of using needles to stimulate one's potential?
"I guess it's the tail spike," Victoria said solemnly. "Our guard manual has a detailed description of this creature. If I'm not mistaken, the one attacking them was not a griffin at all, but another ferocious monster!"

"Roar--!"

As a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, accompanied by thunder, a roar like that of a wild beast resounded throughout the wilderness.

Under the dim sky, Ron saw some kind of huge creature with wings on its back flying slowly from a low altitude. Even though it was still far away, he could feel the sinister malice in the other's eyes.

"Scorpion tail lion! As expected!" Victoria immediately got into a fighting stance, "Ivy, prepare to fight!"

"No need for you to tell me!" Ivy's tower shield has been set up.

Driver looked at the flying monster, and a strange light flashed in his eyes. Among the spells he obtained from nature, there is one that can help him better inflict trauma on his prey. Knowing in advance that he might face some kind of monster, the goblin hunter prepared this spell today. "How dare you, a lowly ant, break into my hunting ground and steal my prey!"

When the manticore flew closer, Ron looked at its unusually large lion body, waving dragon wings, human-like face and the slender tail covered with spikes, and then he officially identified it.

The Manticore is an undisputed monster. It has a humanoid head, a lion's body, and a pair of dragon wings. A towering mane stretches down its back, and its long, thin tail ends in a cluster of spikes. When hunting, the Manticore can shoot these dangerous spikes, impaling any prey within its tail's attack range.

And the most important point is that this thing usually hunts in groups!
“They must have been alone, hunting all the way here,” Victoria whispered. “If they were in a group, we would have known there was a manticore lair here.”

This is a relatively flat wilderness, which cannot hide a monster of this size.

“Even if there is only one of me, you guys cannot contend with me!” The manticore raised his voice even more after hearing Victoria’s words, “One, two, two and a half! Very good, two and a half whole human flesh and blood! I will thank you for your gift!”

"Just say that again?!" Ivy threw a bottle of fire glue out, but unfortunately it was raining heavily and the sticky fluid in the bottle ignited instantly in the air but was quickly extinguished, causing almost no damage to the scorpion-tailed lion.

"Pathetic half-human, you actually dare to resist!" The scorpion-tailed lion was enraged. It immediately swooped down and slammed Ivy's shield with its sharp claws.

"You stitched monster, are you worthy of calling me half-human?!" Ivy was not in a good mood either, and she immediately started a fight with him. Beside her, Sera and Driver rushed up from the left and right to attack him. Victoria's blessing took effect at the same time, and Ron's freezing ray was more powerful due to the cold rainy day, leaving a string of ice crystals and wounds on the manticore's leather wings.

"Hoo! That's enough!"

The scorpion-tailed lion was soon unable to hold out, and the dragon wings behind it suddenly created a whirlwind, blowing away the little guy who was obviously the smallest but posed the greatest threat to him, and at the same time carrying himself into the air.

"Watch out! It's ready to use its tail spike!"

Ron shouted in a deep voice, and at the same time, the magic missiles in his hand shot out like a string, bombarding the manticore.

"Ding ding dang dang--" Several people quickly hid behind Ivy and Victoria. With a series of sounds of metal colliding, most of the tail nails were blocked.

Victoria looked worriedly at the shield in her hand that was about to fall apart, and threw it aside.

"You really need to change one!" Driver shouted with gritted teeth. He had just been hiding behind this unreliable shield and was hit by a bullet in the thigh.

"I want it too!" Victoria didn't bother to argue with this guy and threw a healing spell at the goblin, "Hurry up and knock it down!"

"I want to, too!" Driver rolled over on the ground, narrowly avoiding the opponent's claw that was pouncing from the air. He shot two arrows in his reverse hand, causing sparks to fly off the scales of the scorpion-tailed lion.

This was the first time they faced this kind of flying monster, and the terrain was not friendly to them. It was difficult for Ivy to protect everyone, while the Manticore could continuously dive from the air to attack Ron, Sera and Driver, whose armor was relatively weak, making it miserable for them. It was even difficult for the barbarians to touch the opponent.

(End of this chapter)