Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 533 Never before has there been such a luxurious lineup.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Its dark red back was as high as a mountain, and every step its heavy body took caused the earth to shake.

On the city wall, a short, shrunken old dragon-man, whose body had shrunk to the size of a bean sprout, put down his binoculars, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

He is the guild master of the Minagard branch.

Besides this, this unassuming old dragon-man has another unknown identity—his older brother is the world's first hunter, the Kokot hero who once defeated a Monoblos single-handedly.

Old Dragonman didn't have his brother's powerful combat talent, but he possessed a quick-witted mind. He was able to become the chairman of the Minagard branch entirely because of his ability to command and coordinate the overall situation.

In order to better respond to the crisis brought about by Laoshanlong, he left Minagard in the rear and came to the front line to plan the battle.

"President..."

Beside the old man, a young secretary couldn't help but speak, her expression revealing her fear and worry.

"Ok?"

Do you think we can win?

The old dragon man remained silent for a moment, without giving a direct answer:
All we can do is try our best.

Clearly, even the guild leader wasn't entirely confident of winning this battle.

The secretary took a deep breath, her heart sinking uncontrollably.

This time, the battle to ambush Lao-Shan Lung involved eight high-ranking hunters, including local hunters from Minagard and hunters sent by the guild headquarters for support. Even in battles that require hunting Elder Dragons, it would be difficult to assemble such a formidable lineup.

But in the guild leader's view, even with such a formidable lineup, there was still no confidence in victory. Just how terrifying must this Lao-Shan Dragon be...?

At this very moment, the high-ranking hunters, who embody the flames of hope in everyone's hearts, are engaged in a fierce battle with Lao-Shan Lung.

The reason this fierce battle is in quotes is mainly because it was entirely a one-sided fight by the hunters. Lao-Shan Lung completely ignored the hunters' presence, simply moving forward on its own. At most, it would only react slightly when the surrounding crossbow bolts, cannons, and other armed attacks came near its eyes.

However, even these slight reactions were enough to cause the hunters a great deal of trouble.

The old mountain dragon roars with its head held high, and the huge sound waves are enough to cause the rocks on both sides of the canyon to crack and the broken rocks to roll down. If you are not careful and get hit, you will at least suffer broken bones.

If it were to lift itself up, change to a bipedal walking posture, observe the road ahead, and then lie down again, the enormous tremor would be enough to send nearby hunters flying. If they couldn't regain their balance in time, and were to be run over by the Lao-Shan Lung's forward strides, they might be too badly crushed even with a shovel...

On the front of Lao-Shan Lung's chest, a female hunter's arm muscles tensed, she gritted her teeth, and with all her might, swung the greatsword she was carrying on her back forward.

"Drink!"

True charged attack!

The Greatsword [Wang Hu] gleamed with red light as it slashed heavily into the skin on Lao-Shan Lung's chest. Sharp teeth from the giant sword, forged from the Lung's jaws, sprang out and pierced into the granite-like tough keratin.

However, that's all. Lao-Shan Lung's hide is incredibly thick, hard, and tough. This powerful slash, which could split a sleeping fire dragon open on the spot, only left an inconspicuous sword mark on Lao-Shan Lung's skin.

If we were to apply this to a human body, this level of attack would at most be like scratching someone with a fingernail; leaving a white mark would already be considered a significant effort.

Lao Shanlong showed no reaction whatsoever and continued to stride forward on its own.

Hela, the six-star greatsword user, gasped for breath as she struggled to pull out the Greatsword [Wang Hu], which had been jammed by the tough dragon hide. She then moved to the side to avoid being crushed into a pancake by Lao-Shan Lung.

"Damn, how can this guy have such thick skin!"

Graham, wielding the six-star katana, pierced Lao-Shan Lung's chest with his sword. He then used his feet to push off the Lung's body several times, leaping into the air and, with the help of gravity, bringing his longsword straight down at the sword wound left by Hela.

The crimson energy blade condensed into a straight red beam, precisely piercing into the sword wound left by Hela, instantly deepening the mark that wasn't even a proper wound by several inches.

Looking up at the unresponsive Lao-Shan Lung, Graham sheathed the True Wyvern Blade [Crimson] behind his back, then retreated helplessly to Hela's side, shaking his head and saying:

"No, even the air blade hemlock can't penetrate this guy's skin..."

The six-star Switch Axe user, Rhodes, flipped over and jumped off Lao-Shan Lung's back. After using the momentum several times to cushion his fall, he landed safely. Hearing his two companions' discussion, he couldn't help but shake his head and say:

"We've tried other places, and the chest is the weakest point on Lao-Shan Lung's body. The rest of the body is protected by its damn carapace. When the cannons hit it, they can only remove a layer of dust. There's no way to launch an attack."

He drew his [Terror Tyrant], the dark green weapon radiating intense heat and occasionally emitting wisps of dark red smoke, already in "high-output mode"—though most Switch Axe users prefer to call this state "fully sharpened," perhaps influenced by the Katana Master.

Rhodes quickly ran to Lao-Shan Lung's chest, stood in front of Hela and Graham's enlarging wounds, judged the distance, raised his hand and pressed the mechanism, changing the Switch Axe from the more convenient axe mode to the more powerful sword mode—in this respect, the Switch Axe and Charge Blade, these two transforming brothers, are completely opposite.

Taking a deep breath, Rhodes lunged forward, charging directly at Lao-Shan Lung, forcefully thrusting his Switch Axe in Sword Mode into the wound.

Zero-distance attribute-unleashing thrust, activate!

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

Sparks and dark red smoke continuously escaped from the gaps in the Lao-Shan Lung's damaged skin.

If the Super Amped Elemental Discharge (CAD) is the soul of the Charge Blade, then the Zero Discharge is the lifelong faith of Switch Axe users. "Hahahaha! Discharge the hell out of him!"

With an excited roar, Rhodes unleashed a series of explosive bursts from his Switch Axe, culminating in a massive, incredibly powerful explosion. The shockwave sent Rhodes flying five or six meters backward.

After this outburst, the energy accumulated in the Switch Axe was finally exhausted, and the blade of the Switch Axe, which originally emitted a blazing red light, cooled down and turned back into a dark green color that exuded astonishing malice.

This time, the Lao-Shan Lung, which had been indifferent to the hunters, finally reacted. It stopped moving forward, raised its upper body, and supported itself only with its tail and a pair of strong hind legs. It lowered its head and looked around the ground, searching for the source of the pricking sensation it had just felt.

Those cold, emotionless dragon eyes quickly locked onto Rhodes, who hadn't had time to move away.

Without any thought whatsoever, Lao-Shan Lung was like a machine driven purely by instinct. Upon seeing an object, it raised its claw and slapped it down.

"boom!!!"

The earth trembled violently, and large, spiderweb-like cracks appeared out of nowhere on the smooth, solid ground.

As if sweeping away a speck of dust, Lao-Shan Lung paid no further attention to it, lay down again, resumed its quadrupedal state, and continued its journey deeper into the Battle Street as if nothing had happened.

"Hey! Are you alright?"

The two hunters rushed into the scattered dust and smoke, trying to check on their companion's condition as soon as possible.

"Cough cough... I'm not dead yet..."

A weak voice came from behind them. Hela and Graham quickly followed the sound and found Rhodes lying on the ground, covered in dirt and coughing up blood from time to time.

Almost right behind him, a huge pit shaped like a dragon's claw was clearly visible.

Clearly, at that last moment, Rhodes made a desperate leap, narrowly escaping the reach of the dragon's claws; otherwise, they would have found themselves a meat pie by now.

However, although he avoided the most direct damage, the powerful shockwave from Lao-Shan Lung's slap still caused Rhodes considerable injury. If it weren't for the fact that as a high-ranking hunter, his armor was of high quality and absorbed most of the impact, he probably wouldn't even have the strength to speak right now.

Hela grabbed a handful of Life Dust and threw it over, while Graham lifted Rhodes and quickly retreated to the side to avoid being trampled by Lao-Shan Lung.

Hela took a closer look at the wound on Old Mountain Dragon's chest, where no blood was flowing out, and she couldn't help but look puzzled.

She picked up the [Terror Tyrant] from the ground and followed, intending to escort Rhodes to a safe area with Graham before returning to fight Lao-Shan Lung.

"By the way, why didn't Lao-Shan Lung react when we attacked, but it retaliated when Rhodes attacked?"

Hela was completely baffled. Could it be that the power of Zero Release is greater than that of True Charged Slash?

Graham glanced at the Deviljho Switch Axe in Hela's hand and quickly realized what was going on:

"It must be because of the stimulation from dragon-attribute energy—the Lao-Shan Lung has a very large amount of dragon-attribute energy within its body, making it exceptionally sensitive to stimulation from dragon-attribute energy!"

He paused, then explained to Hela:
"I do have a dragon-elemental longsword, but it's not nearly as good as this True Wyvern Sword [Crimson]. I read in the brochure that Lao-Shan Lung's second weakness is fire, so I brought this longsword with me."

"However, it seems that the dragon attribute is indeed the most effective now."

Hela scratched her cheek, her eyes darting around, and remained silent.

As someone who wields a greatsword, she always pursues the principle of overwhelming force with sheer power. When choosing a weapon, her primary consideration is always its strength; attributes are merely an added bonus. It's best if it hits the monster's weakness, but it doesn't matter if it doesn't. Therefore, upon learning that she had been dispatched by the guild to participate in the battle, she didn't hesitate and immediately brought her most powerful greatsword, the [King Tiger].

Unexpectedly, his powerful greatsword, which he was so proud of, didn't even break the skin of Lao-Shan Lung.

"Damn it, if only I had run faster!"

Rhodes, who had been taken to a safe area, angrily unscrewed the recovery potion and drank it down. His weapon was clearly capable of hindering Lao-Shan Lung, but he had become the first to be injured and forced to leave the battlefield, which was really hard to accept.

"Alright! Enough with the nonsense. Focus on healing your injuries and getting back into the battlefield as soon as possible. That's what matters most!"

Hela waved her hand and charged back towards Lao-Shan Lung with Graham.

……

In this battle, a total of eight high-ranking hunters participated. In addition to Manjushri, who was transporting the anti-dragon bomb, and the three hunters who came from Dongdoruma to provide support, there was also a small team of hunters from Minagard who were entangled with Lao-Shan Lung.

The six-star dual-wielder is Lin Yun, the six-star insect glaive is Bai Ye, the seven-star light crossbow is Galba, and the seven-star hunting bow is Elania.

However, while they are said to be hunters from Minagard, they actually refer to hunters who have been based in Minagard for a long time, rather than being native to the region in the strict sense.

For example, the dual-wielding swordsman Lin Yun and the insect glaive user Bai Ye, as can be seen from their distinctive names, are actually from the western continent where the Yuyun Flame Culture Circle is located, which makes them seem quite out of place when placed together with Galba and Elania.

While the trio from Dongdoruma launched a fierce attack on Lao-Shan Lung's chest, the other hunters were also busy, each doing their best to attack Lao-Shan Lung.

The twin swords used by Lin Yun appeared to be very simple in design, but the runes engraved on the blades with unclear meanings gave them an air of mystery—the Sealed Dragon Sword [Peerless Master].

Sometimes, when hunters are mining for protective stones or ores, there is a very small chance that they will unearth rusted fragments left over from the ancient times. These rusted fragments may contain all sorts of ancient weapons or other things. The Sealed Dragon Sword [Superb Skill] is a pair of ancient, severely weathered swords that have been improved with modern techniques and activated with the blood of an ancient dragon to create powerful dragon attribute energy.

Dual swords are inherently weapons with a high attack frequency, and their attributes have a particularly significant impact on their damage output. Among them, the Sealed Dragon Sword [Superb Skill] is the pinnacle of dragon attribute energy strength. Lin Yun's choice to include this weapon in the battle clearly shows that he has put in a lot of effort. If he were to unleash two sets of Demon Dance on Lao-Shan Lung's chest, just like Rod did earlier, it might provoke a counterattack from Lao-Shan Lung, thus slowing down its advance.

However, he didn't rush to do that.

(End of this chapter)