After listening to the girl's voice, Leon hesitated. The sword in his hand was now his only sense of security. Did he really have to approach it with bare hands?
"The Griffin is not a mere beast; their intelligence is not inferior to humans. At the very least, you should put away your weapon as a gesture," the girl's voice reminded.
Leon, somewhat skeptical, eyed the beast's sharp eagle eyes glaring at him. He hadn't ever considered that such a creature could possess such high intelligence, but the girl's voice certainly had no reason to lie to him.
So, he made a decision, raised his hand to sheathe his long sword and placed the Spirit Lamp on the ground. Leon tried to raise his empty hands toward the Griffin, signaling that he had no hostility.
The Griffin still showed no reaction.
Seeing this, Leon frowned, pondered for a moment, and simply removed his Sword, scabbard and all, from his waistband and placed it on the ground. Then standing up to look into the Griffin's eyes, he gestured to the Crossbow Arrow embedded in its breast, "I'm not your enemy. I just want to help you. Please don't hurt me, okay?..."
After waiting a moment, perhaps the Griffin truly understood Leon's goodwill, or maybe it was simply too weak, but the Griffin opened its beak and emitted a soft, pained whimper, its massive claw slightly lifting to the side, exposing the terrible arrow injury in its chest.
Was that a response?
Leon took a deep breath and stepped toward the creature's body.
No wonder he was nervous; approaching a beast of such immense size was far more thrilling than extracting a tooth from a tiger's mouth.
His heart pounding, Leon crouched in front of the Griffin's chest.
Good, this big fellow didn't swipe him dead with a claw. It seemed the girl's voice was right; it was indeed very intelligent.
Leon observed the arrow wound intently. The tail feathers of the Crossbow Arrow were exquisite, and he could even see intricate patterns carved on the surface of the stout arrow shaft exposed outside, and upon closer inspection, there seemed to be faint purple arcs of light swirling on the arrow's surface.
"Enchanted weapon?" Leon marveled.
"... It's hardly Enchantment, it's just a layer added on the surface for Spellcasters to manipulate. It's inefficient and crude, with no encryption in the Magic Technique... It's a wonder people dare to use such a thing today, not afraid of it being countered, turning around and flying back..." The girl's voice suddenly started muttering, seemingly disdainful of such methods.
Leon wasn't sure what had irked her about this Crossbow Arrow, but wisely decided not to get involved in such a technical topic.
Grabbing the tail shaft with both hands, Leon nervously tried to pull it out, and the arrow body came out a few inches.
The Griffin let out a huge mournful cry in pain, its limbs and wings tensing with agony.
Azeryan and Lokhak, not far away, gripped their weapons tighter, startled by the roar.
Leon also paused, quickly turning his head to look around. Fortunately, the Griffin's sharp claws were tightly clutching the ground, showing no additional reactive movements.
Seeing the big guy in such pain without attacking him, Leon gradually grew bolder, slightly increasing the strength in his hands, "Better a short pain than a long one. Hang in there, big guy..."
To his relief, Leon could feel that the tip of the Crossbow Arrow had no barbs. The extraction process wasn't difficult, and he wondered whether this was by design or if the original attacker had wanted to capture rather than kill the Griffin.
The Crossbow Arrow, lodged deep in the chest of the Griffin, made a creaking, flesh-grinding sound as it was pulled out, and blood spurted out in surges.
"It won't bleed out and die from this, will it?"
That would be a waste of effort. Holding the long Crossbow Arrow, Leon, stained by the gushing blood from the wound, was quite alarmed.
"Don't worry, this is one of the Pope's proudest creations."
The girl's voice remained relaxed.
As she spoke, the deep, terrifying arrow hole in the Griffin's chest seemed to be squeezed and contracted by the surrounding muscles. In moments, the bleeding stopped altogether, and the wound closed up so tightly that no seam could be seen.
Leon felt his eyes opened wide to a whole new world.
A powerful eagle's cry brought him back to reality, and he quickly stepped back a few paces to make way as he saw the fierce beast in front of him suddenly flip over.
The griffin thunderously rolled from lying on its side to a proper sitting position, its four powerful paws supporting its massive body as it slowly rose. Its sagging giant wings spread out slightly, stretching as if adjusting its posture.
The raised eagle's head, the beautiful feathers, the strong and massive lion's body...
Leon watched in admiration as the elegant and beautiful creature in front of him came back to life.
The griffin shook its giant head left and right, fluttering its feathers, then turned its head to look at Leon.
Its bright eyes softened considerably.
It let out a delicate cry, almost like a thank you, and its formidable sharp beak drooped down. In front of the bewildered human, it affectionately and cautiously rubbed its head against his.
Leon couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the gesture.
He now truly believed that the griffin's intelligence was no less than that of a human. If it had been an ordinary wild beast, even if it had been helped by someone, the fact that it didn't bite them in return would be considered gratitude; who would expect such human-like expressions of thanks?
No wonder they were revered by the Seryan people as auspicious beasts.
Leon held the griffin's eagle head in both hands and gently touched its feathers... They felt wonderful, even more comfortable than the fat pets he had kept on Earth in his previous life, and without any smell of fish.
Reluctantly letting go of the griffin's head and looking at the mighty yet friendly behemoth in front of him, Leon suddenly found it endearingly "cute" no matter how he looked at it.
This isn't good... He was somewhat reluctant to leave this adorable big fellow behind in this dangerous Cursed Land.
Even though this massive beast was very powerful, there was simply no food available for it to survive in this domain. According to what the girl's voice said, those Undead beasts were filled with Chaotic Energy, which was inedible for both humans and animals.
Maybe...
Leon thought for a moment, tucked the long crossbow arrow into his belt at his back, bent down to pick up the Spirit Lamp on the ground, and gestured to the griffin, pointing towards the direction where the lamp shone brightly.
"Come with me, big fellow. I'll take you out of here."
The griffin blinked its large, puzzled eagle eyes. It tilted its head, as if trying to understand the human's intention.
Seeing this, Leon felt there was hope.
He picked up his sword and tucked it back into his belt, walked a few steps towards his anxiously waiting companions, then turned back and continued to gesture. His voice involuntarily became gentle, as if facing a small animal, instinctively coaxing, "...come here, come here~ my precious~~"
The griffin looked around uncertainly, as if hesitating. Its huge wings fluttered slightly. Its injuries had not yet healed, leaving it unable to do anything but let its wings droop uselessly. After a while, it actually began to follow Leon with slightly staggering steps, cautiously keeping up with his expectant gaze.
A surge of excitement instantly filled Leon's heart.
Goodness, this creature was just too clever.
Thus, with the colossal creature behind him, an excited Leon approached his nervous companions, hastily signaling them to put their weapons away and explaining that the griffin meant no harm; he was afraid of startling the giant beast with whom he had only just managed to establish a connection.
However, he didn't really need to remind them. As true natives of Seryan, Azeryan and Lokhak had no desire to cross swords with the legendary auspicious beast and had been shocked by the scene before them. Having the fortune to accompany and coexist with a griffin was something straight out of a legendary tale...
Leon looked back at the griffin following him. The enormous difference in their sizes meant that even though the big creature was seriously injured and unstable, it could easily keep up with his pace, or rather, it was deliberately slowing down to follow him.
Raising the Spirit Lamp to illuminate the path ahead and accompanied by the king of beasts, everyone felt an immense sense of security.