Although the mouth injury likely worked in Claude's favor, he didn't have any time to think about that. Instead, he focused all his energy into trying to climb onto the monster's head without losing his balance or his sword.

With his left hand digging into the horn, he tried to swing his foot onto the the spiny fin further down from him. But he was in a precarious position, and there was no way he'd be able to hold on for long, even if he succeeded in securing his leg. His palm was rubbing against the sharp grain of the horn's keratin, which actually managed to tear through some of his glove and scrape at his flesh. In order to boost his odds of holding on, as well as to move in for the offense, Claude took his right hand and attempted to thrust the blade deep into the serpent's yellow eye with all of his strength.

"Take that, you bastard!" he screamed through clenched teeth.