Bear School Astartes

Chapter 142: 142. Momentary Victory

The trial by combat begins.

It’s essentially akin to customary law. Even without an arbiter from the Seven Gods Church, as long as both sides nod to signal the trial’s start, they can draw swords and slash at each other!

Sando Clegane, most people who know him would give this evaluation.

Cold, ruthless, violent, yet loyal.

His combat style mirrors his personality.

The heavy longsword slashes with a mournful whoosh.

The massive figure dressed in all-black armor moving is like an iron canister!

Lann could tell; he was accustomed to using his natural physical advantages to suppress his opponents.

It’s a warrior’s correct choice.

”Clang!”

A loud clash of steel, with sparks flying from the friction!

This was their second clash of swords.

Lann slightly widened his eyes in surprise at Sando Clegane’s rare strength.

His hand grasping the sword was tense, using the opponent’s strength to push himself back.

Lann stepped back with one foot during their first confrontation.

It seemed at a disadvantage... at least, from the outer stands, the queen had already started clapping elegantly, and the prince was cheering with the hand bitten by a wolf.

But in the eyes of seasoned warriors like Edd Stark and Robert, this move to step back with leverage was far more technically valuable than the Hound Knight’s brute force reliance.

And Alia... this little girl never thought Lann would lose.

She had already started playing with her Nymelia.

Only Sando knew how he felt.

The fight felt like any other, using his greatly superior strength to press on, then the enemy would barely hold on until they couldn’t and got chopped down... it should’ve felt like that.

But now, he had struck, it even looked like it landed solidly. His muscles felt sore from the rebound.

But that kid opposite, that nobody... he didn’t even shake!

Was it due to the step back? How could it be?

Does he think this is a staged swordsmanship demonstration on the street!?

The abnormal intense feeling was affecting Sando’s well-practiced sword response.

Meanwhile, in Lann’s vision, the data provided by Mentos was processed completely.

”Enemy analysis complete: No breath response detected during battle, suggesting a fight-at-all-costs type. Displays approximately eighty percent of your current strength, but there is a significant gap in agility and reaction. Recommended strategy—”

”As you wish.”

The Clegane family has remarkable talents, their height can even reach up to 2.45 meters, and their strength is thus enough to crush most humans, and even most Demon Hunters.

But after all, they are just one of the more strength-advantaged of ordinary humans.

Compared to the genetically crafted Interstellar Warriors, they start at a vastly different base level.

Lann is still growing taller and stronger, but even if he reaches 2.5 meters in the future, his body proportions would still be perfect.

Agility, strength, reaction speed... Interstellar Warriors are superior to regular humans in every way without any weakness.

Sando might have eighty percent of Lann’s strength presentation, but whenever Lann wishes, he could even circle behind Sando right in a head-on confrontation!

A ”clack” sound, the light sound of armor colliding as the palm grasped the sword hilt.

The two retreated feet forming a solid archer’s stance.

Lann’s rear foot rotated on the ground, transmitting the force smoothly to his calf, thigh, lumbar spine, shoulder...

Finally, in the eyes of many spectators, Lann seemed to swing his heavily armored upper body in a direct arc!

And the sword blade, driven by the body, became terrifying while tearing through the air!

The Hound Knight couldn’t fathom why his opponent could recover so quickly from a head-on sword clash and even complete a forceful chop in such an absurdly short time.

He could only instinctively grit his teeth and groan.

”Hmph!!!”

Then he directly raised his sword to meet it!

”Clang—”

A colossal crash reverberated throughout the arena.

In the blink of an eye, the audience, who came prepared to watch a good show, were suddenly filled with uncomprehending astonishment.

Sando originally held the sword with both hands, right hand at the front, left hand at the back.

But after taking a full blow from Lann, he could no longer control the position of his longsword!

Because of the severe swing of the sword, his left hand detangled from the hilt, leaving only his right hand attached.

In this head-to-head power confrontation... Sando lost for only the second time in his life.

After that strike, Lann’s own longsword veered slightly out of direction due to the fierce collision.

But it seemed he anticipated this, he simply released a hand from the hilt.

Maintaining his forward-leaning position, he directly grabbed Sando’s neck.

Yanking him down onto the ground!

”Thud!”

This massive figure hitting the ground made a commotion much louder than an Ice Wolf would make.

The dust shook into a rising haze, Sando widened his eyes, opened his mouth desperately but couldn’t inhale.

His lungs were temporarily debilitated from the impact of the throw.

No time to hold the sword in his hand, he quickly tore off his helmet to ease his breathing.

Lann stood nearby, calmly gazing down at him.

Yet again, though his body was massive, the proportions were far from perfect.

His center of gravity was too high, too unstable, Lann applied the swordsmanship knowledge from the Bear School to easily knock him down with a slight move.

From the start of the trial by combat to when Lann knocked Sando breathless, they only slashed twice, with one throw.

If measured from when they closed the distance to engage blades, it took only... two seconds!

This was a scene unseen by anyone present in a trial by combat before!

In the usual trial by combat, both sides would be fully armored Plate Armor Knights.

If these knights didn’t charge on horseback with lances, they’d have to tangle for at least three or four minutes with a flail to knock the person inside the can to death, or to surrender.

Even if regular people held weapons, their force was still insufficient against steel armor.

But in this trial by combat, both participants could crush ordinary people in terms of strength.

So although their trial by combat was unimaginably swift, it was undoubtedly sensible.

Among the distant spectators, the first sound following a dead silence was a curse.

”You stupid dog! You...”

That was the maddened sound of Prince Geoffrey.

What followed was a booming and thick voice.

”Shut up! Embarrassing fool!”