Bear School Astartes

”What have you done? What have you done?!”

Hapalos roared at Lann, both shocked and furious.

The golden patterns on his chest seemed to blaze even brighter due to his agitated mood.

Just like the last attack, a golden energy line shot across the void from the glow on Hapalos’s chest.

”Inference: The opponent possesses energy release techniques in his current state, but the golden lines on his skin seem to serve as conduits for energy flow. Other than the chest, no other parts of his skin exhibit these golden lines.”

Mentos systematically conducted data analysis and shared the results with Lann.

”Understood.”

The Demon Hunter received the information and instantly reacted accordingly.

[Heartless Flow: Shrink Ground]!

Spiral air currents wrapped around his legs, complementing his natural movement techniques.

The leather soles of Lann’s shoes let out a sharp screeching sound against the rock-hard floor of the cave!

With a ”whoosh,” Lann, originally within the trajectory of the energy line, disappeared like a wisp of smoke.

Hapalos’s eyes widened almost instantly.

Because Lann reappeared right before him!

The transformation bestowed Hapalos with all-around enhancements.

His swift reaction prompted him to instantly draw the Greek short sword at his waist.

Though not the legendary Divine Artifact issued by the Order Divine Teachings, it was a weapon mixed with several Divine Artifact fragments.

Upon gripping the hilt, the short sword glowed intensely with golden light.

The chive-leaf-shaped blade slashed down swiftly towards Lann, who suddenly appeared before him!

But this was exactly what the Demon Hunter anticipated.

A bright flash of silver, and a beautifully curved long sword perfectly intercepted the opponent’s slash, both in angle and timing.

”Clang!”

The collision between the gold energy from Hapalos’s weapon and the steel material erupted into a brilliant spark that formed an evident circle.

[Iwami Style: Climbing Carp]

The immense force transmitted through the blade clash caused Lann’s wrist to involuntarily press back.

His advancing steps were forced into a stable bow stance suitable for absorbing pressure.

Though Hapalos’s body was now comparable to Lann’s, his physical strength completely surpassed the Demon Hunter.

This transformation made it seem as if he had changed species, with an astonishing display of power.

However, superior technique meant that Lann was not overwhelmed by his physical disadvantage.

On the contrary, at this moment, the Demon Hunter’s eyes shone brightly.

[Climbing Carp] is not only a technique that can disrupt an opponent’s posture while parrying but also, with Mentos’s computational support, allows Lann to probe the opponent’s body structure through contact strength.

And after a brief blade clash, many of Hapalos’s bodily data were exposed to his adversary.

”Bone strength, muscle strength, and energy fluidity... indeed, he’s no longer human!”

The transformation was enormous.

Perhaps it was because of whatever was in the golden glow on Hapalos’s chest that stimulated a part of his own bloodline, expressing that part explicitly.

Maybe Hapalos wasn’t wrong saying he was now closest to the source of the unknown elements in his bloodline.

According to local belief—he was a ’god.’

The overwhelming physical power made it look as though Lann’s [Climbing Carp] had no effect on Hapalos.

He didn’t even produce a pause mid-attack.

Conservatively estimating, a perfectly executed [Climbing Carp] would need to block his blade fifty times or more to disrupt his stance.

Lann had faced opponents stronger than himself before.

The beastified patients of Yan’an, at the final stage, could exert several tons of force with a casual slap, easily shattering solid marble.

But they lacked technique, lacked the wisdom for adaptability, making them merely more troublesome prey under the hands of seasoned Old Hunters.

As long as the meat saw could tear the opponent’s flesh, what did it matter if the opponent could hit with a force of ten or twenty tons?

After all, they couldn’t touch him, but he could hurt them.

It’s the same for ordinary Demon Hunters facing griffin beasts or scorpion-tailed lions.

If Vesemir heard of any Demon Hunter comparing raw strength with a monster head-on, he’d probably help the monster mercifully end that fool’s life quickly and peacefully.

Yet Hapalos was different from the aforementioned opponents.

This guy, now arrogant, was still an Ares devotee who had killed countless people. A clever being with intelligence and judgment.

Such an opponent would be quite troublesome.

Lann licked his lips a bit excitedly.

Hapalos’s slash was a series of continuous attack movements; Lann had only intercepted the first strike.

And just as the Demon Hunter subtly adjusted his muscles, eager for an exhilarating dance of blades with his opponent...

”Whoosh!”

A gold-red glowing arrow shot past Lann’s ear with incredible ferocity!

The gust stirred by the arrow severed a strand of silver hair near his ear!

”Bang!”

A light arrow, yet when it collided with Hapalos’s body, it produced a sound like a hammer hitting stone!

The two-meter-five tall, burly War God devotee’s head tilted violently backward as if punched out of nowhere.

The arrow was lodged in his forehead, though a layer of dazzling gold prevented it from penetrating his flesh.

Despite that, Hapalos couldn’t control himself, flipping in mid-air, then violently crashing into the base of an Ares statue behind him.

The solid marble base cracked, scattering dust.

Was that an arrow shot by Cassandra?

Lann watched, slightly numb.

Wasn’t the power of a bow determined by the elastic potential energy accumulated from the bowstring’s deformation?

The Demon Hunter took a moment to glance back; on Cassandra’s wrist, a trace of golden light was gradually fading.

Fine. Not even the power of a Divine Artifact, but Cassandra’s own skill!

Lann felt his horizons broadened.

And all this happened in an instant.

The moment passed, and Lann instinctively followed his sword-fighting mindset, charging towards the fallen Hapalos!

[Shrink Ground]!

Evidently, Hapalos hadn’t experienced being ’knocked down’ in this state before.

He intended to regain his balance using a familiar human tactic—rolling and pushing off the ground with his arms.

But his body now had the power of energy release; the roll not only failed to restore his balance quickly but flipped him over due to the energy propulsion!

And worse still... a Demon Hunter eager to destabilize him further was charging his way.

”[Alder]!”

”Boom!”