Bear School Astartes

The first echelon, though meant to spearhead breakthroughs, was filled with at least four-fifths armed refugees due to a lack of manpower.

The role of battlefield experience was starkly apparent at this moment.

The veterans dragged and tugged, lifting each bewildered armed refugee’s shield.

The sharp cries of ”Raise your shields! Raise your shields!” rang incessantly.

Ordinary people are quite insensitive to the subtle sounds of incoming arrows.

They might only feel a breeze when an arrow pierces their body.

However, the veterans’ hours of training had some effect after all.

The majority managed to keep their shields over their heads, while those without shields curled up and huddled together with others.

After a moment passed, the ordinary people finally heard the pattering sound like small raindrops hitting.

Various arrows from long shaft crossbows, short shaft hand crossbows, and bows thudded into the shields.

This loud noise came only from arrows striking hard objects.

When arrows buried into the ground, it was as silent as tossing a pebble into the soil.

Yet not everyone had a shield, and not everyone in panic obeyed orders.

Geralt and Ged, trying to conserve their valuable magic power, were beneath their shields and couldn’t see anything.

Lann’s Quen Rune was transparent.

He saw a dazed armed refugee nearby who thought the arrow rain had stopped as his shield no longer impacted, tentatively poking his head out.

But at his feet, arrows continued to fly from above, sticking into the ground.

The next moment, an arrow with black tail feathers pierced into his face, through the cheekbone, and into his brain.

As he fell, he staggered backward several steps.

Screams began to erupt in succession.

The veterans could only continuously shout under their shields, ”Raise your shields!”, ”Don’t lower them!”, ”Wait for orders!”

On the battlefield, no one could assist those stunned in shock.

Soon after, several special alchemical crossbow arrows exploded amidst the arrow rain.

Explosive arrows, fragmentation arrows...

These costly killing machines proved their effectiveness, matching their cost.

Explosions and fragments of metal blades struck human flesh, penetrating, screaming, dying...

An armed refugee, seemingly driven mad by the arrow rain and nearby corpses, opened his mouth to scream and ran blindly towards the forest’s depths!

Lann, while maintaining the Quen Rune, picked up a discarded shield nonchalantly and hurled it at the terrified refugee.

The shield threw him to the ground, covering his upper body.

On the other side, Ged dashed out from under Geralt’s large shield with a spry movement, pulling down another panicked refugee.

His tall frame shielded the refugee, then picked up a shield he had thrown down, holding it behind him.

”Are you fucking crazy?”

Geralt, who had failed to grab Ged moments ago, cursed from below the shield.

But now he also saw the refugee Ged was protecting—someone who had once brought a small handful of wild mushrooms as a gift for Ged, along with a little boy.

The Bear School’s Demon Hunter stood there expressionless, as their stereotype suggested, supporting his shield as if he hadn’t heard Geralt’s anger.

The arrow rain ceased; after all, there were only about three hundred on the opposing side, unable to employ segmented shooting.

At the very first moment the arrow rain on the opposing side stopped... ’Boom!’

The ground beneath Lann’s feet burst forth with flying dirt as he stamped his foot!

Like a full-speed charging armored bear, Lann sped out at a pace that caught no one nearby off guard!

As he charged, his left hand lifted, aiming at the black banner bearing the Great Sun.

With a ”bang,” the thick flagpole snapped, causing immediate small-scale disorder in the opponent’s formation.

Quickly, the second wave of arrow rain launched, but by now, Lann had stomped a trench-like pathway into the ground!

His ferocious momentum couldn’t be ignored!

In this sudden situation, the greater portion of the second wave of arrow rain inadvertently focused on him as a solitary unit by the Niflgaard soldiers.

The spot Lann just passed through was filled with arrows! Turned into an arrow pit!

Due to the instant displacement of firepower, the arrow rain aimed at the refugee group became sparse, causing Stuart’s eyes to light up momentarily.

”Charge through now! The Niflgaardian bows and crossbows are in disarray! Close in! Close in!”

Seizing the opportunity sharply, he led the cavalry charge, with the dozen or so riders following closely, thunderous hoofbeats heralding their advance.

The enemy cavalry began to close in, further scrambling the arrow rain.

Once discipline and rhythm break, they tend to deteriorate rapidly.

While containment would be effective, with the enemy closing in, who has the time?

Fortunately, Stuart’s cavalry squad wasn’t large. Though this was just a temporary military post, over thirty warhorses were stationed there.

Hence, within Niflgaard’s phalanx, around thirty knights rode out, counter-charging Stuart’s forces.

They aimed to use cavalry to hold off cavalry, granting their rear archers time to realign.

This was a standard and sound decision, facing head-on, overpowering by force.

In terms of cavalry numbers, quality, and the precision and lethality of rear long-range forces, Niflgaard had no reason to lack confidence.

Until this team of around thirty cavalrymen attempted to clear away the ’big oaf’ on their route...

The leading Niflgaard knight, his black armor gleaming to the point of reflecting light, feathered helmet rising skyward!

He braced the lance under his arm, adjusting direction with his hand. Years of family training and standardized drills from the Military Academy enabled perfect coordination with his steed in balance and gait!

His eyes locked on the northern ’big oaf’, the hundred-meter distance vanishing quickly under the galloping mount.

He could almost imagine the recoil when his lance penetrated the opponent’s chest.

But next moment, what entered his focused gaze...

”Swoosh!”

From the waist of the northern ’big oaf’, a bright silver light burst forth!

The air screamed as it violently surged!

Blood, a vast amount of blood got caught in the whirlwind, carving an enormous, upright red curtain!

[Secret Technique: Dragon Flash]!

The high-speed air, sharpened by force, slashed vertically through the lead knight and the two behind, even before the lance touched Lann.

Even now, Lann’s muscular structure was rapidly developing under hormonal stimulation, with raw physical strength conservatively estimated near three tons!

Purely outclassing Iwami Yixin’s elderly form.

Though still lagging slightly in skill mastery, wielding an Air Blade maintaining lethality around ten meters was no longer a problem.

The leading Niflgaard knight, he and his horse, were split vertically in two!

Behind him, one knight’s horse lost a hoof from a hind leg by the slashing Air Blade, while another rider lost an arm!

Scattered limbs, viscera, flew rampant amidst the massive curtain of blood.

This somewhat quelled the shame and fury swelling within Lann’s chest.

From the start, the opponent’s hundreds of long-range forces could only strike while they stood defenseless, having no ranged capabilities!

This was Lann’s first engagement on an open battlefield, yet on this initial outing, he and his allies were entirely passive under the enemy’s initial onslaught.

They were suppressed!

But such is war, entirely different from solo skirmishes or small team battles!

Though his mind remained clear, Lann’s sensibilities were enraged by this circumstance.

”Ugly...”

Lann grated out savagely through clenched teeth.