Bear School Astartes

”What the hell is that thing?”

Wende shouted curses mid-air as he hurriedly reloaded his launcher with a Scatter Nut, feeling a bit of lingering fear.

Once he gets into battle mode, his language tends to be less than clean.

If he and Lann had reacted even half a second slower earlier, this thing could have smashed most of the Glide Dragons carrying them!

This is a nearly two hundred-meter height; if the Glide Dragon is killed, the Hunters hanging on it would be even more in trouble.

”Ancient Dragon species!” Lann responded as he helped stabilize Aibo’s position in mid-air. ”Four-legged with wings! It’s a standard ancient dragon skeleton! But I haven’t seen this kind of dragon in the institute’s records!”

”It’s the Extinct Dragon—Nelugit.”

Meanwhile, from afar in the sky, the Commander-in-Chief, Aiden, and Little Jack had also regained their composure. The black-faced, white-haired old man shouted in their direction.

”It’s a newly discovered ancient dragon species in the New World. We know almost nothing about its ecology, so it hasn’t been documented, just named.”

”Be careful! We previously speculated that this creature preys on ancient dragons—an ’Ancient Dragon Slayer’!”

Even the Commander-in-Chief had a hint of lingering fear in his voice.

Below them hovered the ancient dragon species; you could see the muscle and sinews that were exceptionally strong!

A pair of grand and robust horns were its signature features, with black and white spikes covering the exterior of its body.

The skin was a mix of black and yellow, but at the vein-dense wing edges and shoulder positions, the blood color mixed with the yellow skin formed a light purple.

Its reptilian vertical pupils were filled with brutality and rage.

Its presence matched its appearance, making the creature resemble a brutal demon crawling out of the abyss!

”If it feeds on ancient dragons, it would likely target the Molten Mountain Dragon, not us, right?”

Aiden’s hand on the Glide Dragon’s hook lock unconsciously tightened, as he laughed nervously.

Even one as cheerful and optimistic as him now had little confidence in his own words.

Ancient dragons stood at the top of the world’s ecological hierarchy.

When such a creature appears, the surrounding large monsters typically sense the threat and oppressive atmosphere, and then flee.

And now, two ancient dragons were nearby.

The scavenging Acid Wing Dragons were no major issue, but the Glide Dragons, with intelligence slightly higher than their distant relatives and more sensitive senses, were starting to suffer.

Their wings became weak due to their tense mental state, consuming energy far quicker than normal.

”Don’t even think about peacefully coexisting.” In this urgent moment, Lann broke the illusion of safety with a calm tone.

”This one clearly has a violent temperament, its flying speed far surpasses the Glide Dragons, it won’t allow us to easily escape.”

”We must fight it first!”

People often cling to a false sense of security, thoughts like ’we can dodge it’ or ’maybe it won’t care about us.’

Even Hunters, when facing unfavorable situations and overwhelmingly strong enemies, can’t help but have such thoughts arise.

But Lann understood, this ’false sense of security’ could only lead things to worse outcomes.

He decisively used his talent for insight into group emotions to completely squash this false hope.

The Extinct Dragon flapped its wings in mid-air, eyeing the humans above.

But its powerful claws were already subconsciously tensing, its sharp teeth and the corners of its mouth twitching menacingly... it was about to strike.

Every Hunter familiar with creature behavior could tell the Extinct Dragon’s mental state from these subtle actions.

”Rapid descent! To the Molten Mountain Dragon’s back!”

Little Jack pointed at the distant volcanic giant that was still strolling, shouting to the others.

Hunters, relinquishing false hope, unified their goals and swiftly sought suitable combat positions without wasting energy.

They were around two hundred meters high.

Apart from ranged weapons, Hunters had no means to combat airborne battles and had to return to the ground.

But during the two hundred-meter rapid descent, if caught by the Extinct Dragon, the Glide Dragon’s frail frame wouldn’t stand a single hit.

Hunters predicted they’d be wiped out without a chance to fight back.

The Molten Mountain Dragon’s back, at a height of at least seventy to eighty meters.

If they landed there, the dangerous airborne distance would be halved at least.

”Roar!!!”

The Extinct Dragon unleashed a breathtaking roar.

No more time to think, everyone descended towards the Molten Mountain Dragon’s back.

The Glide Dragons plummeted in a rapid descent like they were fleeing, while the now impatient Extinct Dragon roared in mid-air, flapped its wings, and followed them.

Its spike-covered, demon-like wings swept large amounts of air, causing air currents to change with each flap.

Under its pursuit, several Glide Dragons bobbed left and right, struggling vigorously.

But fortunately, the Hunters had better physical endurance than the Glide Dragons.

During the rapid descent, the altitude difference of over a hundred meters vanished in an instant.

Several among them released the hook locks a few meters from the Molten Mountain Dragon’s back.

Followed by rolls or slides to disperse the inertia from the rapid descent.

The few Glide Dragons, driven by instinct after losing control, flew away.

The clashes of armor and weapons echoed from their bodies, and eventually, they stood firm on the obsidian and basalt-like ground.

At the next moment, the fast pursuing Extinct Dragon crashed directly onto the Molten Mountain Dragon’s back without slowing down!

This ’suicidal attack’ completely exceeded the expectations of Hunters unfamiliar with the Extinct Dragon.

Typically, if a monster chases this close, it would slow down to ensure smooth attack execution.

The Extinct Dragon’s actions were utterly unexpected.

So before even finding his footing, Lann dashed to the side.

His long reach enveloped Aibo, Gaffi, and the Commander-in-Chief in an embrace, then squeezed out a [Quen Rune]with his left hand.

A golden flash membrane appeared; the spherical shield made with Bear School knowledge blocked quite a few shattered stones and fragments within its limits.

All hurled from the Molten Mountain Dragon’s shell by the full-speed hundred-meter dive of the Extinct Dragon.

A flying giant beast nearly twenty meters long, about six meters tall at the shoulder, diving like a missile from a hundred meters high.

Even the hardness of the Molten Mountain Dragon’s shells was not spared, leaving a web-like impact pit with a diameter of over twenty meters at the Extinct Dragon’s landing point!

The constant sound of cracking rocks filled the air, and even beneath these rocks, the molten dragon’s lava-like secretions spewed out from the fractured gaps, like a boiling cauldron.

The fragmented debris resulting from such impact actions exceeded the limits of the [Quen Rune]’s endurance.

This was merely a Demon Hunter’s trick.

But the reverse burst of the [Quen Rune] allowed Lann to pull Aibo, Gaffi, and the Commander-in-Chief away from the Extinct Dragon.

At the next sound, there was a mechanical shift, a ’crack.’.

Wende positioned the large shield from his Shield Axe directly between Lann and the debris.

In a succession of stone shattering against steel, the debris ultimately didn’t harm those behind the shield.