Bear School Astartes

The Qilin’s lightning attack did not bother the Golden Lion at all, at least this young Qilin could not yet issue a lightning strike strong enough to break through the Golden Lion’s resistance.

However, the Qilin’s physical attack, particularly the sharp clash of its horn, was something even the Golden Lion preferred to avoid.

The sharpness of the Qilin’s azure horn was evident when the Golden Lion attempted to smash it.

Even if the Golden Lion’s most muscular fist struck it off-center onto the sharp horn, it would carve out a bloody gash as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter.

Finally, the Golden Lion fully smashed the Qilin’s azure horn off, only daring to bite into it once it was severed from the Qilin’s head, stuffing it into its mouth.

If it had dared to bite directly while the horn was intact, the Qilin could have easily countered with a mere twitch, or even by tilting its head, impaling the sharp horn directly through the Golden Lion’s mouth!

Yet now, the Qilin diving from the sky maintained its simple yet immensely threatening posture—lowering its head for a head-on charge.

The texture of the Qilin’s azure horn was crystalline, and when broken, its jagged crystalline fracture might be even sharper and cause more severe wounds compared to the intact horn.

At least the Golden Lion was not interested in testing it with its own flesh.

Thus, this creature, avid for combat and battle, with relatively rich experience.

Raised its hardened arms in defense.

The Qilin diving down like a horse was pushed aside by its broad neck.

Then another thick arm followed, taking advantage of the moment the Qilin’s head was knocked sideways and the fractured horn posed no threat, wrapping around from the back of the Qilin’s neck.

Both arms thus locked the Qilin’s neck in an embrace.

The Golden Lion was ”huffing and puffing” with heavy breaths from its nostrils in excitement.

Its muscles bulged in layers on its arm, and the faint red fighting spirit grew even more intense.

The ancient dragon and the Golden Lion’s flesh compressed each other, producing a sound like the rubbing of treated leather.

The Golden Lion, already infuriated by Lann’s gaze, was eager to torment and destroy its foe with its own muscles.

But as soon as it completed its entire strangulation action, the tiny shred of rational thought left in its furious mind suddenly realized a problem...

Where did that ’little one’ go?!

”Click!”

A crisp sound of mechanical clamping.

A negligible force to the Golden Lion’s flesh came from the base of its tail.

Startled, the long baboon-like face glanced back towards its tail.

Only to see a metal mechanical grapple clamped around its tail!

And connected to that mechanical grapple was a chain, leading directionally...to the sky!

The Golden Lion abruptly released the Qilin it had seized, reaching a thick arm behind with a thunderous roar.

”Roar!”

But it was already too late.

A sudden upward force originated from the grapple clamped to the base of the Golden Lion’s tail.

And force is mutual.

The Golden Lion felt the upward pull, meaning... whatever was at the other end of the grapple was accelerating downward!

The rushing wind only started to burst open violently at this moment!

A heavy, massive object moved through the air, producing a ’woo woo’ sound, like crying or weeping.

In the sky, Lann carried [Turbulent Flow Extinct] on his shoulder, the broad and long sword extending high behind him.

Striking and majestic.

He emitted a faint red fighting spirit unlike when using large sword techniques.

His body slightly hunched, joints locked by muscle, stabilizing the posture without movement.

Then, with the left hand equipped with a launcher, suddenly recoiling!

The mechanical pull, muscle force, and gravity intertwined.

Propelling Lann, sword in hand, spinning rapidly in the direction of the hook and chain like an opened spinning top!

This was a move produced when Lann learned the Hunters’ [Great Hammer] technique, as a conjecture.

Compared to a large sword, a great hammer technique has the feature of gathering strength while moving, thus being a bit more flexible.

And this move was conceived by Lann combining this feature with the hook launcher for further integration.

At this moment, having mastered most of the Hunters’ weapon techniques, Lann easily shifted his fighting spirit to the [Great Hammer] technique.

Although his body couldn’t support the imagined [Technique Stacking], the temporary technique switch relied entirely on technique familiarity, not physical endurance.

So, Lann descended from the sky, wielding a fierce and greedy large sword, crashing directly onto the tail of the Golden Lion, unable to turn around!

”I’ve got you cornered!”

At that instant of eye contact, Lann still gazed at the Golden Lion with the eyes of a predator, conveying this message.

”Squish!”

”Clang!!!”

”Awrooo!”

The sound of monstrous resilient skin and muscle being sliced open, the crash of the large sword hitting the ground after chopping, the Golden Lion’s unprecedented cry of agony...

Three sounds erupted at once!

The Golden Lion’s tail, resembling a thick cow’s tail, looked incredibly vulnerable compared to other large monsters.

But after all, it was the Golden Lion’s tail, with its incredibly high muscle density and bone strength not to be underestimated.

The thin cow-like tail was so tough that Lann felt it harder to chop through than the stubby bone spikes of the Extinct Dragon when cleaving it with the large sword!

He essentially sliced that tail three times in his spinning motion, similar to a top, before it was completely severed.

The Qilin, having just escaped from the Golden Lion, fled the moment the tail was severed.

Even curving and using its neck to push the just-landed Lann to sprint away.

And the Golden Lion, having its tail severed from the base, blood splatter aside.

But it seemed like the tail was a vital organ for it.

A massive, uncontrollable roar bursted from its mouth.

This roar even scraped away a layer of rock within five meters around it!

Just the airwave from its roar scraped away a layer of rock!!!

And its entire body emitted chaotic golden lightning as if uncontrolled.

These currents danced on its skin, even spreading to the surrounding air and ground.

Where the current passed, the ground charred black and red.

If the Qilin hadn’t promptly pushed Lann away, he would’ve likely been blown away and suffered internal bleeding from the roar alone.

The subsequent raging golden lightning could have been instantly fatal.

But after the uncontrolled roar, the Golden Lion suddenly staggered into a three-legged stance, clutching its heart with its right hand.

The rampaging energy abruptly subsided, and the Golden Lion turned, staring intently at the Qilin and Lann with blood-red eyes for over five seconds.

And Lann and the Qilin made no extra movements.

Because Lann felt something strange. This Golden Lion didn’t regress to a black mane state due to tail injury as the Grand Commander described.

Instead, it continued in its golden mane state.

Lann had experienced firsthand the power of this state. Although the creature was now gasping, who knew if this dead monkey had any tricks left?

Or was its current state just masquerading?

It remained still, and Lann intended not to do more.

Finally, after confirming it had memorized the appearance and scent of this ’little one’ and the Qilin, the Golden Lion breathlessly leaped into the distance.