Bear School Astartes

The shadow of the little cat known as the fluffball was originally projected onto the giant rock behind it.

But now, that petite shadow began to expand and stretch on the boulder, like winding vines.

And the scattered vines gradually entangled, weaving into a shadow resembling a human form but with well-developed antlers.

The moment this shadow took shape, the already dank and harsh Valley of Miasma instantly gained a sinister and gloomy atmosphere.

Although the Valley of Miasma was previously in a harsh environment, from a natural perspective, it was still a normal and thriving ecosystem.

But with the appearance of this aura, it seemed as if ’nature’ was deliberately twisted by something.

It became ’supernatural’ in appearance.

This erosion and forced change to nature made the Roaring Dragon stand abruptly in the dragon cart, halting its charge.

After a flurry of panic, the fluffball was suddenly astonished to find that it was still alive.

Unaware of the changes in the shadow behind it, its big watery eyes could only look at the seemingly hesitant Roaring Dragon in front of it, bewildered.

And the Roaring Dragon... this creature was famously stubborn and ferocious.

Although the supernatural aura made it feel intense discomfort and a sense of crisis, its innate nature was even stronger.

At first, it circled the fluffball like a feline, using its wing claws and hind legs while panting.

As the Roaring Dragon’s panting became more impatient and heavy, it began to emit a threatening growl.

This already indicated: it would not be frightened away, but was instead becoming angrier!

The body color and stripes of the Roaring Dragon somewhat resembled a tiger, and its hunting actions were also akin to a feline.

The wing claws pressed down quickly, the entire body close to the ground, and the lowered center of gravity brought a powerful burst of motion!

”Boom!”

The Roaring Dragon, previously startled by the shadow behind the fluffball, started charging again!

As for the fluffball itself, although it possessed a resilient and courageous personality, faced with such back-and-forth life-or-death situations, this hybrid kitten of Detel and Elu was still frightened.

Instinctively, it covered its face with its two paws, tightly closing its eyes, ready to meet the collision of death.

But then...

”Poof~ Howl!!!”

The sound of scale armor and muscle being pierced mixed into one, followed by the Roaring Dragon’s powerful yet heartbreakingly painful roar.

The fluffball suddenly opened its eyes.

It saw emerging from the shadow behind it, a strange and terrifying upper body crawling out of the shadow.

And the sharp, bizarre claw was stabbed into the shoulder socket of the Roaring Dragon.

A torrent of blood was bursting forth due to the Roaring Dragon’s strong muscles.

Seeing its shadow twisted and a once-seen monster climbing out from it, the fluffball was baffled and terrified.

Its fur stood on end all over, yet its body was frozen, not daring to move.

It could only watch helplessly as the antlered monster crawled out from its shadow.

The Deer-headed Spirit fully emerged from the fluffball’s shadow, and the kitten’s shadow returned to normal.

With each step forward by the Deer-headed Spirit, the Roaring Dragon staggered backward, its whole body twitching.

The dry limbs moved stiffly, yet seemingly wielded a power the Roaring Dragon’s brute strength could not overcome.

Initially, the stunned fluffball just stood there in a stupor.

But being from the bold, combative Valley Raider Race of Detel, it immediately seized this chance to survive.

Running on all fours, it trotted away from the battlefield.

And during its escape, it remained rational, occasionally looking back to keep observing the monsters.

In the wild, fleeing blindly without caring about the pursuer’s movements is no different from seeking death.

During the kitten’s back-and-forth observations, it relied on its keen sense from combat to discover.

It wasn’t the Deer-headed Spirit’s strength overpowering the Roaring Dragon, pushing it back step by step.

Underneath the tough and strong skin of the Roaring Dragon’s body, when pierced by the Deer-headed Spirit, there seemed to be something alive spreading and writhing beneath its skin.

At first, it was not noticeable, but later it was as if many snakes had burrowed under its skin!

Terrifying and horrifying.

And ten seconds after the Deer-headed Sprite’s claws plunged into the Thunder Dragon’s shoulder, those ’things’ writhing beneath its skin, some even broke through the surface.

Those things were not snakes, but tree branches!

The Thunder Dragon wasn’t being overpowered by the Deer-headed Sprite in terms of strength; rather, the branches growing wildly inside its body caused such pain that it couldn’t stand firm, forcing it to stagger backward, moaning in agony.

Even though countless branches had grown beneath its skin, the Thunder Dragon’s formidable vitality made sure it didn’t quickly lose its ability to fight.

Its muscles were still strong, and its lungs and vocal cords remained intact!

So, despite being in the agony akin to being skinned alive from the inside by the branches, the Thunder Dragon’s fierce nature still drove it to counterattack without hesitation!

”Roar!!!”

The massive sound compressed the air into a milky-white sonic wave!

This was another reason for the Thunder Dragon’s name—its war cry could temporarily deafen seasoned Hunters, and the intense sonic waves could cause disorientation.

The Thunder Dragon’s powerful war cry could inflict actual physical harm on fully armored Hunters with its sonic attack!

Every roar used as an attack had the effect of creating a scene much like when Lann repelled the Golden Lion, akin to its uncontrollable roar before retreating.

The sound wave from just the roar could peel off a layer of stone from the rocks around it!

Hundreds of kilograms of mass would be blown away like paper in the gust from the roar!

This roar had always been one of the Thunder Dragon’s means for being called the ”Absolute Strong” in nature. Its powerful attack and suddenness were unquestioned.

But the current issue is...

The Deer-headed Sprite is a Magic creature.

And a major feature of Magic creatures is: they’re best dealt with using a silver sword. Hitting them with a steel sword is like striking with a rubber baton—virtually ignored.

Sound waves and the gusts they stir up, these are undoubtedly natural physical forces.

So the Thunder Dragon’s roar, in front of the Deer-headed Sprite, was really just louder, the damage it caused was...

Rather negligible.

The always calm Deer-headed Sprite emitted a deep, windy sound from beneath its pale deer skull, then immediately.

”Pssh!”

The other claw, initially hanging by its side, took the moment of the Thunder Dragon’s open-mouth roar to stab into its mouth, wide open at a hundred and fifty-degree angle!

Then several dry branches pierced through the Thunder Dragon’s skull in the direction of the Sprite’s claw, emerging out.

The fleeing Velvet Ball clamped its mouth in terror, and the Cat Head, twisting to observe, quickly faced forward, burying its head in a run.

But then, with a ”thud,” it felt its little Cat Helmet ram into a stump.

The whole cat stumbled and sat back, slumping on the ground.

With hesitation and fear, Velvet Ball raised its head slowly to see the Deer-headed Sprite, who was entangled with the Thunder Dragon a moment ago.

At this moment, its paw was still dripping with the Thunder Dragon’s fresh blood and pulp.

Under the pale deer skull, there was nothing visible in its pitch-black eyes and nostrils, only hollow darkness.

In the creaking of swaying branches, the Deer-headed Sprite leaned down, stretching out the paw still dripping blood towards Velvet Ball.

The little cat, driven to desperation, was frantically swinging the Plunder Knife inherited from its father without any sense of rhythm.

The paw got closer and closer to the little cat.

But at this moment, the Deer-headed Sprite tilted its head.

It found that its paw... seemed to inexplicably light up with a blue glow like electric currents.

The next moment, ”Boom!”

Azure and scorching lightning struck straight down from the sky!

The enormous impact force flung Velvet Ball far away, and although the Deer-headed Sprite’s feet were rooted, its outstretched paw completely disappeared.

The pale deer skull seemed to sense something, turned to the side.

And in that direction, standing on a cliff edge, a Kirin raised its head, glanced at the Deer-headed Sprite with a sidelong look, then shook its head, white mane sparking with electric flames in the air.

Meanwhile, the two Hunters used hooked claws to grab onto the rock protrusions, dropping rapidly downward.

The Grand Commander rushed to the side of Velvet Ball, who had been blown away by the shockwave, while Lann stood in front of the head-tilted Deer-headed Sprite, raising his head to meet the empty eyes of the deer skull.