Bear School Astartes

The dragon initially didn’t care much about the figure approaching it.

It only bared its teeth, a scorching red glow emanating from deep in its throat, readying to kill the fool who dared appear before it.

But after Lann nonchalantly finished speaking... Smaug’s teeth were no longer bared, and the human-like mocking expression on its dragon face vanished.

It was solely its gaze at the figure in its sights, a look that sent shivers down one’s spine!

However, Lann seemed completely unaware.

With a ’click,’ he reset the crossbow cannon’s bolt.

”Looks like I was right, oh great, brutal, powerful King Under the Mountain, the mighty dragon Smaug?”

The dragon had once boasted to the Hobbits of its body and strength atop the Golden Silver Sea of the Lonely Mountain, along with its brutality and irresistibility.

But now, hearing these words from the mouth of someone who had just hit it three times with an unknown weapon, even making it land unsteadily...

”Hiss~”

Smaug’s mouth twitched slightly, and hot steam gushed out from within.

”Tonight, in the Lonely Mountain Kingdom, the flames flicker, the first time since the kingdom’s downfall.”

”If it were you slaughtering the dwarves, it’d be one thing, but now you’re here, and the flames in the Lonely Mountain instead begin to shine brightly and steadily...”

”This shows that not only are there still people inside, but they’re familiar with the machinery of the Lonely Mountain Kingdom, and capable of using that famed great furnace!”

”...It’s the dwarves!”

Smaug showed no reaction on the surface, but beneath the wings and claws supporting it on the ground, the massive claws and the rocks in the lake emitted a ’crackling’ sound as they were ground and crushed.

And behind Smaug’s enormous body, its long tail transitioned from a casual sway to a tensioned, poised cobra-like stance.

In the face of the dragon’s glare, the little man before it still showed not a hint of fear.

Not even his mouth faltered in the slightest.

At this moment, Lann looked up and smiled in the red glow reflected by the flames, his silver hair exhibiting a wondrous color reaction, as if red glassy silk threads.

The eyes of the Demon Hunter locked onto the dragon’s eyes.

Lann spoke, word for word, with an undeniable tone.

”You, not only failed to kill those dwarves who invaded your territory, but... you were driven out by them, weren’t you?”

”I must have lost my mind.” After speaking, Lann held his forehead, showing an expression of baffled amusement.

”I thought you’d be as tough as the legends said, but instead? The dragon before me now is just old and fat! Slow and cowardly!”

Lann shrugged in front of Smaug, looking thoroughly disappointed.

Meanwhile, on his retina, Mentos was displaying in a data bar format.

Combining Lann’s emotional perception, experience in controlling emotions, observing Smaug’s subtle motions, minor muscle actions, all were expressed in a progress bar format.

And this ’Emotion Bar’ marked with a dragon’s head was just a notch away from turning red.

Thus, Lann timely delivered his final sentence.

Feigning helplessness, he spread his hands toward the towering dragon’s head.

”I’ve prepared for you for so long, yet now your performance makes me feel it’s a disgrace, Smaug.”

”Just like you are.”

...

Suddenly, it seemed the entire Long Lake Town fell into a heart-palpitating silence.

The ’poof’ sound of flames that had been blazing up in dragon fire, the crackling noise of wooden buildings being charred, collapsing sounds... all seemed to vanish in an instant.

The dragon flame was instantly suppressed to a very feeble extent—due to the dragon’s will!

The firelight disappeared, making the entire Long Lake Town darken significantly in an instant!

High above, only Smaug’s two enormous pupils emitted a hot, orange-red glow!

Subsequently, the scorching light from the dragon’s body penetrated its flesh to the surface, growing brighter in an extremely short time!

Lann glanced momentarily at the spot where Smaug was.

Smaug’s limbs braced against the massive underwater rocks, and around where it stood, the floating ice on the lake surface began to instantly ’sizzle,’ smoke, and vaporize!

A bit farther, the cold lake water also boiled instantly!

And looking at the now completely red progress bar on his retina, Lann let out a light laugh, then a small whirlwind formed around his legs.

His breathing rhythm abruptly changed.

[Acceleration Technique] combined with [Light Body Skill]!

His tall body flickered past like a wisp of smoke, in an instant, diving into the nearby Long Lake Town buildings.

Although wooden structures were fragile before the dragon, they were fully sufficient for blocking the view.

And just as Lann disappeared the next moment...

”Roar!!!”

A roar of utmost rage combined with dragon flame cascaded down like a waterfall from above!

The Long Lake Town, which had just darkened significantly, suddenly flared back up!

Between light and dark in an instant, Smaug seemed truly like a dragon of total destruction!

However, if getting angry, enraged was useful, the world would be too simple.

Lann was always used to seizing the initiative on a tactical level, but now Smaug could fly, giving it the tactical advantage due to a mobility gap.

Thus, Lann simply manipulated the other’s emotions to hold the initiative emotionally.

If the enemy is weak, crush them directly. If the enemy is strong, use a perfect method to draw out a flaw, and then crush them!

Although Smaug was nearly drowned by the Dwarves with a massive flood of molten gold, he managed to escape.

But in the end, he had been arrogant for far too long.

Even though he almost died from the Dwarves’ trap, he actually fled carrying with him a mix of fear, shock, dread, and hysteria...and he intended to massacre the people of Lake-town.

But inside the Lonely Mountain, the Dwarves were familiar with the terrain, and the Lonely Mountain Kingdom had engineering equipment, mechanical systems, and secret passages accumulated over countless generations.

It was indeed dangerous, so it made sense for him to flee.

But what was Lake-town in comparison? The sky was vast and open, allowing him to spread his wings and fly without restraint.

Could Smaug swallow his pride and accept that?

Thus, immediately provoked by Lann’s taunting, Smaug flew into a blind rage.

”Who do you think you’re facing! Worms! I...aaargh!”

The dragon bellowed, spewing draconic flames.

But before he could finish speaking, a fierce arrow trailed by a stream of air shot towards the corner of the dragon’s mouth!

The intense heat and draconic flames near the dragon’s mouth made the air very turbulent.

But in the face of Thranduil’s exceptional archery, these factors were irrelevant.

The arrow, as usual, sparked against the corner of the dragon’s mouth and then shattered into pieces.

But the small ball hanging on the arrow’s tail feathers suddenly exploded!

With a ”pop,” a mist of icy frost glimmering with reflections burst from the Alchemy Bomb.

The corner of the dragon’s wide-open mouth was suddenly sealed by unexpected ice shards.

Although the freezing mist of the [Northern Wind] was quickly dissipated by Smaug’s draconic flame heat,

but caught off guard, he let out a startled cry and jerked his head back slightly.

The ice exploding on his face startled Smaug, who was already overwhelmed with rage and suspicion.

When the frost did no harm to him, his fury grew even stronger!

”Is that all?!”

His long, barbed tail swung, and every building in a fan-shaped area of Lake-town was instantaneously sent flying into the air!

The debris rained down like a violent storm!

But it didn’t end there; Smaug, being a formidable creature, had already determined the shooter’s general direction.

In the midst of the smoke and burning scent, his senses weren’t precise, but his draconic flames didn’t require precision.

”Roar!!!”

The roar was accompanied by waves of cascading flames!

”Is this all you can do?! You dare oppose me, Smaug?! You dare stand before me?!”

”My teeth are sharper than swords! My claws surpass spears! My wings are like a storm! My scale armor is unbreakable! You think you can kill me?!”

”You think you can?!”

Seeing the dragon flames rushing towards them, Thranduil’s expression was grave but not panicked.

This wasn’t just ordinary fire; Smaug’s fiery breath also contained a strong physical force.

When he ambushed River Valley City, his dragon flames simply glanced over the sky and ’crushed’ solid stone towers.

Even a catapult’s projectiles would need two or three hits to cause that kind of damage.

This wasn’t a phenomenon explained by ’fire causing air expansion and creating shockwaves.’

Thranduil was originally hidden at the edge of Lake-town, and Smaug’s fiery breath was sweeping from the center of the town!

All the houses and even stone walls along the path of the fiery breath were swept away!

Once again facing the dragon flames, the Elf King appeared solemn but steady.

Skillfully, he stowed his bow and arrow and, with a few Elf Archers by his side, moved away with exceptional agility and grace.

They hid among the chaotic buildings of Lake-town.

”There’s nothing to worry about; everything so far is within plan.”

The Elf King reassured the nearby Elf Archers while swiftly relocating.

Meanwhile, from other directions in the town, more archers began to seize the opportunity to continue shooting at Smaug.

They didn’t expect to harm him, only to harass.

”Just now, I made him lift his head.” Thranduil said as he led them swiftly across the disorderly terrain, glancing back to ask the Elf Archers behind him.

”Did you see it just now? His chest and abdomen near the left wing, the spot where the legendary dragon scale was shot off!”

The long-ingrained demeanor allowed Thranduil to speak without any rush or stress, even while running.

But the elite archers behind him knew well that Thranduil was still anxious when facing the dragon flames that had nearly killed him once.

Otherwise, with his archery skills and keen eyesight, how could he ask such a question?

Shooting an arrow to the corner of the dragon’s mouth and observing his condition was fairly routine for Thranduil.

Even his son, Legolas, should be able to do it if performing normally.

But, after all, Elves had been together for thousands of years, so the archers didn’t directly point out Thranduil’s underperformance.

Instead, they reported directly.

”It’s not looking good, Your Majesty.”

An archer nimbly leapt over a fallen burning beam, speaking as he followed behind Thranduil.

”I carefully observed the dragon’s left chest and abdomen, but whatever the dragon did in the treasure of the Lonely Mountain, it’s covered with a messy layer of unformed gold!”