Bear School Astartes

The heavy and gigantic sword struck down on the Qilin’s azure horn in an instant after its scream!

The sound of ”crack” as the crystal shattered was clear, even amidst Smaug’s painful roar and the howling storm!

The Qilin’s azure horn was unstoppable in sharpness but not as hardy—at least not without reaching the Golden Lion’s intensity, which could forcibly twist it off with sheer wrist power.

Yet Lann’s strike, with the Qilin’s cooperation, was swift and decisive!

Although Smaug was formidable, what troubled Lann the most was—the creature could fly.

And it flew well, equipped with a cunning intellect.

Even now, entangled on the ground, it still harbored the mindset of one seeking revenge on Long Lake Town’s residents after a tussle with Dwarves in the Lonely Mountain.

If it ever sensed even a hint of threat to its life, it would undoubtedly take flight without hesitation.

By then, whether Smaug went to slaughter others or invoked the protection of being unreachable, raining fire from above, it would become a more difficult ordeal to handle.

So, when the black arrow missed from Bard’s hand, Lann’s immediate tactical focus was to disable Smaug’s ability to fly.

Simply put—it meant chopping off its wings!

Originally, this scenario was within Lann’s plans, with the Qilin raining lightning down from above.

However, Smaug’s unexpectedly strong defenses and life force proved extraordinary; after all, if such dragons lacked these traits, why would Morgoth have created them as war weapons during the ancient Mythical Era?

Smaug had already become a survivor of the wicked dragons.

The vast majority of them were actually exterminated by the ancient Elf Race, Dwarf Race, and humans during the First Era and Second Era.

As a result, the survivors within this species now appeared even more arrogant.

Because Elves, Dwarves, and humans, weakened over time, exposed it.

Nevertheless, the strength that Morgoth endowed them with was undeniable.

The lightning bolt that struck Smaug from its aerial pounce, forcing it to the ground, was indeed the maximum electrical power the Qilin could unleash at its current stage.

If it had struck soil, it would have instantly turned the ten-meter radius of earth into glass!

Even after releasing that strike, the Qilin’s static-charged mane dropped slightly, appearing drained.

As the electricity diminished significantly, the currents initially swirling around the Qilin grew sparse.

And since the Qilin’s formidable lightning had failed to cause significant harm to Smaug in its usual state... then Lann naturally had to employ his planned ”non-conventional methods.”

Lann noticed during his first encounter with the Qilin.

At that time, the Golden Lion battling the Qilin was a creature quite adaptive to electricity.

The Qilin’s lightning barely affected those explosively powerful muscles.

Yet even so, when the Golden Lion forcibly twisted off the Qilin’s azure horn, the energy within the shattered high-energy crystal was enough to blow the Golden Lion’s ribs visible from its back!

Any lesser creature would have been struck dead on the spot!

So, after discussing with the Qilin, the ancient dragon of the New Continent agreed to this scheme.

Lann stood atop the Qilin’s strong neck, descending with it.

The broken high-energy crystal azure horn was left inside the wound on Smaug’s wing.

At that moment, the wicked dragon sensed something amiss.

Its massive head and huge eyes bore the pain, momentarily turning towards its injured wing.

And at that time, all it could see was Lann, gradually sinking below the outline of its wing, standing on the Qilin’s neck.

Smaug watched as Lann’s silhouette descended with gravity, obscured by its wing, first waist, then shoulders, neck...

Finally, only that face remained visible.

The Demon Hunter smiled softly, mouthing an onomatopoeia to the twisting dragon head.

Smaug understood; that onomatopoeia was...

”Crackle!!!”

A terrifying lightning strike brought a thunderous noise that echoed across the entire Lonely Mountain region!

From Long Lake to River Valley City, the Lonely Mountain Kingdom, the Dark Forest...

Even the surface of the lake outside Long Lake Town, the sonic wave spread from the blast point as the center, radiating visible ripples and white mist!

The house Bard stood on was shattered to pieces, throwing him backward into the water.

The ominous thunderclouds in the sky unleashed an unprecedented rampant bolt of lightning!

Directly slamming into the site of the Qilin’s broken horn, precisely Smaug’s wing wound!

The high-intensity energy within the lightning produced a blinding brightness, making the location of Smaug’s wing appear as if a small sun had unexpectedly emerged!

This time, even the wicked dragon’s screams were drowned out by the thunderous sound!

The supporting bone within the dragon’s wing immediately drooped after the brightness, showing no signs of muscle control whatsoever.

On the vast wing membrane, charred marks formed into lightning patterns, radiating across Smaug’s wings.

Having faced defeat at the hands of the Golden Lion, once again breaking the Qilin’s azure horn, the Qilin appeared familiar with this.

No longer like the previous time, when after losing the horn, it stumbled like a newborn fawn struggling to control its four hooves.

The Qilin nimbly descended from more than thirty meters high, though it staggered, it stayed upright.

Quickly lowering its head, it ran to a nearby water channel, propping Bard, thrown by the blast, onto its back, quickly carrying him to safety.

And where was Lann, standing on its neck during the descent?

Just as the massive lightning strike invoked by the Qilin’s broken horn faded, a claw gripped Smaug’s fractured wing once again with a ”crack.”

And pulled Lann all the way up!

”Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The sound of fighting spirit explosion resonated on the Demon Hunter three times in succession, and after each echo, the fighting spirit light flame on Lann’s body became brighter.

[Great Sword Technique·Aerial Charging Slash]!

The huge thunder just now had completely blown off the supporting bone of one of Smaug’s wings.

After Lann used the hook and lock to pull himself up, he used the gravity to leap down again, and [Muddy Stream·Destruction] was firmly held in his hand, slashing down vertically!

The massive sword blade precisely cut into the wound, skimming over the shattered internal bones, directly slicing into the wing’s flesh membrane!

Immediately, a sound of ’ripping’, rich in liquid essence, rang out!

It was the sound of the Greatsword tearing the flesh membrane.

As Lann descended, the sword blade kept cutting through the flesh membrane of the evil dragon’s wing.

[Muddy Stream·Destruction] was fierce, with black fog laced with red lightning constantly spilling from the sword, corroding the wound more hideously.

Slicing all the way down! Lann and the Greatsword maintained their original posture and crashed into the waterway of Long Lake Town with a ’boom’, causing an enormous splash!

Immediately following the impact of man and sword, a ’whirling’ sound echoed from the sky, followed by something heavy and broad crashing into Long Lake Town.

And it covered a massive area!

One half of Smaug’s wing, including the outer portion, was directly torn off by Lann using the Greatsword along the gash!

The huge, 141-meter-long body of the dragon, with even its highly mobile wing claw, was entirely torn off by half!

Suddenly, it was like a rain of putrid blood!

Lann stood up from the dent he had smashed, holding [Muddy Stream·Destruction], and every drop of the dragon’s blood that fell on the sword’s wide surface vanished instantly.

Then a faint stream of black smoke with red currents emerged from the sword, like water splashes stirred by the blood rain continuously.

Lann’s silver hair and his entire armor had turned blood-red.

This time, contrary to expectation, Smaug did not let out a deafening scream.

Because when half of its wing was torn off by Lann, it instead broke out a ferocity!

A ferocity belonging to a weapon of war!

”Roar!!”

Smaug’s body, convulsing in pain, was forcibly driven into motion by this ferocity.

It bared its teeth, turning its head, and the gaps in the scales on its chest, along with its throat, exuded scorching firelight!

In almost a blink, Smaug didn’t even furrow its brow.

It directly spewed a large area of dragon flame, including its freshly torn wing claw wound, towards its side.

But with the evil dragon’s blood flowing down his forehead, Lann’s eyes, under his furrowed brows, had already become profound.

On his retinas, the computational support from the biochemical brain was ceaselessly updating the data stream.

Through [Spiritual Vision] and Mentos’ computational synthesis, Smaug’s action pattern was being rapidly established.

From the moment he fell, Lann knew Smaug would surely go mad, thus on his left hand, the flame of Curse Fire had long begun to flicker.

The flame in his left hand surged first, then he slapped it towards his chest!

[Curse Technique·Profuse Sweating]!

The sweat flowing from his body was transformed by Curse Fire into a mist layer close to the body’s surface, significantly reducing the damage caused by high temperatures.

After performing the [Curse Technique], Lann’s left hand pinched the magic seal, with a layer of golden radiant light emerging on his body, and [Quen Rune] also enveloped his body.

When this mist and magic golden light appeared, Lann used [Muddy Stream·Destruction] to protect himself at the front, with fighting spirit flames surging from his body.

[Great Sword Technique: Iron Mountain Lean]!

A ’boom’ explosion rang out!

[Iron Mountain Lean] forcibly offset the physical impact force within the dragon flames, allowing Lann not to lose his combat stance.

And the wide area of [Muddy Stream·Destruction] also enabled Lann not to directly contact the dragon flames behind.

Being baked by the high temperature accompanying the flames is different from being directly burned by the flames; the damage caused is ultimately different.

Plus, with the flame resistance from [Profuse Sweating], and even though [Quen Rune] crackled, it still remained intact, not broken, Lann felt he could hold on.

However, while he was holding on, his armor was struggling.

The Grandmaster Bear School Armor was still composite armor; besides enchanted metal chainmail and plate armor, there were also fabrics and cotton materials, leather materials, as armor links, and gap fillers.

These parts were enchanted but, due to the nature of the materials, their fire resistance indeed had shortcomings.

The armor was gradually igniting in parts, and Lann, expressionless, began dismantling these components with one hand.

”Woo!”

This action was not simple because only the sword surface of [Muddy Stream·Destruction] offered defense against the dragon flames, so when Lann inadvertently extended his hand, his fingertips and the skin on his wrist were soon charred!

However, the Demon Hunter merely had his temples pulse slightly before tightening the grip on his burnt right hand!

After a crisp ’crack’, the skin beneath was not a bleeding muscle but rather a layer of [Inner Steel] shimmering with metallic luster, covered with countless metal cables!

The roar caused by the dragon flame spitting suddenly ceased as Lann, who was buried behind the broad sword surface, hesitated not at all.

Without seeing anything, his whole fighting spirit flame exploded brilliantly, skipping a stage in the Great Sword Technique via [Iron Mountain Lean], directly reaching the second stage — [Strong·Charged Slash]!

And as the Greatsword was moved by Lann from his front for a slashing attack, it finally revealed the scene before [Muddy Stream·Destruction].

A huge, jaw-gaped mouth full of pointed teeth just readied for a bite!