Bear School Astartes

When the giant blue wolf darted over from tens of meters away, Lann had already prepared.

The Demon Wolf’s words might confuse many people, but for Lann, who had dealt with many enemies in various worlds.

Clever, deceitful, ferocious, arrogant... all kinds of enemies and monsters, he had seen them all.

Zhao Ge Luyin’s cunning and vicious nature was nothing that would surprise him.

But in this moment of crucial urgency, Lann still made an unnecessary move first.

He glanced downward at the mountain wall that had been gouged out by Zhao Ge Luyin’s bite after he dodged.

The surface was abnormal in its smoothness.

Then, the hand that was gripping the rock loosened, and his body fell due to its own weight.

And the next moment, a loud ”swoosh” exploded!

Lann’s silver hair, which had been lifting upwards as he fell, was blown diagonally upward by a stronger wind.

The blue fur brushed past the silver hair, and instantly zipped over!

’Zhao Ge Luyin,’ the name itself carries the meaning of ’Blue Wolf.’

And just when the Demon Wolf’s wide-open mouth bit into empty air the next instant...

With a ”pop,” Lann’s previously relaxed hands grabbed onto a protruding stone mid-fall!

His waist and abdomen contracted forcefully, with strong muscles, bones, and tendons winding tightly like strings.

The power of his core muscles snapped Lann into an upward stance.

Simultaneously, the Lake Lady’s Sword in his right hand began emitting a faint rushing sound of air flowing rapidly.

The Demon Wolf, in this missed attack, was completely defenseless.

With no footing and unable to retract his forward force, it seemed like the perfect moment for a counterattack.

Lann thought the same.

Thus, the elegant long blade, now illuminated with a radiant segment of runes, swung upwards smartly and swiftly, like flowing water, slicing towards the base of Zhao Ge Luyin’s tail as it passed over Lann’s head.

The Demon Wolf was an unequivocal evil creature, if the Light of Earyendil on Aron Dite touched it, its chest would become like Smaug’s armor.

Even that rock-like armor would crumble like crispy, crumbly bread.

The blade, initially with a subtly flowing high-speed air current, became sharper and piercing as it neared Zhao Ge Luyin’s fur.

But just as the wind from Aron Dite’s blade blew a hole in the dense fur of the Demon Wolf...

That feeling again!

Lann felt a chill racing from his heart straight to his brain!

His previously calm vertical pupils in battle tightened into thin lines instantly!

Without further thought, for the second time since Zhao Ge Luyin’s ambush, Lann swiftly withdrew his sword for defense.

”Clang!”

A burst of circular sparks exploded on the surface of the blade where the Demon Hunter withdrew it for defense at his chest!

It was Zhao Ge Luyin’s hind leg, kicking backwards!

The hind paw of the Demon Wolf, in this backward kick, clawed towards the Demon Hunter’s chest and abdomen just in time.

If the withdrawal hadn’t blocked it, this claw would have directly contacted Lann’s chest and abdomen.

”But... why?”

The powerful force transmitted through the Demon Wolf’s hind leg, sending Lann flying backwards in mid-air. Yet, he was still puzzled.

The wolf’s claw didn’t look sharp at all; why... did it give a sense of crisis that sent chills down his spine?

Moreover, Aron Dite clearly made contact with Zhao Ge Luyin’s body, yet this evil beast seemed unfazed?

A hypothesis and conjecture flashed in Lann’s mind during this brief encounter between man and wolf with only two direct contacts.

Then, Lann’s body was directly kicked and sent flying by Zhao Ge Luyin’s hind leg.

The Demon Wolf’s power was extraordinary and its movements swift.

Compared to Smaug, Lann found Zhao Ge Luyin’s type of enemy harder to deal with.

”Boom!”

He couldn’t let himself fall freely without resistance again.

Although Zhao Ge Luyin’s kick was powerful, sending Lann scraping across the tops of two or three peaks without stopping, eventually, the Demon Hunter managed to slow his descent by hooking onto rock with the left hand’s projector.

Even without injury, the dust bursting from the crevices and the impact on his body made Lann cough lightly.

”Cough!”

The Demon Hunter looked behind him at the thunderous battle cries.

Crow Ridge is only a hundred meters higher in altitude than Smaug’s Wasteland.

Just now, Lann and two Elves charged upwards together, when Zhao Ge Luyin intercepted and swatted them from near a small hill before reaching Azog.

Now, after falling over fifty meters, he finally stopped the inertia.

Basically, it was like being pushed from the mountain top to the bottom.

Not far below Lann, just behind him, lay the vast wasteland where Dwarves, Elves, and Beastmen were engaged in a chaotic battle.

Lann simply let go, utilizing the power of the Light Body Breathing Technique, his body working with his arms, allowing him to swiftly descend over ten meters through the jagged rocks, retreating onto the plains.

He at least gained a stable and spacious area to fight.

Although he wasn’t without options when fighting on the rocks, this Demon Wolf... there were quite a few oddities about it.

Lann looked up at the spot he just retreated from, cautiously stepping back.

And there, silently, the massive cyan-colored Demon Wolf was head down, secured to the rocky surface with its paws, glaring menacingly at the Demon Hunter.

”Not only are its teeth and claws problematic, but the way it suddenly appeared now was just like its first attack on me on that narrow mountain path... without any sound!”

In his mind, the Demon Hunter once again sorted through the observations of Zhao Ge Luyin and relayed them to the rapidly processing Mentos, combining his thoughts with the computational power of the bio-intellectual brain to deduce the enemy’s abilities and ways to counter them.

The Demon Wolf was slowly descending from the top of the rock peak.

Its entire back was revealed, displayed.

The muscles on its back bulged and relaxed with its descent, demonstrating an unparalleled sense of power and intimidation.

Its crimson tongue licked its sharp teeth, its wolf eyes fixed intently on Lann.

”Aren’t you curious about my power, Dragon Slayer Lann?”

Zhao Ge Luyin spoke with a playful tone, its drool dripping from the corner of its mouth, hissing corrosively on the yellowish wasteland ground.

”If I ask, will you tell me?”

Lann cautiously stepped backward, also looking upward.

”I do know how Demon Wolves came to be, and I can imagine what happened to you. It’s nothing more than Sorun embedding an evil spirit into a dire wolf.”

”When the Elves describe the wars of the First Era, they have told this story. Unfortunately, they didn’t detail your Demon Wolf powers.”

Demon Wolves were initially ’manufactured’ by Morgoth as war creatures, similar in nature to dragons.

It’s ’manufactured,’ not ’created.’

In this world, only the sacred Ilúvatar possesses the Secret Fire, the power of creating life.

Maiar and Villa all claim to be ’servants of the Secret Fire.’

Though Morgoth is powerful, he can only twist, splice, and modify already existing life forms.

For example, allowing an evil spirit to enter a wolf’s body to become a Demon Wolf.

These Demon Wolves were a mighty force in Morgoth’s army during the First Era, and the fact that the dire wolves now possess their own language and enjoy equal alliances with Beastmen is a heritage of the Demon Wolves.

Sorun, during the First Era, was Morgoth’s capable subordinate and also the master of the progenitor of the Demon Wolves.

He could completely manufacture Demon Wolves himself, but in the Second Era and up to the current Third Era,

he devoted all his focus, strength, and even essence to crafting rings and reclaiming them.

If he truly felt momentarily troubled by me, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to temporarily draw power to create a Demon Wolf.

Lann could understand and accept this.

Though initially surprised to see Zhao Ge Luyin, Lann quickly adjusted his mindset.

What’s making him act cautiously now is the power demonstrated by this Demon Wolf.

”You are right, Dragon Slayer.”

The Demon Wolf slowly descended from the rock peak, then suddenly leapt in its final step!

”Why would I tell you? Haha haha!”

Zhao Ge Luyin emitted a chilling laugh with a voice no human could possess.

At the same time, its claws, embedded in the rock wall, suddenly exerted force, lunging forward ferociously!

The spots where the four claws gripped were crushed, forming a web-like fracture!

A massive shadow enveloped Lann.

Zhao Ge Luyin first spread its body, gaining a relatively extended moment of suspension, and then contracted, plummeting suddenly!

This brief suspension followed by a sudden drop, the rhythm was completely offbeat.

Even a slightly tense or inexperienced Warrior would be utterly flustered in the face of such a deliberately disordered attack rhythm.

They might dodge too early, leaving an opening for the enemy, or forget what to do altogether.

But fortunately, Lann had faced many beast-like enemies or those who could intelligently alter their attack rhythms!

The instant Zhao Ge Luyin began its maneuver, Lann’s expression remained as calm as ever.

But spirals of wind began to coil around his legs.

[Acceleration Technique]!

The Demon Wolf seemed to leap high, in a posture of bearing down like a mountain.

But in reality, it finally attacked with a horizontal swipe close to the ground!

The Demon Wolf’s cunning was evident, its every move a feint, a trick.

Yet the person who should have been in the trajectory of its swipe vanished like wispy smoke at the right moment.

Reappearing after a roll on the ground, stabilizing himself swiftly next to the resettled Zhao Ge Luyin!