Bear School Astartes

Lann understood that the ’lightweight dagger’ of Aron Dite had little effect on the tenacious life force, massive size, and sturdy muscles of the monsters in this world, and thus initially used [Dirty Flow].

The Barbaric Jaws Dragon, defeated by the one wielding its damaging ’fangs’... was instantly provoked into a rage!

Blood veins started crawling up its reptilian vertical pupils, and its entire eye emitted a blood-red glow.

Just like during their first meeting, the Barbaric Jaws Dragon made a brief pre-charge investigation.

This abrupt movement accompanied its massive weight and fearsome, terrifying jaws.

Although less lethal than fully charged moves that cause extreme relaxation, it was still enough to unbalance hunters carrying hundreds of pounds of gear, or even injure them severely.

And Lann’s response was as if he had long developed a tacit understanding with the Barbaric Jaws Dragon.

His tall figure deftly executed a slide step, creating a lateral movement. Meanwhile, the sword face of [Dirty Flow] was held guardedly at his side.

With a clink, a brief trail of sparks flickered across the dark sword face.

It was the result of the friction between the protruding teeth on the dragon’s lower jaw and steel, leaving a fierce remnant.

The momentum contained in the several-ton-head was cleverly dissipated by Lann’s highly skillful swordsmanship.

It did not compromise his stance in any way.

Yet Lann’s heart remained unperturbed.

This Barbaric Jaws Dragon had transformed itself into its current state, committed to revenge... without improvement, it could not have dared to return to find the Demon Hunter.

Indeed.

A fierce crimson flame just started appearing before Lann, yet at that instant, the Demon Hunter was already prepared.

”[Quen]!”

A golden Chaos Magic Shield was instantly generated, and following closely was a spray of flame from the side of the dragon’s lips!

The flame quickly faded; despite being hot enough to scorch the moist ground within a blink, the contact time was too brief to exert sufficient pressure on the [Quen Rune].

Thus, after the spray of flame, a circle of splattered charred marks appeared on the surrounding ground.

And within the charred marks, at the center was a circle maintaining the soil’s original appearance, centered around Lann.

The instant the flame appeared, Lann had already judged its inability to breach the limits of [Quen Rune], so he immediately began to twist his body.

And within an instant afterward, nearly simultaneous with the flame’s disappearance...

”Boom!”

The dark sword blade transformed into a black shadow, striking down onto the side of the dragon’s face from top to bottom!

Instantly, a deep gash revealing bone appeared on the elongated face.

Blood oozed down the hardened exterior, though not much spilled out. Because its powerful life force caused the muscles to swiftly contract, closing the blood vessel openings upon injury.

Additionally, stimulated as if by pain, the massive head swayed violently, propelling Lann backward to a sideways flight.

The Demon Hunter seemed to have anticipated this, using the backward momentum to deftly roll and create distance on the ground.

And then, the residual force from the clash dissipated completely, at which point the [Quen Rune] shattered and disappeared appropriately.

In that brief exchange, the two old adversaries cautiously tested and attacked each other multiple times, eventually separating again and facing off.

At first glance, it seemed advantageous for Lann.

After all, he was completely unharmed, with minimal expenditure.

Yet the Barbaric Jaws Dragon had already incurred a nearly fifty-centimeter-long sword wound on its face.

Moreover, the [Enhanced Dragon Beast Oil] applied to [Dirty Flow] started taking effect upon the wound’s flesh.

The flesh surrounding the wound abruptly became inflamed, turning pale and yellow, losing its healthy color.

These were symptoms of the sword oil’s poisonous invasion.

Nevertheless, Lann did not relax amid such seemingly favorable circumstances.

Because the dragon’s behavior was indeed unexpected.

Through exchanges with Dragon-man Race scholars, Lann had gained substantial knowledge about Barbaric Jaws Dragons.

This type of beast dragon’s fire-breathing ability originates from a special internal organ—Flame Bag.

This organ is fully activated when the dragon undergoes intense activity, raising its body temperature.

Prior to this, dragons could only ignite sparks from their nasal cavities.

Though still quite hot, the ’normal state’ of Flame Bag differs significantly from the ’fully activated state.’

When the Flame Bag reaches an appropriate physiological state, the dragon can spray massive quantities of hot flame from its mouth.

Lann couldn’t fully grasp the direct destructive power from written records. But undoubtedly, nasal spark and oral flame are fundamentally different levels of state for the dragon.

Yet this Barbaric Jaws Dragon just now...

”Able to activate the Flame Bag right in the opening and control the fire so well... it’s not just practice; it’s evolution!”

Lann muttered to himself.

Even he was astonished by the rate of progression of this beast dragon.

The wound and sword oil toxicity on its face caused the dragon’s facial muscles to spasm continuously.

Yet the fierce vertical pupils of this reptilian creature, matched with its grim state, conveyed no sense of weakness—as though an enraged thug had arisen from its depths due to injury!

While the Demon Hunter and beast dragon engaged in mutual combat during their brief exchange, Little Jack had finally approached the attention-diverted Barbaric Jaws Dragon from another route.

Due to animosity with Lann, the dragon had concentrated its best frontal view on him from the start.

Now, due to the overhead sword from Lann, the dragon temporarily paused in place.

And taking advantage of this opportunity, the roaring red-faced Little Jack, empowered by consuming Strength Seed and Stamina Seed, lifted his bone-crafted great sword overhead.

A light red flame exploded from his body, coating his armor and the great sword.

This was the first round of charge for the great sword—[Charge Chop]!

Following Lann’s warfare plan when facing the dragon initially, Little Jack targeted one of the dragon’s legs for the [Charge Chop].

His current position was nearly identical to Lann’s during their first encounter, under the blind spot beneath the massive monster.

So Little Jack believed his surprise attack should yield favorable results.

However, just as the bone-crafted great sword pulsing with pale red fighting spirit flame was about to be unleashed by Little Jack, he faintly heard Lann’s loud voice amidst the monster’s low growl.

”Get out of the way!”

Lann’s voice shouted.

And upon hearing the words, Little Jack momentarily... lost consciousness.