Bear School Astartes

A chasm of lightning forced the direwolves not to dare to leap forward.

Meanwhile, the elves in the trees regained their footing, and the intensity of their rain of arrows increased once again.

The Qilin was clearly not exhausted by its thunderous power.

Previously, it fought with the Golden Lion for half a day, only losing strength after the final massive discharge. This time, it merely discharged on the ground once.

”Rreeee!”

The Qilin reared up again, letting out an excited neigh.

Blue-white glimmers began to shine under the Beastman’s feet once more.

”Clang!”

Thunder descended from the sky, blowing up a large area of scorched flesh and high-temperature soil.

This soil was even turned into glass-like fragments by the Qilin’s lightning.

”Behind us, behind us.”

Lann calmly listened to all the sounds around him, gently patting the Qilin’s neck as he spoke to it.

The New Continent’s Ancient Dragon immediately kicked its hind legs.

The direwolf, bold enough to approach the Qilin’s hind legs for a bite, instantly collapsed silently.

The upper jaw on its large-mouthed face was completely shattered, hanging only by flesh and skin, drooping over its still intact lower jaw.

Judging by the way it fell, it likely suffered from the Qilin’s kick pushing bone fragments directly into its skull.

In a short period, the elves succeeded in rapidly annihilating over three hundred Beastmen with their rain of arrows, reducing their number to less than a hundred.

Though the Beastmen appeared crazy, thirsting for blood and violence, their craving was for others’ blood and flesh, not their own.

By now, many Beastmen were fleeing, howling in strange voices.

The direwolves showed even more wisdom than the Beastmen.

After some mutual calling in their language, less than five remained, quickly slipping away before the Beastmen’s collapse.

After a chaotic and disordered battle, the once quiet and natural grove was now blanketed with Beastmen corpses, their dirty black blood flowing thickly, mixing with the trampled mud and decomposed plant matter.

Seven or eight big trees had their trunks gnawed and snapped by a wave of direwolf assault, lying tilted against the branches of other trees, large splinters and wood chips scattered around.

The elves hadn’t experienced such a sudden and intense battle for some time.

They stood at the tree branches, taking a moment to catch their breath, before quickly regaining their composure.

Thanks to their incredibly high innate qualities, they naturally made the right moves in battle; otherwise, given their mental state, losses might have occurred.

Yet, it was clear they were only slightly unaccustomed.

Being ambushed by Beastmen with no psychological preparation, they fought a passive encounter battle.

If they were prepared, their prolonged experience would have allowed them to perform normally.

Lann rode the Qilin, his tall figure walking easily at the edge of the battlefield as if nothing had happened.

The elves, standing on the branches, watched the sacred beast not far away, along with the rider who waved back at them casually, then took off without looking back.

”Where is he going? Hunting those Beastmen?”

An elf murmured, watching the departing figure.

”No.” Legolas frowned, jumping down from the tree as gently as falling leaves. ”Remember what he said before? He’s going to Long Lake Town, and the Beastmen are running towards the Dark Forest, not in the same direction.”

The Elf Prince carefully stepped onto the devastated woodland, each step accompanied by the sticky sound of boots meeting muddy ground.

This was soil soaked in the Beastmen’s filthy blood.

”As I said.” Tauriel followed close behind Legolas, her face heavy with concern. ”Their audacity and power grow ever larger.”

”Darkness is spreading!”

Legolas, as if infected by her words, scanned the area with a frown.

The Beastmen had indeed started to appear in groups within the Woodland Kingdom.

”I agree with your view, Tauriel. At least on one point...”

Legolas sighed, simultaneously reaching for his shoulder.

Two short blades were tied together with a back quiver there.

The short blades, as always, reflected the elves’ elegant aesthetics in their smallest details.

Crafted with some form of bone or tooth as smooth, yellowish handles, the blades themselves curved seamlessly and were adorned with intricate engravings.

Without turning his head, Legolas reached back to draw a short blade, then swirled it around beside him.

As he did, a sudden howl burst from among the bodies at his feet.

”Ow!”

It was an orc with jagged, sharp teeth that couldn’t close his mouth, his feigned death and surprise attack eliciting only a shout as his hand reached out.

But the hand, clutching a knife, was precisely pierced by the elf’s short blade, then twisted open into a large gash.

The orc could not endure the pain, and his knife clattered down as he knelt, wailing.

Legolas shook the black blood from the short blade in his hand: ”Indeed, their audacity has grown too great.”

Sheathing the short blade on his back, Legolas called to an elf.

”Don’t kill him just yet; keep him for questioning. My father might find his information interesting.”

”Tauriel, we should regroup and head back.”

After saying this, Legolas prepared to head into the Dark Forest.

But after two steps, he turned back in surprise because he didn’t hear Tauriel’s footsteps.

The female elf stood still, looking heavily and disappointedly towards the Dark Forest.

”We’ve asked questions and gathered intelligence, but it won’t change anything, Legolas. And you clearly know, this is just a pawn.”

”So, what do you want to do?” The Elf Prince frowned at his captain of the guard.

”Even if we ignore those giant spiders, we must at least know what the orcs are planning! And stop them!”

Tauriel looked disgustedly at the ground full of orc corpses.

Dwarves and orcs have been sworn enemies for ages, but the enmity between elves and orcs stretches back even before the First Era!

That’s a hatred older than the moon and the sun hanging in the sky today!

”For them to expend so much energy to hunt down a small group of dwarves, it must not be simple. No matter what, I can’t ignore it!”

”The dwarves are heading to Long Lake Town, so I will also go to see if these orcs really pursue them this far to kill them, and why they want to kill them.”

”If we don’t even know what our enemy intends, then the Woodland Kingdom won’t have any safety at all!”

”And even if we did learn something from this little pawn... would your father, my King, the great Thranduil, take action, Legolas?”

Tauriel lifted the bow in her hand to indicate.

”We must stop them with action! Otherwise, every success of the darkness will strengthen their forces, eventually reaching an irreparable state!”

”Or do you think that if we shut our doors and live peacefully, the forces of darkness will think we are sensible and spare us?”

”I am going to Long Lake Town to see for myself, whether you decide to fight against evil... that is your business.”

Tauriel spoke in a tone that indicated she didn’t want any further discussion, having made up her mind.

She turned and left.

Legolas pressed his lips together and tucked the small braid falling beside his cheek back behind his pointed ear.

He watched Tauriel’s back. They were very good friends and had fought side by side for hundreds of years.

And fighting against evil... was not only a story Legolas heard growing up or part of his education but even in the nature of the elves.

They were the firstborn children of Ilúvatar, naturally loving things of truth, goodness, and beauty, and detesting evil.

”...Gallian, from this moment, you will lead the team and take this prisoner back to my father.”

”Your Highness?!”

The elf behind Legolas exclaimed.

But at this moment, the Elf Prince had already made up his mind, stepping with elven lightness akin to magic, following Tauriel northward.

-----------------

Long Lake Town, as its name suggests, is a town located on a long and narrow lake.

But unlike typical waterside settlements, it is built directly in the middle of the lake.

It stands on a massive rock in the lake, which serves as the foundation for the town, with a few hundred meters long wooden bridge connecting the shore to Long Lake Town.

The wooden bridge is made by connecting continuously floating boats with planks, and it’s not stable.

However, because the residents of Long Lake Town use boats more than paths for moving around, people don’t pay much attention to this wooden bridge.

”The town doesn’t look big.”

Lann sat on a Qilin, looking at the distant town from the lakeshore.

While the Demon Hunter was visiting Old Tom’s home, it was the transition from summer to autumn. After much time had passed, the mornings were already quite chilly.

In addition, a large part of the lake’s water melted from the snow and ice on the mountains not far to the north.

The morning at Long Lake, at this season, had small pieces of ice floating on the water, with a thick layer of dense cold mist suspended over the lake.

”But it looks chaotic, meow!”

Rong Buqiu stood on the Qilin’s head, putting a paw over its eyes to observe Long Lake Town.

The golden sunlight shone down from the horizon, sprinkling over the town’s gray-black wooden roofs.

The population kept increasing, but the town’s foundation, that massive rock in the lake, would not grow any larger.

Not to mention that the Lonely Mountain had been taken over by the Evil Dragon Smaug, destroying River Valley City nearby. Many of River Valley City’s residents escaped to Long Lake Town at that time.

Therefore, the houses in this town became even more crowded and strange.

Each house leans on a corner of its neighbor, as if they keep growing upwards.

People made a living using small boats in the narrow canals left open in the town.

”It’s going to be hard to find someone here, meow.”

Rong Buqiu scratched its whiskers while speaking.

It understood the Demon Hunter’s extraordinary senses, but this type of town, one could imagine that the scents were surely varied and strong, making it difficult even for a Demon Hunter to find the dwarves here.

However, Lann shook his head, pressing the small cat back into the saddle.

”As long as the town is not large, we can find them. But right now... we need to notify the town’s defensive forces first.”

”The orcs have pursued from Rivendell all the way to the vicinity of the Lonely Mountain. I don’t believe they will stop here.”

”And here, it’s not a desolate wilderness.”