Bear School Astartes

”As expected...a scythe!”

When the edge in the First Hunter’s hand sliced perfectly through the air before Lann’s eye, the Demon Hunter’s first reaction was this.

At that time, Lann saw the fatal wound on Kos’s orphan and was convinced it couldn’t have been made by an ordinary weapon.

The thin and curved blade, originally a tool for harvesting crops, was equally adept at harvesting lives.

The old hunter, or rather, the oldest hunter in all of Yan’an, lowered his head.

The brim of his tall hat cast a shadow, obscuring his slightly bowed, aged face.

The wide and ragged-edged coat on his back billowed like a fierce demonic shadow.

Aged, gaunt... but carrying the same kind of cold and danger as the scythe in his hand.

This sense of danger made this one-legged elderly man, who walked with a slight hobble, a remarkably striking figure!

The condensed and sharp aura of killing on him even made Lann feel as if he were ’silently burning’.

In the tranquil and beautiful sea of flowers, a large and low-hanging full moon cast a light almost like a gentle sun.

Both the old hunter and the Demon Hunter appeared to turn into wisps of smoke almost simultaneously, revealing their human forms again in a split second.

The result was that their relative positions barely changed, only shifting abruptly in the direction of where Lann was originally.

Lann retreated, while Gremman advanced.

The old yet still shining scythe, its inwardly-curved blade carrying a fierce, sharp wind.

Even when slashed upward, the white flowers on the ground were caught in the swirling wind, their petals spinning in the air.

Under the moonlight, it was tranquil and beautiful.

Along with the petals, a few strands of hair like molten silver, shimmering under the moonlight, floated up.

The Demon Hunter cautiously stepped through the uneven sea of flowers, moving his feet.

Meanwhile, his fingers brushed the neatly cut strands of his side neck.

”Did you intend to split my head with the first strike?”

Even though the blade cut upward across the side neck, it brushed past the eyelashes, almost splitting his head diagonally in two in an instant.

Yet, Lann’s words were unhurried, even carrying a hint of a comfortable smile.

”A bit too hasty, old fellow.”

At the moment the sharp edge grazed past the skin, Lann suddenly felt as if he had stepped into a comfort zone.

He actually began to feel peaceful and relaxed.

The art of blades and swords, some people naturally sink into it.

But Gremman seemed like the original template image of the Yan Nan Hunter.

He spoke no words during the hunt and uttered no sounds... He only thought of using his skills and blade to make the target’s blood spray from skin and veins.

The more, the better!

Silently, Gremman grasped the scythe with a deep step and a shallow one, using his single leg and wooden prosthetic, approaching Lann.

If not for the almost unpredictable Acceleration Technique earlier, bursting with god-like speed to flash forward, some might have truly seen him as an elderly crippled man with bad legs.

When Lann and Maria used the Acceleration Technique, spirals of wind would twine around their legs, a characteristic of the technique.

But Gremman, the creator of the Acceleration Technique... had no such traces on him.

It seemed this swift smoke-like movement was as commonplace for him as the evasive dodging was for any ordinary Yan Nan Hunter.

And silently, when Gremman pressured close to a certain distance near Lann, he shouldered the crescent-like scythe behind him.

And both legs slightly bent, akin to a compressed spring.

The scythe is an unusual and rare type of weapon.

Because of its shape, ordinary weapons only require a backward pull with both hands and a torso twist to complete a powered attack stance; it directly needs to be shouldered behind.

One hand grips the handle’s end at the shoulder, while the other holds the handle near the blade head at the lower back.

Undoubtedly, this was the preparatory stance for a powerful scythe attack!

”Whew~”

The crescent-shaped blade stirred up a fierce wind!

The scythe, appearing thin and slender, due to its peculiar weapon balance, is actually a heavy weapon, akin to the logic of the two-handed battle axe and warhammer.

This type of weapon, if intended for successive attacks, spinning around is definitely faster than overcoming inertia after a strike and then slicing the next blow!

Lann’s beautiful eyes, reflecting the moonlight, narrowed slightly.

Indeed!

The old hunter was expressionless, but within a second of posing for a might strike at a distance, in the next he was already right before Lann!

The sound of the wind couldn’t even keep up with the scattered petals caught by his speeding proximity!

The first sudden and swift strike of the slender scythe was diagonal from Gremman’s right shoulder to the left waist.

The blade emanating a cold light left nearly glaring traces in the air!

It was a ’full moon’ left by a perfect slash.

But immediately in the next moment!

”Dang!!!”

Intense sparks, following the appearance of the ’full moon’, exploded in a circular expansion in the succeeding instant!

That intense brightness was truly dazzling this time!

The first slash left a perfect mark, indicating it didn’t hit the person at all!

The Demon Hunter, having learned the Acceleration Technique and having repeatedly sparred and cooperated with the Yan Nan Hunters, had mastered the clean and swift dodging techniques, now completely flawless.

He synchronized his sideways shift in an instant, moving out of the scythe’s diagonal slashing range.

But the scythe in Gremman’s hands moved with ease, and as the second sweeping slash came, Lann, who had already left the attack range, immediately dodged again, diving right in!

Those eyes faced the blade’s light directly, feeling only exhilaration!

A bright silver flash flickered at his waist.

Water-shaped Sword: Climbing Carp!

He inserted himself into the gap in the enemy’s move, then, like a carp leaping out of the water, bounced off the blade beautifully and nimbly!

The first dodge was for absolute safety, directly leaving the enemy’s attack range.

The second dodge was to ensure a well-controlled assault! Since the move was already executed, the pace and direction of the attack couldn’t be altered even if desired.

Thus, the successful deflection of the blade was inevitable!

Indeed, after the lingering echo of ’clang,’ the crescent moon-like cold dancing scythe seemed to have suddenly jammed in its rotation!

In the originally smooth trajectory, Gremman himself uncontrollably leaned back!

In the shadow of the high bonnet of the top hat, even with the cold indifference typical of the Yan Nan Hunters, his eyes betrayed a flicker of astonishment.

This was a technique Gremman had never seen before.

Just using a weapon’s collision could disrupt the body’s movement... it was like water infiltrating every crevice!

But it wasn’t over yet.

The interchange of motion and stillness between the two reached an incredibly intense state almost instantaneously.

Ordinary swordsmen in the Iwami Style usually had to use Climbing Carp several times to break the opponent’s stance.

But Lann made it simpler.

Alder’s Rune!

Having successfully executed Climbing Carp, Lann’s left hand immediately left the hilt of Aron Dite and aimed at the staggering Old Hunter.

His left hand was already forming a hand seal, with a rune composed of Chaos Magic Power glowing a cold white light before it!

”Bang!”

The mental impulse composed of Chaos Magic Power, the impact deliberately not too concentrated nor too dispersed under Lann’s control.

It was like a punch, carrying an appropriate impact force enough to shake a body.

The amber cat eyes scanned Gremman’s body instantly, while the Mentos in his mind synced with the main body’s sword fighting experience, completing a force analysis of Gremman’s body at that fleeting moment.

At this point, the flaw forcibly created was completely seized!

One Climbing Carp deflected the blade, interrupting Gremman’s motion rhythm.

One Alder’s Rune accurately impacted the old man’s shoulder socket, the impact force appropriately made his entire muscle system lose control, involuntarily bringing him to one knee!

At this point, even Gremman realized.

His current situation... was he Gun Parried?!

Yan Nan’s First Hunter, Gun Parried!

Gremman was undoubtedly a prodigy in combat techniques.

The techniques equivalent to the Flame World’s Parry, and the Iwami Style’s stance breaking, were entirely developed by him personally.

Therefore, he found it hardest to believe that one day he’d be Gun Parried.

But facts are facts.

Lann’s eyes narrowed, and immediately, in the previous moment, the Lady of the Lake’s Sword that had deflected the scythe blade, with the melodious sound of blade vibration, elegantly pointed its tip at Gremman’s head!

Thrust forward!

Yet even though every muscle in his body was momentarily unresponsive due to the impact, Gremman still coldly watched the blade thrust towards his head.

He barely tilted his head back at the critical juncture, almost as if about to fall backward facing the sky.

In an intense sword duel, falling backward like this was no different from being dead, with little difference from having a blade thrust into your head.

But in Gremman’s hands, this movement could make a difference!

The razor-sharp Divine-made Armament, as if slicing through air, originally aiming for the head, now went directly into the clavicle position at the base of Gremman’s neck.

All the way slicing through skin, muscle, and bone...

Gremman, falling backward with his face to the sky, indeed had no strength to counterattack.

But with a blade, though the edge is razor-sharp, what about the spine?

Lann felt an unusual sensation transmitted through the grip!

In this momentary inability to control his body, falling backward with face to the sky seemed indeed unsalvageable.

But if he utilized this blade piercing into his body, everything changed immediately!

Lann stabbed with the blade downward, steady and firm.

And Gremman seized the blade piercing in and Lann’s solid arm strength.

Pressing his body weight, which was falling backward, onto the back of the penetrating blade!

Lann’s blade, instead, prevented him from falling!