Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1564. Tracking
"I'm coming down too, meow!"

The fluff ball jumped lightly off the Qilin's back.

The white and fluffy little paws on its hind legs also tried to step on the tree roots that were contaminated by evil spirits. It seemed that it was pricked by the twisted thorns growing on the roots. After stepping on it, it shook its little paws on its hind legs.

"The traces are very fresh." Lan En half-knelt on the ground, still able to catch some traces from the ground disturbed by the twisted tree roots.

His deep eyes flickered and said, "The remaining evil spirit didn't last long."

"It seems that the monsters have also slowed down their normal marching speed. Or is it that the marching team has been lengthened?"

Ah Xiu, who was beside Lan En, also half-knelt down, picked up the soil with her fingers, closed her eyes and felt it for a while, then nodded to Lan En.

Those turquoise eyes revealed confirmation of his inference.

"It's no use just looking at the traces here." Wu Ming said his thoughts decisively, "We still have to catch up and see what's going on! Let's get going!"

Lan En turned his head and glanced at her: "You are really impatient and straightforward. How can you always have a blank expression with such a personality?"

Without waiting for Wuming to react, Lan En waved to Qilin.

"Just stay nearby, Kirin. This time we are mainly investigating what is going on in Saito Yoshitatsu's army. If you show up like this, it will probably be considered as forcing your way in."

The image of the Qilin is too eye-catching, and after being covered with a wide rune silk horse robe and a war horse armor, it is almost as big as a small house.

It does not have Lan's technical advantage, and it is conspicuous wherever it goes.

It doesn't fit the goal of this operation.

The horse tilted its head indifferently.

"But don't be greedy and eat anything here!" Lan En then gave it a serious patch, "Demon energy is not a good thing, even for you."

This forest filled with evil spirits not only has eerie and twisted wood roots, but also many things that look bright and gorgeous.

For example, there are scattered golden glowing leaves, and umbrella-capped mushrooms that grow beside the tree roots, like glowing jade.

Combined with the gloomy atmosphere caused by the evil spirit, this place looks like an underground cave with fluorescent plants.

But if you look closely, you can see that the golden leaves and umbrella-capped mushrooms have the same texture and luster as jade.

However, unlike the warmth and restraint advocated by traditional jade, these lusters appear weird and strange.

Anyway, it doesn't look like a good thing.

"The ancient dragon's body is indeed miraculous," Lan En poked Qilin's forehead with his finger, causing it to utter an unhappy 'huff'. "But you'd better use your guardian spirit first before you think about other things. You can't bite off more than you can chew."

Qilin stuck out his tongue and swung it around, angrily chasing Lan En away who was poking his head.

But it certainly no longer lowered its head to approach the gorgeous but abnormal umbrella-capped mushrooms on the ground.

"Wait for us nearby. We may need to evacuate quickly in order not to alert the enemy."

After Lan En gave one final instruction, several people turned around and walked towards the depths of the road covered by the demonized forest.

The demon hunter walked in front to lead the way. Although the demonic aura here was strong, it had not yet reached the level of forming [permanent darkness].

The abilities of these few people also made them feel comfortable without blushing or breathing heavily.

The further we walked along the road towards Iwamura Castle, the fresher and stronger the evil spirit that remained on the road became.

The evil spirit continued to permeate the surrounding vegetation and creatures, although after a while of walking, the dense and twisted to the point of being terrifying, the evil forest became sparse.

But this is only because the remaining evil spirit has not yet completely permeated the vegetation along the way.

Walking on the road, Lan En and his companions could clearly feel through touch and hearing that in the soil beneath their feet, the twisted tree roots were growing and twisting at an abnormal speed.

It is estimated that within a day or two, these roots will squeeze out of the soil and become exactly the same as the previous demonized forest.

Although Mino is a rare plain in the Japanese archipelago, the area of ​​the plain is not very large. In addition, the roots of these monster-like vegetation break through the earth's strata as they grow.

This caused the area to become like a mountain road, with a large difference in elevation, and it was also extremely rugged and dangerous.

"This land is completely destroyed." Wuming frowned as he walked, "Even if the evil spirit is removed and the wood rots back to its original state, the crushed land is too fragmented."

Ah Xiu walked nearby, looking at the terrain crushed by plant roots, and her hands gradually clenched.

This is the damage to the earth caused by the fight for power between her sister and father.

Although he had already been resolute after Lan En's persuasion, Ah Xiu still felt an inexplicable sense of self-blame and guilt when he saw that someone who was related to him by blood had indiscriminately caused such great harm.

After all, if they are related by blood, then she should also bear part of the responsibility for these evil deeds, right?

Perhaps it was her sudden appearance that stimulated Yilong, and her twin sister felt that her status was threatened, so she took the risk?
The half-demon beauty was thinking in such a conflicted way in her heart.

But before she could sink deeper into her guilt, a big hand pressed her shoulder just like before. Ah Xiu raised her eyes like a pool of spring water, but in an instant, she was pulled to her side by Lan En.

Then followed by
"Oh!"

First there was a gust of fast-moving hot wind, which made Ah Xiu feel as if her back was burned.

Immediately after the hot wind passed, the shock wave and heat from the explosion suddenly spread out five meters away from them!
Lan En held Ah Xiu with one hand, and with the other hand he accurately found the source of the shock wave in an instant, stretched out his arm and formed a seal!
[Quen's Seal]!
"Kakaka!"

A golden spherical shield was suddenly formed. The tiny gravel and demonic wood chips that were blown up by the shock wave hit the shield of chaotic magic, causing a sound of glass shattering.

But it couldn't break through the protection of the seal under Lan En's abundant magic supply.

[Quinn's Seal] covered both the fluff ball and A Xiu, but Wu Ming was a little far away and didn't take care of them.

But Lan En wasn't worried about her.

Faced with the spreading damage from the collapse, Wuming maintained the new naginata sickle in the shortest and fastest closed state, and in her hand facing in front of her, it began to spin like an electric fan.

The scattered objects that were thrown at him were all deflected by the rotating naginata sickle's "clang clang clang".

[Naginata Scythe·Heaven's Blade]!
"There is no shrapnel damage, but the impact strength of the flying debris and wood chips is not much different from that of a crossbow or an RPG at a distance of five meters."

Feeling the pressure coming from the seal.

The moment Lan En was hit, he had already roughly understood the destructive power of this attack.

As the hand seal changed, the [Quinn Seal] that had originally expanded outward to form a spherical protective shield shrank back and became the most orthodox close-fitting state.

Ah Xiu was just in a state of trance for a short time, and was caught in the gap by the sudden attack.

The moment the hot wind brushed past her back, she had already readjusted herself.

When Lan En pulled him to his side, the two swords at his waist were already unsheathed!

Lan En dared to retract the spherical shield directly because he knew that Ah Xiu had come back to his senses!
"Ding Ding!"

With two crisp sounds, the cold and sharp [Nine-Character Kenshin] accurately blocked two flaming arrows in mid-air.

Without much talk, after the enemy attacked, Lan En immediately locked the position in an environment with messy terrain and gloomy light.

And divided their respective goals by actions.

He rushed straight to the source of the most powerful long-range attack!

The position where this guy was standing was the most tricky. Considering Ah Xiu and Wu Ming's not-so-good mobility, it would take them more than ten seconds just to get close to it.

Not to mention that they also have to deal with various arrows and beware of the 'RPG' that may attack again.

The guy who sent out the 'RPG' just now is a monster that looks half human and half demon.

It stood on a steep slope by the roadside, on a thick trunk that was swollen and protruding from the soil, tilted, and stretched out because its roots were infected by evil spirits.

He was wearing the uniform and armor of an Ashigaru from the regular army under the daimyo.

There is also a nice helmet on the head.

But its left arm and half of its face no longer looked human.

Something black and rocky wrapped around its left arm, like solidified lava, with golden viscous liquid occasionally flashing through the cracks. Several crystal-like spirit stones also glowed golden, poking out from under its left shoulder.

And the 'RPG' that suddenly fired out just now was its left fist!

[Outer sect soldiers].

A monster is created when a demon, resentment, filth or something similar possesses a human body, or simply possesses a corpse that has recently died.

The so-called "heterodox" is obviously a term used in Buddhism, reflecting the belief characteristics of Japan's "combination of Shinto and Buddhism". It has the exclusive nature of denouncing anything other than the "right way" as "heterodox".

Lan En followed Abe Haruaki and learned some knowledge about Japanese monsters. After all, this kind of thing that relies purely on memory is basically effortless for him.

The characteristic of the outer soldier is obviously its left arm!

After the shot was fired, a 'gurgling' sound of sticky liquid surging came from the guy's left hand, as if something was being swallowed and spit out in the cavity of his arm, and golden liquid also splashed out from the cracks in his arm.

Combined with its previous attack mode, this is an obvious loading action!
Over at Ah Xiu's side, there were several piles of bones scattered in the grass, which suddenly pieced themselves together with a creaking sound.

After they stood up in human form, they turned out to be three skeletons holding muskets and longbows, wearing very old Ashigaru armor!
In Japan, this is called [Dead Warrior].

Most of these monsters are soldiers and samurai who died in battle with regret. Their physical strength is not high due to decay, but they still have some martial arts skills from their lifetime, and they are not afraid of pain and can fight with others until they are completely broken into pieces.

Obviously, Lan En and his men have caught up with Yilong’s army!
(End of this chapter)