Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1854, Section 1826: The Hunt
“Then I think you must be mistaken, Cat,” the Cuckoo Knight Commander said in a muffled voice from under his helmet. “We are not rangers or mercenaries. We are an army.”

"We don't care about being despicable or base; we look at completing the task and the efficiency of execution."

"We're pretty efficient now, aren't we?"

"Oh!"

The two-handed greatsword flashed through the hands of the Cuckoo Knight Commander as quickly as a one-handed sword, but the velvet ball dodged again.

It was still in mid-air when the Cuckoo Knight Commander, who had just swung his sword, seemed to have grasped its style and kicked out with a sweeping kick!
The tentative kick was aimed at the direction the velvet ball dodged. It didn't hit the ball directly, but given the ball's speed, the slight graze was enough to make it stagger.

And it was this very stumble that caused him to stagger!
The experienced and well-coordinated Cuckoo Knight Commander immediately followed!
The large shield in his left hand left a white afterimage in its trajectory, looking very similar to the [combat skills] of the world of fire!
Not long ago, the same shield blast, in the hands of an ordinary Cuckoo Knight, lifted up several tons of mud from this yellow poisonous mud!
In an instant, the velvet ball's pupils suddenly contracted to almost a slit!

Its breathing rate was immediately adjusted, and its joints and muscles completely relaxed at that moment.

Four tiny paws emerged from their fleshy paws, stepping onto the surface of the charging shield.

"call!"

The shield blast unleashed by the Knight Commander created a shockwave on the ground that was more than twice as large as before!
The velvet ball, along with tons of soil, was blown away.

Its body appeared exceptionally light, almost as if it were weightless.

But this time, it was thrown too high, so high that the cuckoo riders on the ground could predict its landing point, and several of them were waiting for it.

The velvet ball, after experiencing so many worlds, is no ordinary gift.

It pulled out the alchemical bomb and threw it towards its own landing point first!

Come on! If you dare to block my way, I'll be the first to get bombed! If you don't want to get bombed, you'd better scatter and make room!

Sure enough, the other side wasn't stupid; they didn't completely block the landing point of the velvet ball.

The fragments of the exploding alchemical bomb clanged and clattered against the shields and armor of the Cuckoo Knights.

However, they did not completely give up the encirclement, but simply left a larger gap, which weakened the effect of the explosion.

However, this further reduced the space for the velvet ball to move.

Actually, at this stage, it's still quite easy for the velvet ball to run away.

But even the Cuckoo Knight could tell that this cat wouldn't run away.

Without protection, without the ability to speak or express emotions, and completely inexperienced in combat, the Platinum Sons could only flee for their lives, trembling with fear.

Then, the same Cuckoo Knights were called upon to throw out Cuckoo Gems or pull the trigger of their knight crossbows.

And every time they do this, several of the Sons of Platinum fall.

They all died quietly, making it impossible to understand whether they were in pain or not.

However, even after being hit, their limbs would still twitch nervously, and even as they struggled and crawled in the yellow poisonous mud, they tried to move forward and get away from the Cuckoo Knights.

...They definitely still want to live!

The Platinum Child's magic archer tried several times to charge forward with the wolf carrying her, but with this method, if the opponent was determined to only raise their shield, she was really passive in one-on-one situations and lacked the ability to break through.

Meanwhile, the velvet ball was locked in a fierce battle with the Cuckoo Knight Commander and three other Cuckoo Knights.

Their battle was the most intense, with a rapid series of flashing sparks from swords and blades.

However, neither the Cuckoo Knights' [Magic Shield] nor the equipment itself is something that can be easily damaged.

During the stalemate, the Cuckoo Knight Commander was even able to extricate himself and stand by, leaning on his longsword, to watch the battle.

"This was just a routine hunt, cat." The Cuckoo Knight Commander seemed unaffected after the brief but intense battle, her tone even revealing a hint of bewilderment. "I really don't know what you're angry about."

The knight commander shrugged, and the bird feather ornament on his helmet swayed.

“The Kalia royal family is incompetent; they can only control a limited area on the west shore of the lake now, which is why we can come here from time to time to replenish the raw materials for making the Platinum Pot.”

"But to be honest, just looking at these Platinum Sons makes me sick enough. You saw their blood, didn't you?"

The knight commander seemed to gag deliberately inside his helmet.

"How disgusting. It doesn't look like a normal life at all."

"And you, cat...you seem angry to see us hunting these filthy creatures?"

"I told you!" The velvet ball's twin swords clashed once more with a bluish-green longsword, imbued with the magic of a [Magic Weapon]. "Your actions are not hunting! They are slaughter, meow! Slaughter!"

“Then let’s just call it a massacre.” Knight Commander Cuckoo shrugged again. “We’re not sensitive to the issue of wording, so you can say whatever you want, cat.”

The plush ball darted and weaved, its fighting style ill-suited to the current environment.

But as the cat watched the Platinum Sons fall one by one in the distance, even its whiskers trembled with rage. Clearly, it had completely disregarded its fighting style.

Judging from its appearance, the Cuckoo Knight seemed to have realized something.

"But no matter what you say, cat, we've planned this operation as a hunt."

The knight commander's voice was deep, with a hint of mockery and malicious laughter.

The little face of the plush ball visibly stiffened.

“Ah,” the knight commander’s malicious laughter grew even louder, “it seems you know very well what a hunt means.”

Encirclement hunting is different from tracking hunting.

The method involves first using a large number of people to enclose an area, roughly sealing it off, then gradually narrowing the encirclement, and finally gathering a large number of scattered prey together – a highly efficient approach.

At this very moment, the Cuckoo Knight Commander only wanted to convey a message to the Velvet Ball: "You sent the Platinum Children running behind you. Did you think your actions could save them, or at least some of them?"

Then you've really misunderstood.

When hunting the Son of Platinum, we always use encirclement to increase efficiency.

The fact that a hunting expedition could be launched on the western shore of the lake, which is under the control of the Caria royal family, demonstrates how weak the Caria royal family's control over its territory has become.

In any case, the Cuckoo Knight Commander achieved some of the effects he had envisioned.

—He made the velvet ball even angrier.

If a warrior's anger cannot be controlled, it will only have a negative effect.

But at the same time, the Cuckoo Knight Commander felt... something was not right.

Because in the kitten's angry eyes, there was truly only anger, without the slightest fear, dread, or helplessness.

Is this a normal reaction to hearing 'there are more enemies around'?

But the Cuckoo Knight Commander didn't care anymore.

It was just a routine hunt, but this cat was too fast; if it really wanted to leave, they probably wouldn't have been able to stop it.

Therefore, the Knight Commander appeared very composed when he took out the signal flare.

Once this signal flare is fired into the sky, even if the Kalia royal family's defenses over their territory are weak, troops should be on their way.

This also symbolizes the final stage of the hunt, the closing of the net.

"Pah~pah!"

Blue-green fireworks exploded in the sky.

At the same time, the Cuckoo Knight Commander subtly tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, patiently waiting for the velvet ball to reveal any possible weakness.

But two seconds later, he didn't see any potential flaws in the velvet ball.

On the contrary... he was the first to turn his head to look at the hunting grounds where the Platinum Son was being hunted.

Because it's too abnormal.

There was no noise and chaos caused by the gradually shrinking encirclement, and no more violent and comical struggling of those silver 'frogs'.

The helmet and armor made a slight clinking sound, and beneath the silver helmet, the Cuckoo Knight Commander's eyes swept across the surrounding bushes. In the dim environment, there seemed to be no other Cuckoo Knights appearing.

Do not!
...There seems to be something there!
It was a tall figure gradually emerging from the shadows!
"You're both an idiot and a moron!" Just then, amidst the continued clanging of metal, the velvet ball's deep voice rang out, "What do you think I'm waiting for, meow?!"

The moment the words of the velvet ball reached the ears of the Cuckoo Knight Commander, the tall figure suddenly vanished through the observation slit in the helmet!
Next!

"Whoosh!"

The knight commander's eyes, scanning rapidly beneath his helmet, caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flash by!
Then came a 'click' sound of mechanical meshing!
A cuckoo knight, with a shield in one hand and a knight's crossbow in the other, preparing to reload, was suddenly grabbed by a grappling hook chain on his right shoulder!

The Cuckoo Knights' armor was of the Golden Dynasty style, made of superior materials.

Therefore, the grappling hook scraped against the shoulder armor and sparks flew, but the shoulder armor was not torn by the pressure of the grappling hook.

But then, the captured Cuckoo Knight was pulled into the air like a rag doll being dragged along by a rope!
"Woo!"

A muffled, bewildered thud came from under the helmet.

Then came an explosive 'bang'!
The Cuckoo Knight, who was being pulled away, was sent flying backward at an even more explosive speed in the next instant!

His entire body was kicked so hard that he was shaped into an acute angle resembling a 'less than' sign!

The drastic changes in speed and inertia, even without considering the direct impact force, caused his body to bleed from any opening!

Through the helmet's observation slit, blood was stretched into a line in mid-air.

The clanging of the armor sounded like the pounding of a sledgehammer!

With precise control, the Cuckoo Knight, who was sent flying backward, crashed into a companion who was holding a Cuckoo Radiance Stone.

The two plate-armored knights broke bones and writhed in the impact.

The rhododendron brilliance stone was crushed in the process, and the released brilliance stone magic ball had nowhere to go, so it exploded right between the two of them!

"Pah, pah!"

Several times in a row, the sound of the magic light bursting was very crisp.

The two motionless corpses trembled and bulged from the impact. The bluish-green light of the sapphire magic shone through the cracks.

Lan En stepped out through the yellow poisonous mud, and the grappling hook clicked as it reset itself on his left arm armor.

A moment of silence fell over the scene.

The Witcher scanned his surroundings, his exceptional eyesight allowing him to spot something of interest even in the dim light.

It was the body of the Son of Platinum, buried in the mud, with a simple spear wrapped in strips of cloth stuck in the ground beside it.

Lan En nodded, his tongue tracing a line between his teeth and his lips.

"The Cuckoo Knight".

"These...you did this, right?"

(End of this chapter)