Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1870, page 1842: War Ashes - Mountain Demon Roar
The power of the velvet ball and the unicorn clearly exceeded their original plan. As a result, the fire-wielding martial arts cultivators and blood-robed men brought by Yagangti saw the 'relatively easy-to-deal-with' kitten and charged straight at them.

They all thought they should just get rid of the velvet ball first and get the encirclement plan back on track.

But that's just wishful thinking.

Even in terms of pure combat strength, the velvet ball is not afraid of them at all. It currently has no one it needs to restrain or protect.

If any of these people manage to touch its little armor, it's considered a loss!
Although Qilin was a little uncomfortable with the thorn magic of those blood-robed people, since the battlefield of the velvet ball was not as difficult to intervene in as Lan En's, and there were more enemies than allies.

That would make it so easy for the Qilin to unleash its thunder!
A loud crash—that's a bolt of lightning striking down!

It was so bright it made my eyes dizzy! It was so loud it made my ears ring!

In just a few breaths, Lan En's side had just exchanged blows with swords, while on Rongbuqiu and Qilin's side, only a few fire-wielding martial arts cultivators remained.

The blood-robed man, who was already emaciated, sickly, and tormented, and whose spells were cast through self-torture, had been struck by lightning and turned into charcoal.

They cast spells by harming themselves, and they all act like sinners who self-mutilate, without any supernatural magic to protect them.

The Qilin's thunderous power was fully unleashed upon them.

However, it's different for those who practice martial arts using fire.

【The healing power of fire!】 They patted themselves, and flames flickered around their bodies. The Qilin's lightning could still harm them, but it had been greatly weakened. Furthermore, it couldn't paralyze their nerves with electricity.

But while they could handle the thunder, these fire-wielding martial arts cultivators also had to deal with the two small swords from the velvet ball, as well as the hooves and horns of the Qilin.

Therefore, Lan En is not worried about the battlefield on the other side of the velvet ball.

He only looked at his own area, at two enemies who were not on the same level as ordinary martial arts cultivators.

"You're a Hound Rider?" Lann asked calmly, addressing the lean, contorted knight who remained prostrate on the ground. "And that was the [Hound Walk]? Interesting... Legend has it that you don't communicate verbally, and once you've chosen a master, you'll be loyal to them until death."

He seemed completely unaffected by the fact that both enemies were so close to being defeated.

The longsword danced freely in his hand, creating dazzling yet chilling sword patterns.

"But I haven't heard of any of you recognizing any Flame Watcher as your master."

Thanks to Gideon Ofnir's collection of books, Lann could immediately recognize the Hound Riders, knights trained through a unique method, and was familiar with their characteristics.

The hound riders are quite famous in the border region, partly because they are indeed very skilled after being trained, with excellent agility and tracking abilities.

Second, and the main reason—loyalty.

Loyalty is a precious quality that deserves admiration and cherishment, no matter where you are.

But since there's no rumor of the Hound Rider pledging allegiance to the Flame Watchers, now there's one here, and he's even on the same side as Argonde…

"Which member of the Kalia royal family is your master?"

After a moment of silence, Lan En suddenly spoke up and asked.

But the hound riders, just as they were described in legends, remained completely still beneath their beaked helmets, not even uttering a growl. Only the constant hum of their breaths swirling within the full-face helmet could be heard.

It was Yaganti who responded to Lann.

The flame-wielding martial arts practitioners were all deathly pale, their eyebrows and beards ablaze with fiery red.

Yaganti was no exception.

He used his right hand, which was holding the spiked club, to support himself as he stood up, leaning against the base of the catapult behind him.

He also took a bullet that had been passively compressed into a small iron disc from his forehead.

A small, bleeding indentation remained on his pale forehead.

With a slight release of his finger, the projectile that Lan En had fired at supersonic speed after using the [Ald Sign] to enhance its power landed on the slippery grass.

According to Lan En's observation, the warriors in the border region actually displayed similar levels of power as those in the Flame World.

All of these methods are based on manipulating one's own soul power to make the body appear strong and to prevent easy death or reduced combat power.

It's just that, because their souls are sculpted by the blessing of the Golden Tree, the warriors of the borderlands are more flexible and have more tricks up their sleeves when it comes to manipulating soul power than those of the Flame World.

For example, [Battle Ash], which is similar to [Combat Skill], can be freely transferred between suitable weapons.

But this is just a matter of having more elaborate preparations outside of the actual battle; when it comes to the real fight, everyone is pretty much the same.

For such a person, being hit in the head by a supersonic bullet is not a problem; it's normal.

Lan En didn't expect that the bullets fired in that instant would blow the head of the Watchers leader.

"Head of the Watchers" is, after all, a prestigious title.

In border areas, the way to gain a reputation is simple: do something big and get everyone to acknowledge it.

Such people are generally regarded as a class that embodies power—the so-called 'heroes'. The internal differences within the 'hero' class are enormous.

On a grander scale, the current King of Elden, [the King's Consort] Radagan.

Before marrying Queen Marika, he was just a hero in the Golden Dynasty army, known as "Red Hair".

To put it simply, doing something that people find interesting and that gets spread... doesn't seem to have much to do with power itself.

Even someone who can't even afford a full suit of armor in a remote area might have quite a story to tell the locals, and that makes them a hero.

Even among heroes, there are differences.

This is something that everyone in the border area knows.

But right now, Yagangti is experiencing those words with his own body!
His left wrist was twisted and hanging limply. Even though the wrist guard with fire patterns was protected by the power of his soul, it had just been squeezed into the handprint of a large hand!

His wrist bones were crushed and torn off by himself. Now he can hardly close his hands, and the holy seal that used to wrap around his hands has slipped off.

But then, a metallic twisting sound rang out, and Yaganti's left hand, whose wrist bones had been crushed and torn, slowly clenched and began to move freely again!
Lan En was not surprised by this; he could naturally do such a thing by directly controlling the body with the power of his soul.

“You are not… an ordinary Faded Hero.” Argonde’s eyes, hidden beneath his hood, were fixed on the Witcher, his expression puzzled. “A powerful hero like you, possessing ‘Kinghood Potential’… why is this unknown?”

Lan En shrugged, but had nothing to say.

But this statement seemed to have a deeper meaning in Yaganti's eyes.

"It seems that the two fingers of the round table already understand what we are doing. That's why He sent you."

When he said this, Yagangti's tone was relatively calm.

But then, he suddenly roared!
"Since He still clings to the Golden Law and refuses to let go, it's time for someone else to take over! A new era of law is about to begin!"

At the very last moment of his roar, the hound rider, who was lying prone on the ground in the distance with only the [Hound Fang] slung over his shoulder remaining, vanished in an instant!
[Hound Walk]!
The hound rider vanished in an instant with a swift whoosh, leaving no one knowing where he would reappear to attack!

Originally, [Hound Stride] was similar to the old hunter Yharnam's [Acceleration], both being techniques for short-distance burst movement.

Although its form disappeared, it should have reappeared quite quickly.

As long as we observe the situation calmly and remain composed, Lan En is unlikely to be caught off guard.

But the premise is that he only has to face a single hound rider.

"Roar!!!"

As Yaganti stood up against the catapult base, he suddenly gripped the flame-shaped spiked club in his hand, lowered his body, and assumed a posture of desperately roaring!

As he moved, a series of supernatural white afterimages appeared!

【Battle Ashes: Mountain Demon Roar】!
A substantial wave of sound gathered in front of Yagandhi and expanded outwards!

His own body was jolted backward as if subjected to a violent recoil.

The catapult base, which he had just been supporting as he stood up, was now pressing against him.

With the recoil already so powerful, the damage caused directly in front of Aganti must have been even more considerable!

Following the trajectory of the actual sound waves roared out in front of him, the ground in the same direction was blown into the sky by the roar!
The grass looked as if a layer of skin had been peeled off!

The rain that had been falling all around was suddenly shaken away and scattered from the surrounding area to the sky!

The fog thickened, but surprisingly, no rain fell in this area for quite some time afterward.

Compared to the roar of this "War Ash," perhaps even the normal Tigrexes of the New World don't have this volume or power!
This is just the aftermath.

And the target directly opposite the roar...

When Argent lowered his body and opened his mouth, Lann had already anticipated Argent's posture, which looked like he was about to unleash a wave from his mouth.

That's not all. Within his [Spiritual Vision], he could even see the activation process of the [Mountain Demon Roar] battle ash on the flame-shaped spiked club.

A small phantom of a mountain demon was being temporarily shaped by the soul power guided by the battle ash on the weapon.

Even the operation of this battle ash can be seen, so Lan En naturally wouldn't be hit suddenly.

In fact, if he simply used the [Acceleration] spell to instantly teleport five or six meters away, the aftershocks of the roar would have no effect on him at all.

But the moment Lan En lifted his foot, it was as if this action locked onto Lan En's dodge direction.

The hound knight who had vanished instantly using [Hound Step] reappeared in that direction, carrying a sword.

He made no other move, but simply stood at that point at that moment, as if he were letting Lan En make a choice.

—Would you rather stay put and endure the [Troll's Roar], or dare to walk past me while you're still unsteady on your feet?

Lan En raised his eyebrows, which were damp from the rain, with interest, and then, without hesitation, they disappeared instantly!
(End of this chapter)