Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1872 (1844) - Beheading
The Hound Riders were not large-scale military groups like the Rhodes Riders or the Cuckoo Riders.

They have their own training system, but it's not very large and it's quite secretive.

After finding a master to pledge allegiance to, they mostly do dirty work in secret.

How could their sword skills be known to a faded person who has never seen or heard of them?
He didn't just 'know'... he even knew how long the transition between the two stages of the Hound Sword Technique could last at most!

How can this be? !
Daryl wasn't sure if he was overthinking things at this crucial moment because of the look in Lann's eyes, or if that was really the case.

But in any case, just as he himself felt: the transition between the two attacks of his Hound Sword Technique had reached its limit!

If he doesn't act now, he'll miss the window of opportunity, and he'll either have to use his Hound Steps himself to get up there and slash without being affected by the Battle Ash buff.

He had been doing this from the very beginning of the battle when he launched his sneak attack, and the result... was that a white mark on Lann's Smaug armor that could be wiped away with a few strokes.

Otherwise, he would have to start all over again with the Battle Ashes... and that would mean missing out on the Golden Tree!

So now, whether you want to or not, Darylwell disappears in this instant.

Without even thinking, Lan En knew that he must be coming for him.

In that instant, the shockwave from the troll's roar swept across the land, and the deformed knight vanished.

Despite his own unsteady stance and being attacked from both sides, a light red flame suddenly burst forth from Lan En's body!
"Ding!"

A crisp and melodious ringing sound, even when everyone's ears were still dazed and confused by the loud roar just now, was still like a clear sound that broke the silence!

That was the sound of the fighting spirit bursting from the surface of the demon hunter's body, activating according to a unique technique after receiving external pressure.

Taking the moment when he blocked the first strike of the hound's sword technique as a precedent, Lan En's battle aura began to activate under his control.

The light red flames that burst forth from his body surface just as Aganti struck the ground with his spiked club, causing a shockwave that spread and swept over Lan En!
The steps that had seemed unsteady and slightly disordered on the shattered ground suddenly became like those of a butterfly flitting among flowers, naturally alternating.

The flames of battle aura flashed, and the shockwave had already swept past Lan En's body, but not a single strand of his silver hair, which was slightly damp from the rain, was blown away!
【Tachi Technique: Foresight Slash】!
Yagangti, whose spiked club was still embedded in the ground, immediately froze upon seeing this scene.

He had never seen anything like this before – [war ash].

Unexpected situations are unsettling in themselves, not to mention the [Mountain Demon Roar] in his hand, which, although loud and powerful, is also cumbersome to use.

Although the second stage of the Battle Ash attack has been launched, it is still in the recovery phase, and the body is much stiffer than normal!
If Lan En were to come looking for me at this point...

However, the Witcher did not intend to deal with Argonde immediately; his first priority was to eliminate the Hound Rider!
Just as Lann used [Foresight Slash] to dodge the shockwave without taking damage, Daryl experienced the same thing.

The second attack of the Hound Sword Technique will naturally involve using the Hound Step.

This movement style is very similar to Yharnam's [Acceleration] spell; it not only provides explosive acceleration but also allows one to dodge many attacks like a wisp of smoke.

Daryl dodged the spreading shockwave and reappeared in the same spot where Lann had just stood, using his hound-like gait.

Following the guidance of the ash on the Hound Fang, the machete that was dragging on the ground behind him immediately swung upwards again, leaving a white afterimage!
With a clang, the hound rider, who was already lying on the ground, swung his long sword upwards, actually cutting the blade directly into the ground!

The resistance of the land has once again fueled a surge of momentum!
At the same time, there must have been large rocks in the ground that made the impact sound.

Even so, the hound's fangs, wavy as they were, still sliced ​​through the earth and rocks with remarkable smoothness, slashing upwards!
It left a white trail in mid-air, indicating the direction of the blade.

But at the location of the white blade remnant... there was no sign of the target!
After making that cut, Daryl immediately realized something was wrong, but it was too late.

The weaknesses of the "Battle Ashes" system in the border region and the "Combat Skills" system in the Flame World lie precisely here.

They can all imprint the experience and techniques of the strong onto the weapons, so that even laymen can use them without any inconvenience, which is conducive to the rapid and large-scale training of warriors.

However, its drawback is that it is rigid.

Once the strong and the instructors have imprinted battle ash and combat techniques on the weapons, the user has very little room for improvisation once they activate them.

Daryl had already sensed something was wrong when he reappeared after using Hound Step, but he couldn't stop wielding his knife until he finished this upward slash.

But after that powerful, white-shadowed strike missed its mark, he knew without a doubt how big of an opening it was!

really!

"Oh!"

Daryl, whose upward slash missed, suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders and back!
His armor rattled loudly under the weight!

Arms and legs were pressed against the soft ground, up to elbow level!
“The Hound Rider’s posture is strange, but…” Lann, who was standing on his back, said softly, “I’ve seen quite a few myself.”

This is not a lie; they fight and move using a human-shaped body with all four limbs on the ground.

Lann had met the Centipede Clan of Senpou Temple back in Ashina. In the Fireworld, Irithyll, under Pope Sulyvahn, also had many knights whose forms had mutated to this extent.

Therefore, he knew very well how to deal with people with this kind of twisted physique.

Using the momentum gained from successfully executing the [Seeing Cut] technique, he didn't dodge left or right on the flat ground. Instead, he took a rhythmic breath into his chest.

His large lung capacity allowed him to instantly lighten his weight using the "light body breathing method," enabling him to jump incredibly high.

Immediately afterwards, the breathing reversed, and the [Light Body Breathing Technique] became a heavy weight, slamming directly onto the back of the crouching hound rider!
A muffled thud!
With his prone position completely oblivious to the attack from above, Darrell was nearly pinned to the ground.

Inside the helmet, the Hound Rider's face suddenly turned pale, and his eyes, which shone with a blessed golden light, widened instantly.

Everything in front of me seemed to become distant and slow down.

The hound rider understood that this was a matter of life and death, which was why his senses and thoughts were racing.

...But it's no use now.

After Lan En had roughly figured out the battle ash in his hands through the opening stance and first attack of his [Hound Sword Technique], as well as the [Hound Steps] he had shown earlier, Lan En had almost figured it out.

He actually had no chance to turn things around.

To Lan En, all his remaining struggles and actions were merely completing a predetermined process.

Lan En stepped on the other's shoulders and back, but the aura flame on the Lake Maiden Sword in his hand still flickered.

Darylwell only faintly heard a soft 'click' sound, distant and long.

But he could tell that it was just the sound of a gauntlet gripping the hilt of a sword.

"Stab!"

Immediately, the hound rider's vision went black, and his eyes began to churn.

He saw his own body being trampled into the ground because he suddenly lost strength and could no longer support himself. He also saw a thin, crisp, and sharp light red knife mark where his neck used to be.

【Tachi Technique: Spirit Blade Great Spin】!
The light red, swaying battle aura on the Lake Maiden's Sword has transformed into a solid white film, making this beautiful longsword even more radiant.

When the sneak attack first began, the hound knight was almost beheaded by Lan En, who had seen through his plan beforehand, with a single slash as if it were an execution.

However, in the blink of an eye, after several rounds of fighting between the three men, he was ultimately beheaded.

They look almost identical.

The bird-beak-shaped helmet, still attached to the head inside, rolled out into the broken, rain-soaked wetlands.

However, Lann showed no intention of getting off the hound rider's back.

And the very next moment after the Witcher beheaded Daryl...

"boom!!!"

On the surrounding damp ground, from the cracks that had been smashed open before, or even on flat ground, patches of high-temperature red spots suddenly appeared, and their brightness and temperature were rising rapidly!
In less than half a breath, the area that was originally just a red spot started spewing pillars of fire upwards!

The flames were bright red and intense, instantly drying out the moist soil of Lienia!
The rain in the sky was burned into steam, and eventually even the steam disappeared, leaving only distorted air!
Amidst the dense pillars of fire and flames that seemed to illuminate the entire world, one could faintly hear, besides the thumping of the flames, the roar of Yaganti.

"[Flames, devour everything!]"

It seems that the fire prayer at the border does indeed have a custom of being shouted out when it is used.

However, within that pillar of fire, the corpse of the hound knight, trampled under Lann's feet, trembled violently from the impact of the fire on the ground.

The flames scorched the severed neck, and the black armor visibly turned a deep red from the intense heat.

Lan En stood on the corpse, his left hand flashing with fire, and then pressed it against his chest.

May the flames protect you!
A layer of red light shimmered on the skin.

Finally, after the corpse beneath his feet was completely burned to ashes by the pillar of fire, the Witcher vanished instantly!

And amidst the shadows of the pillars of fire, the voice of Aganti, which had been filled with fanaticism and martyrdom, suddenly vanished.

The towering pillars of fire came to an abrupt halt.

(End of this chapter)