Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1893, page 1865: [The Blade of Death]

Even now, all the Golden Tree people in the Golden Tree Cathedral are still immersed in the fear of being shrouded in that unfamiliar "death," unable to move.

Even the muscles in their throats that produce sound are stiff, and they can't even move their eyeballs.

Even so, the sound of the velvet ball was still like a starting gun.

This abruptly broke the generally quiet atmosphere.

There was a loud clanging sound.

It all started from the bench that the Qilin had kicked backward and that was knocked askew by the invisible man.

A series of loud crashes followed immediately, along with the sharp scraping sound of the chair legs, which had been knocked askew, scraping against the floor!

Along the gate connecting the cathedral and the palace, all the way to the exit of the Golden Tree Cathedral, a row of benches were overturned one after another!

The pilgrims and nobles who were stiff and motionless above were thus overturned and scattered on the ground.

The invisible figure abandoned its silent stealth movement due to the velvet ball's shout and instead tried to buy time by rushing straight out of the church!
The velvet ball and the unicorn, observing the sudden revelation of each other's movements, quickly realized what the other was up to.

These people have excellent stealth abilities, but they will still collide with objects.

The Golden Tree Cathedral is an indoor environment, and a crowded and chaotic one at that.

The floor was covered with a large carpet, and the cathedral was filled with golden candlesticks and prayer benches. All sorts of people were frozen in that instant.

Where are there any easy, quick, and quiet paths left inside the cathedral?

If you don't want to bump into something, you have to spend extra time and effort, otherwise you'll bump into something and expose your whereabouts.

Instead of getting caught up in this difficult choice, why not just rush out of this Golden Tree Cathedral!

Crash through everything in sight, all for speed!

Once they reach a suitable, open area, these silent and invisible people will have many more escape routes to take.

So, once the velvet ball and the unicorn understood each other's plan, they immediately followed!

"Don't let them get away, meow!"

The ancient dragon's body suddenly activated, surrounded by blue and white sparks of electricity. However, these sparks were covered by the runic cloth covering its body.

With its nimble body, the velvet ball deftly grabbed the fluttering silk rune cloth as the Qilin darted past it, and in a swift motion, it flipped over and landed on the Qilin's neck.

The Qilin's hooves pounded on the orderly floor of the cathedral. The invisible man in front of him smashed through a row of benches and a pulpit, and the Qilin moved like a gust of wind.

Although they started later than their opponents, they kept up closely in this short distance and were about to catch up!
"Boom!"

Amidst the Qilin's emotional turmoil, a muffled rumble of thunder began to rumble outside.

The Golden Tree Cathedral has a wide, unobstructed opening facing the city of Rodel, which is mainly to allow the huge tree roots that grow from the cliff face to reach into the cathedral unimpeded.

But now, although we don't know what these invisible people are doing, there's no doubt they want to jump directly down from this huge opening and escape!

"Hiss?"

'Should we jump or not?'

"Follow!" the plush ball shouted to the Qilin in affirmation. At the same time, after this brief encounter, it finally pulled out what it was looking for from its little cat paw crossbody bag. "I found it, meow!"

[Advanced Moon Dust Bomb]!
The Qilin leaped down from the height, and in mid-air, the velvet ball threw the bomb forward.

"Oh!"

The alchemical bomb exploded in mid-air, and countless finely crafted silver threads were spread across a large area by the shockwave of the explosion.

This is a bomb specifically designed by Witchers to target monsters with the ability to become invisible.

These light yet difficult-to-remove silver threads will entangle the invisible monsters, and the shimmering reflections will guide the Witcher to their targets.

"Whoosh!"

The large clump of silver threads that burst open in mid-air in front of it naturally got tangled around the Qilin as it jumped down, causing it to snort uncomfortably.

'Isn't that unnecessary? I can sense them, and their invisibility seems to be weakening.'

"You can feel me, but I can't see you, meow!" The plush ball covered its mouth and nose, its voice muffled as it cried out in mid-air. "Look ahead!"

At the expected landing point where they jumped down, several strange figures had already stepped onto the ground before the velvet ball and the qilin.

The shimmering silver threads outlined their slender and tall figures, some showing only a side profile, others only a shoulder and an arm.

But without a doubt, these are the invisible people who just ran past the plush balls!

There were roughly four or five, but the velvet ball and the Qilin had communicated, and according to the Qilin's perception based on the environmental electric field, there were far more than that.

But there was no time to worry about that now. These invisible people had come down from the palace so quietly, causing such a commotion, and they were in such a hurry to run away.

They must have done something big!
They should at least detain a few people for questioning! At this moment, the slender and tall figures who had already landed seemed to have also realized their current situation.

'They want to split up and run away!'

Qilin suddenly communicated with the velvet ball.

The Palico remained remarkably calm: "Let them run! They seem fast; the alchemical bombs can only cover these few! Keep an eye on them, meow! Wait! Watch out!"

The group of invisible people made a very decisive decision. After realizing that the silver threads on their bodies would reveal their forms and were difficult to remove, they immediately split into two groups.

One group that escaped untouched by the Moon Dust Bomb remained hidden, while another group that had already revealed part of their form immediately became a suicide squad to attract attention.

As everyone knows, members of a suicide squad are all ruthless!
Not to mention these suicide squads that are spontaneously formed on short notice in emergency situations!

With a loud thud, the Qilin stomped on the floor tiles of Rodel, shattering the pristine white stone into pieces.

But at the same very moment!
Not far away, a figure landed on a patch of golden grass, its shoulders and arms, outlined by shimmering silver threads, slightly raised.

"Whoo~"

As the figure moved, a sound like flames suddenly bursting into flames rang out.

At the same time, within that concealment, on the arm outlined only by silver threads, the image of a weapon was drawn out by some force.

It was an oddly shaped short knife, and the power emanating from it resembled black and red flames.

Upon seeing that strange power, the velvet ball and the unicorn immediately understood what the source of fear had been that had plunged the entire Rodel region, and even the entire border area, into terror!
--die!
With a flick of the gleaming silver arm, the power of the oddly shaped short sword was unleashed in the form of arcing blade energy.

It left a trail of afterimages in mid-air, like thick ink mixed with blood! It hurtled straight for the Qilin's neck!

[Death Blade]!
This spot is not only a vital point for the Qilin, but it also has a velvet ball around its neck! It's clear they want to solve two problems with one strike!

The velvet ball only had time to give a warning before it immediately stepped on the qilin's neck and jumped to the side.

As it jumped, a light red aura of battle qi flashed across the kitten's body!
The fighting spirit enhanced its physical strength, causing the Qilin to be stepped on by the velvet ball while it was still in an awkward state of landing and cushioning its fall.

The blade energy, as thick as ink mixed with blood, almost grazed the mane on the Qilin's neck.

Pale white, its beautiful mane, swollen from static electricity, had been shaved off, and it flew around in the light of the golden tree and the moonlight.

Logically speaking, because of its constitution as an ancient dragon from the New World, the Qilin often doesn't react much to attacks aimed directly at vital parts like the head and neck.

Even if it could actually be harmed, given its constitution, it would probably recover after eating and drinking a couple of bites.

So what if you smash my skull? It'll heal in a couple of days.

But this sword energy... is different!
It hadn't even touched the Qilin's body yet, it had only brushed against its mane, but the Qilin felt its bones trembling!
This is what it feels like!

That's the feeling that silenced the entire Rodel just now!

The unicorn's head and neck were fine, but that was only after the plush ball kicked it.

The plush ball can only help its head and neck, not its hindquarters.

When it jumps down, given the Qilin's horse-like physique, it naturally lands on its forelegs first, releasing maximum pressure to crack and sink the ground.

In addition, the terrain at the landing point was not flat; it was a staircase in the city of Rodel.

After the Qilin lowered its head, the black and red blade energy sliced ​​a gash straight into the large muscle of its hind leg.

"Xilulu!"

The unicorn's roar startled even the fleeing velvet ball.

As an ancient dragon from the New World, it had fought to the death with other creatures before. When Lan En first saw it, it was almost killed by a golden lion. The golden lion even broke off and gnawed on its sharp horns.

But even back then, the panic and pain in Qilin's heart were not as exaggerated as the gash on its hind leg now!
The cut wasn't very big, only a little over a foot long, but it cut through all of its magical horse harness.

But at that opening, a red and black energy burned like a small flame.

The Qilin's two hind legs suddenly buckled and went limp on the ground!

It was as if its powerful vitality, that of an ancient dragon from the New World, had suddenly become incredibly weak.

"Qilin!" The plush ball landed quickly. "Thunder, meow! Hurry!"

While shouting, the Palico immediately drew its sword and charged towards the silhouettes of the figures, trying to interrupt the enemy's next move with its attack.

Dark clouds hung heavy in the sky, and thunder rumbled, as if boundless power and fury from an ancient dragon were brewing within them.

However... while thunder was indeed brewing within, it was not the blue lightning of nature.

—But it was a bright red thunder!
"Crack!"

(End of this chapter)