Bear School Astartes

After the caravan left, Lann did not leave with them.

Because since the Squirrel Faction has decided to use attacks to delay time, they will definitely attack more than once.

They want to trap this group of humans, making it impossible for them to leave the Ponta River Valley before that thing arrives, and they will certainly harass them multiple times to slow their progress.

"But the Squirrel Faction is not that monster."

Lann’s fingers brushed over a leaf in the shrubbery, and the fingertips of his gloves, covered in steel armor plates, were instantly stained with a trace of blood red.

He chuckled softly.

"Fortunately, I felt nothing while passing through that monster’s territory. I thought my senses had failed."

He brought his fingers to his nose for a sniff, and the smell of blood was instantly memorized by the Demon Hunter’s senses, pointing to a direction of movement.

In the chaotic yet ecologically normal mountains, there are definitely many biological pheromones.

But a Demon Hunter’s senses are enough to pinpoint his target and pursue it relentlessly.

That’s why Lann thought it was strange that he couldn’t sense anything while scouting that area earlier.

Now, this is the normal situation.

"Are you sure you don’t need our help, meow?"

On Qilin’s back, Rong Buqiu stroked his whiskers and asked.

"It’s just a group of Squirrel Faction members, not a big problem." Lann stood up and shook his head, looking into the depths of the Mahakan Mountains.

"What you have to do is crucial. Go deeper along the River Valley and see if there is any movement at the floating port and Haji Fortress."

"This River Valley is long, and I don’t know where that thing will eventually appear. If the Squirrel Faction’s goal is to lure that monster to massacre all humans in the River Valley, then these two key strongholds are definitely in danger. It seems less important here."

The small cat sat squat on the Ancient Dragon’s back, its furry little face full of seriousness.

It nodded heavily: "Qilin and I will keep a good watch, and if anything happens, we’ll come pick you up, meow! Let’s beat that monster’s butt so hard it wets itself!"

With that said, the figures of the Ancient Dragon and the Elu Cat disappeared into the dense shrubs of the mountains with a sound of branches and leaves rustling.

In the distance, there was a crackling sound like electric currents and a dull whizzing sound of something moving through the air.

Until these sounds disappeared, Lann turned his head back, his cat eyes beginning to glow faintly under the now dim sky.

The Demon Hunter’s senses were activated, and the world turned into one of extremely distinct colors.

Nostrils flaring, Lann captured the scent molecules in the air and began tracking them into the distance.

He paid attention to the chaotic footprints on the ground and the marks on the shrubs and branches that had been scraped.

All these appeared to him like bright signposts.

The Squirrel Faction’s retreat was chaotic, corroborating Lann’s inference once again.

— This attack of theirs truly lacked precise organization.

It was merely to delay time.

Halfway through tracking, Lann noticed a diversion in the Squirrel Faction’s route.

A group with the smell of blood was heading back to the depths of the mountains, while another group, carrying only the smell of sweat, continued to move along the River Valley.

"The wounded are retreating, and those with combat power continue planning the subsequent attacks..."

Lann analyzed the traces and speculated in his mind with Mentos.

This speculation was very reasonable, so Lann quickened his pace, and his speed in the forest almost became a shadow.

Soon, he caught up with those Squirrel Faction members who were planning to launch another attack.

-----------------

A significant number of Elves, Dwarves, and Half-Elves were walking silently through the forest.

The uneven mountain rocks underfoot made their steps uneven, yet no one spoke, each person’s eyes glistening with anger and... hatred.

Their hats, or belts, were adorned with decorations of squirrel tails.

Outsiders said the Squirrel Faction was a non-human race incited by Niflgaard.

Could they themselves not know that they were essentially being used as knives?

They were fully aware, but due to hatred, none of them cared.

In the Northern Four Countries, except for Temeria, the other three have all experienced massacres against non-human races in important cities.

And even with Temeria’s relatively good reputation, it hasn’t engaged in massacres only in the past few decades.

Non-human races generally have longer lifespans than humans. What humans consider things of the past might still be vivid memories for them.

Their accumulated assets and hard work in cities got burned and occupied by mobs.

Family members in cities were killed by mobs, even stripped of their clothes and impaled on dung forks, paraded in celebration as if in a festival.

Hatred can drive people to sacrifice their lives.

So the Squirrel Faction also started indiscriminate revenge and slaughter against humans.

The cycle of blood and hatred is like a meat grinder, trying to squeeze out everyone’s blood mixed with minced meat.

Among the non-humans of the Squirrel Faction, even regular interactions weren’t always harmonious.

Dwarves were annoyed by Elves’ music, while Elves disliked Dwarves’ coarseness.

But ultimately, none of them interfered with each other, and they even smiled amicably when they met. Because they all knew, in the heart of the person in front of them... the spirit core was a flame of revenge.

Everything else was insignificant.

So, while marching, when an Elf occasionally looked back, they suddenly shouted, warning the Dwarves behind!

"Watch out!, behi..."

The word ’behind’ hadn’t even been fully uttered.

In the shadowy leaves, a tall black figure suddenly appeared!

With a ’crash’ sound, that was the sound of tree branches and leaves tearing through the air.

The Dwarf, adorned with a squirrel tail decoration, instinctively swung an axe backward.

This kind of on-the-spot adaptation can’t be said to be excellent, but it’s utterly useless.

A large hand that could envelop his entire head deftly and swiftly bypassed the axe blade, pressing down on the back of his head, slamming him into the ground.

"Boom!"

The sound of the stout dwarf falling was equally heavy.

The elf’s alarm simultaneously awoke the entire squad, and the Squirrel Faction immediately switched from marching to combat mode.

The leader of this squad seemed to be a female elf.

She had short, crisp hair, elven-tattooed face, and overall she was an above-average beauty... if only her eyes weren’t so fierce.

"Fire!"

Without hesitation, or perhaps out of trust in her comrades’ skills, the female elf resolutely gave the command and drew an Elf Long Blade from her waist.

But the tall dark figure opposite them performed beyond this group of Squirrel Faction’s expectations.

"Ding ding ding~" *N

A series of sparks flickered through the forest as iron arrows clashed with bracers.

The Squirrel Faction had never seen anyone respond this way to fast and soundless arrows, much less in such lighting conditions where the flying arrows couldn’t even be visually tracked.

Yet that person did it, seemingly without any struggle.

Immediately, the sound of wind whistled.

The dwarf, directly knocked unconscious, was hefted up by a hand and thrown towards the Squirrel Faction.

The whistling wind showed just how powerful it was.

Like a bowling ball, the unconscious dwarf crashed into a group of seven or eight elves and half-elves.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Then, the Demon Hunter’s figure vanished like smoke. When he reappeared, he was already beside the female elf.

His entire hand encompassed the female elf’s head and face, with a massive force surging beneath the skin of the palm, ready to crush her head like a hydraulic press at any moment.

There were about twenty Squirrel Faction members nearby, who were now reacting, aiming their bows and crossbow arrows at Lann.

"Let’s end it here. Now..."

Lann began speaking calmly, but abruptly.

"Hmm!"

The Demon Hunter exclaimed suddenly.

With a flick of his wrist, the hard bracer directly clashed onto the Elf Long Blade that was slicing over.

The female elf hadn’t hesitated for even a moment earlier.

She swung with all her might towards her own head and face!

If Lann were a normal person, his hand would have been chopped off, and without control, the female elf’s face would have been gouged off in a large piece!

But Lann merely used a wrist twist, paired with the naturally honed skill, [Iwami Style: Climbing Carp], causing the opponent’s rebounding blade to fly out of her hand.

However, the female elf still didn’t hesitate.

She reversed her grip onto Lann’s arm, which was pressing against her face, clinging onto him.

"Kill him! Quick!"

With her mouth being pressed, she shouted forcefully and decisively, producing a muffled sound.

Lann frowned, looking at the koala-like female elf clinging to his hand.

Ruthless, decisive... even unmerciful towards herself.

Compared to those divine, pure, and noble elves he encountered in the Ardan World... she was more like a human.

But she thought that merely adding another person’s weight on Lann’s arm could restrain this fearsome warrior.

That was completely mistaken.

In a flash, Mentos had already plotted the calculated route on Lann’s retina.

The female elf shouted decisively, yet her subordinates reacted unevenly.

Some people’s hearts were softer.

Moreover, another thing... her weight alone was insignificant against Lann’s muscles.

The person hanging onto his hand made it difficult for Lann to trigger the Old Hunter technique from Yan’an [Acceleration Technique].

So his boot simply stomped on the ground, making a heavy and explosive sound.

The entire tall figure emitted an even fiercer wind-breaking sound!

All incoming arrows were straightforwardly deflected without him even looking back, Mentos calculated the trajectory of every arrow at the scene with just a sidelong glance from Lann.

Then, Lann, who originally didn’t intend to kill, simply used the arm embraced by the female elf, treating it as a human punching glove.

Pounding onto the remaining Squirrel Faction members.

Without killing anyone, but each Squirrel Faction member, at the very least, fainted, and the more severe ones vomited or passed out on the spot.

The female elf clinging to his hand was already bleeding from the corner of her mouth.

Yet until the very last moment, the female elf still gazed fiercely at Lann.

"It’s over now." Once the fighting had subsided and only those moaning in pain and writhing on the ground remained, Lann reiterated his words.

"Look at the time, they should have already exited the valley. I instructed them to travel light and fast, running without pause. You won’t catch up with them."

But the female elf laying on the ground, whom Lann had pried open her hand and leg, merely sneered at this.

"That only means, cough cough, just a few hundred fewer humans killed. It’s insignificant, having them is good, but without them, it’s not regrettable either."

She spoke while coughing up blood-stained sputum.

"The entire River Valley, the humans inside will die, and the gluttonous demon will consume everything!"