Bear School Astartes

"Is this...?" After his leap, Wende clearly saw it too, and he immediately opened his mouth wide, "Supernova?"

"Starting off with this? Is its mating season this aggressive?!"

Even Wende was clearly panicking, and Lann immediately understood what was happening.

Ancient Dragons have intelligence above the average human level.

Thus, they don’t just mindlessly use their innate power to fight.

They have plans, purposes, and techniques when they fight.

And techniques that can unleash all their energy in one go to kill their opponents, even they don’t use often.

The Extinct Dragon’s dive attack, named by the Ecological Research Institute as "Heaven-Breaking Thorn Extinction Spin."

After the momentary impact, it simultaneously ejects all its existing thorns, such a large mass loss would leave it weak for a while despite its recovery abilities.

Don’t mind if the Dragon-man Race’s Dou Ding’Er feels the naming is too extravagant, but the strength of its technique is undeniable.

And for Sun Flame Dragon, this technique is "Supernova."

Lann has never seen exactly what it’s like.

But he once heard Aiden say during a casual meal chat.

"There was a Flame King Dragon on the Old Continent, where it unleashed the Supernova..." Even though Aiden was chatting casually, his eyes still revealed severity and awe, "The place turned into a lava lake and barely solidified a week later due to rainfall."

The flame properties of Flame Princess Dragon and Flame King Dragon are different, but as both are Sun Flame Dragons, Lann thinks the power of "Supernova" shouldn’t be much different.

"Retreat!"

Wende shouted loudly, also gesturing.

He couldn’t help but raise his voice because the air in the arena was practically roaring from the heat!

The air was glowing from the heat!

Flame Princess Dragon hovered in mid-air, massive amounts of purple scale powder gathered around it, while bluish-purple flames explosively expanded, then contracted.

"This mountain is going to turn into a volcano! We can’t save the base and the arena! Retreat first!"

Wende’s words made a lot of sense.

With the cylindrical structure of the arena’s mountain, if Flame Princess Dragon erupts with "Supernova," the heat will be blocked and concentrated.

This mountain might directly turn into a volcano.

Needless to say, the arena and transit base will be lost as well.

Wende dealt with many ecological crises caused by Sun Flame Dragons on the Old Continent, quite a number actually.

After all, these Ancient Dragons are widely distributed and numerous.

But seeing this mating season Flame Princess Dragon start the fight and get provoked to launch "Supernova" within half a minute... he truly hadn’t seen it before, nor expected it.

Ancient Dragons are rare in absolute numbers, considering there aren’t many positions at the top of the food chain.

If it weren’t for Wende being the ace of the Hunter’s Guild, he wouldn’t have had the chance to deal with so many Ancient Dragon incidents on the Old Continent.

Let alone seeing the "precious" mating season state of Flame Princess Dragon.

Yes, in the field of ecological research, the current mating season of Flame Princess Dragon is an unequivocally treasured gem for researchers.

But for the Hunters fighting it, it’s undoubtedly a disaster!

Faced with this unexpected development, Wende made a swift decision.

Prioritizing the safety of task participants, he prepared to abandon the mission and retreat immediately.

In hunting, one cannot rely on luck; when an anomaly occurs, one must assume there are other anomalies present that have simply not erupted.

Especially on the New Continent, where the Hunter’s logistical and safety support is far less comprehensive than on the Old Continent, making each personnel precious and critical.

That’s why Wende’s first thought was to retreat when facing Flame Princess Dragon’s "Supernova."

Gaffi fully understood his absurdly strong partner and completely trusted his decision.

So the orange Elu Cat turned to expand the narrow crevice of the arena for quick escape.

"Rong Buqiu! Quickly, help me, meow!"

While pulling out his small cat-pickaxe, Gaffi also called to his Elu Cat companions nearby.

But the calico Elu Cat didn’t immediately act, instead just looking down through waves of heat that made the air bright.

Because Lann wasn’t moving either.

Rong Buqiu trusted Lann just as much as Gaffi trusted Wende.

"No need to run, we can do this!"

Wende, poised to run, abruptly turned around, meeting Lann’s deep gaze.

The heat from Flame Princess Dragon was causing the air to ripple like waves.

The high-temperature air laden with sparks and purple scale powder skimmed the ground from the edges of the two’s armored boots.

Demon Hunter’s cat eyes seemed so deep even under the intense glow.

"I see it!"

"Then just do it!" No time for words, Wende immediately changed his decision upon seeing Lann’s state.

This change was based on his trust in Lann’s capabilities and his understanding of his calm and non-reckless style.

If he dares to say it, chances are he can achieve it!

The decision shift and their exchange took just over two seconds.

Now, the Flame Princess Dragon floating in midair no longer needs to flap its wings to maintain its flight posture.

The hot air around it has intensified to the point where it’s enough to lift it entirely!

The potion [Cold Drink] is completely ineffective at this energy buildup stage.

The potion, which usually supports Hunters to move freely in volcanic regions for several hours in armor, they’ve downed for less than half an hour, but every breath now feels like it’s going to burn their lungs.

The eyes also feel like they’re about to melt.

A large amount of purple scale powder has gathered on the Flame Princess Dragon’s body, and its heat makes the air in the entire space exhibit a brilliant texture like a steel furnace!

The air is trembling due to the heat accumulated by the Ancient Dragon!

Yet, Lann actively begins to approach the Flame Princess Dragon!

The freshly forged armor clinks with an unprecedented weight and solidity with Lann’s heavy and steady steps.

"Boom~"

A light red Fighting Spirit Light Flame ignites across Lann’s body, spreading over him and his armor.

[Dual Blade Technique: Ghost Transformation]!

[Muddy Stream·Destruction] has already been put away by Lann in advance, and now he adopts an empty-handed posture to deploy this technique that consumes stamina using Fighting Spirit for high mobility and responsiveness.

Additionally, spiral winds wrap around his legs—from the [Acceleration Technique] of the Yan Nan Hunters!

Using his [Spiritual Vision], he observes the energy accumulation process of the Flame Princess Dragon should be around four to five seconds, while the necessary tactical communication just consumed two seconds.

At least two seconds remain now!

——It’s enough!

The compounded techniques transform Lann’s body into a trail of pale red smoke with a tail, but it retains a heavy and fierce texture.

Moreover, not only the Fighting Spirit Light Flame ignited just now.

There is also the [Curse Fire] on the Demon Hunter’s left hand!

[Curse Technique·Intense Sweating]!

A magic that resists flames, assimilating special flames into the body, transforming body sweat into a special fire-resistant fog layer.

The new armor [Smaug], originally with excellent flame resistance due to the materials of the Lonely Mountain Evil Dragon, at this moment cooperates with [Intense Sweating].

Successfully allowing Lann to penetrate the area around the Flame Princess Dragon that has heated up like a steel furnace due to energy accumulation.

Even enabling him to momentarily resist the massive amounts of purple scale powder on the opponent!

The scale powder drifts onto the bone-white armor and the dragon skin skirt armor.

But it is often first weakened by the fire-resistant fog layer, then ignites into a small blue-purple flame upon contact with the armor, soon extinguishing from lack of momentum.

These high-temperature exploding scale powders’ births and deaths are now completely absent from Lann’s mind.

His hand reaches for the Alchemy Pouch at his back waist, retrieving [Muddy Stream·Destruction] again.

Yet he shows no intention of using [Greatsword Technique].

Because the time is insufficient for the core [Energy Buildup] of the Greatsword Technique.

Fortunately, he and the biochemical intellect have long estimated the time and conducted rational allocation.

[Dual Blade Technique: Ghost Transformation] continues to be maintained.

Even though having undergone multiple modifications, especially for the internal environment of the body, Lann can now use multiple weapon techniques of the New Continent Hunters simultaneously without causing a sudden increase in internal pressure injuries.

Such as using [Ghost Transformation] with Tachi’s [Qi Blade Slash] in tandem.

However, avoiding self-injury is one aspect, while these techniques interfere with each other, ultimately dragging each other down is another.

The compounded effect of two techniques might not be as effective as a single one.

This is the direction Lann needs to improve in the future.

And in addition to the Fighting Spirit Light Flame from [Ghost Transformation] enveloping his body, suddenly a layer of pale red particle light effect bursts forth.

"Boom~"

[Power Liberation]!

This power comes from the life essence of the Fog Nest Master Terror Dragon in this brand-new armor and is fully unleashed by Lann during its first official use!

All of the strengthened muscles suddenly tighten under stimulation!

If not for the deep skeleton modifications and muscles connected to steel cables made from Valyrian Steel mixed with Extinct Dragon materials.

It might really cause extensive compressive fractures on common users’ bones due to the muscles suddenly tightening with full force.

Within the Hunter’s Guild recorded [Power Liberation] skill group, this is the highest tier, most dangerous grade for users.

This is [Power Liberation·Extreme Intent]!

Activating and amplifying all strengths in the body, Lann simultaneously extracts the entire three-meter length of [Muddy Stream·Destruction] from the Alchemy Pouch.

However, he does not smash or slash this violent greatsword out as per usual usage habits.

On the contrary, he grips the sword hilt in front of his chest.

The whole body instead makes a ’thrust’ preparation posture.

His deep eyes remain fixed on the Flame Princess Dragon’s body in midair.

Specifically—on its luxurious and noble crown horn!

After this targeting confirmation, the greatsword, accompanied by the magnificent gust, is swung!

[Muddy Stream Dragon Flash·Thrust]!