Bear School Astartes

If Wende hadn’t immediately sidestepped upon landing just now, but instead let himself charge forward due to inertia, he would undoubtedly have been engulfed in the blue-violet flames that instantly melt rock.

Although now that he’s equipped with the Fog Nest Master’s gear, he estimates he couldn’t withstand even a standard breath from the Flame Princess Dragon without severe burns inside the armor, which he definitely doesn’t want to experience again.

The Flame Princess Dragon’s fire is vastly different from the Flame King Dragon’s.

This blue-violet, eerie flame has adhesive and smoldering properties.

It left a large spread of residue on the ground, where the blue-violet flames stubbornly danced even after detaching from the Flame Princess Dragon.

Flames that haven’t been accumulated are merely equivalent to a single breath from the Flame Princess Dragon, so their duration isn’t very long.

But as it flew in the sky, the dangerous eyes clearly brewed the next attack.

"Gaffi!"

Wende, having narrowly dodged the flames brushing his side, called out methodically.

"Got it, meow!"

The hunting partner, with whom he’s worked for a long time, responded immediately.

"Watch my [Flash Beetle Cage], meow!"

The orange cat pulled a woven little cage from its backpack, containing bait to attract the flash-winged beetles inside.

Mastering the bait formula allows one to automatically acquire a reusable high-power flash bomb in the New Continent.

This technique was learned by Gaffi from the Detel tribe in the Ancient Tree Forest.

Gaffi tossed the cage into the air, followed closely by a small cat flying knife that pierced into it.

The light intensity from the flash-winged beetles’ death surpasses even the demon hunter’s alchemy bombs.

The Flame Princess Dragon, focusing intently on Wende, suddenly had its eyes dazzled.

Irrespective of the ancient dragon’s strength, any creature using its eyes for observation would suffer discomfort from sudden changes in lighting.

The Flame Princess Dragon’s eyes were completely whited out, and its flight balance was affected by the visual impairment.

Wobbling, it plummeted to the ground.

Just then, Lann and Rong Buqiu, who had completed the trigger mechanism’s pull on the [Dragon Spear] and seized the initiative, jumped down from a high platform into the recess of the arena.

"Click," a claw crafted from Smaug’s dragon scale corners was launched out.

It clung directly onto the Flame Princess Dragon’s head flapping on the ground before it could stand up.

Smaug’s dragon scales have outstanding high-temperature resistance, rendering the Flame Princess Dragon’s flames ineffective against them.

Aloft, Lann, though clad in heavy armor, strangely exuded a sense of lightness.

His [Light Body Breathing Technique] was as instinctual as breathing itself.

The demon hunter was directly drawn to the Flame Princess Dragon’s head by the mechanical contraction of the hooked claw.

The boots of the [Smaug] armor stepped next to the Flame Princess Dragon’s ears, while the gloves with dragon scale tabs grasped that vast, azure crest horn.

The blue-violet flames smoldered, emitting a ’sizzling’ burn between the armor components.

However, this dull bone-white armor mixed with a metallic cold hardness remained unharmed under the Flame Princess Dragon’s flames.

If it were the previous Grandmaster Bear School Armor, Lann would never have chosen close combat tactics against a creature with persistent high heat like the Sun Flame Dragon.

But now... this armor, crudely fashioned by the Lonely Mountain Dwarves from the dragon scales and skin of the evil dragon Smaug.

Designed and assembled jointly by a magical medieval demon hunter grandmaster blacksmith and the Phase Two Expedition Team leader of the New Continent Investigation Team,

Its superior protective performance was exhibited clearly in the first actual combat.

The smoldering blue-violet flames licked the armor without leaving any charred marks.

The dragon skin skirt armor, appearing as aged fabric, merely fluttered with the hot air, not reacting to the excessively high-temperature flames.

Honestly, wearing this armor, Lann felt he could stand on lava without any damage.

"Boom!!!"

A sound as profound and distant as a church bell.

The dark, heavy greatsword was drawn from the alchemy pouch on Lann’s back, followed by the sudden flash of a pale red fighting spirit on his body!

Standing on the side face of the downed Flame Princess Dragon, the [Charging Slash] consolidated its flame in three explosive phases.

Though not having the opportunity to upgrade to [Strong·Charged Slash], let alone [True·Charged Slash],

this sword strike brought down the already grounded head of the Flame Princess Dragon with great force to the ground!

The rocks on the ground, softened by contact with the Flame Princess Dragon, almost became liquid, with glowing lava splattering upon the slam!

Lann’s chosen point of impact was the side neck of the Flame Princess Dragon.

The force of [Muddy Stream·Destruction] was laid bare when dealing with such normally flesh-and-blood organisms.

The darkened blade was cold white, the blade made of the same material as the spiky bristles on the Extinct Dragon, first shattered the Flame Princess Dragon’s scale armor at the point of impact.

Scorching blood almost spurted out ’splash’ from the wound!

Then, as the blade ’tasted’ the high-quality flesh of the Flame Princess Dragon, it eagerly released a black mist with blood-red lightning.

[Dragon Attribute Energy]!

This erosive energy seeped in from the tiniest cut, trying to devour more flesh and nutrients.

"Roar!!!"

The Flame Princess Dragon, struck by the sword, felt not only pain but was also dizzy and confused.

Its limbs, claws, and wings flailed chaotically on the ground.

As if trying to shake off the attacker on its body with violent movements.

But it’s quite unskilled at dealing with close-range foes.

Because in the ecology of the Sun Flame Dragon, they rarely encounter creatures brave enough to get close.

Their extremely high temperature makes it fortunate they don’t approach others.

After striking with the sword, Lann immediately jumped off and distanced himself from the Flame Princess Dragon.

Sun Flame Dragons indeed struggle with handling enemies on them, but that’s when they’re blind.

Once Lann finished the strike, he immediately noticed the Flame Princess Dragon’s pupils gradually relaxing and enlarging from their extreme contraction caused by the flash bag’s effect.

This indicates its vision is gradually recovering from the "Flash Bug Cage" influence.

Faced with a recovering eyesight Flame Princess Dragon, Lann decided to retreat immediately.

The Demon Hunter was a step ahead, cutting a fierce gash under the Flame Princess Dragon’s mane on its neck, then jumped to its side.

Moments later, with a loud ’whir’, the sky-blue wings fanned the already molten ground, causing a ripple.

The viscous, heavy lava under the Flame Princess Dragon’s wings felt like waves.

The wing’s gust seemed to spread the blue-purple flames originally enveloping the Flame Princess Dragon.

Those flames spread with the wind, forming a huge circle around the Flame Princess Dragon.

The air temperature, as the area of blue-purple flames grew, became increasingly hot.

Pressed by necessity, the Hunter and the Elu Cats each drank a bottle of "Cold Drink" again.

Glimpsing around, Lann noticed that in this depressed terrain, the Flame Princess Dragon’s special flames already occupied a significant area.

If the fight continues, these flames will compress the movement space severely, akin to dancing on a tightrope.

Clearly... this Flame Princess Dragon now intends to cover every inch of the arena with its flames!

Getting up from the ground, the Flame Princess Dragon’s mouth twitched incessantly from fury.

The grinding, friction between the fangs and canines sparked embers.

Its eyes glared fiercely at the hunters.

On its side neck, the originally fluffy dense sky-blue mane showed a sudden indentation.

That’s exactly where Lann struck down, fresh red blood flowing down the sky-blue mane.

Yet that blood was quickly obscured by the blue-purple flames.

The wound on the Flame Princess Dragon’s neck, Lann estimated by feel, nearly twenty centimeters deep already!

At least several blood vessels were cut, with Dragon Attribute Energy penetrating inside.

But for an Ancient Dragon Level life force, these injuries are no significant matter for the Flame Princess Dragon.

"Really impressive..." Lann’s pupils observed the wound he left. "No matter how many times I see this life force, it’s impressive."

"It’s normal," Wende said indifferently, his dual blades skillfully whirling, maintaining feel. "At least compared to the recovery ability of the Extinct Dragon, isn’t this much more normal?"

"Indeed."

With nothing to say, Lann responded, slinging the Greatsword on his shoulder.

Compared to the Extinct Dragon’s ability to stand up with shattered bones and swipe your face within a minute, the Flame Princess Dragon’s performance is considered ’restrained.’

But as an Ancient Dragon, the Flame Princess Dragon’s physical ability is less than the Extinct Dragon, because it has other strengths.

The Flame Princess Dragon lowered its body, glaring angrily at the two hunters before it.

Meanwhile, the injured throat emitted a threatening ’rumblerumble’ sound.

The flames on its body were growing more vigorous.

Suddenly, with its body crouched, its forepaws supporting the ground, its upper body abruptly rose upright.

And its wings fanned forward at that instant.

Purple scale powder and the ground’s blue-purple flames, with the wing beat, aggressively spread forward under the wind pressure!

The adhesive nature of this bizarre flame, originally small in area, rapidly burned into a broad path!

Lann and Wende instantly dodged to their respective sides.

Lann used the "Acceleration Technique," becoming like a blue smoke, while Wende straightforwardly dove forward.

Nevertheless, they made space to avoid the blue-purple flames from directly spreading and scorching them.

But after the sidestep, Lann’s depth-filled eyes glanced at the Flame Princess Dragon, then his pupils contracted sharply!

At the next moment...

Having fanned forth a fire path, the Flame Princess Dragon didn’t let its upright upper body crouch again, but instead leapt, soaring into mid-air.

Its wings slightly beating, yet sufficiently suspending it unnaturally.

That’s because the sudden rise of heat buoyed it upwards!

What’s this creature up to?!