Bear School Astartes

Chapter 1053 - 1035: First Encounter, Elf Knight

Sorlin Oak Shield, as the leader of this Dwarf squad, stepped out from among the quietened Dwarves and looked up at the Grey-robed Wizard.

He opened his mouth, seemingly conflicted inside.

If they continued forward now, into that underground path, the Beastmen and Wargs surely wouldn’t be able to follow, allowing them to escape.

But above the tunnels, though they couldn’t see what was happening, the fierce howling of the Wargs and the incessant sound of steel clashing and tearing persisted.

In the end, Sorlin gritted his teeth.

"We cannot just leave like this, Gandalf!"

"The Dwarves of Durin Race, or all Dwarves! Cannot stand by idly watching others fight for us!"

"We do not have a tradition of retreating in battle!"

With that, the tall Dwarf rallied the Dwarves whose spirits were lifted by his words, their clumsy hands gripping weapons anew, eager to climb up the sloped path they had descended!

"That’s right! We are Dwarves!"

"I will smash those Beastmen scum’s skulls to pieces!"

Joyful yet bold voices echoed noisily in the caves.

"Oh~"

Gandalf stood with his mouth agape, watching the cheerful Dwarves ready to charge back into battle.

The Grey-robed Wizard wore a peculiar expression.

He seemed to have disliked the stubborn nature of these Dwarves, their obstinance, rudeness, refusal to listen to advice, impulsiveness, and having heads seemingly filled with rock.

Yet at the same time, integrity, resolve, unwavering belief, and unity—these virtues were not lacking in them.

Thus, Gandalf’s expression was strange; while enduring these companions’ bad tempers, he could not help but admire them.

Even the timid Hobbits, at this moment, drew the Small Sword from their waist, clueless yet steadfastly preparing to join in.

But just then, Gandalf stood rooted with a mysterious smile.

"No." His voice rang loud in the caves, suppressing even the loudest of Dwarves inexplicably.

"There’s no danger above anymore; it’s over."

"Ah? What do you mean, Gandalf?"

The Hobbit, holding the Small Sword with a mixture of bravado and uncertainty, turned to see the Old Wizard standing carefree with his Magic Staff.

Meanwhile, above the caves, a murderous horn sounded.

"Toot~~~"

Swiftly followed by arrows flying through the air more densely, steadily, and fiercely than those from the Warg Riders’ archers.

The sound of "whoosh" echoed as an ugly Beastman corpse tumbled through the cave entrance before the Dwarves, rolling to their feet along the sloped path.

The malformed mouth of the Beastman emitted a ’hollow’ sound, due to a broken arrow piercing its neck, the shaft adorned with feathers having snapped during the fall.

This had caused the tissues inside its neck to be twisted into a mess by the embedded arrowhead.

Dwalin quieted the Beastman with a thump on its head using a hammer.

Sorlin knelt and pulled out the arrowhead, recognizing it immediately at first glance.

"An Elf’s arrow."

At the same time, an understanding seemed to dawn upon him, as he lifted his head to question Gandalf who was smiling behind.

"Is this all part of your plan?"

Gandalf remained silent, merely extending a hand toward the path behind them, making a gesture of invitation.

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Meanwhile, above the caves, on Lann’s side.

He clasped the neck of a Warg, lifting it with one arm, forcing it into a bipedal stance.

The Warg, its claws the size of a human head, flailed but to no avail.

The Warg’s neck, full of muscle, was too thick for Lann’s hand to grip securely.

So Lann merely clawed his fingertips into the muscle of the Warg’s neck.

Then, with his other hand holding Aron Dite, he thrust it sideways like an execution into the Warg’s adjusted neck.

Under the knife skills of the Demon Hunter, the foul blood sprayed like mist, dispersed by the Qi Flow Blade.

At Lann’s feet, with a ’crack,’ he stepped on the neck of the Warg’s original Knight, breaking it.

The murderous horn sounded, and simultaneously, Lann gently lowered his head.

A fierce arrow whisked past where he had been standing!

With a ’whoosh,’ it embedded itself into the head of a distant Beastman Knight.

The shooter was a Warrior on horseback, practically following the arrow’s trajectory closely past Lann’s back.

"Hmm?" *2

Both of them simultaneously heard the other’s surprised sound.

Lann’s surprise was in: not expecting the opponent’s archery precision to be this high!

If he hadn’t slightly lowered his head earlier, the arrow would’ve grazed his scalp with minuscule clearance, hitting the Beastman behind him without hindrance.

Yet he had lowered his head.

This explained that even with Mentos assisting calculations, his estimation of the arrow’s trajectory hadn’t matched the shooter’s level.

Shoot speed, precision, arrow vibration in flight...

What kind of Immortal Archer is this?!

And that deity-like archer who rode past Lann with ease, his surprise was much simpler—

This person can predict the arrows I shoot?!

Although he did not gain the complete trajectory of the arrow, he was only slightly off.

Even in his long life, he rarely encountered such figures.

The leading rider who shot arrows was indeed powerful, and he was not alone.

The sound of horse hooves was distinctly different from the running of wargs.

A group of knights suddenly appeared from the hollow beneath the distant hills.

The style of these knights was extremely different from that of the beastmen.

Elegant and orderly, every one of them wore armor that was uniform and could be called a work of art.

In comparison, the beastmen’s twisted and haphazardly assembled armor seemed bizarre.

Beneath the artistic helmets were silky long hair, either golden or black.

If not on the battlefield, this group could appear in a painting themed on beauty without any discordance.

They all had excellent riding skills, and their weaponry usage was flawless.

Though everyone after the leading knight could match a normal human who trained their whole life,

it did not give Lann an awe-inspiring feeling.

Their skills were decent, but only within the human realm of ’decent’.

These people are elves.

Though he hadn’t seen the characteristic ears yet, Lann could discern from their skills.

Skill so stable and flawless... this was not something achievable by races with limited lifespans.

Even if exceptionally gifted, where could one find so many exceptionally gifted forming a cavalry?

After Lann’s repulsion, the number of beastmen and warg riders fell to less than twenty.

And this elf cavalry numbered less than ten.

Yet, with less than half the enemy’s numbers, they relied on superb individual skills to easily slaughter the enemy.

Not only was the armor like artwork, even the elves’ weapons were.

Their long lances sliced into the wargs’ shoulders as they charged, their etched bows and arrows rarely missed their moving targets while on horseback.

The beastmen held a fear towards the elves.

This fear was even more effective than Lann’s previous execution-style slaughter.

Almost after two rounds of charges, only two warg riders remained, fleeing without a glance back.

The Qilin and Rong Buqiu, initially roaming the periphery, seeing no need anymore, trotted back to Lann’s side.

The beastmen fled, and these elf knights had no intention to pursue.

Instead, led by their head knight, they circled around Lann, the Qilin, and Rong Buqiu with interest.

The eyes under the helmet bore no malice, only curiosity.

"Yadanisil."

Among the elves scrutinizing him, Lann vaguely heard them saying this word.

He didn’t understand its meaning but assumed it was not malicious.

"Indeed, Yadanisil."

The leading knight removed his helmet, placing it on the saddle, the horse moved expertly closer to Lann.

With a kind smile, the elf on horseback looked at Lann’s face.

"Hair like molten silver under the sunlight, delicate skin, a face more handsome than any human... except for those bestial eyes."

"Greetings to the warrior daring to confront the beastman warg riders. May I know your name?"

The elf on horseback courteously offered a slight bow.

With sleek black hair and a finely tended, exquisite face, he naturally exuded considerable charm, truly graceful.

Lann had seen elves from the Magic Middle Ages, but compared to these, the Ain Sidi Race didn’t seem as ’elven’.

"Lann..." The Demon Hunter, encircled by the elven knight, calmly stated his name, gesturing backward.

"And Qilin and Rong Buqiu, at your service."

"Elrond." The leading elf bowed slightly again on horseback, "Also at the service of you and your companions."

Elrond’s gaze was profound yet bright, like a night sky shimmering with starlight... no, perhaps not merely ’like’.

In the elf’s eyes, there truly was starlight!

Lann silently opened his mouth.

Elrond nodded with interest.

"Ah, let me see... a tall, robust, extraordinary... human? Along with these noble wild spirits. A lovely sword-wielding kitty."

Unable to move under Elrond’s control, his horse pawed the ground idly, and the elf’s body moved with it.

"I saw Radagast in the distance, did you come together?"

Elrond spoke as if unsurprised.

"Of course, of course, who else but that fellow in Middle-earth could encounter such extraordinary beings? Let alone form alliances with them."

At the right moment, Radagast bounced up from the distant hillock, waving his magic staff and gesturing this way.