Bear School Astartes

Chapter 433. Sharma

The deafening roar came from the darkness in the distance.

It was a massive force, like a bulldozer tearing through stone bricks and earth with explosive force!

This enormous power was consolidated by chaos magic power into a narrow corridor.

In this narrow passage, bricks, stones, sand, and water burst into the air like a powder explosion!

"Ged! Use the Quen!"

When the Demon Hunter’s necklace sensed the chaos magic power and began to tremble involuntarily, Lann’s reaction speed was a whole level faster than Ged’s.

His heavy frame suddenly became light, and with an agile sidestep, he moved away from the ’explosive zone’.

He even had the leisure to remind Ged.

The Quen Rune is the Bear Demon Hunter’s most practiced magic seal, a proficiency born from their head-on combat style.

So the moment Lann spoke, Ged instinctively released the magic seal.

A golden-yellow chaos magic power formed a protective layer over him.

Almost at the same moment the magic seal took shape, the ’explosive zone’ hit Ged’s feet.

"Boom! Crackle!"

With the sound of the magic seal shattering, the tall Demon Hunter was blasted away!

The force sent him flying at least five meters.

But it seemed the Demon Hunter wasn’t injured; he rolled smoothly across the hand-deep water and quickly stood up, resuming his fighting stance.

This was a core skill of Bear School Swordsmanship in balance adjustment.

"Phew! Thanks, Lann."

Ged spat out the dirty water he swallowed in the roll, then thanked Lann while keeping his eyes fixed on the source of the ’explosive zone’ in the darkness.

The young man’s warning was timely.

If not for the rigid defense of the Quen Rune that pushed him away from the attack, his body would likely have ended up like the dirt and stones on the ground.

Lann didn’t respond, as he also squinted his eyes slightly, left hand resting on the sheath at his waist, looking into the distant darkness.

"Thud, thud... screech!"

The heavy footsteps, audible by ear, indicated that this moving object weighed at least seven or eight tons!

However, its screeching sound wasn’t filled with the intimidation often present in powerful monsters.

Instead, it was sharp and high-pitched...

"Sir, judging by the sound, this is likely a subterranean creature. Attacks targeting vision may not be effective."

Mentos timely offered his analytical reminder.

Finally, after a few final thuds, the creature broke through the obstructing ruin wall.

It splashed massive amounts of water, appearing before the two Demon Hunters.

It was a giant creature nearly four meters tall, shaped like a burrowing beetle.

But instead of an insect exoskeleton or hardened cuticle, its body was wrapped in genuine, dense, hard rock!

Mentos’ guess was entirely correct; its head barely revealed a mouth, and the rest of its upper skull was encased in rocky armor!

With its screeching, the water below rippled in a rhythmic outward pattern.

The emblems of the two Demon Hunters vibrated even more intensely.

This was a creature that had mingled with chaos magic power during its growth.

In other words — a remnant!

"It’s Sharma! Why did it cross the Yaruga River to the north?!"

Ged exclaimed in astonishment upon seeing the monster in full.

"It senses its environment through vibration, and this place is full of water!"

Ged didn’t finish his sentence, but Lann immediately grasped his meaning.

Water conducts vibrations much better than air.

And sound, which usually triggers attacks, isn’t as clear amid the rushing noise of the underground river.

Without a doubt, this massive creature charging into the tomb with chaos magic power had agitated the souls into Demon Spirits.

"Screech!"

The high-frequency sound waves created water patterns, which reflected after hitting the two Demon Hunters’ ankles.

In a very short moment, this enormous stone-shelled beetle curled into a ball and rolled towards them with a rumbling charge!

"What’s the intel on it? I’ve never seen southern monsters!"

Lann dodged as the ferociously rolling ’stone ball’ brushed past him, the Lady of the Lake’s Sword slashing through in the instant they passed each other.

The stone shell cracked open, but the slash wasn’t deep, not even enough to draw blood.

Aron Dite’s sharpness goes without saying; it’s a divine-made armament from the Lady of the Lake.

But just like the sharpest blade can be sheathed, the resistance while cutting through involves more than just the volume of the line in front of the blade.

There’s also the compressive force from both sides of the blade face post-entry.

The Lady of the Lake’s Sword could only cut so deep before being clamped by the stone shell, unable to penetrate further.

The light Lady of the Lake’s Sword couldn’t alter Sharma’s trajectory, and the massive stone ball rushed straight for Ged next.

His chaos magic power recovery was significantly slower than Lann’s, and he couldn’t even gather enough for a second Quen Rune.

He could only make a wild dive to the side, increasing his evasion distance with this ungainly maneuver, narrowly avoiding being crushed.

"Weak spot... soft tissue underbelly! Plus the damn costly remnant oil, Dancing Star!"

The dirty water Ged just spat out splashed back into his mouth as he dived.

He even had to swallow it to report the situation to Lann in time.

"But if you use Dancing Star, in this enclosed space, we’d both end up blind and deaf! Damn it! Fighting Sharma here... I’d rather face Demon Spirits, even daylight ones!"

The stone ball that Sharma curled into hit the wall beside Ged, sending fragments and dirt flying, launching it a meter into the air through counterforce.

In the brief moment it was airborne, this creature with excellent spatial awareness unfurled its body mid-air, then landed with a loud thud.

It clearly had its own set of combat tactics, unfurling its body and raising its forelimbs high, body leaning back.

This was an obvious preparatory move for a powerful downward smash.

Meanwhile, both the necklaces around their necks and Lann’s fully-charged ’Mind’s Eye’.

They all alerted the Demon Hunters — the chaos magic-powered ’explosive zone’ was coming again!

The previous human-width, over thirty meters long, explosion of debris rising two meters high, was this creature’s sheer handiwork!

And by the looks of it, it didn’t even strain itself!

Ged’s scalp tingled; his hair almost stood on end from the impending sense of crisis!

They were far too close! This strike... he wouldn’t have time to dodge!