Bear School Astartes

The entity of Da Gun in the material world possesses a level of defense that Lann finds completely abnormal!

Although Lann had mentally prepared for any bizarre occurrences before the battle, given that the opponent is the embodiment of an Evil God, the absence of abnormalities would be more unusual.

But the current situation is that his full-force sword strike, poised to attack, couldn't even break the defense!

Not only did it fail to break the defense, but even the impact of the slash seemed to dissipate entirely into the air, not touching Da Gun's body at all!

"It feels like I can't make contact with it at all."

Nimbly leaping backward, Lann deftly dodged a lunge from a Drowner's sharp claws.

His footsteps splashed water, crushing lotus leaves beneath them.

The Drowner charged too closely, making it difficult for Lann to handle it with the range of his sword blade.

So with a twist of his wrist, the counterweight at the end of the silver sword's hilt struck horizontally onto the temple at the side of the Drowner's snarling face.

With a "bang," the previously aggressive and ferocious monster simply slumped sideways into the shallow layer of water.

One of its large eyeballs had already been squeezed out of its socket, and a long section of bone from its temple to its brow ridge was dented in under Lann's sword hilt blow.

But it was not dead yet.

Its misshapen vitality kept it far from death.

"The vitality is tenacious, yet dealing with it is akin to facing a seasoned warrior."

In other words — one encounter is sufficient.

Lann glanced at the Drowner on the ground without insisting on delivering a finishing blow because Da Gun was taking advantage of an obvious supernatural leap to crash down on him again!

With just one strike, relying on Mentos' data analysis, Lann quickly understood the gravity of this enemy.

The muscles of his two long legs worked in concert, and the boots with external plate armor suddenly splashed water.

Faced with the at least ten-ton stomping of Da Gun, Lann had already retreated.

And that Drowner with its head flattened was still motionless on the ground.

These cultists of the Evil God have never been part of Lann's consideration from start to finish.

"No need for me to make a move, within this small terrain, the unintelligent Da Gun's every punch and stomp yields damage efficiency far superior to me hacking with a 'toothpick'."

Compared to Da Gun's fists, which are as large as half a person, Lann's Bear School Longsword, slightly larger than a typical hand and a half sword, does indeed resemble a 'toothpick.'

The center of gravity flows within his body like mercury, circulating yet not scattered.

In the process of halting abruptly, Lann stabilized without losing his balance, different from his previous staggering. For a smoother reading experience, visit MV&LEMPYR.

Although Da Gun, with its weight of over ten tons and supernatural power, appeared formidable, Lann's adaptability to enemies in battle exceeded imagination.

A wealth of combat memories support coupled with Mentos' data analysis always enabled him to handle situations with ease shortly after engaging the enemy.

The Demon Hunter lifted his gaze, continuing to fixate on Da Gun's movement trajectory.

He initially thought, once Da Gun landed, he would see the Drowner crushed into pieces.

Half of the Evil God's flesh should have burst like an open juicer, with blood everywhere.

But in reality, Lann narrowed his eyes slightly.

Da Gun's foot did indeed step on the Drowner, and the crushing force of over ten tons manifested on the stone floor.

Yet precisely the Drowner caught between Da Gun's foot and the ground remained... unscathed!

"Can it even discern friend from foe from physical impact? Or is it..."

Lann's two long eyebrows knitted together as he proposed a hypothesis in his mind.

Evil Gods are irrational, disorderly beings; expecting them to discern friend from foe for mere followers?

They don't even care about themselves; how could they care about followers?

And another possibility...

Lann keenly recalled what the Lady of the Lake had said.

Da Gun's material entity: 'An anchor point formed through the convergence of an Evil God's power through the sphere of convergence, fused with the faith of Fallen Half-Fishmen.'

The physical presence in front of him, weighing at least several tons, wasn't comprised of conventional blood and flesh, but of crystalline power and the faith of followers!

According to the lady, the power of the Evil God has been sealed deep within the world by her and her friends.

Presumably, the aspect constituting its body has already become a non-renewable resource.

Thus, the remaining issue to resolve — is faith!

"Uwaaa!"

A grotesquely robust Drowner frantically lunged at Lann.

Lann's left hand reached behind his back as he sidestepped, while his right hand wielding the sword made a light, sweeping motion backward to the right.

At precisely the right moment, the plunging Drowner thrust its neck onto Lann's lightly swung sword blade.

The silver sword's blade sliced through the throat's skin, trachea, and bones... A large fish head flew backward, while the bulky body stumbled forward.

Simultaneously, Lann's left hand retrieved a [North Wind] from his Alchemy Pouch and tossed it at the unyielding Da Gun.

The Alchemy Bomb's casing shattered midair, and abrupt sounds of cracking ice emerged.

Da Gun's body appeared to stand like it had endured several days in the dead of winter, its slime and water turning into a white coat of ice.

The unstopping and unyielding flesh of the Evil God seemed to go unaffected in this condition.

The ice shell did not delay even half a second; Da Gun, with its unchanged exterior, continued moving as usual.

The half-fish, half-human foot stepped on the ground, advancing toward Lann.

It seemed unaffected.

But Lann gently laughed at this moment.

"Mentos, how much lighter has it become?"

"Sir, based on feedback from foot ground contact, at that moment, the enemy's weight decreased by one hundred and thirty-six kilograms."

Since it could inflict damage, matters became simpler.

Da Gun's hand opened, big enough to envelop a grown human.

It swung its open hand, whipping up air currents that whistled eerily.

Even a Bear Demon Hunter in heavy armor with a Quen Rune would probably be thrown ten meters high if hit once.

Beaten half to death, and fatally upon landing.

Meanwhile, Lann pressed against the gale, charging forward from beneath Da Gun's wrist.

His hand reached behind his waist, palm grasping two round bombs.

The [North Wind] slipped out of his palm, and Lann, upon passing Da Gun, made a small leap to lift his feet from the water's surface.

In the next moment, the sound of freezing "crunch-crunch" exploded atop Da Gun's altar.

A thin layer of water instantly froze solid!

"Uwaaa!"

The Drowners, caught either with one or both feet in the ice, were stuck.

They could only howl in pain through the frostbite.

And as Lann leaped forward, he had already positioned the silver sword horizontally at his side.

His body descended, the momentum propelling his body into a glide.

"Swish—"

Like a scythe reaping wheat, Lann's figure streaked past, glimmering with silver light, leaving eight Drowners of various heights now attaining uniformly the same stature.

Perhaps due to the instantaneous loss of too many faith sources.

Da Gun's previously unfluctuating body suddenly burst into visible fragments of light.

Accompanied by this, its body began to waver, becoming like a projected image, ethereal.