Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1324 1296. Rest
It is true that in the process of using the [Tachi Technique], Lan En has already increased the activity of his fighting spirit to the limit through the [Air Blade Upgrade] method.

But the skills of the New World hunters are not rigid at all. In other words, if they were rigid, they would not be able to survive when facing those powerful monsters in nature.

It is true that the activity of the fighting spirit has reached its peak, but this does not mean that [Mi-kiri Slash] cannot be used.

While feeling the external pressure and responding sensitively, all the moves are still smoothly connected and controlled freely. This is the core concept of the [Tachi Technique] among the fourteen weapon techniques of the New World Survey Team.

A light red flame of fighting spirit flashed by.

The vigorous energy gathered on Ludwig's Moonlight Greatsword was unable to touch his body due to Lan En's sharp reaction to the fighting spirit.

The enemy's strongest attack has just passed, and now is the time when the defense is the weakest!
On the ice-blue leek-leaf-shaped sword blade, a layer of light red fighting spirit is flowing actively!

【Moonlight Torrent】!
"Buzz!"

Because of the control of the output, the movement was much smaller than Ludwig's, but at the same time it was also much faster, and the light flow flashed by!

The rushing stream of light hit Ludwig from the side of his body!

At this moment, Ludwig's body was still temporarily empty and stiff after he had just swung out a sword that condensed a large amount of energy.

So he didn't even have a chance to shake and just swallowed it.

But it's not over yet.

Through a brief period of familiarity and mastery, Lan En successfully reduced the output of [Moonlight Torrent] to compress more time, but not just for this!
"bass!"

Following closely behind the energy stream was an ice-blue sword, with a solid blade covered with a layer of light red fighting spirit on the outer edge!
[Air Blade Stab]!
The leek-leaf-shaped crystal sword blade, with the sharp sound of the fighting spirit on the blade vibrating the air, stabbed into Ludwig's side immediately after the reduced-power [Moonlight Torrent]!
Now, even the [First Hunter of the Church] who had been transformed to such an extent, could not help but let out a dull scream with his mouth twisted and deformed by the beast disease!

"what!"

The sound was like the braying of a donkey or a horse, and it was no longer something that could be produced by a human voice.

Even if one regains his will through the moonlight, the physical deformation still exists objectively.

However, Lan En's expression did not change.

His attack is not over yet, [Air Blade Stab] is just a prerequisite move for the next stage.

The next stage is.
Two "trample" sounds! His strong muscles drove his body and armor, stepping on the uneven edges of Ludwig's beastly body. Lan En leapt directly to the height of Ludwig's head during the sprint!

Then, as he fell, his body, which had been stretched like a big bow, suddenly retracted, and he straightened the sword and chopped down!

[Water-Shaped Sword·Dragon Sword]!
The blade entered from the eyeball mouth on the side of Ludwig's neck and chopped straight down! The crystal blue blade brought up dirty blood waves and cut out from the side of a long horse leg on the right lower abdomen!
With a "sizzling" sound, the blood gushed out and the air around it flowed faster.

"Squeak"*7!

The active fighting spirit that flowed back and forth on the sword blade like saw teeth was compressed into this sword and burst out from the enemy's wound seven times!

The activity of Dou Qi was thus reduced to [Yellow Blade].

But in fact, even the [Yellow Blade] is no longer necessary.

Because it's over.

The fighting spirit exploded in the wound seven times in a row, and the already hideous gap suddenly became even more messy.

But then the high-pressure air that flowed wildly into the wound like a tide made Ludwig's body stiffen straight.

The cut made by this sword was too big.

And as Ludwig's stiff body was shaken by the high-pressure airflow, the wound continued to get bigger!
And in Lan En's hands, the second [Moonlight Torrent] was also ready.

"Buzz!"

The bright stream of light appeared again, but this time it was emitted at close range and at full power!
On the crystal-like sword body, the intricate magic patterns flickered with an ice-blue light.

"what!!!"

Ludwig screamed uncontrollably, and there was a sound like a horse or donkey snorting.

The stream of light rushed in from the huge wound and went straight into the beastly body.

And this time, Lan En held the hilt of the sword firmly and slashed it horizontally!
With a "swish" sound!
Ludwig's horse-like head, along with half of his shoulders, fell off his body.

It hit the wet ground with a bang.

Because of his sword that split the ground, the blood in the blood pool began to flow into the cracks.

The deformed, huge and heavy body fell down with a loud bang amid the chaotic kicking of seven or eight horse hooves and nervous twitching.

The blue-green moonlight sword was once again stuck in the ground as it fell from his hand, and gradually shrank, lost its light, and turned back into the half-sword in his hand wrapped in cloth.

"." In the flow of the blood pool and the slight trembling of the huge body, Lan En was silent for a while. He raised his moonlight sword and broke away from the tense posture of fighting.

"If you were still in human form, you would perform better than you did just now."

After a moment of silence, the witcher approached the head he had just chopped off, lowered his head and spoke with regret.

Ludwig's head had been distorted to look too much like a horse's, so after his head fell off, only one side of his face could face up to the sky, while the other side could only be pressed on the ground.

The black hair was stained with blood and stuck to his face in strands.

The skin on his face was stretched into a distorted shape due to the deformity of the skull.

Even the skin on the side of his face that was facing upward had been cracked by the bones, with only the twisted and wriggling muscles exposed.

"But if it's still a human body, how can I face your moonlight?" The eyes on Ludwig's head were not looking at Lan En.

He is the [First Hunter of the Church]. He has undergone too much [Blood Therapy] and the quality of his blood is too high.

After transforming into a beast, even if only a head was left, he could not die peacefully.

Those morbid life forces seemed to want to see his painful and twisted appearance and continued to prolong his life.

In fact, his eyes were not looking anywhere, but were blank and even his pupils were not focused.

"You also have moonlight, so you must have seen it, right? That light that is like a fleeting thread?"

"It was a light as thin as a hair, fleeting, but I was surrounded by it in the blood and the stench of the beast, and that's when I caught it."

Lan En inserted his Moonlight Greatsword in front of him, placed his hands on the counterweight ball at the end of the hilt, and listened quietly to the glorious hunter.

The final whisper after the life-and-death battle between sinking into beast and finding oneself again.

The demon hunter had a solemn expression, and his armor was angular, heavy and majestic.

"I never thought about finding out what it really is."

"Really, I never thought about it."

"As long as it is still guiding me and accompanying me, it is enough."

By the end, it was as if the lycanthropy had not yet let him go.

Even though only a head was left, his remaining muscles were still twitching, and his mouth involuntarily made harsh sounds like horses neighing and donkeys braying.

Lan listened quietly to the harsh sounds until Ludwig stopped by himself.

After the sound of horses and donkeys finally stopped, there was a short while for people to catch their breath.

".Good hunter." Ludwig's head suddenly spoke again, "In the days to come, will my church hunters be the glorious fighters I expect?"

Lan En raised his eyes slightly: "Are you awake?"

This "awakening" does not refer to waking up from the madness of the beast disease, but refers to the so-called "future days" in Ludwig's mouth.

If Ludwig didn't realize that he was in a nightmare from the past and that real time had already flowed forward, then there would be no reason for him to ask Lan such a question.

So the "awakeness" that Lan En refers to here is the "awakeness" that is not confused by the time in the dream, just like the crow hunter Irene and Simon.

"Only this time. Only this time I can see the bright moonlight again."

"My last blow killed Kos's child. This sin is too great, and the curse is too great."

In other words, were you the one who delivered the final blow that killed the Son of God?

Lan looked down at Ludwig's head, which was numb and unconscious on the ground.

Then this action should indeed bear the heavy curse of the Son of God.

"Your Church Hunters"

At this point, Lan En pursed his lips.

In fact, in the "future" Yharnam, he had only come into contact with a hunter wearing church hunter clothing, who claimed to be a member of the Executioner.

Thinking of how Alfred gave him a stack of [fire paper] as a greeting gift on that night of hunting, amidst the crazy and bloody atmosphere of the entire city.

[Fire Paper] itself is not precious. What is precious is the people who will lend a helping hand even on the night of hunting.

"Yes." Lan En answered sincerely. "I have received help from the church hunters."

"Ahh. That's great." Ludwig let out a sigh, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart. "I feel relieved."

"Knowing this, even if I am cursed like this and do such a cruel thing, it won't be meaningless."

"Thank you, kind hunter."

"Now, I can sleep peacefully. And my moonlight is given to you."

"Even in the darkest night, I can see the moonlight."

Ludwig's voice became softer and softer, until it almost sounded like a dream.

But the exposed muscles on his profile were still twitching.

[Blood therapy] and beast transformation still didn't let him die.

And Lan En shook his head after a moment of silence.

After all, he did not tell Ludwig the truth about the Healing Church.

He was too tired and in too much pain. The nightmare had to end.

And it’s time for those who are trapped in nightmares to rest in peace.

Lan turned and left, pulling out the Moonlight Greatsword that belonged to Ludwig.

(End of this chapter)