Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1333 1305. The nightmare of collapse

"You left your hometown and came here because you couldn't stand the nostalgic and extravagant behavior of the Cainhurst people, who thought they were superior to others."

German said to Maria, whose chest was heaving violently.

"That's exactly what you would do - shoot me."

As a hunter in Yharnam, it was rare for Maria to express such excitement.

But German's expression and tone were even stranger.

The way he looked at Maria was not like he was looking at a person. Rather, he looked more like an old man who was reminiscing about the past, telling stories and expressing emotions while looking at a photo from the past.

This behavior is not unexplainable.

It's just like the common routine in those clichéd stories.

Because the young people look like the older generation, they are then seen by the older generation’s friends. When the old people express their feelings, although they are looking at the young people, their feelings and memories are actually directed to the young people’s elders.

But it's different now.

What Gehman said was exactly Maria's past and personality.

Maria was standing right in front of him, and in the midst of a violent emotional upheaval, she raised her hand and shot him.

This so-called 'nostalgia and aftertaste' has a long and rich taste like a cup of genuine old wine that has been collected for many years. But where does this come from?
Lan remained silent.

But Maria and Adeline behaved more normally. They seemed completely unable to understand German's emotions.

Although Maria's inner spirit is now broken, she hides herself with the characteristic indifference of a Yharnam hunter.

She smoothly pulled the exquisite rifle back behind her, and then with a "swoosh" sound, the [Falling Leaves] was unsheathed!
[Acceleration] was activated, and Maria's fluttering one-shoulder cloak suddenly made her disappear like a black smoke.

When he appeared again, he was already next to Gehman's wheelchair.

But the cold and dark slender blade pierced through German's body as Maria looked incredulous.

But it’s no different from the mercury bullet before.

The blade was across Geman's body, and it should have stabbed directly from his ribs to his heart and lungs! But now it seemed to be stuck in the mist, unable to bear the force.

German himself didn't even bother to look up, as if he felt nothing at all.

Maria was so frightened that she immediately pulled away.

But looking at the hunter's cold eyes and the way she holds the knife, it seems that she wants to use the method of the Blood Noble.

The technique of having blood on the blade.

"Cainhurst's blood blade is indeed powerful." But before Maria was about to stab him, German spoke calmly. "But you are only the remnants of the past, the remaining illusions."

"Illusion? You mean us?" Maria paused and asked coldly. "You look like an illusion."

"Is this new technology to cure those scums of the church? Your real body isn't here?"

But German ignored Maria and just smiled at Lan En, who had been silent since a while ago, with an old voice.

"The person in the nightmare thinks that the person entering the nightmare is an illusion. Isn't that ironic?"

"You guys." Maria frowned, "What on earth are you talking about?!"

"Okay." Germann ignored Maria's question. He just spoke to Lan in an old and slow voice. "It's normal for old people to want to recall the past. I have plenty of time and opportunities, but what about you, the evil guest who broke into this garden?"

"Thanks to your acumen and actions, this nightmare cursed by the tragic death of the Son of God is about to collapse."

"People like me can come and go freely, but what about you? A foreigner without even a drop of Yharnam blood in your body? How are you supposed to leave?"

Germann's voice was calm and unhurried, with the tone of someone who had seen many ups and downs, and beneath this calmness, Lan En vaguely heard a hint of persuasion.

Finally, after a long silence, Lan's boots stepped onto the beach, stepping on a thin layer of waves.

"Actually, you were the one who killed the orphan in Kos, right?"

Instead of answering Gehman's previous question, he asked a counter-question.

"The fatal wound on the body was not a sword wound."

"Yes, no." German admitted it readily, as if this issue was not worth hiding or avoiding.

The old man's mouth was laughing under the shadow of his hat brim.

"The one who strikes the final blow will bear the heaviest and most direct sin and curse."

"It was me who delivered the final blow, killing the orphan of Kos. But unfortunately, even though I gave the final blow to Ludwig every time here, the curse still did not let me go."

As he spoke, Geman waved his arm, which was originally resting on the armrest of the wheelchair, to the side.

Suddenly, a distorted black smoke with a roughly recognizable human face rose from the body of Kos lying on the beach.

The black smoke was twisted and long, and the human face was blurred.

But the perceptive Lan En and Maria, who was already familiar with German, could immediately feel that the black smoke was German.

Or a part of German's soul.

Because he was the one who directly killed the Son of God, part of his soul was trapped next to this corpse and could not be redeemed.

And Gehman was right next to a part of his soul that was cursed, twisted, and even howling to the sky in a state of black smoke, but his face seemed calm and he didn't care about anything. It made people feel cold.

"Ludwig's final blow in the nightmare helped me relieve some of the pain, but that's all. Didn't you see the blade?"

Only when he said this did a fleeting look of sadness appear on German's face.

"Haha, that orphan. He won't let me go no matter what."

"You don't look like you need to be 'let go' by Him."

Lan En smiled coldly and said to German.

"Hehe, whatever you say, but the time is almost up." As if he didn't care about Lan En's sarcasm at all, German just turned around and looked behind him, and said casually.

But as German spoke in a relaxed tone, Lan, Maria, and Adeline all turned serious.

Because, a surge of sleepiness suddenly appeared in their minds for no apparent reason.

The nightmare is over.

Lan realized this immediately.

But Maria and Adeline, who still didn't understand what was going on, were desperately pressing their heads to prevent themselves from succumbing to the sudden sleepiness.

Because along with the sleepiness, there was also a deep-seated panic in their hearts.

I don't know the reason for this panic and sleepiness, but it is inexplicably strong.

It seems that as long as I succumb to sleepiness and close my eyes, my safety, life, and even the whole world will disappear!
If Maria and Adeline were still living their normal lives in the nightmare, they would not feel anything now.

Because how can a person in a nightmare be aware of the nightmare itself?
If they were sober hunters like Simon, they would not feel anything.

Because the awake hunter knows that he will eventually wake up in the next dream.

But now, the two of them were dragged all the way to the center of the dream by Lan En's actions.

In an intermediate state of being about to wake up but not yet awake.

They feel that there will be a huge change next, but there is no way to escape it, so they burst into great fear.

In this sudden and intense sleepiness, Lan En shook his head and tried hard to keep his eyelids open, refusing to let them close.

At the same time, Mentos projected dazzling and brilliant graphics onto his retina, stimulating his nervous activity.

Behind the light and shadow projected by the biochemical intelligent computer, German's arm, which was resting on the armrest of the wheelchair, stretched out towards Lan En.

"Last chance, outsider."

Under the shadow of the brim of his top hat, a hint of interest appeared in the corner of the old man's mouth.

Silently, German used the nail of his thumb to cut the tip of his index finger, and blood dripped from the fingertip.

"Just accept one drop of Yharnam's blood, just this one drop, and you will be a true Yharnamite."

"It can take you away from this nightmare that's about to collapse."

"What do you think?"

Geman's tone was like that of a businessman occupying a seller's market.

But Lan En, even though his eyelids were drooping and he was feeling sleepy, still smiled at him coldly and sarcastically.

"Do you want me to kneel down before you and suck that finger of yours, German?"

"Injection is the best, but if you want to take it, that's fine too." The old hunter laughed indifferently at the ridicule. "If you don't want to use the blood of an old, ugly guy like me, their blood is fine too."

"The blood flowing in those two snow-white and delicate necks is of high quality. The blood of Yharnam."

As he spoke, German's top hat tilted towards Maria and Adeline, who were so sleepy that they were a little unsteady.

Lan En did not respond, and the scene fell into silence for a moment.

Only the sound of the waves echoed around.

"Listen to what you are saying." The cold and sarcastic smile on Lan En's face gradually disappeared. Now he just looked at the old man in the wheelchair with a blank expression. "Have you ever really cared about your students?"

Maria, who was about to collapse on the ground due to sleepiness, struggled to raise her head and looked at her mentor.

But Lan En saw that the old man sitting in the wheelchair only twitched the corner of his mouth for a moment under the shadow of his hat brim.

Then, there was silence.

The old suit jacket rubbed against the wooden armrest of the wheelchair, and German withdrew his outstretched hand.

"It seems that you don't want this last gift and opportunity. Being a foreigner is not bad either."

As if he didn't take Lan's question into consideration at all, German spoke calmly.

"Then, just drown in this nightmare of collapse. Don't come into my garden again."

The wheelchair and the old man slowly faded and disappeared in front of the three people, just like the afterimages in a dream.

(End of this chapter)