Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1725 1697. Clock Fear

'Chlorophobia'.

As soon as this word came out of Henry's mouth, Lincoln immediately realized that the first question he asked the person in front of him was the most crucial question!
Clock phobia not only shows the commonality of the group of humanoid livestock, but also indirectly indicates the identity of that group of people.

This sounds like the name of a certain disease.

In fact, Lincoln was familiar with this, because the so-called clock phobia was born in the Battle of Sodden Mountain more than two years ago, almost three years ago.

In that brutal extermination war, in order to extinguish the last resistance of the defeated Nilfgaardian army and prevent them from easily returning to the occupied areas to recuperate, the Northern Alliance blocked all their escape routes.

But this also happened to inspire the will to survive and fight of this originally scattered and defeated army.

At that time, in order to ensure the success of the strategy, Lan led the Embers Knights into the battlefield.

The demon hunters at that time were wielding the greatsword [Muddy Flow] on the chaotic and bloody battlefield.

The dark sword set off a bloody storm! And every time the sword swung and collided, it made a recognizable, oppressive, and shocking sound like the evening bell of a church.

The Nilfgaardians called the sword "a magic sword that can murder a hundred knights with one swing."

The ferocious and unstoppable powerful enemy, the helpless, panic-stricken and desperate battlefield situation, the crazy situation on the battlefield at that time was linked by the survivors to the sound made by the swinging of [Muddy Stream].

It became a nightmare that they could not forget and was engraved in their minds.

After the First Northern War, negotiations between the northern kingdoms and Nilfgaard ended, and the surviving captives were able to return south of the Yaruga River after paying a price.

But when they returned to the South, people discovered that they would never hear bells or similar sounds again in their lives.

Once they hear the bell, these people will fall into nervous panic and madness.

According to what Lan knew about modern medicine, the bells would trigger their severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Nilfgaardians thought that after the negotiations, they would receive back a group of veteran soldiers who had survived many battles and were the empire's precious war potential.

However, this disease, which seriously affects combat effectiveness and stability, has undoubtedly greatly weakened the value of this group of people.

It even turns these people into loss-making negative assets.

This incident caused quite a stir at the time, and even in the north, at Aretuza College, it had been heard of.

There are three to four thousand people being kept like livestock in the quarantine area of ​​the Nilfgaardian military camp. Not only are they suffering from 'clockophobia', they are also Nilfgaardian war veterans!

In just a short time after Henry uttered the word "clockphobia" with difficulty, Lincoln and several Embers Knights couldn't help but widen their eyes.

At the same time, a series of clues that were originally unconnected began to vaguely reveal connections and causality.

The panic attacks displayed by victims on the battlefield, the extreme panic of the humanoid animals, the use of bells as a means of initiating and maintaining the curse, and...
When the cursed ghost heard the sound of his master [Zhuliu·Destruction] chopping down on the battlefield, he immediately revealed his true form and went after him!
Lincoln's eyes lit up, and while he continued to ask Henry about various situations, he raised two fingers and touched the temple on the side of his face. This was his habitual action when contacting the warlock's telepathy.

Triss, who had been keeping an eye on the progress of the Embers' pursuit of clues, immediately received the news and informed Lan, who was always in the dark.
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"Chronophobia?" Lan En chewed on the news he had just received. "Never forgive, never forget?"

He looked at the vengeful ghost still lying powerlessly on the ground in a contemplative manner.

Everything lost its color in the constant darkness. His hair, like molten silver, turned pale, and even his skin turned pale.

It makes his appearance dark and deep, but it doesn't affect the beauty.

As for the vengeful ghost on the opposite side, it still roared and grunted from its throat, trying hard to restart the battle and fight without stopping until death.

It certainly looked like it was about to succeed.

The [Chaos State] imposed on it by Lan En, the black and purple smoke emanating from its body was gradually becoming thinner.

This is a sign that the [Chaotic State] is gradually fading.

After all, Lan En had only used the power of earth and water to soak the body of the vengeful ghost in a split second.

Although it still caused chaos due to power conflicts, it was not so profound as to cause the reversal of yin and yang, the disorder of the five elements, the rise and fall of one thing, and the transformation of the five wheels.

This superficial state of chaos will eventually fade away.

However, seeing that the vengeful ghost was gradually getting rid of the [chaotic state] that was draining and eroding its power, Lan En did not seem to be ready to take action.

He was thinking with the Mentos in his head.

He read about the experiences and cases of demon hunters of all generations in dealing with curses in Kaer Morhen, and also read about the curse theory analyzed from the perspective of a mage in Aretuza's library.
When he first read and browsed the various complex information, Mentos had already compiled it into a clearly organized and logical database for easy understanding and reference.

Now, in just a moment, all this knowledge and experience emerged in Lan En's mind, and he began to make an analogy analysis with the actual problems he was currently facing, hoping to come up with a practical solution to the curse.

Curses are a thing of many kinds: they have many different causes, many different effects, and therefore many different solutions.

When facing the first curse mission with Geralt, Geralt and him went to several villages, collecting relics and exploring locations.

After a lot of work, a ritual was performed to transform Baron Cormorant back into human form. The last cursed creature Lan En faced was the [Mist Nest Master] Tyrannosaurus Rex.

It devoured a whole group of small fog monsters near the place of magic. The brutal and horrific killing attracted the magic power, causing the body of the Tyrannosaurus Rex to be tainted with the curse.

This situation seemed relatively simple to Lan - he just had to kill the Tyrannosaurus Rex and that would be it.

The current situation
"Lane," Triss's voice entered the witcher's mind, "the area outside is slowly beginning to expand again. Are you all right in there?"

The sorceress's voice was hurried and anxious, as if out of worry.

"Lincoln is still asking for information. I will pass it on to you right away."

"No," Lan rejected Triss's action, "No need, the key information should have been collected, and I need to think and try and error to solve the rest of the curse."

The demon hunter was still staring at the monster, half of whose face was filled with anger and the other half with fear.

On the other end of the telepathic communication, the sorceress remained silent for a moment: "In any case, be careful, Lan."

"I see."

Lan removed his hand from the conical crystal on his body.

The black and purple smoke on the ghost's body had become thinner and thinner, and it was already able to support itself with its elbows and lift its head off the ground.

Lan En looked at it. He knew that the vengeful ghost should have no intelligence whether in the magical Japanese Warring States world or here.

But he still spoke with a sigh.

"So, you are actually veterans of Nilfgaard, right?"

"The process that led to the birth of the vengeful ghost should have been a large number of deaths, as well as the resentment and anger generated from this process. Therefore, the face of the vengeful ghost will be half resentful and half angry, and the fire of resentment will burn on its body."

"But on your faces, there is half fear and half anger."

"You remember Me, you fear Me, and you still fear It."

Lan En whispered in the dark.

He had already taken back the Sword of the Lady of the Lake and the Sacred Moonlight Sword, and now he paced to a corner of the ground that had been softened by his battle with the vengeful ghost.

Then a huge object was pulled out from the ground.

The dark and heavy sword body, the bone-white blade, and the brutal and gluttonous aura were enough to scare people even if they were buried in the ground just now.

The sword was so heavy and rough that it looked like a thick tombstone. Just by being pulled out of the ground, it made a shocking low humming sound when a heavy object was moved.

When Lan En picked up [Muddy Stream·Destruction], the split expression on the vengeful ghost's twisted face, whether it was fear or anger, became more intense.

But Lan En was holding the sword that had tortured them, not to provoke them or intimidate them.

They have all been twisted into curses and turned into vengeful ghosts, and they can't feel any of this at all.

He just sighed.

"But because of this, you were used by others. You became the raw material for constructing the curse."

The demon hunter dragged the greatsword and walked to the side of the crouching vengeful ghost.

He raised his hand and swung it, and the dark sword left a fan-shaped black shadow in the air.

With a "crack", the copper-green glowing crystal horn on the ghost's head broke off immediately. Its elbow, which had been supporting its upper body, suddenly softened and it fell down.

The ghost horns are the ghost's weakness, but the vengeful ghost in front of him is essentially a cursed creature, and even resurrection is casual, so he will not care about this weakness.

The vengeful ghost turned his head with difficulty but persistence, looking at Lan En who was standing beside him.

The position of the demon hunter at this moment, and the crouching posture of the vengeful ghost, looked like an execution.

However, [Turbid Flow·Destruction] had already proven in previous battles that it could kill vengeful ghosts, but it could not prevent them from resurrecting.

Clockophobia, never forgive, never forget.
Information about the curse kept turning over and over in Lan's mind.

And his hand was indeed holding the sword above his head as if for an execution.

The majestic body was holding a giant sword that was even taller than himself, and was about to execute an even larger monster by beheading it.

This kind of picture is so impactful even in the darkness where everything is dull.

(End of this chapter)