Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1883, page 1855: Coercing Hostages
The Witcher's punches are fierce!

The strange guy opposite him even felt like he couldn't breathe because of it!
However, thanks to his extensive work experience over the years, he managed to prevent his body from instantly turning into a lump of dead flesh.

"bump!"

A dull thud erupted from mid-air! Accompanied by a visible shockwave, and blood appeared out of nowhere.

Torisha was still below the steps at the tower entrance, and because of the angle, she couldn't see very clearly. But even if she could see clearly, she probably wouldn't be able to process what was happening.

"Uh-huh!"

A muffled cry of pain also came from the empty space.

Then came a series of crashing sounds. In the lobby on the first floor of the tower, the already messy piles of books and open wooden crates containing pyroxene blocks... were smashed like bowling pins that had been overturned, creating a straight, empty space.

Tolissa couldn't see the person who had been knocked away, but at least she could make out the person she was looking for by the cold light of the scattered gemstones.

"Dolores!"

The perfumer gasped in surprise from behind the veil.

At this moment, the woman dressed as a man, who had only spoken with Lan En once, was revealed from the pile of debris that had been smashed.

She was trapped in a small magic circle that shimmered with the blue light of sapphire. She looked crammed together, her eyes were closed, and her face was pale, but she still curled up tightly, as if trying her best to avoid touching the magic circle.

Torisha only shouted out, but she still remembered Lann's instructions and did not foolishly run forward and join the battle at this moment.

Although he looked nervous, the perfumer immediately grabbed his powder packet, found a versatile healing powder inside, and held it in his hand as if ready to throw it at any moment, on high alert.

From Lan En's perspective, the entire battle situation was clearly visible.

While still somewhat dazed, he instinctively punched the person who was swinging a knife at him, sending them flying.

Lan En immediately prepared to charge forward!
He had just seen this person swinging a knife at him with what he considered a 'foolish' action, and he was actually intimidated and lost his composure.

If it were a real enemy, he should have been able to control the blade with his first strike, and then kill the enemy with his second, instead of just knocking them away.

This is a case of a novice defeating an expert.

Just as Lan En's body was about to activate, landing one after the other, the enemy he had just knocked away landed.

The Witcher's amber cat eyes suddenly glanced to the upper left.

Then, the body, which was about to surge forward, suddenly shifted to the side a great distance!

The next moment, "whoosh!"

A series of dense cracking sounds came from where Lan En had been standing and from the direction he was about to charge forward!
The azure-blue pyroxene magic attacked from the side, transforming into nearly tangible pyroxene crystals that shot out like a shotgun.

It crashed into the ground, leaving cratered cracks, before the crystals turned into blue-green magical specks and dissipated.

Crystallization scattering!
Standing halfway up the stairs, the brilliance of the radiant stone at the tip of his staff hadn't even faded yet, and a layer of white sweat clung to the hair beneath Servis's mask.

"You hopeless idiot!" he yelled in a shrill voice. "Are you really that incompetent?"

If he hadn't come down quickly, that magic assassin from the magic town of Seria would have been killed in that split second!
Although the faded ones were a bunch of outdated, mindless brutes, Servis knew it in his heart.

In this moment of close combat, these brutes can still pose a threat to the wise.

He didn't want to be left to deal with this fading brute all by himself after that idiot from Seria was instantly killed!
At this point, the invisibility spell's effect had worn off.

The magical assassin from Seria revealed himself.

His right shoulder looked as if it had been hit by a heavy hammer; it was completely turned into a bloody, mangled mess of flesh and bone!

Even though he was injured like this, he still instantly pulled out a red dewdrop chalice and took a sip.

The golden tree's benevolent power allowed his injuries to heal visibly in an instant.

Seria's magical assassin had a cold and hard expression. Although she was a magical assassin, she still did the job of an assassin, and her emotions did not fluctuate too much easily.

And because he has now revealed his physical form, his equipment and weapons have also been revealed.

He wore an inconspicuous garment and had a light staff tucked into his waistband.

None of this was anything special; it just made him look like a commoner who knew magic, which wasn't unusual in the Golden Dynasty.

It can also be seen as a cover for being an assassin.

However, the sword in his hand... in terms of its design, is a very proper Japanese katana.

The curvature of the blade, its style, and the proportions of the handle are all very conventional, except for the decorative style, which maintains the Western style of the border region.

It's the kind of thing that, if thrown to the Ember Knights of a magical medieval world, they could immediately pick it up and wield the [Ashina Style]. It seems this world possesses a civilization similar to Japan.

After taking one look at the knife, Lan En made a rough guess in his mind.

But this magical assassin in front of me doesn't seem to have any skill with swords... Did he just copy the sword shape because he thought it was useful, but he hasn't really studied swordsmanship in depth?

Lann remained skeptical of this speculation.

After dodging the Crystal Scatter, the Witcher cast Acceleration between his legs, creating a spiral of wind.

He was about to unleash a burst of speed immediately after dodging!
【Crystal Scattering】This spell demonstrates the caster's power.

Lan En had learned from Bai Zhi's collection of books that there were many different schools of magic in the border region, and their academic philosophies also differed.

【Crystallization Scattering】This magic is a type of magic known as the 'Crystallization School' among magicians. They tend to use pyroxene to explore the 'wisdom within stone' in inorganic matter.

It represents a more in-depth branch of the path magicians take in exploring wisdom.

The fact that Servis could use such magic right off the bat doesn't necessarily mean he's a 'Crystallization Faction' user, but it's enough to prove his exceptional skill.

If given too much time to prepare, such a high-level spellcaster can often cause considerable trouble.

But just as Lan En's hand was already on the hilt of the sword, and his whole body was about to start moving.

Above him, halfway up the stairs, stood the magic professor, the brilliance of the radiant stone on the tip of his wand completely dimmed. In its place, a small, glowing magic circle appeared in the palm of his loosely clenched hand.

"Ah! Dolores!"

Torisha cried out in surprise.

Lan En's pupils also quickly glanced to the side.

The woman dressed as a man, who was trapped inside the magic circle, is now clearly seeing the circle shrinking!
Dolores, who was trapped inside, was now squeezed so tightly that her already cramped figure was distorted!

Dolores' eyes remained closed, seemingly unconscious. Yet, the pain on her face intensified instinctively.

In just a moment, the Witcher's observation skills and thoughts had already made sense of the current situation.

—It seems this masked magician in the wide-brimmed hat is the one who imprisoned Dolores. And the small magic circle in his hand is connected to the magic circle that confines Dolores.

"Don't move!" Servis's shrill voice rang out from behind his mask, echoing through the messy first-floor lobby. "Faded One, don't move!"

As he spoke, the magic professor raised his hand over the exaggerated brim of his hat.

The blue-green magic circle on his palm shrank as he slightly closed his hand, and at the same time, this shrinking was reflected in the magic circle that imprisoned Dolores.

The woman dressed as a man was slender and tall. Now, her right knee, which was bent over, was pressed against her throat because there was nowhere else to put it.

And as the magic circle shrank further, his knees were starting to compress his trachea!

Now, Dolores's face was not only pale and painful, but also contorted with difficulty breathing.

Judging from the professor's current posture, Lan En could easily see what he was doing—coercing hostages.

“You are different from us, the Faded Ones.” Selvis’s eyes, hidden behind his mask, were fixed on Lann. “Your fragile lives only come once! You’d better watch out!”

Although he completely looked down on these brainless guys, he wouldn't be foolish enough to ignore a threat.

As he spoke, Servis subtly beckoned to the assassin Seria with his other hand, hidden beneath his wide professor's robe.

"I think, why can't we talk about it?"

Seemingly because he felt he had regained control of the situation in the swiftly erupting conflict, Servis's shrill voice calmed down. At least he displayed some of the composure expected of a professor and scholar.

Lan En's eyebrows twitched inexplicably at first, then calmed down.

"Talk?" The witcher's voice was flat, but filled with murderous intent. "You captured and imprisoned a Faded One. Should I explain to you who the Faded One is?"

Without waiting for a reply, Lann continued, "We belong directly to Twofinger! And you! Knowing this, you still did this! Are you trying to defy the Golden Law?"

"No, no, no, no!" The magic professor shook his head repeatedly. "I can't bear this crime."

“I knew she was a Faded One, but I only found out after I caught her. Oh well, she’s a Faded One.”

“You seem deeply frustrated.” Lann glanced at Dolores, who was trapped in the magic circle. “So frustrated that you have to personally imprison a Faded One?”

"She came looking for trouble herself." To show goodwill, the magic professor even loosened the small magic circle in his hand slightly. "But I'm also baffled. I've never done anything that would warrant the Faded One coming to me!"

(End of this chapter)