Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1887, 1859. Self-centered
Lan En showed no signs of being harmed by the low temperature, but his statement that "it's fortunate that Lani left in time" was not just empty talk.

"Wow~"

After the longsword was pulled from Servis's chest, the hazy, earthy yellow glow on Aarondet faded away.

Lan En glanced at the void beside him. The Guardian Spirit, Qilin, remained expressionless, calmly returning to his body.

The guardian spirit's power, manifested through extraordinary martial arts skills, also receded.

When Lan En saw Dolores's reminder earlier, he had already roughly guessed what kind of person would pop out of this tower.

Dolores thought Lann had come to see him, but he knew nothing about what he was investigating or the dire situation.

But in reality, Lan En's investigation may have gone even deeper than Dolores's. He knew very well that the demigod relative was likely to start a rebellion.

Therefore, when assessing the enemy's strength, a demigod, being of such a high caliber, cannot be ignored.

So, almost simultaneously with the freezing cold that froze his arms, the Witcher immediately activated [Ninety-Nine Weapons].

The power of the guardian spirit enveloped his entire body.

The red-haired demigods' ice magic was indeed profound and powerful. As the top combat force of a prosperous divine dynasty, they were not only strong and abundant in strength, but their magic could almost be described as 'divine power' in terms of the level of power.

Servis's estimate was correct: without special preparation, the person would be instantly frozen solid when the Moon Princess's ice magic covered them.

But coincidentally, Lan En was the kind of person who had made special preparations.

In terms of pure strength, he cannot compare to demigods. But in terms of the level of power...

"The power of the guardian spirit has been worn away by half in just a short time." The demon hunter looked down at his palm and murmured, "Although the power of the guardian spirit is gone, there is still a layer of [body light] underneath, but the power of a demigod... is really powerful."

After marveling at Miss Lani's ice magic, Lan En didn't dwell on it any further.

After all, she's already gone far away, and judging from the way she spoke, she must be very busy tonight.

The demigods' rebellion was an internal conflict within the Golden Dynasty. Having already eliminated Servis, the Phantom Mage Tower had essentially been taken out of control. The rest was left to the Golden Dynasty itself.

His primary goal now is to bring people back to Rodel for treatment.

As he thought about it, Lan En opened the small box he had received from the magic professor in his palm.

The box wasn't big, about the size of an average person's palm.

Upon opening it, inside was a teardrop-shaped stone fragment. Its shape also resembled the claw of some enormous beast.

At the rounded end of the teardrop, there are gold patterns and rubies. But at the pointed end…

Just like blood on the tip of a claw, the stone slab was stained blood red, and the tip was cracked in the middle.

From within that crack, one could vaguely see a certain power pulsating within, a power that was red and black, pulsating like flames.

The power captivated Lan En, but at the same time, it also made even someone as powerful as him feel an uncontrollable chill and panic in his heart!
Just like when a person stands at a high place and looks down, the thought of 'wanting to jump down and try it' will unconsciously and uncontrollably pop into their mind.

This attraction... is like the attraction of death to life.

"Suck!"

But the Witcher took a deep breath, forced himself to look away, and closed the box again.

He was indeed a tough guy who had hovered on the brink of death several times.

If this attraction is like someone looking down from a high place and wanting to jump, then Lan En's own experience can be described as having actually jumped several times.

Playing extreme sports can raise your threshold for pleasure, and the same goes for his attitude towards death.

The allure of life's end is eternal, but Lan En has grown somewhat accustomed to it.

But this only applies to people like him who are teetering on the brink of life and death.

For the people of the Golden Tree who have long since distanced themselves from 'death' and do not know what 'death' is, seeing this thing must be extremely 'exciting'.

According to the Moon Princess, this item was intended as a gift for her brother at the Volcano Mansion.

There's no other possibility but that it's the Grand Justice, Laqad.

As expected, the demigods related to the empress have already united.

With that thought in mind, Lan En walked forward and helped Torisha, who was sitting by the door with weak legs, to her feet.

"Thank you, thank you!"

Torisha let out a long breath; due to the difficulty breathing caused by fear and tension, she even tore off the veil covering her face.

This was the first time Lan En had ever seen her face.

As members of the Golden Tree race, most people, barring scars or illnesses, are of good appearance, or at least well-proportioned. Torisa's face is slightly chubby, with blonde hair falling down her cheeks—perhaps one of the characteristics of her being a member of the Golden Royal Family.

"fine?"

Lan En asked her, "I wonder if the perfumer's cheeks are very red and hot now, maybe because she was holding her breath earlier."

"I'm...I'm alright," she replied weakly, her hand resting on Lann's armor, as if the menacing yet hard plates gave her a sense of security. "Let me catch my breath...Phew! I almost returned to the Golden Tree! So close!"

Actually, there's still a long way to go.

But seeing that Torisha is still easily startled and shaken, then there's nothing wrong with her.

Lann helped Torisha to the side of Dolores, who was lying on the ground.

At this moment, the woman dressed as a man, for some reason, struggled to lift her weak neck and looked at the demon hunter's knife and him with suspicion and uncertainty.

It was as if it was searching for that hazy, earthy-yellow halo from before.

Lann crouched down and brought the Red Dewdrop Grail Bottle he had taken from Servis closer, but Dolores stopped him.

“Selvis,” the Faded One said through gritted teeth, pressing his forehead to the ground as he tried to lift his head, “that disgusting pervert tampered with my body! He wanted to turn me into a doll! I’m such a bastard now!”

Lan En tilted his head and looked at her, then enveloped her with [Spiritual Vision] and [Eagle Eye Vision].

"Indeed, there's something inside your body. Drinking the Red Dew Holy Grail directly probably won't restore your mobility."

As he spoke, Lan En drew the Demon Wolf Fang from his lower back and twirled it beautifully between his fingers.

"But if you can bear with it, I think it shouldn't be too difficult to solve."

“Pain? I don’t care. But what’s important now isn’t me!” Dolores struggled to say. “Now you need to get back to Rodel and see Twofinger! See the Queen and the King Consort! This matter…”

"This matter involves the rebellion of three demigods who are related to the emperor through marriage, right?"

Before Dolores could finish speaking, Lann interrupted her, and ignoring her surprised expression, manipulated her body, adjusting her limp limbs into a suitable position for surgery.

“I’ve already investigated this matter, and the relevant evidence has been given to the calico kitten you saw before, and sent to Rodel.”

"Information is information; it won't change just because one more person goes to deliver it. The message has already been sent; what happens in the capital is beyond our control now. All we can do now is look after ourselves. Are you ready?"

"What? Ugh!"

Before Dolores could react, a sharp pain, like a blade piercing her flesh, struck her, causing her to scream.

Lan En scanned her entire body, cutting open several of her joints and bones. A lot of mercury-like liquid was drained out along with the blood.

It seems that Servis's technique for creating puppets involves using these materials to modify the human body in advance.

If Dolores doesn't survive this time, her future is almost certainly sealed.

Torisha, standing nearby, used a perfumer's special powder to accelerate Dolores's blood flow, helping her expel the foreign object more quickly.

In the end, the woman dressed as a man indeed seemed to regain her composure.

At this moment, Lann gave her the Red Dewdrop Holy Grail Bottle, and Dolores took it herself, drank a sip, and quickly stood up.

The loss of that large pool of blood underground, emitting cold air and mixed with mercury-like liquid, had no effect whatsoever on the person who had drunk from the Holy Grail.

Dolores picked up his bow and quiver from the ground and walked out of the tower with Lann and Torisha.

This place is no longer safe to stay in. After all, according to Princess Moon, the people she sent out will return here once they have finished their business.

Although Servis is gone, no matter how or where those people escape to afterward, they will definitely come back to regroup.

As they passed by Selvis's body, the woman in men's clothing clearly wanted to stab him a few more times. But time was of the essence, so they quickly left.

However, as she passed the magic professor, Torisha asked, "The way he died was so strange."

“It’s not strange,” Lann said without turning his head or stopping as he helped Torisha walk out. “It’s just not normal at all.”

"After I cut open his chest cavity, it would be possible for him to just collapse on the spot, let alone stagger forward a couple of steps and then kneel down there? Ha."

In Lann's view, when Servis died, his movements were not like those of a normal living being, but rather like those of an automated machine that automatically reset to a state after the power was cut off.

"You mean he's not dead?!" Torisha exclaimed in surprise.

“It’s not important now.” Lann didn’t speak, but Dolores, who was walking ahead, said, “There are many tricks in the border areas. Who knows what preparations he made beforehand, or whether someone helped him?”

"Ha, what's more, he's a magician. You really should meet the Origin Faction among them, Torisha. Those people are truly bizarre."

(End of this chapter)