Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1897 1869. Swordsmanship
'He's seen us before?!'

In that instant, only this shocking thought flashed through Dish's mind.

The Black Knife Assassin had never met this recently emerged Faded One, something Dish was certain of.

Their connection with this faded figure actually only exists tonight.

They were abruptly pulled to the Yatan Plateau by the abnormal activation of the Phantom Mage Tower, thus starting their mission ahead of schedule. However, the impact was ultimately minimal.

They received the veil of concealment from the demigod [Moon Princess], and only when they left did they come face to face with the faded one who was about to enter.

Then, during the evacuation after completing the mission, they were blocked by the other side.

However, judging from the number of times they met, they only revealed their physical appearance to each other this time.

The last time they brushed past each other, they had already activated the power of the veil of concealment!

Now, seeing this faded figure among the group of black-knife assassins, he might feel confusion, bewilderment, wariness, or hostility. But why... why this sudden realization, as if they had met before?!
The veil of concealment—that's the power of invisibility that even the most renowned demigod of the Golden Dynasty, Prince Goldwin of the Golden Dynasty, and the entire defense system of Rodel City couldn't sense!
Although the Faded Ones are highly experienced and skilled warriors... how could they see through this invisibility?
Lan En only said one sentence, but the amount of information contained in that sentence shocked Dixi instantly!

But at the same time...

Lan En noticed, or rather, created the moment when the other party's mentality was unbalanced.

His amber cat eyes were deep and sharp, and his eyeballs moved quickly, scanning Dishi's entire body from top to bottom in an instant.

In the eyes of Dolores and Torisia, Dish remains an invisible and silent, terrifying assassin. However, with the power of the veil of concealment greatly depleted, she is now, in Lann's eyes, in a state of clear transparency.

Scanning and analyzing the opponent's muscle dynamics, just as Dishi's body was still relying on the inertia of the previous movement to stab the jagged, forked black knife toward Lan En's neck.

The Witcher deftly raised his foot and then delivered a swift sweeping kick!
"Oh!"

A muffled thud, not a loud sound. Smaug's boot armor struck Dish's shin directly in the front.

The Black Knife Assassin was tall and slender, and his height was not much different from Lan En's.

Lan En's short, forceful kick didn't cause any damage, and his intention wasn't to cause any damage anyway.

"Well!"

With a startled groan, Dishi's balance was suddenly disrupted. The black blade that was originally aimed at Lann's neck grazed past the tightly clamped plate armor on Smaug's chest with a sharp 'sizzle' and a shower of sparks.

Lan En ignored this trivial matter, because that was precisely the significance of heavy armor.

He now has to deal with a more pressing situation.

Three black and red blade energies shot down from the sky!
As an oddly shaped weapon, the black knife's quality and performance didn't seem particularly special to Lan En.

But when the black-knife assassins drew out the power embedded in the blade, the nature of the situation changed completely!

【die】!
What a coincidence! It seems that a whole series of events tonight are related to death.

Lan En was thinking nonsense to himself, but that didn't affect the actions of his hands.

With his current skill level, he can unleash incredibly sharp swordsmanship and knife techniques at will.

Dish's black blade sparked against Lann's chest, but at the same time, a clear silver light flashed from the Witcher's waist.

In mid-air, it resembled a ribbon or a stream of water, blocking the three black and red blade energies that were flying from the sky.

It was neither shattered nor severed.

The slender blade of the Lake Maiden's Sword, at this moment, was like a soft stream of water or a whirlpool, drawing the three blocked sword energies into its beautiful blade.

This caused black and red flames to ignite on the blade of the Lake Maiden's Sword, as if the weapon itself were imbued with the power of [death].

The black-knife assassins in mid-air were almost stunned.

As the wielders of the black sword, they seemed never to have imagined that the power of death within the black sword could be controlled in this way.

Is the power of death... something that obeys so easily?

Was that swordsmanship? Can you really turn the tide of death with just swordsmanship?
Are you kidding me?!

But no matter how much the Black Knives doubted themselves, or even the weapons in their hands, at this moment...

Lan En himself knew how he did it.

The weapons wielded by the black-knife assassins are indeed of extremely high power, and are powerful and dangerous.

But that power seemed to be just some kind of... fragments? A residual trace of power, rather than the power itself.

Once Lan En saw through this with his [Spiritual Vision], his actions became very simple.

As a divinely created weapon, the Lake Maiden's Sword possesses undeniable high-level power.

This prevented the Lake Maiden's Sword from being destroyed by the black and red flames.

The once-gleaming blade now possessed a divine power that flowed according to Lan En's will and skill, ultimately reversing the incoming [Death] power and briefly absorbing it onto the blade. Having completed this maneuver, Lan En swung the Lake Maiden's Sword, which had just blocked three blade strikes, down in front of him!

The longsword traced a smooth arc as it danced across his wrist, while just moments before, Dishi had sent sparks flying across Lan En's chest armor with his black blade, missing his target.

She maintained her forward momentum, but after a 'whoosh' sound, her lower leg, which had been pushing off the ground, felt empty.

Like a hot knife through butter, Lann severed one of Dish's legs.

"Ugh!"

Suppressed cries of pain came from beneath the black-knife assassin's veil.

The Black Knife assassins were trained to have a cold and resolute personality, but they were ultimately still people of the Golden Tree.

Being able to wield the black knife and draw out the death energy within it already demonstrates a strong will.

However, holding it in your hand and being struck by that force will ultimately have different effects.

An unprecedented sense of fear and oppression surged into Dishi's mind through the wound of his severed leg.

The people of the Golden Tree were once again shrouded in the pressure of death, a threat they had grown unfamiliar with.

A severed leg wouldn't even affect the black-blade assassins' fighting ability. But being struck by that black-red deathly power...

Dishi felt a sudden chill run through her body, as if she were recovering from a serious illness, and even if she recovered, her body would have suffered irreversible damage and depletion.

The weakness and cold that permeated his entire body instantly overwhelmed Dishi's resilient will... or perhaps, it was just a will that had never truly been tested by death, a will that he 'thought was resilient' in his own eyes.

The severed lower leg, having lost its connection to Dishi's main body, withdrew from the power of invisibility.

It looked as if a severed limb had suddenly appeared next to Lan En.

It's bizarre and baffling to watch.

In mid-air, the black-bladed assassin who had leaped up and launched three black and red blade energies landed silently.

The two lines of warhorses that had charged past on either side hadn't even finished running yet.

But Dishie realized at that moment: this strange fader could see through their veils of concealment! And when facing the [Death Blade], he seemed to have no psychological pressure at all, and easily reversed that power!

This is not an opponent they can defeat instantly!

The ultimate lethality of a black-blade assassin lies in stealthy assassination. A black-blade assassin exposed to the enemy's sight and forced into direct confrontation is significantly less effective, often by more than half.

And now, especially after they've finished this mission tonight... the thing they can't afford to waste any more time is time!
So the instant her lower leg was severed, Dishi immediately realized that by rashly approaching this faded being, she would be trapped and unable to escape.

And we can't leave!
In the lightning-fast exchange, Dishi had already lost a leg.

But amidst the pain and fear brought on by the power of death, Dish saw her mother swaying on the back of her warhorse.

From the outset, Aleto assigned four Black Blade assassins, including Dish, to immediately eliminate the Faded Ones who were blocking his way.

But she had no idea that things would turn out this way.

The black-knife assassins moved silently, lightly, and precisely. The swaying of Alethe on horseback was almost a sign of her emotions spiraling out of control.

As soon as Aleto moved, Dee knew what her mother was feeling and what she wanted to do.

So she made a quick decision.

A hoarse voice, hoarse from not speaking for a long time, came from beneath the veil: "Go quickly!"

As she shouted, Dishi supported herself on one leg and took another step toward Lan En!
She was at least at the distance to stab someone with a knife just now, but now she's completely trying to get into a close-quarters fight!
This direct approach to close combat briefly hindered Lan En's subsequent sword swings.

Because Dish held the black knife directly and pulled it along the arm towards the Witcher's wrist!
"Ok?"

Lan En spoke up, slightly surprised.

However, there was no sign of panic or confusion on his hands.

In the close combat, Lan En's free left hand restrained Dishi's knife-wielding hand.

Because the blade was too long to be maneuverable, the Lake Maiden's Sword used its roaring bear head weight to strike Dishi's side ribs and elbow joint three times.

This injury, which at most resulted in a fracture, left Dish completely unaffected.

The black-knife assassin's slender arms repeatedly tried to restrict Lan En's range of motion.

However, the Witcher only took less than two seconds to completely defeat the Black Knife Assassin's close-quarters combat skills, and then slammed Dishi's head against his own knee!
But in those two seconds, the three black-knife assassins who had just landed all lightly touched the ground and then leaped back onto their warhorses.

Those warhorses, draped in black cloth and resembling surging dark clouds, never stopped for a moment, galloping straight towards the distance.

(End of this chapter)