Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1903, 1875. Systematization

Lan En, along with Rongbuqiu and Qilin, descended the city wall and headed towards the Round Table Hall in the inner city of Rodel.

The inner city remains chaotic, with many people still being rescued from the ruins, and the atmosphere is tense and fearful.

The heavy footsteps of those who wandered through the mausoleums still echoed throughout the city, along with the sound of water flowing into the sunken areas.

Rodel accomplished so much in just a few hours that the gurgling sound of the water is estimated to last for weeks before it fills the depression and becomes level.

At this moment, the three of them were walking on the main street of Rodel, the city still a pristine white, with brilliant golden rooftops.

The beautiful, glowing golden leaves continued to fall from the golden tree, scattering like a rain of light across the border.

The corpse of the [Ancient Dragon] that fell on the inner city wall of Rodel seemed to still retain its dying rage and pain, but now it was just a corpse, so this rage and pain became Rodel's boast of its achievements.

On the streets, there were the once always polite and unhurried nobles, as well as out-of-town lords and pilgrims.

At this moment, however, everyone was in a hurry, or rushing home to close their doors tightly.

The seemingly orderly and eternally stable Golden Dynasty, however, appeared to have suddenly revealed its fragility overnight. This magnificent and grand order, which resembled the rules of the world, was suddenly exposed.

Lan En watched as the Golden Tree People ran away quickly, cautiously glancing at him.

The man was still impeccably dressed, his golden hair and beard neatly combed, and the golden blessing light in his eyes steady. But his current demeanor and movements... seemed not much different from those of the impoverished people in the Velen Swamp of the magical Middle Ages who lived hand to mouth.

"Boss."

As Lan En was lost in thought, the velvet ball walking beside him suddenly looked up and called out to him.

"what happened?"

The Witcher glanced to the side; to his left was a velvet ball, and to his right was a Qilin.

The calico kitten tucked its two little paws in front of its chest, and scratched at each other as it looked up to speak, appearing somewhat hesitant and uncertain.

It quickly and cleverly turned its head to look around before lowering its voice to ask Lan En.

"It's that... Boss, I just don't understand, meow! That was [Golden] Godwin! We met him together, right? Even if it was just once. But such a powerful demigod was... assassinated without a sound, meow!"

As she spoke, the velvet ball patted the small armor on her chest.

"Although I'm quite confident, I can handle those black-knife assassins one-on-one after I force them to reveal themselves. But if I were to face Prince Godwin... I just can't imagine how I could possibly win, meow!"

Velvet Ball sensed that last night's events were not simple, mainly due to the difference in combat strength between Godwin and the Black Knife Assassins.

Lan En listened intently to the kitten beside him, finally nodding and smiling approvingly.

"It seems you've learned to overthink things now, Fluffball. That's good."

If it were the old plush ball, it probably wouldn't think about so many complicated things. After all, it was just a kitten adventuring from the New World and didn't know that there were so many complicated things outside.

But now, as it embarks on adventures in various worlds, its power and skills are being perfected, and its knowledge and thinking are also growing.

The plush ball felt embarrassed by Lan En's praise, and adjusted its helmet with its little paws as a cover for its shyness.

But Lan En immediately changed the subject.

"But I didn't feel there was much of a problem with what happened last night."

"Meow?"

“You’re an experienced warrior, Fluffball.” Instead of explaining immediately, Lann asked in return, “You should know that a battle isn’t something that can be accurately determined by simply comparing the strength of both sides.”

The three of them passed through an area affected by last night's battle. Even the main roads and buildings within Rodel City were now leaning and collapsing. This only served to highlight the crumbling of the orderly society that had existed under the Golden Law.

“No,” the plush ball said thoughtfully, bouncing skillfully across the uneven pebbles, “it’s not simply a matter of comparing strength. Timing, the counterplay of each other’s skills, the compatibility of fighting styles… there are many factors that can influence the outcome, meow!”

“And now we know,” Lann gestured to the velvet ball with his finger, “that the black blades in the hands of the Black Blade Assassins have undergone some kind of ritual, with the power of the [Death Rune] embedded deep within them.”

"This power was something that was originally impossible for life in the Golden Law era, so there was no way to defend against it. In addition, this power itself was extremely destructive to life..."

“We can think of it this way: apart from those ancient warriors who truly fought in the war against the giants, the remaining people of the Golden Tree probably have never even seen what death is like. And Godwin, he was also defenseless against this power.”

“When the Black Blade strikes him, it inflicts real damage. His demigod status and the blessings bestowed upon him by the Golden Law are meaningless before the Black Blade.” “The Black Blade assassins are far weaker than Godwin, but in reality, both sides can easily injure each other. If this condition is met, the Black Blade’s victory is possible.”

"Furthermore, the Black Blade fighters have a numerical advantage. When both sides can inflict damage, the numerical advantage cannot be ignored. And then there's..."

At this point, Lan En paused for a moment.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Godwin was ambushed by the Black Knife assassins from the very beginning. Afterwards, he couldn't see those who attacked him at all."

"Meow?" The plush ball stared wide-eyed in surprise. "Prince Godwin, can't you see those black knives? He's a powerful demigod!"

“Powerful doesn’t mean omnipotent. Having great destructive power or healing ability is not the same as having great perception.” Lann reminded the Palico, “Don’t underestimate the stealth of those black-blade assassins. By the time the Kirin sensed them, their veils of concealment had already used up most of their power to hide themselves from Godwin.”

"And under normal circumstances, the veil is a blur to my eyes. The armor of the Black Knife Assassins is completely silent."

Seeing that Lan En had mentioned his contribution, Qilin nodded in satisfaction, exhaling hot air from its large nostrils.

In fact, perception is a very rare ability, and high-level perception is even rarer.

The strong may be better than ordinary people in terms of physical fitness and energy control, but apart from specialized training, their hearing, eyesight, and sense of smell are all 'side effects' that come with the improvement of their own qualities, and they don't create much of a difference.

Therefore, having experienced so many worlds, Lan En found that almost every world had room for professionals like assassins and killers to survive.

Because these kinds of people are truly capable of assassinating those stronger than themselves by relying on secrecy and surprise.

Radagan and Queen Marika spoke in hushed tones in full view of everyone at the Golden Tree Cathedral, but even the powerful figures of the Golden Dynasty present could not hear them clearly.

—Except for Lan En.

The Witcher's inherent keen senses, combined with the enhancements from the Space Marine surgery, resulted in a very comprehensive improvement in his physique.

This comprehensive enhancement and powerful survivability are precisely what makes Space Marine Surgery so valuable.

Space Marines became a significant military force for the Empire of Man in the vast cosmos, primarily due to their cost and stability. In terms of pure combat prowess, a typical Space Marine would hardly rank among the top in a god-like dynasty like the Crossroads.

However, the Space Marines are a product of a system, which means that they are not only produced in large quantities and at low cost, but also do not have any obvious weaknesses.

If you want to compete with a systematic product, then you have to use hard power to overwhelm it.

Hoping that the other party has some fatal flaw or key weakness that will render them powerless to resist once it is discovered is something that only exists in fantasy stories.

A systematic product may not be outstanding, but it will certainly be reliable and comprehensive.

After listening, the velvet ball and the unicorn gradually began to understand.

After all, even in the New World, there are still assassin-like monsters like the Velociraptor.

During their conversation, Lann and his companions arrived at the entrance to the Round Table Hall and began waiting for Sir Hundred Wisdom to finish his task and then lead them to an audience with Twofinger.

To be honest, Lan En was quite curious about Two Fingers, after all, in the borderlands, Two Fingers held a hidden status in the faith that was even higher than that of the gods.

The situation in Rodel is now in complete chaos, so much so that even the guards at the main entrance of the Round Table Hall seem a bit distracted, getting nervous at the slightest disturbance and looking around nervously.

This reveals the restlessness of people's hearts.

Before Lann could wait long, a metal cane planted on the ground, and Sir Hundred Wisdom's slightly hunched body appeared from the street corner, striding quickly toward them.

Seeing that Lan En was already waiting there, he nodded and continued to approach while greeting him.

"The situation is urgent now, and we can't worry about rules and etiquette too much. Doublefinger will definitely agree. Let's go in."

Lan En straightened up from the leaning door frame, first waving his hand to tell the velvet ball and the unicorn to stay outside, and then asked.

"Still no news from the Queen and the King Consort?"

Although the Golden Dynasty built so many wandering shrines in a matter of hours, the most fundamental and most likely effective one was the shrine at the roots of the great tree beneath Rodel.

The rest of the stroll through the shrine was merely to increase the chances somewhat.

Several hours have passed since the Queen and the King Consort personally took the body of the soulless prince away. Some news should have arrived by now.

(End of this chapter)