Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1923 1895. Sewer Chapel
"wait wait wait!"

Just as Lakad was worried that delay might cause unforeseen changes and was immediately gathering people to rush to Rodel to participate in the situation in the royal city, a voice of dissuasion suddenly came from the study.

The Volcano Residence is a cruel place.

I don't know if it's because Mount Gemir was once a land full of sorcery in ancient times, the kind of cruel magic that gained power by sacrificing the suffering of others or oneself.

Or perhaps it's because the current Mount Gemir is the territory of the Grand Justice who oversees the law and punishments of the Golden Dynasty.

Or perhaps both.

In short, this place, whether in ancient times or during the Golden Age, is so famous that just hearing about it sends chills down your spine.

This is also why, when Lan En first arrived at the border and saw the Perfumer's Guild's secret garden, Torissa only threatened him with something like "taking a lawsuit to Mount Gemir," and felt that was enough.

Legend has it that deep within this volcanic mansion lies a vast, hidden area dating back to ancient times, where scorching lava flows eternally, and ancient, colossal buildings stand amidst the lava river.

That place was once used to accumulate and torture offerings for the purpose of sorcery, but now it is used to satisfy the judicial officers' needs for interrogation.

The tortures that take place at the volcano's official residence are horrific and never end, because legend has it that the purpose of torture at Gmir Volcano is not to obtain answers.

For the people of the Golden Tree who are immortal and endlessly reincarnated, being dragged to the volcano official residence of Mount Gemir is, in their context, no less than 'going to hell' in the ordinary world.

Upon hearing the voices opposing Lord Lakad of the Volcano Palace, the scribe responsible for recording the orders trembled almost instinctively.

But then he realized who would be the one to voice his objections at this time and in this place.

In this study, only the dancer from a foreign land, who was offered to Lord Lakad and is now his favorite concubine, dares to contradict the demigod.

The demigod's golden eyes turned to his side; his pupils moved first, followed by his neck.

His actions always give people a sense of alienation, as if he weren't human.

His sharp eyes were fixed on a corner of the study, where his concubine sat on a velvet armchair. Her face showed no trace of the ecstasy and infatuation she had displayed during their previous lovemaking.

He was as cold as a cold-blooded animal.

“The Forge Knights, and Ditica.” Tanis, his face pale beneath his mask, still managed to speak with difficulty, “They…they should still be in Rodel. Could it be…?”

Tanis couldn't continue speaking halfway through his sentence.

Because Laqad's gaze was becoming more and more like that of a cold-blooded animal.

After a long while, the demigod's voice finally came from the silent study.

“No,” said the majestic and cold demigod, “no, you don’t care about Ditica. You care about the Forge Knights.”

Tanis visibly trembled, as if she wanted to explain something, but Lakad immediately interrupted her.

“But I don’t care about these little things right now, Tanis. I have to be in Rodel, in the center of the situation. I like you, but you…”

At this point, Laqad sighed.

“You are too insignificant. Tanis, you are too insignificant in comparison.”

"Now, get to work."

In the last sentence, the demigod turned back and gave an order to his clerk.

The order was given, and the knights and soldiers of the volcano manor, along with the fearsome Iron Maiden dolls, rumbled and gathered beneath the volcano, preparing to march toward the royal city.

Meanwhile, some messengers disguised themselves and rode swiftly towards the foot of the Yatan Plateau.

They will secretly traverse the misty lake region of Lienia and the ever-stormy city of Stoneville, heading south and then east, until they reach the Galid Plains, garrisoned by the brother of the volcanic demigod, the [Shattered Star General].

Laqad's vehicle stood in the middle of the long procession, his gaze cold.

The current anomaly is undoubtedly outside the plans of their maternal relatives, the demigods. He wants to contact his powerful brother and wait for him to lead his troops to arrive, but it will take a long time.

However, once the Black Knife Plot began, there was no turning back.

Now, he can only keep going by improvising!

Upon realizing this, Laqad shouted coldly.

"set off!"

The Asian Plateau remains golden, even the wind carries the warmth of the Golden Age.

But now, the wind is making the banners of the Volcano Mansion flutter, and the knights' boots and the hooves of their warhorses are thundering as they march toward the distant royal city of Rodel.
-
Meanwhile, the Faded Ones in the Round Table Hall began to spread the word throughout the royal city, proclaiming the new King of Elden who would appear the next day.

The sewers of the royal city of Rodel.

The royal city's sewers have always been something like an urban legend in Rodel.

Because the royal city was built at the foot of the golden tree, and below that, naturally, are the roots of the tree.

Given the special significance of the tree roots to the Golden Tree, intelligent life must have built massive underground structures in this place long ago. Perhaps these structures were to pay homage to the Golden Tree, or perhaps they simply wanted to live closer to it, just like Rodel is doing now.

In short, the underground root system of the Golden Tree originally had a huge and complex ancient architectural structure.

The royal city of Rodel was built at the foot of the Golden Tree. The vast space beneath the ground was 'slightly' modified by the engineering capabilities of the Golden Dynasty, becoming a huge structure even more expansive than the Golden Royal City itself on the ground.

The sewage generated by Rodel didn't even have the capacity to completely flow to the bottom of the royal city's sewers; it was diluted by groundwater halfway through, to the point that it was almost nonexistent.

In the sewers that resemble a three-dimensional city, heavy, bloated footsteps, painful whimpers, low growls, and even childish screams echoed in a distant and lonely way.

The royal city's sewers are not uninhabited.

On the contrary, people live here, and their way of life is extremely brutal.

Son of an ominous sign.

According to what Lan En learned from Torisha, the horned son of evil is actually a form of atavism.

The characteristics of life from the present-day Golden Tree people to the era of the Life Furnace.

In the age of the crucible of life, the biological characteristics of all living beings were mixed; anyone could have both the feathers and wings of a bird and the scales and skin of a reptile.

As an organ where spiritual energy converges, the 'horn' also enjoys a special status among many mixed characteristics.

The more horns a creature has, the stronger its spirituality.

These children of bad omens today would be considered extraordinary symbols of good fortune in the age of the crucible of life.

But as times have changed, what was once auspicious has become the most vicious curse in the world.

The probability of the "son of the ominous sign" phenomenon, which is a regression to ancestral traits, does not decrease simply because people live in the capital city of a golden dynasty.

The people of the Golden Tree are immortal and have given birth to many children in Rodel over a long period of time, including some children of ill omen.

The children of ominous signs are taboo, but they still have the lives of parents.

Even though their birth process often results in the mother being killed, their fathers rarely have the heart to kill their children with their own hands.

Thus, the dark yet vast sewers of the royal city became a customary location for abandoning infants.

People would saw off the horns of any newborn child born with an ominous sign, and more than half of these children would die in the process. The survivors would be thrown into the sewers.

The Golden Family is no exception; they also have children who exhibit atavistic traits and throw babies into the sewers. However, the sons of royal lineage who are considered unlucky do not have their horns sawed off.

Over time, these children of evil actually managed to survive in the sunless sewers.

However, in order to barely survive, they ate anything and fought over everything. As a result, most of the children of the ominous signs ended up with a morbidly obese appearance.

Deep within the royal city's sewers, in this ancient and decaying space, there is surprisingly a small church.

The chapel was built deep within the sewers, nestled in the rock face. Although it wasn't as open and above-ground as those above, it was remarkably well-maintained.

The roots of the large tree seeped into the rock wall and wrapped around the stone pillars inside the chapel.

At the end of the chapel, as usual, is a sculpture of Queen Marika with her arms outstretched, with a simplified French ring behind her.

In this place where the son of evil roams and there are no other intelligent beings, there are actually quite a few benches in the church for believers to sit on. I wonder who they are intended for.

After all, only two tall figures would actually enter and stay inside the chapel.

Two figures, one standing and one kneeling.

The one kneeling on one knee is facing the statue of Queen Marika, bowing reverently. The one standing is leaning against the wall to one side, appearing completely indifferent.

“My brother,” one of the figures said in a deep voice, “two fingers…can they really be trusted?”

The cold candlelight made the already gloomy bluestone bricks in the church appear even more damp and somber.

It's the standing figure speaking.

He was about three to four meters tall, and even when shrouded in shadow, the outline of his many sharp horns was still visible.

He is a son of bad omens, without a doubt.

And unlike the usual sons of evil who roam the sewers, his body was not obese; on the contrary, his proportions were quite robust.

After he spoke, the figure who had been kneeling in prayer recited the last part of the prayer in a low voice before slowly and steadily standing up.

After standing up, the two figures looked almost identical.

“Monger,” the figure who stood up said, “that’s not what you want to ask.”

(End of this chapter)