Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1937 1909. Another Armed Force

Almost the instant Gideon Ophniel uttered his words, a heavy atmosphere, like the calm before a volcanic eruption, descended.

Laqad's face was completely expressionless, his eyes, which shone with a cold, golden, blessed light, looking down at the dwarfed one who was small and insignificant before him.

After Sir Elsa showed no sign of backing down, he became 'meaningless and unimportant' to Larkad. Therefore, the demigod no longer needed to hide his cold nature in front of him.

Despite the demigod's aura, Bai Zhi remained unresponsive.

In reality, he really had no other choice.

Given Sir Hundred's level of rationality, if he were allowed to make the decision, he would do whatever is most convenient and safest.

Don't say that the Blessed King has only just ascended to the throne, even if he has been on the throne for decades or centuries, so what?
So what if he has already sworn allegiance to it?
If sacrificing a Blessed King can ensure a smooth transition of power in the Golden Dynasty, then Baizhi would consider it well worth it.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the final say on this matter.

Even those who have faded from power, who usually hold a high position in the Golden Dynasty, are not given any say in matters concerning the succession of the legal system.

Twofinger at the Round Table had informed Gideon of his intentions long ago. He had no intention of hiding anything from him.

In the borderlands, deities are created from divine beings chosen by two fingers.

The divine being carries the law, and the choice of the two fingers is mostly based on His attitude toward the law.

And the Two Fingers of the Round Table... in Sir Hundred's view, He is extremely, extremely, devoted to the Golden Law!
Other choices of the divine being are more or less influenced by one's own perception of that being. For example, the being's personality, decisiveness, etc., since the ultimate goal is to compete for the divine position.

However, according to Bai Zhi, even if anyone were burdened with the Golden Law, the Two Fingers of the Round Table would choose that person, regardless of whether it was Queen Marika or not.

Like now.

Queen Marika smashed the magic ring, and the two fingers immediately showed no concern for the Queen herself.

In her words, she only referred to herself as 'the phantom of the Elden Ring, that is, a deity.' As for whether this deity was imprisoned, she was completely indifferent.

From that moment on, He focused all His attention on one thing—to continue the Golden Law era.

Even when it came to the point where the laws had to be changed and the gods changed, He never considered removing the Golden Law from the ring of laws.

At most, He only wanted to restore the Golden Law.

It was for this reason that Twofinger pulled Mongot out of the royal city's sewers, stood up for him, and gave him a fragment of the center ring of the Elden Ring as proof of his legitimate Golden Clan lineage.

Because Montgomery, as the unknown child of Queen Marika, had no prestige, reputation, or power in the outside world, he had no choice but to rely on the two fingers.

He himself, like the two fingers of the round table, agrees with the Golden Law.

They believed that only this law could benefit the vast majority of people.

This is the basis for the collaboration between the Round Table Two Fingers and Mongot – they both refused to let the Golden Age of Law simply pass by.

Even if the ring is broken, they do not intend to change the era; at most, they will repair it.

Laqad now sees an unprecedented opportunity: with the Queen imprisoned and the King Consort missing, he is eager to seize the throne.

But how could he possibly be fundamentally aligned with the goals of the two fingers of the round table?
At this critical juncture when a new era should be taking place, how can someone like Lakad, who doesn't genuinely believe in the Golden Law but is only after ambition for power, be compared to Mongot?
It's not just you, Laqad, who's waiting to take the throne; all the gods are waiting to take the throne too! You've blocked their way, and you expect there won't be any consequences?
How could he possibly withstand the pressure brought about by the countercurrent of the times?
So without even thinking, Baizhi knew that the Round Table Two Fingers and Lacad had absolutely no chance to talk!
After Gideon Ofnier's talks with Laccard broke down, the atmosphere became increasingly tense, almost suffocating!
The knights of Mount Gemir stood behind their lord, their dark ranks silent, yet their sheer power represented the violence of a demigod!
The golden tree motif appears on the robes and shields of both the Knights of Rodel and the Knights of Mount Gemir. However, the two sides, sharing the same emblem, have now inevitably become enemies.

Despite the demigod's imposing presence, Sir Hundred-Mindedness maintained his composure. However, he was already plotting his escape.

Even if Larcade wanted to start a war directly and leave him there, Sir Hundred Wisdom believed he was capable of retreating back behind the walls of Rodel.

He didn't think Lacad would be someone like Vic, who firmly believed in the Chivalric code.

really.

Beneath the elaborate attire of this demigod, aristocratic civil official, his fingers, hidden by his sleeves, rubbed together slightly.

It was just a habitual action, but the temperature of the entire venue seemed to soar without limit!

Without a sound, the ground beneath Laqad's feet began to glow faintly red!
That's the land glowing from the heat! The next step is for it to turn into molten magma!

As the temperature rose, Sir Hundred's seemingly relaxed grip on the ball at the top of his cane began to tighten.

In his mind, the magic he had prepared in advance was just waiting for the infusion of power to be displayed immediately.

But at that moment...

"Ok?"

The seemingly endless surge in temperature suddenly stopped.

As if sensing something, Laqad turned to look south.

Confusion, hostility, contemplation, sudden realization...

A series of emotions flashed across his cold and dignified face, then he looked down at Bai Zhi with a half-smile. "You may go back now, Sir."

The hostility and murderous intent from before vanished in an instant, and Lakad's tone when telling Baizhi to go back was even quite polite.

But Gideon Ophniel showed no sign of the near-fight that had just broken out: "No, sir. I think we can talk a little longer."

Now, it's Sir Hundred Wisdom who's thinking about escaping who doesn't want to leave anymore.

Because if I'm not mistaken... what happened next, if he wasn't there, that would be Rodel's real trouble!
A short while later, heavy footsteps approached from the south.

The heavy thumping sound grew louder as it approached.

Two mountain demons appeared from the distant hillside, pulling a huge, heavy, and sturdy carriage.

They came down the hillside and continued to approach, while behind them, an armed team also came up the hillside one by one from the back and followed the carriages down.

Lakad watched this scene calmly, glancing at Baizhi opposite him.

Although there was a supernatural shadow shrouding the other person's helmet, one could imagine that his expression must be quite unpleasant.

While laughing inwardly, Laqad raised an arm.

The Gemir Volcano Knights behind him had already spontaneously tried to change formation when another armed force appeared from the side of the army.

The flanks of an army formation are always a vulnerable point that requires extra attention.

This spontaneous change of formation also demonstrates the quality and discipline of these soldiers.

However, as soon as Laqad raised his hand, the army, which was in the process of changing formation, immediately stopped changing and returned to its previous orderly formation.

He exposed his side directly to the approaching armed force.

The armed force was not large in number, but all of its members were knights, not a mix of knights and soldiers.

The knights' equipment, and even their gait and posture, which were integrated into their daily lives through combat training, were very different from those of the Knights of Rodel.

In fact, the Knights of Rodel were the epitome of knighthood in the Golden Dynasty.

It was established at the same time as the capital city of the Golden Dynasty.

Furthermore, it served as a model for the army of the Golden Dynasty, was replicated and expanded, and eventually swept across the entire border region as the dynasty conquered.

Therefore, the style of the Rodel Knights can be seen everywhere in the borderlands, a trace left by the conquerors.

The Cuckoo Knights of Lienia, the Volcano Knights of the Volcano Mansion, and even the Red Lion Legion Knights far away on the Galid Plain.

Its standard equipment, training procedures, and military system are basically replicas of those of the Knights of Rodel.

But the knights in this armed force were quite different.

They did not use gold, which was revered by the Golden Dynasty, for their armor; instead, their armor was made of a metal that resembled silver.

The engravings on the armor are intricate, but you can roughly make out that they depict eagles and dragons. However, the images are so realistic and detailed that the armor's overall design appears somewhat chaotic.

The ornament on the helmet was neither the fan-shaped row of tree roots of the Knights of Rodel, nor the colorful feathers of the cuckoo or the Gomir Volcano.

Instead, it was a small ancient dragon statue, standing atop their helmet.

As they moved, the knights seemed to carry a whistling sound on their bodies and in their breath, completely disproportionate to the range of their movements.

It's as if their every move is causing the air to move.

The group consisted of only a few hundred people, but their movements were as swift as a strong wind blowing across the ground.

Let the land overgrown with golden weeds part to make a path in front of them.

"[Limb Resuscitation] Gefya..."

Gideon Ofnier muttered the only possible owner of this armed force.

He never expected that the person he had been talking about would actually appear in front of him now.

They acted too quickly!

“Look,” Lakad said maliciously and mockingly from the side, “look at how many people this Blessed King you’ve put forward has offended.”

"Do you think some random guy you found out of nowhere has the right to be king? Respectable people won't tolerate this kind of nonsense."

"Now, you're reaping what you sowed!"

As he spoke, Laqad laughed loudly and took the initiative to move closer to the carriage that the mountain troll had pulled over.

(End of this chapter)