Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1947 1919. The Veil of Mimicry

Lan En is now in mid-air, at a height from which he can even slightly look down at the outer city walls of Rodel.

This is at least several hundred meters high!

It's not just this small area at the city gate; now, with the explosions of Greck unleashing his war ash and outputting power, this entire long section of Rodel's city wall, along with the scouts of the demigod alliance constantly patrolling outside the city wall, is now affected.

They probably all noticed the power eruption that occurred here.

Lan En was suspended in mid-air, mingling with countless tons of mud, sand, and rocks that had also been blasted away by the golden power.

Everywhere you looked was the color of soil, with a few patches of golden grass. The smell of earth and grass filled your nostrils.

Fortunately, Lan En is currently in the state of activating the [Ninety-Nine Weapons], otherwise he would have had to put in some effort to prevent these dirt and grass roots from getting into his mouth.

However, he has indeed been 'exerting effort' all along.

Because he activated the [Ninety-Nine Weapons], the guardian spirit power covering his entire body is now being rapidly depleted.

It wasn't because of these insignificant pieces of mud and stones, but because of the golden power that propelled them and themselves into the sky!
Although Grik is not considered a very powerful figure among the Golden Clan, he only seems to hold an important position in terms of law and order because of his relationship with Griffia.

The title of demigod only granted him immortality while the Golden Law era was still intact.

However, his power comes from the same bloodline as the [First King] and [War King] Gevrey, as well as the guidance he received from Gevrey and Gevrey.

This golden power is immense and legitimate. When it begins to be released for the purpose of killing, the power rises from the ground like a scorching laser that cracks the earth!
In the deep blue night sky, this golden light shooting straight up into the heavens, mixed with earth and rocks and a roaring sound, shone brightly against the backdrop of the golden trees that stretched to the horizon in the distance.

The golden power that surged upwards and scorched as the war ash erupted caused Lan En's body to sizzle like roasting meat.

Fortunately, the power of the guardian spirit isolated him from external damage, and nothing could actually harm Lan En, who was encased, until the [Ninety-Nine Weapons] were exhausted.

This is also the reliance that powerful samurai with guardian spirits were able to slay many demons and evil spirits that even Onmyoji and high-ranking monks could not defeat in the magical world of Japan's Warring States period.

On Aarondet's blade, a layer of earthy yellow glow was gradually shrinking and dimming.

At first, the light on this knife was so bright that you couldn't even see the shape of the blade clearly.

It was a lucky accident; the kind of continuous damage War Ash that Grek used was quite efficient at wearing down the Guardian Spirit's power.

"But... it's more than enough."

With a 'click', the Witcher gripped the hilt of his sword with his gauntlets, adjusted his posture, and plummeted straight down like a sharp sword piercing through the clouds!
Passing through the flying, collapsing earth and rocks, the Witcher's cat-like eyes spotted Grek, who was howling in agony because of his severed arm.

"Stab!"

In the blink of an eye, the height difference of hundreds of meters was overcome.

Aaron Deit's beautifully curved blade pierced straight and smoothly into Grek's right shoulder, who was still screaming in agony!

The tip of the long knife first cut through the skin and muscle, and finally broke through his shoulder blade on his back, tearing through the flesh and clothes on his back amidst the scraping sound of bone and steel.

The golden demigod's body was pierced through.

Not a single drop of blood clung to the Lake Maiden's sword; the blood and muscle fibers had simply slid off the steel naturally.

Grik was furious, yet his eyes were filled with fear and hysteria as he stared in horror at Lann, who burst out of the boulders like a waterfall flowing backwards and pierced through him!
"Asshole!"

He screamed in alarm and anger, but then, Lann's longsword was almost piercing through!
Only when the main body of the Lake Maiden's Sword in the Witcher's hand was completely embedded in Grell's shoulder, and the hilt slammed into the demigod's body, did the sharp momentum of this incredibly sharp weapon piercing into the demigod's body finally transform into impact force.

Grek's right arm, pulled along by his impacted shoulder, tilted uncontrollably backward.

His left forearm had just been severed by Lan En, and his right hand had been knocked backward by the impact.

So, the King Axe that had just unleashed such powerful force, almost tearing the surrounding ground apart, was now completely out of Grek's grasp!
Without its wielder, the King's Axe quickly calmed down, turning into a silent, upside-down shape stuck in the ground.

On the handle of that axe, there remained Grek's left hand, still tightly gripping it, along with a section of his forearm.

However, Grik himself had already been impaled on a knife by Lann and was slammed into the ground like a rolling gourd.

"Ahhh!"

Blood was gushing from the huge wound on his left elbow, and Aaron Deit had driven right through his shoulder... Grik was in pain and shame, and after a subconscious roar, he had no time to do anything else.

Grik's body wasn't particularly tough against the Lake Maiden's sword, but it was completely overwhelmed when facing things like the ground and rocks.

The ground was plowed into one impact crater after another by his and Lann's bodies.

Finally, the two crashed into the base of a huge knight statue inside the outer wall of Rodel, before finally coming to a stop with a loud 'bang'.

The statue was seven or eight stories high, and its stone base resembled a two-story house.

The two bodies collided, and the angular stone base immediately crumbled, like a wooden house, with one corner collapsing. Cracks covered the entire base, and large amounts of lime were squeezed out of the cracks.

We were already close to the line of people who had come out of Rodel and wanted to queue up to leave the city.

The army, resembling a bloated, long snake, had long since moved as far away as possible from the battlefield.

However, the conflict between Lann and Grek progressed too quickly and ended too quickly.

So now, both of them have crashed into the base of the statue, and the people next to them haven't had a chance to get far away.

Amidst the swirling smoke of lime, those outside could not see what was happening inside.

There was no movement from within the smoke for a long time.

People stared in horror and uncertainty at the cracked base of the statue.

A few seconds later, a sharp sword mark swept across the cloud of smoke.

The Witcher emerged from inside, the yellowish-brown aura on his longsword now faint, but his swordsmanship was still enough to keep the cloud of lime smoke from touching him.

The Witcher patted his hair, straightening the messy strands.

"This is……"

As Lan En was fiddling with his hair, Melina's voice came from beside him.

It remained calm, but beneath that calm lay a hint of inquiry.

She reappeared from her spirit form at some point, and slowly walked to Lan En's side, stepping on the pebbles on the ground.

With his head bowed, the man with light reddish-brown hair seemed lost in thought as he stared at the long sword in Lan En's hand, which still retained some of its earthy yellow glow.

But as Lann unleashed one last dazzling sword flourish, the guardian spirit power attached to Arondette completely dissipated, and the weapon returned to its sheath.

"You're interested in it?"

Lan En patted the scabbard at his waist and casually asked Melina a question.

It was quite rare; this was one of the few times Lan En had seen Melina, that 'blockhead,' show interest in anything.

Melina looked up at Lan En, her brow furrowed as if she were a little uncomfortable, but she still managed to ask, "What is that?"

"Is it a kind of...prayer?" Lan En smiled, speaking somewhat ambiguously, "A unique prayer."

Saying this is the same as not saying it.

Fortunately, Melina is not the type to pry into other people's affairs.

She glanced at the spot behind Lan En again before looking away.

“I was a little worried before,” Melina said, turning to look at the gradually settling lime dust and the demigod lying inside, “that you would be fooled by his tricks. But now it seems that I was just overthinking it.”

"Speaking of his tricks, do you know what they are?"

Melina's words reminded Lann, and the Witcher took out the veil he had previously pulled off Grek's head from his pocket and showed it to Melina.

This is practically my own encyclopedia of knowledge. I should ask her if there's anything I don't understand.

"Mimetic veil".

Melina did not disappoint Lan En's trust. Just like when she explained many obscure things about the border region to the Witcher before, she gave the answers almost without any preparation.

"That is, the so-called 'Queen Marika's playfulness'."

Lan En tugged at the exquisite veil in his hand, a look of surprise on his face: "It really exists? This isn't just a rumor?"

Although he had only seen the Eternal Queen twice, Lan En still found it hard to believe that such a beautiful yet terrifying woman could have a playful side.

Melina showed no reaction to the veil in Lann's hand, as if she were simply reciting what she knew.

"Queen Marika is terrifying, but... before she became a god, she was just a divine being burdened by the Golden Law. A woman who grew up normally, experiencing joy and fear."

Seemingly having nothing to say about this topic, or perhaps not feeling anything about it, Melina turned her next words to Lan En.

“But you,” her right eye quietly scrutinized the Witcher, “although the Mimicry Veil was something Queen Marika made for fun when she was young, and now it’s in Grek’s hands, you were able to see right through it.”

"Just a natural talent," Lan En didn't want to elaborate, as he wasn't entirely trusting of the spirit girl. So he changed the subject, "By the way, how do you use this thing? Can it only transform you into a noblewoman?"

(End of this chapter)