Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1975 1947. The Greatly Changed Battlefield

On the vast and radiant golden plains, the golden trees stand majestically, and at their feet, the Rodel is also resplendent in gold.

However, those enormous, illusory spirit banners gave the scene, which should have been magnificent and splendid, a desolate and eerie feel.

The enormous, semi-transparent spirit banner, with its emblems clearly visible even from a distance, was covered in various patterns of the Golden Dynasty.

But when Lan En randomly picked a nearby spot and ran over, he couldn't see anything or feel anything when he got closer to the place where the flagpole should have been.

Behind Lan En, the Holy Tree Legion, whose ranks stretched like a long snake, and the Venerable Knights also paused slightly, astonished by the scene before them.

Clearly, those who have lived in the Sacred Tree of Abrafiel for a long time either have little opportunity to come to the Altan Plateau to admire the Golden Tree and the Royal City of Rodel up close.

Or perhaps they've never seen the illusory spirit banners that stand tall on this plain.

In short, their reaction was probably even stronger than that of Lan En, the outsider.

“I remember,” Lan En said, controlling the Qilin’s pace, keeping a distance that was neither too far nor too close from the Holy Tree Legion behind them, “when we left almost a month ago, there weren’t any of these things outside Rodel City.”

As he spoke, he slightly raised his head, and the vertical pupils in his eyes contracted and relaxed, like a camera lens adjusting its focus. Finally, the pupils settled into a suitable size.

The Witcher's enhanced visual cells, thanks to the [Visual Control Organ], are adjusting Lann's eyeballs in real time according to the needs of the usage scenario.

"Besides, the fighting wasn't this bad back then."

What is presented to the returning travelers is not only the 'fresh' illusory spirit banner, but also the golden land that is already ravaged!

A massive golden crossbow bolt, thicker than a person, was stuck crookedly in the ground. Where the fletching should have been, it now resembled the structure of an incense burner, and there were indeed traces of smoke and residue on it.

Huge crossbow bolts shot out from the walls of Rodel, blasting a crater at least two meters deep and seven or eight meters in diameter into the ground!
The pit contained human remains the size of normal people, as well as the huge, hideous corpses of mountain demons.

It wasn't just the crushing and piercing wounds caused by the huge golden crossbow bolts.

The corpses, limbs, and even fragments of armor in the pit, along with the outer robes, weapons, shields, and other items, all seemed to have been corroded or scorched by the high temperature.

Everything was burned into a charred mess, then solidified into a single black lump of charcoal.

The traces of the battlefield stretched from near the walls of Rodel all the way to the plains several kilometers or even more than ten kilometers away from the walls!
“That’s the Spirit Banner,” Melina said as the pale blue light gathered behind Lann. “It’s something formed from the aggregation of souls.”

The one-eyed girl explained to Lan En, but her tone, though as indifferent as ever, carried a hint of melancholy, and her eyes were fixed on the illusory flags fluttering in the sky.

She seemed to be lamenting a piece of history that she had only heard about before, but was now unfolding before her eyes.

Lan En slightly turned his head behind him: "Something formed by the gathering of souls?"

“Yes.” Melina nodded. “Military flags like these are often seen on battlefields where there is fierce fighting and heavy casualties.”

"But now, shouldn't there be neither 'death' nor the soul being able to leave the body?"

The Witcher frowned slightly, keenly seizing the unusual point in the information Melina provided.

Now that the Golden Law has collapsed, paradoxes and loopholes have appeared in the rules governing the world. Many things that are taken for granted in the normal world have become abnormal at the border.

Just now, seeing the battlefield traces in the distance, the craters created by those huge golden crossbow bolts, and the charred remains of flesh and metal, made Lan En's teeth ache.

If those people who were burned to a crisp and solidified into charcoal could truly die right now, I'm afraid no amount of gratitude could express their sense of relief.

But according to Melina... now that some time has passed since the Ring of Law shattered, the people of the Golden Tree can 'die' normally again?

“This is not normal.” As if guessing the Witcher’s thoughts, Melina calmly explained, “This is just the afterglow of the old era, which emerged when the new era collapsed. The two were awkwardly and helplessly kneaded together into what we are now.”

"There are no empty spaces in the way the world works. If the Golden Law cannot cover everything, then something else will naturally emerge to fill the empty space."

Melina looked up at Lingqi's head, then lowered it, glanced at Lan En with her right eye, and finally added, "This is not a good thing."

Lan En originally wanted to ask more details, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he closed it again.

Melina, who was behind her, also disappeared again in a burst of light.

A few seconds later, a voice that sounded very similar to Melina's rang out from not far from Qilin.

Without a sound, even the ancient dragons of the New World scurried a few steps to the side in fright.

"The Battle of Rodel," Marlenia's slender figure walked beside Lann, "has it already reached such a tragic point? That's... the Spirit Banner?"

In siege warfare and defensive battles, unless one is truly driven by unwavering resolve and a murderous intent, a few provocative exchanges are the norm. However, judging from the devastation wrought around the walls of Rodel, it's clear that after I left, these two sides, for some reason, truly began a bloody battle!
However, when facing Marlenia, Lan En always maintained a calm and composed demeanor.

If you want to be a diplomat who can turn the tide, you have to convince others that you are someone who can manage things and handle things on the other side, right?
Otherwise, if you don't even know what's going on on your side, what effect can your words have?

"Precisely because both sides are now bloodthirsty, I advised the Holy Tree Legion not to get involved easily."

The way he's saying this now makes it sound like Lan En has been considering things from Marlenia's and the Sacred Tree's perspective all along.

The female demigod, who had barely spoken or made any physical movements since landing on the Asian Plateau and had never taken off her golden winged helmet, seemed unable to ignore Lan En's sincerity and goodwill any longer.

She turned her head and stood beside him, her delicate chin lightly nodding at him.

Marlene raised her prosthetic arm high, the pure gold prosthetic arm gleaming brightly. Because it was a symbol of the Valkyrie, it was also regarded as a symbol of victory in some places of the borderlands.

Behind them, the Holy Tree Legion, whose ranks had been stretched out like snakes during their march, halted at the Valkyrie's command.

After waiting for the rear troops to catch up, they changed formation into a proper and solid military formation before continuing to advance towards Rodel.

Marlene's actions were not without reason.

Although it's still more than ten kilometers away from Rodel, we're already in the combat zone.

The huge golden crossbow bolts stuck in the ground, and the charred remains, all testify to this.

As they drew closer to the capital, the damage to the ground caused by various forces became increasingly conspicuous and thorough.

Lann also saw traces of dragon claws, perhaps Lance Sanx was behind it.

Its claws dug a canyon seven or eight meters wide through the ground, possibly digging through an underground cavity; you couldn't tell how deep it was just by looking down.

Everyone frowned and walked carefully, constantly scanning the bloody remains in the craters in the destroyed ground around them.

In this day and age, people can't even die if they want to.

So logically, these things that have turned into a pile of minced meat and chunks of flesh should still be alive.

However, the soul trapped in the body and unable to escape still has to constantly feel its flesh and nerves being torn apart, burned, and then stuck together, cracked, broken, etc. Just hearing about these feelings makes one feel that it would be better to just die.

However, as the Sacred Tree Legion marched along this path, not a single corpse on the ground stirred or uttered a howl or scream from its vocal organs, whether damaged or not.

People had no idea what was going on, but they felt that as the battlefield where the royal city fought against the two demigods, this place seemed even more eerie and dangerous.

As the Holy Tree Legion, led by Marlenia, continued to approach Rodel from the battlefield, a series of orderly and heavy footsteps suddenly rushed towards them from the side.

Being blocked from the side during a march is a major taboo, no matter how you look at it.

Lan En tugged at the Qilin's mane, spun around in place, and finally fixed his gaze on a high point in the northwest.

On the uneven terrain of the Asian Plateau, there is a watchtower atop a raised section of land.

That was the watchtower outside Rodel that was closest to the royal city.

Marlene was not alarmed.

The pure gold prosthetic arm was raised once more.

The Valkyrie's prosthetic arm served almost as a military flag and horn within the Sacred Tree Legion.

In just a moment, the sounds of guns being raised and swords being drawn rang out in unison!
The nearly 10,000-strong Holy Tree Legion, whose phalanx was positioned on the flank, immediately turned around, their blades pointing directly at the direction of the approaching heavy footsteps.

After the formation changed, a group of knights, reeking of blood, emerged from the edge of a high, protruding plot of land in the direction the blades were aimed at.

Among them were knights under the command of Gevya, knights of the lost home, and knights of the Volcano Mansion, wielding large shields with red and green stripes, as well as knights of the Volcano Mansion with black shields and red trim.

Although this group did not make any further moves after showing up, it seemed to be just a routine patrol team on the battlefield.

But the Witcher's nostrils twitched slightly; he smelled blood on the group... a bloody smell that felt familiar to him.

Looking at the knights who were all wrapped in thick armor but still exuded a cold killing intent, Lann and Marlene were certain.

If the Holy Tree Legion hadn't responded promptly and demonstrated their competence and strength, these people would probably have rushed in instead of stopping at a reasonable distance.

(End of this chapter)