Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1978 1950. The Dead Bird

"These are the [Dead Ones]."

Gideon Ofnir calmly told Lann the names of the skeletons.

At the same time, seemingly attracted by the commotion of the living, a large group of the dead, amidst the clattering of the skeletons, brandished their spears, rusty swords, and scythes, and chased after them, following the sound of horses' hooves.

It was nighttime, and a huge moon hung on the branches of the golden tree. The deep blue sky was illuminated by the light of the golden tree, and the visibility was not low at all.

But these humanoid skeletons ran rampant across the roads and fields, their jaws opening and closing repeatedly, their weapons waving incessantly.

The moonlight and the glow of the golden tree still seemed to have grown colder because of it.

"The bones... are running, meow!"

"Xilulu!"

The velvet ball stared wide-eyed in amazement, while the Qilin twisted its neck backward as it ran, unable to look away from this bizarre and magical scene.

According to the fantasy storybooks Lan En had read before, the skeleton seemed to be a standard undead grunt.

But strangely enough, he traveled all over the magical Middle Ages, and his journeys spanned many worlds.

But this was the first time he had ever encountered such an enemy.

I've heard that in the Firelands, there are these undead skeletons that live in the underground tunnels in the mountains that you have to pass through to enter Irithyll.

However, Lan En used the Qilin's speed to run directly from the mountain, without going through the tunnel at the bottom of the mountain at all.

Therefore, he, Qilin, and Rongbuqiu naturally never encountered the legendary skeletons, undead, warriors, or mechanisms left behind by the Kingdom of Carthus and Overlord Wolnir.

Later, Lann's sorcery teacher, Cornicula, was summoned in spirit form when Lann needed help defending Highhold. He did give Lann a copy of the "Izaris Spellbook".

It is said that this spellbook was found in the demonic ruins, a level below the Catacombs of Carthus.

This indicates that in the world of fire, Irithyll, now under the renewed rule of the fire gods—Gwyndolin, the Darkmoon God, and Gwyneth Paltrow, the Sun Princess—should have cleared the catacombs and demon ruins.

This has even less to do with Lan En.

The underground cemetery had been completely excavated, and when the news reached him, all he had was a copy of the "Izaris Spellbook" given to him by his sorcery teacher.

So neither he himself nor the velvet ball and the Qilin that traveled with him had ever seen this type of skeleton undead enemy.

"The enemy is a skeleton..." the plush ball asked loudly, "How are we supposed to fight them, meow?"

The calico kitten lay on the bouncing rump of the Qilin, intently watching the skeletons chasing the sound of hooves.

The first thought that came to mind when a new, unfamiliar enemy appeared was: How am I supposed to fight them?

The basic training for the plush ball was conducted in the New World Expedition's hunting cat training program.

However, his subsequent swordsmanship, breathing techniques, and even battle qi skills were all taught to him step by step by Lan En.

The precise and sharp style is also reflected in the plush ball.

However, this combat style, which is accustomed to attacking weaknesses and calmly and easily penetrates gaps, often requires directly striking the enemy's vitals or key areas.

But the skeletons, or, as Baizhi would say, the dead ones.

No internal organs, no tendons, no muscles... I can't even figure out how this pile of stuff moves.

Its two little cat swords didn't seem very suitable for dealing with the skeleton. Therefore, its first thought was that this was going to be difficult.

But before Bai Zhi could answer, Lan En grabbed the velvet ball's head and shoved it onto the Qilin's butt.

"Watch out! Something's flying over here!"

Lan En didn't look back, but his modified cochlea had already sensed the change in air pressure.

Gideon Ophniel didn't have such precise barometric pressure perception, but after a moment of surprise, he immediately lay down on his horse, seemingly well aware that the thing that had flown over from Lann's mouth was real, and that he knew what it was.

"Chirp!"

Not long after Lan En pressed down the velvet ball, under the huge moonlight, a ferocious and strange giant figure, accompanied by a sharp cry, flapped its wings and swooped down from the sky to the ground!

"boom!!!"

Its dive created a burst of wind, and Bai Zhi's horse, neighing, was momentarily unsteady on its feet.

The Qilin remained largely unaffected, but the wide, flowing silk rune cloth covering its body was so wind-catching that it nearly blew off the horse harness and armor tied with straps!

The velvet ball covered its cat head; if Lan En hadn't held it down earlier, it would have been blown away by now, given its weight.

The wind generated by the dive is just the prelude.

The thing that flew over my head suddenly crashed to the ground!

It almost overturned this golden plain and high slope within the city of Rodel!
Bai Zhi and Lan En, riding past on the edge, looked like two tiny tin soldiers in the face of the surging waves of earth and stone!
After it landed, the object, clearly propelled by inertia, didn't stop amidst a cloud of dust, sliding a considerable distance along the ground before coming to a halt. The sound of the ground being torn apart and crumbled during this process was clearly audible.

"Chirp!"

The sharp cry rang out again, and the sound waves shook away the dust that had been stirred up, revealing what was inside.

It was a huge, twisted, and deformed bird.

It has a roughly human-shaped body, but its proportions, whether limbs or torso, are undeniably too thin, almost like a stick figure.

What makes it resemble a bird are its wings and its head.

Its wings were not solid; they appeared to be made of some kind of blue-white flame, but were roughly in the shape of a bird's wings. The blue-white of the flames was not bright at all; instead, it gave a gloomy feeling, like exposed bones of a dead person.

Its head resembles the skull of a bird whose beak has not yet developed and has been elongated. Because the beak is not elongated, its round shape is surprisingly similar to the outline of a human baby's skull.

There were cracks and breaks on its head, but looking inside the skull, there was only a surge of flames, the same flames as those on its wings.

The strange bird was holding a hook in its hand, which looked like a furnace hook used to scrape ashes out of a furnace.

Its slender hind legs allowed it to move while crouching on the ground, but even so, the combined size of Lan En and Qilin was only about the size of its head.

"boom!"

The hook-like rod from the ash-removing furnace came crashing down on the two survivors!
Amidst the neighing of the horses, Baizhi suddenly yanked the reins, and Qilin, quite autonomously, jumped to the side.

Gravel flew everywhere, and the ground cracked!
But neither of them was hurt.

"A dead bird?! Why would Rodelly have one of these?"

In a fleeting glance, Lan En exclaimed in surprise.

There was no need to look for his own 'Borderland Encyclopedia Little Wooden Stick'; Lann himself had read about this big bird in Gideon Ophniel's collection of books.

But according to the book, it's not about 'why it exists in Rodelly,' but rather 'why it still exists in this world?'
Lan En frowned, puzzled, but his hand had already reached for the hilt of the Lake Maiden's Sword.

But then Sir Hundred Wisdom suddenly called out from afar, "Ignore it, Lan! Run faster, its obsession with chasing people isn't that strong!"

As he spoke, Baizhi, as if he knew the way well, turned his horse around and galloped away.

The dead bird continued to emit its annoying shrieks, but seeing Bai Zhi's already practiced back view, Lan En still did not draw his sword.

Amidst the flying dust and rocks, he was in sync with the Qilin, and the ancient dragon of the New World easily used its speed advantage to create distance between itself and the dead bird, as if taking a leisurely stroll.

The dead bird does seem to be just as Baizhi said, not particularly determined to chase and attack the living.

Or perhaps there's no brain inside its broken skull.

Upon seeing the two distance themselves, it did not immediately flap its wings to close the gap, but instead brandished the hook in its hand.

A large, somber blue-white flame ignited at the tip of its hook, then it was ignited in mid-air, forming a suspended fireball.

Then, like swinging a club to hit a ball, the Death Bird swung its hook at the blue and white fireball in mid-air!
"Hurrah!"

The fireballs were drawn out and spread out.

A large patch of blue and white flames suddenly spread toward the two living people in the distance.

However, there was no sign of the golden grasslands being set ablaze along the way. Instead, it was like winter, with the faint crackling sound of icicles freezing.

The fire didn't seem hot at all; instead, it was icy cold!
The flames spread too quickly to reach Lann and Gideon Ofnir, who were already quite far apart on horseback.

But Lan En, who was already at a safe distance, turned his head and looked back, his eyes suddenly becoming deep as he gazed at the gloomy blue-white flames.

According to the records in the books of Baizhi, is the flame of the dead bird... a "spiritual fire"?

A cold flame?
Lan En became somewhat interested in the flames, but he didn't stop to pick them up from the ground.

After all, the primary objective now is to return to the inner city of Rodel and obtain the Black Knife as evidence for Marlene.

Moreover, judging from Baizhi's appearance, this dead bird must have been wandering around the outer city of Rodel for quite some time, or even semi-fixed.

There will be plenty of opportunities to come and see it start in the future, so there's no need to rush right now.

Turning around, Lann discovered that the Death Bird was indeed as Sir Baizhi had said, not particularly obsessed with hunting down living people.

As long as they keep going, they can easily shake off it.

However, even though it wasn't too difficult to escape from the dead bird, the fact that this thing could appear inside Rodel's city walls speaks volumes.

—The situation within the Golden Dynasty and the stability of the underlying rules of the world are becoming increasingly worrying!

(End of this chapter)