Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1979 1951. The Born Dead

"What on earth is going on... how come even the dead bird has reappeared?"

After escaping the attack range of the dead bird, Gideon Ofnir slowed down his horse, allowing it to catch its breath after being ambushed and galloping at full speed.

He watched as Lan En easily caught up, and acted as if the question was perfectly normal.

“Didn’t I tell you already?” A deep chuckle came from beneath Baizhi’s helmet. “You’ll need to talk to me on the road.”

After the teasing, Sir Hundred's voice became serious.

"You've read my book, so you should also know what the dead bird means."

The Witcher nodded silently.

The bird of death—its very name reflects its nature; it is associated with death.

Before the Golden Age of the Borderlands, this world still had normal 'death'.

Since death exists at the level of world rules, it is naturally the same as in any normal world.

Similarly, at the level of world rules, there are matters to be dealt with after death.

Before the Golden Age of Law, the dead in this world would be burned by the Spirit Fire after death, and the Bird of Death was the guardian of that furnace.

The reason their hooks resembled furnace hooks was because, according to legend, they would actually use these hooks to rummage through furnaces, dig out the ashes of the deceased after they had been burned, and put in new bodies.

The dead bird is also considered a guide for the dead.

Legend has it that in the ancient past, the two birds were messengers of an external deity and the mother of many dead birds.

Based on what Lan En learned from Melina about "external deities," there is no doubt that the external deity served by the twin mother birds of the dead should be a deity related to "death."

It's just unclear what the relationship is between this external deity and the Night-Eyed Queen, who is also associated with death.

Perhaps it also represents different aspects of death.

However, in the later Golden Law era, death itself, as a phenomenon and concept, was sealed away by the Golden Dynasty and Queen Marika.

Therefore, deities excluded from the existing system naturally became external deities.

After the Golden Age, even death was sealed away, and the Bird of Death disappeared without a trace.

...Until now, it has reappeared directly within the walls of the Golden Dynasty's capital!
The inner city walls of Rodel were already in sight; running across the golden plains, one could already see the enormous ancient dragon corpses lying on the walls.

"The spirit banner you saw, and that pile of moving skeletons, which are the [Deathborn Ones], all appeared together with the Bird of Death."

Gideon Ofnier spoke calmly, as if he were talking about a small ditch he had just ridden past on horseback.

"Shortly after you left, the demigod alliance outside the city suddenly intensified its attacks, and it continues to escalate them to this day."

"This resulted in a high proportion of serious injuries; they had more, we had fewer."

"It seems that the cries and screams of the seriously wounded, who did not receive timely treatment, attracted this dead bird from somewhere in the sky."

"Just as described in those ancient records, it began to burn the bodies of the wailing, morbidly wounded with spiritual fire. Their bodies gradually sloughed off the bones and flesh dissipated. Their souls, on the other hand, successfully separated from their bodies and became the spiritual banners that stood tall on the battlefield."

"Logically speaking, although the Bird of Death belongs to the camp of external deities and is an absolute enemy under the Golden Law, the world has already collapsed to this extent. It should be a good thing if something can patch up the loopholes regarding [death]..."

“You said ‘should,’” Lan En offered the perfect straight man, “then I think what follows is probably not a good thing.”

“You were absolutely right.” Gideon Ophniel didn’t mince words. “The reappearance of the Bird of Death must have been a natural occurrence during the collapse of the Ring of Law, filling the gaps in the understanding of [Death].

"But right now, the Golden Law is still taking up space on the broken ring of law."

"Yes, the souls of the dead, burned by the spirit fire of the Bird of Death, can be freed from their bodies, forming spirit banners and spirit tombs, awaiting the day when the world returns to peace. But under the Golden Law, those bodies are not allowed to die. Even if the body is burned to ashes and ashes, it cannot die!"

"So, those bodies that were burned to ashes, without souls..." Lan En seemed to understand, "yet they still move? Is this another form of living?"

“To be precise,” Bai Zhi’s voice remained steady as the horses chugged into the inner city of Rodel, “the [Deadborn] are things born from death. Most of them appear to lack consciousness, but they will still instinctively attack the living.”

"To be honest, I think these kinds of things are pretty insignificant. In this day and age, it's a good thing if they can liberate people's souls. But those Golden Law fundamentalists seem to hate them."

"They understand the Golden Law through logic and mathematics, and therefore cannot accept the existence of something that defies logic—'born from death.' They believe that its very existence exacerbates the collapse of the world." "I've heard they've begun researching spells that can specifically harm those born from death."

Gideon Ophniel seemed to have no particular intention in telling Lann what he was saying; he was simply telling him about the biggest changes that had occurred in Rodel City during the less than a month that Lann had been away from him, and showing him the details.

This will give him a more direct understanding of the current state of moral decay.

Upon entering the inner city, the once bustling streets of Rodel, which were teeming with people not long ago, are now only echoed with the footsteps of patrolling knights and soldiers passing by every few minutes.

The clanging footsteps of the knights sounded eerily lonely in the now-empty, magnificent city.

On the inner city's towers, the inhuman oracle orchestra continued to play its music, a symphony symbolizing the arrival of a new era. Golden bubbles floated from their horns and flutes.

The fallen leaves of the golden tree no longer appear dazzling at this moment; instead, they seem to possess the same melancholy and loneliness as ordinary fallen leaves.

Most of the people in Rodel had already evacuated some time ago.

Gideon Ophniel rode his horse straight toward the independent fortress of the Round Table Hall in the city.

Lan En, on the other hand, focused on his main objective. He entered the dungeon in the royal city, obtained the black sword there, and immediately headed back towards the outer city walls of Rodel.

The demigod alliance should have already made contact with the Holy Tree Legion. If the two demigods join forces to exert pressure, it's hard to say whether Malenia's attitude will change. Therefore, Lann is now preparing to hand over the evidence to Malenia that very night.
-
At the foot of the golden tree, and with the moon large and bright, there was actually little need for lighting inside or outside the walls of Rodel.

However, looking down from the city wall, far outside the city, the demigod alliance had built a sprawling camp, based on a captured watchtower.

The camp was dotted with numerous fires.

The demigod alliance didn't need firelight for illumination, but they still needed to keep warm and have hot drinks and food.

The felled timber stakes were used to build a wall, but the wall was not closed, because knights and warriors from Ningmgefu, and even demi-humans and hybrids who had been appeased and subdued on the border, continued to arrive at the Yatan Plateau in an endless stream, following the orders of their lord, Gefia.

This camp is currently in a state of constant expansion and construction.

Although they were fighting a siege against the capital of the Golden Dynasty, tapestries and flags could still be seen hanging on the walls of the camp every few steps.

They all have a golden yellow background with a pattern of golden trees embroidered on them.

They all seemed to be emphasizing their legitimacy as the ruling dynasty of the Golden Age.

Today, the correctness of this ever-expanding camp has been proven once again.

Currently, the number of personnel who have arrived from the Volcano Official Residence and the Nymgford region alone exceeds tens of thousands.

Now, another force of nearly 10,000 men has been systematically guided to the vicinity of the camp.

The ordinary soldiers of the Holy Tree Legion were fine; they could simply be temporarily housed outside the camp.

However, the renowned Order of Corruption, whose entire members are infected with the Corruption Disease, seems to be greatly feared.

Although the person leading the way and arranging the accommodations didn't say anything, he deliberately chose a location far from the demigod alliance's camp for the Venerable Corruption Knights to use. Furthermore, he himself dared not get too close to the Venerable Corruption Knights throughout the entire journey.

At Marlene's prompting, the Knights of the Corruption made no comment.

The Valkyrie herself had already been invited into the camp of the demigod alliance and headed straight for the main tent in the center of the camp.

At this time, many bonfires were lit in the camp, and several soldiers or knights sat beside each bonfire.

The pot hanging over the campfire emitted the aroma of thick porridge. It hadn't been long since the golden age of abundance had ended. There was no logistical pressure in the city of Rodel.

The same applies to the demigod alliance. Although Gevya's base territory is far away in Nimgford, he still has a volcanic mansion on the Altan Plateau.

Laqad is steadily transporting provisions from the Volcano Palace to the outskirts of Rodel.

In any case, Rodel is now adopting a defensive strategy and has lost control over everything outside the city. The logistics troops at the Volcano Mansion have such an easy working environment that it's hard to believe they are in wartime.

Marlenia walked into the vast and complex camp, which was divided by tents.

Her demigod-like height of three meters made her stand out from the crowd. Her normal, strong physique at the border was similar to that of Lan En, and most of the official knights of the knightly orders were like that.

The knight from the volcano manor leading the way walked forward quickly and cautiously, without showing it, but his manner suggested that he was afraid of slowing down and closing the distance between himself and Marlenia.

(End of this chapter)