Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1983 (1955) - Collecting Spirit Fire
"That's a bit..." Lan En's lips twitched, and he shook his head. "Too extreme, isn't it?"

“You are not a patient lacking empathy or emotion, Marlenia. Your heart is big enough to hold many more people. Why close yourself off before that?”

In the shadow of Rodel's magnificent walls, Malenia remained silent for a long time, simply standing there.

Just as Lan En shook his head, thinking he wouldn't get a response, the Valkyrie's indifferent voice rang out again.

“I am a disabled person,” Marlenia repeated her words, “a disabled person only has disabled abilities.”

She raised her prosthetic hand and slowly closed her golden palm in front of Lan En, making a soft 'click' sound.

"I can only do a limited number of things and take care of a limited number of people. This is a reality I've understood since I was a child. So, from a realistic perspective, I have to make choices."

“And this choice was made when I was a child. Michaela, my brother. The only one I care about, the only one I can care about, is him. No one else.”

Marlenia's words were indifferent yet resolute, like a monument that had taken root and stood tall in her heart, leaving no room for anyone to shake it.

The golden winged helmet covering the upper half of her face prevents anyone from seeing the Valkyrie's eyes and expression.

But Lan En could imagine that Marlenia's eyes were probably gleaming with an air of self-righteousness and unquestionable authority.

So the Witcher just opened his mouth, but didn't say anything more.

When Lan En first heard Marlenia's words, he didn't think they were anything special.

After all, he'd seen plenty of sophisticated egoists. In his home world, such people weren't exactly a minority; they were the kind of people who wouldn't be criticized if they spoke out openly.

However, Marlenia's problems later became apparent.

Even the most sophisticated egoists, no matter how extreme, will only limit their care and affection to their own family. They care about nothing but their family and themselves.

But at least there's still a family in their hearts.

Humans are social animals. If people are detached from the social relationships that connect them with each other, then they are left with only animalistic instincts.

For Malenia, what she cared about wasn't even family, but just Michaela, this one person.

She clearly has other family members she cares about, but she chooses to narrow her emotional scope to an extreme degree, making it impossible for her to accommodate even a second person.

When she talked about Godwin... it really seemed as if she was just there to complete a task as instructed by Michaela.

There's nothing wrong with valuing family and those close to you. But to go so far as to single out someone from your family and disregard everything else, like Marleneja, is simply too extreme.

But Lann glanced at Marlenia herself again, more subtly.

The Valkyrie was tall and slender, and her strength was evident. However, the physical defects she had created... were a stark contrast to her demigod status and the power of her bloodline.

Psychological defects stemming from physical disabilities are quite common.

The illusory spirit banner fluttered across the ravaged battlefield outside Rodel, appearing ethereal, strange, and magnificent under the glow of the enormous moon and the golden tree.

The night wind blew across the Asian Plateau, making the golden plants rustle.

"No, I shouldn't have told you this."

After a moment of silence, Malenia pressed her prosthetic hand against the winged helmet on her head and spoke softly.

Her tone suggested that even she herself felt something was off.

"I've never talked this much with anyone before, nor have I ever been interested in showing my inner thoughts to others. But perhaps, you really do get along with me? This feeling..."

In the end, Marlene felt she couldn't quite put her words into words.

"It's strange."

In the end, this was the only way she could summarize the feelings she had never experienced before.

Lan En opened his mouth as if to say something.

But before he could say anything, Marlenia turned and left first.

Her two feet, both made of precision prosthetics, made a precise and quiet sound as they stepped on the ground.

“I will take the black knife with me and take your advice. The situation in Rodel is indeed too chaotic right now.”

"But there are still two demigods in the demigod alliance, and their legion. Rataen is definitely on his way."

Marlenia walked away, turning her head slightly as she did so, tapping her winged helmet lightly.

"Good luck, Faded One."

Seeing that Malenia had already taken her leave, Lan En could only wave to her retreating figure and say, "Good luck, Malenia."

Lann watched Marlenia's figure disappear into the night before turning around and returning to the city wall of Rodel from the elevator.

The city walls were high and wide, which meant that the wind was much stronger and colder up there than on the plains.

The wind whistled through the weapon racks, braziers, and quivers on the city wall. Amidst the wind, Sir Hundred Wisdom had been waiting at the elevator entrance for a long time, his body still clinging to the battlements, leaning his upper body out to look down.

As soon as Lan En's head popped out of the elevator, he couldn't wait to ask, "How's it going?"

After the Witcher stepped out of the elevator, he nodded in response: "Marinia and the Sacred Tree Legion she brought will not become part of the demigod alliance."

The night wind made the braziers on the city wall flicker, interspersed with Gideon Ofnir's low, relieved laughter.

“Well done, you’ve been a great help.” Bai Zhi said, leaning on his cane. “Originally, we just wanted to destroy Sunshade City to delay the Holy Tree Legion’s landing on the Altan Plateau. But in the end, as long as we put in the effort, they can still get here.”

"But you were able to react in time and directly dispel Marlenia's hostility. This is much more effective than we expected!"

As he spoke, Sir Hundred Wisdom stepped forward and patted Lann on the arm.

"I'm sorry, my previous plan was just a quick reaction in a situation where the danger was obvious to the naked eye, and it was inevitably extreme and harsh."

This is Gideon Ofnir, apologizing for his cold words when he arranged for Lann to go to Sunshade City.

He is indeed a smart man; at least he was able to admit his mistake in time after witnessing the facts.

Although he himself might not care at all about what Sunshade City had become, seeing that Lan En cared, he was able to change his mindset and become caring when he spoke.

Sir Hundred's actions were sincere, but whether his expression was sincere was unclear to Lan En. After all, everything under his helmet was black.

“I will tell Twofinger and the Blessed King about your merits,” Gideon Ophniel nodded repeatedly at Lann. “Your efforts will certainly be praised and rewarded.”

The Witcher shrugged: "Then thank you in advance."

After making two trips back and forth, the sky was gradually brightening, and the enormous moon was disappearing.

Lan En had just accomplished a major task, so Bai Zhi simply told him to return to the Round Table Hall to rest and take a break, and not to worry about the siege and defense battle on the city walls.

The Witcher agreed, but before returning to the Hall of the Round Table in Rodel's inner city, he made a detour to the graveyard where the Deadborn and the Bird of Death had appeared, which he had passed earlier.

The Bird of Death flew away as soon as the sunlight appeared, its destination unknown. The Deathborn, on the other hand, could move about regardless of day or night.

When Lan En arrived, he saw the Death Bird sweeping across a large group of Deadborn with its hook-shaped staff, sending bone fragments flying everywhere.

This scene has a bit of a feel to it, like undead fighting undead.

It seems rather unusual, but in reality, the role of the dead bird in the legend is simply to guide the dead, baptize them with [spiritual fire], and guard the furnace that burns the dead.

The "Deadborn," something 'born from death,' has absolutely no connection to it. In the era in which it existed, such a thing never even appeared.

The dead are neither the dead who need to be guided, nor the ashes that need to be pulled out of the furnace after being burned.

If you keep lingering around it, you'll definitely have to slap it one by one before you leave.

The Death Hook is wreathed in somber blue-white flames. Just by swinging it, one can hear the whooshing sound of the flames in mid-air, as well as the crackling sound of ice forming on surfaces.

These two sounds, which should not have appeared at the same time, were now perfectly synchronized.

The Death Hook swept across the area, leaving behind trails of somber blue-white flames.

After clearing a large open space, the dead bird suddenly let out a sharp cry under the gradually brightening sky.

"Chirp!"

Its wings, formed from condensed spiritual fire, flapped wildly, while its thin, twisted legs slammed against the ground.

With a loud 'boom,' the earth, which had already been ravaged all night, was first crushed by its trampling, and then flattened by the wind pressure generated by its wings.

The twisted and terrifyingly large form of the dead bird soared into the sky and disappeared into the distance.

Lan En, Qilin, and Rongbuqiu, who had been secretly observing from the side, exchanged a glance and immediately jogged towards the spot where the dead bird had taken off.

"Watch this! Watch my meow!"

The Qilin swept past the remnants of the spirit fire, while Lan En held onto the hind legs of the fluffy little cat, leaning his body as far out of the saddle as possible, holding an ordinary long spear that had been pulled down from the wall of Rodel.

With a 'thud,' the spearhead pierced the eye socket of a Deathborn skull that had just been shattered by the Death Bird's sweeping attack.

The skull's jaw continued to open and close, and its head was still stained with blue-white spiritual fire that had never gone out.

On the ground, the bone fragments and shattered pieces that had been swept away by the dead bird began to move under an invisible force of gravity, and quickly reformed themselves into human skeletons.

However, Lan En and his companions did not want to waste time on troublesome and unimportant enemies like the Deadborn.

"Slip away!"

Lan En pulled the velvet ball up and called to the Qilin, which then darted far away.

(End of this chapter)