Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2032 2004. Wake up
Torina's slender hands carried an intoxicating floral fragrance, and just by placing them on his shoulder, Lan En felt an urge to drift off to sleep.

Not to mention, right now, that hand is gently stroking the Witcher's mouth and nose.

Logically speaking, Lan En should have fallen asleep immediately at that moment.

But just as Torina was about to pull her hand back...

"Snapped."

Her slender, delicate hand was suddenly gripped in a grotesque, bone-white gauntlet.

Marlene, who was turning her body back towards the small statue, suddenly stopped turning.

Torina herself trembled slightly, but then the smile on her face became even more pronounced.

"Don't you want to sink into a peaceful slumber, Lann?" Torina floated in the air like a fairy, her long purple hair tracing the shape of the wind. "No, more importantly... how do you refuse to sleep?"

Torina placed her hands on the Witcher's shoulders, her porcelain doll-like face close to Lann's profile.

Lan En felt that she was getting a little too close and too intimate.

“A peaceful sleep is a pleasure in life, and I don’t object to it.” The Witcher answered Torina’s question first, then looked at her face close to his and Malenia not far away, and said, “But to suddenly pull us into this dream, and then say that we need to talk alone… isn’t that a bit disrespectful?”

One of the Space Marine enhancement procedures is the "neural ganglion," a bean-sized organ implanted into the brain through a foramen occipital bone at the back of the head. This organ can regulate the Space Marines' sleep circadian rhythm.

This allows them to alternate between different functional areas of the brain for rest, rather than falling asleep all at once.

Lann did not resist the urge to fall asleep brought on by Torina's power; however, only a portion of his brain was currently affected by the urge, causing him to fall asleep.

The rest remained conscious.

This significantly weakened his thinking ability and thought speed, but even after the weakening, he was still able to maintain a level above the average for ordinary people.

“Looks like I can’t get him to sleep, Marlenia.” Like a child about to do something naughty, Torina smiled at the Valkyrie. “What are you planning to do?”

Marlenia frowned as she looked at Lann, who seemed unaffected by Torina's power, beneath her winged helmet.

But in the end he nodded.

Torina chuckled softly beside Lann's face, and the Witcher could feel the intoxicating floral scent wafting onto his neck.

Torina braced herself against Lann's shoulder and floated away.

Her thick, long hair was like waves; it was hard to tell whether Torina was carrying her with her flowing purple hair or whether the hair was carrying her away.

"Mikaela was indeed kidnapped."

As soon as Torina spoke, Marlenia's golden prosthetic arm clenched instinctively, making a 'click' sound.

Originally, Qilin and Rongbuqiu were both lying in the distance, sleeping soundly among the flowers, breathing steadily.

However, Marlenia's chilling murderous aura seemed to provoke them.

The Qilin and the velvet ball kicked wildly in their sleep, sending blue and purple petals flying everywhere.

But they did not break free from their sleep.

"Where is he now?" Marlenia asked again urgently. "Did he leave any message?"

"I was captured and then secretly separated from the statue." Torina landed lightly on the base of the statue.

As she spoke, her hand landed on the back of the sculpture of the curled-up, crying child and patted it.

“I know where he was taken,” Torina said, and Marlenia immediately appeared in front of her, looking down at her.

"That place is located somewhere underground in the border area. It should also be considered a relic from the Eternal City era, but it has now been discovered and put into use again."

Torina didn't seem surprised by Malenia's almost aggressive attitude.

She described what she knew.

"Who is it?" The Valkyrie's tone sounded calm at first, but was actually terrifying. "Who captured him?"

Torina shook her head: "I've never seen or known them before. They use the power of blood. But..."

"But what?"

“However, at first Michaela tried to fight back, but then he simply stopped,” Torina said meaningfully. “It seems to me that after recognizing the power of the blood, he wanted to use it for something.”

"So, my brother was kidnapped willingly?" Marlenia's attention was entirely focused on Michaela's safety, and that was her first reaction after hearing the news.

Marlenia breathed a sigh of relief, after all, the difference between 'Michaela going with someone willingly' and 'being captured' was too great.

Although she trusted her brother, Torina's words at least proved that the situation was currently under Michaela's control.

But since it's under control, then...

“Mikaela, did you leave me any message?” Marlenia looked at Torina and asked in a deep voice, “As his other half, you should know about this.”

Lann noticed that Malenia had asked this question several times, as if she and Michaela had some important plan. So much so that she remained concerned even after Michaela's accident. However, under Malenia's gaze, Torina remained calm and composed.

“We broke up very suddenly, and I don’t know if he left you any guidance. If you want to find him, then I think we need to hurry.”

After looking at Torina for a while, Malenia slowly nodded: "Yes, we should find him first. Do you know where that place is?"

“They call that place the Blood Dynasty,” Torina said, “a dynasty that has not yet reached the right time to establish itself. Therefore, it lies dormant underground. It should be near the underground Sifra River basin.”

“They’re all underground in Ninmgford!” Marlenia shook her head. “The furthest places are even underground in the Galid Plains! How could they be so far away? How long has it been since Michaela disappeared?”

Torina explained to her, "The power of that blood is very peculiar; it also seems to be quite adept at teleportation. Those people only used the area around Rodel as a temporary stop before using the power of the blood to teleport away."

"If you want to find that place as soon as possible, you need to find highly skilled mages and scholars."

“I’ve preserved a bloodstain they left behind when they teleported away, but if you can’t do anything about that bloodstain, then you’ll have to use the normal methods and search every inch of land in Nymgford and Galid.”

Torina's words were very practical, but Lan En found them troubling.

It wasn't that his dormant part of his brain couldn't understand the situation, but rather that he was certain from the beginning that Rodel was responsible for Michaela's kidnapping.

However, these people who use the power of blood are very well hidden and have no connection with Rodel in the open.

Furthermore, ever since Torina dragged me into this dream, I've been experiencing deep sleep, dreaming... and now blood has become a part of it!

Lan En was almost unable to control himself as he recalled the sinister and frenzied Yharnam.

Perhaps because he was in a dream, Lan En unconsciously reached out and pressed his hand to his chest.

A faint, warm glow flickered on his body.

The Witcher squinted slightly, looking down at his chest.

The curse from the Moon Goddess of Yharnam, which had been suppressed within her body by the [Body Light], suddenly became much more active.

Standing on the base of the small statue, Torina seemed to sense something. Taking advantage of the moment when Marlenia was thinking with her head down, she turned her head and glanced at the Witcher whose body was flashing with an illusory light.

“I understand,” Malenia said, having sorted out the situation. “I will…”

But before she could finish speaking, suddenly, the entire ground, the surrounding mountains, and even the sky began to shake!
The huge, muffled rumble sounded like thunder in the distant sky!
Torina floated, while Marlenia and Lann simultaneously maintained their balance.

Only the velvet ball and the unicorn were still fast asleep among the flowers on the ground, but the earthquake seemed to have made their dreams even more terrifying, as they kicked and thrashed about even more violently.

"What's going on, Torina?"

Marlenia asked sharply, while the Sleeping Saintess shook her head blankly in return.

"No, this isn't a problem with the dream, there's nothing wrong with me... it's a problem with reality!"

Lann immediately shouted, "Let us go!"

Torina didn't dawdle either. She didn't seem to do anything, but a unique sense of clarity emerged from the depths of Lan En's mind.

He previously said that coming into this dream world "felt like he had taken a long, good nap."

But now, this clarity seems to make the previous feelings seem unreal.

In the blink of an eye, Marlenia immediately raised her head again.

She was still standing in front of the small sculpture, but the surrounding blue and purple flower sea had turned back into golden grass.

Lann leaned against the base of the statue, sitting half-upright.

Marlene gave him a deep look at his posture.

Before entering the dream, she remembered Lan En being behind her. But upon waking, the faded one was standing next to the statue.

Torina said she couldn't put him to sleep, but it seems there's more to the story.

This guy could even control his body's movements just now?!
Since learning of Torina's existence, Malenia has hardly seen anyone who can resist her dormant power.

On the other hand, the real world was indeed shaking violently, just as Torina had said, as if the sky were falling and the earth were splitting apart!

Looking up from the bottom of this secluded little valley, you can even see the surrounding mountains swaying and rocking like loosely fixed building blocks!

Lan En, who had also woken up, looked up at the sky.

The rumbling thunder seemed to go on and on without end.

All that could be seen in the narrow sky above the mountain pass was a large patch of flashing purple lightning, and something burning and emitting black smoke as it streaked across the horizon!
"That was... a shooting star?"

Lan En asked himself uncertainly.

“No,” but beside him, Marlenia, who was also looking up, spoke with a deep and wary tone, “Since Rataen sealed the stars, it has been an unknown amount of time since a meteor has fallen from this world.”

"That's not a shooting star—that's Rataen!"

(End of this chapter)