Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2047 2019. Substituting the Law
"Is this the hand of the 'boy who never grows up' you were talking about?"

Margarita arrived at the cocoon at the deepest part of the large square, her expression almost identical to when Lan En first saw her.

The sorceress stared wide-eyed at the enormous hand that could engulf her entire body, exclaiming in astonishment to Lann and Marlene.

However, the Valkyrie, whose golden prosthetic blade was still bleeding, had a cold, hard purse on the corner of her mouth, which was not covered by her winged helmet.

A silent response is also a response.

Just by looking at the other person's unpleasant expression, Margarita knew the answer to her question.

Just like the Ominous Child who had kissed this giant hand before, the Valkyrie held it as if it were some extremely precious and fragile object. Her golden prosthetic limb carefully lifted the withered arm and held it to her chest.

“The power of blood can cause life to mutate to a certain extent.” Lan En stood by and watched the scene, explaining the situation to Margarita in as calm and composed a tone as possible. “On your way here, the giant ravens in the Blood Lake, the wild dogs that looked like they had been skinned alive, and those red-skinned Platinum Sons are all examples.”

"Without a doubt, Michaela, who was captured and placed in this cocoon with great care, must have endured the most bloodshed. The body of the little boy who was originally meant to never grow up is now twisted like this... at least this hand is twisted like this."

The entire cocoon, made of silk threads, was torn open by this hand, but it seemed to be enveloped by the power of blood.

Looking in from the outside, you can't see what's inside at all; there's only supernatural darkness.

Although Marlenia can prove that the hand belongs to Michaela, all that's visible to everyone is this exposed hand.

"Who are they?" Marlenia asked softly, her arms crossed, without looking up. "What did they do to Michaela?"

Although she spoke very softly, for some reason, it made one's heart tremble and scalp tingle.

Margarita swallowed hard, blinked, and moved behind the Qilin.

The ancient dragon from the New World, who had been instinctively retreating, suddenly turned around in horror to look at the sorceress.

“I’ve never seen those people,” Lann said, glancing at the two of them and describing the conversation he had overheard earlier in an as objective and straightforward tone as possible. “They call themselves a ‘dynasty yet to be established.’”

“If they want to establish a dynasty, they should go to the sacred tree and kneel before my brother!”

Marlenia spoke coldly, clearly aware of the necessary conditions behind the word 'dynasty'.

But Lan En shook his head at her: "They do want to establish a dynasty, but it's not a dynasty that believes in [Pure Gold]. Didn't you see? They have their own power to believe in."

Lann gestured with his chin toward Marlene, indicating the blood that had just dripped from her prosthetic knife.

"They have their own beliefs, but they lack a divine representative to vie for the divine throne. And now, what they've done to Michaela..."

The son of the ominous sign said he would spend the night with a divine companion.

Of course, this is incredibly ambiguous when said between two men.

However, since it involves the 'god-king system' of the border region, this statement obviously does not refer to mere lust or love.

The son of the ominous sign possessed immense power of blood and faith in the Mother of Truth, but he was not a god-man burdened by the [Law of Blood].

Michaela is indeed a divine being, but she has her own laws, which are not the same as those of blood.

Since that group claimed to be 'creating a new dynasty' and had already seized the divine being Michaela, the answer was quite obvious.

The so-called 'spending the night together' should be the process by which the son of the ominous sign wanted to replace the original laws on Michaela with the laws of the Mother of Truth.

In this way, their dynasty could be considered to have 'obtained the most crucial link': a god-man who could participate in the battle for the throne with the laws they recognized.

The process of replacing the laws that a god originally carried with another law... it's obvious that it couldn't be so easy.

The hand that Michaela is showing right now is the simplest proof.

Marlenia, being a deity herself, easily understood what Lann hadn't finished saying, and thus realized what her brother had gone through.

She gently stroked the withered hand that was embracing her chest, whispering, "Blood...dynasty."

The sound was as chilling as the cold air rising from a pool of blood.

But a short while later, just as Lann and Margarita thought Marlene was about to cut open the cocoon and rescue their brother,

While waiting here, I'll wait for that ominous son who left to run errands to return, and then I'll just cut him up.

The Valkyrie suddenly turned her head and looked at Margarita.

"This is not the entirety of Michaela's body."

The sorceress was a little confused: "What do you mean?"

What she really wanted to ask was, "What do you mean by looking at me now?"

Marlenia continued explaining to the sorceress, “Torina said that Michaela was taken away somewhat voluntarily after witnessing the power of that blood. We are twins, and I can sense that his soul is not here.”

"Margarita, I beg you, find Michaela's trail once again!"

Her tone was serious and earnest: "I must find him!"

Even through the winged helmet, the sorceress could easily sense the determination and sharpness in the eyes beneath it.

Just as Margarita felt her breath catch in her throat under the other's gaze, the Witcher casually stepped between Marlenia and Margarita, blocking their view.

"I promised you and Torina that I would find your brother. I will try my best to keep my promise."

As he spoke, Lan En stared directly at the Valkyrie.

“But this promise is only between you and me, Malenia. Rita is an assistant I invited; she came to help out of kindness, and is not bound by any promises between us. Do you understand?”

The Valkyrie remained silent for a long time before finally nodding slightly: "I understand, I'm sorry. But I still implore her to lend a hand in this matter. The Sacred Tree will not forget its savior, Michaela!"

Once Marlenia clearly understood their relationship, Lann turned around and looked at Margarita with a questioning gaze.

"Can it be done?"

"I don't know, but I can try."

At this moment, Margarita looked at the Witcher with burning eyes, but still gave a swift and concise response.

The sorceress approached the large hand dangling at the edge of the cocoon's crack, while the Valkyrie stepped back, her prosthetic knife slicing open the skin of the arm, from which thick, sweet blood immediately began to trickle out.

Just like when she was in the ravine, Margarita drew upon the vast amount of chaotic magic accumulated in her magical jewelry to trace the directions of teleportation in the blood.

The surrounding air was suddenly filled with an unpleasant feeling.

However, even with Michaela's entire arm as a foundation, and the purity of the blood power within it being extremely high, Margarita still found it even more difficult than she had been in the small ravine.

She frowned, closed her eyes, and sweat streamed down her face from her hair.

Marlenia looked at her nervously.

Suddenly, the pool of blood flowing from that arm began to boil violently, and Margarita shouted urgently at that moment!
"Get in quickly! Immediately! Something's blocking the way on the other side. I can only guarantee we can get in for a short while!"

Without saying another word, Marlenia stepped in first, followed closely by Lann and the others!

The group disappeared into the boiling blood, and after a moment, the blood returned to calm.

The pool of blood on the ground vanished into thin air, and Michaela's arm returned to its withered state. The dreamlike purple starry sky underground remained as before.

However, on the other side, when Lan En and the others were teleporting through blood, the initial feeling was the same as before, like sliding through blood vessels.

But halfway through, they vaguely sensed an obstacle, like some kind of curtain.

After passing through it, I no longer felt anything special.

With a "splash," Lan En felt himself step into a pool of blood once again.

But at this moment, while holding Margarita, her first reaction was to suddenly raise her free hand.

With two sharp "clangs," flames suddenly appeared on Lan En's arm armor!
He used the Smaug arm armor to block the repeated thrusts of some kind of stabbing weapon!

Then, after the opponent was deflected twice with unique skills, the third thrust still relentlessly aimed straight for the Witcher's neck!
This time, although Lan En had not yet completely broken down his opponent's physical stance by relying on the skill of [Riding the Carp].

However, the two perfectly clean and decisive bounces still caused the opponent to lose his balance.

The Witcher reached out and grabbed!
He gripped the long shaft of the thrusting weapon in his palm, pulling the enemy along with him and causing him to stumble.

That momentary stumble was enough to be the cause of the enemy's death.

With a snap, Lan En broke the long shaft of the opponent's weapon with one hand, and then precisely stabbed the short spearhead into the opponent's neck! Even though the opponent was still swaying and hadn't even regained his balance.

After killing the enemy, Lan En finally realized what he had stabbed in the neck.

His series of reactions were actually just his instinctive responses after the first collision, based on his experience and skills, as he immediately understood the general structure of his opponent's body.

Before them lay a dark, damp cave, reeking of blood and foul odors.

They are indeed standing in a pool of blood.

On Lan En's hand hung the body of a large, fat creature.

(End of this chapter)