Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2048 2020. The Shadow Tree

The creature before me was entirely black, with a large belly and sickly, withered limbs.

He was a size or two larger than Lan En.

It is roughly humanoid, but its head, while still humanoid, has teeth like those of a rodent.

Blood and bits of flesh clung to his long front teeth.

The other party was holding a very primitive spear, made of a wooden stick bound with rope, the tip of which was the tooth or bone of some kind of creature... Based on Lan En's biological understanding gained from that brief contact, it was likely the sharp teeth of their own kind.

On the other side, Marlenia's prosthetic blade instantly made a circular cut!
With a 'rip', the three enemies around her were all decapitated, blood spurting from the severed necks onto the top of the cave.

"Don't get their blood on you, Fluffball, Qilin." Lan En released the spear tip he was holding, causing the enemy hanging on it to fall limply into the pool of blood.

He shook his hand, trying to remove as much enemy blood as possible.

"The blood of these things seems to naturally carry the power of blood."

Lann's hands inevitably got stained with their blood during the stabbing process, and even through the gauntlet, he could feel his palms throbbing.

That's a sign that the blood inside the body is being affected, its flow rate is greatly increased, and it's trying to break through to the outside of the body.

If affected to a certain extent, the blood in his body will automatically come alive, tearing through his skin and spraying outwards.

There were only a few monsters in the cave; their numbers were small, and they weren't particularly strong.

With Marlenia taking decisive action, his body was severed in just a few seconds.

The shallow pool of blood rippled and churned with a foul stench as the severed limbs were smashed into it.

Clearly, these people also lack any concept of hygiene.

Eating, drinking, and defecating all take place in the blood pool.

"These things are..."

Lan En picked up a head that had been cut off but was still alive and examined it with a frown.

Marlene, who had been anxious to find her brother by following the teleportation trail, stood frozen for two seconds, as if she were in a daze.

Given her skill and speed, those two seconds were a very long period of distraction.

“They are…” Marlenia said, almost with a sigh, “blood monsters.”

The velvet ball, the unicorn, and Margarita looked at each other, completely bewildered.

Lan En wasn't much better off, because at this moment he wouldn't be asking his 'Little Wooden Encyclopedia of the Borderlands' for advice in front of Marlenia.

Besides, even if I look for her now, she probably won't show up...

The Witcher looked down at his palm.

In his mind, the quiet, soulful girl was now silently and nervously clenching her hands.

He exerted the same effort as she did when they went to the foot of the golden tree, thinking he would be able to 'complete his mission'.

Marlenia offered no explanation, but simply walked heavily out of the blood pool and toward the ground outside the cave.

With a loud "bang," Marlenia, who had no intention of finding an exit, cleaved the rock wall open with a single stroke, creating a path wide enough for one person.

They walked out of the cave.

Lan En walked sideways through the passage, while Qilin squeezed forward, making them the last to emerge.

And before them.

"Oh my god..."

The exclamation, which sounded like a sigh or a groan, came from Margarita, who was staring blankly at the distant horizon.

Before today, her travels were limited to the continent of the magical Middle Ages; she had never even visited the grasslands of Hakland, nor the hot Ophir and Zangweba.

But now, she is standing on the land of a completely different world, witnessing its magnificent wonders.

Even though Margarita was known among sorceresses for her unconventional and unconventional ways, this level of surprise was perfectly normal.

Meanwhile, the golden demigod Marlenia, standing in front of Margarita, was also looking up at the distant horizon, just like Margarita.

She had no doubt that the gasps of astonishment behind her were not unusual, because she knew that even the oldest person in the border region would be just as surprised by what she saw.

—The sky here is gloomy, and it seems that there will never be a sunny day.

A twisted, black tree stands tall and imposing on the distant horizon, reaching to the heavens.

The dark tree trunk seemed to be oozing sap and resin, but what was oozing out was pure golden sand!

The shimmering, beautiful gold, hanging in a barely perceptible state, clung to the trunk of the black tree, appearing even more precious and dazzling against the ever-dark and gloomy sky.

The gloom in the sky was also explained: the trunk of the black tree reached all the way into the clouds, and from its crown, countless illusory curtains, so large that their exact size was difficult to determine, spread out.

Those illusory curtains had a great sense of drape, appearing and disappearing among the undulating, shadowy clouds, but they undoubtedly covered the entire sky.

Let alone Margarita, who hadn't seen the Golden Tree since arriving, even Lan En and Rongbuqiu, who had already seen it, would be shocked by what they saw.

“The Shadow Tree and… the Shadow Land.” Malenia, who was the first to emerge from the cave, spoke to the giant tree on the distant horizon, then looked around and murmured, “So that’s how it is… so this is where it is…”

Right now, apart from the most eye-catching black tree on the distant horizon, everything around is clearly unusual. This is a plain of grass that is about knee-high, and in the withered, yellow grass that sways in the wind, there are many tombstones with an ethereal texture.

The tombstones come in various forms, including square tombstones, arched tombstones, and simplified emblems symbolizing the Golden Law—a cross-shaped tombstone within a circle.

Earlier, a huge illusory spirit banner automatically appeared outside Rodel City because it had become a battlefield.

It was formed from the souls of the soldiers after their deaths. It resembles a giant military banner.

In ordinary circumstances and in the manner of death, these souls will form such spirit tombs.

However, outside Rodel City, the demigod alliance and the Rodel knights were fighting each other so fiercely that their brains were practically turned into dog brains, and there were only about twenty spirit banners left on the battlefield.

But here, on the boundless sea of ​​withered yellow grass, lie equally boundless tombs!

This is a cemetery plain!
"Just how many people have died here, and how many souls have gathered here?!" Lan En opened his mouth, then gasped for breath.

Lan En had witnessed the scene of corpses strewn across the battlefield; on that massive battlefield, tens of thousands of corpses piled up were nothing unusual.

Although the scene is desolate, at least it's not bloody yet.

But because the Witcher knows what each of these spirit tombs represents, he sees it not just as a supernatural landscape.

Instead, it is here that the souls that were once alive are now displayed after their deaths.

It's not that different from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

“This is the Shadowlands,” Marlenia said, removing her winged helmet. “This is the Borderlands, the place where all death has converged since ancient times, until the Golden Age. So of course.”

"Of course there will be spirit tombs here as numerous as mountains and seas."

Lan En glanced at the Valkyrie's profile as she removed her helmet and suddenly spoke.

“You seem to have suddenly become less anxious since you came out, Marlenia.”

"No, I am still anxious." The Valkyrie shook her head, her fiery red hair swaying. "Anxious about my brother's whereabouts, and also about my... incompetence and ignorance."

"We should get some sleep."

Marlenia's topic was so wide-ranging and abrupt that it drew strange looks from everyone around her.

"Sleep, sleep? Now, meow?"

The velvet ball tugged at its ears, which were pressed under its helmet, looking at itself with a disbelieving expression.

Yes, right now.

The kitten looked at the gloomy sky.

Although the sky over the Shadowlands is perpetually gloomy due to the illusory curtains that shroud the clouds, it's still clear that it's daytime now.

They came out early in the morning to negotiate with Malenia because the Dignity Knight had blocked Rodel's gate, and a lot happened in between.

Although none of the events were minor, they happened so quickly that it was still dusk.

Although it was still early, after such an intense day, with the Asian Plateau almost collapsing, after Marlenia brought up the topic, Rongbuqiu suddenly opened her mouth wide and yawned.

As if sleepiness were contagious, Qilin soon started yawning as well.

Lan En was the one who ultimately made the final decision.

His eyes quickly and subtly swept over the people around him, taking in their reactions.

Then she naturally agreed, "Then let's prepare to rest. Velvet Ball, Qilin, let's set up a simple campsite in this cave. Rita."

The witcher called out the sorceress's name, startling her awake as she was gazing at the distant black giant tree.

Lan En pressed his palm against her shoulder.

"Rest here and recover your magic. Don't get too close to Malene. She has some illness, and you can't handle it."

When speaking, Lann did not avoid Marleneia, and the Valkyrie did not seem to care.

After all, she had previously taken the initiative to distance herself from Lan En to prevent her corruption from affecting others.

As the source of a malignant force with contagious properties, she has always been very careful about the distance between herself and others.

They also did a good job in infection prevention and self-isolation.

The vast sacred tree, apart from the knights who pledged their loyalty to her and actively approached her, had almost no impact on anyone from the corruption disease under her control.

Margarita felt she had learned a lot today, but was also mentally exhausted.

But she didn't forget to care about her lover: "What about you? Aren't you coming with me?"

“Someone has to keep things in order, right?” Lann pointed behind him and smiled. “Besides, I don’t think this cemetery plain is very safe. At least I have to ensure the safety of the area around the camp.”

Margarita knew that his energy was on a completely different level from that of ordinary people, so she didn't stop him and watched as Lan En walked towards the undulating sea of ​​grass.

Lan En observed the unfamiliar Shadowlands. After walking for a while, the undulating slopes and some building ruins on the plain made it impossible for him to look back at the cave.

Only after the cave disappeared from view did Lan En speak into the void, asking, "Should you speak first, or should I?"

(End of this chapter)