Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2069, page 2041. [The Piercer] Messermo
As everyone looked around in the dim light, the voice appeared directly in the middle of them.

This startled everyone.

Only the Witcher, whose eyes had been modified to fully adapt to changes in light and shadow, never turned his head, facing straight into the depths of the building.

The clusters of candles scattered along the edges of the circular hall now lit up automatically, finally illuminating the entire space.

At the far end of the hall, there is a high platform, which is mostly obscured by hanging curtains.

And a snake, a red snake with small wings, stretched its head out from the high platform and peered into the crowd.

The sound just now seemed to have come from it.

When everyone was startled and turned around abruptly, they only saw the calm Lan En and the snake staring back at him.

The man's voice that suddenly came out was calm yet clear.

But after the candlelight was lit and the winged snake and Lann looked at each other, the voice hesitated for a moment, then suddenly fell silent.

"Ah...yes, the one without light."

That single, hesitant remark caused everyone's spirits to sink.

As this remark was made, the atmosphere in the entire space suddenly became heavy and stuffy.

Leilana, who had brought them to see Mesmer, turned around abruptly upon hearing this, looking as if in disbelief.

Does "the one without light" refer to someone like a faded person, whose eyes lack the golden light of blessing?

In that instant, Lan En's mind quickly integrated the information and made inferences based on the fragments of information.

For some time prior, Lann had not made direct eye contact with Leilana.

Furthermore, the people of the Shadowlands have not seen the Golden Tree for a long time, and their sensitivity to the blessed golden light in their eyes is far less than that of the Borderlands.

In the borderlands, the Golden Law has long blessed the entire world; it would be strange if anyone didn't see the golden light in their eyes, as it would be immediately obvious.

But in the Shadowlands, only those in the Holy War Army see the golden light; it would be normal if they didn't.

The Faded Ones enjoy a high reputation and status in the Borderlands because everyone knows that they are heroes of the War of the Giants, and that all those who left behind are favored by Twofingers.

Those with first-rate achievements and connections will naturally attain a high status.

But what identity would the Faded Ones have in the Shadowlands?

When Messermo embarked on his expedition to the Shadowlands, the War of the Giants had not yet ended. Only those belonging to Queen Marika could enjoy the blessings of the Golden Law in the borderlands, a very narrow scope compared to the now widespread blessings.

But this also allowed for a clear distinction between friend and foe.

Those who do not see the golden light of blessing are enemies who are neither protected by the Golden Law nor willing to submit to it!

In the eyes of the army left over from the Titan War, such people are the ones to be eliminated!

In an instant, Lann immediately discerned the meaning of the term 'the one without light' and the hostility it carried.

The winged snake that was staring at Lan En began to move.

It retreated from mid-air, its long, crimson body finally shrinking back into the high platform curtain at the deepest part of the hall.

Within that curtain, a tall, slender figure stood up simultaneously.

He's like a ball of fire!

The black iron armor had a low coverage area, bearing some characteristics of the frontier barbarians. A fiery red coat covered the armor, and under the winged snake helmet on his head, his red hair was just as bright as the coat.

The crimson winged snake retreated to his side, like a living ribbon, coiling and swirling around him.

Messermo slowly rose from the platform, his back slightly bent, yet his arms easily reached below his knees. When he stood up, everyone noticed that he held a long black iron spear decorated with fire patterns in his left hand.

He was tall and thin, with a pale, ashen complexion. Even his long, flowing red hair, which should have been incredibly vibrant, appeared gloomy and aloof. This was exactly the same as his complexion.

“Mother, have you really entrusted the task of being king... to a man without light?”

As if finally recognizing some bleak reality, Messermo's voice trembled slightly as he muttered to himself.

But then his voice became firm again, and... even colder.

Even so, my mission remains unchanged.

The Piercer on the high platform raised his eyes, and beneath the black iron winged serpent helmet were cold, golden eyes that shone brightly, pointing directly at the Witcher!

“Those who are not blessed with gold shall be eliminated.”

"Wait!" Leilana interrupted.

But Messermo moved faster than she shouted.

"Whoosh!" A wave of heat surged, and Messermo's right hand slightly clenched and raised upwards.

On his palm, first, black smoke swirled like a snake, followed by dark red fire!
[Messermo's Fire]!
The Goddess's son, rejected and even denied by the borderlands, leaped high from the platform, and the black smoke and flame in his right hand suddenly expanded into a fireball half the size of a person!
Then he suddenly swooped down towards the Witcher in the crowd and slammed the fireball down on him!

Messermo's physique suggests that his fighting style is not much different from Marlenia's; both are fast and sharp attackers.

When he began to act with a tone as if he had lost all hope, it was already so fast that most of the people present could not react in time.

"bass!"

With a sharp screech as air was rapidly pushed aside, people saw the dark red fireball in mid-air vanish from its spot, leaving only a visual residue on their retinas.

Immediately afterwards, the people around felt a wave of heat coming from their side, along with a dark red flame that accompanied the heat.

The group of people suddenly realized what was happening and were all startled.

But right in the middle of them, Messermo held up a fireball. The dark red fireball was surrounded by black smoke, swirling and swelling, but it showed no sign of exploding.

As for Lan En, who was directly facing the fireball, he did not make a move.

The dark red fireball illuminated his body with a red glow, but Smaug's excellent fire resistance meant that he wasn't too uncomfortable at such close range.

"Are you...waiting to die?"

Messermo asked, somewhat puzzled.

“No,” Lann tilted his head, revealing his face from beside the fireball, and looked at the other person, saying, “I just don’t quite believe that you, with your reaction, didn’t hear what Ms. Laylana said just now, and…”

“You seem to know a lot of things. Even things that happened in the border region that you shouldn’t know.”

The Witcher's eyes, devoid of the blessed golden light, gazed honestly and meaningfully at Messermo behind the fireball.

The Goddess's Son, with a cold face and no change in expression throughout, stared at him for two seconds, then the fireball in his hand seemed to shrink inward, black smoke enveloping the flames, and disappeared into his palm.

But the flame-patterned spear remained in his hand, its tip swaying gently.

Messermo's actions at least show that he is not as he claimed earlier, and that he would immediately start killing the Faded Ones upon seeing them.

The people around breathed a sigh of relief, and Leilana quickly walked to her husband's side, seemingly trying to pull him back.

The two wore blue and silver armor, and red and black armor, respectively. With their equally tall figures and upright bearing, they looked quite well-matched standing together.

Margarita and Melina stood beside Lann.

The Witcher recalled the mutterings that Messermo had made after seeing them, seemingly unable to contain himself.

It wasn't surprising that Moses could so keenly discern that he was a Faded One. Although the people of Shadowlands weren't particularly sensitive to the blessing in the eyes, he was, after all, Marika's son, so it was normal for him to notice.

It's not surprising that they recognized them as coming from the borderlands outside the Shadowlands; after all, even the troll knights guarding the gates of Ensis City could recognize them.

However, in the emotional turmoil that followed his earlier realization of a certain reality, Messermo muttered to himself...

...What do you mean by 'Mother, have you really entrusted the task of being king to the one without light'?
When Messermo and his legions were sealed away in the Shadowlands, the Golden Dynasty had not even conquered the entire Borderlands.

The Golden Law did not operate on the Elden Ring, nor did it cover the world.

Queen Marika has not yet truly become a god, and Govre has not yet truly become the King of Elden.

From Messermo's perspective, it's fair to say that the world hasn't even had a formal "one god and one king" yet.

Even the gods and kings of the Golden Dynasty haven't officially taken the throne yet, so how come this guy immediately knew that the current borderland kingship was vacant and urgently needed a change of leadership the moment someone from outside the Shadowlands appeared before him?

So when Lann looked at him with a meaningful gaze, Messermo did not look away, clearly knowing a lot of things.

“The Lightless One,” Messermo’s voice was clear yet detached, “you don’t seem to be…seemingly pursuing the throne?”

Based on that voice alone, Messermo would be a very popular, aloof, and handsome guy anywhere else.

Unfortunately, the coldness in his voice wasn't just an act of being cool; it was a genuine result of the killing field of Shadowlands, and perhaps also the complexities of his family life.

He's cold inside and out.

He also saw that there was no blessing in Margarita's eyes.

But because Margarita always stood by Lann's side and acted as if he was in charge, Messermo no longer cared about the sorceress.

"First of all, people like us are now generally called the faded ones."

Lan En spread his hands, both to show his helplessness and to demonstrate that he had no hostility.

"Secondly, you seem quite certain that we came here for the so-called throne... Why?"

(End of this chapter)