Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2077 2049. Sleeping Nectar
It was very different from when we met in the dream.

In the dream, Torina is ethereal and dreamlike, like an elf floating in a fantasy world.

Her long hair floated in mid-air, like a ribbon bobbing in flowing water.

It made her feel like she was inside a surreal painting.

But now, she is rooted in a flower in the real world.

It was a Torina water lily, about the height of an average person.

The deep purple petals are even more intense than those of a normal Torina water lily.

And Torina clung to a side branch that this water lily shouldn't have had.

Her beautiful long purple hair enveloped her, revealing only her delicate, jade-like face and an arm that wrapped around her face.

It was impossible to see what position her remaining body had twisted into, or... whether it even existed.

As everyone entered the cave and reached the end, they all showed expressions of surprise upon seeing the 'Torina Water Lily'.

Because no one could have imagined that Torina would be in this state of 'human parasite on a flower'.

Instead of stopping in front of Torina, Lan En walked past her and continued inside.

Only then did the others realize that behind the Torina water lily, there was a golden cross.

It was a slender cross made entirely of golden light.

However, in the cross section, there is another crescent-shaped golden light that partially surrounds the cross.

“If we follow the lineage of the Golden Family,” Melina said in a low voice as she looked at the strange cross, “this shape is similar to the ring that Michaela’s Great Rune should have.”

With a calm expression, Lan En gently touched the golden cross with his hand.

Immediately, certain thoughts naturally surfaced in the minds of everyone present.

Those words sounded like they were spoken by a little boy.

"I have abandoned my love here."

After hearing these words in their hearts, everyone naturally understood the meaning of the pilgrim's advice that they had seen on the platform earlier.

Michaela... he abandoned the part of himself that represented 'love'.

That is—Torina.

Messermo surveyed the entire cave, his seriousness evident in his eyes.

First he abandoned the Great Rune, then he abandoned even his half-body and 'love'... There is no doubt that, although he has not yet seen the body that Michaela abandoned in the conventional sense.

But what he is giving up now is many times more important than his mere physical body!

If you can give up even these things, what is there to hesitate about regarding your physical body?
In other words... Michaela, his brother whom he had never met, was really planning to go to the Gate of God in his soul form to perform the ritual.

Now that this is a settled fact, he, the queen's son who came to Shadowlands to wage war on his mother's orders, must fulfill his duty.

Thinking of this, Messermo lowered his head with a heavy expression and glanced at the Messermo Fire that was throbbing like a snake in his palm.

But his expression was different from the flame in his hand; he showed no sign of wavering.

“This doesn’t seem like a good place to stay for long,” Margarita said, frowning and pressing her temples with her fingers. “I feel a little sleepy. Is this some kind of magic?”

Melina shook her head: "No, this is Torina's power."

"Torina is the [Sleeping Saintess], she can put people to sleep. Right now she is severely injured, and her blood has formed this purple garden."

"Even though it has spread to such a wide area, it is still Torina's blood. Even if the power of slumber has been weakened, it is still a deadly poison for normal people."

As she spoke, Melina's right eye swept over the many animals that were kneeling and asleep before Torina with a complicated expression.

"The dormant power that cannot be awakened, to some extent, takes the place of death, and can provide relief to those who wish to die but cannot. In the Shadowlands... and perhaps in the future Borderlands, this is a power that can drive people mad."

In a world where death is impossible, an unawakened slumber serves as a substitute.

It is precisely because it can give peace to those who suffer that the knights made of molten mud outside the cave stand guard and fight for Torina.

Lan En frowned, not responding to Melina's words.

He simply pulled Margarita aside and whispered to her for a short while. During this time, the sorceress glared at him with a bit of annoyance, but eventually took something from his hand. She kept muttering to herself until the witcher left.

The Witcher who had walked away went directly to the large Torina water lily, knelt down, and made himself level with Torina on the flower.

"Let me confirm," Lann said earnestly to Torina's serene, sleeping face, "Are you able to speak to me now?"

After waiting quietly for half a minute, Lan En still received no response.

Even though he actively activated the [neural junction], allowing part of his brain to fall into a state of sleep and rest, he looked around and, apart from the large Torina water lily in front of him, he could no longer see the purple-haired girl who had been drifting freely on the edge of his field of vision for the past few days.

"Understood." Half a minute later, Lan En nodded calmly. "Then, do you want to talk to me?"

There was still no response in the silence. But as Torina lay nestled in his arms, his delicate lips parted almost imperceptibly.

In an instant, the fragrance of flowers in the entire cave became even sweeter, and the lightest velvet ball began to open its mouth wide and wobble as it yawned.

Strands of purple nectar flowed crystal clear from the corners of Torina's lips, carrying an almost seductive, intoxicating yet reassuring floral fragrance.

A blissful, tranquil sleep.

Lan En gently reached out and caught the two or three drops of nectar in his palm.

"Are you sure?" Messermo's clear yet cold voice echoed in the cave. "That's already highly poisonous. You don't belong to yourself alone, Faded One. Michaela is already preparing the ritual to enter the Gate of God. We must cherish every bit of power."

Lann did not respond to Messermo, but simply turned to look at Margarita again.

Upon seeing the sorceress nod affirmatively at him, the witcher no longer hesitated, immediately covering his mouth with his hand, which was still covered in nectar, and tilting his head back.

The moment Torina's nectar entered his mouth, its intoxicating floral fragrance burst forth, seemingly filling Lan En's entire brain instantly.

A sense of peace, comfort, relaxation, and lightness filled my entire body.

In an instant, a lazy sleepiness that seemed to emanate from the very bones swept over me.

The sleepiness came so comfortably that it was almost irresistible to human instincts.

After all, laziness is human nature, or rather, the nature of all living things.

However, this cannot overcome the nature of superhumans, that is, the Space Marines.

The blissful sleepiness that should have been soothing was forcibly suppressed by steely nerves and willpower.

An iron will will not succumb to pain, nor will it indulge in pleasure. It simply remains steadfast and unyielding.

Mentos is compiling physiological data from the edges of the retina, updating it in real time at a rate that resembles a data waterfall.

From those data, Lan En could tell through his hazy mind that he was beginning to show the symptoms of a Witcher being poisoned.

His blood vessels began to darken, his skin appeared paler than normal, and his irises expanded completely into his eye sockets, becoming a deep, dark black.

Compared to her previous pure beauty, she now appeared cold and eerie.

Within his body, various enhanced organs began to work together, with the main energy being supplied to the [Pebble Kidney].

His blood is being dialyzed again and again with extremely high efficiency thanks to scientifically designed enhanced organs.

The deep breathing produced by the double lungs seemed to stir the airflow throughout the cave, and the beating of the two hearts could already be heard outside the body, like the roar of an engine.

Even Messermo and Melina of the Golden Clan were astonished as the Witcher was operating his body at high power.

After confirming his physical condition through data, Lan En gave up resisting and closed his completely black eyes, succumbing to sleepiness.

Sleepiness gradually overwhelmed his vision, and when everything went black before Lan's eyes, he couldn't even see the data frame Mentos had placed at the corner of his retina...

"I'm sorry, Lann."

Torina's voice finally rang in the Witcher's ears once again.

However, Torina's voice was now more ethereal, almost unreal. It lacked the liveliness she had displayed when chatting and laughing with Lann on their journey; instead, it conveyed a deathly weakness.

He didn't even have the strength to speak a complete and even sentence.

"...Please stop Michaela...don't...let him become a god..."

Torina tried her best to speak.

She was abandoned by her own half-body, Michaela, and left at the bottom of this Blue Coast cave, where her flowing blood grew into a garden.

But in her ethereal voice, Lan En heard no resentment or jealousy.

She was neither jealous that Michaela could become a god, nor resentful that Michaela had abandoned her here.

She was just saddened for Michaela...

Lan En sensed an intoxicating floral fragrance approaching, as if trying to touch him as he slept.

But just as the fragrance of the flowers was already lingering in the air...

"...!"

The Witcher's strong will instantly severed the intoxicating drowsiness from his mind and limbs!
He opened his eyes!
Before him lay an endless, dark void.

He and Torina, who was nearby, fell together into the boundless darkness, falling endlessly.

Torina's long purple hair fluttered upwards as she fell lightly yet irresistibly.

It's hard to tell whether it's just long hair or her flowing honey-like blood.

(End of this chapter)