Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2079 2051. Assembling the Legion
"Then what exactly is it..." Outside the cave, Messermo couldn't help but ask Lann and Margarita, "What is it?"

"Magic!" the witcher replied without hesitation. "Magic, of course!"

The sorceress carrying him on her shoulder gave his back armor a couple of weak thuds.

"I feel terrible right now... If you keep carrying me like this, I'm going to throw up on you!"

Lan En's expression remained unchanged as he looked at Messermo, but he gently changed the position of the sorceress he was carrying on his shoulder into a more comfortable princess carry.

Margarita's brow relaxed slightly, and she nestled in his arms.

The moment the chaotic magic power in Lan En's body began to form, it was immediately drained by the sorceress.

Fortunately, his physical strength was quite good, and his chaotic magic power generation efficiency was also very good. Therefore, apart from the repeated feeling of 'emptiness and fullness' in his body, he was not too uncomfortable.

However, while Lann wasn't too uncomfortable, Margarita was a bit too comfortable.

Unlike Triss, she was not sensitive enough to resist the chaotic magic she absorbed from Lann, which could almost instantly leave Triss's mind blank.

But now she also had to bite her lip to suppress the pleasure while overcoming the emptiness and dizziness caused by the excessive use of magic in her body. It was a truly extreme tug-of-war.

Therefore, I don't want to say anything more, for fear that the sound I make will unconsciously become distorted.

Lan En's expression was so sincere that even the naturally cold-hearted Piercer momentarily doubted himself.

Could it be that the strange and supernatural phenomena in the cave earlier, and that sword strike that was blocked by Lan En's back... were really magic?
Magic my ass!
Messermo is married to the second daughter of the Kalia royal family! Those who came as part of his dowry to join his legion include proper Kalia mountain knights, royal advisors, and many royal mages.

How could he not understand the basic principles of magic?
In the borderlands, magic is about the exploration and power of the stars. The reason why brilliance stone is an indispensable symbol in magic can be traced back to the fact that brilliance stone is the fragment of a fallen star.

But how did Margarita's actions just now have anything to do with stars?
If you just pull out an astrological chart and match it to a direction, I'll consider it a reasonable operation!
Moreover, the operation of 'soul interception' seems to have something to do with the [Source School], which is considered taboo among magicians!

As for Lan En's slash, it looked ordinary, even casual.

But what casual slash could have severed the golden cross left by Michaela?

That golden cross was not only a remnant of Michaela's power, but also his essential connection to the Golden Law.

According to Messermo and Melina, every time Michaela left behind a golden cross, he was essentially severing himself from the Golden Law.

Even those things he abandoned only served to bear the weight of cause and effect and essence.

The ultimate goal will be to transform Michaela into a pure soul that has neither a physical body nor any connection with any other laws, and then allow her to ascend the Spire.

You think you can just cut this thing in half like that?
Messermo clearly saw the golden cross just now!
Messermo and Melina were now feeling somewhat overwhelmed by their own extensive knowledge.

"If they didn't know so much about magic, perhaps they would have come to terms with it by now."

The ethereal and dreamlike laughter was as joyful and carefree as musical notes leaping about.

Lan En glanced quickly at the void beside him.

In mid-air, which appeared to be nothing to others, Torina's figure swayed and danced freely, her thick purple hair reflecting the ripples in the air.

After the actions that Margarita and Lann just performed together, each doing their part,

Margarita's magic completely separated Torina's soul from Michaela's, placing them on opposite sides.

Lann severed the deeper causal connections that were originally built by the Golden Law.

Torina has now completely separated from Michaela.

Although her body had already suffered great trauma when she was abandoned by Michaela, she still had to coexist with that giant Torina water lily.

But her soul has already been freed.

Of course, this state appears very mysterious to others.

When Messermo and Melina saw Lann glance into the air, they immediately realized, after what had just happened, that Lann was communicating with Torina again.

So the two of them stopped worrying about Margarita's magic.

After all, it's not a big deal. In their eyes, Margarita is also a faded one, a faded one left behind by the two fingers, who possesses some forbidden power. Is that a big deal?

Baglem's [Queen's Black Flame] and Krep's crimson corruption on his arrows are both used openly and blatantly.

On the contrary, right now, there is only one thing that Shadowlands needs to deal with most.

The molten mud beneath their feet began to wriggle again as if it were alive, or rather, the molten mud was inherently alive.

The Mud Knight that had led the way earlier reappeared from the mud pool, but this time the group was less wary of it.

A burly knight, entirely silver, rode a mud-splattered warhorse. On its round head, two luminous eyes, which seemed to move erratically in the mud, turned toward Lan En's side in mid-air.

Torina waved lightly at it, and it swung its crescent-shaped guillotine.

Large swirls of molten mud rose and churned beneath their feet, carrying them upwards, about to return to the upper level through the crack above. The Mud Knights watched them leave from below, though Lan En felt they were primarily seeing Torina off.

The mud is loyal to Torina because she can give them a death-like slumber.

Although Torina's soul is now free, her body remains here, continuously releasing the power of slumber through the giant Torina Water Lily.

Given the simple intelligence of the mud creatures, they are already quite content as long as they can remain asleep and escape from pain.

The melting mud beneath their feet lifted them upwards.

The velvet ball and the unicorn curiously stuck to the edge and looked down.

Messermo's expression had already turned serious.

“Mikaela’s resolve is beyond question, and his plan is crystal clear.” The Piercer’s voice carried far through the vast underground cavity. “I will no longer doubt the facts. Now, the war has begun.”

"It seems you've made up your mind?"

Lann held Margarita in his arms and asked Messermo.

“Making decisions is always easy,” Messermo replied, “but paying the price for those decisions is often very difficult.”

"The price?" the Witcher frowned. "What do you need to do?"

Messermo simply shook his head: "When I attacked the Shadowlands, I sealed the Horned People's highest technology into the shadows. Now, when we try to stop Michaela, this has become our obstacle... We need to unseal the Spiral Tower first."

He offered a brief explanation, but that was all.

When faced with Lan En's questioning gaze, he said nothing more and remained silent.

After being brought back up from the deepest underground cavern by the melting mud, Messermo stopped talking, and the group did not linger at the Azure Coast, heading straight back to Shadow City.

The massive castle beneath the Shadow Tree remained gloomy and somber; Leilana hadn't expected them to move so quickly.

After all, the Blue Coast is quite large, and their sense of time is very distorted. If Leilana thought about it anxiously, she felt that she might have to stay in Shadow City for at least a few months or a year.

Unexpectedly, Messermo returned the next day.

Furthermore, they brought back concrete information and an unquestionable decision.

"You..." Still in Shadow City, but in the castle's lord's hall, the Twin Moon Knight hesitated as she asked her lord and husband, "Is this believable? Can we...?"

The room where Messermo originally lived was more like a dark room where he isolated himself.

Normally, he would stay in the city and it wouldn't matter to him. But now that Leilana has taken over Shadow City, she needs to adjust her stance and demonstrate her abilities. Therefore, he stayed in the Lord's Hall.

From Lan En's observation, she seemed to be worried about something, but Messermo had clearly made up his mind back on the Blue Coast.

“This is my duty and mission, Leilana.” The cold-blooded piercer explained to his wife, but only briefly, followed by an unquestionable command: “Now, assemble the legion!”

The Twin Moon Knight's exquisite silver helmet lowered, and after a long while, a deep voice came from within: "...Yes."

Leilana walked out with heavy steps, showing none of the elegance and fluidity of the swordsman she had once displayed in Ensis City.

The female knight's commanding voice, sharp and heavy, echoed throughout the gloomy castle.

"Assemble the legions! Drain the parish! Connect the upper and lower levels! Everyone, including lower-ranking soldiers and regular soldiers, prepare!"

The bugle sounded, but the sound, which should have been heroic, sounded mournful in the gloomy city of Shadow City.

Although Shadow City is the main city of the Holy War Army under Messermo's command, its population is still not large, though it is of high quality.

Further troop buildup requires distributing orders to the scattered camps of the Holy War Army throughout the Shadowlands.

Therefore, although the order had been issued, the footsteps coming and going in Shadow City, though frequent, echoed endlessly due to the emptiness.

From the lower levels of the castle, a series of heavy mechanical sounds rang out, followed by the rumbling sound of a large amount of water being drained.

That must be the parish that was flooded earlier, and they are draining the water and redeploying the troops stationed below.

"It takes time to assemble the legion," Messermo's clear, cold voice echoed in the hall. "When we sealed the Spire Tower into the shadows, there was still the Horned People's priesthood and their powerful warriors inside."

“Mikaela, who is now just a soul, can go straight up, but since we want to bring the Spiral Tower back to reality, we have no choice but to fight our way up. After all, how many years has it been? Those horned people certainly won’t just die in the shadows like that.”

"And during this time... I also need to be prepared."

As Messermo spoke, even with his expression remaining largely unchanged, a hint of fatigue appeared. However, Lan En was certain that a trip to the Azure Coast, at most defeating another spirit fire dragon, should not have caused him to appear this way.

But without giving Lann any further opportunity to observe, Messermo turned and walked back to his dark room, leaving only a single sentence behind.

"You may do as you please. When the time comes to attack the Gate of God, it is up to you whether you go or not, but I... have no choice."

(End of this chapter)