Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2088, 2060. Suppressive Force

Messermo's dark red and black smoke and flames instantly covered the top plaza, which was more than half the size of Tower Town.

But there was no sign of relief on his face.

Instead, the moment the flames burst open, the winged snake on his shoulder suddenly raised its head and flicked its tongue upwards.

Messermo himself immediately raised the Piercer Spear in his hand and blocked it horizontally!
"Choke!"

The golden longsword clashed with the black iron spear shaft, producing a metallic buzzing sound!

“I’ve heard of your name in the Shadowlands, the Piercer,” Malenia said, appearing instantly above Messermo. “But you’re weaker than I expected. What did you do?”

Marlenia was very wary, because she had heard about Messermo's power and style, and was therefore even more concerned about where his power had gone and whether it would cause any unforeseen changes.

The reason why Messermo was on edge from the very beginning was because he knew that his initial fireballs hadn't even touched the enemy!

Lann is right, this is an enemy whose fighting style is very similar to his.

He is now extremely weak because he just used his essential fire to burn down the sealed tree!
Aside from having the advantage of the Fire of Messermo, he was indeed slower than her!
Even the agile and winding Messermo Fire is basically no match for Marlene's speed.

Sparks flew as the blade and the gun barrel clashed against each other, and the two men, one tall and one short, stared at each other across their clashing weapons.

This is the first time that the two siblings, who are related by blood, have met each other.

But even at this very first meeting, a life-or-death struggle had already begun!
"Crack!"

Moses suddenly felt a weight on his hand! The Piercer's Spear was almost pressed against his face!
The blade, made of pure gold, had already grazed the winged serpent decoration on his helmet!

But then, as if she could tell that although her opponent was weak, she was still not strong enough to crush him instantly, Marlenia's simple linen dress fluttered in the wind.

The prosthetic foot spun around and kicked towards Messermo's chest and abdomen!

"Oh!"

Messermo is now finding it difficult to keep up with Marlene's movements, who is currently at her peak.

He barely managed to pull his arm back to help defend himself, but before he could even position it properly, he was kicked straight in the forearm!
An explosion erupted between the two. Messermo, already at a disadvantage, was kicked away before he could even get into a proper stance.

The winged snakes that were circling him then stretched out their long bodies, forming a flexible ring that prevented him from crashing into the ground when he flew backwards and drifted.

Finally, Melina quickly positioned herself in the trajectory of Messermo's flight, her cold face contorted with gritted teeth, and managed to bring Messermo to a stop.

Otherwise, this blow would have been enough to send him flying out of the plaza and beyond the spiral tower!
The reason why Malenia didn't use even a little bit more time to attack Messermo after successfully entering a state of suppression was because of what was behind her.

—Lan En charged straight for the Gate of God at the other end of the plaza!
The Gate of God is made up of countless piled-up, climbing skeletons.

Furthermore, these remains have now weathered and hardened, making them appear very fragile.

After all, isn't the entire square now just fine sand made up of these weathered bones?
The Gate of God is majestic and imposing, with only a narrow opening wide enough for one person to pass through. Beyond the opening lies an unobstructed view of the shadowy sky above, with nothing behind it, allowing anyone to see everything clearly at a glance.

It really looks like a pure spectacle decoration.

However, Malenia was not the kind of demigod who studied magic and theology. She was Michaela's blade and did not understand whether the Gate of God could be damaged or what would happen if it were.

But since she's here, she won't allow that to happen under any circumstances.

"Clang!!!"

A sharper, even clearer explosion than the clash of swords and spears earlier suddenly resounded throughout the entire battlefield! It was so loud it made people's eardrums ache!

Now, the pressure on the cochlea is the lightest on Lan En's body.

Aaron Date drew his sword, but in a split second, almost as if struck by a divine inspiration, Lann instinctively blocked it behind his back and around his neck.

In a split second, the violent power and the sharp blade energy struck the long sword across the horizontal bar!
The cool, water-like blade of the Lake Maiden's Sword vibrated at a high frequency, and its originally gentle silver light became dazzling almost instantly.

If Lan En hadn't undergone sweat gland modification, he should have been covered in white sweat by now.

Marlene is too fast!
In that last stab, his hearing and all other senses were completely useless.

In fact, the sound of Messermo's initial attack on Malenia was far slower than his speed could travel through the air.

The sound of him moving through the air almost overlapped with the sound of the subsequent fireball exploding!

Marlenia was much faster than the weakened Messermo!
She had absolutely no intention of concealing her movement trajectory or disrupting the prediction; she was simply fast!

As long as it's fast enough, that's perfectly fine!
The sound couldn't keep up with her, nor could people's vision keep up with her movements, and the scent on her body was completely dissipated in the rapidly moving wind from the very beginning!

The Witcher's keen senses and the Space Marine's enhanced organs were useless against Marlene's speed!
Just now, even Lan En's [Eagle Eye Vision], which he had activated early in the morning, with its radar-like sonar-like wide field of vision, only managed to capture a barely visible afterimage.

Since none of the senses emanating from his body could detect Marlenia's speed, Mentos, as a biochemical intelligence whose reference information was entirely provided by his body, was powerless to change the current situation.

What truly enabled him to block that almost unnoticed strike was... his swordsmanship and martial arts skills themselves!
Through fierce battles and trials, and through his talent and hard work, he absorbed the nourishment of various worlds to develop his martial arts. It was through an almost intuitional feeling that he managed to block the blow!

"Bah!"

A crisp, almost silent sound rang out amidst the echoes of the weapons clashing. Along the extended line of the pure gold prosthetic blade, a delicate crack was sliced ​​into the sand dunes and floating dust.

Even outside this top plaza, the shadowy clouds high in the sky were cut into two uneven clumps by a line.

"You're really serious, aren't you?"

With a flick of his wrist, the Witcher's sword, which had been blocking the back of his neck, smoothly moved in front of him, carrying the blade of Malenia.

The gentle force made it difficult for the opponent to draw their sword and leave directly.

The screeching sound of weapons clashing and rubbing against each other was extremely grating.

Lan En managed a weak smile, but opposite him, the lower half of Marlenia's face beneath her golden winged helmet remained completely unmoved.

“I’ve already said,” the Valkyrie said coldly, “Good luck.”

"呲呲呲!"

The golden light of the blades, like a flurry of butterflies, swirled around the Witcher!

Lan En's figure was almost invisible from the flash of the blade; he was completely enveloped!

The flash of the blade was so fast that only a few times were there the sound of the blade colliding with a hard object, and sparks.

Lann found himself completely unable to keep up with Malenia's pace when she got serious.

So he made a quick decision and stopped worrying about everything except his vital parts.

Reduce the defensive area and concentrate limited resources.

This decision immediately improved Lann's defensive efficiency.

A golden blade of light flew towards the demon hunter's head and face, but in an instant...

Lann didn't have time to make further observations, and Mentos was also unable to make calculations in such a tight timeframe.

He could only rely on his own 'feelings'.

He ignored the attack, because if he took it, the Lake Maiden's Sword in his hand would be unable to return to its aid in the next instant.

The blade of the prosthetic knife gradually pierced into Lann's left cheek.

Fortunately, the location wasn't perfectly straight, so the blade sliced ​​through Lann's skin, subcutaneous fat, and muscle horizontally...

Finally, it extended out and cut off the outer ear of his left ear horizontally.

Fortunately, the wound on his face wasn't deep; it didn't cut through his cheek or hit his teeth.

The next moment, the prosthetic blade, still covered in blood, slashed towards his throat as it retreated at incredible speed.

Lan En's decision from the previous moment is now coming into play.

Although his arm, which had not rashly dealt with the previous attack, was still more than a step slower than Marlenia's overall, his action of guarding the important position still managed to block the prosthetic knife in advance!

Sparks flew everywhere!

Not only was the Lake Woman's sword blocking Marlene's prosthetic blade, but the Smaug armor plates on Lann's body were also intercepting the thin, sharp blade.

However, the Lonely Mountain Dragon Armor, which had always been able to withstand attacks with ease, was now being sliced ​​into pieces by the blade of a golden demigod.

But it did manage to block Marlenia's blade, preventing the attacks from cutting directly into her flesh.

To be honest, Marlenia's prosthetic knife, due to its design, doesn't seem to be good at penetrating armor at all.

Of course, when a demigod's power is compared to that of an ordinary person, why would they need to consider any form or structure?
However, before the gap becomes decisive, advantages and disadvantages will always be apparent in battle.

After Marlenia instantly enveloped Lann in a net of blades, her nerves, which were capable of controlling her own speed, immediately sensed the inadequacy of her blades against such high-level armor.

Naturally, she made a decision that was very familiar to Lan En.

—Just like the choice he would make in this situation.

With superhuman speed and exceptional skill, they bypass the enemy's tough armor and attempt to precisely target the gaps in the opponent's defenses during fast-paced combat.

Marlene and Lann.

Both men's swordsmanship flowed naturally and continuously, like water. Their tactical choices in battle were also identical.

"呲呲呲!"

Several splattering sounds followed one after another, creating a continuous spray of blood!
Large amounts of blood suddenly spurted out from Lan En's joints and the gaps between his armor plates.

(End of this chapter)