Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2091, Section 2063: You Lost

A shout originating from the [Sword Qi] caused Marlenia's previously flowing swordsmanship to suddenly experience a slight pause.

The sense of disorientation was fleeting, like an illusion, but to the Witcher who had focused all his mind and will to the peak at this moment, the gap in the sword technique was simply dazzling!
In an instant, after his roar, Lan En reached his hand straight into the chaotic flashes of blades in front of him.

In an instant, the slender blade collided with Smaug's bone-white armor plates, creating a series of dense sparks.

The leather lining inside the armor was tattered and torn, but Lann's hand, amidst the dense, almost agonizing cuts, still managed to grip Marlenia's injured left shoulder!

"Pfft!"

"Well!"

With a tightening of his hand and the contraction of his tendon coils, the Valkyrie's left shoulder, which had already been opened by Messermo with a deep gash that revealed the bone, was now forced to spurt out another stream of blood.

Marlenia let out a muffled groan at this moment, and her movements became even more distorted.

Lann's movements were skillful and rhythmic, drawing on his familiarity with Malenia's body structure, which he had accumulated through repeated clashes.

His palm forcefully applied the most precise and penetrating pain to the Valkyrie's wound, forcing her to rotate in accordance with the movement of his palm.

Lann's skills and familiarity with Malenia's body were indeed quite good, but such skills were not particularly difficult for the Valkyrie.

Marlene had studied the art of using pain to force the enemy to adjust their position.

It was just that the initial shock and pain struck at the same time, and she didn't have time to adjust her nerves or force herself to adapt to this sudden pain.

That's why I followed Lan En's hand and took a step.

However, her speed advantage remains.

Lann's reactions couldn't keep up with her body. If she calmed down and made adjustments, given her speed, the Witcher shouldn't have been able to capture her at all!
From Marlene's perspective, Lann and Messermo are now moving in slow motion.

She was indeed temporarily captured, but she was prepared to have a piece of flesh torn off her shoulder in order to extricate herself from the crisis and rebuild a battlefield situation with speed as the advantage.

But at this moment...

"Crack!"

Beneath the winged helmet, Malenia's eyes suddenly widened!

An attack, coming from behind—a place she had never paid attention to before—slashed at her with lightning speed from the back of her two thighs!

It would have only taken a moment longer! Just a moment longer! Marlenia could have broken free of Lann's grip and immediately detected the attack from behind!
With that attack speed, it shouldn't have even touched her!
But now, because of the moment she was restrained, her prosthetic leg was attacked from behind!

Who was it, and when?!

Marlenia couldn't see behind her, and in fact, Lann wouldn't allow this dangerous enemy any free time to pay attention to what was behind him.

A golden blade flashed and slashed at Malenia's prosthetic thigh from behind.

In the direction from which the blade flashed, Melina leaped lightly into the air, a short sword in her hand gleaming with golden light.

It's unclear what connection Marlenia's flowing swordsmanship has with sorcerers and rare people.

But without a doubt, the way Melina and the black-knife assassins leaped up and slashed outwards was very similar to Marlenia's swordsmanship.

Melina, of course, couldn't possibly react to the Valkyrie's speed.

In reality, from the moment Marlenia started her attack until now, only four or five seconds had passed.

All offense and defense happen in the blink of an eye.

Facing a speedster, this is the norm in battle.

Melina's move, however, requires almost a second just for the prelude of jumping.

Although she was Queen Marika's avatar and daughter in her final moments, she was not the type to excel in combat, at least compared to other demigods.

Therefore, it is impossible that she seized this fleeting opportunity and took advantage of Malenia's momentary hesitation because of tactical foresight and wisdom.

Someone else orchestrated all of this.

Melina's golden blade flashed from behind, slashing at Marlenia's legs. The impact completely shattered the already unstable Flowing Sword Technique.

Marlenia's attack was completely interrupted.

Lan En's arm was still clinging to the Valkyrie's injured left shoulder.

Melina couldn't seize the opportunity, and she wasn't fast enough. Therefore, from the very beginning, Lan En directly instructed her to attack in his direction!
I forced Marlenia to move a bit just now in order to adjust the landing point of the golden blade light!

"Messermo!"

The situation was urgent, and Marlenia's defeat was such a precious opportunity that Lann couldn't help but shout out loud.

The piercer, who had been tossed aside by Lann like a corpse and remained motionless, suddenly leaped up from the sand dune!

Even with only the spine and back muscles still connecting to the lower body, Messermo still managed to stomp the sand dune with the reaction force after pushing off the ground, making it explode like a wave shooting backward.

The massive shadow cast by that burst of sandstorm covered almost half of the town below!
"Crack!" The Piercer's Spear pierced straight into Marlenia's right prosthetic knee from the side!

Even a prosthetic limb made of pure gold could not withstand the immense power of another demigod.

Instantly, the various precision components and metal plates shattered amidst a series of collisions and metallic deformation sounds.

Marlenia's right leg, below the knee, suddenly separated from her body.

The clanging of metal echoed within the cavity of the prosthesis, distorted into a grotesque wail that made one's teeth ache.

On the other hand, Lan En was more direct.

With a 'whoosh', Aaron Dett, holding the weapon in one hand, slashed into Marlenia's left leg from the side.

Marlenia's right leg was completely lost due to necrosis, so it was entirely a prosthesis.

Her left leg is in slightly better condition; only her lower leg and below are prosthetics.

At that moment, Lan En struck Marlene's shinbone directly.

Because Melina's golden blade was slashing diagonally, part of it struck the back of Marlenia's left calf due to the angle.

Using the force of the previous slash, the Witcher smoothly severed half of Marlenia's prosthetic lower leg.

Unlike when Messermo attacked, the golden prosthetic limb did not disintegrate under external pressure; instead, the cut was smooth and neat.

The right leg is missing only the thigh, while the left leg is missing the foot and half of the calf.

Although the left leg appears to be less injured, the difference in leg length can actually hinder the smoothness of bodily movement.

The body's movement structure is a whole, and the more advanced the movement skills, the more emphasis is placed on this point, and the more this point is practiced.

Even in the modern kinematics of Lan En's home world, the concept of 'kinetic chain' is commonly used.

By treating the various musculoskeletal components as chain parts, and analyzing the sequential transmission and increase/decrease of force in each part during a movement, the process of force generation in motion can be obtained.

Marlenia's ability to develop such martial arts skills despite her severe physical disabilities was already a testament to her exceptional talent and hard work.

This also includes the prosthetic limbs that Michaela crafted specifically for her using the power of the sacred tree, possessing extremely high technical skill. It allows her to exert her full strength while maintaining precision and stability.

But now, regardless of the injuries to her shoulder and left arm, the disability in her two legs alone is enough to severely hinder Marlenia's movements!

Her power exertion was no longer precise, and she could no longer be as decisive and free as before.

Consequently, her running speed was greatly reduced. Her attack speed was also significantly decreased due to the impaired fluidity of her body movements.

Although he was still faster than the weakened Messermo, the difference was already very obvious compared to her performance just now.

And even now, Lan En shows no sign of letting go!
"you lose!"

The Witcher gripped the other's injured left shoulder tightly and shouted at Marlene.

Under the pressure of his hand, the wound on Malenia's shoulder visibly worsened. The bone beneath the flesh was about to burst through the wound.

Meanwhile, the two men continued to clash with their long swords without pause.

When Lan En was swept into Marlenia's flowing net of blades, it felt as if he had truly sunk into the water, the fine blade light penetrating and enveloping him completely.

His face, his body peeking out from the gaps in his armor... were all sliced ​​to pieces in an instant!

But now, blood is still hanging on his skin and armor, flowing freshly, but the wounds hidden beneath the blood are already closing and healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The intense battle greatly stimulated the enhanced organs in Lann's body. The Witcher's physique already has a very good self-healing ability after being stimulated by the magic potion, and with the addition of the [Belissau Forge].

Therefore, Lan En's body was almost entirely covered in blood in no time, with no visible wounds.

And that's not all.

"Wow~"

A flash of golden light appeared, and Melina stood far away near the huge archway that led them to the top of the plaza, having just risen from her kneeling position in prayer.

As she stood up, the prayer was completed.

A massive golden tree emblem spread out from Melina's center, covering a plaza roughly the size of half of Tower Town.

Prayer for the Restoration of the Golden Tree!
It is a spell from the same era as the "Blessing of Grace" that Prince Godwin cast.

However, this spell is more advanced.

In an instant, a massive amount of life force surged into the bodies of allies within range.

At the same time, golden light emanated from Lann and Messermo, indicating that they had received magical power.

(End of this chapter)