Bear School Astartes

Chapter 396: 396. Old thing!

”The cycle of Yan’an time... do you know what’s going on?”

Lann’s surprise was written all over his face.

He had envisioned many scenarios, such as flipping through ancient tomes filled with tales of Ancient Gods, ultimately finding a clue about an Ancient God of ’time’.

Or perhaps, while he searched for the truth about the time loop, human worshippers of this Ancient God would come to him, urging him to stop this blasphemous act, then a bloody confrontation would ensue...

The one thing he never expected was—the answer would appear so easily!

”Ah, I know, I know, you are somewhat surprised now.”

The old man spoke softly, calmly, without a ripple in his tone.

”The entity causing the time loop is a ’spider’, and the web woven by the ’spider’ can trap time, even making it flow backward. My student—Rom, he trusted me wholeheartedly, so I was able to help him become the ’spider’ capable of trapping time.”

”As a result, he is akin to Carlisle’s rune, the highest masterpiece of Byron Vis’s research.”

Lann listened, bewildered, to the old man’s words before him.

Behind his dazed appearance, a wave of surprise surged like a tumultuous sea.

”Are you saying... you made your student... into an Ancient God capable of controlling time?”

Lann was astonished because he truly had once shared a drink with an otherworldly demon capable of stopping time.

He clearly understood just how absurd such an ability was.

But now, a frail old man was casually claiming he ’created’ a ’god’ capable of manipulating time!

”But why?”

The young man asked in confusion.

”Why did you make your student, that ’spider’, make Yan’an’s time repeat over and over?”

Lann decided to temporarily believe Master William’s words; throughout his journey, he had discovered.

The world Yan’an inhabits might have a cosmology vastly different from the worlds he previously visited. He should not quickly dismiss the idea that humans could create Ancient Gods.

But having his student control time repeatedly... this laborious behavior must have some reason, right?

”Because performing the rituals requires a special lunar phase, and to prevent all the rituals, the lunar phase must no longer change.”

”All Ancient Gods desire children of their own, and if those rituals continue tonight, the divine incarnation will become inevitable.”

Incarnation here refers to beings of surpassing material nature obtaining physical forms on earth. The birth of a divine child is also a form of incarnation.

”The gods wanting divine children, that seems reasonable. Why make such an effort to stop them?”

Lann still had a head full of questions.

Master William appeared to be very patient.

As expected, his student could already control time; patience for him was infinite.

”The gods all desire divine children, but they also harbor jealousy and hatred towards the Ancient Gods who manage to obtain them. If one Ancient God succeeds, then what Yan’an receives will not be liberation, but countless curses from deranged Ancient Gods. Because the Yan Nan People helped an Ancient God gain a child of its own.”

So either let all Ancient Gods have divine children, or let none of them succeed.

Considering how complicated the divine child’s birth ritual must be, the second choice is undoubtedly more suitable.

Lann somewhat understood the significance of Master William’s decision to have time repeat endlessly.

”Then why did you say, ’If I want to end the time loop, just jump from here’? Aren’t you supposed to avoid breaking the loop?”

Lann’s brows slightly furrowed.

The cycle of time resides in that ’spider’ which traps time, and if breaking this loop only requires a word, Master William shouldn’t have any use for him.

Meaning... does he have to take action?

The old man’s serene voice paused for a while before continuing.

”Go and kill Rom, outsider. This night and nightmare have lasted too long.”

”You want me to kill your student? Not to mention whether I have the ability to kill an Ancient God, but you... truly want to kill a student who became a god because of your command?”

”Yes. Kill him.”

All hesitation seemed to have been overcome in the previous silence, and the old man’s gentle tone carried no pause.

”The consciousness he possessed as a human has vanished during the ascent process. Rom turning into a ’spider’ isn’t a mark of Byron Vis’s theory success, but merely a phase verification of research results, so he didn’t retain his own consciousness. The cycle of time is merely the inertia left from when he was still human.”

”Thus, to break free from the loop, he must be killed.”

”You have the ability to kill him, outsider. Once you see him, you’ll understand. Although the power of Ancient Gods is immense, they can still be killed... they can be killed by you.”

Lann regarded the old man with skepticism, his posture of folded arms expressing his distrust and resistance.

”Your words are cloudy and vague; you still haven’t made it clear why you’re deciding to end the time loop now. How many times has this loop persisted, and why open it this time?”

The old man did not answer again; he just rocked slowly in his chair, his staff pointing to the massive moon outside the terrace.

And beneath the moon, the dark waters of a lake.

Lann suddenly had a foreboding feeling.

Wait... how long has it been since Henrik last spoke?

Where has he gone?

Upon this realization, Lann suddenly felt the ground drop from beneath him and gravity seized his body, pulling him downward.

Looking down, where was the terrace?

He somehow had walked off the terrace without knowing!

In the final moment before falling, Lann turned his head to look behind him, seeing the old man on the rocking chair, quietly clutching his staff, lying there.

”You son of a... uagh!”

This old bastard relied on his high [Spiritual Vision] to play dirty!

Before he could even curse out ’old bastard’, Lann plunged directly into the lake surface.

But as the Demon Hunter braced for the impact of a fall into water, he suddenly found he seemed to pass through a membrane of water, and then continued to fall.

After passing through the lake, about ten meters down, a peculiar lake surface appeared before him.

Lann still didn’t hit the water; the eerily calm surface allowed him to stand right on it!

No impact from falling, nor any damage from the fall.

It seemed as if the laws of physics no longer applied here.

Apart from the lake surface, everything else was a vast white expanse.

Lann didn’t have much time to hesitate, knowing that he was thrown down by that old bastard to confront an Ancient God.

Lann immediately pulled out his Magic Potion set from the alchemy pouch at his lower back.

[Lightning], [Blizzard], [Swallow], [Maribo Forest].

He drained the contents of the carefully crafted glass bottles in one gulp, and the toxicity of the four magic potions started exerting its effects within his body.