Bear School Astartes

Chapter 879: Chapter 862: Torn Tongue

However, in the silent atmosphere, Leonard slowly raised the crescent-curved sword in his hand, the blade on the outside of the crescent arc pointing towards Lann and Rong Buqiu.

”Let’s set other things aside for now...”

A calm and steady voice came from beneath the silver mask.

”Can you explain where this talking cat and that horse outside came from? In the time you went to fetch a bucket of water, not only did you find two traveling companions, but you also attracted a wolf possessor. Can you give an explanation?”

”Otherwise, I can only assume you are filthy scum who sneaked in with ill intentions towards the Goddess.”

By now, Rong Buqiu had already wiped his sword clean, sensing the situation was amiss, looked up at Lann.

Meanwhile, the Demon Hunter lowered his blade, indicating he had no ill intent.

”You’re being a bit too sensitive, Leonard. Rong Buqiu and that horse outside were always with me; I am just a traveler lost here, remember?”

”For Rosalie, I will always be this sensitive. I will eliminate anything that could possibly harm her.”

Leonard spoke unemotionally under the silver mask.

At the same time, Lann noticed a faint blue-green light illuminating the crescent-shaped blade.

”Stop.”

A gloomy, deep voice sounded from behind Leonard.

Archbishop Klimte approached nearby, still followed by the two iron-tower-like church knights.

Leonard’s silver mask turned slightly, but he did not obediently lower the sword in his hand.

From the tone between the Archbishop and Leonard, it was clear there was a difference in their ranks. However, from Leonard’s actions, this hierarchy did not hold much sway over him.

The Archbishop said nothing further, just quietly observing the corpse of the wolf possessor on the ground.

After a brief glance, he silently raised his head to question the few people who had dealt with this creature.

”Are you certain... that its eyes emitted a horrifying red glow just now?”

Rong Buqiu, Lann, and Leonard all nodded.

The Demon Hunter keenly noticed that after they affirmed, the face under the Archbishop’s graying beard lightly twitched.

As if trying to suppress an emotional reaction after hearing some certainly unfortunate news.

Those red eyes signify certain issues, and Klimte clearly does not wish others to know about these problems.

Lann quietly speculated in his mind.

And indeed, he was correct.

”Just a stray fish that slipped through the net, sneaking out of the abandoned fortress’s wall cracks, nothing to worry about.”

Klimte said in a toneless voice that no one believed.

”Put the weapon down, Leonard.”

Now, many people in the camp were watching.

After all, this was the point of chaos eruption, and it seemed like the ’chaos’ had not yet ended.

Klimte wasn’t deliberately speaking for Lann; he just urgently needed to suppress the lingering issues to prevent attention on matters no one should know about.

Lann recognized this, and slightly smirked, summoning the Qilin with the magic ring to his side.

Since the Archbishop wanted to quickly settle the matter, it was best to take this opportunity to have the Qilin and Rong Buqiu join the convoy.

”These are my previously lost horse and friend.”

Klimte looked and, indeed, said nothing more, just nodded.

Leonard, on the other hand, exhaled a long breath under the silver mask, and only then lowered the blade that was faintly glowing blue-green.

”I will report today’s events to Rosalie.”

He still seemed fixated on anything that might harm the Goddess.

”Yes, do report.”

After casting a glance at him, Klimte instructed the two church knights behind him to lift the corpse on the ground and head towards the Goddess’s carriage.

”Even if you didn’t, I would inform the Goddess.”

Later, Lann sat by the campfire with Rong Buqiu and the Qilin.

Under the glow of the flames, these two seemed noticeably calmer. Though they occasionally cast wary glances into the distant darkness, their minds were much clearer.

Meanwhile, Lann discreetly observed the commotion near the center of the camp, around the Goddess’s carriage.

Klimte and Leonard knelt before the Goddess, expressing their views.

When the church knights brought forward the corpse of the wolf possessor, it seemed Rosalie already knew the background and cause of the incident.

Yet from start to finish, she said nothing, merely hanging her head in sorrow.

Finally, the severed corpse of the wolf possessor was taken by the church knights to be burned.

But such handling was indeed unreasonable, something even an outsider like Lann, who just learned a bit about the undead, knew.

The Falan Undead Team is composed of undead soldiers, with these wolf possessors likely being those who failed a trial.

But burning the undead does not ensure complete death, nor does it delay revival.

Only bleeding them and preserving the body can delay the resurrection process. Burning the undead only lets them resurrect as usual.

The ’red eyes’ of that corpse must be a unique feature. Precisely because of this, Klimte was forced to use such a method.

Once again, Lann silently confirmed his view in his mind.

Beside the camp, in the ruins occupied by the mages of Pheim Dragon Academy, some sentries noticed the changes here.

However, they seemed uninterested in getting involved no matter how things developed, so they only peeked over the wall and no longer cared about the events here.

”Relax, child, relax.”

As Lann was pondering, he heard the sound of something crawling on the ground beside him.

Turning his head, it was a maggot man using his hands to crawl over the ground towards him.

His facial features had already melted indistinctly like wax during the process of ’rebirth,’ but at least they still retained some basic functionality.

His speech, however, was a bit muffled as though something was caught in his throat.

Rong Buqiu gave a yowl and leapt onto Lann’s back, while the qilin also stood up from its comfortable prone position with a start.

”Oh, it seems my appearance frightened you? I’m really sorry.”

The maggot man surprisingly made Lann feel a sense of friendliness.

So the demon hunter tried hard to overcome the visual discomfort.

Lann did not want to be someone who judges by appearance, but satisfying one’s visual senses is ingrained in biological instincts, thus he could only rely on his will to overcome this instinct.

Luckily, through training in [Deep Memory Diving], Lann had been doing this for a long time in order to combat the perfection-seeking nature of the sons of the emperor.

He comforted Rong Buqiu and the qilin, and shifted closer to the maggot man.

”Do you know anything? About the wolf possessor?”

”Know?” The maggot man propped his body up with his hands, trying hard to lift his mass of flesh, and shook his head.

”How would I know about such things? I just sensed unease in your minds.”

”Indeed.” Lann did not argue. ”Darkness, and the creatures in the darkness, who can be at ease meeting them?”

”But don’t worry, for we are with the goddess, young one.”

The maggot man seemed tired from propping up his body and thus lay down on his face speaking.

”The [Mother of Rebirth] will bless us, for she is merciful and generous.”

”What’s the worst that could happen? At most, you’d become like me, and it’ll be fine after a while.”

The maggot man appeared quite optimistic, making him the first upbeat individual Lann encountered since arriving in this world.

”Although I really do look quite scary, haha.”

Saying so, the maggot man amused himself, laughing and gasping.

”So, are you here to sell me on faith? Preacher?”

Lann then jested with the maggot man.

”Preacher? I don’t have the tongue for it. Rosalie is right over there, and her deeds will be visible to you. You will know that her compassion and gentleness deserve the love of all creation.”

The maggot man lay on the ground, raising his hands, making a gesture perhaps akin to a ’shrug.’

”If you see it with your own eyes yet still don’t believe, what use would my words be? If they were indeed effective, wouldn’t I be mightier than the goddess, haha!”

The maggot man’s optimistic demeanor made Lann feel very comfortable, so he leaned closer and quietly asked.

”I’m a bit curious though, like... what does your body eventually turn into?”

”What will we become? Haha, angels!”

The maggot man didn’t mind at all as Lann pointed at his tail and hesitated, openly showing himself.

”Angels?”

”Once we metamorphose, we will regain a human form, taller, stronger, and we will grow wings with white feathers, capable of flight. That form is what we call an [Angel].”

”In fact, my metamorphosis is almost complete, which is why I found the heart to come and console you.”

Saying this, the maggot man’s palms emitted a pure white light, different from the holy light emitted by the clergy moments ago. Accompanying the white light were white feathers that drifted and disappeared in sync with the light.

”What is this?”

Lann curiously observed the scene, while Rong Buqiu also peeked out half its face from behind him, equally curious.

”This is an [Miracle] belonging to angels, only I didn’t have the talisman or sacred bell. Without a catalyst, the magic cannot be activated.”

The maggot man nonchalantly replied.

”This [Miracle] is a tale told by angels to Saint Gecide, which the saint then organized and propagated.”

[Miracle], this magic is a kind of ’story’? A system relying on telling, knowing, and believing in stories to cast magic... Truly a wondrous system.

Lann marveled at the new knowledge and summarized per the maggot man’s words.

”So, the Rosalie Goddess can allow people to be reborn as angels, and the angels then tell stories to Saint Gecide?”

”That’s probably how it is.” The maggot man waved his hand, ”For more specifics, it’s a tale among the divine beings, who can truly tell?”

”It’s just a pity about the goddess’s initial suffering.”

”The goddess’s suffering?”

Lann asked, puzzled.

The maggot man did not shy away; he clasped his hands together, bowing toward the goddess’s carriage, speaking softly.

”The initial followers seeking ’rebirth’ were agitated and anxious, and after turning into maggots they were outraged and, along with those frightened yet still unreborn believers... they tore out the goddess’s tongue, making it impossible for her to speak now.”