Bear School Astartes

Maruk, who was dazzled by the cold white glow of Magic Power, suddenly felt a surge of disgust and jealousy rise in his heart.

Toward the face of the enemy in front of him.

Unconsciously, the sword tip that should have been thrust towards the enemy’s chest, the largest area, with the most organs, the most secure position, suddenly turned towards the Demon Hunter’s face.

Rarely, Maruk revealed an expression of gnashing teeth, a display of substantial emotional fluctuation.

But after thrusting out this sword, the expression disappeared, leaving only shock.

He realized that his mindset was wrong, but it was already too late.

The sword tip thrust toward Lann’s cheek seemed to hit a layer of shield.

With a sound like glass breaking, fragments of the golden Chaos Magic Shield flew everywhere.

However, the strength of the Quen Rune paled in comparison to the sword of the Knight Captain Losric, ultimately shattering its limit with just one strike.

But this did give Lann an opportunity.

He merely tilted his face slightly.

The tip of the Losric Knight Sword swept past his ear.

Only severing a few strands of silver hair.

”Do you hate my face the most?”

The blade was right by his ear, but Lann’s voice remained as lively as ever, even with a hint of oddity.

And the words did not hinder his actions.

As Maruk was about to horizontally slash the thrust-out sword blade, his wrist ’snap’ was suddenly gripped by Lann.

With skillful muscle manipulation, a gentle yet eerie force traveled along the wrist, invading Maruk’s entire body.

With a ”clang,” the armored Knight Captain was swung around in the air as if hit by magic, finally smashing to the ground.

Against armored enemies, wrestling and judo are quite effective.

”Damn...!”

Before the unresponsive Maruk could curse out loud, Lann stomped on the shield held against his chest.

With a ’bang’, the shield and arm were pressed against his chest.

And the Demon Hunter’s Long Blade, spinning smoothly, turned into a reverse grip in the palm.

Then with a sharp, decisive ’schlk’, the tip of the Long Blade accurately pierced through the helm’s grille-like faceplate gap of the knight.

A spray of blood burst out of the helmet’s grille, and the body stomped by Lann along with the shield first stiffened abruptly, then became weak, with only a few twitches remaining.

The hand holding the knife handle gently drew upwards, the blade and the helmet’s grille making a metallic friction sound.

Looking to the side, the battle had essentially calmed down.

The addition of Lorenzo, the elite knight, greatly strengthened the Fire Transmission faction’s power, and with a Greatsword, he single-handedly cut down at least seven or eight former comrades.

Originally, Maruk, relying on smearing that strange black liquid on the Knight Captain, could still maintain the upper hand.

After dealing with the Knight Captain, facing Lorenzo, his odds were not small.

But now, he was already on the ground.

So those loyal to the Prince’s knights were now being quickly slaughtered.

With a smooth spin of the reverse-gripped knife handle in hand, Lann swung it to the ground, splattering the blood entirely on the ground, leaving a chilling splattered bloodstain.

He sheathed Aron Dite.

Most of these Losric Knights who had just finished fighting had not seen him before, hoping that such an action of sheathing would ease the tense nerves of the knights somewhat.

The move indeed proved effective.

Though those finished with combat Losric Knights were still panting and gripping sword hilts tightly, they did not immediately attack the unfamiliar Lann.

Until Lorenzo had also dealt with his last opponent.

”He’s not an enemy, just a witness dragged into this.”

Among the standing Losric Knights, the highest ranked and most powerful spoke, and the others ceased action, putting their weapons away.

Lorenzo walked to Lann: ”What happened to the Captain? I just saw he’s completely out of state.”

”It should be poisoning or something else terrible. Anyway, the wound is not clean.”

Lann cautiously chose his words and briefly explained the situation to Lorenzo.

”I think he might... be prepared.”

Lorenzo pursed his lips without saying anything, just nodding, carrying his Greatsword and walking to the Knight Captain’s side.

The Captain, who just met with an imposing and powerful demeanor, even struggled to lean against the wall to stabilize himself at this moment.

Members of the Losric Knight Order all gathered around.

Though Death in this world is too common to be as prominent as in other worlds, the respect it deserves is here too.

One by one, Losric Knights knelt halfway toward the wall-rooted Knight Captain.

At this moment, Lann, however, walked towards Priestess Emma, who had been casting recovery ”miracles” on the battlefield all along.

Under the hood of the priestly robe, Priestess Emma, though not quite understanding why Lann approached, still spoke with a priestly demeanor.

”Thank you for your aid at this critical moment, an act of justice and nobility beyond question.”

”Not quite,” Lann said as he took out an envelope. ”It’s not an unconditional offer of assistance, Priestess Emma.”

It was a letter Klimte had given him, and Lann’s action did not avoid anyone present.

The previous reason for not presenting it upon meeting Priestess Emma was not knowing where these knights stood.

During the time he met with Priestess Emma, there were always Losric Knights present.

But now, Losric has erupted into civil war; regardless of what position these knights held before, they now stand alongside Priestess Emma.

There’s nothing to be secretive about anymore.

”Klimte? I remember...”

Priestess Emma confirmed the writer solely by looking at the cursive handwriting on the envelope; it seems they are indeed acquaintances.

”Were you involved in the riot on the city’s entry bridge?”

Immediately, Priestess Emma raised a reasonable question.

After all, it was a little too coincidental.

The rioters had Red Worm Pills from the Profound Church, and the witnesses brought here were from the Profound Church.

But Lann shook his head: ”That’s purely coincidental. The Red Worm Pills must have leaked out during the time Archbishop Klimte couldn’t control the Profound Church. I suggest you look at the contents first.”

Priestess Emma glanced at the knights who were kneeling on one knee before the captain, and finally opened the letter.

After reading through Klimte’s letter, she roughly understood the circumstances.

”The Subterranean Bishops had long been corrupted by faith, and Elderidge was not transported to the Fire Transmission Altar after awakening...”

Priestess Emma pressed her forehead with her aged hand inside her hood, her tone weary.

”Bad news one after another. We were too neglectful of the abnormalities at the Profound Church.”

”But fortunately, we have three other Lords of Cinder to support us through these tough times.”

”Are you planning to take Geside back to the Profound Church now? It’s indeed a good idea, we all sympathize with the Queen’s plight. This time the two Princes have done such things, there’s no reason to let them cause further trouble.”

Lann shrugged at this.

He was initially worried that the action of rescuing Geside might disrupt Losric’s Fire Transmission Ceremony.

It turned out that the greatest difficulty in the ceremony came from the Royal Family itself.

”But now, the most crucial thing is to continue the First Flame.”

Priestess Emma’s aged voice followed closely.

At this time, Lorenzo, who was originally half-kneeling before the Knight Captain, stood up and said a few words to the knights who were half-kneeling, before walking over.

As he walked toward Priestess Emma, he revealed the ring on his hand with an air of decisiveness.

Yet in those slightly red eyes, anger and sadness were being suppressed, but still faintly emerged.

Like silently flowing lava—calm yet terrifying.

The ring imprinted with a white knight’s side silhouette used to be worn on the knight captain’s hand.

”I am now the Losric Knight Order Captain, Priestess.”

Emma first looked at the motionless knight captain leaning against the wall in the distance, then nodded to Lorenzo.

”Greetings to you, Knight Captain.”

Lorenzo first noticed the slightly familiar relationship between Lann and Priestess Emma.

Once he confirmed they were on the same side, their interaction shifted subtly from the prior unfamiliarity.

And Lann and Priestess Emma did not try to hide this alliance, making it easy for Lorenzo to perceive.

”It seems our witness has other identities?”

He first stared at Lann as he spoke, then shook his head.

”But at this point, any division other than the transmission of fire can be set aside.”

”Thank you for understanding.” Lann nodded to Lorenzo from beside the priestess. ”Previously, I couldn’t clearly determine our stances, but now it’s much better.”

Lorenzo nodded in response and then looked at Priestess Emma.

”What should we do now?”

As the two highest-ranking individuals on site began discussing strategy, the knights who had been half-kneeling to pay respects to the former knight captain’s corpse started to rise.

Seemingly following certain traditions of Losric, these knights began severing the heads of the knights who had died in battle just now.

Then they placed their bodies leaning against the wall.

Without distinguishing between friend and foe.

The knight captain’s body was treated with the utmost respect; they positioned him in a devout kneeling stance, placing his head on his knees, held by his hands.

This reflects the sacrificial spirit of the Losric Knights.

In the city, quite a few roadside sculptures depict this type of image.

Others depict a kneeling knight propping his sword, brushing his neck for self-judgment.

In a world heavily imbued with the scent of death, Lann found himself somewhat unsurprised by such death rituals.

”Should we immediately strike back at the Inner City? All elite forces of the Knight Order are at the Dragon Training Ground in the Inner City.”

”The clergy in my church will provide assistance; maybe the church knights guarding King Ausloes will help too? As the personal guards of His Majesty, they should contribute in this impending era of upheaval.”

As the two discussed their respective forces and the enemy’s strength, Lann interjected.

”Instead of talking about attacking the Inner City... shouldn’t you first look at this?”

”Hm?”

Lorenzo voiced a strange question.

But immediately, a series of sounds of Losric Knights drawing their swords from the scabbards resonated with a ’sshhh’ sound.