Bear School Astartes

The Female Hunter, who should have already left the research hall, following the Old Hunters’ main force to a place outside Yan’an for a major hunt, is now standing before Lann with a blade in hand.

The blades are crossed.

It’s a very beautiful sword.

But its beauty is of a different kind than Lann’s Lady of the Lake’s Sword.

Even Aron Dite, just by its appearance, carries a sort of sunny and noble beauty. Placed anywhere, it wouldn’t feel out of place, and would only be seen as an extraordinary piece of art.

However, Maria’s sword suits her very well, as does the entirety of Yan’an.

It possesses a gloomy yet luxurious beauty. Like a nobility that has been eliminated by the times but still indulges in the glory of the past.

The blade’s shape is similar to Aron Dite’s, with a sleek yet not excessive curve, except the guard is the hemisphere guard commonly used in dueling swords.

Attached after the sword’s pommel is a short blade, transforming it into the style of a Double-Headed Sword.

[Falling Leaves].

Maria’s exclusive weapon, which she brought from her hometown Cainhurst.

But unlike the usual weapons favored by Blood Nobility, [Falling Leaves] doesn’t require the power of blood; it values the user’s skill and quality instead.

This is also one of the signs of Maria’s disagreement with the views of her collateral relatives.

This is the first time Lann has seen the weapon at Maria’s waist unsheathed.

”It truly sends a chill down your spine...”

On the gloomy blade, as if stained with old blood, Lann squinted slightly as he looked into the eyes of the opposite.

And facing the Demon Hunter’s sentiment, Maria’s beautiful and cold expression under the shadow of her tricorn now seemed full of danger.

”Who exactly are you?”

She repeated her question.

”The [Acceleration Technique] you displayed just now... It’s hard to find another in all of Yan’an like it. And what you are doing right now.”

Maria quickly yet cautiously scanned with icy eyes the patient on the iron sickbed beside, and swiftly shifted back to Lann.

”What were you planning to do to him just now?”

”I only wanted to help him.”

Lann’s tone was calm, but his brow had already creased slightly, and his left hand was also pressed onto the hilt of the Lady of the Lake’s Sword at his waist.

”The church is the one helping him! And you...” For once, Maria’s usually indifferent voice now carried a rare fluctuation. ”Harbor ill intentions!”

’Whoosh’!

The gloomy and flamboyant Female Hunter vanished like smoke! The single-shoulder cape at her side trembled in the tumultuous motion!

[Acceleration Technique]!

The Yan Nan Hunters admire supersonic attack and defense transitions, achieving this with their astonishingly fast evasion.

Rapidly exploding exaggerated speed over not-so-long distances.

And the [Acceleration Technique] is the ultimate refinement of this skill, honed day and night by Old Hunters lost in the hunt!

The moment Maria disappeared, Lann almost simultaneously super-speed evaded backward!

”Clang!”

The dust spun up by the [Acceleration Technique] hadn’t yet settled, followed by the burst of a ring-shaped scattering of sparks in another direction!

[Climbing Carp]!

The shimmering Lady of the Lake’s Sword clashed with the gloomy and luxurious blade of [Falling Leaves].

Lann’s backward sprint with the same trajectory as the opponent’s charge drastically reduced their relative speed.

Enabling him almost effortlessly, to suppress the opponent’s thrust with the sudden flash of his blade.

”The sword is fast, but with techniques so impressive I must admit as exceptional, your breathing is erratic.”

The Demon Hunter held the sword single-handedly, slightly lowering his head, drawing closer to Maria’s face, and looked at her with profound meaning.

”Why is it that someone with such technique cannot control their breath...?”

”It’s because... you intend to harm the patients here!” Maria faintly clenched her teeth, ”The Healing Church is their only hope to survive! And you aim to destroy it!”

Maria now confirmed that her previous sense of terrifying oppression from Lann was not at all an illusion!

This man’s power... is like a terrifying beast!

Lann stood high, the brim of his tricorn blocking him from seeing Maria’s full face.

But with a clinking sound, the spark of Yan’an’s Transformable Weapon abruptly flashed in the mechanical shifting clatter!

The short blade originally attached to the tail of the Long Blade was smoothly dismantled by the Female Hunter, then the long and short combined, ready to skillfully break free from Lann’s suppression.

The blades interlocked, their positions, the pressure angle shifted back and forth in their sword fight.

The blades of the two long blades scraped, sparking iron sparks.

This process lasted about two seconds.

The reason it lasted only two seconds was that Lann had already retreated.

And curiously, Maria, who was aggressive just moments ago, now froze completely in her striking posture, unmoving.

”If you’re just trying to vent, to mask your panic with actions, then I can only play along with you up to this point.”

The Demon Hunter acted as if the situation of clashing blades earlier never happened, calmly sheathing Aron Dite at his waist, speaking in a deep voice to Maria.

”There’s no issue with self-deception when you’re out of control, but if you continue like this, I think staying here will only get in my way; you’d better avoid it.”

After speaking, Lann picked up a brass syringe from the experiment table again, passing by the frozen Maria without a glance, and headed towards the patient on the steel sickbed.

The brass needle was inserted into the patient’s withered arm, then painstakingly drew out a bit of thick, grayish-white blood.

Behind Lann, there came a ’creak’ sound.

Lann knew it was the sound of leather gloves squeezing and rubbing against the metal hilt due to excessive force.

Then followed the sound of a weapon being put away.

”I thought... I thought these patients would really get better here.” While Lann struggled to draw blood, he listened to the voice behind him.

Maria’s voice still carried an unusual emotional fluctuation, but it wasn’t anger as before, rather bitterness.

”I thought... as long as the patients here could endure, they’d improve somewhat, at least better than waiting to die outside.”

Lann’s hand, holding the syringe, paused for a moment, then resumed smoothly, pulling the needle from the patient’s arm.

He knew that in this research hall, not many genuinely cared about the patients.

And those patients, when they suffered so much on the sickbed that they wanted to harm themselves, or just simply die, still curled up in bed, calling Maria’s name.

For patients who are nearly worse than dead to remember and chant like this... Lann found it hard to believe that Maria didn’t genuinely care for them.

But precisely because Maria cared about those patients, it was hardest for her after barging into a lab she never entered before, seeing this scene.

Who could say that the clergy cared about patients’ lives after seeing the scene in this lab?

If it were truly ’inevitable life loss during the research and exploration of the plague’, even Maria could accept such a statement.

She would be sad but could understand.

But now... the patients’ bodies were thrown on the floor like discarded pillows! No respect, no regret.

They were simply used as mere objects, discarded and replaced when spent!

If only she had taken a look! Just seen inside this locked lab, separated by merely a door!

Maria bit her lip, her hand in leather gloves unconsciously placed on her chest, gripping her clothes tightly.

”This is not your fault.”

Holding the syringe, Lann walked steadily past the dazed Maria, returning beside the experiment table.

”You trusted the Church, and you don’t understand this knowledge, so you could only place hope in them... This isn’t your fault.”

”But I’m the one who comforted them, told them to endure, gave them hope, hoping to heal them here. In the end, it only resulted in... more painful deaths.”

Maria’s cold voice carried a slight tremor, speaking in a low tone.

After a brief silence, she took a deep breath.

The breath seemed to draw all the strange medicinal smells and the blood scent of patients in the lab into her lungs deeply.

After breathing, Maria’s voice returned to its usual emotionally detached manner.

”I apologize for my impulsiveness.”

To compose oneself so quickly... or rather forcibly suppress the pain and sadness inside, Maria’s performance caused Lann to turn his head slightly surprised.

And those eyes, meeting the amber cat’s eyes, were cold, blood-red eyes.

Maria’s current mental state was very dangerous.

The Demon Hunter keenly noticed this, but then sighed and shook his head.

In Yan’an, which hunter could still have a normal mental state? It’s more or less the same.

”I accept.”

Lann spoke while continuing his work. He placed the gray blood he had just drawn into a test tube, preparing to add his alchemical reagents onto it.

But before adding reagents into the test tube, he still turned his head and asked.

”How many outside saw you coming back now?”

”Besides the Sumeru descendant by the stairway, no one saw.” Maria shook her head, her mood still low. ”I came back quietly midway because... I was wary of you.”

”I could somewhat sense how strong you are, so I also knew that alarming others would be equivalent to alarming you.”

Did a bad first impression lead to mounting suspicion afterward?

That’s quite normal.

Lann thought in his heart.

In fact, it also had to do with being pressed for time.

If things weren’t so urgent, with Lann’s ability, he could completely slow down his pace, letting no one perceive his anomaly.

Let alone Maria.

The Demon Hunter glanced at the Female Hunter of Blood Nobility descent.

She looked stern and capable, but after spending some time in the research hall, still only felt something odd about the clergy, without realizing the original wrong purpose in establishing this research hall.

Dealing with Maria... Lann didn’t even consider this a problem.