Bear School Astartes

Chapter 916 - 898: Encroaching Darkness

"Speak cautiously, Knight Captain."

Priestess Emma glanced up from beneath her hood, watching Lorenzo for a moment.

"King Ausloes is the Saint King. He has supported the Fire Transmission Ceremony for tens of thousands of years."

The newly appointed Knight Captain pressed his lips together but ultimately suppressed his temper.

"Even if we don’t disturb His Majesty, we must return to the Inner City, reclaim our strength and power, and then advance the Fire Transmission Ceremony!"

This was finally getting to the point.

The coup had begun, and the people in the city had transformed into abyss-tainted forms due to those flaky ashes.

Ultimately, the world had shifted from ’reasoning’ to ’watching fists’.

Without fists, this Fire Transmission Ceremony will not advance at all.

Any talk of ’counsel’ was empty, the coup has started, the Knight Order is divided, and blood has been shed.

Both of them knew that to make the Prince transmit fire, as of today, it would only be possible with swords and blades pressed against him.

And the Inner City is where their strength lies. The high walls are merely the gradually decaying outer defenses of Losric, and neither the priestess nor the Knight Order has invested much power on the walls.

"But I think returning to the Inner City now is merely seeking death."

Lann approached, leaning casually against a stone pillar, speaking calmly.

Lorenzo and Priestess Emma turned their heads to look at him.

"The major combat strength of the Knight Order is the flying dragons, right?"

Lann stood wall-leaning, arms crossed. He pointed skyward with a finger as if gesturing at a flying dragon.

"But I must remind you both, Lorenzo and Priestess Emma."

"Just now, the city was in chaos, filled with cries of battle, screams, and monster roars. Yet throughout it all...not a single flying dragon emerged from the Inner City."

"Not one."

Lann’s eyes, cat-like beneath his silver hair, looked at Lorenzo. This strong warrior, elevated from Dragon Cavalry and Elite Knight Captain to Knight Captain.

His experience covers nearly all echelons of the Losric Knight Order, familiar with its rules and structure.

He naturally should understand what this situation signifies.

Flying dragons can fly, and despite Losric City’s rugged terrain, it poses no hindrance to them.

If the Dragon Cavalry intended, there should be no one able to block them from descending the Inner City to the high walls, searching for their Knight Captain.

But now...not a single flying dragon has descended.

Lorenzo also looked at the sideways-headed Lann, yet now, to him, that unreasonably handsome face brings only a chill.

"This is...this is a very serious accusation!"

Lorenzo pressed his lips, speaking with difficulty.

Either the flying dragons and Dragon Cavalry have been detained or ’handled’ in the Inner City.

The leaders of the Knight Order and the priestess are not in the Inner City, but the leaders of the coup-instigating princes and sages are.

Under such an advantage, the Dragon Cavalry of the uninformed Knight Order could indeed be detained or annihilated.

And the second possibility, as Lorenzo said...is a serious accusation.

——The entire Dragon Cavalry has defected.

With King Ausloes isolating himself, Prince Lorrian’s prestige peaked after he slaughtered the last hope of the demon race.

Within the Knight Order, which respects strength and power, the division into Prince School can be attributed entirely to Prince Lorrian’s influence.

Whether this influence has spread among the Dragon Cavalry?

Lorenzo is uncertain in his heart.

After all, before this, he was just an Elite Knight Captain, not concerned with political matters.

But now, these are matters he must consider.

"Perhaps it would be best to wait a bit longer."

Lann proposed.

"If they’ve been killed or detained, then with or without this time won’t make a difference. But if this period passes and still no Dragon Knight reacts from the chaos, coming down from the Inner City to find the Knight Captain, then..."

Then regardless of which of the two possibilities, it proves the Inner City has fully fallen into the hands of the princes.

Lann left his words unfinished, as was appropriate. None of the three spoke, and the atmosphere became instantly heavy.

"I’ll arrange the defense." After a long pause, Lorenzo fiercely wiped his face, placing his headgear back on.

"I’ll do my best to gather the members of the Knight Order on the high walls, concentrating our strength... Lann is correct, charging in now without clarity on the situation is too risky."

"With the flame waning, Losric...especially the Losric responsible for the Fire Transmission Ceremony, cannot afford any mistakes."

Lann, having persuaded Lorenzo, felt slightly relieved.

The situation was deteriorating, but he still had to stay in this world for some time.

He must deal with the darkness lurking within his body and strive to survive in this chaotic situation... He now realized how terrifying a world with an unstable underlying order could be.

"Thank you for persuading the Knight Captain and freeing me from unnecessary illusions."

Priestess Emma approached, speaking softly to Lann with her aged voice.

"Our primary strength has always been in the Inner City, and without your persuasion, even if we didn’t personally return, we would have had to send some force to the Inner City."

"Yet, rationally speaking, those sages and our clergy harbor deep grudges. With the accumulated conflicts, there might be few surviving clergy above."

At this, Lann turned his head with embarrassment.

"I’m sorry for shattering your hope."

"It was a false hope born from my luck, it’s just as well it’s gone. After all, if one really wants to accomplish something, they must face the harsh reality."

Priestess Emma shook her head heavily.

"Take a rest first, Lann. When those from the Profound Church mentioned in the letter arrive, we can be more prepared."

There was nothing more to say, on this day of tumultuous and intense changes, everyone was mentally and physically exhausted.

-----------------

Darkness.

Like a mass of slime, black mud, or tar-like darkness, entwining and clinging to the body and soul.

Dripping, sticky, and thick.

Lann felt a bit breathless, as if he was entirely wrapped in the dense darkness.

And it wasn’t just the suffocation; inside his body, a continuous sensation of being gnawed by some carnivorous insect was also transmitted.

These feelings made Lann’s mind feel foggy, yet no matter what, he couldn’t shake them off.

Finally, he felt his body being shaken, this external force seemed to become his grasp to escape the darkness.

"Gasp~"

The Demon Hunter suddenly opened his eyes, the vertical pupils in his eyes contracting erratically before stabilizing.

He took a deep breath, as if he had forgotten to breathe during the rest just moments ago and now needed a big gulp to catch up.

His body instinctively tensed up, ready to defend, but was immediately suppressed by a strong will, forcibly maintaining a normal state.

However, this momentary loss of control was so brief that the person waking him barely noticed it.

Lorenzo only felt that Lann was a bit difficult to awaken, someone with his skills should have been very sensitive.

Then, as Lann opened his eyes, there seemed to be a momentary stagnation in the air, but everything returned to normal immediately, as if it was just an illusion.

"Are you okay?"

Lorenzo patted Lann’s shoulder, meanwhile pulling his arm to help him sit up from the sheet-covered ground.

"You don’t look well."

"No, it’s nothing." Lann subtly clenched and unclenched his fist, sensing his own physiological state while Mentos also reported the real-time physiological data to him.

"I just haven’t rested for a long time."

The Demon Hunter said calmly.

But in fact, he had eaten well and slept well the night before the coup hadn’t happened.

Yet by last night, perhaps due to the abyssal power rampaging in Losric City, the darkness within him was stirred.

The darkness, which had been suppressed under Rosalie’s [Miracle: Sunshine Moisturizing], began to stir again.

While repeatedly opening and closing his palm to relieve the strange feeling in his body, Lann also felt a growing sense of urgency in his heart.

This darkness... if not for the super organ in his head, the [Holy Chant Gland], perhaps he would have gone mentally unstable upon first contact.

But now, with the fading of the First Flame, the darkness would spread and flourish greatly. This is the natural law of this world.

There was nowhere to hide, as this was a world-encompassing disaster.

But even facing such issues, Lann still maintained a calm face and tone.

"Is there a reason you woke me up?"

He wasn’t one to lose his cool in the face of danger; having been through a lot, he knew that a chaotic mind would only hasten his own demise.

"Just like you said yesterday, Lann..."

Lorenzo gritted his teeth, clearly repulsed by what he was about to say.

"The Dragon Cavalry came down from the Inner City."

"The outcome wasn’t good?"

Lorenzo paused in silence for a while, then spoke.

"When one came down, it couldn’t even control its flight stance, and then crashed onto a tower on the high walls, dead."

"’One’? What about the others?"

"The other dragon... came down in pursuit. It and its Dragon Knight clearly didn’t expect so many Knight Order members to be gathered here."

"We are, after all, dragon-hunting knights, so the body of that dragon and its Dragon Knight are outside now."

Lann wasn’t very concerned about the bodies of the two dragons; what needed attention most was how to make the flames flourish to dispel the darkness.

And compared to the legendary Immortal Ancient Dragons of this world, these dragons seemed rather ordinary.

"What matters is the situation above."

Lann asked while pressing his uncomfortable temple.

Lorenzo had just assumed the position of Knight Captain, and none of the knights here had been in management before.

So when something came up, he had to come to Lann and Priestess Emma for advice.

At least he was clear-headed, self-aware. He wouldn’t rashly make decisions without heed to advice because of a hotheaded mind.

And Lorenzo’s words were just as Lann had estimated yesterday.

"Those in the Inner City informed the knights of the Knight Order to gather in the chapel before the coup was launched."

"The Dragon Knights didn’t have the chance to mount the dragons, other knights were similarly equipped with nothing but a personal sword, not fully armed. And in the chapel..."

Lorenzo spoke, the iron glove on his hand squeaking as he clenched it tightly.