Bear School Astartes

Chapter 946 - 928: Closed Doors

The weapons of the Winged Knights were coated with charcoal resin, burning with a layer of flames.

These flames ensured that even if the sages who were slashed did not immediately die, the wax on their bodies would be heated by the flame.

Cold, solidified wax and the harm from heated wax were distinctly different in degree.

"Don’t get tangled with him; we’re here to save people."

Looking at the Crystal Elder in front, who, though silent, was stroking a crystal ball with a cold gaze as if to say, ’This road is blocked.’

Lann didn’t even have the interest to give him a proper look.

Block the bridge?

... This old fellow really has no tactical thinking at all.

My mission has always been ’rescue,’ and since we’ve reached this point...

Why should I waste time with you here?

"Boom!"

Lann directly shifted direction and kicked open the wooden railing on the bridge, then jumped down.

Following him, Klimte was momentarily stunned by such a decisive and unconventional decision, not to mention the Crystal Elder blocking the bridge.

The floating crystal cluster of the Crystal Elder seemed to operate automatically after being released, outside the caster’s control.

At this point, the Crystal Elder couldn’t even move the floating crystal cluster he took great effort to release.

The floating crystal cluster, named [Crystal Hail Descent], was the signature spell of the Crystal Elder brothers, proving they inherited at least part of the academic achievements of [Big Hat] Logan.

And now, the spell created with a great amount of magic— the enemy doesn’t intend to enter the spell’s range at all.

To abandon this already formed spell and pursue? Or... keep watching?

Without years of immersion in battle formations, there’s no way to make on-the-spot decisions with decisiveness.

The Crystal Elder was a powerful mage but not a skilled warrior.

Facing Lann’s sudden change of route, he couldn’t make a timely and correct judgment.

Lann jumped down with Geside in his arms.

The position of this wooden bridge was actually at least over ten meters from the ground, and given his [Light Body Skill] mastery, bearing a fragile injured person meant he had to land heavily without absorbing the impact.

Though not injured, his legs went numb, making movement difficult for more than a second.

But here, in the Great Library, bookshelves were everywhere.

These tall bookshelves often required carts and ladders to reach the topmost books.

At least four meters high.

Lann landed precisely on top of the bookshelf, reducing the height by four meters, allowing his action ability to remain largely unrestricted even with a hard impact landing.

However, under his weight, these solid bookshelves emitted a heavy ’creak’ sound.

Immediately, Lann, who had just jumped down, suddenly blocked forcefully to his right side.

"Ding ding ding," sparks and pressure erupted from the outside of his right arm’s armor.

Repeating crossbow.

Having dropped to a mid-lower position, although there were fewer mages on the library’s bottom floor, many soldiers and knights were guarding.

Lann, holding Geside, the most important target, did not bother to acknowledge the repeating crossbowman.

He merely paused atop the bookshelf to partially relieve the landing impact.

Lann lowered his right arm, glancing at the crossbowman, and turned to jump downwards again off the bookshelf.

"Winged Knights, deal with that crossbowman!"

The subordinates had tasks of their own to attend to.

The Winged Knights, having cleared many mage fire points, split off one to jump onto the platform where the crossbowman was.

The repeating crossbow, called [Javelin], although a legendary weapon, was wielded by just an ordinary soldier.

The Winged Knight didn’t linger, simply cleaving his body with an axe without caring for the fallen repeating crossbow.

Having reached this position, success in breaking out of the Great Library was merely fifty meters away.

Just a few more steps forward, and Lann could see the iron gate separating the library’s main door courtyard from the many bookshelves behind it. Before the gate was the library’s main entrance.

The Winged Knights fell back into formation, and Klimte continuously cast several miracles, bestowing a golden glow upon the wounded in the team.

From the bridge, seeing the enemy team reaching the main door in such brief moments, the Crystal Elder seemed disinclined to pursue.

Everyone felt they were about to break through.

But just as Lann spotted the main door, Geside in his arms suddenly convulsed violently.

The body curled up in his embrace twisted further, producing a sound of crystals colliding ’clatter.’

This situation was not right; it was as if the creeping crystallization within her was stimulated by something.

For the first time, Lann paused briefly after a moment of thought.

The panting Klimte and the scarred Winged Knights reacted with atypical panic.

Under Lann’s leadership, they were unstoppable, even in a rain of magic arrows, never halting.

But as for Lann, only he could feel Geside’s sudden movement.

He didn’t know if those sages imbued the Saintess’s body with magic or a curse, causing an incident upon leaving the Great Library.

Thankfully, he could use his ’vision’ to confirm.

Lann’s gaze deepened.

He looked at Geside’s body and around.

Geside’s essence appeared like crystallized solidified white sunlight.

Though there were traces of crystal magic, there was nothing else.

On the contrary, Lann, who didn’t find any abnormalities with Geside, made a discovery while scanning the surroundings.

It was a wooden box hidden in the corner of the bottom layer of the Great Library.

Inside the box was a faint ’thing’ that was inherently very similar to Geside.

In the view of [Spiritual Vision], Lann’s gaze could penetrate the essence of most things, so their shapes were instead unseen.

"Break open this gate!"

Lann commanded as he quickly walked towards the wooden box he saw.

A Winged Knight, who had just flown down after cutting through enemies above, heard Lann’s order and, without stopping, slammed into the iron gate with the momentum of his descent!

Three or four other Winged Knights also crashed into it simultaneously from the ground.

With a "bang," the entire frame of the iron gate was knocked off, clattering onto the floor of the foyer.

Seizing this moment, Lann kicked open the wooden box in the corner.

As the gate’s remnants hit the ground, he had just taken out the item from the box.

A sound that was unclear whether it was striking crystal or steel rang "jingling" from Lann’s hand.

Inside the box was a spiritual catalyst bell, but the iron bell had crystal clusters sprouting from it as if they were growing.

A bell of the same essence as Geside...

Lann looked at the suffering yet still serene-looking saintess in his arms, then at the strange bell in his hand.

This might have been Geside’s former catalyst?

Since the connection is so deep, it might be useful.

As Lann ran towards the door that the Winged Knights had just breached, he tore a piece of cloth from Geside’s white robe to wrap the bell with crystal clusters before taking it along.

The Soul Arrow Rain pouring down from above became dense again, as high positions targeted by the Winged Knights were occupied once more.

The Sages re-gathered considerable power.

The team led by Lann flashed past the entrance of the Great Library, each person unceasing in their steps as they rushed out.

The last one, Klimte, cast the miracle [Magic Protection] on himself.

It’s a story of eternal friction between the spiritual orders and the mages; he enveloped himself in a layer of white light, complemented by a Magic Square Stone Ring in his hand.

Ultimately, even the final massive Soul Arrow Rain shot down at the door couldn’t stop him.

The Crystal Elder, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, stood on a wooden bridge on the second floor, coldly watching as a group abducted the saintess of angelic faith.

They almost slaughtered from high to low through the entire defense of the Great Library.

Even until now, the soldiers stationed on the top floor, connecting with the dome outside, had only just reached the upper structure of the Great Library.

Their actions were too decisive; whether it was decision-making or preparation, in this chaotic Losric City, it was simply abnormal!

If it were before the chaos, a team dispatched by the Knight Captain of Losric, personally led, and fortified with an extraordinary presence as backbone.

Perhaps they could assemble a top-notch team with such action potential.

But now... the Knight Order is on the brink of declaring its demise!

Where did these angelic faith driven exiles cobble together such a team?!

"They are all equipped with precious Magic Square Stone Rings; we saw them with our own eyes, sir. They’re all wearing them!"

A Sage with a lip unfettered by wax walked beside the Crystal Elder, speaking softly to him.

"Ausloes?" The oversized wide-brimmed hat of the Crystal Elder trembled slightly but soon returned to calm.

He certainly knew that the Magic Square Stone Rings were equipment given by Ausloes to his Personal Guard Knights, openly expressing suppression of the mages.

But now...

"Impossible, he’s already engrossed in the knowledge I provided him."

The Crystal Elder gently brushed his finger across his cheek, over the bird-beak mask. It seemed that from being worn for so long, the edges had even adhered to his flesh.

The mask represented an apostle, Morne, whom the spiritual orders worshipped. To convince Ausloes of his loyalty, both he and his twin brother had worn this mask for ages.

"The crystalline knowledge of the White Dragon, now he’d trade all he possesses for the results without hesitation. He doesn’t have the heart to concern himself with us, just look at the rampaging ooze outside."

The reporting Sage fell silent for a while, then continued speaking.

"The troops connected with the upper layer reported that the Black Hand guarding the tower is dead... and it was the King’s Black Hand!"

The mention of this title left the Crystal Elder silent.

But immediately, he let out a long breath.

He recalled the man who charged at him on this wooden bridge, clutching the saintess in his arms.

Even though he had released [Crystal Hail] at that time, inexplicably, he felt deeply uneasy. As if... he shouldn’t be standing there, facing that man at all.

If the opponent was at such a level... then the death of the King’s Black Hand might not be undeserved.

"Gone, let them go then." After half a day’s silence, the Crystal Elder ultimately spoke with a tone that seemed indifferent.

"After all, there’s nothing more we can research from Geside. That saintess... no, princess is of no value anymore."

"From now on, the Great Library will shut its doors. If the Prince asks, report that the closure is due to the spreading ooze outside."

"Understood."

The Sage saluted and then turned to work.

Meanwhile, the Crystal Elder looked up at the empty bird cage hanging from the dome.

If the retaliation against Ausloes, against the Divine Race, were bounded at this, he’d surely feel vexed.

But for an orderly Losric City to suddenly manifest a team that is so decisive, with high magic resistance, and readily dispatching mages...

Recalling the vague feeling when passing by Lann earlier, he thought it wise to leave it at this point.

During the closing period of the Great Library, Lann had already mounted a Qilin, cradling two from the Divine Race, heading towards the outskirts of Losric.