Bear School Astartes

Chapter 402: 402. Red Moon

When Spider Rom’s final twitch ceased, Lann already felt as if his brain was about to crack open.

This situation had become very rare recently because his brain’s tolerance had grown increasingly resilient along with his body.

There was a time when Mentos passed along a training regimen, and he had to lie on the ground for half a day due to headaches, a situation he thought would never occur again.

But now, a complete set of five new interstellar warrior surgical knowledge flooded into his mind all at once, as if calculated, just reaching his current limit of endurance.

The peculiar sense in his brain, [Spiritual Vision], was stimulated and encouraged by the novel sights and profound secrets he encountered once more.

Joy and pain coexisted within his brain’s sensation, with no one to bear it for him, not even Mentos.

This was because the Human Union’s educational policy forbade biobrains from interfering with the subject’s physical body during primary school stages.

And so, Lann bore it.

The excitement from the gene seed produced by opposing the gods began to subside, and the effect of the magic potion also started to end sooner due to the rapid increase in metabolism.

All supports were vanishing.

Lann felt that the Turbulent Flow Greatsword, which he had already begun to skillfully handle, suddenly became unbearably heavy.

Eventually, he had no choice but to plant the tip of the sword on the lake’s surface, kneeling and letting the greatsword lean against him for support.

His vision blurred, and amidst the blur, he vaguely saw a woman in a white wedding dress standing in the distance before him.

The woman was exceptionally tall, with skin as white as dust, looking like a Sumerian.

Her wedding dress was pristine, almost blending in with the whiteness of the space.

Only her abdomen looked as if it had suffered a miscarriage. The blood stained the wedding gown and flowed down, glaringly red.

She stood sideways to Lann, looking up into the air above her.

In his daze, Lann strained to turn his head sideways, following her gaze.

There was a blood moon.

A terrifyingly colossal red moon, as if the entire moon were falling!

No, not ’as if’...

It was indeed falling!

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

”Breath—ing!”

Suddenly opening his eyes, his pupils constricted to a thin slit, and after a few breaths, they gradually returned to normal.

Lann felt his head had improved considerably, so he propped himself up from the stone floor.

This was the terrace on Byronwiss Lake.

It was as if he had never jumped down in the first place.

The Turbulent Flow Greatsword lay by his hand, its dark blade seeming even deeper after slaying an entity of higher order.

But after shaking his head, Lann felt it was merely an illusion of his.

He lifted the sword by the hilt with a ’clang’ and stood it upright, then spoke weakly over his shoulder, without turning.

”Was that a dream... or was it?”

If it was a dream, the Old God’s blood that splashed across his body due to his frenzied new move wouldn’t be explainable.

But if it wasn’t a dream... he had clearly jumped off just now.

”It was just a dream, just a dream.”

The elder responded leisurely from his rocking chair.

The moon in the sky was red, as if it would drip blood, but the old man with his eyes covered by a metal visor continued to rock without any change.

Henrik slept at his feet.

”In Yan’an, the Ancient Gods’ desire for the divine child has turned into a nightmare. A massive nightmare that drags the whole mountain range into it. In the Ancient Gods’ dream for the divine child, the ’true and false’ of mortals are meaningless, young one. Because...”

”They are short-sighted and narrow-minded.”*2

The old man and youth’s voices overlapped, softly reciting part of the Byron Vis dictum together.

If one lacks sufficiently broad [vision], the Ancient God’s dream for mortals is indeed the truest world.

”So even if I killed your student, that spider that entangles time, in the dream. Has time started flowing again?”

Lann recovered quickly; he now stood upright, looking at the massive, ominous red moon.

He felt that this moon seemed much more... malevolent than before.

Did he really do the right thing?

”No need to worry, no need to worry. For things to be resolved, one cannot linger at the beginning when hope appears. You must move forward, whether good or ill, you must move forward...”

The elder spoke with broad-mindedness.

”Without boasting,” Lann turned back to face the elder, placing the Turbulent Flow Greatsword back into the alchemy pouch at his waist along the way. ”The ’hope’ you speak of, is it referring to me? But that’s entirely unreasonable; I am a passing traveler, a foreigner, and my departure is imminent.”

Underneath his collar, the Roaring Bear Head Badge had started to tremble slightly, signaling the return of chaotic energy to this world.

Yet Master William still rocked as if nothing mattered.

”It’s alright, it’s alright, there’s enough time, even if you leave for a while, we’ll still have enough time.”

”The divine child’s incarnation ritual needs preparation, the Ancient God’s plans need execution... In the current Yan’an, the followers of each Ancient God must have begun their actions respectively. Until they finish each other off, none will allow this rare night to end.”

”Without Rom, they cannot rewind time again and again. But each has their own methods, and this night will extend thus... until the divine child’s birth, leaving none able to escape.”

Master William spoke so, yet Lann still felt uneasy.

”But what about the ordinary people, those who serve no Ancient God? Can they persevere? I’m about to leave, and I don’t even know if I’ll have a chance to return.”

He had made a few friends in Yan’an, he’d helped these friends through tough times.

Never mind if the future couldn’t guide him back to this world, even if it could, he wouldn’t want to see tombstones with familiar names when he came back again.

”Time is a very intriguing concept, especially time within dreams, young one.”

Master William spoke faintly.

”You must leave, no one can stop someone determined to leave, I think your friends in Yan’an wouldn’t want to stop you; on the contrary, they might wish for your quick escape.”

”And since you must leave, why not ease your mind and leave the follow-up to time to observe?”

”The night is growing deeper, child. This is your achievement.”

”Depart without hesitation, then under the guidance of [Spiritual Vision], find the right time to return... to expand your vision, child. The night and nightmares are too protracted, and only sufficiently elevated vision can conclude it all.”

The elder ceased speaking, and after bowing to him, Lann picked up the sleeping Henrik and departed.