Bear School Astartes

In this towering and vast Losric City, there is a palace that stands higher than the rest.

Here lies the chamber of Prince Losric.

It seems that King Ausloes’s guilt towards his son, born weak and sickly, destined to become a Lord of Cinder solely because of the pure bloodline of the Divine Race.

He even arranged his own courtyard at a relatively low part of the city, while giving the highest palace to his youngest son.

Here, it connects to the pinnacle of the Losric Great Library.

It is well known that Eldest Prince Lorrian is a skilled warrior, having led the Losric Knights and the few remaining Black Knights to exterminate the vile demons coveting the First Flame.

Slaying the last hope of their race, the Demon Prince, under his greatsword.

Since then, even the sword bore the Demon Prince’s final curse, forever entwined with flames and smoke, becoming a sword-shaped molten iron.

Whereas Second Prince Losric, frail and sickly, was meticulously cared for by the Priestess in his youth, and later followed the Initial Sage of Losric for education.

The people exalted Second Prince high above, worshiping him as a candidate of the Lord of Cinder who would eventually inherit the flame.

In reality, even the prince’s bed, within this chamber, is elevated high above.

It resembles not a place of rest, sleep, but rather... an altar for offering to the First Flame.

If completely according to the king who has managed the Fire Transmission Ceremony for millennia, Prince Losric ought to have accepted his fate.

However, the one teaching the prince is the Initial Sage of Losric.

Thousands of years ago, the armies of the desert country Casas swept across all nations except those like Losric, a pinnacle stronghold.

King Vonier of Casas, upon conquering a nation, would destroy crowns bestowed by the Divine Race, leaving only his own.

The Overlord was thus born.

Doran Gureg, once briefly managed the Fire Transmission Ceremony thousands of years ago.

But during that brief management, an Undead slaughtered every being possessing a powerful soul in the region.

Eventually amassing a sufficiently large soul, becoming that era’s Lord of Cinder, continuing the First Flame’s burn.

Future generations respectfully hailed him as [War God] Fa Han, enjoying a divine status.

Nonetheless, the once mighty Doran Gureg was defeated by Casas, refugees and talents were collected by Losric.

Their numbers brought over Doran Gureg’s dragon culture, forming a trend of reverence towards dragon strength.

Losric’s Initial Sage also came from Doran Gureg to Losric during that upheaval and began his tenure.

But, only the princes educated by the Initial Sage knew the indescribable extent of their teacher’s knowledge...

Such knowledge undoubtedly exceeded King Ausloes’s imagination, even surpassed the imaginations of the Ancient Divine Era!

And the students who gained knowledge from the teacher naturally started feeling discontent towards their predetermined fate.

It’s not dissatisfaction with their own death; in this cruel world, even Divine Race descendants often don’t care much about their own lives.

What leaves the princes discontent is their lives being tied to an utterly ineffective task.

For within the mind of the Initial Sage, he has always doubted the feasibility of the [Fire Transmission Ceremony].

This mindset, undoubtedly, influenced the princes.

And propelled matters to this stage.

”Divine Might, have the Knight Captain and Priestess, according to plan, already met Maruk on the High Wall?”

On that elevated bed, the prince wearing a hood infused with prayer power softly asked.

Prince Losric’s hand extended from beneath his clothes, its shape unlike that of humans or divine beings... fingertips sharp, skin and muscles tightly clinging to bones.

Strange and pale.

A man clothed in black coat and armor, donned with a wide-brimmed hat, knelt on one knee.

Oddly, his waist carried both a tachi and a rib-crusher, seeming out of place in the gothic-styled city.

In his hand, he wears a ring of the same make as the Knight Captain and Priestess Emma—save for the silhouette on the ring face, which is a black wide-brimmed hat.

[King’s Black Hand], an equally esteemed pillar among Losric’s Three Pillars of Royal Authority. An assassination unit directly commanded by the Royal Family, selecting only three members each generation.

The previous generation of King’s Black Hands had not completely died—yet the princes, pursuing their own goals, had secretly nurtured their own [Black Hand].

”Everything proceeds according to plan; Maruk gathered the Knight Captain and Priestess, though two extras appear onsite—insignificant.”

Divine Might adjusted his hat brim, calmly reporting.

Receiving the answer, Prince Losric raised his deformed hand.

”Since that’s the case...”

Prince Losric’s deformed hand lightly caresses the intricately carved railing before the bed... as if enclosing himself within.

Resolved long ago, his remaining words were crisp and serene.

”Commence purging the rebellion from this moment on!”

”Knights disregarding Royal Family have forsaken oaths; priestess disregarding Divine Race have abandoned faith. Exterminate, expel, control the city.”

”Sages of the Great Library will provide loyal assistance.”

”Moreover, elevate the entire city, sever contact with the outside. As Losric addresses internal strife, worry not external interference or abyssal corruption.”

”Despite soul-siphoning ghouls appearing in Fort Fran ruins, we are not isolated—Dark Moon Pope explicitly supports House of Losric’s suppressive actions.”

”Everyone!”

The door to Prince Losric’s chamber creaks open.

Behind the nearly twenty meters tall, heavy door, the Losric Knights stand orderly, dressed in red and blue surcoats, alongside Losric soldiers.

”In the name of the King and Prince Lorrian!”

A collective ’clatter’, so synchronized the armor clashes seemingly meld into one sound.

All knights and soldiers simultaneously knelt in this solemn and sacred name.

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

”Do you have any magic for silencing here?”

Upon Losric’s High Wall, Lann quietly spoke, glancing at Lorenzo’s eye beneath his half brow.

”What do you mean?”

”I mean... didn’t you mention before that the sages obtained ownership of a great library from King Ausloes?”

”You mean...”

Lorenzo’s eyes suddenly widened.

In this world, there truly exists magic that allows casters to move silently, so this time, unlike before, Lann relied on his extraordinary sense of smell, rather than hearing or sight, to detect the discordant element around.

Lann and Lorenzo exchanged glances, while Lann’s left hand had already gripped the hilt of the long blade at his waist, indicating his intention.

——Someone is hiding here!

Their current position was on a walkway atop the high wall, with the wall on one side and residential houses on the other.

The rooftops of the houses were approximately five meters above the ground.

Since the air circulation wasn’t significant, the sense of smell, not usually very convenient, came into play.

Just as Lann finished communicating with Lorenzo, it seemed to confirm his words.

A bright blue light suddenly formed on the rooftop of the adjacent residence!

With a ”swoosh,” the blue light elongated into a giant arrow, shooting down toward Lann and Lorenzo!

This kind of blue light, Lann had seen Leonard use it in the Profound Church before.

It seemed to be a characteristic of magic in this world that could penetrate armor and flesh to directly harm the soul.

It was a spell feature developed due to the ease of soul interaction and research in this world.

During the Magic Middle Ages, even communicating with souls was advanced technology, not something ordinary warlocks could dream of.

But here, soul-harming magic was the foundation of the foundation.

This was also an expression of differing characteristics between worlds.

Lann suddenly retreated, using a combination of Light Body Skill and Acceleration Technique, moving like a wisp of smoke out of the blue light’s aim.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo rolled to his side; despite wearing the cumbersome full body armor, his roll was extremely practiced.

Even the greatsword on his back caused no hindrance at all.

This skilled evasion move made that magical attack miss him completely.

”Bastards! It’s the sages! They made the first move!”

Lorenzo roared angrily.

Lann looked up, seeing two people holding magic staffs standing on the residential rooftop.

Their feet were surrounded by a faintly glowing blue light ball, making no sound as they walked.

”Do your mages also work as assassins here?”

Lann shouted incredulously at Lorenzo.

”And why do you think Pheim Dragon Academy is famous?” Lorenzo impatiently responded, unslinging his greatsword from his back.

”Stop asking so many questions, just get rid of them first!”

The Knight Captain wanted to get closer to that over-five-meter-high house.

Keeping a distance from enemies like mages was foolish.

Warriors are best off confronting magic by closing in on the caster and quickly slashing.

The surrounding residents were hurriedly fleeing due to the sudden outbreak of conflict.

The mages standing on the roof continued casting spells, occasionally launching a blue magic arrow into the crowd.

The ordinary residents caught in the blast made no sound, nor did their bodies show signs of damage, but they were motionless like rag dolls.

It seemed these mage assassins had no scruples at all.

Attacking the Captain of the Losric Knight Order openly in the street... was this a coup!?

There was no time to think about it now.

Taking advantage of the enemy casting another pointless blue magic arrow from the roof, Lann extended his left hand upward.

A mechanical clanging sound came from the projector on his arm brace.

With a ”swoosh,” the grappling hook shot out, biting into the shoulder of one of the mages.

The immense mechanical grip strength dug the hook into his shoulder’s flesh and bone!

”Ah!”

In the midst of a pained scream, the staff fell uncontrollably onto the wooden rooftop, rolling down the slope.

The cord made from Fierce Jackal Dragon mane immediately retracted.

To Lann, the mage’s weight was no different from a rotten log.

After forcibly pulling the mage into his grasp, Lann tossed him over to Lorenzo.

His jumping ability seemed so poor that even when rushing to the side of the residence, he had no means against the mages on the rooftop.

Now he was even considering using that greatsword to dismantle the house.

The mage thrown by Lann happened to take the incoming blue magic arrow aimed at their heads.

One of the two mages had been dealt with.

The other posed no threat in Lann’s view either.

However, just as the Demon Hunter was about to fire the grappling hook again...

”Rumble!!!”

The ground was rising! Mountains were moving!

The ground beneath began a terrifying upheaval; Lann was fine because his stance remained very firm.

But Lorenzo, and the others on the ground, were caught off guard by the sudden shift, tumbling over.

The ground elevation caused by magic or miracle wasn’t like an earthquake, so it was relatively stable during the upward motion.

Lann, lying along the edge of the high wall and looking down, saw that the bridge allowing entry to the city had already been severed.

This gigantic city was elevating itself autonomously, isolating itself with terrain height differences from the outside world.