Bear School Astartes

As if having completely lost interest in negotiation, Gremman used the tone of an administrator or master towards Lann, the foreign intruder, telling him to drown in this collapsing nightmare.

Watching the wheelchair and the elderly figure vanish like an illusion, Lann felt that the other’s identity in Yan’an... might be more complex than he had imagined.

But Gremman’s identity could be discussed later; the most pressing issue now is... what will happen to him, Maria, and Adeline after this nightmare collapses?

Without Yanyan’s Blood, Lann lacked the ability like those alert hunters did, to traverse and resurrect within the Dream Realm.

While Maria and Adeline themselves were ’products’ of this nightmare.

”Lady Maria, will... will we die?”

Adeline, drowsy, still couldn’t conceal her fear and helplessness as she spoke.

Maria initially wanted, as usual, to comfort those seeking her help.

But this time she merely opened her mouth, yet said nothing, leaving behind a mournful and sad smile.

Her comfort had harmed so many in the research hall... what qualification did she have to soothe and encourage others again?

Nightmare, collapse... whatever these chaotic words truly meant.

Maria only held Adeline tighter in her embrace.

But at that moment...

”Finally, stopped dawdling and went away!”

Lann’s sleepy yet somewhat mocking mutter sounded from not far away.

Boots constructed from plate armor resembling dragon scales treaded on the beach, heading towards Adeline and Maria.

”Hold on a little longer and get ready to leave, Maria!”

The Demon Hunter spoke matter-of-factly, but Maria looked up in bewilderment.

Leave?

At that moment, an inexplicable yet immense feeling of fear flooded Maria’s heart.

It seemed as if the whole world was about to collapse in the next second!

Where could they go now?!

But when Maria looked up and saw the Demon Hunter’s eyes, her amazement overwhelmed the fear inside her.

Those amber feline eyes hadn’t changed in appearance, but somehow felt... more profound.

Maria didn’t know what was happening.

In the ’future’ Yan’an, Henrik, an old hunter, could easily explain the basics of Spiritual Vision’s concept, knowing that this special sense originated from Byron Vis’s ’Inner Eye Theory’.

But during this era in Old Yan’an...

When guessing from the corpses’ traces amidst the frenzied hunters slaughtering a small fishing village, Lann was slightly shocked that they were actually seeking a literal ’Inner Eye’ within creatures’ skulls.

This was a sign of very immature theoretical development.

And during the Old Yan’an era when this theory was extremely immature, Maria could only know its name at best, how could she possibly understand it?

So she could only try to steady herself, confusedly asking.

”Leave? Where... are we going?”

”To a dream not much better than here.” At this moment, Lann surprisingly still had the mood for a cold joke. ”It might even be worse.”

But after delivering the cold joke, his expression immediately turned serious, advising Maria.

”Listen, Maria. I don’t know what state you and Adeline will be in after going over, since over there, you two should have been dead for a long time.”

”So once you’re over there, don’t worry about anything else, if something’s wrong, immediately draw blood vials and use them on you and Adeline, got it?”

If it were merely practicing the technique of Cainhurst, stabbing oneself and using blood on the blade to increase lethality, using blood vials that Maria considered ’dangerous goods’ seemed unwise.

But since lives were at stake... everything else could wait until survival!

Maria remembered Lann’s words, but she was still at a loss about what was going to happen next.

”What... are you trying to do...”

Maria instinctively shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

And then, she saw Lann’s actions.

The Demon Hunter’s deep eyes focused on the spot where Gremman had stood, as if that empty space still contained something visible only to him.

Meanwhile, the Demon Hunter’s hand reached for a large dagger strapped to the tactical belt at his waist.

A soft, smooth whispering sound.

The dagger with an azure blade was drawn out by Lann.

He held the large dagger, but his stance wasn’t that of typical dagger combat, instead it resembled... a surgeon gripping a scalpel, cautious and stable!

Simultaneously, his strike was as decisive and precise as a top-tier surgeon’s!

The azure blade darted forward, yet under the puzzled gazes of Maria and Adeline, the blade abruptly seemed to lose half of its length after it was thrust out!

As if that half of the blade pierced an invisible body.

No, it didn’t ’seem’! The dagger’s azure blade truly pierced into something!

Lann’s deep eyes remained focused, scrutinizing the seemingly empty space before him. Then, with sudden force, his dagger-wielding hand jerked down!

It’s as if a knife sliced across the cover of a thick book, revealing the contents within.

After Lann pulled down the dagger, the previously empty space suddenly displayed an unusual appearance!

On the beach of this small fishing village, Maria almost thought it was a hallucination.

She saw the Yan’an style, those towering, sharp, and eerie architectural clusters!

But there was no time to dawdle; their drowsiness was growing heavier, far beyond what any physiological response could achieve.

So she just glanced at the Demon Hunter, who wielded a large dagger to tear open the space, beckoning to them.

Maria gritted her teeth against the lethargy, grabbed Adeline, and charged into the knife point abruptly appearing in the air!

Close behind, Lann also followed in a headlong rush, diving in!

Their bodies, overwhelmed by drowsiness beyond physical response, became somewhat uncontrollable.

They immediately rolled on the ground under the momentum, stopping only after nearly ten meters when they hit the base of a wall.

No beach, no seawater.

The ground was a wet stone brick street, the water stains on the bricks reflecting a cold, clear light.

A layer of nighttime cold mist floated ankle-high, making the light even more entrancing.

”Bang!” That was the sensation of Maria shielding Adeline, hitting the base of the wall.

While ”clang” was the sound of Lann’s plate armor.

Strangely, just earlier, the three of them seemed about to fall into a deep sleep any moment.

Yet now, the sleepiness was rapidly fading, the drastic change in sensation even making them a bit dizzy.

”Ding, swoosh~”

The crisp sound of metal hitting the ground mixed with the sound of air currents stirred.

Lann exhaled deeply, propping himself up on the ground to stand.

He first looked at the knife point standing in the air from which they had emerged.

The scene behind this knife point turned pitch black almost immediately as they came out. Soon after, the knife point itself in the air closed up completely, leaving no trace.

Watching the cut space’s ”knife point” quickly heal, Lann bent down to pick up his large dagger from the ground.

The blue blade reflected a hazy gleam.

[Zhao Geluoyin·Demon Wolf’s Fang].

Using the Demon Wolf from the Ardan World, capable of crossing the boundary between Netherworld and reality with its claws and teeth.

Its claws themselves could accomplish space tearing.

If used ordinarily, this large dagger was akin to an indestructible weapon.

But in Lann’s hands...

”What is that?” Maria asked, shaking her head to adjust from the overwhelming fatigue to clear-headedness, pondering aloud. ”Where... is this place?”

”Things are a bit complicated, how should I put it?” Lann first sheathed the [Demon Wolf’s Fang], securing it to his armor’s weapon belt, then turned around, spreading his hands to Maria and Adeline with a smile mixed with helplessness.

”Welcome to... Yan’an.”

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

”Is this New Yan’an?”

Adeline’s hands brushed lightly across the stone brick wall lining the road, following her footsteps.

She murmured in a slight daze.

Just a moment ago, the disastrous day that destroyed Old Yan’an, even the city’s heat still lingered on her skin.

Yet the next moment, they traveled through a knife point sliced from the air, arriving at... a rebuilt Yan City?

”Just Yan’an.”

Compared to Adeline, still in shock, Maria appeared more indifferent.

She lifted her pale face, looking skyward from beneath the brim of her triangular hat, observing the sky divided by Gothic rooftops... and the abnormally large, blood-red moon!

”Moreover, it’s Yan’an once destroyed again.”

Compared to before, when after the ceremony for seeing off Cos’s Orphan, Gremman revealed the truth to Maria.

Now, stepping across years, it’s barely affecting Maria.

And compared to the beast scourge that burned Old Yan’an, this night of hunting beneath the blood-red moon is no better.

Lann was leading the way ahead.

Though an outsider, here he was at least more familiar than two people from the era of Old Yan’an.

Upon emerging, Mentos compared their location to his previous map records from visiting Yan’an, realizing they were not far from Gascogne’s house.

He aimed to lead Maria and Adeline to Oton Chapel, to check on Gascogne’s family and the Crow Hunters.

”We’re merely souls living within a nightmare of memories.”

Maria spoke somberly, addressing Lann.

”But you have that dagger... what exactly is it?”