Bear School Astartes

When it came to discussing her own future, the Crow Hunter clearly showed hesitation and confusion.

She had been trapped in the night of the hunt for so long, nearly forgetting what a normal life should be like.

So at this moment, she could only speak vaguely, yet with hidden anticipation.

”I need a break...” Her tone carried a sense of relaxation, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief after a long exhaustion, ”a good, restful break.”

”The deserted Yan’an, without monsters or residents, this is nice.”

”Even if my mind is tense due to the sudden change in environment, it won’t hurt anyone.”

”We will rest together for a while.”

At last, Erin familiarly pointed at the Red Robed Witch still lying on the ground.

After the nightmare, the Demon Hunter could roughly figure out why the Red Robed Witch felt discriminated against in Yan’an.

Because her outfit was undoubtedly inherited from the Good Golden Cup Church era of Old Yan’an.

She was not a clergy of the Healing Church; instead, she was a member of the Good Golden Cup Church, crushed by the Healing Church in the normal timeline and branded as the scourge during the night of Old Yan’an’s destruction.

In the normal timeline, without Lann’s reckless interference, the Healing Church would have successfully concealed all the scandals and truths exposed on the night of Old Yan’an’s destruction.

The ones taking the fall were the Good Golden Cup Church, which had been targeted and designated long before.

As the remnants of the Good Golden Cup Church, life must have been tough.

But since she has survived this unprecedented night of hunt, any other troubles are nothing more than small ripples.

The Red Robed Witch chuckled softly.

The sound, like phlegm stuck in her throat, was eerie and decayed.

Yet no one present judged her by her appearance or voice anymore.

”Sounds nice.” Lann nodded, reaching out to the Crow Hunter, ”How about sharing your resonance bell? We can chat occasionally.”

”You young people...” The bird-beak mask tilted slightly before starting to retrieve something from the spacious Crow Feather Cloak, ”What do you take the Old Hunter’s resonance bell for?”

While complaining, Erin still handed the bell to Lann.

Along with it, came the bow blade obtained from Simon.

At this time, the weary Crow Hunter almost wanted nothing to do with any tools related to hunting.

After giving out the items, Erin fell silent for a moment, but she finally raised her hand behind her bird-beak mask.

With a ’click,’ she hesitated, even with a bit of fear for change, as she took off her bird-beak mask.

It was a face already lined with wrinkles, yet still possessing a beauty in its bone structure, accompanied by the coolness and apathy ingrained in the Yan Nan Hunter, resembling a distant elder.

The Crow Hunter’s bird-beak mask left lasting marks on her face.

But these marks would eventually fade.

”Quite beautiful, Erin.” Lann said earnestly, arms crossed, ”Getting some sun to improve your complexion would make you even more beautiful.”

The Crow Hunter’s initially uneasy expression relaxed slightly.

”Here, hearing you call someone beautiful feels like sarcasm.”

Without the mask’s barrier, the Crow Hunter sneered a complaint.

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

Three days have passed since the Crow Hunter slayed the Moon God in the Hunter’s exclusive Dream Realm.

During this period, nothing major happened, except at night when those still in the city sometimes screamed in terror.

But every time Erin, Maria, and Lann checked, they confirmed it was just ordinary behavioral abnormalities due to mental collapse.

’Ordinary mental collapse’... just saying it sends a chill down the spine.

Nevertheless, compared to what had happened in Yan’an before, it truly was too ’ordinary’ to deserve any attention.

Not every Yan Nan person possesses the resolve and perseverance to quit the addiction to blood, or family support.

Most of their families were already dead, making the pain even more in need of ’anesthesia’ for comfort.

So days later, there were still people starting to hunt for blood vials in the empty city.

Perhaps these already addicted individuals couldn’t be considered human at all.

Or maybe they just sought a comfortable death for their already collapsed spirits.

During this, Erin also experienced a mental trance at night.

Back then, she suspected it was another dream, but after a brief glimpse from Lann’s Long Blade with the Light of the Dual Holy Trees, and the Yakxi Rune soothing her spirit, she felt much calmer.

This reaction didn’t surprise the Demon Hunter, for even the ordinary battlefield could inflict lifelong mental trauma on people.

Let alone the endless Night of the Hunt in Yan’an.

Only time and rest...perhaps combined with the benevolent and beautiful power of the Elves from the Ardan World? Might heal such trauma.

If there’s no improvement, Lann thought he might seek out Elrond in the Ardan World to see if Erin could rest in Rivendell for a while.

It’s likely that the hospitable Elrond wouldn’t refuse.

The young Demon Hunter pondered as he watched the cut on his wrist heal at a visibly fast pace.

On the ground was a basin of blood, murky and darkened by dust and waste medicine.

So far, just as Lann and Mentos calculated, all his blood had been completely transfused.

The high-energy blood, strong in flow and rich in nutrients, filled Lann’s body, from the subcutaneous tissue to the muscles, organs, brain...

”Phew~” Lann sighed softly, then slowly clenched his fist.

The muscular lines on his arms swelled with blood, eventually pressing against the clasps of his close-fitting armguards, causing them to make a ’clack’ sound.

It seemed as if the deafening power would burst forth any moment!

The regaining of strength in his body brought Lann a sense of comfort and reassurance.

The large, starkly contrasting black and white Greatsword was quietly leaning against the wooden cabinet behind Lann.

This was Dr. Yusefka’s clinic, which Lann along with Maria and Adeline had helped Dr. Yusefka tidy up after that night.

Aside from no longer conducting Blood Healing, it was essentially unchanged compared to the former clinic.

Lann stood up from the basin of discarded blood, stretched his muscles briefly, and then grasped the hilt of the Muddy Stream·Destruction with one hand.

The thick solid hilt, wrapped in strips of Extinct Dragon Hide, provided a comfortable grip.

”Ooh~”

In the clinic’s room, just a slight lift with one hand by Lann caused the hefty, sizeable object to stir the air, emitting a whimpering sound.

Lann’s palm rubbed across the wide sword surface, the coarse leather of his gloves producing a pleasing and solid sound against the steel.

His eyes, deeper than before, fixed on the sword.

Suddenly, with a ”pop,” a spark exploded on the dark sword surface, making a sound of spontaneous combustion.

It was just a momentary spark, but the entire room suddenly felt a notch warmer!

And the room began to emit that distinctive odor like wooden floorboards and furniture do after being sun-baked for a while.

”A bit of progress.”

Lann squinted and commented.

The essence of Muddy Stream·Destruction is essentially a sword-shaped Extinct Dragon, requiring ’consuming’ nutrient-rich high-quality food to grow and strengthen.

Its bone-white blade is akin to the spines of an Extinct Dragon.

Even though Lann completely subdued the sword’s ferocity during the confrontation with the Moon God, commanding it not to ’eat’, and indeed it dared not.

But the sword, despite not ’eating’, still somehow experienced some degree of growth after slaying and burning the Moon God.

This wasn’t growth derived from the Extinct Dragon’s appetite.

Lann felt it seemed more like... the Combat Skill: Residual Fire, due to burning the Moon God, became increasingly... indescribable.

Even Lann only noticed this after disengaging from intense combat and resting his body for a day.

Residual Fire, belonging to the Flame World, are some leftover sparks from successive Ember Kings who burned themselves as fuel to sustain the Initial Flame that stabilizes the world.

It’s not as grand as the Initial Flame, doesn’t burn up the chaotic world to construct stability.

It’s merely the remains of that power after burning.

Yet, even so, Lann had rarely seen Residual Fire failing to be effective.

He may not use it, but once the Combat Skill: Residual Fire is activated, these flames can generally burn away anything he wants to kill.

Even if the Ancient Gods were trapped within materialized bodies, even if it’s a Dream Realm.

It could burn them all.

But in this instance of burning the Moon God’s corpse and perhaps the essence of the Ancient God trapped within, somehow... Lann felt that the Residual Fire had become even deeper.

And increasingly... ancient.