Bear School Astartes

The outer perimeter of the Elven ruins was neatly smashed open by the Terror Tyrannosaurus as it charged in.

It now gaped openly towards the wild mountains outside.

And just after Lann shouted towards that spot, there was a moment of silence, and then the person in the bushes seemed to see that Lann had not a hint of self-doubt.

Only then did he let go of his slight hope of luck.

With a "rustle" sound, the bushes and surrounding branches, leaves, and grass shook.

An elven male stepped out.

His physique was slightly more robust than the average elf, appearing well-built even among human males.

He was clad in a simple yet sturdy mix of leather and chain armor, with a long blade and several daggers hanging at his waist, and a longbow slung on his back.

But the most striking was the red bandana covering his right eye.

This was a One-Eyed Elf.

"Iyo?"

Sachia exclaimed a name in slight shock, but the male elf on the opposite side remained unmoved.

"Do you know him?" Lann didn’t turn his head, his eyes still fixed on the male elf, while he asked Sachia.

"We’ve exchanged a few words, but ’knowing’ is out of the question." Sachia was just initially surprised at seeing him here.

But soon the Green Dragon Female Warrior looked the male elf up and down and shook her head.

"I bet the name he gave me was fake, so it’s not really knowing."

"Iophis." The male elf suddenly spoke his first words after coming out from hiding, "This time it’s my real name."

"Whether it’s real or not is debatable." Lann waved his hand casually. "Care to come in for a chat?"

"You shouldn’t have such a small hope that you can escape in front of me, right?"

The elf looked subtly at the Terror Tyrannosaurus corpse, which was still awe-inspiring even when motionless.

"Of course." The elf who claimed the name Iophis said calmly, "I hate humans, but I’m not a fool who belittles the enemy just because of hatred."

"I now understand how strong you are, Lann of Sintra."

With that, the elf spread his hands, dropping all the small knives, daggers, and long blades from his body, and walked into the Elven ruins that had been breached.

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

Night deepened further, but luckily the moon in the sky was still large.

Lann and Rong Buqiu lit a bonfire, then casually pulled some food from the Alchemy Pouch to warm up over the fire.

During the battle with the Terror Tyrannosaurus, Lann had also expended a great deal of energy.

Moreover, Sachia was injured, so it was best to keep her warm in the cool mountain spring night.

The Demon Hunter offered several pieces of special feed to the Qilin, which seemed happy as it gnawed away.

Thanks to the abundance of spatial expansion pouches from Airetusa here, the food was quite lavish.

Margaret always ensured she maintained a high quality of life at all times.

So apart from the heaps of satiating food Lann pulled out, the Female Warlock also took out an unopened bottle of Fremontino wine and a full set of high-end glassware with gold inlays from her small handbag.

At this moment, to avoid the blood-stained stench from the Terror Tyrannosaurus, they had moved to the garden beside the Elven ruins.

Wild roses, influenced by the slight presence of Chaos Magic Power here, bloomed luxuriantly.

Paired with the artistic reliefs of the Elven ruins and the sprawling vegetation, the atmosphere and setting were initially quite pleasing.

"Thank you, Rong Buqiu. How about you, Mr. Iophis? Would you like a glass?"

Lann sat on a fallen piece of marble, thanking the Elu Cat for topping his large bread with cheese and ham slices while he inquired of the elf across the bonfire.

"The red wine from Toussaint Fremontino Manor, with a rich taste and intense peppery flavor, pairs well with meat and cheese."

The elf quietly accepted the glass from Lann but only held it, showing no intention to drink.

"Don’t waste it," Margaret, who had yet to start drinking, leaned her upper body against Lann and laughed, "I know him; he won’t kill you suddenly. If the situation isn’t urgent, he might even tell you before he does."

"I’m not unable to drink because of fear, Female Warlock. It’s just that what I saw tonight was too bizarre, leaving my mind in a mess."

Iophis coldly told Margaret, his attitude seemingly related to his identity.

"Is this Elven ruin your base?" Lann asked as he munched on his food, changing the topic as Margaret didn’t quibble with Iophis.

"The Squirrel Faction’s base in the Ponta River Valley."

The Female Warlock rested her face on her hand, watching her beloved eat.

She always found it curious how Lann could eat so quickly yet still appear so orderly.

The metallic plates on the elf’s glove and the glass cup in his hand made a slight ringing sound due to an abrupt tightening grip.

"You figured it out?"

Iophis spoke a question with the tone of a statement.

"There are quite a few signs of life here." Lann nodded casually, "Although when the Terror Tyrannosaurus rushed in, it basically destroyed most of the signs, but I had already taken a look before that."

Iophis himself did not have much reaction, but it was Sachia sitting by the campfire, looking at the other party with a peculiar gaze.

"You are indeed from the Squirrel Faction."

The elf himself just nodded indifferently.

"We initially planned to lure the white fog... Terror Tyrannosaurus? Lure it here."

He somewhat hesitantly adopted Lann’s term for the Terror Tyrannosaurus.

"To have it devour the floating harbor, and then the upper reaches at Haji Fortress. Unfortunately, you met Eira’s group before that, right?"

"A Squirrel Faction squad led by a female elf?" The Demon Hunter nodded, "Encountered them; they seemed surprised as well, the Terror Tyrannosaurus got lured close to the valley’s exit."

Iophis sighed deeply, his head in his hands, revealing a floral tattoo on the neck beneath his collar.

"I risked a glance—it was those wounded soldiers retreating. Somehow, they caught the Terror Tyrannosaurus’s scent during their retreat."

"Then the Terror Tyrannosaurus, meant to be lured here, first devoured my wounded troop, and because it had already deviated from its intended path, ended up attracted near the more off-path river valley’s exit, close to where you were then."

A coincidence, a twist of fate... the current situation formed by accidental and erroneous events.

The Squirrel Faction originally planned to use the Terror Tyrannosaurus to wipe out humanity’s territory within the Ponta River Valley, but instead, things backfired, and all their wounded perished. Nearly losing even their remaining manpower.

Yet all these started from their own attack plan.

Margaret leaned against her lover, holding a wine glass, with a lazy and indifferent smile on her face.

"This is really unlucky," the Female Warlock said, "Will you count this loss against humanity as well, Squirrel Faction?"

Margaret and many Warlocks share the viewpoint of not discriminating against nonhuman races and detesting the King’s discriminatory policies and the kingdom’s discriminatory atmosphere towards nonhuman races.

Warlocks generally have sympathy for the current social treatment of nonhuman races.

After all, the world’s magic power has always been intricately connected with those ancient races from the beginning.

The dean of Ban Aide, the oldest and most powerful human Warlock, Henry Gemitis was the first human introduced to study among the elves.

However, the sympathy shown by Warlocks is not specifically targeted.

Much like sympathizing with societal underdog groups, it’s just that now the underdog group happens to be nonhuman races.

And the Squirrel Faction, a nonhuman guerrilla force indiscriminately attacking all humans in the wild, even storming posts and toll stations leaving no survivors inside.

Margaret’s attitude towards such individuals can be described as lukewarm, with underlying irony.

"My hatred for humanity is enough to darken the entire Ponta River, Female Warlock."

Faced with Margaret’s implied barbs, Iophis responded calmly.

"I won’t randomly place blame because my hatred is already entirely sufficient. So, this matter is screwed up by us, leading to the death of my wounded."

"Ha." The Female Warlock mockingly raised her exquisite wine glass toward Iophis, "You truly are clear about love and hate."

The one-eyed elf looked at the Female Warlock—his gaze was unremarkable, his eyes toward every human enough to send a chill.

However, given the current circumstances, he did not retaliate against the Female Warlock’s cold remarks.

But once the conversation with subtle jabs between the Female Warlock and Iophis ended, there was yet another person present.

"But is it all worth it?"

Sachia gazed at the flickering flames, calmly asking in a steady, pleasing voice.

"What do you mean?"

"All of this." Sachia conversed calmly with Iophis, "Humans kill you, you kill humans, and the more both sides kill, the more frenzied they become."

In a moment of silence, only the crackling of the campfire was heard.

Suddenly, in this environment silent to the point of only white noise remaining, the one-eyed elf chuckled softly.

"Ha!"

He even picked up the wine glass, taking a sip of Fremontino red wine from Toussaint for the first time.

Then, with a gaze akin to looking at a child, tilted his head and glanced at the Green Dragon Female Warrior sitting by the campfire.

"You seem to think you know everything, understand everything, Sachia."

"You’re a Green Dragon, which makes you feel you stand outside humanity and elves, holding a ’clear view from an observer’s perspective,’ right? But in reality..."

The one-eyed elf’s lips moved, savoring the fragrance of red wine on his tongue.

"You’re just a kid, Sachia."

The Female Warlock, Demon Hunter, and even the Green Dragon Female Warrior herself did not react to Iophis’s words.

Instead, it was Rong Buqiu, who uttered a surprised ’meow,’ curiously looking at such a big ’child’ beside him.