Bear School Astartes

As he spoke, Lann raised his hand and pulled back his hood.

His face and silver hair were exposed in an instant.

That radiant face and silver hair gave the illusion of a sudden flash of light on the mountain path.

But at the same time, the cold words that came out of his mouth immediately plunged the listener into confusion and a vague chill.

However, their bewilderment didn’t mean everyone was confused.

With Lann’s arrival, a part of the escort at the rear, those Ember Knights who were scattered, quietly gathered around.

They had all fought guerrilla warfare with Lann in the occupied area of Sintra during the North-South War.

Not only did they have excellent combat abilities, but also top-notch skills in concealment and surprise attacks.

Lann didn’t even need to turn back to confirm; he knew his knights would follow in his footsteps.

And without surprise, just as Lann finished his words, immediately...

"Pfft~ Ugh!" *5

The sound of blades entering flesh, accompanied by the spray of blood and the final whimpers before death, rang out in succession.

Everything happened too fast. Most of those present were only just beginning to react.

Knight Thales, bearing a scarred face, turned fearfully to look.

He saw the White Rose Knights, who had previously shown disgust and hatred toward the Female Warlock and Demon Hunter.

Among them, five standing on the outskirts immediately clutched their throats and fell.

Or, after a brief struggle, their legs were kicked out from under them, and their half-kneeling forms had their necks twisted.

So blunt and decisive.

Seward, whose heart was already weary from the Squirrel Faction’s attack, trembled even more with shock.

"You...!"

Knight Thales had some skill, and he roared in anger as he attempted to draw his sword.

Unfortunately, the longsword hadn’t fully left its sheath.

A hand in an iron glove clamped over his side face.

Though the position showed the person was shorter than Thales.

Yet the skilled breathing and technique, at the first moment, made Thales feel as if his muscles and bones were out of control.

No stability or resistance left for combat readiness.

With a "bang," Lincoln pounced out and pinned Thales down.

"Please be quiet, Knight Thales. The lord only asked for five kills. I don’t want this number to be wrong in my hands. It would be my disgrace. Do you understand?"

Holding Thales’ face against the ground, Lincoln spoke calmly.

"Who are you people really?!"

Thales’ face was deformed, with scars twisting, revealing anger and uncontrollable fear.

"Killing the knights of the order! Are you also planning to kill the Duke?!"

"If ordered, we would gladly comply."

Lincoln’s calm tone actually halted Thales’ hysterical screaming.

Clearly, he had not expected anyone to talk about ’killing the Duke’ in such a carefree manner.

Seward was frightened by the ruthless killing, as were the White Rose Knights.

The "shing" sound of swords being drawn was incessant.

Yet no one dared to move.

The White Rose Knights suffered no losses from the Squirrel Faction’s assault earlier, but now, five were dead and one captured in a single encounter... Who the hell are these people?!

The others in the convoy, gripped by this sudden bloodshed, stopped and froze in place, dropping whatever were in their hands.

Some stood staring blankly, while others screamed and ran away.

However, fortunately, there were still some who remained calm.

"You are..." Duke Seward, who already appeared exhausted from the Squirrel Faction’s attack, now looked even more haggard, and called out timidly.

"Duke Lann of Sintra?"

His originally seated body stood up slowly, instinctively retreating, eyes darting around.

"Then these are... those Ember Knights?"

"You... you are a Duke, not attending to proper courtesy is my failure. But Duke Lann, even a Duke doesn’t have the right to kill knights without cause!"

He swallowed hard, struggling to finish his words.

"They died from an accident during this journey, fallen into the ravine."

The blood from five White Roses’ throats had nearly touched Lann’s boots, while the Demon Hunter spoke calmly.

Without needing instructions, the Ember Knights dragged the bodies they had killed and threw them off the edge of the mountain path.

The sound of the water stream in the mountain gorge was already loud, so when five people were thrown in, there was hardly any extra noise.

Seward’s mouth twitched, and the faces of the other White Rose knights turned pale in an instant.

"Not adhering to etiquette is my negligence," Seward reiterated once more, his weary face looking extremely sincere. "But there’s no need to go this far, really no need, Duke Lann."

Lann tilted his head and looked down at Seward, shook his head after a moment of silence.

"Though we’ve had little contact, you’re actually a smart person. So now you’re still using such laughable excuses to probe why I’m so explosive as soon as I appear."

Lann walked towards Seward, but it was the duke, with only a decorative longsword at his waist, who pressed down the shoulder of the fully armed knight beside him.

Indeed, the White Rose Knight Order had not participated in the North and South War, and they had heard about the war’s process only through rumors.

They also showed disdain for Demon Hunters such as mutants due to their faith in the Eternal Fire.

But when Lann really appeared before them... height, stature, weight, and the strength to control such weight.

Just Lann passing by them would make them feel as if a giant bear with hot breath was strolling past.

Lincoln casually released his grip on Knight Thales, standing up together as Lann walked past.

"I’ll be direct," Lann stood outside the circle formed by the White Rose knights, although this gave no sense of security.

"I now need to take over the entire command of the team, including all your command systems during this operation."

"The lives of five White Rose knights were sacrificed to let you listen to me quietly, akin to a cough before a speech, do you understand?"

"Certainly, their vile attitude towards me and others indeed made me detest them a bit."

Lann gestured a small distance with his fingers.

The expressions of others seemed absurd, after all, knights... were actually low-ranking nobility.

And now, the lives of five nobles were merely used to complete a ’cough before the speech’.

But inexplicably, when these people who felt absurd turned their gaze to Lann and Ember Knight, or even Triss.

Their faces seemed naturally accepting, as if it was natural.

"The situation is very dangerous now; everyone must immediately withdraw from the Ponta River Valley."

"Just because of this?" Seward’s face was incredulous, "Just because of those Squirrel Faction?"

"The point is not the Squirrel Faction, but something they attracted,"

Lann shook his head.

"Actually, I didn’t expect you to understand, you think it’s too violent for me to kill five knights as soon as I spoke, but I think evacuating these people alive is more important than the lives of five knights."

"Moreover, I know exactly what you’re panicking about right now, Seward."

The Demon Hunter tilted his head, calmly looking down at Duke Elrand who seemed settled.

"You don’t actually care about those five knights; you’re not panicking because I killed them as soon as I spoke. You’re worried about why Veltrest didn’t tell you about inviting me."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding White Rose knights were at a loss.

But Seward, surrounded by them, this man who had entered middle age, felt his trembling body completely calm down.

His once distracted and trembling gaze became steady.

Lann saw very clearly that perhaps only when people initially died, his sudden panic was real; the rest of the time was all an act.

In fact, after recognizing him, he was not panicked by the scene here and now.

Unbeknownst to him, things Lann had once done and the attitude he upheld when doing them spread widely due to his reputation.

Even the Niflgaard people, when talking about the Duke of Sintra, mainly described him as ’terrifying, explosive’, but rarely as evil or bloodthirsty.

Seward believed that although he had to be prejudiced against non-humans and mutants due to his position, he was considered prejudiced only within Temeria.

Across the whole North, he was practically a moderate, wasn’t he?

At least he wouldn’t use his status as a duke to incite racial massacres.

A person like Lann wouldn’t kill him.

So upon confirming that the one before him was indeed the Duke of Sintra, Seward was not too panicked.

Some people are able to gain acknowledgment from others, regardless of stance.

And subsequently, Seward, who had cleared his mind, had only one concern—

Veltrest invited Lann to solve this matter but didn’t inform him in advance, does this indicate a shift in some political direction?

But this was something Seward himself had to be sensitive about, Lann was completely uninterested at this moment.

"Now I need to enforce my command," the Demon Hunter declared decisively. "So I don’t care about your minor conflict with Veltrest."

"I just want fewer deaths, do you understand?"

The Demon Hunter’s cat eyes met Seward’s calm eyes.

"You don’t respect someone like me due to your position, or rather you can’t show respect, I understand. And I don’t expect you to respect me... I want you to respect my power."

"Any more questions?"

Duke Elrand opened his mouth...

"Certainly understood, Duke Lann."