Bear School Astartes-Chapter 545 - 547. Anka, Stones

Chapter 545: 547. Anka, Stones
After being knocked away by Cassandra’s [Destruction Shot], Hapalos barely got up before Lann seized the opportunity to unleash an [Alder’s Rune] at his legs.
Hapalos fell face-down on the ground, his chest capable of emitting energy lines pinned beneath him.
In combat, a helpless position like this is essentially a death sentence.
Lann’s body vanished like a puff of smoke, reappearing beside Hapalos.
Unsure if stabbing directly into the heart might trigger a reaction from the unknown item on Hapalos’s chest.
After all, a core injury causing an explosion seems quite plausible.
So Lann held the Lady of the Lake’s Sword firmly, aiming the blade mid-air at Hapalos’s waist.
The force technique from the [Iwami Style·One-Character Slash] combined with the balance control of the [Bear School Swordsmanship].
Muscles, bones’ power, and the addition of body weight were transferred and compounded along his skeleton.
This is a new achievement born under the martial philosophy of [Mindless Style]—[Great Severance]!
Aron Dite was swiftly yet steadily raised above his head... then brought down fiercely!
Just as Lann named this technique.
The blade’s graceful, even elegant arc exploded with a massive cracking sound, like a giant crossbow firing from a castle!
The originally stable air pressure environment was torn apart by the blade, while the chaotic massive air was drawn in, crashing down like waterfall!
This swordsmanship, ideally like ’flowing water,’ has been slowly mastered by Lann and turned into his own.
The blade of the Lady of the Lake, along with the sharp airflow swirling around it, slashed into Hapalos’s waist with decisive force.
The golden energy glow mounted resistance, but within Lann’s [Spiritual Vision], he faintly saw the flow speed of this golden energy.
In the position he now chose, this defensive golden energy couldn’t build a steady defense in time!
"Crack!"
The sound of the blade slicing into flesh was like cutting through a layer of iron!
"Ah!!"
The agony from a deep wound cut into the spine and abdomen made Hapalos scream instantly!
But it wasn’t over; the massive surge of air following the blade swiftly crashed down, tearing and enlarging the wound!
Should be over, right?
Lann thought somewhat regretfully.
He was getting excited to face an opponent he could only counter through technique.
Interstellar Warriors were designed as weapons, and the arrogance of the Sons of the Emperor in swordsmanship and combat intensified their aggressive will.
But unfortunately, in a battle where the gap isn’t too wide, one side had another helper joining.
Thus, the battle ends quickly and abruptly.
Numbers, nearly always an advantage in battle that can’t be ignored.
Especially since Cassandra as a ’numerical advantage’ has an unusually high quality.
And just as Lann was about to relax, in his [Spiritual Vision], along with Mentos’s retinal warning.
The nearly bisected Hapalos simultaneously became extremely dangerous! Muscles rose in a morbid swell, and golden streaks on his body began spreading from his chest!
It seemed with life ebbing away, his danger level was rising dramatically!
Then Lann discovered the waist armor on him was emitting astonishing golden light!
Another arrow tearing the air skimmed past Lann’s leg; he wasn’t the only one noticing Hapalos wasn’t dead yet.
Almost in sync, Lann reversed the grip on the Lady of the Lake’s Sword, and thrust viciously at Hapalos’s head!
"Crack"*2
Two sounds, like tearing through iron sheets echoed.
Cassandra’s arrow from [Destruction Shot] violently tore open half of Hapalos’s neck!
While Lann’s blade point stabbed into the brain through the temple.
Then, all sense of crisis instantly vanished.
Hapalos in front of two alert and cautious enemies, even his final counter was promptly snuffed out in the bud.
"This is the Longevity Army’s waist armor... Unbelievable, the Order Divine Teachings acquired this Persian Empire treasure since the Greco-Persian Wars, and preserved it so well!"
A gear appraiser trained in Sparta approached, flipping the waist armor on Hapalos with her broken spear.
And explaining to the foreigners.
"Legend says wearing this gear grants one escape from Hades’s grasp once, and the more severely injured, the stronger instead!"
"Sounds indeed formidable."
Lann nodded, but internally held another view.
This Longevity Army’s waist armor from the Persian Empire was potent, yet certainly not the reason for Hapalos’s transformation into ’god’ or nearing ’god’ state.
Cassandra stripped the waist armor off.
Unusually, the armor’s golden brilliance in her hands wasn’t as luminous as when Hapalos used it.
Normally, the divine artifacts in Cassandra’s hands are amplified by her lineage.
And Lann flipped Hapalos’s upper body with his toe.
The lower body already severed by Lann’s earlier [Great Severance], wouldn’t flip with the body.
Finally, Lann saw the unknown item on Hapalos’s chest, unwrapped by golden light.
"Anka?"
At first glance at the object embedded in Hapalos’s chest skin, Lann, after a moment’s thought, uttered a word with confusion.
An object resembling a cross, approximately the size of an adult’s hand, with the upper part of the vertical bar forming an oval ring.
Similar to the cross’s purpose in Christianity, Anka is a religious device in ancient Egyptian polytheistic beliefs.
Besides something obviously from this world, there laid a seemingly ordinary stone.
This stone being flat, also hand-sized. The Anka Cross was inserted into this stone, together embedded in Hapalos’s chest skin.
Golden line patterns extended from the location of these two items. As if activating these line patterns.
"You recognize these things?"
Cassandra asked Lann curiously, Demon Hunter shaking his head with furrowed brows.
"I can’t be sure, just have an impression, must find a knowledgeable person to confirm."
"Then find Herodotus." Hawk Trainer said confidently.
"I haven’t met anyone more learned than him. Maybe Socrates could silence him in words, but in matters of knowledge and history, Herodotus could be his teacher."
Lann had no doubts.
"Then I’ll trouble you to act as an intermediary."
He smiled at Cassandra, then drew the Dragonbone Dagger to pry these items off Hapalos’s corpse.
As soon as the items left, Hapalos rapidly shrunk to around 2.5 meters within a golden light, reverting to original state, even more shriveled than before.
As if drained of nutrients and energy.
Cassandra and Lann glanced at each other, both somewhat amazed.
Finally, Cassandra seemingly having taboo drew Lann away quickly.