Bear School Astartes-Chapter 801 - 784: Isaline’s Prophecy

"Achoo!"

The fluffy ball on the Qilin’s back sneezed and scratched its nose with its paw.

Then it looked up at Lann, who was holding the Qilin Mane with his right hand, while his left hand hung by his side.

"So, you’re telling me, Lann, just in that short moment, you fought with a group of ghosts that attack with super-cold temperatures, meow?"

After saying this, the little cat lowered its head dejectedly.

"What a pity, meow... It was a chance to fight ghosts, meow!"

Lann gently knocked the little cat’s helmet on its head with the back of his left hand, making a ’dong’ sound that made the little cat cover its head.

"There’s nothing to pity. You don’t even have a silver weapon or a weapon to break evil. What do you plan to do when facing ghosts? Bury your head and run away?"

The little cat seemed to have never considered this problem and softly meowed in confusion, holding its helmet as it froze.

Meanwhile, Belengar on Bopai’s back found many of the situations described by Lann to be unbelievable, due to his experience.

"You said that when they were dying and dissipating, they felt no fear or retreat... This isn’t right, is it?"

The old Demon Hunter spoke in a low voice.

"Even demon spirits, those souls driven mad by jealousy of the living, will let out cries of fear when they finally dissipate. Because they are about to leave the human world they have lingered in for so long and truly enter the world of death."

"Nothing can escape death, not even ghosts."

"So, I think..." Lann picked up the conversation, offering his own speculation. "They weren’t ghosts at all. Or rather, becoming ghosts was just a means."

Belengar looked at him, confused, not understanding what he meant.

"When I killed them, their expressions, if I had to describe them..."

Lann chose his words carefully, trying to make his description accurate.

"They seemed to feel regret, surprise, unlike facing death and losing all existence. Instead, it was more like losing something valuable but not utterly precious."

Belengar, a person of the Magic Middle Ages, might not grasp this state, but Lann felt it was familiar.

It was a bit like a video game player facing death punishment.

"They were logical and purposeful, pursuing Ancient Blood. This is completely different from the mad ghosts or demon spirits."

Lann then took out a stone-like object still stained with blood from his Alchemy Pouch.

It was the constructed core taken from a Wild Hunt Hound.

"And this thing clearly represents intelligent work. It requires immense wisdom and technological accumulation to finally produce a finished product. These cannot be explained by ghosts or curses."

"Whoever possesses this, at the very least, should be a nation."

"Moreover, the technological idea of this thing, along with the cold air emitted by those Wild Hunt Hounds... actually seems familiar to me."

That Elf Beacon.

The cold air on the constructed core of the Wild Hunt Hound was very similar to the Elf Beacon before it was analyzed and controlled by Margaret and Tishaya.

"Lastly, that elf was clearly not being controlled, whereas the initial human had no autonomy at all — a stark hierarchy, isn’t it?"

Belengar listened to Lann’s string of analyses, becoming completely bewildered.

"You’re saying... there’s a powerful state led by elves, that over the long years has been sending armies in ghostly form to this world to slaughter and plunder? It has even become a part of folklore?"

He held his forehead, his eyes disoriented.

"No, no, no... Let me think this through."

"The legend of the Wild Hunt on the continent is so ancient as to be untraceable, but your theory almost completely overturns all hypotheses so far!"

Lann was rather nonchalant about it.

"After all, no one else has fought them and lived to see the faces beneath those skull masks, right?"

"And their special cold... after staying in that thing long enough, I reckon steel and stone would easily shatter from freezing, leaving no evidence or traces."

"So I still believe I’m right."

Lann said confidently.

"A traveling Elf Realm that navigates time and space, wielding incredible cold... It’s rare to encounter something unique on each of your journeys."

Belengar shook his head, summarizing Lann’s assumptions.

But when he mentioned the ’cold’ in the end, something clicked in his mind.

"Isaline’s prophecy?"

Belengar murmured.

But these words still reached Lann’s ears.

"Prophecy? That famous elf prophetess? What exactly does it say?"

Although the status of this prophecy is known to all, Lann, being a latecomer, inevitably had gaps in his knowledge of many local customs and folklore songs.

And Belengar didn’t bother with Lann’s ’ignorance,’ considering he still thought of Lann as a ’pioneer project’ particularly nurtured by the Bear School.

Isolated education made sense.

"Beware, the Time of Sword and Axe is nigh — the era of the chilling wolf and snowy winds. The Time of White Frost and White Light is coming — the age of madness and disdain: Tedd Deireadh, the End Times. The world shall perish in the White Frost and be reborn under a new sun. This is when Hen Ichaer — Ancient Blood — sows its seed for rebirth. This seed won’t sprout, but it will ignite a blazing fire.

Ess’tuath esse! This is inevitable! Watch for the signs! To know what these signs are, heed my words: first, Aen Seidhe — the Blood of Elves — shall flood the lands..."

The old Demon Hunter calmly recited the prophecy of the elf prophetess.

To Lann, it sounded like all other famous prophecies, scaring people with a grim future, then delivering heaps of ambiguity that seemed to fit in any interpretation, to enhance its credibility.

But what was distinctly different about this prophecy was that it clearly pointed to one concept: Ancient Blood.

Belengar also realized this, staring wide-eyed at Lann, as if in inquiry, repeating the term.

"Ancient Blood?"

The young Demon Hunter nodded.

To him, the first time he heard this term was in the Brook Leon Great Forest, from the mouth of the Dryad Queen, Aisne, the Silver-Eyed Queen.

And whether it was this time or the last, the term directly referred to one person — Ciri.

Belengar was someone who could be trusted, and he was stable by nature, residing in Gos Velen, with ties to Airetusa that assured he wouldn’t be threatened and was very safe.

Therefore, Lann shared with Belengar what he knew about Ciri.

This time, they were originally heading to Ker Morhan, and Geralt’s Child of Destiny would clearly be there too, so they’d have to meet sooner or later.