Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 899 881. Bridge into the city (3000)

Lothric's bridge into the city is the same width throughout.

It is a stone and brick bridge that can accommodate ten horses walking side by side at the same time.

It starts from the gate of Lothric City and ends at the gate of the Undead Settlement. In the middle, it passes through the Fortress of Fran in mid-air.

This bridge can almost be called the most important 'highway' in this area.

Therefore, Lan can also see that Lothric's protective measures for the bridge are outstanding.

Every once in a while, the bridge will build a small gatehouse on the bridge deck.

Just like the city gates, if you want to rush straight to Lothric from the bridge with violence, then these small gatehouses will probably directly assume similar responsibilities as the city gates at the appropriate time.

Segmentally separate the invaders and consume their vitality.

From the moment Lan En led Qilin out of the gate of the Undead Settlement, he saw a giant creature on the bridge in the distance.

It was a gray-white creature with the texture of a stone.

The huge and powerful demon-like body has a pair of small wings on its back that are disproportionate to the body, and in its hand is a giant hammer that seems to be directly polished from stone.

The height is about the same as that of a giant slave, but the heaviness is even better.

Is that some kind of local creature, or the product of Lothric's magical technology?

Lan En didn't know, but now he just wanted to cross the bridge quickly and safely and reach Lothric. Therefore, he didn't want to offend this fierce-looking bridge guard at all.

Lan En walked in the direction of Lothric with the others.

The ‘other people’ here are the ‘Pilgrims’ mentioned by the Sun Knight just now.

These people came from the south and wanted to use their own asceticism to persuade Prince Lothric face to face, hoping that he would devote himself to spreading the fire.

In fact, Lan wasn't even sure whether these guys were 'human'.

Their whole bodies were wrapped in entangled black cloth, wrapped around their bodies in circles, and the occasionally exposed calves and arms were as skinny as old branches.

The black cloth wrapped around the body extends to the head, only revealing a dark hole on the face, making it difficult for people to see the face in the hole.

The most eye-catching thing is the stone turtle shells on their backs.

Although their bodies were already so weak, they still used iron chains to tie a large shield-like stone turtle shell to their backs.

That turtle shell still looks like a solid guy!

This caused the pilgrims to stagger and even be unable to stand on their own. Everyone had to hold on to a long crutch with an incense burner hanging on it to move forward.

Everyone unconsciously let out gasps and low moans of death.

Suffering unspeakable pain and despair, but still walking without stopping, maybe this is the original meaning of "Pilgrimage"?

Use your own pain to show piety, and then keep moving towards the holy place, longing for mercy.

Lan En doesn't understand this kind of thinking, but he won't interfere.

There were a large number of pilgrims, and they headed towards Lothric long before Lan En did.

According to the Sun Knights, their latest batch of people arrived half an hour earlier than Lan En.

But because their progress was so difficult, even the demon hunters could see that many pilgrims simply fell to the ground after taking a few steps, unable and unable to stand up, and died on the spot.

So Lan En had already entered the advancing team of pilgrims without taking a few steps.

This painful, desperate but extremely persistent progress carries with it a sense of silent shock and fear.

Walking among them, Lan En could still maintain his expression.

However, Qilin is always startled to avoid the pilgrims on its path, and the flannel ball on its back is also nervously looking around and fidgeting.

Both of them are warriors who can calmly deal with dangerous situations in battle, but among a group of pilgrims who look weak to death, this unusually heavy atmosphere can make them feel that something is wrong.

There are whispers of dying everywhere, and even the smell of death in the tomb is no stronger than in the crowd of pilgrims.

The pain of these people would make even a bystander feel that they would be more comfortable alive than dead.

Lan En held Qilin's hand and subconsciously wanted to pass through this group of people who made them feel uncomfortable.

Seeing others harm you can be psychologically damaging even to bystanders.

Although Lan En's figure was already very prominent among the pilgrims, because he didn't know Lothric's rules, Lan En did not ride on the back of the unicorn to make himself more conspicuous.

What if people don’t allow riding horses on the bridge?

So the witcher just held Qilin's hand and walked forward quickly.

Pilgrims were numerous, with groups advancing on almost every section of the giant bridge.

After walking for a while, Lan En finally came to the 'bridge guard'.

This is a living creature, not some magical construct.

When Lan En passed by it, he could detect the creature's breathing and internal muscle activity through his sensitive senses.

Standing far away just now, Lan En discovered that this demon-like creature not only felt a bit like a rock, but also had plant root-like things growing out of it, making it difficult to tell what it was.

But one thing is certain: this guy is indeed a "bridge guard" who abides by the rules.

Walking around here is just for defensive purposes and poses no threat to pedestrians on the bridge.

Lan En walked past this creature. Even if its huge body was not very fast, it could still make a heavy sound.

And every time those strong, recurved legs hit the ground, their footsteps would cause a tremor on the nearby bridge.

The strong and thick stone bricks made a slight collision sound at the joints.

The huge weight is evident.

This huge and heavy creature mainly paces and guards based on a small gatehouse.

And when Lan En followed the bustling pilgrims through the lower door of the small gatehouse, the outline of the majestic city of Lothric in the distance had also been revealed.

"It seems there is no surprise, it will be here soon."

Lan En looked at the huge mountain city in the distance that occupied almost half of the mountain range, and whispered to Qilin and Velvet Ball.

The more something is lacking, the more emphasis is placed on it.

Lan En said 'no surprise' at this time. In fact, he felt something abnormal in his heart at this time.

Maybe it was the desperate and stubborn atmosphere of the pilgrims, or maybe it was the heavy footsteps and tremors of the huge creature behind.

In short, he felt something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was going on.

"Hush the fan~"

Strong winds and the sound of broad wings swaying in the air came from the sky.

Lan En calmly raised his head, then frowned unconsciously.

The dragon knights of Lothric have arrived.

——

Lothric is the Kingdom of Fire that dominates the top of the world. Its sphere of influence extends to every corner of this apocalypse of fire, including the deep church, the undead settlement, and the Fortress of France, which I have only heard of but never been to.

Everything Lan En came into contact with and heard about seemed to have traces of Lothric's involvement.

But this was the first time Lan En saw the direct power of Lothric.

It is rumored that Lothric was originally a kingdom of dragon hunters, which is consistent with the plan of action of the gods to exterminate the ancient dragons in the early days of the Age of Fire.

But later, Lothric knights began to fight alongside dragons.

Even Lothric's national heraldry sequence has a pattern like the double dragon flag.

Lan En didn't know how this 180-degree change was caused.

The history of the royal family of Lothric stretches for tens of thousands of years. There are probably very few historians in the world who can figure out the secrets and the whole story of this country's history, let alone Lan En, a foreigner.

However, Lan En is certain that the "dragons" that the Lothrik knights call "along with dragons" are just a group of descendants, flying dragons, who have inherited the thin bloodline of ancient dragons.

The ancient dragons in this world also have a standard multi-limb skeleton with four legs and two wings.

And according to the description of the books in the Netherworld Church, they are more like inorganic life forms like stones, so they can be immortal.

They lived before the Age of Fire, so they did not have the concept of 'soul' that appeared with the first fire.

And now this huge flying dragon: it has two legs and two wings, and its eyes reveal agility and ferocity.

This shows that it has thin blood and already has a soul.

At this point in time when even the Age of Fire is about to pass, the creatures of the previous era are already out-and-out legends.

The dragons in the sky carry the Knights of Lothric, circling along the bridges in the sky.

At the same time, it seemed that some means of amplification were used to shout down below.

"There are enough pilgrims entering the city today."

As always, the knights' voices sounded loud and angry when wearing helmets.

But in the case of the Lothric knight, the voice naturally carried an unmistakable quality.

"All the pilgrims stop and wait for their spot tomorrow."

Lothric is at the top of the world, and the knights of Lothric are invincible. This is something they have been used to for thousands of years.

So it wouldn't be surprising even if the bridge was now filled with crowds of pilgrims, and these pilgrims looked like they would die on the spot the next second.

The Knights of Lothric can still order them in a matter-of-fact tone: Wait here for a day and see if you have a place in tomorrow's quota.

Giving you the opportunity to set foot in this holy city that is responsible for the fire-passing ceremony is enough to be grateful.

The 'bloody eclipse' in the sky has been going on for a long time, and no one can tell which day is which.

And the blurred sense of time can give people a deeper despair.

"Click".

The flying dragon flew back and forth on the bridge several times and finally landed on a small gatehouse not far from the 'Bridge Guard'.

The flying dragon's claws clasped the observation tower on the gate tower.

The whole dragon was lying on it, its long neck stretched downward, and its mouth was making a 'gurgling' sound from its throat, with flames escaping from the gaps in its teeth.