In the eyes of the Erdtree, granting beings the right to return to the tree was itself a kind of blessing—an act of grace.
That was precisely why even when Tarnished like Arthur killed them, they would still drop Runes.
And for the same reason, after the Elden Ring shattered, those races that had long distanced themselves from Golden Order Fundamentalism were still affected—falling into madness all the same.
In other words, whether Arthur chose to save them or not made no real difference.
They were already beyond salvation.
Arthur stood at the base of the Haligtree's roots and looked up at the towering structure formed by interwoven roots and trunk—shaped like a slumbering maiden figure.
He suddenly found himself curious.
What would Miquella's female form look like?
Empyreans possessed a unique trait: the ability to alter their sex, or even manifest an opposite-gender aspect of themselves.
Most Empyreans never used this ability.
But Miquella was an exception.
When he was young, Miquella had been fond of a certain dreamy flower. Later, he even adopted it as a symbol of the Haligtree's faith.
That flower was named Miquella's Lily.
Correspondingly, there existed another flower, nearly identical in appearance, known as Trina's Lily.
Arthur had once seen records of Saint Trina in documents from Leyndell.
According to those texts, Saint Trina was a beautiful yet illusory maiden—appearing suddenly somewhere in the royal capital, only to vanish just as abruptly.
She was adored by the citizens of Leyndell and revered as a saint.
It was said that encountering Saint Trina would bring great fortune.
But one day, the people realized something strange—
Saint Trina had not appeared for a very long time.
And around that same period, a major event had occurred: Miquella had left Leyndell with Malenia.
Putting the clues together, Arthur found the conclusion unavoidable.
Saint Trina was Miquella's female aspect.
Children shared one common trait—they loved to play.
Perhaps Miquella was no different.
Yet as a prince, he could never enjoy the freedom of an ordinary child.
And so… Trina was born.
What made it even more interesting was that Trina's existence had likely begun without Miquella's conscious awareness.
Unlike Marika and Radagon—who struggled for control over the same body—Miquella and Trina never awakened at the same time.
Only one consciousness was active.
Trina slumbered within Miquella's dream-world.
She could only appear when Miquella himself was asleep.
That explained why the people of Leyndell described Saint Trina as "illusory" and "ephemeral".
She was merely a projection.
When Miquella awoke, Trina disappeared.
As for Trina's experiences—Miquella might retain fragments of memory, but to him they would feel no more than strange dreams.
It wasn't until Arthur revealed the truth—that Radagon and Marika were one—that Miquella finally realized something.
Those "dreams" from his childhood…
Might have been another self's memories.
As for whether Miquella had ever truly communicated with Trina—
That remained unknown.
Arthur withdrew his thoughts.
He placed his hand against the Haligtree's roots and began stripping away the Scarlet Rot.
A deep crimson torrent surged endlessly into his palm.
To Arthur's surprise, this massive intake caused his newly acquired Scarlet Rot power to grow stronger.
This was thanks to the Rot's terrifying nature—
Its power grew through constant erosion and spread.
By absorbing the vast corruption infesting the Haligtree, quantitative accumulation finally triggered a qualitative change.
Arthur's mastery of Scarlet Rot advanced another step.
He suddenly thought of Caelid, entirely consumed by Rot.
And the Lake of Rot near Nokstella beneath the Carian royal lands.
If he could absorb all the Rot in those places…
His power might reach an entirely new level.
Arthur committed the thought to memory, deciding to revisit those regions when time allowed.
When the Scarlet Rot was fully extracted, the Haligtree—grown from Miquella's blood—once again pulsed with life.
At some point, Miquella had appeared beside Arthur.
"Thank you, Arthur," he said softly.
"No need," Arthur replied casually. "I was just doing it on the way. By the way—where do you two plan to go next?"
Malenia answered immediately,
"Wherever my brother goes, I'll follow."
Miquella fell silent in thought, then asked,
"We'd like to follow you. Would that be alright?"
Though the Haligtree had been restored, its inhabitants were already largely insane.
Whether their former retainers would still obey them was uncertain.
And in their soul forms, the twins faced countless inconveniences.
Following Arthur was simply the most practical option.
At least until Arthur became Elden Lord, Miquella intended to stay by his side.
Miquella no longer sought godhood for himself.
In his current state, that path was closed.
But he could still be a witness—
To see what kind of world Arthur would create.
And traveling the Lands Between with Arthur sounded… genuinely fun.
After all, Miquella hadn't actually seen much of the world.
His journey with Malenia had ended at the Consecrated Snowfield.
He had never gone south.
The one exception had been when Mohg abducted him, dragging him into the depths beneath Caelid.
A thoroughly miserable experience.
What Miquella didn't know was that many of his expectations would go unrealized.
Arthur had zero interest in becoming Elden Lord.
He fully supported Ranni's Order—
Separating the laws from the Lands Between and returning fate to the hands of its people.
What the world would become depended on its inhabitants, not on him.
And once Arthur finished exploring the Haligtree, his next destination was the Mountaintops of the Giants.
Another frozen wasteland.
The only difference was the presence of giants.
So Miquella's hopes of sightseeing the southern lands would have to wait.
None of this was known to Miquella.
Nor did Arthur know what Miquella was imagining.
Still, Arthur had no objections to the twins following him.
His impression of them was good—
A pure-hearted Empyrean child, and a noble Valkyrie.
Neither were people he disliked.
In fact, Arthur had been slightly worried earlier—
If the twins chose to leave, how would he ever carry out his three-in-one manifestation plan?
Now that they wanted to stay, things couldn't have worked out better.
Arthur nodded.
"I don't mind. Honestly, journeys are more fun with companions."
Miquella's eyes lit up.
"That's great! So where are we going next?"
"No rush," Arthur replied. "I haven't finished exploring Elphael and the Haligtree yet."
Miquella's smile immediately stiffened.
Since traveling with Arthur, he'd learned one thing very clearly—
Arthur's exploration style could be summarized in four words:
Leaves nothing behind.
Miquella still remembered one time when Arthur took a liking to a building's design.
After finishing that area…
He pried the entire structure out—foundation and all.
Panicking, Miquella grabbed Arthur's sleeve.
"Uh—when you explore here, could you maybe… hold back a little? At least don't dismantle the buildings?"
Arthur laughed.
"Relax. This is your home. Why would I tear it down?"
To be honest, Arthur had considered it.
Elphael's architecture was right up his alley.
And even if he didn't dismantle anything himself—
Once he manifested the Haligtree, the parts of the city built into it would collapse anyway.
But since Miquella had asked, Arthur let the idea go.
As he said—
This was Miquella's home.
That deserved some respect.
"Come on," Arthur said, turning toward the cave exit.
"You two hosts aren't going to show me around your city?"
The siblings exchanged awkward glances.
Finally, Miquella spoke.
"Actually… we might not be that familiar with Elphael either."
Arthur stopped and stared.
"Seriously? Isn't this your homeland?"
"Well… yes," Miquella admitted.
"But I was abducted by Mohg a long time ago. I don't know what's changed here since."
Malenia added,
"And I've been asleep for years. I don't know the current situation either."
Arthur fell silent.
He'd thought this exploration would at least be easier—
No need to hunt for hidden rooms.
Turns out, it was business as usual.
Arthur sighed.
"In that case… let's explore what Elphael has become together."
And with that, their journey continued.
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