Malenia had been run through by the Mystic Fire Eldritch Blade. Everything below her waist was paralyzed, and Skyl had forced her to her knees.
She swung her blade at Skyl, but he dodged it with ease.
Once a warrior lost the strength at the core of their body, they became frighteningly vulnerable.
Skyl pulled the Eldritch Blade free. Rot-tainted blood seeped from Malenia's wound, and the sickly sweet, metallic scent in the air grew stronger by the second.
"Are you finally willing to talk this out? You and Morgott are exactly alike. The moment something goes wrong, you start swinging swords. I admire your courage, but sometimes your casual disregard for life really gets on my nerves. The most precious bond between people comes from understanding one another, and the noblest friendship comes from helping one another."
Skyl extended a hand toward Malenia.
"So, how about a truce?"
Malenia lowered her head without answering. The fragrance in the air was enough to drive a person insane. Like fungal spores, it could burrow into the lungs and turn a living person into an overripe tomato rotting from the inside out.
The Scarlet Rot within her was stirring.
The Order of Rot represented the natural law of decay and drew strength from the death and deterioration of all things. It possessed an extraordinary power of restoration bordering on resurrection. Even if Malenia were killed, she could bloom into a Scarlet Aeonia, repair her wounds, and rise to fight once more.
But doing so would inevitably push her further toward the Order of Rot. After blooming three times, she would completely become the Goddess of Rot, and Malenia had already bloomed once.
"Never give up the fight, Malenia. I'm no Johnny Silverhand, but I've still got to say it, we've got a dynasty to burn. Mohgwyn Dynasty, specifically. Oh, right, you don't know yet. Mohg, Lord of Blood, the ruler of Mohgwyn Dynasty, is the bastard who abducted your brother Miquella. Malenia, I'm guessing you'd rather not leave Miquella in the hands of the Lord of Blood, would you?"
Those words struck harder than the sword that had pierced her body.
At the very least, Malenia's reaction was far more intense.
Her head snapped up. Beneath the barred visor of her winged helm, her face showed an urgency Skyl had never seen before.
"Mohg? Morgott's brother? So it was him... What happened to Miquella?!"
Skyl did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned and walked toward Millicent's fallen body.
He gently lifted Millicent's remains into his arms and placed a hand against her forehead. Silver Mystic Fire flowed throughout her body, reconnecting severed limbs and repairing her wounds. Her silent heart began beating again, and activity returned to her brain.
"Wake up."
Skyl's voice gently pulled Millicent from her sleep.
"Hah..."
Like someone taking their first breath after nearly drowning, Millicent's eyes flew open. The lingering memory of pain had yet to fade from her body, and a soft whimper escaped her throat like a wounded animal.
"Skyl... I lost again."
"There, there. Don't be so hard on yourself. Want to sleep a little longer? Coming back from the dead is pretty unpleasant."
"Where's Malenia? I still have to fight her."
"Did you forget why you came here?" Skyl was speechless. "Didn't you say you wanted to return her dignity? Why is fighting the only thing on your mind now?"
"If I defeat her, then I can give her dignity back."
Millicent's reasoning left Skyl with absolutely nothing to say.
"I want to prove to her that even without the Scarlet Rot, I can still protect the people who matter to me."
"Then go talk to her yourself. She's right over there."
Millicent rose to her feet, staggered twice, then walked over to Malenia, who was still kneeling on the ground. She bent down until their eyes were level.
"I can... feel you, Malenia. Perhaps I'm an offshoot of you, or perhaps I'm your daughter. Whenever I sleep, stories about you appear in my dreams. I know how you and Miquella once rode a dragon out of Leyndell, Royal Capital, and found shelter in the Cave of the Forlorn in the Consecrated Snowfield. I know how the two of you supported each other across that frozen wasteland and planted the Haligtree in the north. I know that both you and Miquella carried Marika's expectations and intended to break away from the Golden Order...
"Your life, your joys, your anger, your sorrows, everything you've experienced is tied to me. Malenia, I was luckier than you because I met Skyl. He cured the Scarlet Rot inside me. I didn't know how else to convince you, so I chose to fight you instead. I wanted to awaken the part of you that is still human, the will that once allowed you to resist the Scarlet Rot. Please don't give up, all right?"
Malenia raised one hand and gently brushed Millicent's cheek.
"My daughter, another me born into this world... Remember everything that happened to me, but do not repeat my life."
"I won't. Skyl and I will be leaving the Lands Between soon."
Once the two women had finally begun communicating, Skyl stepped forward to treat Malenia's wounds. Ordinary healing magic could not close her injuries. If anything, it would only feed the Scarlet Rot.
Malenia, however, clearly possessed her own method of healing.
She drove her prosthetic blade into the earth. The white flowers surrounding her began to wither before quickly succumbing to rot. The vitality released by their deaths flowed into Malenia, rapidly repairing her injuries.
This belonged to the divine portfolio of the Order of Rot. Nothing in nature truly went to waste. Decaying plants nourished the soil, ensuring greater abundance in the future. Death and growth were simply two sides of the same natural cycle.
In practical terms, this meant Malenia could restore her life by attacking others, and the closer the world came to ruin, the stronger she became.
Skyl had felt the erosion of the Order of Rot while fighting her as well. His divine power, however, was far stronger, allowing him to resist the Order's attempts to steal his life force.
Technically, their battle had barely qualified as a divine battle. Malenia possessed a divine portfolio, but she lacked divine rank, and even her divine essence remained incomplete. Her actual strength therefore fell short of a true god.
Even if she bloomed three times and transformed into the Goddess of Rot, she would still need to forge an Elden Ring of her own before she could hope to defeat Skyl.
After learning what had happened to Miquella, Malenia was burning with anxiety, but she did not act recklessly. Instead, she prepared to send scouts ahead to investigate the situation first, displaying the composure expected of a great commander.
Skyl deliberately neglected to mention that Miquella was currently sharing Mohg's bed, or that the once-beautiful young demigod had been transformed under the Lord of Blood's care into something resembling an enormous withered corpse.
If Malenia learned that particular detail, she would probably invade Mohgwyn Dynasty before sunrise.
Her attitude toward Skyl and Millicent had changed dramatically, however.
Having successfully turned an enemy into an ally, Skyl asked Malenia several questions about the history of the Lands Between. He had always been curious about the truth behind the great war that followed the shattering of the Elden Ring. Most importantly, he wanted to know why Malenia had fought Starscourge Radahn in the first place and what grievance had driven the two of them into such a devastating confrontation.
"Radahn and his brother Rykard, along with their sister, Ranni the Witch, betrayed Marika. Near the end of the Shattering, Morgott led an army against Volcano Manor and was defeated, failing to overcome Rykard. I marched south with my army to intercept Radahn's forces so Morgott would not be attacked from both sides."
Malenia gave him a brief explanation.
In simple terms, she, Miquella, the deceased Godwyn the Golden, and Morgott the Grace-Given had all belonged to Marika's faction, whose ultimate objective was to overturn the Golden Order.
Radahn and Rykard, meanwhile, had clearly belonged to Radagon's faction, whose objective was to preserve the Golden Order.
The two sides were irreconcilable.
Once Godwyn the Golden died, the realm descended into chaos. The Elden Ring was shattered, the Lands Between fell into turmoil, and the Shattering erupted into full-scale war. The Haligtree and Leyndell watched one another's backs, standing together against the rebels.
"If what you've told me is true, and Mohg really is the Lord of Blood, then the Bloody Conspiracy during the Shattering must have been orchestrated by him from the shadows. It was responsible for cursing countless wounded soldiers. But who was he serving?"
"The Formless Mother, an Outer God. Ever heard of her?"
"Then there is nothing left to question."
Malenia nodded. Her voice was calm, almost strangely gentle.
"I'm going to kill him."
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