"Skyl, you're awake. You're not hurt, are you?"
Millicent was the first to notice Skyl's return, even though the change had been almost imperceptible.
Skyl still wasn't quite used to suddenly having someone around who worried about him. He met Millicent's concerned gaze with mild surprise, then broke into a broad smile.
"You know, I just met Miquella in a dream."
He proceeded to tell her everything he had seen, going into such detail that even he felt like he was gossiping. Millicent, however, listened with complete attention. She was probably the perfect listener, quiet, patient, and never the sort to pretend she was listening just to humor someone.
Not far away, the battle between Godfrey and Malenia was also nearing its conclusion.
Godfrey had endured slash after slash from her prosthetic blade until his body was covered in wounds, all for the opportunity to seize Malenia's prosthetic arm and tear it off.
"That's enough."
Godfrey had been injured badly enough. He had lost several pounds of flesh and several quarts of blood, all of it payment for Mohg's crimes. In return, he had never once tried to seriously injure Malenia. He had forbidden the Crucible Knights from interfering and refused to let Serosh assist him. His only objective had been to rip off her prosthetic arm and force the battle into a draw.
Malenia, however, had never been the type to let things go.
Even with only one arm, she had no intention of abandoning the fight. Her prosthesis might have replaced what her body lacked, but there had never been anything incomplete about her fighting spirit.
"Hey, knock it off. Miquella's awake. Come check on your brother, Lady Malenia."
Skyl called out while he had the chance.
Godfrey was bleeding profusely, his face gray and his eyes almost rolling back into his head. Skyl raised one hand toward him and slowly clenched his fist.
"Doors, close."
The wounds covering Godfrey's body began contracting one after another.
Within a few blinks, they had healed completely.
Godfrey stared down in astonishment and slapped his perfectly intact chest and abdomen. The gaping wounds that had been there moments ago had disappeared. It wasn't merely the surface skin that had healed. Muscles, blood vessels, and nerves had all reconnected perfectly, as though he had never been injured at all.
Aside from the blood he had already lost, his body was now completely restored.
"You work miracles, Doc."
Godfrey's face was full of admiration.
Only now did he finally form a clear understanding of Skyl.
His good son Morgott had repeatedly emphasized the Outsider's accomplishments, but Godfrey had never fully realized until this moment that the difference between them was like an uncrossable chasm.
This Outsider was even stronger than Marika had been in her prime.
Godfrey still remembered Marika using Incantations to heal his battered body, but Incantations merely accelerated natural recovery and restored vitality. Their effects had been nowhere near this immediate.
Upon hearing that Miquella had awakened, Malenia surprisingly showed no urgency.
She stopped where she stood and looked up at the Cocoon of the Empyrean.
The arm protruding from the enormous cocoon suddenly twitched.
A completely new vitality began awakening inside, restoring luster to the withered limb. Its five fingers slowly curled and stretched like a caterpillar beginning to stir.
Then another arm emerged through the opening in the cocoon.
Both hands spread apart.
Rip.
The cocoon split open.
Miquella rose.
Everyone who saw him had the exact same thought.
Wow.
Bald.
Like an infant emerging from its mother's womb, the Empyrean Miquella now stood nearly twenty feet tall.
He was a genuine giant.
Completely naked and frighteningly thin, with skin smoother than a newborn baby's, he stood atop the altar and stretched his arms toward the sky. He looked like someone who had spent centuries locked indoors and was finally stepping outside to feel the sunlight again.
Few things in life were more satisfying than getting a truly good night's sleep.
Miquella's nap had certainly lasted far too long, but at least he had finally awakened.
Malenia, Godfrey, the Crucible Knights, Millicent, and even Mohg, who was still lying half-dead in a crater, all stared at Miquella.
Their emotions churned.
Each of them was shaken in a different way.
Skyl, despite being personally responsible for Miquella's return, felt the least emotional about it.
He wasn't from around here.
He barely knew Miquella.
Why would he feel some profound historical emotion about the return of a legendary lord?
If anything, the scene reminded him a little of The Shawshank Redemption.
Just another interesting sight along his travels.
If it hadn't been for Millicent, Skyl would never have gotten involved in this brother-and-sister mess in the first place.
His actual reason for returning to the Lands Between had been to meet old friends and invite them to settle in Skylrael. He also intended to visit the Academy of Raya Lucaria once again and invite talented spellcasters to join the Silver Tree system. (Elden Ring Wiki)
"Millicent."
"Mm... huh?"
Millicent blinked before finally turning around. She had been staring at Miquella in a daze.
"We're leaving, aren't we?"
"Yeah. There's nothing left worth watching here. Let's go find Melina first."
"Please wait."
The one who stopped them was Miquella.
He had broken free from the curse that prevented him from growing, though judging by the result, he might have overcompensated a little.
His face was still handsome, but it no longer possessed the pure, adorable quality of his childlike appearance.
If anything, puberty had done him dirty.
Mohg, still barely conscious after his beating, stared at Miquella as though looking at a complete stranger.
Even Malenia seemed hesitant beneath her winged helm.
She had probably expected to see her small, beautiful older brother again, not a bald giant built like a refrigerator.
Of course, Miquella was still Miquella.
He remained the Lands Between's resident succubus.
He was just XXXXXL now.
He could still enter people's dreams and forge bonds that felt as though they had lasted a lifetime.
Skyl simply refused to imagine what that would look like.
Dreaming about a beautiful blond childhood sweetheart suddenly appearing in your life was wonderful.
Dreaming about a twenty-foot bald giant doing the same thing was nightmare fuel.
"I believe I owe you a gift in return."
Miquella sat down on the altar, using the remains of his shattered cocoon as a seat.
Then he extended one enormous palm.
A butterfly flew from it.
It was a Nascent Butterfly, an exceedingly rare creature in the Lands Between. It possessed two pairs of clear, translucent wings like sheets of impossibly thin glass drawn by a master craftsman, while its body resembled flawless crystal. Such a beautiful insect remained forever frozen in the instant of its emergence from the cocoon, never truly maturing. (Elden Ring Wiki)
It was Miquella's symbol, just as the Aeonian Butterfly was associated with Malenia and the Smoldering Butterfly with Melina. (Elden Ring Wiki)
Now that Miquella had broken free from his curse, the Nascent Butterfly he offered Skyl contained a strange new power as well.
Even Skyl was surprised by the gift.
He extended his hand.
The butterfly landed in his palm and gently fluttered its wings.
Then it suddenly went still.
It looked dead, yet the presence within it had not disappeared.
Skyl could vaguely sense a spirituality of rebirth and transformation within it, but at the same time, it possessed a profound stillness that felt ancient beyond measure.
For once, he couldn't immediately see through its mysteries.
"I really like this gift."
Skyl considered it for a moment before looking around at everyone present.
Then he suddenly said, "The Silver Doors are always open to everyone. Across the infinite multiverse, anything is possible. If you ever get tired of the endless fighting in the Lands Between, come visit my city sometime."
Perhaps if these people left their war-torn homeland behind and lived in a different age, they might actually be happier.
Skyl could imagine them wearing loose, comfortable modern clothes instead of armor and battle robes, carrying iced coffees in their hands and wearing headphones over their ears.
No screams from soldiers and civilians.
No taste of blood filling their mouths.
Death might always be waiting for a warrior at the end of the road.
But that didn't mean death should be their destination.
Skyl briefly explained what he envisioned.
In the future, Skylrael would become a gathering place for visitors from across the multiverse. Anyone could use the Silver Network to travel between different worlds. There would eventually be countless instanced adventures, entire worlds to explore, and trading systems connecting them all.
Those who wanted to fight would have plenty of opportunities as well.
They could battle to their hearts' content without having to worry about dying.
Miquella was clearly tempted.
And Miquella's decision would naturally determine Malenia's.
Godfrey, however, immediately asked, "Are you planning to take the Lands Between's finest people away?"
"Yes, but also no. It's only an invitation."
Skyl understood the First Elden Lord's concern.
If Skyl took away the most talented people remaining in the Lands Between, this battered land might take even longer to recover its former prosperity.
Then again, powerful people were responsible for most of its disasters.
Maybe once they all left, the Lands Between would finally know peace.
"You can return whenever you want. The Silver Order does not bind anyone's freedom."
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