The Mohgwyn Dynasty fell today, and there was no longer any hope of restoring it.
For a social outcast who had started with nothing, Mohg's journey to this point had not been easy. Step by step, he had built a power of his own, rising from an insignificant nobody in the Lands Between to a Shardbearer capable of shaking the entire realm.
His father had once been Elden Lord, and his mother had once been the god of the Lands Between, but whatever advantages those bloodlines gave him were insignificant beside the suffering they had caused.
A king ought to possess the dignity of a king. Dressed in rags, Mohg stood at the edge of the mausoleum and looked down upon the dynasty of blood that had been born because of him and was now dying with him.
"Look upon it," Mohg murmured to himself. "I am the last monarch of the Mohgwyn Dynasty."
He watched desolately as the soldiers of the Haligtree captured and bound the followers of his dynasty one after another. The horns his father had broken still sent agony through his body, though Mohg could no longer tell whether the pain in his flesh or the pain in his heart was worse.
Meanwhile, the people who had stormed onto the altar inside the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum, awakened him from his dream, and then beaten him half to death were cheerfully discussing traveling to another world. From the sound of it, it was a carefree city in the sky, a young and newly built city without war, political struggles between rulers and subjects, or even death.
Mohg stood there alone while blood continued dripping from his split brow. The blessing of the Formless Mother had vanished, and the god he had sought to nurture together with Miquella was dead as well.
At that moment, Mohg seemed no different from the distant version of himself who, many years ago beneath Leyndell, had fought alongside his elder brother against their own kind over something as insignificant as a rat's tail.
There was one difference.
His hands were now drenched in blood, and in his eyes, that was no sin. It was virtue. It was honor.
"Mohg." Godfrey walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Come home with me."
"If you want my Great Rune, just take it."
"No. I came to bring you home."
"Your hypocrisy is disgusting." Mohg sneered. "You and Marika destroyed more families than anyone else, and it was you who abandoned Morgott and me. Look at this bleeding world. It's covered in wounds. You're nothing more than a murderer standing triumphantly atop the corpses of giants."
Godfrey wasn't interested in arguing. He merely raised a fist and glared at him fiercely.
"You're coming home. I'm counting to three."
"And after you bring me back, what then? Leyndell has no place for an Omen child, much less a murderous prince like me. You'll either imprison me forever or display my severed head to establish your authority." Mohg spoke with elegant composure, as though he were discussing the fate of a complete stranger.
"Godfrey, you still haven't understood the difference between us. You're still imagining some happy family reunion, but I've known for a long time that such a thing is impossible.
"Every war in the Lands Between began with Marika's ambition to rebel against the Greater Will. All life was dragged into catastrophe, yet at the root of everything was nothing more than a game played by gods.
"And that family you keep talking about, every child connected to Marika, they were the ones who drove these wars. The wars of the Lands Between are nothing more than the Golden Lineage's family disputes. That's your family, a cancer, the source of the disease. As long as people like us remain, the Lands Between will always be this same poisonous swamp."
Godfrey lowered his fist.
"It's over, Mohg," he said quietly. "The Erdtree has fallen. Can't you feel it? The light that once covered the sky has dimmed. The destiny pressing down upon every living creature has disappeared. We're no longer livestock raised by the Greater Will, and we won't become fertilizer for the Erdtree after we die. In this game between mortals and gods, for now, we're the ones who won."
Mohg stared at him in shock.
"The Erdtree fell? Who did it?"
"That guy."
Godfrey jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
Mohg followed his gesture and saw the foreign sorcerer surrounded by the others.
Skyl was currently handing out Silver Grace like free samples. He felt more like a salesman than a wizard as he explained the operating structure of the Silver Network to his prospective customers, along with the promising future of Skylrael Unlimited Liability Company.
Drawing upon the speaking skills he had honed back when he was a teacher, Skyl painted such an irresistible picture that even the stern commander of the Crucible Knights couldn't help asking how someone could join such a wonderful organization.
"Well, you came to the right person. Here, all you have to do is place my Grace mark anywhere on your body that you like, and you'll officially become part of the Silver Network. At the same time, your personal information will be registered in the Tower of Tomes database. Don't worry, the Tower of Tomes takes user privacy very seriously. We absolutely won't leak your phone number or financial information, so you don't need to worry about getting telemarketing calls."
By "telemarketing calls," of course, Skyl actually meant interference from various Outer Gods.
Unless an entity possessed greater divine power than the founder of the Silver Network himself, no Outer God would be able to corrupt the mind or will of someone bearing the Silver Grace.
Silver Fire ignited in Skyl's palm.
Malenia was the first to step forward and touch it.
Although the Scarlet Rot had not completely consumed her left arm, it was covered in festering sores and scale-like scars. As she immersed her fingers in the flame, the ulcerated skin hissed.
"Bear with it. That's your Order of Rot fighting back."
Skyl watched Malenia's fingers remain perfectly still and once again found himself amazed by the sheer strength of her will. She could even completely suppress her reflexive response to pain. As a warrior, Malenia had honed her body until it was little more than a cold, perfectly controlled weapon.
"To prevent the Scarlet Rot inside you from spreading to others, the Silver Network will place an active seal upon your Order of Rot. That'll make your Scarlet Rot controllable."
Malenia froze.
A game-like status panel appeared before her eyes.
The Tower of Tomes' central brain had assigned an extremely high level to this Empyrean, and her skill descriptions alone filled several pages.
Among them was one particular ability.
[Scarlet Descent: Sealed]
Scarlet Descent Lv. 1 (Orange, Mythic): A force of natural decay containing the fundamental essence of divinity. Once unleashed, its lingering corruption is immeasurable. Once every three natural days, you may choose to release the seal. All attacks will then inflict accumulating Scarlet Rot while granting a life-steal effect. Duration: 1 hour.
The Order of Rot had been suppressed by the Silver Order.
Rather than being alarmed, Malenia was delighted.
She could feel the Silver Fire forging a Door upon the back of her hand. Like an opening into another space, it continuously drew the Scarlet Rot breeding inside her body into itself.
The concentration of Rot toxins that had once filled her body to overflowing plummeted.
Malenia felt like a piece of iron that had been roasting in a furnace for years and was finally, for the first time, allowed to cool.
As the burning toxicity inside her subsided, the festering wounds across her body began itching fiercely.
"Mm..."
A low groan escaped Malenia, and her body actually trembled.
Deep within the body that Rot had hollowed out, the festering, pus-filled marrow inside her bones regained its vitality. Fresh blood was produced and circulated throughout her body. Dead skin peeled away. Damaged organs repaired themselves.
Her severed limbs and lost eyes could not regenerate, but everything else was gradually returning to the condition of a healthy human body.
A strange expression crossed Miquella's face before joy overtook it. He pulled his sister into his arms. Malenia stood upon his thigh and removed her winged helm, revealing her striking, handsome features. Even she could no longer suppress the smile spreading across her face.
"Thank you," Malenia said softly. "For everything you've done."
"I was starting to think you'd never thank me."
Malenia hesitated for a moment before solemnly declaring, "Then I shall use my sword to defend you..."
"Stop."
Skyl raised a hand.
"I already have Millicent. Keep your sword for protecting your brother."
"Then how am I supposed to repay you?"
Skyl looked at the woman who had effectively been given a new life, feeling the satisfaction of someone watching a long-awaited harvest finally come in.
"You don't have to. I don't help people because I expect repayment. I helped because I thought you needed it, and because I had the ability to do something."
Millicent gazed gently at Skyl.
When Skyl had saved her all those years ago, she had heard precisely the same answer.
"It's just like yesterday," she murmured. "You really haven't changed at all. I'm glad."
Both Miquella and the Crucible Knights were moved by his character. Godfrey nodded vigorously, wearing the expression of a man who regretted not having met Skyl years earlier.
Sincerity was answered with sincerity.
That was how Skyl had made many of his friends.
No matter what life eventually turned them into, they would always remember that there had once been a wizard who had miraculously rewritten the tragedies fate had prepared for them.
From the distance, Mohg snorted.
"Buying people's loyalty. What a hypocrite."
Skyl's ear twitched.
He turned around.
The moment Mohg saw the sorcerer's smiling face, an inexplicable chill suddenly ran through his entire body.
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