Everything happening in the Wailing Dunes felt like history repeating itself. The first time had been a tragedy, the second felt almost like a farce.
The festival champions formed a loose semicircle, silently watching the clash between the Empyrean and the demigod.
Malenia was in even better condition than she had been back then, while Radahn was nowhere near his former self. Victory in battle was not determined entirely by which side was stronger, but when two masters fought, even the slightest difference in strength could decide the outcome. More importantly, Radahn's mind was still clouded. He possessed none of the patience or strategy needed for a prolonged battle, only an endless reservoir of rage, and even the fiercest fury could not last forever.
After another brief exchange, Malenia's prosthetic blade once again pierced Radahn's body, entering through his chest and emerging from his back. An injury like that meant little to a demigod. His thick blood would normally coagulate within moments and stop the bleeding.
But the Scarlet Rot prevented his body from healing itself.
Without that almost immortal constitution, Radahn was now like a great ship that had lost all damage-control capability. It could only become more battered with every passing moment, slowly sinking into the ocean of its former glory.
The black-iron blade in Radahn's left hand slipped from his grasp. With his right, he drove his remaining sword into the sand and used it to support himself. The general grabbed Malenia's prosthetic blade as corrupted blood poured from his body, running in steady streams down its edge. At the same time, scarlet fumes traveled along the weapon and poured back into Malenia's body.
The beastlike madness gradually receded from Radahn's eyes.
His gaze became clear.
It took his rot-ravaged brain a little while to gather the shattered pieces of his memories.
"Malenia... my... sister."
Radahn bared his teeth in a grin before turning his gaze toward the festival champions surrounding him.
Only then did everyone realize just how similar these two terrifying warriors actually were. They were, after all, paternal half-siblings, and both possessed the same striking red hair.
Malenia pulled her prosthetic blade free.
Radahn did not even grunt, as though he had merely been bitten by a mosquito. The Great Rune within him was still blazing fiercely. Before, its power had been devoted entirely to resisting the Scarlet Rot. Now, he turned that power toward repairing his ravaged body.
"Cough... ptooey."
Radahn spat out more than a pound of bloody phlegm. It struck the ground with a heavy thud.
Every breath he took seemed to draw the essence of the world into his body. His breathing changed from sluggish and raspy, to smooth and powerful, and finally to complete silence.
His entire presence transformed.
The warriors who had come to participate in the Radahn Festival suddenly understood.
This was the real Radahn.
This was the mightiest demigod.
The thing that had beaten them senseless earlier had merely been a beast occupying the body of a demigod. Now, the "god" within that body had awakened.
Starscourge Radahn's strength had already recovered to something close to his prime. The only parts of him that had not regenerated were the feet he had severed himself. He had cut them off to prevent himself from ever wandering beyond the dunes.
The general did not seem particularly bothered by the disability.
He was simply enjoying the sensation of possessing a clear mind again.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked down at Malenia.
"I have slept upon a bed of bones for a very long time."
Radahn's voice was almost exactly what everyone had imagined, deep, resonant, and overflowing with raw presence. Every word was hard and decisive.
"The greatest mistake of your life was waking me. For I am wrath. I am death. Today, these yellow sands shall become your grave."
"..."
Malenia remained silent.
She took a few steps backward and widened the distance between them.
"Wait!"
Ranni stepped out from the crowd.
Her doll's feet pressed into the bloodstained sand as she walked step by step toward Starscourge Radahn.
"Ranni, my sister. Why do you stand beside this traitor?"
"Radahn, look up. The Lands Between no longer belong to the Erdtree."
Radahn raised his head and looked north.
The enormous golden apparition of the Erdtree that had once dominated half the sky was gone.
The sky of the Lands Between had become so unfamiliar that even Radahn stared at it in astonishment.
"Your duty ended when the Erdtree fell. Radahn, General who conquered the stars, you no longer need to fight."
"Then who rules the Lands Between now?"
"The Elden Throne stands empty. We have much to discuss."
Radahn's expression shifted slightly.
He gently dismounted and patted his gaunt, skinny companion before looking around.
"Who brought fodder or provisions? Bring all of it here."
The man had just beaten the festival champions half to death, yet now he spoke to them as though nothing had happened at all. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, but they could not help being impressed by Radahn's sheer force of personality.
If anyone harbored malicious intentions, this would have been the perfect opportunity to poison the general and perhaps finally bring him down.
The people who had come to the festival had many different motives. Some had come to give the general an honorable death, some wanted to make their names famous throughout the Lands Between, while others coveted his Great Rune.
Their intentions varied, but most were honorable warriors who preferred to settle matters openly.
Soon, everyone pooled together whatever they had in their pockets and packs, dried fruit, chunks of meat, wine, and various odds and ends, enough to put together a meal for the general.
Radahn sniffed the food first to make sure none of it was poisoned, then laughed.
"My stomach is still full of dead men's flesh. I couldn't eat any of this even if I wanted to."
Instead, he fed everything to his mount.
The little horse ate weakly. It was painfully thin, little more than skin stretched over bone, with legs as narrow as dry reeds.
Everyone praised the animal.
It was nothing more than an ordinary old horse already on the verge of death, yet only moments ago, it had raced across the battlefield with the agility of a young warhorse.
"You ate weeds and drank river water, yet you never abandoned me."
The general gently stroked the horse's back, sorrow creeping into his expression.
"Poor fool. Why didn't you leave me and find a better life for yourself?"
Everyone gathered together and lit a bonfire.
The stars and moon remained silent.
The air was still.
Wind swept across the dunes while the songs of fallen heroes seemed to echo from far away.
Radahn sat cross-legged on the ground like some ancient statue. He extended one hand, allowing Ranni to sit upon his palm, then raised her in front of his face.
The siblings were clearly accustomed to interacting with each other this way.
"It's been many years, hasn't it?" Radahn asked with a smile. "How is Rennala?"
"Sometimes she's lucid. Other times, she's still lost in her madness."
"Then tell me. What has happened in the Lands Between?"
Ranni thought for a moment before beginning her explanation, her voice unconsciously growing livelier as she spoke.
"About two years ago, the Erdtree suddenly went dark. I ordered my retainers to investigate, and eventually learned that an outsider had taken the Golden Order. So I went to meet him. He called himself Skyl, a wizard from Hogwarts..."
She explained a great deal.
She told him about Skyl.
She told him about other worlds.
Later, Malenia and Melina filled in some of the gaps.
Nearly every major change in the Lands Between could be traced back to Skyl.
Empyrean Miquella had returned.
The Silver Network had been born.
And now, the entire world stood at the threshold of another great transformation.
"Where is he?"
"Skyl? I don't know where he's gone. But nothing could possibly happen to him. He's stronger than Marika was in her prime."
Ranni sighed softly.
"He sounds like a fine man. Ranni, give him your Dark Moon Ring."
"I'm afraid he wouldn't want me."
Ranni said it calmly, without the slightest hint of romantic embarrassment.
"Don't mistake him for some warmhearted philanthropist, either. If you ever meet him, one meeting, one conversation, will be enough for you to understand. He is someone who always feels distant.
"Whenever I see him, he's smiling, yet somehow he always seems alone. When he occasionally falls silent, it feels as though his entire body has turned to ice. He simply likes watching the people around him laugh and make noise. He pretends that he's part of it, and perhaps that makes him a little happier.
"He's like the sun. He gives everyone else warmth while hanging alone in the freezing emptiness of space."
Radahn fell silent for a moment.
As Radagon's son, he was actually quite familiar with people like that.
"From the way you describe him, he sounds like an ordinary man."
"Just a god who still possesses a human heart. One day, every one of us will die and leave him alone in this world. The only way I can think of repaying him is to live as fiercely as I can, and for however many years I have left, remember that there once was such a wizard, such a stranger from another world."
"Then why did you come looking for me this time?"
"Die for me, brother."
Ranni looked toward the stars.
"Let the stars move once more. Let the fates of all living beings begin flowing again. The Erdtree is gone, but the Lands Between still needs a future."
Radahn burst into booming laughter.
The wind across the dunes seemed to roar along with him, sweeping away rolling clouds of dust and exposing the countless corpses of warriors buried beneath the sand.
Within the general's laughter, the spirits of fallen warriors emerged once more from the void.
The Redmanes and Cleanrot Knights resumed their endless slaughter.
Everyone stared at Starscourge Radahn with renewed dread.
"I am a warrior, Ranni. If you want my head, you'll have to take it with your own strength."
Radahn grinned.
"And one more thing. If those bastards in the stars ever come down here, remember to kill them for me."
Those were Radahn's final words.
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