"Player 'Blade of Miquella' has triggered a hidden storyline. Mission difficulty has increased. Recommended level has been changed to 20–25. Mission rewards have been greatly increased."
"You participated in the defeat of 'Starscourge' Radahn. The instanced plane mission has been completed, rewards have been calculated, and you may leave at any time."
Malenia earned the first-kill reward, receiving 75,000 Candle Coins along with a gold-tier piece of equipment, the Starscourge Greatsword.
"Starscourge Greatsword (Gold Legendary, Unique): Curved greatswords of black steel wielded by General Radahn, shaped like a pair of sweeping horns. In his youth, Radahn single-handedly crushed the falling stars, and it is said that the gravity crest upon the blades was engraved during that time.
[Equipment Skill]: Starcaller Cry
Activate the gravity crest engraved upon the blades, unleashing a gravitational wave that pulls enemies closer. Activate it again to convert the attractive force into a repulsive wave."
Malenia frowned. What she had wanted was the orange Mythic item with its extraordinarily low drop rate.
That was probably Radahn's Great Rune.
Unfortunately, luck had not been on her side. Radahn's Great Rune had now been sealed within the instanced plane, waiting for future players to challenge it and claim the reward.
Nearly every warrior who had taken part in the Radahn Festival was covered in wounds.
Then a bald man came running back from the distance without a single injury on his body, not even a speck of dust on his clothes. He had fled the instant the battle began. Apparently, rather than leaving entirely, he had simply hidden nearby and waited in ambush.
Everyone immediately looked at him with contempt.
The man, however, had skin thick enough to stop a sword. He circled the general's corpse for a moment, visibly struggling against the urge to search the body himself. Finally, he clicked his tongue and lazily said, "No Great Rune? Where the hell did that thing go? Don't tell me someone secretly got it already. Heh, if it were me, I sure wouldn't tell anyone."
His shifty eyes suddenly turned toward the female Tarnished.
"Hey, girl. Long time no see. Did you get your second Great Rune?"
The warriors immediately turned curious eyes toward the Tarnished woman.
They had heard that Godrick the Grafted, the Shardbearer of Limgrave, had suddenly died and that his Great Rune had vanished without a trace. Apparently, this woman had been the one to take it.
The female Tarnished pursed her lips and shook her head.
She had come here specifically for Radahn's Great Rune, yet had gained nothing.
Her gaze shifted toward the Silver Network players instead, and she strode directly toward Melina.
"Is there something you need?" Melina tilted her head as she looked at the Tarnished. Then realization seemed to dawn on her. "Do you want to join the Silver Network too?"
The Tarnished nodded.
"Very well. I'll guide you in receiving the Grace of Silver."
With Radahn dead, everyone raised their heads toward the sky.
The frozen stars slowly began to move.
For one fleeting instant, it seemed as though an entire day and night passed overhead. The stars traced dazzling arcs across the heavens, and the deep violet night sky filled with concentric rings of light, some brilliant and others faint, until it almost resembled daylight.
The fate of every living being in the Lands Between had begun moving again.
Within only a few breaths, the stars returned to the places where they belonged.
During all those years in which Starscourge Radahn had held them captive, the heavens had changed. Some old stars had vanished, while new ones had appeared.
Now that the stars had returned to their proper positions, the Lands Between once again possessed a clear position within the cosmos.
And the alien beings among the stars that had long watched the Lands Between finally saw the land they coveted clearly once more.
The instant they sensed General Radahn's death, the monsters that had been held at bay by the legend of the Starscourge could no longer restrain themselves.
Their tendrils immediately reached toward the Lands Between.
One extraterrestrial monstrosity transformed into a meteor and tore across the heavens before crashing beyond the horizon, somewhere in the Mistwood region of Limgrave.
The falling star punched straight through the surface and opened a path deep into the underground world. The burst of light was so intense that everyone instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.
The earth trembled.
The entire Lands Between felt the impact.
With the meteor's fall, the news of Radahn's death spread across the world.
Inside the Raya Lucaria Grand Library, Rennala stepped through the doors and into the courtyard.
She looked toward the sky.
Tears belonging to a grieving mother streamed down her pale cheeks.
Ranni was also staring up at the heavens.
When she had been a child, her mother had often guided her in observing the stars.
And later, Ranni had encountered the moon.
A cold, dark, mysterious Dark Moon.
Ever since Radahn had halted the movement of the stars, she had not seen that frigid moon for many years.
Now, that ancient celestial body was once again bound to her fate.
After so many years apart, its return felt like coming home after a lifetime of wandering.
The Order within her became more active than ever before.
Blaidd the Half-Wolf stood beside Ranni's doll body.
The Empyrean spoke softly.
"Next comes the Two Fingers. Blaidd."
"I'm here, Lady Ranni."
"Go to Nokron, Eternal City, and retrieve the Fingerslayer Blade for me."
"I will not disappoint you."
"Blaidd."
"Hmm?"
"Be wary of the Greater Will."
The Half-Wolf fell silent.
A shadowbound beast existed to protect its Empyrean, but it was also a leash placed beside that Empyrean by the Greater Will.
Blaidd was utterly loyal to Ranni. They had grown up as close as brother and sister, yet he could not simply escape the nature imposed upon him.
Ranni had now completely chosen the path of rebellion.
If she obtained the Fingerslayer Blade forged by the Eternal City and used it to kill her Two Fingers, the Greater Will might activate its final safeguard, turning Blaidd, the companion closest to her, into the weapon meant to kill her.
Ranni had lost her own brother today.
In the future, she would lose even more.
But that was the price of moving forward.
Everyone eventually had to endure parting.
"I know. If things really do go wrong... I'll find some way to deal with it. War Counselor Iji might have an idea."
Ranni gently looked back toward the dunes.
"I'll ask Skyl. He'll definitely have a solution."
...
"You have died. Exiting the instanced plane."
Millicent's vision blurred.
A moment later, she was back inside the Academy classroom.
"Skyl?"
She saw Skyl standing beside the window.
The stars turned across the sky like a vortex spanning four billion light-years. Bathed in the radiance of the stars and moon, his face resembled an ageless statue cast from silver, impossibly distant and cold.
Millicent had never seen that expression on his face before.
Whenever Skyl looked at her, he was either smiling or calmly gentle.
But this...
Was it fear?
Or grief?
What had happened to him?
Before Millicent called out, Skyl had been staring blankly into the distance.
At the sound of her voice, he turned.
The moment he saw the swordswoman, that familiar gentle smile returned to his face.
"How did you manage to get yourself killed?" Skyl asked, as though he had personally witnessed Millicent's death inside the instanced plane. "You've been pretty distracted lately."
"Skyl, I... I failed. I couldn't hold on."
"Hey, don't blame yourself. You still lasted longer than Thops and Doniel. Those two are the ones I really feel sorry for."
Thops and Doniel had also exited the instanced plane.
Their constitutions were weaker, and the post-death debuff left them dizzy and weak, as though they might collapse at any moment.
Ranni and the others returned one after another.
They had gained quite a lot tonight.
Moli, the young apprentice who had contributed almost nothing and still enjoyed all the rewards, threw her arms into the air and loudly announced that she was rich.
"We're rich! We're rich! Bald Uncle, we're rich!"
"Spend your Candle Coins on skills. Tomorrow's exam is all up to you."
Thops rubbed his aching head, but he was smiling.
"Skyl, someone wants to join the Silver Tree," Melina said.
"Skyl, do you have a way to protect someone from the Greater Will's influence?" Ranni asked.
The classroom immediately became incredibly lively.
Millicent watched Skyl handle everyone with effortless composure, smiling as though everything were perfectly fine.
He must be happy right now.
"If she wants to join the Silver Tree, then let her. I'll give you a few invitation cards so you can hand them out to other people too... As for the Greater Will, you don't need to worry about it anymore. I already dealt with it."
"The Greater Will will never interfere with the Lands Between again. You can start preparing your Order and get ready to ascend as a god."
Ranni received an unexpectedly satisfying answer.
"Then I'll go find the Fingerslayer Blade. Once I kill the Two Fingers, we'll meet again in Leyndell."
When the Greater Will was mentioned, Skyl lowered his eyes slightly.
For a fleeting moment, the exhaustion that made Millicent's heart tighten appeared in his gaze once again.
No one else noticed.
Only her.
Skyl took the initiative to help his roommate to his feet, preparing to escort him back to the dormitory so he could rest.
"Skyl."
Millicent called out from behind him.
"What is it?"
"Do you have some time later? There's something I want to talk to you about."
"Of course."
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