More importantly, Nolan felt that he had gained an unprecedented clarity about fire, or rather, about his own existence.
"Oh? So if I'm understanding you right, you've had this ability all along? Is this part of your Lordly Power too?"
Lansseax curled her lips into a bright smile and pressed the question.
"I suppose so."
Nolan raised a hand, and a faint yet brilliant flame quietly sprang to life at his fingertip like a nimble spirit.
This was the power of the Life Lord's Soul. Forget healing wounds. In theory, it could even create life.
And beyond that, it carried the "heat" attribute of the First Flame, with formidable destructive power to match.
"This thing looks pretty dangerous."
Lansseax leaned in curiously for a closer look.
In the next instant, she felt a blast of searing heat rush at her, as though it could burn everything around it to ash.
That intense sense of danger felt exactly the same as when she had once faced that terrifying golden lightning.
"If I remember right, you used to be an Ancient Dragon Priestess in the Royal Capital, didn't you?" Nolan suddenly asked.
Lansseax had just been about to reach out and touch the flame. The question made her pause, and she nodded instinctively.
"Yeah. Why?"
But what Nolan said next made even bold and reckless Lansseax stare with her eyes wide open in shock.
"What do you think... about getting people to worship me?"
The words hit Lansseax like a thunderclap.
What was this kid trying to do? Faith was not something to be played with lightly.
Amid her shock, though, a surge of excitement rose in her heart.
Looking at the young man in front of her, Lansseax let out an impressed sigh.
"You really don't lack ambition, do you?"
"What ambition?"
Nolan waved a hand casually and explained,
"I don't have any grand ambition. I just want to be a Lord, and while I'm at it, give Vyke and the others a path to grow stronger."
Setting aside fighters like Melina and Lansseax, who did not belong to the Lord of Cinder's side, the strongest person under his command was Dolores.
But even Dolores could only be considered second-rate among the full group of heroes.
In the game, Vyke had the title of "Dragon Spear," but as things stood now, Lansseax had no interest in that young man at all.
Nepheli was young too, just a new-generation barbarian warrior.
Compared to the other lords, he, this Tarnished Lord, had almost no presence to speak of.
And that still counted as modest ambition?
Lansseax grinned and lightly rested a hand on Nolan's shoulder as she spoke.
She shot him a look full of encouragement.
"Haha, it's fine. I understand. Some things really aren't convenient to say out loud."
"But don't worry. No matter what, I'll stand firmly on your side and support you."
The way she looked, she was clearly the sort who loved a good spectacle and never minded bigger trouble.
What exactly do you understand?
Nolan rolled his eyes, then turned to look at the surrounding rock walls. With a deep sigh, he said,
"Forget it. I can't be bothered to keep arguing with you. This needs long-term planning. Let's find what we came for first."
"So what exactly are we here looking for?"
Lansseax's curiosity had been fully stirred, and she looked around with lively interest.
"Seeds of the Erdtree, and death."
When the Elden Ring shattered, the Erdtree seemed to sense the fate awaiting it.
It scattered golden seeds across the land, and in time they grew into little Erdtrees.
"It's so creepy here. It doesn't feel like the kind of place where a little Erdtree would grow."
Lansseax muttered suspiciously.
Looking around, all she could see was endless darkness. The flagstones underfoot were cracked beyond recognition, with hardly a single one left whole.
The statues nearby were scarred as well, their surfaces covered in crisscrossing cracks like spiderwebs.
It felt as though with only a little more time, those tottering statues would collapse outright.
Not far ahead of them stood a building shaped somewhat like a church.
Its roof had caved in, but the place did not yet look too ancient or too ruined. It seemed likely it had only been abandoned recently.
Perhaps only a year or two ago, devout golden subjects had still walked slowly along this road, thick with ritual solemnity.
Under the silent gaze of the solemn goddess statue, they would have looked up in reverence at the brilliant radiance cast by the little Erdtree.
"But now, even the gods can barely protect themselves."
Without warning, Nolan stepped forward.
Flames burst out from beneath his feet as if they meant to burn the whole land away.
A chorus of shrill squeaks rang out around them, harsh enough to send chills down the spine.
Through the thick gray mist ahead, shadowy figures slowly began to emerge.
When they drew closer and looked carefully, they saw that the shapes were actually a pack of enormous rats.
These rats were far larger than an ordinary human. Their bodies were covered in disgusting ulcerated sores that gave off a foul stench.
The rasping sound of their sharp fangs grinding together was enough to make one's skin crawl.
"If you hadn't called me here, I would never come to a place like this."
Lansseax looked thoroughly unwilling, grumbling under her breath.
She quickly raised a hand, clenched Dragon Lightning, and swept it outward.
A violent red flash tore through the heavy gray mist ahead.
The dozen or so giant rats lunging at them were wiped out before they could even get close, erased completely in a storm of fire and lightning.
They were frenzied, but they were weak.
Before the seamless combined assault of the Lord of Cinder and the Ancient Dragon, they had no way to resist, not even a little.
There was no need for intricate technique. Raw overwhelming power unleashed at full force was enough to exterminate every last rat.
Once the slaughter ended, the filthy water pooled in the hollows was quickly steamed away by the intense heat.
Nolan and Lansseax, man and dragon, walked side by side through the narrow door and entered the space within.
What appeared before them was a scene of utter ruin.
Broken walls were everywhere, and the ground was littered with shattered rubble and rotting wood.
Thankfully, the intense stench of decay had faded somewhat.
Nolan and Lansseax looked around. The place was silent, as though the whole world held no one but the two of them.
There was not the slightest trace of life anywhere around them. Only desolation and deathly stillness remained.
Before them stood a broken cliff several meters high.
Beyond it yawned a deep hollow, black and unfathomable.