After a long silence, the stillness between Nolan and the Gloam-Eyed Queen was finally broken.
The Gloam-Eyed Queen's cool voice seemed to cross the boundary between life and death, passing from the land of the dead into the world of the living and straight into Nolan's ears.
"The Two Fingers will stand against you, and Marika cannot give you any real help right now." As she spoke, she looked toward the child and the young girl.
"But the Godskins can become blades in your hand. They will spare no effort to help you ascend to the throne you long for."
The Gloam-Eyed Queen's voice echoed in the air. Her words were concise and clear, yet they also slipped in a quiet jab at that useless Golden Goddess.
Then she paused, as if weighing what she would say next.
When her voice sounded again, her tone was even more resolute.
"All I need is for Death to return to the Lands Between. Once Destined Death returns, you may still be your Lord. There is no need for you to interfere in the grudge between her and me."
It was as if she were telling Nolan that if he wanted to be Lord, then he should simply go and become one. Who the god was did not truly matter.
The Gloam-Eyed Queen's meaning was already plain. She was only one step away from saying outright, "You can be my Lord as well."
The Gloam-Eyed Queen had not said this on impulse. She had thought it through and weighed the gains and losses from every angle.
After all, aside from herself, he was the only being who possessed Death. For the Goddess of Death, could there be a more suitable Lord?
No.
She even wondered whether this was the Lord the Greater Will had chosen for her. A decree of fate, just as Marika had once found a warrior as terrifying as Godfrey, while she had not.
Beyond that, she had no other thoughts, and it certainly had nothing to do with being infatuated with so-called love.
The Gloam-Eyed Queen, the embodiment of death in the eyes of the people of that ancient age, had long since lost interest in human romance.
To her, such feelings were no more significant than ripples stirred across a lake by a breeze as she passed by.
She had long transcended the bounds of humanity. She was not the disturbed lake water, but merely a passerby who happened to see it.
As for cultivating feelings with Nolan, she had never entertained the thought for even a moment.
But the King of Death and the Goddess of Death. What a perfect pairing.
For the Gloam-Eyed Queen, that alone was enough to consider. In truth, it was the only thing she had considered.
At her core, she and Marika were actually the same sort of person. Or rather, aside from a few unambitious layabouts, most gods were much the same.
She simply believed she was not as vile or as greedy as Marika.
Marika wanted everything and refused to let anything good slip away, while she only wished to govern her own Destined Death, ascend to godhood, and properly become the Goddess of Death.
"Since the Queen is so sincere, it seems I have no reason to refuse. Someone, escort our honored guests to the Evergaol. It is time to return freedom to the warriors."
With one sentence from Nolan, the Godskins captured on the battlefield were pardoned.
Sensing the aura around the Godskin Apostles fade away, Trina kept her eyes fixed on them, watching as they slowly walked out through the gate under the knights' escort until their figures disappeared from sight.
Trina turned back and stared blankly at Nolan. "You really agreed to her?"
"I only agreed to cooperate. I didn't say anything else." Nolan looked into Trina's eyes. "Why turn down help that comes for free?"
The two looked at each other without another word. Everything around them fell strangely quiet, leaving only the sound of their breathing mingling in the air.
Gradually, their eyes narrowed, and the corners of their mouths lifted at the same time.
A small smile curved Trina's lips as she whispered, "You villain!" Then she suddenly threw herself into Nolan's arms and hugged him tightly.
Nolan laughed. "How can you say that about me? She's the one thinking too much." His hand gently stroked Trina's long hair.
Even if he killed Maliketh and seized Destined Death, did she really expect him to spit out what he had already swallowed?
Besides, he still needed the Elden Ring as his brazier. There was no way he would hand over godhood for nothing.
Even so, when faced with the Gloam-Eyed Queen's offer of cooperation, he had accepted. When a good thing delivered itself to his door, there was no reason to refuse.
The Godskin Apostles were not a weak force. If he could turn them into allies, that was far better than making enemies of them.
...
On Caelid's northern coast stood a lonely, towering Minor Erdtree, quietly gazing out over the boundless sea.
Beside the tree was a town, and in one of its wooden houses, the window stood open while Sellen sat beside it.
Sellen held a thick notebook in her hands. Her eyes moved slowly over each page, and she turned them with careful, measured motions.
"Professor Sellen, the seals on those two Noxians have been reinforced, and two additional guard squads have been assigned according to your orders," a respectful male voice said from outside the door. "Is there anything else you require of us?"
"I understand. You may go," Sellen answered calmly, her eyes never leaving the notebook in her hands. "Do not disturb me tonight unless something happens."
The soldier outside acknowledged her respectfully, then left with light steps.
He wore a sorcerer's robe, with a layer of hard armor over it. This was the standard attire of the sorcerers in the accompanying magic corps.
Toward the Lord's teacher, they were filled with awe and reverence, wishing they could offer her a hundred and twenty percent of their respect.
Sellen slowly closed the magic notebook and turned her gaze toward the sky.
In the night sky, the stars shimmered faintly, as if silently telling some distant tale.
Sellen gazed at those stars and gave a soft sigh, heavy with worry.
She did not look for long. Instead, she stepped onto the balcony and turned her eyes in another direction. Though it was far too distant to see, there should have been a grand and magnificent city over there.
Her proudest disciple was there. Unless something unexpected had happened, at this hour he was probably creating a Demigod with a certain Goddess.
The thought alone made irritation rise in her chest.
Half a year ago, on the battlefield, she had seen her own teacher blasted apart by her own disciple until not even scraps remained.
After complaining to that disciple that he had killed him too quickly, she had not even had a moment to grieve her teacher's passing before following the eastern expedition army to Caelid.
She had hurried here for only one reason.
To reach Sellia Town as quickly as possible, find the place where Lusat had been sealed, and see whether she could discover any valuable research there.
Reality, however, had left her deeply disappointed.
It was not only Raya Lucaria Academy. Proper sorcerers in general disliked Primeval Sorcerers, and the same was true of Lusat's hometown, Sellia Town.
As a result, almost none of Lusat's research had been preserved.
This notebook, along with the two Noxians imprisoned in Sellia Town's jail, was the entirety of what she had gained from the trip.
The notebook recorded in detail the destruction of the star cluster that Lusat had witnessed. It was his final work before losing his mind, the crystallization of his life's efforts.
But that was not enough to satisfy Sellen. What one saw with one's own eyes was ultimately different from what another person described.
"If only Teacher Lusat had been left with a whole body," Sellen could not help sighing.
If Lusat's half-glintstone body had remained, perhaps she might still have gained something from it.
But that adorable, obedient disciple of hers had beaten her teacher until not even dregs were left. It truly left her unable to even decide where to begin her research.
"My disciple, just how are you going to make this up to your teacher..."