The giant tower golem stood guard, its chest and legs burning with sacrificial flame. It was this sacrificial fire that made them behave like wicker men.
From a distance, it saw Nidhogg and his spirit steed Torrent galloping towards it.
Then the golem guardian silently raised its greatbow and great arrow in its hand and aimed at Nidhogg—a sight one only sees when people are defending a city!
BOOM—!
With a sound of air tearing, the great arrow shot forth with unimaginable speed and precisely tracked the path of Torrent!
Torrent didn't need Nidhogg's reminder. He turned and ran to the side, easily dodging the great arrow!
CRASH—!
The great arrow slammed straight into the ground, sending up a spray of earth and gravel, leaving a fairly wide crater. It was certainly astonishing!
Azan and Serpico, simply watching from a distance, both felt fear, secretly sweating for Nidhogg. At the same time, they understood what Irina meant by "a chariot can be easily destroyed."
Irina couldn't see the situation at this moment, but just listening to the sound of the bowstring and the loud crash of the falling great arrow, she was also frightened and turned pale with fear, regretting that Nidhogg had taken the risk and charged forward.
Nidhogg and Torrent were much calmer than expected at this moment.
After the golem guardian fired an arrow, it slowly bent the bow and set another arrow, then fired a second arrow. This one was also dodged by the agile Torrent. It still missed.
No matter how powerful the greatbow and great arrow were, if they didn't hit the person, it was meaningless.
Not to mention that with Torrent's speed, by the time the golem guardian had set a third great arrow, Nidhogg had already reached its feet.
Nidhogg rode Torrent and began to leisurely circle the golem guardian. When the time came, he raised Bloodhound's Fang in his hand and struck where the golem guardian's legs were burning.
This was where the golem guardian was weak.
The golem guardian clearly couldn't handle an enemy like this at its feet. It could only lower its head and turn around, searching for Nidhogg. It looked very massive, slow, and mechanically stiff.
FWOOSH—!
Nidhogg counted his sword strikes. The golem guardian's legs suddenly burst, erupting in balls of flame!
It had already been fighting the misbegotten, and its body was half-damaged. It was in a half-health state. Having its weak point severed by Nidhogg, at this moment it could no longer hold on, collapsing to the ground with a crash!
The golem guardian, having fallen to the ground, could no longer get up. Soon, it even stopped moving.
After a while, the golem guardian, which had fallen to the ground and lost its mobility, dissolved into dust and scattered.
「Quest」 Golden Tree (Growth: 15%)
The progress of the "Golden Tree" quest had increased by another 5%. So it seemed the rate of improvement was okay. There hadn't been such frequency before. Maybe the Castle Morne area was more special?
Nidhogg dismounted at the gates of Castle Morne, asked Torrent to return with a whistle, and then waved to Azan and Serpico, who were still standing stunned in the distance, asking them to bring Irina.
At that moment, Irina heard the huge commotion of the golem guardian shooting arrows ahead and didn't understand what was happening. So she asked anxiously, "Mr. Azan, Mr. Nidhogg..."
"He's fine." When Azan came to his senses, he realized the kind blind girl was worried about Nidhogg's safety. He quickly explained, "He's dealt with the golem guardian... Oh my god, he dealt with such a monster alone."
"Really?" Irina was surprised and delighted. "Mr. Nidhogg is truly amazing. He can defeat the golem guardian alone. This is the guardian my father is proud of. I was still worried about him."
Serpico pressed his lips together, frowned, and remained silent.
Honestly, the burning golem guardian reminded Serpico of terrible memories—the burning stakes at the stake.
However, before he could dwell long on the nightmare, the pillar of fire in his illusion collapsed like smoke under the crash of the golem guardian.
Serpico was surprised.
What a powerful man this is. I thought following Farnese and training in the Holy Iron Chain Knights, and being born in the famous Holy City of the Holy See, I would be well-informed.
But I actually haven't seen scenes like this.
Even the sages and prophets mentioned in the scriptures and the Book of Revelation are probably like this, right?
Is Farnese now in the hands of such a group of people? This is truly troublesome.
The more he thought about it, the more Serpico's head ached with irritation.
After a while, Azan, Serpico, and Irina together approached the gates of Castle Morne and saw the open gate and a wooden platform at the end of the passage.
"This is an elevator." Nidhogg pointed ahead. "Take the elevator, and we'll reach the second level of Castle Morne, which is also the center of the city. I'm afraid it will be chaotic inside. We need to be prepared."
Irina nodded nervously, not even realizing that Nidhogg seemed to know Castle Morne better than she did.
Azan and Serpico gripped their double-headed iron rod and longsword.
At first, they thought escorting Irina would be simple. But now, having seen the terror of the Night's Cavalry and the golem guardian one after another, they grew less confident in their hearts. They just hoped not to encounter such monsters.
Then they passed through this passage and soon saw several corpses lying on the ground, all wearing armor bearing a crest of a tree and a beast.
Serpico was a herald officer and knew the crests of various families in the Holy See well, but he didn't recognize this one.
He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Is this the crest of Castle Morne?"
"To be precise, it's the crest of 'Godrick the Grafted.'" Nidhogg was very familiar with this armor set; he had it in his possession. "These are Godrick's soldiers, commanded by Lord Edgar."
"'Godrick the Grafted'?" Serpico couldn't help but ask at this moment.
This time, Irina answered him: "Lord Godrick is a demigod to whom my father swore allegiance. He is a member of the Golden Lineage... I heard he was very powerful, terrifying, and cruel."
Irina was already a little timid when she said "back."
Nidhogg had a different opinion on whether Godrick was "powerful."
In this crest, the "great tree" naturally refers to the Erdtree, and the "beast" refers to the "beast regent," meaning Serosh, the beast regent carried on the back of the second Elden Lord, Godfrey.
Its meaning is related to the union of Queen Marika and the "first Elden Lord," Godfrey.
They had three children: "Godwyn the Golden," "Mohg the Omen," and "Morgott the Grace-Given."
As for "Godrick the Grafted," although it is not explicitly stated, it can be generally confirmed that he is a descendant of Godwyn and a person with diluted demigod blood. Therefore, he is also called the "weakest demigod."
Azan and Serpico heard a few more mysterious terms, especially the word "demigod." Their eyelids twitched before these two members of the Holy Iron Chain Knights of the Holy See.
The Holy See's doctrine believes in one God, but Azan and Serpico are not ignorant of other doctrines and myths. The word "demigod" has also become popular in this country with the spread of some myths.
Simply put, demigods are the descendants of gods and humans. They usually become heroes on earth, fighting in all directions for the gods and creating epic legends.
However, these legendary heroes have long been gradually forgotten due to the heresy trials of the Holy See and the destruction of these mythological texts.
They looked at each other in confusion and finally guessed in their hearts that the person Nidhogg was looking for might be this "demigod" and "grafted" Godrick.
Nidhogg didn't let Irina continue explaining. He led everyone to the elevator platform before them.
The four stood on the elevator. Nidhogg stepped on a pedal, and with a clanking of chains, the elevator rose.
Azan and Serpico were not surprised by the elevator. Many city gates were opened with similar structures. They had seen plenty.
Soon, the elevator stopped with a click. They finally reached the second level of Castle Morne.
Before them was a staircase leading up. Beyond it was an archway. And beyond the archway was the center of Castle Morne.
Before everyone approached, they could smell burning from a distance and instinctively felt physiological disgust.
Serpico, on the other hand, knew this smell better. He frowned.
It was the smell of burning corpses.
Previously, Serpico, who often followed Farnese, had naturally seen all kinds of terrible scenes with huge stakes before the Vandimion family mansion.
Captured cultists and heretics were tied to the stake. Their sins would be judged and read out in the Holy See. The firewood beneath their feet would be lit amidst the curses of the people of the Holy City.
After that, a raging fire and bitter screams would erupt. This group of cultists and pagans would be burned alive, each time burning to ashes, with the surroundings turning orange.
Farnese seemed obsessed with this burning scene. As a believer of the Holy See and a resident of the Holy City, her face was always filled with a chilling and ecstatic smile.
But what made Serpico most unbearable was that a few years ago, his mother in the nursing home, a woman with dementia, was also declared a cultist and heretic.
The reason was that a group of people at the bottom of the Holy City couldn't bear the burden of exploitation and rose up to resist the authority of the Holy See.
One of the places they agreed to enter was the nursing home, but their movement was soon brutally suppressed.
Serpico's biological mother was implicated, which was completely unreasonable. But no follower in the Holy See would believe in her innocence, and it was impossible to listen to Serpico's defense.
Fortunately, Farnese noticed something unusual in time and did not let Serpico save his biological mother.
The situation at that time was already set. They could not change anything. But once Serpico revealed his relationship with his mother, even the Vandimion family couldn't save him. He would surely die.
Therefore, to prove that Serpico had nothing to do with the madwoman at the stake, and to dispel the suspicions of the believers in the Holy See, Farnese and Serpico lit the firewood beneath the stake with torches.
This left a deep shadow on Serpico. After that, he was deathly afraid of being burned at the stake and never participated in such heresy trials again.
Serpico, having experienced this, naturally smelled the familiar scent in the air faster than anyone present. He felt boredom and nausea in his heart.
Moreover, they saw a mountain of corpses piled up behind the archway, strewn with the bodies of Godrick's soldiers and strange monsters.
There were also ugly, short monsters with gray-black wings hanging on their backs and crude iron knives thrust into their waists.
They were still tirelessly carrying even more corpses to accumulate this mountain of corpses.
「Winged Misbegotten」
"They have a hundred wings. The birth of misbegotten is considered a punishment for contact with the furnace. Therefore, they are born as slaves and called the accursed."
"The iron knife is a weapon held by these battered misbegotten, a weapon full of hatred."
Nidhogg's Spectral Sight informed him of these details in time.
At the top of this mountain of corpses, a bonfire burned.
A winged misbegotten, clearly a circle larger than the other winged misbegotten, stood there hunched, leading the other misbegotten to raise their hands together, staring at the bonfire like fools.
Azan asked with a somewhat grim face, "They... what are they? What are they doing?"
"They are winged misbegotten," Nidhogg explained. "This is their ritual, worshiping the 'aspects of the crucible'—a ritual that defiles life."
"Legend has it that the world was once a crucible, and life intertwined with each other, regardless of each other. So this represented a miracle of a 'hundred aspects' fused together."
"It's just that after this, life gradually separated, showing a hundred flowers blooming with independent personalities. The original 'aspects of the crucible' became a very small number and turned into rejected and cursed existences."
"Combined with their obsession with the 'aspects of the crucible' and defiled life, these winged misbegotten with 'wings' are considered 'accursed' and are born to be abused as slaves."
Azan, a traditional knight, was shocked to hear this and couldn't help but mutter, "What blasphemy..."
Irina had never seen the ugly appearance of the winged misbegotten with her own eyes, but she sometimes heard her father talk about them. Her father sympathized with the miserable fate of the winged misbegotten and let them into the city so they wouldn't be enslaved and abused outside.
Too bad the winged misbegotten and their leader clearly wanted more. Even the lord's sympathy, pity, and a slight improvement in status couldn't satisfy them. So the rebellion began.
Raised by Edgar, Irina pitied the winged misbegotten.
But when she thought that this rebellion was caused by them, killing and wounding so many soldiers and civilians of the city, and that her father's life and death were still unknown, her mood became quite complicated.
At that moment, four winged misbegotten, who hadn't yet noticed them beyond the archway, were actually hiding in the shadows. They jumped out, grinning at them, greedy saliva dripping from their sharp fangs.
"They are hungry dogs," Nidhogg glanced at them and said. "Don't look at how thin and weak they are, but they are very agile. Not to mention the pain of their bites, even an infection can kill people."
"The enemies you will face are hungry dogs and a few winged misbegotten. Don't let them get close to Irina."
"I'll deal with most of the winged misbegotten and then go to Lord Edgar and deliver Irina's handkerchief and letter to him."
"Until I return, protecting Irina is your top priority."
Looking at the approaching fierce, quietly growling hungry dogs, Azan and Serpico cautiously nodded, protecting the weak Irina between them.
Overall, the two of them together should be enough to protect Irina.
However, just in case, Nidhogg produced his Spirit Calling Bell, shook it a few times, and summoned Lhutel the Headless Knight.
Having reached the Mid-Rank Apostle level, Nidhogg could give some simple instructions to the spirits in the Spirit Calling Bell, which they would follow.
Ignoring the stunned expressions of Azan and Serpico upon encountering the Headless Knight, Nidhogg continued:
"I'll leave her here. She'll deal with some enemies that come for you and will disappear after a while. This will significantly reduce your pressure."
"Then I entrust Irina to all of you."
After these words, Nidhogg turned and headed towards the archway, not looking back, not looking at the hungry dogs snarling at him. As for the hungry dogs that did pounce, he cut them down with Bloodhound's Fang.
FWOOSH—!
A silver arc flashed past. The three hungry dogs that pounced simultaneously were cut together, split into six sections, and crashed to the ground with thuds, causing the remaining hungry dogs to scatter in terror.
Having sharply cleared a path, Nidhogg headed straight for the mountain of corpses.
At the same time, the winged misbegotten around the mountain of corpses also noticed the movement here. They all turned their heads, stared at him, and gripped their iron knives together, screeching.
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