FWOOSH—!
The wind howled. Nidhogg, Azan, and Serpico, with their cloaks pulled tight, walked along the slope. Even in their armor, they couldn't escape the chill that permeated their bodies.
Approaching this hill, due to the sudden storm, the three couldn't set up camp on the spot. They couldn't find a suitable cave for a while, so they could only keep moving forward.
Just as everyone was starting to worry about where to rest for the night, they heard a clanging sound in the distance ahead, hidden within the roaring wind.
When Nidhogg heard this sound, he felt it was familiar. Then he realized it wasn't the sound of iron being struck by the blacksmith Godo. Was there a blacksmith nearby?
Azan and Serpico were overjoyed. A sound ahead meant there was a camp or a house where they could rest, so they would have a place for the night.
When Nidhogg saw the expressions on Azan's and Serpico's faces, he understood what they were thinking. He leaned towards them and shouted loudly into the wind, "This is near Stormveil Castle. Be careful, it could be an enemy."
Azan and Serpico nodded thoughtfully.
So all three cautiously moved towards the sound of the iron. Crossing a small spur of the hill, they saw a house appear on the flat ground before them.
The house was built of brick and appeared to have been repaired. The intersection of old and new tiles was clear.
At this time, the doors and windows were closed, battered by the wind, but they remained sturdy and didn't collapse. A dim yellow light from candles emanated from within, and the sound of striking iron continued.
Nidhogg looked at the house and felt a sense of déjà vu. After thinking, he asked Azan and Serpico to wait where they were. He stepped forward and knocked on the door.
The sound of striking iron abruptly stopped. After a short pause, a gruff, low male voice asked, "Who is it?"
"Travelers passing through, hoping to stay for the night," Nidhogg said.
"How could there be travelers here?"
After a while, heavy footsteps sounded before the door. Then the latch on the wooden door was removed, and the door creaked open, revealing an ugly and grotesque face.
In such a night storm, suddenly seeing such a face, if it were anyone else, they would probably have screamed at that moment. But Nidhogg merely raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Mainly, Nidhogg recognized the other person. But, like Patches, he didn't understand how this person could have ended up here.
This person was the blacksmith Hewg, a misbegotten with an ugly appearance. However, in appearance, he differed from the Lion Misbegotten and the winged misbegotten. He was closer to human form, with a large beard, and scales and shells all over his body.
He was supposed to be a prisoner of the Roundtable Hold, chained up and forging weapons for those who came and went from the Hold.
However, he himself had always hidden his faith and desire.
He had once promised the "Eternal Queen" Marika to forge a weapon capable of killing gods and demigods—this was what Marika expected of him. He silently fulfilled his promise until he went mad.
Hewg raised his dull eyes, stared at Nidhogg for a while, grunted, and said, "Your reaction is rare. I thought everyone who saw me would either be scared or contemptuous."
He immediately understood that he would never be an opponent to the person before him, so he silently moved the hand he had hidden behind him, which was holding a heavy hammer.
Hewg glanced at Azan and Serpico, who were standing nearby. The surprise in their eyes fully met his expectations. He couldn't help but smile, turned, and went back into the house.
"Come in," he said in a deep voice.
So Nidhogg nodded to Azan and Serpico, and they approached with hesitation and confusion.
Azan asked in surprise, "This man... is this man also a monster?"
"The land we are on is part of the Junction," Nidhogg explained slowly. "On this land, there are all kinds of strange people and things. But there is always only one way to distinguish monsters from those who are not. It's the difference between good and evil."
Azan listened quietly, nodded with some shame, and said with a hint of realization, "You're right. Actually, not only at the Junction, but in our current world, this principle is the same."
"We have seen greedy, beautiful nobles, humble and pitiful lepers, beautiful women with hearts of snakes and scorpions, and ugly old women who are honest and simple."
All three entered the room. Serpico, the last one, turned around, closed the door, and inserted the latch. Suddenly, the little house blocked out the storm outside.
The flames flickered in the fireplace, and warmth slowly enveloped the three people who had entered from the cold wind.
Nidhogg now looked around and saw that the blacksmith Hewg had returned to his corner, where he had a full set of tools: a simple furnace, bellows, and an anvil.
He held a hammer in his hand and rhythmically struck the red-hot tip of a longsword on the anvil.
Looking past the corner, Nidhogg saw a person who should indeed appear in this house.
In the corner sat a girl in a bright red cloak and a pure white dress, cross-legged. Apart from looking up when Nidhogg and the three entered the room, she kept her head down and remained silent the rest of the time.
"I am Nidhogg, and these are Azan and Serpico," Nidhogg introduced. "Thank you for letting us stay for the night. May I ask your names?"
After a short pause, the blacksmith Hewg stopped the sound of forging and said, "Just call me Hewg." He raised his hammer again, pointed at the girl, and said, "Her name is Roderika. You'll find yourselves a place."
Nidhogg nodded and sat down with Azan and Serpico a bit closer to the fireplace, where they could warm themselves by the fire and drive the cold from their bodies.
Hewg picked up the half-forged sword, looked at it, seemed dissatisfied, and threw it directly into a bucket beside him, producing a sizzling sound.
He put down his hammer. His cloudy eyes looked at the faces of Nidhogg and the other two. After a while, he said, "You're not from Godrick's lineage. You're strangers. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Nidhogg knew that the armor on their bodies revealed this, but he didn't want to hide it. He said directly, "Tomorrow morning, we will enter Stormveil Castle to conquer the 'grafted' Godrick."
As soon as he said this, the girl named Roderika finally reacted and couldn't help but look up and stare at him.
Hewg muttered, "I see. You also have the same desire—to end Godrick's terror, defeat the other 'Shardbearers,' and become the Elden Lord at the Junction..."
"It's a pity that the vast majority of people will fall in Stormveil Castle. And death isn't the cruelest thing. The cruelest thing is that their arms and legs are cut off, leaving only a torso, which is then used as a puppet and discarded at will."
"I advise you, if you just have a delusion to try, it's better not to approach Stormveil Castle. Go back to where you came from."
Out of the corner of his eye, Nidhogg noticed that Roderika was already trembling. Because Hewg's words were aimed not only at him but also at Roderika.
He was about to reply when he heard a terrifying cry outside, followed by another cry.
Azan and Serpico had come to this strange place and were already very nervous. They couldn't stay calm and stood up abruptly.
Nidhogg calmly looked at Hewg and asked, "What is that?"
"Probably the Crucible Knight, who killed a few more of Godrick's soldiers on night patrol," Hewg said quietly. "You should also know about the changes that have occurred in the Stormveil Castle area."
"This Crucible Knight, who served the 'First Elden Lord' Godfrey, was imprisoned in a sealed prison after Godfrey's exile. He feared he had committed an act of disobedience."
"However, the upheaval in Stormveil Castle destroyed the seal of the prison, and he was able to regain his freedom. But he also lost his sanity, driven mad after years of imprisonment."
"Since then, he has roamed the vicinity of Stormveil Castle from time to time. Every time he appears, he kills a few people he first encounters, most of them patrolling Godrick's soldiers, and then vanishes."
"I came to this dilapidated house and, after repairing it, have lived here for almost a year. I've only seen him from a distance twice. I didn't expect to encounter him again tonight. I hope he's not interested in this house."
Before Hewg finished speaking, they heard the cries outside suddenly cease, followed by the heavy scraping of armor. With a rumble, the sound came to their house.
CRASH—!
The wooden door was cleaved by a greatsword, splitting into several pieces. Wood chips scattered everywhere!
A knight in bronze armor entered, holding a sword and shield. The cold wind howled fiercely at his entrance!
Roderika seemed to see something terrifying and couldn't help but shrink into the corner and scream.
╔══════════════════════╗
📘 Want more?
Join me on Patreon for bonus chapters
and early access!
🔗 https://www.patreon.com/cw/OverlordD
╚══════════════════════╝