"Now, let me sense Liana's location first..."
Mohg closed his eyes and began to feel for Liana's aura. Because the blessing within her contained a portion of his own blood, he could track her through specific means—though he had no such luck with his other random "believers."
Soon, he sensed a general direction to the south.
Liana had contacted him once before to provide her location, but that felt like an eternity ago. Trapped in that godforsaken underground, he had no way of knowing how much time had truly passed. If he hadn't emerged, his very concept of time would have eventually blurred into nothingness.
"South, huh... That likely puts her somewhere in the Liurnia region."
Mohg surveyed his surroundings. After confirming there were no immediate threats, he quickened his pace. Liana heading to Liurnia was understandable.
It wasn't under the direct control of the Golden Dynasty. While a powerful force had unified the region, it was a place rife with internal schemes and hidden agendas. The Carian Royal Family was the strongest faction, followed by the Academy of Raya Lucaria, and then the Knights of the Cuckoo. However, these days, the Knights of the Cuckoo were being extremely well-behaved, not daring to show their heads.
With the Academy suppressed by the Royal Family, the Cuckoo mercenaries—who were originally hired by the Academy and somewhat dependent on them—were acting like perfect little "good boys."
At that very moment, in a cavern far away in Liurnia, a beautiful woman dressed in a black robe adorned with crimson and gold patterns slowly stood up. She opened her eyes, revealing blood-red pupils.
Even more striking were the two curved, goat-like horns protruding from her head.
Seeing her rise and emerge, two men dressed in silver armor—emblazoned with blood-red sigils—immediately bowed respectfully to Liana.
"Mistress, you are awake. Is there a task for us?"
"Yes. I feel a shift in the Sovereign's aura. It is highly likely that he has finally emerged into the world."
Liana nodded slightly, a flicker of excitement dancing in her eyes, though she quickly suppressed it. She always kept Mohg's warning in her heart: she had to resist the influence the Cursed Blood had on her mind.
Unless there was an urgent matter, she spent most of her time here using various techniques to dampen the psychological toll of the blood. Over the years, she had recruited many warriors willing to accept the Blessing of Blood—warriors from the Badlands, veterans who had retired from the battlefield with no future, and deserters who had been branded as cowards.
"Warrior of the Badlands, you crave blood, you crave glory, and you crave battle. Come here..."
"Your master has abandoned you. You are no longer needed. But the blood hungers for you. You belong on the battlefield. A true warrior's home is the clash of steel..."
"You have acknowledged your cowardice and faced your fear. That is true courage. The blood welcomes you, new champion..."
These were the words Liana had used to gather her followers. Their respect for her stemmed partly from her status as the Blood Witch, but mostly because she could suppress the side effects of the Cursed Blood, allowing them to retain their sense of self while feeling the favor and influence of the blood.
"What are your orders, then?" the Blood Knight asked, looking up.
"Go, and welcome back the Sovereign!"
"There seems to be a village up ahead..."
As night fell, Mohg emerged from the woods into the outskirts of the Royal Capital. Along the way, he had encountered his fair share of wildlife. To fill his stomach, he had dispatched a few sheep, only to discover that these horned animals actually possessed a small amount of spiritual energy.
It was an unexpected discovery, though he didn't dwell on it. It was something to be researched later.
"Something feels off about that village..."
Mohg narrowed his eyes, studying the settlement in the distance. Simple houses, livestock pens, a small patch of farmland—it looked ordinary enough. But the problem was obvious: he didn't see a single animal in the pens.
As he drew closer, a gust of wind blew toward him. The scent of blood carried on the breeze confirmed that something had happened. He quickened his pace.
Entering the village, Mohg found bloodstains scattered across the ground alongside gruesome remains of human tissue. He also spotted large, beast-like footprints.
"Looks like they were attacked by something..."
Mohg's nose twitched. Catching a scent he had never smelled before, he followed it. Soon, the sound of wet crunching and chewing reached his ears from the source of the smell, where the stench of blood was at its thickest.
"Roar!"
Before Mohg could get a clear look at the creature, it sensed his presence. With a guttural roar, a dark shadow leaped through the air toward him.
Thud!
Following a heavy impact, the shadow was slammed into the ground by a golden tail erupting from Mohg's back.
"ROAR!!"
The creature struggled, refusing to yield despite the heavy blow. It thrashed, trying to stand and launch another attack. In response, Mohg brought his foot down, stomping its head into the earth with crushing force.
Boom!
A cloud of dust billowed upward, and the surroundings finally fell silent. Once the creature stopped moving, Mohg reached down and grabbed it by the head, hauling it out of the crater. He looked slightly surprised to see that its head hadn't exploded from the stomp, despite the heavy bleeding.
He recognized the creature immediately: a Beastman of Farum Azula. This one appeared to be a straggler, lacking even a weapon. As for what it had been eating... it was a human, and it had been eating them alive.
Mohg frowned and pressed his other hand against the Beastman's skull. Since it possessed no intelligence and was nothing but a wild animal, there was no value in letting it live a moment longer.
Rip—
With a spray of crimson, Mohg tore out the beast's spine. The Beastman died instantly.
Having finished the job, Mohg breathed a gout of fire onto the corpse and the surrounding village before walking away. Originally, he had hoped to find someone to gather information from, but now... it was hard to say how many living people he would even find on this road.
The Royal Capital was currently overwhelmed with its own war and couldn't look after the surrounding populace, and the intentions of the nearby nobles remained unknown.
Mohg shook his head. This was perhaps the painful reality of a world that hadn't been fully unified.
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Elden Ring: As the Consort, I Reject Miquella (235 Chapters – Ongoing)
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