"Oh? So I've ended up here..."
After walking a distance from the cliffside, Mohg spotted a very familiar structure and couldn't help but shake his head with a faint smile.
It was the Limgrave Colosseum. At this point in time, the road leading from Stormveil Castle to this area was far from the desolate, abandoned path he remembered. On the contrary, he could see a fair number of people traveling through the region.
Mohg even spotted soldiers in standard Stormveil attire and the occasional glimpse of one or two Banished Knights—though, in this era, they didn't yet go by that name. Since their homeland still stood, they were likely called... Storm Knights?
Mohg wasn't entirely sure of the terminology, but he could clearly sense the threat they posed. He decided to bypass the area entirely, sending a message to Horruf to warn his men to exercise extreme caution around this sector.
After skirting around a patrol squad carrying torches, Mohg spotted a town nestled within the nearby woods.
After a brief assessment, he first removed his heavy armor. He used a small Blood Pool to transport the gear back to the cave where Horruf was stationed, changing instead into a set of sorcerer robes from the Academy.
In Limgrave, sorcerers weren't as rare as they were on the Altus Plateau. In fact, a significant number of mages traveled these lands—some were glintstone sorcerers from the Academy, while others were traveling mages from the Caelid region.
Mohg held a particular interest in Sellia, the Town of Sorcery in Caelid, especially given its close ties and communication with the Eternal Cities underground. If he could poach a few mages from Sellia to act as "foreign aid," it would be an excellent move, saving him both the time and resources required to train his own.
The only concern would be their loyalty—a double-edged sword, to be sure.
Even in his new robes, Mohg didn't head straight for the town in the forest. He wasn't sure if entering required official identification; the robes were simply a precaution to make any accidental discovery easier to explain away.
Bypassing the town, Mohg arrived at a vast, rolling upland: Stormhill, the territory lying beneath the shadow of Stormveil. This region was dotted with numerous villages and even a few large towns. Of course, there were still undeveloped stretches of the hills, characterized by the constant roar of thunder and violent gales.
Golden bolts of lightning fell from the sky intermittently, accompanied by winds so fierce that passing sheep and other wildlife struggled to stay upright. Mohg even witnessed an unfortunate squirrel get struck directly by lightning, turning into a blackened crisp in an instant.
Though the lightning in this world behaved differently than the electricity of his previous life, he had no intention of testing his physical body against the raw power of nature.
After observing the patterns for a while, Mohg selected a narrow path with fewer settlements and began to make his way through.
Whish—
Hearing a deafening roar of cheers from behind him, Mohg glanced back toward the Colosseum. The sound was erupting from within the arena, though he had no idea what kind of event was taking place.
"To think that place is packed with so many people..." Mohg murmured to himself, quickening his pace toward his chosen destination.
If the Colosseum was crowded, it stood to reason that the nearby villages and towns might be relatively empty. Realizing this, Mohg cast aside his caution and accelerated, sprinting toward the distance.
He felt no resonance or "throb" from the Formless Mother; evidently, She had a significant interest in whatever was happening at the arena.
It had to be said that, aside from the occasional wild beast, this area lacked any significant threats. He even suspected the beasts here were intentionally left alive for the local hunters to track; otherwise, they likely would have been cleared out long ago.
After a period of trekking, a faint light began to rise on the horizon. The radiance of the Erdtree grew increasingly dazzling as morning approached.
"Daybreak, then..."
Mohg now stood at the edge of another cliff. From this vantage point, he could see a fortified checkpoint below and a small town further ahead. With his enhanced vision, he could even track the patrol squads moving below. The most prominent figure was a Storm Knight stationed atop the gatehouse.
"Hmm..."
Tracing the path from the checkpoint toward his current position, Mohg quickly noticed several discrepancies from his memories of the game, which gave him a bit of a headache.
In the game's timeline, this road was overgrown and abandoned. One would expect to see Trolls, ruined Golems, and roaming Kaiden sellswords, with a chance of encountering a Deathbird at night.
But now... there was a dedicated cemetery nearby. Mohg could see the area clearly and had spotted a Deathbird circling above during his approach. However, the creature didn't descend; it seemed the faith of Stormveil and the cult of the Deathbird managed to coexist without conflict here.
Furthermore, there were no traces of Kaiden mercenaries. He surmised that because the local lords had little need for them, there was no business to be had, so they stayed away.
As for the Golems, Mohg did see two massive constructs at the checkpoint. They stood on the cliffs above the gate, one on the left and one on the right, like two giant sentinel gods.
But none of that was the primary cause for his headache. The real issue was that the road they had selected was not abandoned. He could see merchant caravans traveling the path and regular Stormveil patrols. There were even small outposts and camps established at short intervals.
Looking at it this way... if he wanted to reach the heart of Limgrave, it would be difficult to do so by land unless he simply flew over.
However, such a hurdle wouldn't stop the Lord of Blood. He chose the most direct solution: the long way around.
After sending a brief update to Horruf regarding the situation, Mohg continued along the perimeter of the checkpoints. If he followed the line of fortifications long enough, he was bound to find a gap he could slip through.
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Elden Ring: As the Consort, I Reject Miquella (375 Chapters – Ongoing)
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