On the shores of the Lake of Rot, Lahn flicked his flowing curved sword with a deft wrist. Several Kindred of Rot pouncing toward him were instantly bisected. Bolstered by the techniques of the fluid sword, cutting through them was as effortless as a hot knife through butter.
"We can't wait any longer. Everyone, with me! Charge in and save him!"
He watched the battlefield where their forces were gradually losing ground as their numbers dwindled. He didn't want to wait any longer. While there was still a chance to gamble, they had to at least destroy that central flower.
Just as he donned his specially treated robes and prepared to lead the charge, the ground began to tremble once more. He couldn't even remember how many times this had happened today. If they kept this up, the entire cavern might collapse, and everyone would be finished together.
Before he could find his footing, a series of continuous, rhythmic tremors shook the earth. It was then he realized the source was the flower itself.
"Could it be... Everyone, get ready! Something big is coming!"
He and his kin hurriedly conjured a glintstone wall to brace against the impending impact.
Then, under the stunned gazes of everyone present, the flower—the manifestation of the Goddess of Rot's physical form—exploded. A giant wreathed in roaring flames stood tall upon the Lake of Rot.
"My Queen, you've spent more time with him... do you know who that is? His height almost rivals the ancient Fire Giants that are nearly extinct."
Lahn stared at the giant, who radiated an overwhelming presence, his mind momentarily blank with shock.
"You're asking me? I only know that several special souls reside within him. As for who that is specifically, I haven't a clue."
Asimi's original body, still on the shore, was equally bewildered. She had only been found by Gawain after the Great Battle of Caelid, so she had never seen him truly go all-out or summon his "legion" for a fair fight. She had only heard him mention a few details.
"Whatever. At least he's on our side. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that massive meat cleaver."
The giant standing in the heart of the Lake of Rot let out an earth-shattering roar. This time, it wasn't the cry of despair he had uttered upon waking in his coffin to find his protected people gone; it was the war cry of a champion marching against a vile foe.
Yhorm stood upon the earth once more as a brave warrior, wielding his great machete and shield at the vanguard, fighting to protect his ally.
"Yhorm, my old friend! Today we fight alongside Siegward of the Knights of Catarina and the Ashen One who inherited the Cinders of Lords! May the Sun shine upon the Lord of Cinder!"
Siegward stood upon his old friend's shoulder, holding his own Storm Ruler. The days of fighting side-by-side like this had almost faded into a blur in his memory. But fortunately, on this strange land, he could stand with his old friend once more to fight for the protection of all living things.
Gawain hovered in mid-air, a second Storm Ruler in his hand. Endless tempests seemed to swirl around him as he looked coldly at the Goddess of Rot, who was reconsolidating from the scattered flesh.
"Yhorm, the duty of suppressing her counterattacks is yours. Siegward and I will handle the offensive. Can you do it?"
Yhorm responded only with silence, but the flames erupting from his body stood testament to his status as a Lord of Cinder. The Profaned Flame, which never extinguished, ignited upon his great machete—a force the Scarlet Rot was utterly incapable of resisting.
Only a storm can fell a great tree? Wrong. This time, the Tree brought the Storm to the battlefield!
A battle cry that shook the heavens and earth erupted from Yhorm's chest. Fire flowed like liquid lava over his iron plate. He slammed his signature greatshield down before him.
The moment the Goddess of Rot attempted to reform her body from ten thousand maggots, the Giant Lord charged her head-on with the force of a landslide.
When the two mountain-sized entities collided, the entire Lake of Rot shuddered. Thick, putrid liquid erupted in crimson walls dozens of feet high. Tens of thousands of festering skeletal remains were thrown into the air from the lakebed—the sacrifices who had died in that ancient war.
Veins bulged on Yhorm's forehead as his iron-cast arm muscles pressed the greatshield forward, the metal groaning with a teeth-grinding screech.
The Goddess of Rot was forced back step by step. Her body of putrescence constantly disintegrated and reformed, while the tentacles composed of dense insects scraped against the shield's surface, emitting ear-piercing shrieks.
The Giant Lord's boots crushed the bones on the lakebed, plowing deep furrows into the mire with every step. He seized an opening during the Goddess's reconstruction and exerted a sudden burst of strength, pinning her rotting form directly into the bedrock beneath the lake. The boiling surface of the lake rippled with countless concentric circles, vibrating from the raw power of the two titans.
Gawain and Siegward were not idle. Seizing the opportunities Yhorm created, they unleashed the Storm Rulers. Every time the Goddess of Rot attempted to coalesce, a powerful storm wreathed in fire tore her apart.
Bolstered by the King's Soul of Life, Gawain no longer feared a war of attrition within the Lake of Rot. Even if an attack carrying Scarlet Rot struck him, the rot was simply converted into a part of his own power, much like the Frenzied Flame before it.
As long as his will remained firm and the power did not spiral out of control, the outcome of this battle was already decided.
Above, in the Swamp of Aeonia in Caelid, Elsa bit her teeth and yanked several pest threads from her abdomen. She swallowed a Preserving Bolus before the Scarlet Rot could spread through her system, but she was exhausted. Tearing off her corroded helmet, she knelt on one knee, gasping for air.
Under the precise manipulation of Asimi's consciousness clone and the suppression from long-range sorceries, the gargantuan entity in the center was indeed pinned down. The area controlled by the Scarlet Rot was shrinking, but the intensity of their counterattacks hadn't wavered—in fact, they had become more frenzied.
"Can you still stand? It's time for the counterattack."
Elsa thought it was Asimi speaking to her, but she realized the Silver Tear was looking behind her with an expression of excitement.
She turned around. At some point, dozens of figures clad in identical plate armor had appeared behind her. She didn't know their identity, but the glowing soul in her palm told her everything she needed to know.
"Naturally. I won't stop until the Scarlet Rot is completely eradicated."
"Hmm. A powerful warrior indeed. No wonder the Ashen One trusts you so much."
The leader raised a Farron Greatsword, offering the warrior before him a gesture of sincere respect.
"Leave that thing to us. It is our duty."
"Share the wolf blood, walk the Abyss. For Artorias, slay these monsters that pollute the world!"
Before Elsa could speak, these elite warriors charged as one toward the most troublesome monster in the center of the swamp. Their standard-issue greatswords burned with flame; the weapons once used to combat the Abyss now perfectly countered the Scarlet Rot.
The Scarlet Rot, trapped in a swamp and fighting like a cornered beast, was far inferior to the world-consuming power of the Abyss from the end of the Age of Fire. Even its most terrifying spawn seemed harmless compared to the Abyss.
"They've taken over that one. What should we do?"
Nepheli Loux appeared at Elsa's side, followed by the two spectral Storm Knights—the legendary "Wings of the King."
"According to the original plan. Have all the strikes from Redmane Castle shift targets. Drive those things toward the canyon."
Just as Elsa issued the next deployment, a violent gust of wind from the sky tossed her hair. She looked up to see at least dozens of flying dragons soaring toward the battlefield. Leading them was Agheel, whom she had sent for help earlier.
"Phew. Finally here? That makes things much simpler."
The warriors struggling to hold the line felt the commotion from the sky as well. Looking up, they were captivated by the sight. Good grief, has every dragon in Dragonbarrow capable of flight come here?
As the first dragon's breath incinerated a dense cluster of Kindred of Rot, the momentum of the entire battlefield shifted. The Kindred of Rot, who had been violently hammering the lines of the Caelid Highway and Sellia, could no longer gain an inch under the rain of dragonfire.
Denied support from their strongest kin and unable to form any effective charge, the seemingly endless white tide finally broke. Driven by instinct, they began to move toward the only path that looked remotely safe: the canyon.
The retreating Kindred of Rot trampled over Graven-School Masses and piles of glintstone, scrambling over one another to cross whatever obstacles lay in their path as they surged into the narrow canyon.
Philla stood on the heights, her sharp gaze overlooking the scene below. She watched silently as the enemy vanguard passed by, mentally calculating the perfect moment.
The minutes ticked by. Finally, when she saw the main bulk of the retreating force had fully entered the kill zone, her lips curled into a sly smile. She had waited so long to play her part.
She calmly took out a Spark Aromatic and ignited it. The spark erupted in a brilliant flash. Without hesitation, Philla lit the fuses of the explosives prepared beside her and hurled them down.
The explosives traced a graceful arc through the air, landing accurately within the enemy swarm and erupting in a dazzling display of light.
"Everyone! When you see me, give them hell! Blast 'em!"
Hearing their chief perfumer's command, the soldiers lying in ambush followed suit. They ignited various explosives and threw them at the Kindred of Rot below as fast as they could.
These weren't ordinary explosives. They had been meticulously crafted by the perfumers of Stormveil, using unique materials and recipes—many of which were "heavy hitters" from the Capital. Consequently, the actual force of the explosions was far greater than anyone expected.
Echoing through the canyon walls, deafening booms rang out one after another. Flames soared into the sky, and thick smoke filled the air. Powerful shockwaves swept through the area like crashing waves, leaving devastation in their wake.
The explosives were not only powerful but also possessed excellent and long-lasting incendiary properties. The roaring flames continued to consume everything, seemingly never to be extinguished. This specialized anti-rot trait ensured that even if they weren't blown apart, they were at least halfway to death from the burns.
The Kindred of Rot, covering nearly the entire canyon, were visibly dazed by the bombardment. The previously orderly retreat was shattered. Countless white pests fled in all directions, only to be easily cut down by the soldiers blocking the paths.
Many survivors continued to flee forward on pure momentum. Philla watched these Kindred of Rot—most of their body tissue charred black, yet still screeching and running—and found it absurd. To be burned to such a state and still live truly defied her understanding of biology.
The continuous bombardment had nearly exhausted their supplies, but what happened next wasn't her concern. She stopped worrying about the stragglers and picked up a telescope to look toward the center of the swamp. A spectacle of this magnitude wasn't something one saw every day.
The remnants of the Kindred of Rot passed the Siofra River Well, having covered most of the distance. The exit was in sight; as long as they reached that position...
The ground began to tremble. A massive entity forced its round, stout body to stand up.
"You lot again! Do not disturb the peace of the Colosseum!"
When the oversized Great-Jar of Caelid saw a mass of white pests heading toward the Colosseum, he naturally couldn't tolerate them defiling the sacred arena.
His gargantuan frame was taller than the Colosseum itself. Although the behemoth wasn't fast, every step left a deep, sunken crater in the hard earth, as if the ground itself could not bear his weight. Accompanied by his footsteps, the earth shuddered violently, emitting low rumbles like a localized earthquake.
When the Great-Jar was close enough to the canyon, he simply used his massive bulk to block the exit entirely. Then, he slammed his long, sturdy arms into the canyon.
His arms, nearly the width of the canyon itself, left the pests nowhere to hide. A single strike crushed everyone within range into meat paste. After multiple strikes to ensure no survivors remained, the canyon returned to its former silence.
Having finished, the Warrior Jar patted his arms and returned to his seat at the Colosseum's entrance. He didn't care about the battle in the swamp; as long as it didn't affect the arena, that was enough.
Meanwhile, in the Lake of Rot, Yhorm had once again torn the wings from the Goddess of Rot. Through this constant attrition, the massive body before them was reduced to little more than a pile of failing meat, unable to recover. It only managed to struggle through its twisted vitality.
Gawain hovered in the air, looking down at the incapacitated Goddess. The Great Rune of General Radahn at his chest began to burn. Finally, it was time for the finishing blow.
He raised his hand slightly, and the immense power of the King's Soul of Life erupted from within him, molding into the shapes of humanoid swordsmen made of flame.
Realizing what was about to happen, the Goddess of Rot desperately used all her strength to gather countless toxic needles, attempting to interrupt his movement. But before she could launch the attack, she was flipped over and pinned by Yhorm and Siegward.
She could only lie on the ground, staring at the figure above. Realizing her residual power could not withstand the next strike, she asked her final question.
"Why? Why do you refuse eternal life? You should know... even if this vessel is destroyed, as long as life has a strong desire for existence, my Law will appear again. Do you truly have no desire for existence?"
Gawain's hands did not stop. He looked down at the puzzled Goddess. It was clear she felt no fear for her impending destruction, only disappointment that she hadn't turned him into a vessel for her Law.
The Law of Scarlet Rot was a manifestation of the extreme desire for existence, much like the Frenzied Flame born of despair. As long as the conditions were right, it would continuously sprout; it could not be truly eradicated. This time, he was only destroying the ancient remains sealed in the Lake of Rot. There was still the Haligtree, and Malenia—the Empyrean host for the rot.
He finally answered her. Countless flame-shrouded figures holding long blades aimed their weapons at the Goddess, prepared for the final strike.
"The meaning of life is given by oneself. The meaning of my existence isn't simply 'to live'—at least, not to live in a twisted way like you."
"Next time, even without me, there will be another Blind Swordsman to seal the Scarlet Rot. As for you... get out of the Lands Between."
Countless flame-humanoids slashed down at the Goddess of Rot from various stances. Gawain had perfectly replicated one of Malenia's famous "Phase Two" moves, but this time, the clones weren't made of rot—they carried the techniques of the fluid sword, and there were several orders of magnitude more of them!
The sheer volume of slashes reduced the Goddess's tattered body into a writhing mass of crimson meat. Once more, a powerful blaze erupted from Gawain's body. To those looking up from below, he looked like a searing meteor.
With the preparation complete, he clenched his fist, gathered a powerful storm, and plummeted from the sky. It was the technique he had "borrowed" from the General: Starscourge Meteor. It was the perfect way to end this.
As the terrifying attack slammed into the ground like a fallen star, the earth seemed to tear open. A world-shaking boom erupted!
After that, all was still.
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Elden Ring: In the Name of Ash (255 chapter - Ongoing)
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