Gawain's eyes fluttered open. He found himself drifting slowly on the surface of the lake. In the distance, the crackle of Frozen Lightning still echoed—Yhorm and the Onion Knight had returned to the Dark Sign once the battle concluded, as their assistance was no longer required for the cleanup.
After a few fits of coughing, he raised his arm. Clutched in his right hand was a white stone that radiated an ominous aura. He vaguely recalled obtaining this object after shattering the core of the Goddess of Rot's physical vessel. Regardless of whether it would be as effective as he imagined, he decided to pocket it for now.
Cool lake water trickled down his arm. To his surprise, it wasn't the viscous, putrid fluid he had expected. The water was now clear, little different from any ordinary lake.
"Can you still stand? Don't forget you have a promise to keep. Don't keep her waiting too long."
Asimi's face appeared in Gawain's field of vision, a playful, teasing smile on her lips.
"You're right," Gawain grunted. "Are those Kindred of Rot dealt with?"
"With the Goddess of Rot's remains shattered by your hand, the remaining Kindred have lost their spirit. A few stragglers are hiding in the depths of the Grand Cloister, but it's only a matter of time before they're purged. After today, I don't think this place needs to be called the Lake of Rot anymore."
Gawain stripped off the sections of his armor that had been heavily damaged during the impact. Learning General Radahn's Starscourge Meteor was no easy feat. Had it not been for the massive health pool granted by the King's Soul of Life, he wouldn't have dared to try it. After all, within the environment of the Scarlet Rot, his vitality was bolstered by the very corruption he was fighting.
He surveyed the landscape. Good grief, he really had carved a meteor crater into the earth down here. The shallow lake water was slowly draining into the depression. Vast areas once covered by the rot had completely dried up, revealing skeletons and relics from an unknown era to the light of day once more.
"I'll leave the restoration to you for now. I need to head back to the Academy. I need to know what happened to Master Sellen that caused the seal to fail so suddenly."
"You certainly are impatient. Don't you want to know how the battle in Caelid turned out?"
Gawain looked back and offered a knowing smile, his tone brimming with confidence. "I already know. Someone has already told me."
Above, in the Swamp of Aeonia—or rather, what was once the Swamp of Aeonia—the land lay bare. After being purged by fire and the powder of toxic mushrooms, only scorched earth remained.
Previously, this place had been too teeming with life, sprouting pests everywhere; now, it was perhaps a bit too desolate. There was never a perfect solution. With the Scarlet Rot purged, the next headache would be figuring out how to restore Caelid from this cataclysmic damage.
"I don't know what kind of grudge those warriors held against the Scarlet Rot," Nepheli Loux mused, recalling the scene she had just witnessed. "If it were me, I would have just burned the remains of that thing. They seemed intent on hacking it into fine pieces with their flaming blades."
She wondered if it was her imagination, but those warriors seemed to grow more frenzied the more rot-spawn they cut down.
"Perhaps it's because they've faced similar enemies in the past," Elsa replied, not giving it much thought. All she knew was that those warriors had been a massive help, and that was enough. She stroked the snout of Agheel's draconic form, looking up at the dragons circling the sky.
Searing dragonfire continued to rain down on the remaining Kindred of Rot, almost as if the dragons were exacting vengeance for their mother, Greyoll.
When Elsa had followed Godfrey to Stormveil, the dragon kin—both flying dragons and ancient dragons—were enemies the Golden Order's army had to overcome. She hadn't expected them to become allies now. Fate, it seemed, was a fickle thing.
"So, are you going to tell me what conditions your mother proposed to bring this many dragons to our aid?"
Agheel scanned the surroundings to ensure no one was eavesdropping before shifting back into human form. He whispered the vital information into Elsa's ear.
"What? You aren't joking, are you? Such a thing actually exists?"
Elsa frowned. She had known about Dragon Communion since she could remember, but the idea that its origin was a powerful dragon who had betrayed the Dragon Lord was something she could hardly imagine. No wonder the relationship between the Ancient Dragons and the Flying Dragons was so strained.
"Is the culprit hiding within the Jagged Peak? That... that could be trouble."
She recalled a mountain range that was a forbidden zone for almost all life—the Jagged Peak, a place that seemed to have been severed from the rest of the Lands Between. She had never been there, only catching glimpses of it from afar, and heard it was once a domain of the dragons, much like Dragonbarrow.
However, since escaping her prison, she had realized the current Lands Between was missing a large chunk, as if it had been artificially cut away. Very few people she knew were figures from the era of the Shattering, so she hadn't been able to gather much information. Elsa had planned to discuss these matters with Gawain, but they had been constantly occupied with pressing emergencies. Now that the Scarlet Rot was dealt with, it was finally time to bring it up.
"Go back and tell your mother that I will relay the message. But you had best not spread this news. I fear it will cause unnecessary trouble."
"I know. But Sister Elsa... he will help me teach that damnable Bayle a lesson, right? If it weren't for his rebellion, I wouldn't have to worry about those annoying Dragon Communionists hunting me every day."
Being called "Sister" by a dragon was a bit strange, but then she remembered Agheel had been born after the Shattering. In terms of age, she was indeed his senior. Longevity, it seemed, brought its own peculiar set of headaches.
"I suppose he will. Who knows what he's up to right now?"
"My grand waterwheel! My Abductor Virgins! My Debate Parlor! Who did this!?"
Gawain stared at the wreckage of the Academy, crying out in genuine heartbreak. These were his vital assets, and they had been reduced to ruins. He had no idea how long it would take to rebuild.
His Crucible Knights were currently leading a group of sorcery apprentices to clear the debris. Occasionally, a tattered, ancient book would be unearthed, which only added to his grief.
"It was the Lord of Blood," Moongrum said, standing nearby with a look of self-reproach. "He somehow obtained a Glintstone Key and broke in with two Bell Bearing Hunters. It was my failure; I could not prevent him from destroying the Debate Parlor."
"I can't blame you for this. Where is Master Sellen? She was the one who repelled the Lord of Blood, wasn't she? I don't see her anywhere."
Moongrum's expression became complicated. He hesitated, then let out a sigh and pointed ahead. "By the doors of the Grand Library. Master Sellen gave everything to safeguard the Queen's peace. But the price was... steep."
"I understand."
Gawain's face darkened as he rushed toward the Grand Library, cursing Mohg a thousand times in his heart. The man knew he couldn't win in a direct confrontation, so he was resorting to these underhanded schemes now?
If Mohg thought another "Bloody Conspiracy" would break Gawain, then he had picked the wrong man to provoke.
When the lift reached the top, Gawain was met with dried stains of cursed blood, scattered glintstone shards, and a familiar figure.
"Melina? Your rebirth ritual is complete?"
Gawain stepped forward with a surge of joy, but he quickly noticed something was wrong. Melina's form was flickering, fluctuating between the physical and the spectral.
"The ritual is complete, in a sense. But it may not be what you imagined."
"When Mohg launched his sneak attack, I could not sit by and watch Master Sellen fight alone. I left the rebirth egg early. The Silver Tear did not fully stabilize into a physical form. I am now caught between spirit and matter, able to switch between them at will... like this."
Melina felt her new form, shifting between reality and illusion. She realized she was now quite similar to Asimi; she could exist as a spirit normally, but could manifest as a true entity by consuming a bit of power when necessary.
"Can this be fixed? Do you want to go back into the egg to fully stabilize?"
Melina thought for a moment, then shook her head with a faint, almost imperceptible smile. "There is no need. I think this is for the best. I can feel the world with my own body, yet we can continue our journey just as we did before, can't we?"
"Well, if you like it, then it's fine with me. Being able to shift between forms is actually quite convenient. You and Asimi are really two of a kind now. If you run low on power, just borrow it from me; our souls are linked, after all."
Gawain didn't dwell on it. If Melina was happy, he was too. "Where is Master Sellen? Is she recovering inside the library? I can help heal her."
"No need to look, apprentice. You're standing on me."
"Huh? Who said that!?"
Melina raised the Primal Glintstone she held in her hands, showing Gawain Sellen's... new look.
"Wait... it's not what I think it is, is it?"
Gawain tremulously took the blood-stained Primal Glintstone. Looking down, he realized he was standing on a pile of glintstone shards—there were even fragments of sorcerer robes scattered among them.
"Cough... While I didn't envision meeting you like this, as you can see, defeating the Lord of Blood required a certain sacrifice."
"Though my body is shattered, at least the Primal Glintstone housing my soul remains intact. In a sense, this is the true form of a Primeval sorcerer. Tell me, apprentice... do you find it frightening?"
Gawain quickly stepped off the shards and found a clear spot. Holding the stone with both hands, he gently wiped the blood from its surface and shook his head.
"To me, a teacher is a teacher. No matter what form you take, you are still my mentor. That is enough. Though, I will admit, I prefer your previous appearance."
The voice from the stone paused, followed by a slightly bashful tone.
"Cough... It gladdens me that you feel that way. However, do not just touch it anywhere. This Primal Glintstone has... sensations. Do you understand?"
"Uh... what part am I holding right now? Give me a hint, or I won't know what to do."
"Guess for yourself! To think you would treat your master so flippantly... once I have restored my body, I shall certainly show you some 'affection,' apprentice."
Gawain shivered. He hoped he hadn't touched anything inappropriate.
"How can we restore your body? Through the Queen's rebirth ritual again?"
"That is too troublesome, and I am not fond of such a vessel," Sellen replied. The soul within the stone seemed to notice the Glintstone Key Gawain was carrying.
"There is no rush. Do you not have an unfulfilled promise with the Lunar Princess? Go to her now. While you're at it, ask her for the puppet body I commissioned long ago. That will suffice."
"A puppet body? Life-sized? I didn't realize you liked such things, Master."
"Hmph! Where are your thoughts drifting? It was merely a backup measure I prepared before I was imprisoned in that cellar. It seems it will finally be of use. Now, place my Primal Glintstone in the hands of your Maiden—you're far too clumsy—and take your token to find the Lunar Princess."
"Understood. I'll go get that body for you right away."
Gawain handed the stone back to Melina. It seemed his dexterous Maiden was indeed better suited for the task.
"Go and do what you must. I will stay behind this time. Come back quickly."
Melina watched Gawain turn toward the library. Looking at his back, a brief, imperceptible trace of loneliness touched her eyes before she followed him inside.
Gawain quickly found the chest he had been looking for. He took out the corresponding Glintstone Key. With a click, the protective magic and the lock itself were undone.
Inside the box lay a ring engraved with a dark moon pattern. Carefully lifting it out, Gawain examined the exquisite craftsmanship. As expected, a warning was inscribed within:
"Whoever thou mayest be, take not the ring from this place. The loneliness of the night's sky is mine alone."
He imagined Ranni, in her frustration after Radagon abandoned her mother, carving those words into the ring with her tools. A smile touched his lips; this was one of the things about her that drew him in.
He gripped the Dark Moon Ring firmly. For a moment, it felt as though the Great Runes within him were resonating. Finally, it was time to fulfill his promise. It was time to head to the place where the moonlight gathered and present this ring to his consort.
The memories of the game resurfaced. He couldn't remember how many times he had repeated this process. He remembered the very first time, wearing the Carian Knight set, his heart pounding with excitement.
Then, of course, he had started messing around—covering the area in Rainbow Stones, wearing the Dung Eater set, a hollow face, or the Albinauric mask... even dancing around with a bouquet of flowers borrowed from White Mask Varre while refusing to give her the ring.
But this time, he would do it just like that very first time. He would marry the Princess of Caria with dignity, with the corpse of the Two Fingers as their witness.
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Elden Ring: In the Name of Ash (267 chapter - Ongoing)
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