Early the next morning, Gawain encountered Rellana. She was clad in her armor once more, her face radiant and beaming. She even hummed a Carian-style tune as she walked. Compared to the melancholy, weathered woman he had first met, she looked like an entirely different person.
The women of the Rellana family truly are uniquely 'love-brained,' Gawain thought. Just a few words of encouragement from Messmer and she turns into this. If that whole mess with Radagon hadn't happened, it's hard to imagine how many children those two would have had by now.
"Hm? Why are you alone? Has Ranni already left?" Rellana asked.
"Something like that. She sensed some ruins in the Land of Shadow that caught her interest, so she left Castle Ensis to investigate last night. You know her personality; I'm not sure where she is right now either. I can only use the ring to summon her back if something happens."
"Ruins? Could it be those..." Rellana murmured to herself before shaking her head. No matter. She had no time to worry about those ruins where nothing remained but swarms of Fingercreepers.
"So, regarding Messmer's request from yesterday—have you decided when to set out? The situation in the Abyssal Woods is complex, and I cannot send you there directly. However, downstream of the Recluses' River lies a tomb known as the Fog Rift Catacombs. It contains a secret path leading to the Abyssal Woods. I can use the castle's portal to send you directly to the entrance of the catacombs, but you will have to explore that death-shrouded region on your own."
Gawain was pleasantly surprised by the news. He had originally expected another long, three-hundred-mile trek. This would save a significant amount of time.
"You can teleport us directly? That's more than enough. It saves us a lot of traveling. I'm ready to leave whenever—my Maiden and I will head out immediately."
"Melina is going too? Won't it be dangerous? Messmer is still at the Shadow Keep; I must look after her well," Rellana said. After the events of the previous day, she had already begun to settle into her role as a protective elder sister-in-law, naturally showing great concern for the only sister who could improve Messmer's state of mind.
"Rest assured, Sister Rellana," Melina said, stepping out from the corner. She had changed back into her traveling cloak. Her 'Frenzied Flame Radar' had already locked onto the target; there was no way she would let a potential threat go easily. "We successfully navigated even the heart of the Aeonian Swamp where the Scarlet Rot is most rampant. This so-called Lord of Frenzied Flame won't be an issue. Just wait for our good news."
"Very well. Since you put it that way, prepare yourselves. I will ready the portal for you immediately." Rellana hesitated briefly before agreeing. She knew they had survived horrors outside the Land of Shadow, so this should be within their capabilities.
Before leaving the room, she smiled and patted Gawain's shoulder, whispering: "You and Ranni did well this time. Keep up the good work in the future, understand? I'll put in a few more good words for you with Messmer."
"About that... we can only provide support. The final result still depends on your own efforts, doesn't it?" Gawain replied.
"Mhm, true. Next time I get the chance, I'll just..." Rellana clenched her fist tightly, letting out an ambiguous laugh.
Is she becoming more like Godfrey because she's spent too much time with the Crusade? Gawain wondered, looking at the powerful, red-tinted aura emanating from Rellana. He couldn't imagine what kind of plans she was cooking up in her head; he could only hope Messmer would be on his guard.
It wasn't long before Rellana had the portal ready. As the Carian Royal Family had inherited a portion of the Eternal City's technology, teleportation—a highly developed and widely used magic within the Glintstone system—was a simple matter. Castle Ensis was equipped with portals leading to various regions of the Land of Shadow; in terms of travel convenience, it was even more efficient than the Shadow Keep.
Looking at the portal radiating a spectral light, Gawain and Melina shared a glance and reached out to touch it simultaneously. Following a brief moment of vertigo, they opened their eyes to find themselves near their destination.
"Is this the entrance to the catacombs? Can you feel it? There's a heavy aura of death here." Gawain scanned the environment, finding himself in a forest shrouded in thick mist. The air carried an unpleasant scent that he felt he had encountered somewhere before.
"Look up!" Melina tugged at Gawain's hand, her gaze drawn upward by something gargantuan.
"Is that Jagged Peak? Truly magnificent." Gawain turned his head, and his vision was immediately dominated by the sky-piercing mountain in the distance. There was no mistake; that was the mountain range he had seen from the heights of Belurat. Their teleportation point was very close to Jagged Peak; even through the forest mist, it was clearly visible.
He could even see strange red lightning raging within the crevices of the mountain. So that is the power of Bayle the Dread, the dragon legendary for battling the Dragonlord. Of course, he had to set aside his curiosity for now; he would have to wait for a future opportunity to explore it further.
Moving through the mist, it wasn't long before they found a very well-hidden entrance to a tomb. This was the Fog Rift Catacombs. Pushing open the wooden door, Gawain stepped inside first, lighting a Starlight above his head to illuminate the way. He realized the catacombs were much larger than he had anticipated, mainly due to an exaggeratedly vertical structure. No wonder Rellana said this path led directly to the floor of the Abyssal Woods.
The two boarded an elevator and followed the passage. They hadn't gone far before they encountered another bottomless drop. Though Gawain could control the wind to jump down directly, a rustling sound echoed from the side—it seemed they weren't alone in the tomb.
He slowly drew his greatsword, buffing it with Blessed Weapon. Having a heavy weapon in hand always feels more reassuring. Whatever ghosts or monsters are here, they'll have to take a hit from the greatsword first.
Sure enough, as they rounded a corner, the Starlight illuminated a group of Imps guarding the tomb. These guardians drew their agile weapons and lunged at the intruders. However, they didn't even pose a basic threat. With a quick-cast Soul Geyser—a magic with incredible piercing power—the Imps were skewered and pinned to the walls like "imp-kabobs."
Just as Gawain was about to continue, a fireball shot straight toward his face.
"A fireball? Is this from a trap somewhere?" Gawain caught the fireball with one hand and tossed a basic fireball back toward the source. The explosion revealed a peculiarly shaped Imp.
The Imp's mouth had been designed as a circular opening. Its two thin hands were desperately gripping its "O"-shaped mouth as it struggled to roll over on the ground, seemingly lacking in balance.
"What... where did this Peashooter come from?" Gawain muttered, suppressing the urge to crack a joke. Before the fireball in the Imp's mouth could coalesce again, he shoved a ball of Pyromancy Flame inside. The "misfire" caused the little Peashooter to explode into pieces.
In this manner, he cleared a safe path through the shards of broken Imps. Midway, he pulled a strange-looking lever, and the once-dark interior of the catacombs was suddenly flooded with pale white flames.
"No wonder it's called the 'Fog Rift' Catacombs. Is this how they 'rift' the fog?" With clear visibility, finding the correct path became much easier. After discovering a hidden room and successfully acquiring a Viridian Amber Medallion +3, the two jumped down to a landing leading deeper into the tomb.
After another long elevator ride, the aura of death grew even heavier. It seemed these catacombs led to more than just the Frenzied Flame; another power was present.
Though he had his suspicions, Gawain simply continued clearing out the Imps. He pulled another lever to light up the darkness and looked down, noticing a very well-hidden room. He signaled Melina to stay close; the thing hidden inside was no simple matter.
He activated Spook to silence his footsteps and leaped onto the lower platform from a gap in the railing. Pressing his back against the wall, he listened for a moment. Catching movement inside, he suddenly kicked the wall, causing it to collapse inward with a roar.
The strike was unexpected, crushing two or three grave sorcerers beneath the rubble and his boots. Scanning their attire with a glance, he quickly finished them off, giving them no room to breathe.
With the enemies dealt with, Gawain turned his gaze to the corpse radiating the thickest aura of death. The armor reminded him of the Banished Knights of Dragon Communion—tattered cloth wrapped around the body to hide a former identity.
He slowly pulled back the covering cloth. Beneath it was armor adorned with ancient Erdtree designs. The exquisite patterns on the gold plate proved the wearer's former status.
"I recognize this pattern," Melina noted, frowning at the long-dead knight. "He must have been a member of the personal guard of Godwyn the Golden. It is said that after Godwyn's death, these guards either severed their own heads to become Mausoleum Knights or wandered the Lands Between searching for the surrogate corpses of their master. They are known as Death Knights. But why would he die in a place like this?"
"You said they search for surrogate corpses of their master? Don't tell me the Prince of Death's corruption has spread to the Land of Shadow." Gawain's guess wasn't baseless. The spread of the Death Curse was almost metaphysical; it wasn't a physical infection so much as a glitch in the Golden Order itself, spreading to every connected place. If it could reach the isolated Farum Azula, it could certainly reach the Land of Shadow. He just couldn't understand how these guards of Godwyn had entered this place after the Night of the Black Knives but before Miquella opened the way.
Had they slipped in through some unknown ritual? And how many more of them were there?
"Once we've dealt with the Frenzied Flame, I think I need to mention this to Rellana," Gawain said. "I doubt this is the only Death Knight. Whatever they're planning, we can't let them be. Those Who Live in Death are a troublesome existence."
Melina nodded. As a precaution, she used a prayer to thoroughly cleanse the aura of death lingering in the Death Knight's corpse.
Gawain continued exploring with a heavy heart. The Land of Shadow was becoming increasingly absurd—even the Prince of Death's faction was sticking its foot in. It was a gathering of all the world's "heroes." What else is there? Scarlet Rot? The Mother of Truth? Just bring them all out for a royal rumble.
After a third long elevator ride, he encountered the most bizarre enemy in the catacombs: a super-sized Imp Peashooter. It stood on a platform, surrounded by many smaller versions of its kind.
Fine. Before it was Peashooters, now it's a Pea Pod using energy. I just hope a Gatling Pea doesn't show up later.
Faced with such a tight defense, Gawain didn't hold back. Before the Imps' fireball suppression could reach him, he charged up a Comet Azur. The powerful torrent of energy erupted, and the massive Peashooter, unable to dodge, took the full force of the blast. The platform beneath it was obliterated along with the creature.
The oversized Imp dropped quite a good item: a Great Ghost Glovewort. Gawain didn't hoard it, feeding it directly to Ashmi within his soul. The mimic seemed to enjoy the "Shadow Realm flavored" Glovewort, and its strength grew significantly. It seemed that in most future situations, Gawain could comfortably play the role of a Spiritcaller Snail.
Just as Gawain was losing track of how many elevators they had taken or how far they had descended, the catacombs finally reached their end. Stepping through the exit, the eerie, horror-movie-like environment of the forest outside made him turn serious. Here, the aura of the Frenzied Flame could no longer be hidden. And ahead, a figure was watching them like a hawk—likely the Hornsent guardian Messmer had mentioned.
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Elden Ring: In the Name of Ash
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