"Really? Rya wants to be a flowing water swordsman!" Rya said happily. "Does big sister know flowing water swordsmanship?"
"I know a little."
"Can you teach Rya?"
"Rya." Raven pulled back the bouncing girl. She had been born from the sacred ritual Tanith spoke of—the sole miracle after countless failures, inheriting Rykard's demigod bloodline. In a sense, she was the most perfect individual among the serpent-folk; it was no wonder she had caught Malenia's eye.
However, the serpent-folk rebels of Mt. Gelmir were already well-known. If Malenia were to see through Rya's true identity, it would undoubtedly bring risk to the girl.
"I can't?" Rya looked up.
"Once we enter Carian territory, I will ask my mother to look after you. We only have about half a month together on the road, so..."
Seeing Rya lower her head in disappointment, Raven found he couldn't finish the sentence.
He smiled helplessly, placed a hand on Rya's shoulder, and gave a slight bow to Malenia. "Lady Malenia, during the time before we enter Caria—"
BOOM!
A massive crash interrupted Raven.
Through the drifting dust, Raven saw a hunched figure slowly approaching, emitting the heavy, labored breathing of a wild beast.
Raven wordlessly stepped forward, shielding Rya behind him.
The newcomer wore a tattered cloak made of a rough, waterproof felt, gray and indistinguishable in color as if it had accumulated a thousand years of dust. An exaggeratedly large curved sword was slung over his shoulder; the mottled blade was thick and blunt, yet every step he took left deep claw marks in the ground.
Within the sense of Raven's Wild Strikes, the beastman's footsteps were perfectly synchronized with the environment—flawless and ready to unleash a world-shaking strike at any moment.
"I smell the filthy scent of Ancient Dragons," the newcomer said, tilting his head up slightly. Beneath the shadow of his hood, a protruding snout was visible, his fangs gleaming with a cold light. "An Ancient Dragon I thought dead long ago. Hiding in the crowd in human form? Will you come out yourself, or shall I drag you out?"
Raven glanced at Lansseax and saw her fists clenched tight, her ruby-like eyes burning with hidden fury. She clearly recognized this beastman.
"Halt," Raven said coldly. His hand rested on his sword hilt, and his peripheral vision shifted toward the nearby Black Blade Kindred. The beastman had just jumped down from the creature; it was unclear what their relationship was.
The beastman ignored him and continued to close in until Raven's Sword of Night and Flame began to slide from its sheath. He stopped ten paces away, crouching lower. His right claw remained seemingly relaxed on the hilt of his great curved sword, but the fur on the back of his hand stirred without any wind.
Just as the atmosphere reached a breaking point, the sound of thunder rolled in.
"Look this way, beast. I believe I am the one you are looking for." A tall, silver-haired woman descended from the sky, the four wings wrapped in crimson Dragonbolt folding behind her. "Maliketh should have told you how important this expedition is. By taking such a stance, do you intend to defy the will of the Black Blade and Queen Marika?"
"Fortissax," the beastman turned his head. "In the past, you repeatedly spied on Farum Azula, seeking an opportunity to break in—"
"Break in? Farum Azula was always my home. You despicable traitors!"
"Did you ever haul a single stone? Did you ever carve a single relief? Every brick of Farum Azula was cast with the sweat of beastmen; we are its true masters. Now, she has finally returned to our hands, and her gates are closed forever to you hateful, entitled reptiles."
"It was you who worshipped us of your own accord, building statues and temples for us, proclaiming you would build the greatest city as an offering! My father did not wish to hoard such a gift; before lifting Farum Azula into the sky, he invited the beastmen to live in the city, making it a home for both our races. And your answer was betrayal!"
"That is a foolish past. You had power but no sense of how to use it. You did not know how to change the world with that power, nor could you give your followers any reward. Worshipping you was no different from worshipping a rock by the roadside. It's a wonder it took me so long to see through it."
Fortissax's chest heaved. Her fists clenched and loosened, but she eventually suppressed her rage.
"I have no desire to argue with you. I hope you save your strength for the crusade against the Rot."
"Crusade... Lord Maliketh has dispatched all the Black Blade Kindred. The Crumbled City's defenses are at their weakest. I can smell a conspiracy; you cannot hide it from me."
Without waiting for Fortissax to reply, the beastman stepped past her. "The Golden Prince you seduced can no longer protect you. However, my target today is not you, but the other Ancient Dragon here."
"With just you?" Fortissax laughed in anger. She transformed into her dragon form amidst crimson lightning, her four wings unfurling. "You should worry about your own life!"
Before the wildly dancing Dragonbolt, the beastman looked as small as a grain of sand. Without haste, he planted his great curved sword into the ground and removed his hood. His yellow beast-eyes stared intently at the dragon, and he let out a bone-chilling, low laugh.
"Do you still not understand? The age of the Ancient Dragons ended long ago; this is the age of the Erdtree. You are destined to be forgotten by the world. All your struggles are in vain."
"The light of the Erdtree shines upon the Altus Plateau. No matter how you stretch your wings, you cannot cast a single shadow..."
Another raspy voice came from the side as another beastman leaped down from a Black Blade Kindred.
"Heaven and earth are separated by the Erdtree. You cannot summon thunderclouds here..."
"You will lose your scales, as fragile as a ceramic jar..."
"Your eyes will dim, unable to see the glory of God..."
One by one, beastmen surrounded them from all directions, clad in dusty gray cloaks. Their identical raspy voices sounded as if they were coming from a single person.
Fortissax looked around, beating her wings to leave the ground in a rage, only to find that four Black Blade Kindred had already blockaded the sky. Holding dark greatswords and halberds, they looked down at her silently from the four cardinal directions, their corpse-wax death-aura linking together to form a churning, massive net.
A bolt of Dragonbolt slammed into the center of the net, blowing a massive hole in it.
Fortissax turned her head in surprise. That lightning hadn't come from her.
Breaking free from Raven's hand, Lansseax leaped into the air. In the next moment, a dragon's body full of power and beauty flew out from the lightning, arriving at Fortissax's side.
"Lansseax! You shouldn't have exposed yourself—"
"A sister should be protected by her older sister; isn't that only natural?" Lansseax peeked her head out and bumped her forehead against her sister's, knocking the rest of the words back. "Come, let's smash these rocks together!"
The Journey of the Unborn through the Elden Ring
"Loretta." Raven sheathed his sword, his pupils reflecting the silhouettes of the Ancient Dragons and the four Black Blade Kindred beneath the Erdtree's canopy.
"I will do my best to hold one back," Loretta said grimly. A cerulean greatbow formed from condensed magic appeared in her hand, and a glowing, massive arrow was notched. Even if her physical body were here, she wouldn't be entirely sure she could defeat a Black Blade Kindred; in her spirit form, holding one back was her limit.
"Wait!" Raven leaped up lightly, gripping the bow's arm with one hand, and whispered his plan into Loretta's ear.
"No one can do such a thing," Loretta's eyes widened. "Even if it's you, Your Highness—"
"Trust me." Raven squeezed onto the horse's back. A pale blue crystal condensed in his palm, spreading along his sleeve. "Come, I am ready."
Raven's hair fluttered in the breeze. Loretta faintly caught the scent of Fulgurbloom—like the air on a morning after a thunderstorm.
"Does Your Highness remember the night Astel attacked? We were much like this then."
"Yes." Raven offered a nostalgic smile. He remembered, of course. That night, he had shared a horse with Loretta, strolling through the dark streets of Raya Lucaria. He had been excitedly describing his great discovery while holding a forbidden book borrowed from the Grand Library, only for malice from beyond the world to descend from the sky.
At that time, he could only watch as Loretta challenged the Fallingstar. The only thing he could do was steady her trembling arm as she drew the bow. When Loretta collapsed from exhaustion, he had been powerless. He had never hated his own weakness and incompetence so much.
If not for Astel's attack, perhaps everything that followed would have been entirely different. He would have grown up in the Carian court, living a peaceful and happy academic life. His greatest worries would have been final exams and petty squabbles between classmates. The Battle of Windmill Village, the Mt. Gelmir rebellion, the Scarlet Rot attack on the capital—all of it would have been mere distant rumors, fodder for dinner conversation in the Great Hall.
Of course, he wasn't the only one whose fate was changed that night, and he was among the lucky ones.
Streets and buildings were destroyed. Citizens were jolted awake, fleeing their homes in pajamas, guided by equally panicked guards toward the outskirts. Many families were buried forever under the ruins. Even when Raven woke up many days later and hurried through the academy hallways, he could still see obituaries lining the walls—some featuring familiar faces of his classmates.
"But now, I am capable of protecting others, rather than just being protected." He gripped the massive arrow's head with both hands. The crystal fused with the shaft. His voice sounded heavy and powerful beneath the crystal covering his face. "Draw the bow, Loretta!"
The beastmen noticed Loretta's movements and lunged toward them. Rya drew the short sword Lansseax had given her, standing firm in front of the beastmen.
CLANG!
Over a dozen metallic crashes merged into a single, ringing sound that vibrated through the air. Malenia executed an elegant mid-air pirouette, landing on one foot like a dancer. Her prosthetic blade pointed diagonally at the ground as a series of afterimages slowly dissipated.
Around her, the fourteen beastmen were knocked back to their original positions. The others also halted their advance.
"This matter has nothing to do with you, Malenia of the Severed Limb," the lead beastman said, glancing at the notch carved into his great curved sword by her prosthetic blade.
"Stop the Black Blade Kindred," Malenia said, flicking her blade. "I will not allow you to disrupt this expedition."
Before the beastman could reply, Loretta released the bowstring. Raven, his hands linked to the magical giant arrow, shattered the air with his sheer velocity, soaring into the sky.
If anyone else had tried to grip Loretta's arrow with their bare hands, the result would have been the skin being torn from their palms or their arms being ripped off like a rag doll's. But Raven used crystal magic to distribute the pressure of the acceleration across his entire body, flying out like a piece of steel cast onto the arrow.
Countless cracks instantly appeared in the crystal covering his skin. It felt as if a heavy hammer had slammed into his chest. His head spun, and his mouth was filled with the taste of blood.
Forcing down his discomfort, Raven didn't even blink. Through the web of cracks in the crystal, he watched the Black Blade Kindred draw closer.
The Black Blade Kindred thrust its Gargoyle's Black Halberd, striking the arrow's head dead-on. A flash exploded at the tip of the halberd, and a violent storm of magic swept the area. However, the figure clinging to the giant arrow vanished like a phantom, leaving only a shower of crystal shards.
Sensing Raven's aura appear behind it, the Black Blade Kindred folded its wings to protect its back, preparing to turn and cleave Raven in two in the next second.
Using Bloodhound's Step to teleport behind the creature, Raven knew he wouldn't get a second chance mid-air with nothing to push off of. He took a deep breath. He didn't even draw his sword or staff; instead, he slammed his fist into the center of the creature's wings.
"Courting death," the lead beastman sneered. He ignored the interloper and jumped onto the last Black Blade Kindred on the ground. "Priests, get up here! Prepare to use Bestial Sling magic for support. We must ground those two Ancient Dragons!"
He received no reply, only a chorus of muffled gasps.
A Black Blade Kindred grew larger and larger in everyone's vision as it plummeted diagonally. Its massive body tumbled through the air before slamming into the ground a hundred meters away, carving a long, deep trench.
At the end of the trench, it staggered to its feet like a drunkard, only to be tripped by the furrow it had made, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Impossible! Even Lord Godfrey couldn't defeat a Black Blade Kindred so quickly!" the beastman roared, just as a second creature came crashing down.
Raven clung to the base of the gargoyle's wings, his coattails flapping violently in the wind. He squinted at the only two remaining Kindred in the sky, finding that they had already pulled away, denying him the chance to leap to them.
The creature beneath him began to struggle, flapping its wings in an attempt to regain balance. Raven drove an elbow down. Ochre Flame seeped through the cracks in the stone, triggering a violent surge of the corpse-wax power within the creature, causing it to continue its head-over-heels descent.
Even against an ordinary gargoyle, Raven wouldn't have had such an easy time. But the Black Blade Kindred had served Maliketh for a long time; the corpse wax within them was saturated with the aura of the Rune of Death. Faced with the sudden manifestation of the Law of Death, they immediately spiraled out of control.
Raven adjusted the Longtail Cat Talisman on his chest, bracing for the impact of the landing, when a dragon's claw reached out from the side. He pursed his lips, kicked hard against the gargoyle's back, and leaped.
"See, sister? This is my Blade—the Blade of Lansseax." Cupping Raven in her claw, Lansseax placed him on her head, boasting to Fortissax with immense pride. "Impressive, right?"
"Your 'Blade' looks very displeased," Fortissax pointed out.
"Eh? Really?" Lansseax strained her eyes to see Raven. Her ruby-like pupils went cross-eyed, and she nearly collided with her sister in her daze.
"Land now," Raven said with a stoic face. "Ignore the remaining Black Blade Kindred. They've learned their lesson."
────────────────────────────────────────
Support me here: https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(192 Chapter - Ongoing)
Join the journey and become part of the story!
────────────────────────────────────────