Elden Lord of Cinders

That's it?

Lloyd was still in a daze, even after Godrick's Great Rune was placed in his hands.

This can't be right. Didn't Rogier just say he was a "powerful Demigod," "flawless," and possessed "the strongest Great Rune"? And his name was even Godrick...

"Of course it's not over," Morgott shook his head.

Lloyd let out a breath of relief.

"So, that means he'll come back to life and we'll fight again...?"

"No, I mean you still need to go to the Divine Tower to activate the Great Rune. Otherwise, you can't use it."

Morgott had made peace with the situation. He couldn't stop this guy anyway, and for now, they were getting along decently enough.

Besides, it was better to let this lunatic hold onto the Great Runes than let them fall into the hands of those traitors. Even if he really got two Great Runes and entered the Royal Capital, at this rate, a bit of talking might actually convince him to join the Erdtree faction.

As for little Godrick...

Morgott picked up the head from the ground, wrapped it in cloth, and sighed.

Even though he was weak, timid, and the mere mention of him made Morgott flush with anger, Godrick still carried the "Golden" lineage. No matter how he felt, Morgott couldn't just leave him lying there like that.

Oh right—by the way, Godrick wasn't completely dead.

His body was gone, but he was still alive, somehow. It wasn't that Lloyd's Law had failed—it was due to other reasons.

"If you don't use Destined Death to kill a Demigod, it might mess up the Law. Fixing it later could be a real headache."

That's how Alice explained it. She casually preserved Godrick, preventing Lloyd's strange Law from completely consuming him—leaving only his head intact.

Lloyd didn't know what "Destined Death" was, but the last two lines made sense if you just swapped out "Law" with "System."

"So, if you don't shut it down properly and force close it, the system might bug out, huh?"

Naturally, the task of dealing with Godrick was left to Morgott.

And it wasn't just Godrick.

With his death, all of Stormveil Castle fell into chaos without leadership.

Even though Godrick was weak, soft, and obsessed with grafting, he treated his people decently. That was the one reason some still followed him despite everything.

Now he was reduced to a head, the Great Rune was gone, and with no ruler left... it wasn't just Stormveil that would fall apart. Once word got out, the whole of Limgrave might spiral into unrest. They needed someone new to take charge—someone willing and capable.

And who could that be?

"Why the long face, Old Margit?"

"I..."

Morgott's face twisted like he'd just taken a bite of one of those cursed TikTok mystery-meat burgers. The thought of his main body working overtime in the Capital while his clone was stuck pulling double shifts in Limgrave was just too much.

After a long silence, he sighed.

"Do me a favor. There's a Night's Cavalry on the Weeping Peninsula. I'll give you a token—bring him over to Limgrave. From now on, if you run into any Night's Cavalry or people from Leyndell, just show them this. They shouldn't give you any trouble."

Morgott had planned to give this out from the start, not for Lloyd's sake, but to protect his own men—keep them from getting into a pointless fight with this lunatic and dying.

Classic delivery quest, huh?

Lloyd grumbled inwardly, but didn't say no. He used a Site of Grace to teleport to the place Morgott mentioned, found the so-called "Night's Cavalry," showed the token, explained the situation, and then fast traveled back...

"Oh, right." Morgott found him the moment he returned. "I forgot to mention—before you leave, you'd better activate the Great Rune. Otherwise, you'll have to come all the way back again…"

Lloyd blinked. "But I already finished the delivery."

Morgott: "...?"

After sending off the subtly dumbfounded Morgott, Lloyd fell into thought again.

That's it? Seriously? No way. Even Old Margit, the gatekeeper, was that strong. Sure, his main form might have higher damage output, but come on—not even a second phase?

"Of course it's not over. If anything, this is just the beginning."

Moments after Morgott left, Alice suddenly appeared and extended her hand toward him.

"Give me the Great Rune."

"If you want it, you'll have to take it yourself. You know the rules…"

Even as he said that, Lloyd still handed the Great Rune to her.

Alice held it in her hand and studied it for a moment. Then she raised her hand, and golden sand flowed from her fingertips, forming threads that swirled around the Great Rune. It looked like she was scanning it—or maybe weaving something.

After a few moments, she withdrew her hand, and the golden light dissipated.

"To the Divine Tower."

Lloyd wasn't sure what had just happened, but since Alice said so, he stood up and followed her in the direction of the Divine Tower.

This time, since Morgott was in charge, the two of them moved freely through Stormveil Castle without any interference.

That is, until they reached the bridge near the Divine Tower, where several massive golems assigned to automated defense duties suddenly activated and attacked them.

But before Lloyd could even switch to his main weapon for a counterattack, Alice raised her hand—still holding the same greatsword she'd had the first time they met.

Then—

Boom!

A surge of purple light gathered at the tip of the blade. Not even a full second of charging passed before it blasted forward, punching straight through the power core in the chest of one golem. Then, as if not finished, it curved back twice, smashing the cores of the other two golems as well.

Lloyd looked at the fallen golems in the distance, then turned to Alice.

"What?"

Lloyd stayed silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"Nothing."

Damn. Most people would at least tweak the damage numbers or adjust the hitbox behind the scenes. But you? You're not even pretending anymore—just straight-up hacking, huh?

What kind of super divine race is this?

After the golems were dealt with, the two continued onward. They passed through a teleport gate and arrived at the Divine Tower of Limgrave.

They entered, activated a Site of Grace, took the elevator up, and headed up the stairs to the left.

At the very top, they found something that looked like a pair of human fingers lying there. Even if you didn't know what it was, its shriveled and broken state made it clear it had been dead for a long time.

Still, it could just barely serve its purpose.

After examining it briefly, Alice stepped forward, placed the Great Rune in the center between the Two Fingers, and raised both hands. Golden sand reappeared.

This time, even Lloyd could tell—she was weaving something.

As she worked, Alice seemed to sense something. She turned to Lloyd.

"Give me a fragment."

Lloyd blinked, then instinctively raised his hand. The fragment that had dissolved into his body earlier reemerged, now entangled by golden threads, and floated into the air.

Was this... decompression?

Watching those golden threads slowly peel away the black fragment, Lloyd couldn't help but think of that comparison.

Or more accurately—

It was like trying to forcibly restore and decompress a corrupted archive file.

And as time went on, he noticed something else: as the black fragment was unraveled, the surrounding space began to twist, a dark fog creeping in. Even the fragment itself started to expand, as if a crack had formed in the world's barrier—spreading wider and wider...

Alice's expression turned grim. Her brow furrowed, and sweat began to bead on her forehead.

Even though she had known this wouldn't be easy and had deliberately chosen a pair of Two Fingers with a Divine Tower to ease the burden, it was still pushing her limit.

Then her hand was grasped.

With the faint rekindling of embers, a warm stream of soul energy flowed into her body from the point of contact, restoring the strength she had used up.

Alice turned her head, surprised, and glanced at Lloyd beside her.

But Lloyd had his eyes closed, as if sleepwalking—unconsciously channeling power into her.

With his support, Alice smoothly completed the disassembly and reconstruction of the fragment, reshaping the broken, chaotic disorder into something new—something comprehensible.

But only just. It was only the beginning of something intelligible. To truly restore order, achieve stability—or even rebirth—one final step remained.

Lloyd released her hand and opened his eyes.

For him, barely a moment had passed since Alice began to falter.

A second later, he saw the black fragment before Alice vanish, replaced by a swirling black vortex that had appeared out of thin air.

It floated in the air, spinning and twisting, swallowing the surrounding light and space. Deep and dark, just looking at it gave the uncanny sensation that your soul might be pulled into it.

But as he stared at the black vortex, Lloyd's expression became... a little strange. Maybe even nostalgic?

Isn't this that portal from the Oolacile DLC in Dark Souls I? Miyazaki must really be out of ideas—they're pulling assets from the first game now?

As the process finished, Alice let the golden light fade from her hands and slowly turned to Lloyd.

"Go."

She looked at him calmly. "This is as far as I can take it. The rest is up to you."

To be honest, Lloyd didn't quite get what she meant.

But that didn't really matter. As a veteran Souls player, the moment he saw that second black hole, he knew exactly what to do.

He stepped forward, approached the vortex, and slowly reached out his hand.

Dark energy streamed from the hole like tendrils, wrapping around his fingertips.

Lloyd instinctively grabbed them.

A piercing screech rang out.

In the next instant, he plunged into darkness.

...

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer at the top of the Divine Tower. Alice was gone.

Looking around, he realized he'd returned to just after defeating the Omen—standing at the front gate of Stormveil Castle, before he'd even entered.

Before he could react, a line of small text appeared from the system, accompanied by a low chime, slowly fading into view before him.

[City of Pus, Stormveil]

[World Status: Total Disorder]