Elden Lord of Cinders

Had he ended up corrupting Alice?

After a night's rest, Lloyd, now feeling refreshed, looked at Alice and fell into thought.

Back when they first met, she had been so distant, elegant—like the mysterious night sky itself.

And now...

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Alice turned her head.

Looking at her delicate features, Lloyd stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, just... looking at you."

Ah, whatever. She's cute like this too.

Though he set the Alice situation aside for now, Lloyd soon realized that Melina seemed to have a problem as well—one even more serious than Alice's.

"What are you doing?"

He stared in confusion at Melina, who was standing in an open area, repeatedly mimicking moves with her small dagger.

Her answer was brutally honest.

"I wanted to try that 'cancel' thing you showed me."

Lloyd: "..."

Crap. His Fire Keeper was turning into a Dark Souls PvP tryhard.

He then spent quite some time explaining to Melina that it was just a game mechanic, not some real-world combat technique she could actually use.

Melina didn't argue. She just listened silently, then put away her dagger.

Whether she truly got the message—or if she'd try it again later—was anyone's guess.

...

With the team bonding session over, Lloyd sent the Roundtable trio back one by one. Then, on a whim, he swung by Castle Morne to check in on the Demi-human, Boc.

He'd been to Morne before because of Irina, and after speaking with the castle's lord back then, something had suddenly clicked for Lloyd.

Once the townspeople had all turned into Misbegotten, their bodies had changed—sprouting all sorts of strange parts. Their old clothes no longer fit.

It was the perfect moment for a tailor like Boc to shine. Plus, now that the whole place was filled with Misbegotten, they'd probably treat Demi-humans better. So Lloyd had introduced him.

Turned out, it was absolutely the right move.

With a massive demand for clothing repairs and redesigns, Boc was swamped the moment he arrived—lines were already forming at the tailor shop.

It wasn't just because tailors were in short supply. Boc's craftsmanship was genuinely excellent.

As Lord Edgar put it, "That skill? He'd be right at home in the capital, Leyndell, let alone Castle Morne."

Still, even with business booming and his name starting to spread through the castle, when Lloyd came looking for him, Boc rushed over immediately, eager to say he still wanted to serve as his personal tailor.

"Demi-humans' minds, well... they're not exactly the most flexible," Edgar had casually said while chatting with Lloyd.

"They can be a bit stuck in their ways. Take Boc—he's convinced you saved him, gave him the sewing needle, so you're his master…"

"Even with his own tailor shop now, when I went to visit, he was still asking about you, calling you 'Master'…"

To Edgar, there was nothing wrong with that.

From his perspective, Lloyd was a powerful Tarnished, while Boc—no matter how skilled—was still just a Demi-human. Being under Lloyd's protection and using his talents to help him seemed like a good deal for both.

But Lloyd just shook his head.

"No, I'm not his master. I'm his friend."

The Lands Between had its own rules, and Boc had his own way of seeing the world. Lloyd understood that—and respected it.

But that didn't mean he didn't have his own principles, too.

Hearing Lloyd's words, Edgar paused, then gave a small shake of his head, as if something had just occurred to him.

"You really are a strange one..."

By now, thanks to the fact that everyone in Castle Morne had turned into Misbegotten, Edgar had more or less stabilized the situation and even started restoring production. On the surface, things looked promising.

But Edgar knew the truth: the real problems were only just beginning.

Castle Morne had effectively become a full-fledged "City of Misbegotten." In the glory days of the Erdtree, such a thing would've been seen as heresy beyond imagining.

And even now, after the Shattering had torn the Lands Between apart, if the one holding Stormveil wasn't Godrick the Grafted but anyone remotely competent, they probably wouldn't even waste time with diplomacy—they'd either send an army to crush him or quietly have him assassinated and install their own man to take control.

Letting a "defiled" Misbegotten rule a city filled with others like him?

If you claimed to be a devoted follower of the Golden Order, that alone would be enough reason to erase you.

Maybe for most, the day the Elden Ring is restored and the Golden Order is whole again would be worth celebrating.

But for Castle Morne?

That day would be a death sentence.

Still...

"If you could become Elden Lord... maybe..."

Edgar trailed off, then chuckled and shook his head at himself.

Sure, this odd Tarnished had helped him a lot, and his strength wasn't in question. He trusted him. But becoming Elden Lord? That was...

Yeah, let's just keep admiring the Erdtree from a distance.

Still, even if he didn't believe Lloyd would become Elden Lord, the guy had helped him time and again, and his daughter was still living under Lloyd's roof. After thinking it over, Edgar decided he should at least do what he could in return.

"If you don't mind, I could try recruiting a few Demi-humans from nearby—under the banner of your Demi-human follower... or friend."

"They're not exactly smart or strong enough to help you fight for the Elden Ring, but having some underlings to handle errands might come in handy, don't you think?"

Lloyd thought it over and nodded.

"Sounds good."

Boc's shop was definitely getting more traffic than he could handle alone. Having a few extra hands wouldn't hurt.

Edgar nodded back.

It looked like this guy really was trying to build up a Demi-human following. In that case, he didn't need to hold back anymore.

And so, through a complete misunderstanding, the two came to an agreement.

Edgar began gathering what remained of the local Demi-human groups under the names of Lloyd and Boc, while Lloyd returned to Liurnia of the Lakes and resumed his map-scouring journey.

What followed could be summed up in a single word.

"Kill!"

After who knows how long wandering and hacking through enemies—his Bloodhound's Fang blade now visibly dulled—Lloyd finally ran into someone who didn't immediately try to kill him on sight.

It was a hunched blonde girl, looking a little odd.

"You over there, please come here…"

After calling Lloyd over, the girl spoke slowly.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Rya. I was sent out traveling on my master's orders, but I was attacked by a thug and I'm in a bit of trouble."

"Could I ask you for a favor? That thug stole a very important necklace from me. I'd like your help getting it back. Of course, I'll reward you."

"It's just… he's a Tarnished, like you. So if you're unwilling to fight a fellow Tarnished, I won't force you…"

Ah. Side quest.

Lloyd nodded and accepted, then headed toward the location she had pointed out to retrieve the necklace.

But he hadn't taken more than a few steps when something dropped from the sky in a flash of blue—it was a crab claw, thrust in front of him.

"Take a look at this."

It was the claw of a large crab he had killed earlier. At a glance, it looked like any normal crab claw, but once severed, it revealed what was hidden inside—Glintstone.

The same kind of Glintstone that seemed to grow straight out of flesh, just like what he'd seen embedded in some of the Demi-humans in that cave.

"Is something wrong with it?"

Lloyd had taken Sellen's beginner Glintstone class, and picked up plenty of magical lore from various sources since, but he genuinely didn't know what was wrong here.

In his mind, magical crystals growing out of people—or beasts—was par for the course. If anything, not having crystals was what seemed odd.

"That's a huge problem."

By now, Renna had grown used to his magical ignorance and calmly explained.

"'Glintstone is amber formed from the stars'—that's the very first line in the Academy's basic Glintstone sorcery textbook."

"Even the most deranged Primeval Sorcerers can only manage to turn part of their bodies into Glintstone, just to catch a glimpse of the stars' power."

"But now? Even dumb crabs have Glintstone growing in their bodies. Do you realize what that means?"

And in truth, it wasn't just the crabs. A lot of the monsters Lloyd had been slaughtering recently showed similar Glintstone growths. He just hadn't noticed—he was so used to fighting enemies covered in soul crystals, it hadn't even registered.

Now, with Renna spelling it out for him...

"I don't get it."

He still didn't.

"So something bad's happening, yeah?"

"You… just—never mind."

Renna sighed deeply. "Let me put it simply: I need your help. Take me to the Academy. I have to figure out what's going on."

She could have gone alone—she trusted her own strength—but the current situation was too uncertain. Having backup was always better.

And hey, maybe they could roast some meat along the way to warm up.

"Alright. Let's get the necklace first, then we'll head out."

Lloyd had no reason to refuse—he was planning to head to the Academy anyway for the Great Rune. He might as well check off a side quest while he was at it.

While chatting, he reached the cabin Rya had directed him to—and spotted the so-called "thug."

Only the thug wasn't sitting back, munching on boiled shrimp like she'd claimed.

He was fleeing for his life.

Chasing him was a massive lobster—bigger even than the huge green-shelled one Lloyd had fought before—its back covered in jagged crystalline growths as it lashed out.

The moment he saw it clearly, Lloyd's eyes went wide.

"Holy crap… Porsche Lobster!"

Yes, the crystals growing on its back weren't just Glintstone.

They were something he recognized all too well—a twisted fusion of soul matter and Glintstone.

Homing Crystal Soulmass.