Elden Lord of Cinders

"Oh, visitors? How rare."

After what felt like endless travel—or killing, depending on how you looked at it—Lloyd, guided by Renna, sliced through an illusory wall and came face to face with a giant. The giant sat on the edge of a cliff, a book in hand, an anvil in front of him, and a strange mirror-like helmet on his head.

"You look like a Tarnished. What brings you here?"

The giant abruptly paused mid-sentence. He had spotted a familiar blue figure stepping out from behind Lloyd.

"Lady Ranni? No, you're..."

"Iji, I'm here to see Ranni," said Renna, lifting her head and meeting the giant's gaze.

"It's urgent."

To be honest, Iji recognized the face before him—and precisely because he did, it was all the harder to believe.

"But you..."

"Show him the sword."

Renna turned her head to Lloyd. He blinked, then understood—she wanted him to present the Moonlight Greatsword.

Though unsure of her intent, Lloyd didn't hesitate. He pulled the Moonlight Greatsword from his inventory and held it up for Iji to see.

Even with the helmet on, Lloyd could feel the moment Iji's breath—and even his heartbeat—faltered.

There had always been a rumor among outsiders: every queen of the Carian royal family would gift her consort a Dark Moon Greatsword, said to be one of the legendary weapons.

As a lifelong Carian giant, Iji had to clarify—this wasn't a rumor.

It was fact.

Take, for instance, the red-haired man who once won over the Full Moon Queen—he received one. Though the sword was later reforged into the Golden Order Greatsword and somehow ended up in the hands of a Leonine Misbegotten, it still proved the tradition was real.

As for those two in the Shadow Realm—our stab-happy lady's brother was a ranged spammer, and the two were never officially a couple. Even if a certain Twin Moon Knight had quietly stashed away a greatsword as a gift, there was never a chance to hand it over.

Eliminating those two, that left only one possible owner of the Moonlight Greatsword...

"I didn't give it to him," Renna said, shaking her head.

Iji fell silent.

Truthfully, he had never seen a "Dark Moon Greatsword" in Ranni's possession. He had even doubted she had one at all.

Her aversion to marriage was well known. One major reason she defied the Two Fingers was her refusal to follow their "Empyrean and Elden Lord" doctrine.

"I need no Elden Lord. The loneliness beyond the night belongs to me alone."

And even setting that aside, Ranni wasn't the type to flaunt something meant only for her chosen consort.

So even though the sword in front of him felt a bit off—it lacked that distinctive "chill" of Ranni's Dark Moon magic...

Iji sank deep into thought.

Judging by the material and the pure moonlight coursing through it, even someone unfamiliar with smithing could sense its rarity and power. Let alone Iji, who, beyond being a War Counselor, also had a deep passion for blacksmithing.

Across the Lands Between, and even in the known realms beyond, Iji knew of only one place capable of forging such a weapon—the Carian royal family.

And then there was this mysterious "Renna"...

Watching the silent old blacksmith, Lloyd suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right. I met Blaidd before. He said there's a huge blacksmith in Liurnia of the Lakes, and if I mention his name, he'll give me a discount."

Silence.

Back during that projection meeting, Blaidd had indeed said he'd run into a trustworthy Tarnished. And Iji also knew that Lady Ranni had gone out once and returned in a foul mood—reportedly after meeting a Tarnished.

So... yeah.

"Lady Ranni is at the Three Sisters Tower now."

After a moment, Iji finally spoke, pointing toward the Liurnia of the Lakes below the cliff.

"But I need to stay here and keep an eye on the Cuckoos. I can't leave. If you see Lady Ranni, please give her my regards."

He still couldn't be entirely sure of their identities, but at this point, they seemed trustworthy enough.

As for the rest, there was too much to process all at once—and it wasn't really his job to figure it all out. So he chose not to think about it further.

"Oh, the Sister Towers, huh? I figured she'd be there."

Once Renna confirmed her hunch with Iji, she waved and led Lloyd onward.

Thanks to Iji's heads-up, the infamous sniper inside Caria Manor didn't open fire on them as they approached. Time was tight, so there wasn't enough time to inform the rest of the manor, but since dying only meant respawning at a Site of Grace, Renna just had Lloyd fight his way through.

When they reached Royal Knight Loretta, she thought she'd been tricked and was about to strike. But then she saw Lloyd touch a Site of Grace, and all the fallen guards outside instantly returned to normal—almost causing her to fall off her horse in shock.

What in the world was that?

"You'll get used to it," Renna said, floating over and giving her shoulder a pat.

"Dying's good for your health. And it doubles as combat training. Isn't that great?"

Loretta stared at her, stunned.

"You're..."

"Oh, don't make a move. I'm not sure how the mechanics work, but that thing's 'Law' resurrection seems to only apply to weaker beings. If you die, it's probably for real."

While Renna was busy calming the startled Loretta, Lloyd stood nearby examining the corpse of a Fingercreeper—a gray, shriveled severed hand with ten fingers, looking like it had been hacked off a human mummy. He clicked his tongue thoughtfully, wondering how Miyazaki always managed to come up with such grotesque creations.

And yet, maybe he'd been in the Soulsborne world too long, because after staring at it for a while, he actually started to find the thing... kind of cute.

"I thought so too," Alice suddenly chimed in—then vanished.

Melina twitched at the corner of her eye.

No. Not even if Chaos himself showed up would she call that thing cute...

...

After Loretta was settled, the group continued on. Eventually, they arrived before three mage towers of varying height.

The Three Sisters Towers—once home to three sisters, now long abandoned. It was said they had left for good and would never return.

No one was there to guide them, but Renna had a pretty good idea which tower she'd be in.

Especially when a familiar Glintstone Dragon swooped down from the sky to block their path—confirming her guess.

"This doesn't concern you. Go back and wait."

Adula blinked, and after getting a clear look at the small figure before her, seemed startled. She flapped her wings and quickly took off.

With Adula gone, Lloyd and the others approached one of the towers. Taking the lift to the top, Lloyd once again saw the witch he'd met before at the half-ruined church—

Or rather, Witch Ranni.

"Oh, it's you. Been a while."

Seated atop her throne, Ranni slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze shifted to Melina behind Lloyd, and her tone briefly wavered.

But she quickly regained composure—after all, this was her tower, surrounded by her own followers and guards. That confidence returned.

"And my dear sister... what brings you here? I no longer hold 'Destined Death,' you know."

Lloyd blinked, glanced at Melina, then back at Ranni, and paused for a moment.

"Wow, you've got quite the number of siblings."

Not just a lot—quite the variety too. A snake charmer, a sleepy one, and now this blue-skinned one...

"Hm? She never told you about our relationship?"

Ranni seemed to sense something off and shook her head.

"Looks like she's kept quite a lot from you... Doesn't trust you very much, does she?"

Lloyd blinked. "Uh, I didn't ask."

Ranni: "...?"

Is something wrong with this guy?

Before Ranni could recover, Lloyd suddenly spoke up again.

"Oh, wait. If she's your sister, then both of you are children of Queen Marika and the Full Moon Queen?"

Ranni: "?"

Melina: "?"

What nonsense is he spouting?

For reasons unknown, the tower suddenly fell silent after Lloyd said that.

But he didn't seem to notice the shift in the room. After a bit of thought, he smacked his forehead.

"Oh—right, there's also the First Elden Lord, Godfrey. And Marika's an Empyrean who can transform into Radagon. So she might be able to reproduce on her own... Hmm... My bad, that was a reckless theory. I apologize."

The silence grew heavier.

"No, wait, if that's the case..."

Lloyd looked like he was about to speak again, but before he could get another word out, a blur of blue rushed in and clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Brother, please, I'm begging you—stop talking. I know you're my brother, but shut up."

Renna had planned to stay hidden a little longer and enjoy the show, but before she even got a chance, Lloyd had already dropped two conversation bombs.

There was no way she could let him keep going. If she didn't shut him up now, a golden hammer from Marika might just come flying down from the sky.

"Who are you?"

Ranni frowned instinctively at the sudden intrusion.

But once she got a good look—and especially when she sensed that familiar surge of power—her body tensed.

"El... no."

Her eyes narrowed sharply.

"You're not her."

"Correct. I'm not."

Still holding Lloyd's mouth shut in case he spouted something even worse, Renna turned toward the seated Ranni.

"But you're not the 'Ranni' I remember, either. The one I knew was a cute redhead, not some Snow Witch knockoff squatting on three books and borrowing her name—"

"You were the one who stacked the books first!"

The composed, mysterious Ranni finally cracked. Her sharp retort rang through the room—and only afterward did she realize something wasn't right.

"Wait, you..."

"I'm not the 'Renna' you remember."

After making sure Lloyd would stay quiet, Renna released him, raised both hands, and calmly displayed two fragments on the back of her hand.

"But like her, I want that child from back then to finally get the ending she truly wanted."

"I used to question my own existence... but now, I believe I exist to complete the 'mission' she never could."

Silence.

Two nearly identical figures stood across from one another, their eyes gradually filling with complexity.

The mood began to shift.

Reunion? Doubt? Or something else...

...

Until someone broke the silence.

"Uh, should we maybe get to the main point here?"

Lloyd looked between the two and blinked.

"The main point?" Ranni turned to him, her expression returning to that usual mystique and grace. "Come to think of it, you haven't said why you came."

"Right, totally forgot. My bad."

Lloyd nodded seriously.

"Long story short—your mother's dying. We're here to ask for your help to save her."

Ranni: "...?"