Elden Lord of Cinders

"Don't die, okay?"

Hearing the gentle words in his ear, feeling the warmth on his cheek, and seeing the genuine concern in her eyes, Lloyd fell into thought.

Should he find a place to lock her up?

In any other world, he might've been moved by that level of care. But this was a Souls-like world. A witch teacher. And that look on her face...

Lady, seriously—maybe we should talk about sealing you up again. I'm really afraid you'll drop dead the moment I turn my back.

"What is it, stupid disciple?"

Sellen had noticed the change in his expression.

"I'm just thinking about how to keep you alive," Lloyd said honestly.

"...Huh?"

Wasn't that her line?

Sure, it seemed like her affection level was maxed, but going by Souls series tradition, once the affection threshold was reached, you'd always get some "study sorcery" or "pursue knowledge" subplot—and then boom, the sorcery teacher dies.

Not to mention, he still needed her help to fight Seath. She'd be fine for now... but in the long term?

Lloyd considered his options.

Maybe he could ask Chaos to keep an eye on her?

Still, that was something to figure out later. For now, the focus was on taking down Seath.

...

After talking things through with Sellen and helping her reincarnate, she mentioned she needed time to prepare on her end. Lloyd nodded, then warped to Stormveil Castle, heading once more to Morgott's office.

"So... what's your take?"

Seeing Lloyd enter, Morgott—already nursing a headache from overtime—felt it pound harder.

Still, the situation was serious. He sighed, forced himself to focus, and got down to business.

"Stormveil's in chaos right now, ever since 'Godrick the Grafted' died. I don't have much manpower to spare...

"Liurnia of the Lakes is at war, but it's the Academy versus Caria. If the Golden Order Dynasty gets involved, it'll only complicate things...

"What I can give you is one Night's Cavalry, one Avatar, and maybe some consumables."

"That's fine."

The support was a little underwhelming, but Lloyd didn't complain. Whatever Morgott's status was, judging from those rags he wore, he clearly wasn't swimming in wealth. The fact he could scrounge up even that much was already impressive.

After some discussion about Seath the Scaleless, Morgott rubbed his temples and suddenly remembered something.

"Oh right—did you talk to Ranni?"

"We talked a lot. Why?"

"...No reason."

For some reason, Lloyd saw Morgott let out a long breath. His expression relaxed, and the corners of his tightly drawn mouth even lifted slightly, like he'd just recalled something genuinely pleasant.

"As long as you talked. That's good. That's very good..."

...

Since everything had been discussed and Morgott still had work to handle, Lloyd didn't stick around and headed next to the Roundtable Hold.

"I'm interested in that 'crystal magic' too, but unfortunately, I just can't get away."

After finding the All-Knowing, the man shook his head.

"And judging by the situation there—and the nature of this power—sending regular Tarnished won't do much. In fact, it might help the enemy more than hurt.

"But as it happens, I mentioned before that I wanted Nepheli to follow you. She's already on her way to Liurnia and should be close by now. You can go straight to her."

"If you think she's not enough on her own, I can also give you some additional support."

[Received item "Spellproof Dried Liver" x10]

[Received item "All-Knowing's Thoughts" x5]

[All-Knowing's Thoughts: A single-use item. A bead that stores the power of the "World of the All-Knowing."]

[Crushing it briefly opens the "World of the All-Knowing," affecting both the user and everyone in its range, reducing magic and holy damage resistance.]

[The All-Knowing reached toward infinite knowledge, but upon seizing it, found that behind it... were even more riddles and confusion.]

...

After wrapping up the conversation, Lloyd was about to return, but after a brief pause, he changed his mind and turned into another room.

"What is it, kin?"

Chaos looked up.

Without wasting words, Lloyd held out the crystal and gave her a rough explanation of the situation, asking if she wanted in.

Chaos didn't hesitate.

"Of course."

Her hollow eye sockets fixated on the crystal in Lloyd's hand. Even as one driven by Frenzied Flame and drawn to chaos, Chaos felt an instinctive revulsion toward what he held.

Because that thing... it was the antithesis of flame. A stagnant, formless clump—the opposite of burning.

If it was left to spread and grow, it could freeze the Lands Between.

And not the kind of "freeze" even Frenzied Flame could burn through.

After notifying everyone, Lloyd went to see Hewg to upgrade his gear, then visited Roderika—now a Spirit Tuner—to enhance his Spirit Ashes.

It was worth noting that thanks to all the underground catacombs he'd explored earlier, Lloyd had a healthy stash of Grave Glovewort. He ended up upgrading nearly all the ashes he had on hand.

That's when he noticed something strange.

[Incomplete Finger Maiden Ashes +4+3]

The +4 came from his own upgrades, while the +3 was what Roderika added using Ghost Glovewort. Apparently, the two upgrade systems were calculated separately. And whether it was a bug or just a weird mechanic, using these ashes in battle didn't register as using the main account's strength—any Runes earned still counted under his alt. A nice little bonus, all things considered.

After another loop through Roundtable Hold to talk with everyone and confirm he hadn't missed any side quests, Lloyd wrapped up everything that needed handling. Then he touched the "Great Grace" and returned to Liurnia of the Lakes, continuing his "map exploration" while waiting for the others to be ready.

...

Amid the howls of Bloodhound's Fang and the blasts of Night and Flame, time slipped quietly by.

Eventually, the rendezvous time arrived.

Ranni was the first to appear, unsurprisingly. She was the key figure in breaking the seal, and arriving early gave her more time to observe, analyze, and plan.

Next was Sellen, who had been teleported in by Alice at Lloyd's request. The moment she arrived, she drew Ranni's attention.

"Graven Witch Sellen?"

Ranni raised an eyebrow, eyeing Sellen's body, which was now covered in nonhuman components.

"What happened to you?"

"Just a small accident—but it's been great for my Glintstone research."

Sellen answered calmly, then glanced over Ranni in return, raising her own brow.

"You, though... I barely recognized you."

Ranni shook her head. "Been through a lot."

Contrary to what most might expect—given how often both Sellen and Ranni spoke of the Academy and Caria as hostile factions—their meeting showed no sign of animosity. In fact, their exchange could even be called... cordial.

Why?

Well, what else could they do—start airing each other's dirty laundry?

With anyone else, they might've traded a few barbs, but the two of them had so many skeletons in their closets they could publish entire volumes. If either tried to get nasty, the backlash would be all self-inflicted.

Besides, the relationship between the Carian royal line and the Academy had always been... delicate.

Though they stood on opposing sides, for various reasons, even if the Academy someday came fully under Sellen's control, and she abolished the Carian monarchy, she likely wouldn't move against them—unless the "Full Moon Queen" herself declared open war.

Even now, with the Queen reportedly insane and the Graven School in control of the Academy, all they'd done was place her under soft house arrest in the Grand Library.

No violence. No seal. Not even a locked door. Theoretically, she could stroll out anytime. There was even a Carian knight stationed outside to serve her. The gear of fallen Carian knights had been respectfully arranged in the tombs, untouched...

The whole situation was... delicate, to say the least.

So, with both women wary of digging into each other's pasts—and the tenuous political balance in play—Sellen and Ranni managed a surprisingly civil rapport.

But the next arrival wouldn't be nearly as "civil."

"Ranni, Lunar Princess."

A shimmer of golden light accompanied Morgott's appearance. He materialized slowly, eyes immediately locking on Ranni with a hostile glare.

"Morgott, the Fell Omen."

Ranni met his gaze, her brows slowly knitting together.

Though both had learned of the other's identity from Lloyd beforehand and mentally prepared themselves, the moment they stood face to face, the tension turned thick and inescapable.

And the reason?

Morgott's elder brother, Godwyn, had died—or rather, become half-dead—on the Night of Black Knives.

Morgott himself was a staunch devotee of the Erdtree and harbored equal contempt for all traitors—especially one Lunar Princess he considered the root of all evil.

And Ranni...

She was the mastermind of the Night of Black Knives.

Her original plan had been meticulously crafted, with a key objective: breach the Royal Capital and seize the Elden Ring.

Everything had been going smoothly—until two Demigods appeared out of nowhere in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds and wrecked everything. That disruption was the main reason she'd fallen from grace.

One of those Demigods was now standing right in front of her.

So, even with all the mental prep in the world, now that they were face to face, the tension in the air only grew heavier.

Until a voice broke the tension.

"Hey, Nepheli, told you those shrimp were good, didn't I?"

"They really are. Where'd you get them?"

"A buddy of mine cooked them. He's great with seafood—not just shrimp, his crab's amazing too. I'll get you some next time..."

With that, Lloyd led Nepheli to the academy gates. After glancing over the group gathered there, he blinked.

"Am I late? Sorry about that—got a bit sidetracked eating shrimp. Want some?"

As he spoke, he handed out boiled shrimp to everyone present. Somehow, the absurdly casual act and his bizarre aura completely snuffed out the tension hanging in the air.

Looking down at the shrimp in his hand, then glancing up at Ranni, Morgott suddenly remembered something.

"So, how was talking to him?"

Ranni paused, looked up at him, confused.

Morgott shook his head and spoke while peeling a shrimp.

"I've known him a little longer than you. When he mentioned wanting to find you, I told him to talk to you more."

The moment those words landed, Ranni's face darkened. She silently popped the peeled shrimp into her mouth.

Hmm. Not bad.

But after a moment, she seemed to realize something and shot back.

"You've known him longer, haven't you talked to him a lot yourself?"

And Morgott fell silent.

Elsewhere, Sellen eyed the odd pair in front of her and subtly nudged Lloyd.

"Idiot apprentice, what's going on with those two?"

"No idea. Maybe they don't like shrimp."

After a short, awkward lull, both Morgott and Ranni, clearly not wanting to reignite hostilities or get dragged into further nonsense, tacitly chose to shelve their issues and looked toward Lloyd.

"Everyone's here, right? Can we get started?"

Lloyd, in the middle of handing out a third round of shrimp, paused and glanced around. He nodded.

"Yeah, looks like everyone's here. I'll call her in."

Call her? Who?

They all vaguely remembered Lloyd saying he'd bring in a reliable friend to help—but he'd never said who.

"Chaos."

"My kin, I'm here."

With a burst of frenzied flame, a witch in a withered yellow cloak materialized from the blaze.

The instant she appeared, Morgott drew his cursed sword. Ranni raised her staff. Nepheli gripped her axe. Sellen unsheathed her Glintstone dagger.

Lloyd, with his back to them, didn't notice. He casually handed Chaos two shrimp, then turned around to introduce her.

"This is the friend I mentioned—her name's Chaos. As for her role..."

"An Incarnation of Frenzied Flame?"

Faced with the wary stares, Chaos didn't flinch. Once Lloyd was done speaking, she gave a slight bow.

"As my comrade said, I am the incarnation of Frenzied Flame."

"But no need to be alarmed. At least for this mission, I stand with all of you."

Silence.

Everyone kept their eyes locked on Chaos, brimming with tension. She stood calmly, unmoved. The air was thick and still.

Until someone broke it.

"Uh—"

Lloyd looked up after digging through his inventory.

"Just remembered—I've got some crab too. Salt-baked. Smells amazing."

"Anyone want some?"