Elden Lord of Cinders

Caelid.

A land festering with rot, the sky an ominous dark red, the air thick with the stench of decay. Abominations wandered freely, and the wails of the damned echoed from every corner.

Every sight and sound seemed to scream the same message to any intruder: this place is horror incarnate. Pain. Suffering. It was enough to make any being instinctively shrink back and flee.

Even Lloyd couldn't help but pause at the edge of this nightmarish landscape. He stared out at the twisted creatures in the distance, inhaled deeply, and slowly exhaled.

"Yep, that's the smell."

It was almost like being home.

Liurnia of the Lakes? Sure, it had its share of oversized lobsters and crabs, but between the vast waters, misty peaks, and the brightest starry sky in the Lands Between, it could almost be a vacation spot—if not for the constant wars.

Limgrave wasn't bad either. There were a few Tarnished skewers here and there, and plenty of pupae in Stormveil, but all in all, the land still had its share of beauty, even with a touch of the underworld here and there.

But here—this endless crimson wasteland, drenched in rot and reeking of death—this was what felt familiar. This was the feeling an old undead like him knew too well.

He had barely taken a few steps in, Torrent pausing beneath him, when a system message appeared:

[Anastasia, 'Tarnished-Eater' has invaded.]

"Heh. Maneater girl, got yourself a new skin, huh?"

Lloyd waved at the red phantom in the distance—dressed in a full Finger Maiden outfit, a massive butcher's cleaver slung over her shoulder. His casual greeting left Anastasia visibly stunned.

Who was this guy? Did she know him?

But she quickly snapped out of it, lifting her cleaver.

It didn't matter who he was. Friend or stranger, they were all just meat to her.

As her name suggested, the Tarnished-Eater lived to consume—literally.

But—

Shunk—

Before she could get close, a pair of twin blades sliced clean through her.

What the—?

Bang!

She swung her cleaver down with a roar—but hit nothing but earth.

The moment she moved to strike, her opponent had spun with the twin blades and returned to his original stance. Two thin crimson lines now marked the ground in front of her.

Then—

Shunk!

The bloody lines burst, triggering something deep within her. Her own blood twisted into invisible blades, slicing through her skin and veins. A detonation of blood followed—violent, instant, leaving her a flayed husk in seconds.

Sensing the blood loss, the twin blades seemed to react—gleeful, even. They drank in the life essence from the spray of blood, while the dark red wind blades shimmered with a chilling glint, growing sharper, hungrier—thirsting for agony and gore.

One exchange. That's all it took. She was already skin and blood.

But the opponent didn't press the attack. Instead, he paced slowly, watching her with curiosity.

"Aren't you going to drink blood?"

Anastasia was silent for a few seconds before pulling out a Flask of Cerulean Tears and downing it in one gulp.

Once her health was restored, she picked up the cleaver and charged forward again.

This time, she didn't rush in blindly. Instead, after closing in to a certain distance, she jumped and slashed forward mid-air with the cleaver.

But the opponent didn't even bother to dodge. A slight step back was enough to shift out of her blade's range.

Then, the double-headed blade rose, its dark red edge suddenly looming large before her eyes.

In just a few seconds, her body was slashed back and forth by the dark red blade.

Even though she had lifted her giant cleaver as a makeshift shield as quickly as she could, the moment the dark red blade fell again—driven by a hunger for blood—the blood within her was once more detonated.

Splurt.

Bleeding triggered again.

Anastasia collapsed to the ground, her spirit slowly fading away.

[Obtained the talisman 'Sacred Scorpion Charm']

But after easily defeating the cannibal girl, Lloyd didn't seem particularly pleased. Instead, he looked a little wistful.

"Sigh, cannibal girls are still too squishy."

He was still testing out his new toy and had even given her the chance to heal, but she couldn't even last a few more hits.

Sometimes, too much damage isn't such a good thing...

But oh well.

Soon, as Lloyd sighed, a new system message appeared.

[Invaded by the phantom Messmer 'the Impaler']

Seeing the message, Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

Well, well. An old acquaintance?

Then, accompanied by a flash of red light, the snake-man spirit who had previously invaded Lloyd appeared before him once more.

This time, however, Messmer seemed much more lucid. As soon as his spirit materialized, he didn't attack. Instead, he looked Lloyd up and down, then glanced at Melina in the distance.

"Graceless One..."

Lloyd paused, then asked sincerely,

"What's a Graceless One?"

Messmer: "...?"

Seeing that Messmer wasn't interested in answering, Lloyd didn't press. He simply pulled out his double-headed blade again.

This time, he didn't switch to his main build or call Melina over. Instead, he simply waved at Messmer.

"Come on, old wolf."

Messmer didn't know what "old wolf" meant, but judging by Lloyd's gesture, he got the idea.

So without another word, he hefted his spear and leapt into the air.

In the next moment, Serpent Flame ignited, and a snake-eyed fireball crashed into the ground and exploded.

Boom!

Strangely, though, compared to last time, the explosion's radius was much smaller, and the power seemed weaker too.

As for why...

Whoosh—

The moment after the fireball burst, Messmer's spear swept sideways, catching Lloyd off guard as he tried to punish the casting recovery.

"Damn, cancel?"

Seeing Messmer cancel the snake-eyed fireball's ending lag right in front of him, Lloyd's expression shifted.

Level capping, hidden patches, and now cancel tech...

Even if he was Melina's brother, Lloyd was seriously starting to consider giving the guy a treat after the fight.

But in truth, this wasn't a full cancel.

After their last fight, even though Messmer wasn't an Empyrean, he had gained some insight into Lloyd's domain.

While he couldn't alter the Law itself, he could still adjust himself to follow its rules.

In game terms, this was a tactical shift.

Given how the last fight played out, his approach now was all about flexibility.

By reducing the range and damage of his skills, he traded raw power for faster moves and more adaptable options.

This time, since Lloyd and Melina had double-teamed him before, he wasn't aiming to win outright—just testing the waters.

What he didn't expect was that Lloyd didn't even use his main build this time, nor did he call Melina for backup.

Which meant...

Boom!

The spear thrust forward, spiral flames biting ahead like a serpent. After Lloyd rolled to dodge, a spinning slash followed up instantly, landing just as he came out of the roll.

"Hey, wait—are you from Sekiro or something?"

Messmer's sudden shift caught Lloyd completely off guard.

Though he'd sacrificed range and raw damage, the unpredictability of Messmer's new moves and their nimble execution put even more pressure on Lloyd than before.

Against this type of opponent, the ideal solution was to forget about finesse and just brute-force your way through with Endure. After all, if your stats weren't high enough, a full set of heavy armor, Endure, and a bleed hammer with 200 base bleed buildup... at that point, who's the boss again?

But right now, Lloyd's alt didn't have great heavy armor, barely had points in Strength, and couldn't wield the Endure hammer anyway.

Besides, he'd already agreed to fight fair with the "Old Wolf," and Messmer hadn't changed too drastically this time, so Lloyd had no plans to switch to his main.

And more importantly...

Watching Messmer approach with spear in hand, Lloyd spun his double-headed blade, a smirk curling on his lips.

Wasn't this perfect?

Come to think of it, it had been a while since he'd had a fight that really got the blood pumping.

Ever since the Three Gods Old Margit, fights were either too easy to slice through or too hard to bother with—just bring out the main and nuke it.

Even Seath had basically been Lloyd dodging and tanking while Ranni did the real damage. That fight hadn't even gotten through a third of Seath's HP before he ragequit and popped his phase shift.

But now? A perfect opponent stood right in front of him.

So there was nothing more to say.

The Serpent Flame dropped again, but this time Lloyd didn't dodge. He activated a weapon skill with his double-headed blade, charging straight through the blast radius.

As the blade swept, Lloyd caught the tip of Messmer's spear mid-motion and used his skill again to return to his original position.

Messmer suddenly lunged in a wild thrust.

But as if anticipating it, Lloyd sidestepped left, dodging cleanly. His twin blades began to spin.

Splat—

Blood sprayed, restoring a chunk of Lloyd's health. The dark red blade glowed sharper.

Boom—

A close-range Serpent Flame burst struck him. The damage was light, but the speed and impact blew Lloyd back.

Yet almost instantly, the blood blade was back in motion. Without even drinking a flask, Lloyd charged in again, closing the distance on Messmer, who had tried to backstep and play the spear's range. A blood-red glint flashed in his eyes.

"Why you running?" he asked.

Then his blades spun, scattering fresh blood.

This time was different. Lloyd was getting hurt—badly, even. He'd taken quite a few hits.

But what was also different... was that he was now the one chasing the boss down.

The dark blade spun, blood and flame clashing in a vicious rhythm.

Melina, who had been considering stepping in, watched for a moment and realized Lloyd had already turned the tide, pressing Messmer hard.

Boss playing mad dog? Then he'd just be an even madder dog.

Random attacks? Whatever—most of those didn't hit that hard. Eat it, then counter full force.

Unless it was some huge, heavy attack, Lloyd didn't even bother dodging this time. He just traded blow for blow.

Under such relentless pressure, Messmer's health rapidly dropped. His expression grew grim.

Last time, he'd been too busy struggling with the Serpent for control to think clearly.

But this time, even though he'd limited his power, his mind was much clearer.

And he noticed something—it wasn't just the unpredictable combat style. Lloyd himself was growing, fast.

Even mid-fight, he was adapting, evolving.

What the hell is he...

Splat—

With another burst of blood, Messmer was left hanging on a sliver of HP. He backstepped, ready to pop one last big move to turn the tide—only to realize Lloyd wasn't chasing him.

So he stopped too.

"Why'd you stop fighting all of a sudden?"

Lloyd blinked.

"Wait, shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Lloyd's reason was simple: he still had two flasks left. Messmer was down to a sliver, and it felt like he might want another round—so Lloyd figured he'd wait and see what move he pulled next.

Worried about a second HP bar?

Come on. If invading phantoms had a second bar, Lloyd would've already "cast aside all decorum and left it behind."

You started this.

But now that Messmer mentioned it, Lloyd suddenly realized something: he still had no idea why Messmer had invaded him in the first place.

Anastasia? Classic cannibal girl—clearly just wanted to cook him.

Bloody Fingers? Mad from accursed blood. Every one of them had been completely unhinged.

And Messmer? Last time, sure, he'd looked a bit off, but now he was clearly lucid. He could talk, reason, and he was Melina's brother. So...?

"Wait a sec, man."

Lloyd spread his hands.

"I'm fine with you invading me, but you gotta at least give me a reason, right?"

But faced with Lloyd's question, Messmer fell silent.

Because, when he thought about it... he really didn't have a reason.

Cleansing Graceless Ones? Sure, that was his task—but his domain was the Land of Shadow. What happened in the Lands Between wasn't his jurisdiction.

In fact, ever since being cut off, his mother had strictly forbidden him from leaving the Land of Shadow. Technically, he was already violating orders just by being here.

Revenge for last time? That attack wasn't even fully his idea—he'd been dragged along by the Serpent, acting on impulse with incomplete power, and it had screwed up a lot of his tasks.

So now, cooling off after the fight, it dawned on him. The real reason he came here... might've just been because of Melina's words: "Your mother is dead."

Stuck in the Land of Shadow, he couldn't get any outside intel. So he wanted to investigate.

And since Lloyd was the only bridge between them, he came by invading.

Then, naturally... a fight broke out.

But thinking about it now, there was really no reason to be hostile toward this weird Graceless One.

In fact, if he killed Lloyd, he wouldn't even have a way back...

So after the question was asked, silence settled over the battlefield.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Then a woman's voice broke the silence.

"So uh... are you two still fighting?"

Elizabeth poked her head in.

"If not, I'll go find another fight to watch."

...

[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]

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