Faced with Messmer's proposal, Lucian did not hesitate.
His brother-in-law's attitude had already softened considerably. Their relationship was still somewhat awkward, but at least there had been some progress.
After all, from his brother-in-law's perspective, suddenly having someone like Lucian as his brother-in-law really was a little difficult to process.
Now that they had fought each other, they could at least say they had gotten to know one another through battle. Since his brother-in-law had taken the initiative to invite him, how could Lucian refuse?
"Sure. As it happens, there are quite a few things I'd like to learn about."
"I'm rather curious about the Land of Shadow and everything that happened here."
Messmer looked at Lucian, his eyelids lowered slightly, his expression carrying an indescribable meaning.
"Is that so…"
"If that be the case, I fear thou shalt find little here but disappointment."
"Within the Land of Shadow, there remaineth naught but the sins of the beginning, and hatreds that shall never be forgotten."
"As its very name would suggest, this is the place where the Erdtree's unspoken shadows lie concealed."
Lucian shook his head and spoke again.
"That's fine."
"Shadows are inevitable beneath the light. That's simply an objective law."
"Only by understanding the existence of shadows can the light itself be made genuine."
"Otherwise, it would merely be something beautiful on the surface."
Messmer neither agreed nor disagreed with Lucian's view. He gave no answer and simply stopped pursuing the subject.
Melina quietly shook her head from the side.
It seemed the atmosphere between them wasn't going to improve anytime soon.
Messmer silently turned his attention toward Irina and Liliana once more.
Looking at the human and the fairy, Messmer asked with some curiosity,
"Thou art a fairy, art thou not?"
"I confess, I was already rather curious, having witnessed the apparition of the Winged Serpent earlier."
Liliana proudly nodded.
"That's right! I'm a fairy!"
"Irina is my contracted partner."
Messmer glanced at Irina, who had helped dispel the influence of the Frenzied Flame from the Winged Serpent's apparition earlier, and gave her a friendly nod.
Although she was influenced by the power of a fairy, she was still a proper member of the Golden Order.
Very good.
The Winged Serpents looked Liliana up and down from either side, while Messmer himself was also astonished by the existence of such a strange creature.
"How curious. I had not thought to encounter, in this place, a species believed to have vanished long ago."
"The nature of thy form, and the singular powers thou possessest… they are truly fascinating."
Liliana looked at Messmer and, in turn, asked,
"I seem to sense the presence of the Abyssal Serpent within you."
"It was only for a very brief moment during the battle just now."
"May I ask what that's about?"
At Liliana's question, Messmer folded his arms across his chest, his fingers lightly tapping against his arm.
Although bringing up the subject of the Base Serpent was somewhat offensive to him, it was nevertheless an undeniable fact.
And considering that the fairy before him had no ill intentions, he didn't particularly mind answering.
Messmer nodded and admitted it.
"Aye. It is the sin with which I was born."
"The flames of the Base Serpent dwell within me."
"I… loathe this power."
Lucian raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
During their battle, he had also noticed that the flames Messmer used at the end were somewhat strange.
They had a subtle difference from his earlier flames. Their power was greater, but Lucian had simply assumed that Messmer had changed his technique.
He had already learned from Harold that Messmer possessed the power of the Base Serpent, but he hadn't expected it to be the Abyssal Serpent.
Then again, when it came to beings that could be called the Base Serpent, there really weren't many possibilities in the Lands Between.
Lucian quietly glanced at Melina.
How come these two siblings both had all sorts of bizarre powers stitched into them?
Melina possessed the Gloam-Eyed Queen's power, along with the power of the Black Flame.
And Messmer, meanwhile, possessed the power of the Abyssal Serpent.
Unfortunately, Messmer clearly had no intention of continuing the subject, leaving Lucian with no way to investigate it further.
At this point, aside from Asimi, who had long since retreated into Lucian's body to continue digesting the power of the Chalice, Messmer had met everyone present.
He then invited the group to accompany him to Shadow Keep.
—
Messmer carried his great spear as he transformed into a streak of flame in the sky, heading back toward Shadow Keep.
Lucian, meanwhile, rode the storm, carrying the others along as he followed behind Messmer.
After their brief exchange earlier, Lucian now had a much clearer understanding of how well he could perform in his current state.
All he could say was that having the numbers to back you up really did feel good.
However, Lucian was actually somewhat dissatisfied with the battle just now.
Although all of his attributes had risen tremendously in this state, the power of his techniques had somewhat failed to keep up.
As far as sorcery was concerned, almost the only spells that could still be considered powerful were those belonging to the Crystalians.
The rest were still more or less comparable to the spells of ordinary high-level sorcerers.
If he had these attributes back in the game, his spell list would have long since been filled with legendary sorceries such as Comet Azur and Meteorite of Astel, or extremely practical spells like Comet and Stars of Ruin.
His incantations faced a similar problem.
Although Lucian had mastered some extremely high-level Ancient Dragon incantations, the situation was much the same.
Aside from Dragon Communion incantations and Ancient Dragon incantations having enough firepower to be taken seriously, the power of his other techniques was simply too low.
When it came to chaining attacks and keeping an opponent suppressed, raw power wasn't necessarily the most important factor. What mattered more was how smoothly the startup and recovery of each technique connected into the next.
But incantations and sorceries powerful enough to change the course of a battle were still an indispensable part of his arsenal.
Because of the route he had taken previously, there were still quite a few powerful incantations and sorceries he hadn't collected.
From now on, he would also have to start collecting the various sorceries and incantations suited to this state.
He was going to build himself into a true jack-of-all-stats.
—
The journey from the valley bottom to Shadow Keep was quite a long one, spanning almost a third of the entire Land of Shadow.
Even with Messmer and Lucian's speed, it still took them some time.
Lucian estimated the amount of time that had passed in his mind.
It seemed that Messmer had immediately rushed toward the valley bottom after the battle ended, without stopping for even a moment.
After some time, Lucian finally saw the magnificent Shadow Keep standing upon the desolate highlands.
The moment he saw the entirety of Shadow Keep from the air, Lucian was stunned.
The keep wasn't merely enormous in terms of the land it occupied. Its vertical construction was equally outrageous, with the difference in height between its upper and lower sections almost impossible to estimate.
Behind Shadow Keep, a towering structure rose proudly into the heavens, reaching all the way toward the clouds.
And in contrast to that, when looking down from above, Lucian could see that beneath the highlands, Shadow Keep extended into an enormous network of structures leading toward other regions.
There was something else that Lucian could immediately recognize.
This was clearly the true transportation hub of the Land of Shadow.
From Shadow Keep, one could travel toward several other regions of the Land of Shadow. From the sky, the layout made that fact especially obvious.
Lucian looked toward the towering structure standing straight behind Shadow Keep, reaching toward the distant heavens, and couldn't help but praise it.
"Truly magnificent."
"Both the scale and the design are astonishing."
"Throughout the Lands Between, I suppose only Leyndell could surpass this place."
Hearing Lucian's praise, an almost imperceptible smile appeared on Messmer's face.
Clearly, Lucian's compliment had pleased him quite a bit.
No matter what, the Leyndell that his mother had personally built would always be number one in Messmer's heart.
If Lucian had said that Shadow Keep was even more magnificent than Leyndell, he might actually have felt a little uncomfortable.
"We have arrived. Come within with me."
Messmer waved his hand and descended from the sky first.
Although they could have flown directly to his residence, Lucian and the others were visiting for the first time, and there was no guarantee that Melina still remembered this place.
Messmer therefore decided to give them a simple tour first. Afterward, they could also use the keep as a place to stay.
There were numerous military camps around the main entrance of Shadow Keep, with soldiers stationed there to guard the area.
When they saw Messmer returning, the soldiers came forward to welcome him, lining up neatly along the road.
Lucian and the others followed behind Messmer, silently observing their surroundings.
The soldiers here were clearly in somewhat better condition. At the very least, they were still capable of continuing their duty guarding the keep.
Following the road through the entrance, they then took a lift upward and finally arrived at the main entrance of Shadow Keep.
The moment they stepped onto the plaza, a towering statue of Marika filled everyone's field of vision.
However, just like the other statues throughout the Land of Shadow, this enormous statue of Marika had also been deprived of its head.
Had it remained intact, it would undoubtedly have inspired awe in everyone entering the keep.
Melina stared at the headless statue. She opened her mouth, then lowered her head again.
After struggling with her thoughts for a while, Melina finally decided to ask Messmer.
"Brother... all of Mother's statues in the Land of Shadow have had their heads removed..."
"What happened?"
Messmer didn't even turn his head. He simply answered calmly.
"Aye. I did it."
"The crusade, the purging of the Hornsent, the sealing away of the Land of Shadow… all of it was for Mother's sake, and to keep the truth from ever being brought to light."
"If I wished for Mother to sever herself entirely from what had transpired, then, naturally, I had to destroy all that might turn hatred toward her."
"Yet hatred cannot simply vanish into thin air. Someone must bear it."
"So long as I severed every thread that bound Mother to what had come to pass, and drew all that resentment unto myself, it would suffice."
"I made that choice so that the soldiers might believe I alone was responsible for all that transpired."
"I simply never expected that some of them would still choose to follow me."
Although there were outsiders present, there were no soldiers nearby, so Messmer didn't mind revealing the truth behind everything to Melina.
Turning around, Messmer gave the complicated-looking Melina a faint smile.
"But fear not. Within the Shadow Keep, there yet remain statues of Mother, before which the two of us may pay our respects."
Melina had originally assumed that the headless statues were the work of believers who had turned against their abandoned goddess and acted out of resentment.
She hadn't expected there to be another truth hidden behind them.
Melina sighed, her heart filled with complicated emotions.
"Brother... you've worked hard."
Messmer waved it off, not considering it anything particularly important.
"Our siblings' missions were ever thus. Thou knowest this as well."
Lucian listened to everything in silence, and his impression of this brother-in-law improved considerably.
Such loyalty to Marika.
What a good kid.
Besides, after everything that had happened, the fact that most of the soldiers were still willing to follow him meant that Messmer's prestige among them must have been extremely high.
Among all of his armies, only the Black Knights had rebelled.
And their reason wasn't actually Messmer's various actions.
It was the nature of the Base Serpent within him, which they believed had tainted the Erdtree.
Just then, right in the middle of the plaza at the main entrance, a gigantic creature suddenly charged out from one corner.
Lucian's expression became increasingly strange as he looked at it.
The creature had a sharp head crowned by an enormous golden horn that resembled a rhinoceros horn.
But everywhere else, it looked remarkably like a gigantic hippopotamus.
Earlier, the creature had been quietly resting in a corner of the plaza, enjoying the constant stream of water pouring over its body.
Messmer extended a hand, and the enormous beast obediently stopped in front of him.
Seeing the strange expressions on everyone's faces, Messmer took the initiative to introduce it.
"This is a Golden Hippopotamus. One might say it is my pet."
"They were once a common sight in ages long past. Nowadays, however, they are a species much in need of protection."
"Fortunately, it yet possesseth considerable strength. A rather useful creature, I find, for guarding the entrance."
Unfortunately, not everyone was capable of appreciating the cuteness of this particular pet.
Aside from Irina, who approached the Golden Hippopotamus with curiosity and politely tried to interact with it, everyone else's reaction was rather lukewarm.
Messmer shrugged, turned around, and sent the Golden Hippopotamus away before leading everyone to the left and out of the plaza.
After a long flight of ascending stairs, they arrived at the true core of Shadow Keep.
The Specimen Storehouse.
Leading everyone inside, a hint of pride finally appeared on Messmer's face.
He turned around, spread his arms toward everyone, and introduced the place.
"The Specimen Storehouse. Shadow Keep's crowning achievement."
"It serveth both as a repository wherein the many species of this realm may be preserved, and as a library besides. The collection housed within these walls is, by any measure, among the most extraordinary to be found in all the Lands Between."
After saying this, Messmer secretly glanced at Lucian.
Perhaps because he was still somewhat dissatisfied with this brother-in-law of his, Messmer had developed a strange competitive streak.
He couldn't help feeling that...
Lucian was somewhat unworthy of the family his sister had married into.
Although Lucian could sense the strange desire to compete hidden within Messmer's words, he had to admit that the man had a point.
Back in the forest at the bottom of the valley, he had already been stunned by the sheer number of books filling the entire mansion.
But that place had ultimately been nothing but a collection of books. There were only a handful that Lucian would actually read, so while he found the sheer collection impressive, he didn't have much of a tangible feeling toward it.
The Specimen Storehouse was completely different.
Even if he ignored the books and stone tablets recording the history of the specimens, simply treating this place as an exhibition museum was already astonishing.
And when he learned that this entire towering structure, which resembled a colossal tower reaching into the heavens, served this very purpose, Lucian was even more deeply shaken.
He had to admit, his brother-in-law's family fortune was indeed substantial.
He wondered if there might be a chance to get some of those riches out of him later.
Runes were unnecessary.
What Lucian really wanted to see was whether he could get his hands on some incantations, sorceries, or talismans.
The moment he entered the Specimen Storehouse, Lucian was completely captivated.
At the entrance stood a preserved specimen of a deer-like creature covered in twisted, fused horns.
Lucian immediately sensed a familiar power emanating from its body.
Unable to hold back, he asked,
"What connection does this creature have with the Divine Beast Dancing Lion?"
Messmer answered proudly, a smile appearing on his face.
"This is one of the many beings whom the Hornsent revered as the Divine Beasts of the land."
"Though it was not the lion that received their greatest reverence, its standing and strength were nevertheless much the same."
"It is also among the most prized specimens within this vault. Thus, I have placed it here, where all who enter may behold it."