In the distant past, the Nox people forged the Fingerslayer Blade and shattered the Fingers, splitting them into the Two Fingers and the Three Fingers.
As a result, their entire race, along with the Eternal City, was destroyed by the Supreme Will using meteors, and the few remaining members were crushed underground and buried forever.
Not to mention, for the Supreme Will to choose the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed, a deity who controls the Law of Death, to become the Elden Lord would be utterly impossible.
Xiao's gaze made Ranni's heart tighten, and she quickly explained:
"I only managed to obtain this much Destined Death; the rest is in the hands of Maliketh, Queen Marika's shadow beast!"
Ranni did not conceal the whereabouts of Destined Death, but rather "truthfully" informed Xiao of its remaining location.
"Is that so?"
Xiao closed her Dusk-Eye, seemingly accepting Ranni's words, and turned to leave Ranni's magic tower.
"Will she believe it? She took half of a Great Rune from your corpse; she must have guessed the other half is on Godwyn's corpse. She was your father's competitor!"
The Snow Witch, who had remained silent until now, questioned her disciple Ranni directly after Xiao left.
Ranni's tone was calm, as if she had long anticipated this question:
"She can guess, but she won't retrieve that half of the Great Rune. The Law of Death is corroding the Golden Order, and that is exactly what she wants to see!"
In this era, the Golden Order was an absolutely perfect and supreme power.
Golden Fundamentalism connected all things to itself and converged all tributaries toward God, even expelling all heretics unwilling to integrate into the Erdtree.
The expelled even included two of Marika's own children, who were left in the sewers to fend for themselves, all to ensure the prosperity of the Golden Order.
The only thing capable of breaking the Golden Order was the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed's Destined Death. Ranni had also relied on Destined Death to kill Godwyn the Golden's soul, creating the first of Those Who Live in Death and burying Godwyn's body beneath the Erdtree.
Godwyn's incarnation as one of Those Who Live in Death directly polluted the Erdtree, causing its roots to transform into Deathroot and breaking the Golden Order's principle of regression.
This prevented deceased souls and bodies from returning to the Erdtree, instead transforming them into spirits and Those Who Live in Death.
The Snow Witch frowned, pondering Ranni's words, and then asked:
"What about Maliketh? With the Gloam-Eyed Queen's power, she'll definitely want to reclaim Destined Death!"
Ranni chuckled and continued to explain:
"According to historical records, the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed was only one step away from becoming a god, but she was defeated by Maliketh, who seized Destined Death.
Back then, Maliketh was just an ordinary shadow beast, yet he could defeat the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed wielding complete Destined Death. Now, half of Destined Death is still in Maliketh's hands!"
Upon hearing this, the Snow Witch immediately rolled her eyes. She roughly understood Ranni's meaning: not only might the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed fail to defeat Maliketh, she might even be killed by him again.
However, the Snow Witch truly hadn't expected the famous Queen of the Dusk-Eyed to be so weak, unable to even defeat a mere shadow beast.
She had also faced Maliketh before, but in her opinion, he was nothing special. While she wouldn't say she was stronger, if he didn't use Destined Death, they would at least be evenly matched.
This made her feel a slight disdain for the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed; the Queen's actions truly made her seem incompetent.
"Shadow beasts are naturally not strong against a powerful sorcerer like yourself, Master, but they are assassins specifically created to hunt Empyreans, and they possess a natural counter against them.
Maliketh's ability to kill the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed was likely due to Marika using underhanded tactics; otherwise, the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed's great serpent wouldn't have gone mad and been sealed beneath Volcano Manor!"
Ranni glanced sideways at Blaidd, who was guarding the door, and said helplessly.
Although she was stronger than a shadow beast in all aspects, all her methods would be useless against Blaidd. This is what a shadow beast is—a weapon sent by the Two Fingers to protect Empyreans and, at the same time, monitor them.
Having such a companion who could go mad at any moment and kill her was something no one could endure.
…
…
"We shall clear all obstacles for Your Majesty at Volcano Manor, awaiting Your Majesty's arrival at your loyal residence!"
The two Godskin Nobles knelt on one knee, presenting the Godslayer's Greatsword with both hands as they spoke respectfully.
Xiao took the spiral greatsword from the Godskin Nobles' hands, stroking it gently while feeling its weight and malevolence, and a wave of nostalgia surged within her.
This sword symbolized her power and majesty, and it was also a symbol of her law. From its name alone, one could tell how much expectation she had placed upon it when she first forged this weapon.
"You've been thoughtful!"
Xiao praised the two and, with a flick of her hand, bestowed a wisp of the Law of Destined Death upon them.
Gray-gold flames immediately ignited on the two Godskin Nobles, and as Destined Death fused into them, the flames transformed into pure black flames.
The Godskin were originally elite troops under the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed, specifically tasked with hunting demigods like Marika and her lineage.
Therefore, the black flames they controlled were specifically effective against divinity.
One could say that this power was, from the very beginning, a prayer developed by the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed specifically to target demigods.
However, after Destined Death was expelled from the Golden Order and living beings no longer died, the Godskin Apostles who remained loyal to the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed also lost their death flames for hunting demigods.
Their flames degenerated from pure black death flames into gray-gold spirit flames, no longer possessing god-slaying properties, instead becoming a type of punitive flame that targeted the flesh and burned the soul.
But with the return of the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed, the Godskin, once again blessed with Destined Death, finally regained their power. The black flames declared the return of death.
Upon hearing Xiao's words, the two Godskin Apostles immediately prostrated themselves in gratitude, their eyes filled with thankfulness.
One of the Godskin Apostles respectfully said:
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generous bestowal!"
The other added:
"We are willing to do anything for you, as long as we can receive your protection!"
Xiao smiled slightly, signaling for the two to rise.
She knew these people were opportunists.
These two had once been her followers.
After her death, instead of seeking revenge for her or resurrecting her,
they had directly sided with Marika, becoming enforcers of the Golden Dynasty and carrying out many conscience-defying deeds for Marika.
Now that Marika was self-imprisoned, the Golden Dynasty was in turmoil, and the Golden Order was declining, they wanted to pledge allegiance to her again.
They were classic fence-sitters.
However, Xiao didn't care about such things. Laws never require loyalty.
As long as someone practiced the fundamentalism of the law and used her prayers, Xiao could gain power from them.
Now was the time when they were needed to enforce the Law of Death, and Xiao was willing to give them a taste of sweetness.
The two Godskin Apostles immediately accepted Xiao's grace with profound gratitude, seeing Xiao off with great emotion.
They secretly congratulated themselves for making the right choice and were filled with anticipation for the future.
After all, after the Queen of the Dusk-Eyed's death, they had sided with Marika, the subordinate of her killer.
The Queen of the Dusk-Eyed not killing them outright was already the greatest mercy.
Their visit this time was primarily to atone for their sins and return their master's weapon.
Otherwise, if their master came knocking personally, it wouldn't merely be a matter of forgiveness.
According to the Queen's former character, she would surely flatten the entire Volcano Manor, eradicate all traitors, and even split earthworms vertically.
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