In Farum Azula's eastern district, inside a passage barely lit by faint firelight, a tall figure in priestly robes walked slowly at the front.
Blood could be seen everywhere. Close behind him followed a knight in golden armor, his figure shining brilliantly in the firelight.
This knight was Leyndell's noble Draconic Tree Sentinel. His strength was enough to rival an Ancient Dragon, making him a rare hero even in this world.
Yet now he silently followed behind that priest, and the difference between leader and follower was already clear.
In a sense, the appearance of another group of invaders had drawn attention away from them, but this was not what they had wanted.
In truth, they had not been discovered at all. Every Beastman who saw them had been killed. It had been a perfect infiltration.
But now, this sudden commotion would only further provoke the Ancient Dragons' already sensitive nerves.
The Ancient Dragons had always isolated themselves by choice, keeping the outside world at a great distance. This would only make them even more guarded.
Now, that sudden disturbance had shattered Farum Azula's long-standing silence, and the suffocating stillness that once hung over the place began to stir uneasily.
Maliketh, who led the way, had never liked such noisy surroundings. He frowned and asked in a low voice,
"What happened? Who startled the snake?"
Aside from the Ancient Dragons themselves, no one understood this city better than he did.
The King of Stormveil Castle who had come from the surface was a distinguished guest invited by the Ancient Dragons. This commotion should not have been caused by him.
Then who was stirring up chaos in Farum Azula at this moment and disrupting their plan?
"I'm not sure. The Beastmen here don't know the details either. They only know there's trouble in the north," the Draconic Tree Sentinel said as quietly as he could.
Making a rough man like him, someone who could tear Trolls apart with his bare hands on the battlefield, do this sort of sneaking around was really asking too much.
But there was no helping it. This Draconic Tree Sentinel's duty was to protect the lord before him, as well as the Destined Death in his hands.
That lord had abandoned the quiet life inside the temple and insisted on coming into this den of Ancient Dragons to kill, even with an air of fighting to the death.
The Ancient Dragons already had a poor relationship with them. Those Ancient Dragons would show no mercy to anyone from the Golden Order Dynasty. If Maliketh truly died among the dragons, the guilt would be far too great for him to bear.
Maliketh's death would mean death returning to the Lands Between. The Golden Order Dynasty, where death was never meant to exist, would inevitably have its very foundations shaken.
The Draconic Tree Sentinel had been away from the surface of the Lands Between for centuries, so he had no idea what sort of wretched state it was in now.
He only knew that Maliketh's death would bring extremely grave consequences.
"Could it be that Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble?" the Draconic Tree Sentinel suddenly said, only to shake his head at once.
"No, that's not right. Ever since those people came to Farum Azula more than a hundred years ago, they've been hiding like rats. They shouldn't have the nerve to come out and cause trouble."
Maliketh continued walking ahead at an unhurried pace, seeming to have no intention of commenting on the Draconic Tree Sentinel's words.
Still, although the Draconic Tree Sentinel had rejected his own guess, Maliketh actually felt that there was some sense to it.
After that Godskin Apostle and Godskin Noble arrived in Farum Azula, the first thing they did was lurk around his temple district, and they had even briefly clashed with the Draconic Tree Sentinel.
After that, they vanished near the district where the Dragon Church stood, and that church belonging to the Ancient Dragons was in northern Farum Azula.
Yet Maliketh remained puzzled. The Godskins had no reason to provoke the Ancient Dragons, and for more than a hundred years, they had never clashed with them.
If anything had happened recently that might have driven them to act, the only unusual event was the King of Stormveil Castle setting foot in this land beyond the world.
Could it be that the Godskins knew they could not take Destined Death from him, so they had changed targets and planned to strike at that human instead?
Beneath his long linen cloak, Maliketh's beastly face, identical to that of the "Beast Clergyman" Gurranq, was now tightly furrowed, revealing the unease in his heart.
Ever since he had lost his avatar, Gurranq, the Bestial Sanctum had also been destroyed after the Firelink Army occupied Caelid.
Now that he had been completely cut off from the surface, he naturally had no way of knowing about the secret deal between the Gloam-Eyed Queen and Nolan, let alone that a few elegant fat men had joined the Firelink Army.
However, he knew very well that Godskin Nobles had an almost pathological craving for death, a craving like a burning flame that could not be extinguished.
Based on his understanding of the Godskin Nobles, he could only draw an inference from that and guess that the somewhat different death on Nolan held the same appeal for the Godskins.
The Draconic Tree Sentinel, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked, "Lord Maliketh, what exactly did we come here to do?"
When they set out, this lord had walked out of the temple radiating such a powerful aura that it made one's heart tremble.
The Draconic Tree Sentinel had followed almost on instinct, without ever thinking about the purpose of the trip.
Only now, when they finally slowed down, did he snap awake and realize this crucial question.
This Draconic Tree Sentinel did not even know why they had come out!
"To kill the King who should not exist, Nolan Bethel," Maliketh said calmly, his steps still steady and unhurried.
The reason he had hidden himself and infiltrated the Ancient Dragons' territory was not because he feared them. He was simply trying to reduce unnecessary trouble as much as possible, and to prevent Nolan from hearing anything in advance and deliberately avoiding him.
Hearing an unexpected name, the Draconic Tree Sentinel looked surprised.
He had thought Maliketh had come out to accomplish some grand feat of dragon-slaying. Every Ancient Dragon might fall beneath his sword, including Dragonlord Placidusax.
But he had never expected to hear the name of some obscure King. Nolan Bethel clearly did not sound like an Ancient Dragon. If he were an Ancient Dragon, he would be called Nolan Sanks.
"Could he be a Flying Dragon? Has another Bayle appeared among the Flying Dragons?" the Draconic Tree Sentinel asked. In this city, he could not think of anything but dragons.
But Maliketh's next words shocked the Draconic Tree Sentinel.
"He is human. More precisely, something that looks human."
As Maliketh walked, he casually twisted a Beastman's neck with ease. The Beastman collapsed dead before it could even let out a scream.
"Though this is a little different from what I expected, whoever caused this commotion, it is actually a good opportunity for us now."
For "Black Blade" Maliketh, who had killed the Gloam-Eyed Queen, to personally assassinate someone from a younger generation might sound beneath him, but there was no other way.
The moment Maliketh saw Nolan with his own eyes in Stormveil Castle, he knew that none of his subordinates, including the Draconic Tree Sentinel at his side, could hunt this death for him.
He could ignore every other one of Those Who Live in Death, but this death alone could not be left unhunted. He had no choice but to act himself, even lowering himself to come here and find Nolan.
Leaving Farum Azula was no simple matter for him, which was why he had never returned to the Lands Between to trouble Nolan.
But now that Nolan had come to Farum Azula on his own, everything was easy.
Find him, then kill him. That was all.