Nolan stood silently among the dragons, surrounded by great dragons whose eyes were filled with reverence and worship.
His gaze fell on the two Godskins kneeling before him.
They wore heavy shackles, their bodies trembling slightly under Nolan's stare.
Nolan glanced at them, then raised his head and looked toward the dome of the Ancient Dragon Temple.
With two beautiful, adorable dragon girls at his sides, it looked as though the Lord of Cinder had become the master of the City in the Sky overnight, and a master indulging in luxury and pleasure at that.
In truth, he was not the one standing at the center. After all, he was only a guest in this city, and he had never been the sort to overshadow his hosts.
But regardless of where everyone stood, whether Godskins or Ancient Dragons, all eyes were fixed on Nolan as one.
He was the warrior who had hunted the Dread Dragon, the King who had beheaded the Black Blade. His epic deeds had already spread throughout Farum Azula, and he deserved such treatment.
So after learning the result of Nolan's battle with Maliketh, these great beings immediately treated Nolan as an honored guest.
According to the Ancient Dragons' arrangements, Nolan would meet Placidusax in three days.
Today's meeting, however, was to discuss how to deal with the culprits who had caused the chaos.
Those two culprits were kneeling before Nolan right now. In other words, the two Godskins before him.
Because they had heard the Godskins were connected to him, the Ancient Dragons had made an exception and handed these two over for him to deal with.
"Our god sent us here to assist you. When we learned of the King's arrival, we hurried over specifically to pay our respects."
The Godskin Apostle spoke before Nolan with a sincere and earnest attitude.
"But those Beastmen refused to communicate with us at all. The moment they saw us, they attacked."
It had to be said that Beastmen truly were excellent servants.
Under the Ancient Dragons' orders, they guarded the city districts, and the moment they saw someone who was not one of their own, they attacked.
Unfortunately, they knew the beast tongue and the dragon tongue, but apparently not the language of humans.
And so, the Beastmen and Godskins had not understood a single word from each other before they started fighting.
Perhaps all of this could be blamed on the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
She had probably forgotten about these two Godskins long ago. Otherwise, she should have warned him before he came to Farum Azula.
"Do you have any idea how great an impact your reckless actions caused?" Nolan asked.
Farum Azula's divided balance of power had lasted hundreds, nearly a thousand years, only to be completely shattered in a few days. How could the impact not be great?
Even now, Ancient Dragons were still leading Beastmen outside to clear out the remnants of the Golden Order Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, we didn't know things would turn out like this either... We truly didn't mean to cause such a huge disturbance. After repelling the first group of Beastmen, we originally planned to retreat and make a longer-term plan. Who would have thought those Beastmen would chase us relentlessly? More and more pursuers came after us, so we had no choice but to flee through the eastern district, which caused the commotion. We never expected the Golden Faction to get involved afterward either."
The Godskin Apostle explained helplessly.
They had come to this isolated land of Farum Azula for only one purpose. The Destined Death held by Maliketh.
However, after searching bitterly for a long time, they had still failed to find a way to reclaim their god's power. With no other choice, they had hidden themselves and kept out of sight.
On ordinary days, to avoid the Golden Faction's searches, they hid in the lower buildings and did not dare show themselves. They had not had much contact with the Ancient Dragon faction either.
Although they knew the Beastmen were a rather barbaric race, they had never expected them to be so unreasonable.
They were elegant nobles, after all. When they first met those Beastmen, they had even greeted them politely.
Who would have thought the Beastmen would ignore them completely and try to chop them into eight pieces?
Fortunately, the Ancient Dragons understood human speech. Otherwise, they would now be a heap of dismembered corpses instead of prisoners.
After hearing the Godskin Apostle's statement, Nolan began considering how to handle them.
Although he had never even met them before, they were indeed his subordinates now.
Taken more seriously, their actions could be seen as representing the Firelink Army, and might even become a diplomatic issue between the Firelink Army and the Ancient Dragons.
Nolan thought silently to himself and finally understood why the Gloam-Eyed Queen had lost to Marika.
When you were out in the world, what use was being able to fight if this was the brain you had? How could she possibly compete with Marika?
Of course, it was also possible that being dead for too long had made her head stop working properly, but either way, this blame was definitely hers. She could not throw it off.
As Nolan thought this, he began considering how to properly extort the Gloam-Eyed Queen once he returned.
But after thinking it over, it seemed she no longer had anything valuable left on her.
Just as Nolan's thoughts were about to slide downhill, a female voice spoke before him.
"My King, I am glad to see you return in triumph."
Those words had come from the mouth of the Godskin Apostle.
It was the same scene as when Nolan and the Gloam-Eyed Queen first met. Only this time, the nervous one was no longer Miss Numen, but the Ancient Dragons.
Awe toward the majesty of gods had long been carved into the blood of the lives of the Lands Between.
And although the Gloam-Eyed Queen was called an Empyrean, in truth, she was no different from the other false gods who had not obtained the Elden Ring.
A false god was still a god.
"Your Majesty?" Nolan knew who it was the moment he heard that voice, and immediately asked in a surprised tone, "It really has been a long time. May I ask what brings the Queen here so suddenly?"
As if you don't know! the Gloam-Eyed Queen thought.
She suppressed the displeasure in her heart and smiled.
"For the Destined Death, of course. I can sense it within you. I trust His Majesty Nolan would not seize what belongs to an ally, would he?"
On the surface, the Gloam-Eyed Queen looked calm, but in truth, she was filled with longing for the power that had once belonged to her.
Yet she did not show that longing. Instead, she took the moral high ground and reminded Nolan to keep his promise.
He had promised her that he would return Destined Death to the Lands Between.
Unfortunately, this Goddess had underestimated how thick-skinned humans could be.
"So it's Destined Death." Nolan put on a look of sudden realization. "Actually, I'd like to return it to you too, but I can't."
"You can't!?" The Gloam-Eyed Queen instantly grew agitated. This was her source. If she could not take it back, how was she supposed to fight Marika?
"You noticed it too. After Maliketh died, Destined Death did not return to the Lands Between. Instead, it fused directly into my body. That is clearly abnormal. Don't you find it strange?" Nolan said solemnly.
The Gloam-Eyed Queen frowned slightly and stared at Nolan.
It was indeed strange.
"Perhaps this is the will of heaven," Nolan sighed, his tone carrying both helplessness and a hint of acceptance.
"The will of heaven?" The Gloam-Eyed Queen froze, suddenly remembering that when she first met this young King, she too had thought it was the "will of heaven."
"Now that things have come to this, we can only call it the will of heaven. But you don't need to worry. Since Destined Death is in me, I won't seal it away. In a sense, doesn't that mean Destined Death has returned to the Lands Between?"
Nolan smiled reassuringly, looking into the Gloam-Eyed Queen's eyes as he continued,
"Destined Death is now a part of me. Once I ascend to the throne of Elden Lord, when the God-King rules the world, I can still use the Elden Ring to make death part of the new era. The result will be the same."
The Gloam-Eyed Queen listened to the bright future Nolan laid out for her and could not help nodding. Although something about it felt wrong, she had to admit that what Nolan said made a great deal of sense.