"What's that supposed to mean?" Lansang was momentarily stunned before she snapped back irritably, "Hey, I haven't been a drag on you this whole way, have I?"
"I don't have full confidence in the next part of my plan, so I have to be prepared for failure," Raven said. "I am Rykard's brother. Even if they catch me, they won't dare do anything serious to me. But if you're caught with me, I'm worried you'll be in danger."
"Sounds like a remarkably unreliable plan."
"Perhaps," Raven smiled helplessly. "But whatever Rykard is trying to do, he has been preparing for far too long. The tide has already turned in his favor. If I want to break this stalemate, I have to find victory through risk."
"Are you certain Rykard won't lay a hand on you if he catches you?"
Hearing Lansang's question, Raven opened his mouth to speak, then paused.
"Yes, I'm certain he will forgive me," he exhaled, speaking with some difficulty. "Even if I intend to sabotage the plan he's meticulously prepared for years, he won't harm me. This confrontation is inherently unfair."
"Because you can't lose, right? Since Rykard is unwilling to hurt you."
"No, because I've already lost from the very beginning." Raven closed his eyes, then opened them again and pulled out a Communication Glintstone, handing it to Lansang.
"Lansang, find a safe place to hide. If I don't return to regroup with you, wait until the Volcano Festival is over. Even if I am caught by Rykard, I should have escaped by then and will find you as soon as possible. This is an order from your Captain."
"So, I'm just supposed to do nothing from start to finish?" Seeing Raven's thorough arrangements, Lansang's brows furrowed. "Can my Dragonbolt not help at all?"
"The issues between my brother and me shouldn't involve you." Raven grabbed Lansang's wrist, pressing the Communication Glintstone into her hand and closing her fingers around it. "Without you, I never would have made it this far. You've already helped me enough."
Raven took several steps back, raising his index finger to his lips to stop Lansang from saying anything more. He gave her one last smile and a wave.
"Thank you, Lansang."
At the front of the Volcano soldier column, the Godskin Noble suddenly glanced back. "I have matters to attend to; I must depart for a moment."
"The Inquisitor's orders were for you to assist us in transporting the Serpent's Amnion," the Volcano Knight said.
"The base is not far from here," the Godskin's voice echoed through layers of fat, sounding muffled and indistinct. "There are only Flame Slugs along the way. You can handle them yourselves."
The knight snorted. "Fine, go then. I don't have the authority to command you anyway."
Watching the Godskin Noble waddle away, his belly swaying, the knight's expression shifted. He waved a soldier over and whispered, "Follow him quietly. Find out what he's up to."
Standing atop a jagged rock by the shore, Raven gazed out over the magma lake, his robes fluttering in the wind. At his fingertip, a single spark of Ghostflame burned quietly; even the scorching winds blowing from the lake couldn't make it flicker.
Sensing someone approaching from behind, Raven blew out the flame and turned around with composure.
"As I thought, you truly do have a resonance with the Rune of Death, you follower of the Gloam-Eyed—"
Before Raven could finish his sentence, he was forced to leap off the rock. He landed in a roll and turned, half-kneeling on the ground as he deployed a Glintstone Shield to protect himself.
The Godskin Noble descended from the sky. With a thunderous boom, the entire rock shattered into pieces. The massive shockwave even kicked up a giant swell in the magma lake.
Debris slammed into his shield like bullets, followed by a violent shockwave of Black Flame that swept across the ground, tossing Raven back like a pebble.
The Godskin Noble lifted his belly from the rubble, his body wreathed in black and white flames as he turned toward Raven.
"Stop, stop! Don't attack yet!" Raven shouted, fearing the other would jump up for another belly slam. "Let's talk!"
"A lackey of the Black Blade... what is there to talk about?" Drawing a heavy rapier, the Godskin Noble settled into a deceptively comical thrusting stance. "Those who profane the Rune of Death are beyond forgiveness."
"I am no kin of the Black Blade." Raven's right hand ignited with Ghostflame, which he wiped across his Glintstone Shield, instantly swallowing the Black Flame that had been clinging to its surface. "I am the heir to the Gloam-Eyed Queen."
"Hmm?" Seeing that the ochre flames had not been canceled out by the Black Flame but had instead grown slightly larger, the Godskin Noble stopped in his tracks. "Your death-fire can consume my Black Flame?"
"Maliketh the Black Blade rejected the Law of Death and chose to seal Destined Death away. He would never spread the Rune of Death," Raven said. "Furthermore, even if he shared fragments of the Rune with others, that power would diminish with use. It would never grow on its own. Am I wrong?"
The tip of the Godskin Noble's rapier wavered.
Raven continued, "Only one who comprehends the Law of Death can wield the true power of the Rune. In the Lands Between today, I am the only Empyrean who exercises that Law."
"Your law is not Death," the Godskin Noble said, though he had already lowered his blade. "The Queen's law was not like this."
"Is that so?" Raven replied noncommittally. Suddenly, his figure blurred, and he shot across the ground like a bolt, covering dozens of meters toward a specific rock.
The Volcano soldier hiding behind the rock turned to flee, but Raven took a single step and appeared instantly behind him, his hand reaching out to crush the man's throat.
the Ghostflame greedily accepted this offering, flames erupting from the soldier's eyes, nose, and mouth. Raven let go, and the soldier's body turned to bone mid-air, dissolving into ash before it even hit the ground, leaving only weapons and armor scattered in the dirt.
Closing his eyes, Raven took a deep breath. The stamina consumed by his Hound's Step was restored in an instant. He turned back to the Godskin Noble, his aura now dark and inscrutable. Within his eyes, there seemed to be illusions of countless seas of stars being born and dying.
A black star rose behind him, casting an indescribable light that shrouded him while plunging everything else into darkness. He walked toward the Godskin Noble, his stature seeming as vast as the stars themselves—beautiful beyond words, yet terrifying and sublime.
"You believe my law is not Death only because your understanding of death is shallow and one-dimensional. The stars will go dark, the universe will suffer heat death; in strange and ancient aeons, even death itself may die."
"Regardless of whatever agreement you and Rykard reached in the past," Raven said, reaching out a hand to the Godskin Noble, "come with me. I will lead you to hunt the gods."
The two stared at each other. Although the Godskin Noble was much taller, Raven was undoubtedly looking down on him. The concepts of subject, object, and space itself seemed to warp under the influence of some strange power.
Clang.
Finally, the Godskin Noble dropped his rapier. He sank to one knee, clumsily leaning forward to kiss Raven's hand.
Raven pulled his hand back without a word as the light of the black star faded away.
Secretly, he breathed a sigh of relief. If the Godskin hadn't fallen for his bluff, he had no certainty of being able to silence the creature. He would have faced endless pursuit, and stopping Rykard would have been out of the question. Fortunately, his judgment regarding the Godskin faction's stance was correct. This risky gamble had succeeded after all.
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(155 Chapter - Ongoing)
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