"Blade of Miquella, Malenia—" Lansseax looked at the backs of Miquella and Malenia leaning against each other. Her boot heels rhythmically kicked against the wooden crate. Suddenly, she clapped her hands together. "Raven, don't you think a title like that is absolutely fantastic?"
"Yeah, it's very imposing." Used to Lansseax's spontaneous whims, Raven casually agreed.
"Right? Right?!" Lansseax leaned in close to Raven's face. "Don't you think we should have a title like that too?"
"I—I suppose it wouldn't be impossible, if you really want one." Raven's pitch was unnaturally high. He turned his face away, his cheeks slightly flushed. "It's just, don't you think it's a bit too embarrassing? The Blade of Raven or something..."
"Blade of Lansseax, Raven!" Lansseax hadn't heard the second half of Raven's sentence at all. She slapped him hard on the shoulder. "When facing a strong foe, boldly shout out this name and let the enemy tremble in the shadow of Lansseax!"
"Boldly my foot, absolutely no one is going to tremble!" Raven's knuckles cracked. "Hey, I'm your commander. Since when does a commander call himself the blade of a squad member? It should clearly be the other way around."
"But I already have the title 'Glaive of Farum Azula'," Lansseax said. "Don't you think that compared to introducing yourself to others as Raven of Caria—"
"I don't think so."
"Alright, let's compromise. There's no problem with you calling yourself the Blade of Lansseax. Though I do think having more syllables sounds more imposing."
Raven put a hand to his forehead. "No."
"A title can indeed strike awe into enemies," Loretta said with a smile. "Since that's the case, I will be the Blade of Raven. Is that alright?"
"Loretta, you—"
"I agree on Raven's behalf," Lansseax declared solemnly. "Loretta, I look forward to you spreading the title 'Blade of the Blade of Lansseax' throughout the Lands Between."
Loretta's smile became somewhat stiff. "Wouldn't that be too much of a tongue twister?"
"Not at all, you just need to get the liaisons and stress placements right—" Lansseax said enthusiastically.
"Alright, let's end this topic." Raven clapped his hands, slid off the wooden crate, and went to meet the approaching Miquella and Malenia.
"Sorry for keeping everyone waiting," Miquella apologized.
"It wasn't that long. Today's sunset is beautiful; when you're admiring it, time passes in the blink of an eye." Raven smiled and looked at Malenia, who was holding Miquella's hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Princess Malenia."
"Greetings, Prince Raven," Malenia said. Her voice had the timbre of a cello, deep and beautiful. "Miquella has already introduced you to me."
Looking at her extended hand, Raven was somewhat surprised. He hesitated for a moment before shaking it. "Will this not cause you any discomfort?"
"I have never yielded to the Scarlet Rot." The thin lips beneath the winged helm curled up slightly. "You need not worry."
"Malenia will be participating in this expedition," Miquella said, looking at the ground. His gaze seemed to pierce through layers of rock, reaching straight to where the Goddess of Rot resided. "She will sever her fate at the Lake of Rot."
Deeproot Depths. In front of a row of commandeered houses, residents stood in over a dozen long queues, undergoing screening by Leyndell Knights.
"Name?"
"Hairy-foot."
"What, is that your name?"
"That's what everyone calls me. In my home village, parents don't usually name their children. Since I have long hairs on my feet..."
"Alright, alright," the knight said impatiently. He casually waved a stream of golden light, sweeping it across Hairy-foot's face, then pushed forward a slip of paper. "Press your finger onto the inkpad, then press it here—where are you pressing? Press here!"
"Yes, yes, my lord," Hairy-foot said hastily, pressing his fingerprint onto the cardboard slip that bore a serial number and a stamp.
The knight quickly jotted down Hairy-foot's name on the slip and handed it back to him. "Hold onto this. This slip proves you are not a Kindred of Rot. If you lose it, come back immediately for a replacement. If we do a spot check later and find you without a slip, you know what the consequences will be, right?"
"I won't lose it, I won't lose it," Hairy-foot said, bowing and scraping.
"You seem to have a decent attitude," the knight nodded and pointed to the side. "If you're interested, you can go to Room Seven to pick up a job."
"A job?"
"Like what I'm doing right now. The pay won't be meager," the knight glanced at him. "Or, if you have the guts for it, you can sign up for the security squad. If you pass the assessment, you can get a dagger. Members of the security squad have a lot of authority, if you catch my drift?"
"A dagger?" Hairy-foot panicked and waved his hands repeatedly. "I can't do that sort of thing."
"Then off you go. Next!" The knight didn't mind and waved Hairy-foot away.
In the distance, a Tree Sentinel observed the entire process, shaking his head.
"General Ramsden," the Tree Sentinel said. "That knight's incantation is completely just for show. You can't sniff out the Kindred of Rot like that."
"I never intended to sniff out any Kindred of Rot," the gold-armored general said, crossing his arms. "The kind of Kindred of Rot that can blend into a crowd are high-ranking priests well-versed in illusionary magic. Even you or I probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart."
"I understand your intentions, General," the Tree Sentinel fell silent for a moment. "But forcibly taking control of Deeproot like this ultimately carries some risk. If it sparks a riot... we only have eight hundred men, after all..."
"It's exactly because we only have eight hundred men that we must do this," the general said calmly. "Otherwise, once they reach a consensus and establish their own organization, we'll be in trouble."
"They wouldn't dare attack us unprovoked."
"And then what? We just huddle in our camp outside the town and beg them to be kind enough to send us some rations?" The general sneered. "Conflict will break out sooner or later. We have to strike first to control Deeproot. Besides, what if they actually spread the rot to the roots of the Erdtree?"
"Sigh, true. After all, we've already imprisoned Makhno," the Tree Sentinel sighed.
Two days ago, upon discovering their retreat route had been cut off, General Ramsden made a prompt decision and ordered the capture of Makhno and his group. The firefight ended quickly; over a dozen Deeproot warriors were killed, and Makhno and the survivors were disarmed and locked up.
Following an interrogation, the general had to admit that these Deeproot warriors were completely unaware of the tunnel collapse. He didn't stop there, however. Instead, he took advantage of the situation to torture them for information on the other members of Makhno's gang. He then immediately launched a surprise attack on the Deeproot town, wiping out almost the entirety of Makhno's gang in one fell swoop.
Before the residents of Deeproot could react, the general delivered a public speech. He acknowledged the principle of Deeproot's autonomy and guaranteed that Deeproot would absolutely be managed by its own people.
"...However, the heretical faith of the Scarlet Rot is spreading within Deeproot. The brutal attacks launched by fanatics in the Royal Capital have already caused thousands of casualties. Do you want something like this to happen here in Deeproot?"
The general paused, giving the crowd of Deeproot residents below time to think.
"To ensure the safety of everyone in Deeproot, we, the Lordsworn Army, will help Deeproot establish a grassroots administrative organizational system. We will register the identities of everyone and gradually form various functional teams. Please rest assured, these staff members will all be responsible people from Deeproot. Deeproot managed by Deeproot people—we will not break this principle.
"Soldiers are very simple; we are born to serve the Erdtree with absolute loyalty. We are not corrupt noble lords, and we have no interest in turning Deeproot into our own private property. But if anyone dares to disrupt the order of Deeproot or stop Deeproot from returning to the embrace of the Erdtree, we will absolutely not let them off!
"Finally, I know you are all dissatisfied with those noble lords, having abandoned your hometowns to come to Deeproot. However, the Erdtree has not abandoned you. After your flesh dies, your souls can still return to the Erdtree and receive its eternal blessing.
"But if you commit a true act of treason and turn to heretical faiths, your souls will wander and wail in the wastelands until they dissipate—or worse, be reduced to dinner for those Outer Gods. Please consider my words carefully today, and pass them on to everyone. Thank you."
Through this speech, the general successfully pacified the people of Deeproot and prevented a major riot. The vast majority of Deeproot residents adopted a wait-and-see attitude, tacitly accepting the army stationing in their town.
"Is General Ramsden here?" At that moment, a Leyndell Knight walked through the door. Upon seeing the general, he quickly approached and whispered a few words. The general's face instantly darkened upon hearing them.
"Take me there immediately." The general strode out of the house. "Lock down the scene, look for witnesses, and conduct a house-to-house search in the vicinity. We must catch the murderer."
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(192 Chapter - Ongoing)
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