Elden Lord of Cinders

Boom!

As soon as they met, a black and red light gathered in the dragon's head, accompanied by a pained roar. Before the three could even approach, Ekzykes opened his mouth—unleashing a black and red torrent of destruction that streaked across the sky. As the dragon's head twisted, the stream swept the ground like a blade, tearing through everything in its path.

Morgott leapt high, narrowly avoiding the torrent, and raised the lantern in his hand. It transformed into a massive hammer, which he then brought crashing down on the dragon's head.

Chaos didn't move. Just as the beam was about to touch her, something seemed to flicker beneath the cloth covering her eyes.

Then, with a bizarre distortion, the beam passed through her as if she weren't there. As it swept past, two bursts of Frenzied Flame shot from her hollow eye sockets.

They struck their mark—and from the point of impact, countless Frenzied Flames exploded outward in all directions.

This move usually had a low chance of hitting, but Ekzykes was too large and too slow—he took the full hit.

As for Lloyd...

He rolled aside.

It might not have looked as stylish as the others, but it got the job done.

After dodging, Lloyd swapped his Poleblade for Night and Fire. The moment he got to his feet, it began charging in his hand—then exploded, blasting a torrent of sorcery straight into Ekzykes' mouth.

Bang!

Under the three-pronged assault, Ekzykes lost balance and crashed to the ground. The three reacted immediately.

The lantern in Morgott's hand turned into a large hammer again, and a small hammer formed in his other hand.

Chaos blinked directly in front of Ekzykes, one hand covering her face as Frenzied Flame gathered in her eyes.

Lloyd was about to go in for the execution, but after glancing at the other two, fire began to flare from his straight sword.

Then—

Boom!

Twin Holy Hammers erupted, the Frenzied Flame surged, and Night and Fire exploded all at once.

Ekzykes had just lifted his head before being slammed right back down, as if forced into a newborn's sleep.

This time, Lloyd drew his Poleblade.

With a flurry of slashes, blood spurting wildly, and the others pressing in, Ekzykes fell—and never got back up.

[Obtained 'Shattered Spear']

[Obtained 'Abyss Fragment']

[Shattered Spear]

[A spear forged from the horn of Ekzykes, the one who 'Stepped into the Abyss']

[The weapon is so shattered it barely holds shape]

[It's said Ekzykes was deeply corrupted and ravaged by the Abyss—his body broken beyond repair, even his horns nearly crumbling]

[Ash of War: Ekzykes's Impaling Thrust]

[Summons the remaining power of Ekzykes within the spear to deliver a fierce thrust forward]

[Releases a shockwave straight ahead]

[Temporarily enhances normal attacks]

[Abyss Fragment]

[Soul fragments infused with the aura of the Abyss]

[Can be used to further enhance dark sorceries and incantations]

[Can also serve as a spell catalyst modifier—drastically boosting dark damage at the cost of weakening other spells]

[In ages past, a sage once prophesied:]

["After the flame dies out, the age of the deep sea shall come."]

[Whether that prophecy holds true, none can say.]

A new toy—and a high-tier upgrade for Humanity Remnants.

After checking the loot, Lloyd nodded, stashed the items, and moved forward.

As for the map-clearing process...

There really wasn't much to talk about.

When Lloyd was alone, his lack of healing options forced him to carefully study enemy movements and configurations.

When dealing with groups, he had to lure them out one by one. Without much healing, he couldn't afford to waste Ashes of War, so he relied on normal attacks and jump slashes with the Poleblade to finish the job.

If he got injured along the way, he'd save his Flask and just use talismans to slowly recover.

Safe? Sure. But slow—and honestly kind of boring.

Once Old Margit and Chaos were summoned though...

Lloyd didn't want to sound rude.

But someone ought to give the monsters machine guns.

Seriously, the enemies in this map weren't weak—they were absurdly strong.

From the foot soldiers to the knights to the elites—and especially the newly added stitched monstrosities—they were all just ridiculous.

They had a well-rounded arsenal—long-range, close-quarters, and frequently moved in coordinated groups...

However...

Snap—

That was the Frenzied Flame "Sniper", roasting a crow from eight hundred miles away.

Boom—

That was the Golden Throwing Knife, halving a mid-range monster, then smashing it to bits with a massive hammer up close.

Spurt—

That was the sound of the Poleblade spinning, slicing open a bleeding wound.

It wasn't that the monsters had grown weaker—it was just that Lloyd's lineup had become even more absurd.

But even with such a bizarre team, pressure eventually began to mount as they advanced.

More types of monsters were appearing.

After progressing far enough, they reached a cliff where a Flying Dragon—two sizes smaller than Ekzykes—suddenly swooped in.

Its body seethed with humanity. It leapt from the cliff, diving like a black meteor and slamming into the ground. A burst of darkness exploded outward, catching Old Margit off guard and dealing him heavy damage.

Fortunately, the landing left it with a massive opening. Its attack pattern hadn't changed, and before it could get up, the three of them beat it to death.

Not long after, what had looked like nothing more than part of the scenery—withered tree trunks—suddenly began to move as they passed by.

The twisted squirming of blood and sinew stirred within, and spikes—twisted amalgams of dead wood and flesh—shot out, impaling Chaos through the shoulder.

Then the spikes ignited with Frenzied Flame, which quickly spread back along their length and engulfed the trunk in fire. It burned to ash with a wailing shriek.

And as the trio pushed forward, these strange, never-before-seen monsters became more and more common.

Not only were they more bizarre and harder to detect, but their quality kept improving—and their numbers kept rising.

Something wasn't right.

After a while, Lloyd came to a stop, scanning his surroundings.

This dungeon felt entirely different from the Pus of Man and the Crystal Academy.

Those two had tricky enemies too, but once you figured out the mechanics, they were manageable.

But now, even though they had more allies and had carved their way through swarms of enemies, the easy targets were growing fewer, replaced by creatures that—though not as abstract—were far harder to predict and defend against.

It felt like something in the darkness was deliberately manipulating the monsters' strength, tailoring them to counter their fighting style.

Eventually, after progressing a bit further, Lloyd and the others came across another Site of Grace.

Upon activation, the third Golden Effigy lit up.

[Summon the helper "Starscourge" Radahn?]

After selecting "Yes," a burst of golden-purple light appeared—and a towering giant emerged before them.

Alongside him rode the horse girl perched on his shoulder.

...Were these two now considered a single unit?

Staring at the giant and the small horse, Lloyd fell silent in thought.

Upon being summoned, Radahn had meant to greet Lloyd and ask why he'd been called in.

But the moment he opened his eyes, the scene around him startled him—and then he looked down and saw Morgott.

Morgott raised his head and met his gaze.

For a moment, the two said nothing, staring silently.

They knew each other.

Not just acquaintances—they'd once clashed on the battlefield.

Back when Starscourge led the Redmane army to assault the Royal Capital, he'd charged at the front, poised to break through the lines and storm the city.

Then, out of nowhere, a Demigod descended from the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, dropping from the sky and stomping the unsuspecting Starscourge into the ground. A single swing of his staff nearly caved his head in.

Yes—it was Morgott.

Or more precisely, Morgott's true form.

Afterward, it was Morgott who led the Leyndell knights and repelled Radahn's assault, singlehandedly shattering the siblings' entire war plan.

Yet despite their past clash on the front lines, their current reunion didn't carry the same tension as when Ranni and Old Margit met.

As for why...

"You're here too? I've regained my senses now. Once my body's in better shape, how about a rematch?"

Radahn looked at Morgott, speaking with enthusiasm.

Morgott covered his face.

Great. Another idiot.

Strictly speaking, Starscourge was also a traitor—Morgott had insulted him in his critiques before. But when it came to this one, Morgott mostly felt helpless.

Because there was just no good way to assess this guy.

The Night of Black Knives? Sure, it was orchestrated by Radahn's sister, and no one knew how many sneaky little hands had been involved that night.

But up to now, Morgott hadn't found a single trace of Radahn's big, clumsy hand in any of it—and honestly, he couldn't imagine him pulling it off even if he'd tried.

And during the Shattering, Radahn didn't even join the initial rebellion. Even in later offensives, it never really seemed like he wanted to conquer the Royal Capital to become king—it felt more like he just wanted to bail his brother out.

Then Caelid fell to the Scarlet Rot, and Radahn's conduct remained pretty much spotless. Despite being part of the royal bloodline, he hadn't rushed to take Ranni's side. And, well… he was kind of a lovable dope.

So while, yes, Starscourge was technically a rebel and had once clashed with Morgott in battle, Morgott didn't actually dislike him all that much. In fact, given his own abstract little brother, he could even relate to him in a way.

And now...

He glanced at Lloyd, who looked eager to speak up.

Then at Radahn, arms crossed, brimming with excitement and clearly itching to say something too.

Morgott's head started to throb.

He'd rather die right here than deal with both of these fools at once.

"...I'd like to have a word with General Starscourge."

After thinking it over, Morgott figured talking to Radahn was the safer choice.

Lloyd looked a bit disappointed but nodded and walked off.

Then Morgott looked up, ready to speak—but his eyes landed on the figure perched on Radahn's shoulder.

"And this is...?"

"Oh, you've seen her before—my little horse."

"Oh, I see. Lady Little Horse..." Morgott nodded politely—then froze.

Wait. Who?

He stared blankly for a few moments, then slowly raised his head to get a proper look at the horse girl on Radahn's shoulder.

She gave a slight nod.

"Yes, just as you suspect—I'm the horse General Starscourge used to ride."

She paused, then added as if to confirm her identity:

"You even smacked me with a stick once."

Morgott: "...?"

He had no idea what was happening.

But he was deeply shaken.

...

Elsewhere—

After parting ways with Old Margit, Lloyd found a tree stump and sat down. He stared into the darkness ahead, then pulled out a gray ring and turned it over in his hands.

"My kin, what's this?"

Chaos leaned in, curiously eyeing the ring in his hand.

—Not that she had eyes, so how exactly was she even seeing it?

"Nothing much. Just wondering how this thing is supposed to work..."

The gray ring was the Covenant of the Soul he'd gotten earlier—a ring that could supposedly form a pact.

The issue was, for all the grand description, now that he had it, Lloyd realized he had no idea how to use it.

It wasn't even a usable item. It was categorized under key items, and giving it to someone didn't trigger anything.

—At least, nothing happened when he tried it on Alice.

Oh, and by the way, even though it didn't work, he hadn't asked for the ring back.

This one? He got it after a few more Master Challenges.

"Can you figure out how to use it?"

Lloyd looked up at Chaos. She studied the ring for a moment, then slowly said,

"It's a deeply condensed soul. Without a specific ritual, it'd probably take... very intense emotions to awaken it."

Intense emotions?

Lloyd pondered.

"So... you mean I should kill her whole family?"

Chaos: "...?"

What kind of leap in logic was that?

"Well, think about it. I kill her family, she gets super emotional. Then I light a fire and bring them all back—that would really crank the emotions up, right?"

Staring at Lloyd's perfectly serious face, Chaos was silent for a long moment, then let out a sigh.

"My kin, maybe you should change your name to Frenzied Flame..."

"Hey, come on, isn't that a perfectly reasonable idea? And no one would actually get hurt in the process..."

Lloyd shook his head with a sigh, then looked up at her.

"So, what did you want from me?"

Chaos paused for a moment, surprised he caught on so quickly. But instead of answering right away, she sat down beside him and stared into the distance.

"My kin, what do you think life is supposed to be like?"

"I don't know."

Lloyd shook his head and spoke plainly.

"Just get to the point. I don't do riddles."

Chaos was silent for a while, then let out a quiet sigh.

"What I mean is—do you think these despairing beings really chose to become like this?"

"If they knew the suffering that awaited them after birth, would they still have wanted to come into this world?"

She turned to face him.

"My kin, I know you see this world with kindness in your heart, but have you ever considered that all the beauty you witness is built on someone else's pain?"

"Those who suffer because they weren't blessed. Those who were blessed but still fell into torment. The weak ones crying out in despair..."

"Have you ever thought about them?"

Chaos fixed her eyes on him, waiting for his reply.

Then...

"Of course I have."

Lloyd nodded, as if it were obvious, and turned to her with a puzzled look.

"But so what? What's that got to do with me?"

He paused, then gave her a suspicious glance.

"Wait—don't tell me you're trying to pull some kind of moral guilt trip on me? Let me be clear—I used to be a pragmatic player..."

Pragmatic player? What does that even mean?

Chaos was briefly at a loss.

But then she shook her head.

"Even if you choose to ignore that despair, it still exists—and one day, it'll burn its way to you..."

"Do you know why the Frenzied Flame exists? I was defeated and sealed long ago... yet I'm still here."

"It's not just because of you. Even without you, I would've appeared here anyway..."

"Frenzied Flame and despair are born together. If there were no desperate longing among living beings, I wouldn't exist—much less be here now."

"But the truth is, even after being defeated and sealed away, I keep appearing on this land—stronger each time."

"It's not because I'm powerful. It's because despair is growing stronger. Because these desperate lives were never willing to be born into this world in the first place. They long for salvation through chaos..."

But just as Chaos tried to continue preaching her philosophy, Lloyd cut in.

"You're wavering."

Chaos stopped.

Lloyd turned and stared at the fragment on her neck.

"That thing gave you power, and shelter... but it's also corrupting you, isn't it?"

"You weren't saying all that to me. You were saying it to yourself."

"You're trying to resist the corruption, aren't you?"

Silence.

"Ah... my kin, sometimes I really hate how perceptive you are..."

Exposed, Chaos sighed. She lifted her chin slightly, revealing the shard on her neck.

It was a pitch-black fragment Lloyd had seen before—and now, infused with the surrounding darkness, black markings were spreading outward from it.

It was slowly corroding her soul.

This effect didn't work on Lloyd, but for anyone else, it was very real.

Old Margit was a special case, Radahn had just arrived, and neither of them had a fragment.

That left Chaos as the one suffering the most.

The Frenzied Flame getting corrupted? It sounded insane.

Because it was.

But come on—this was the Abyss.

And because Chaos was already mentally unstable, what was soul corruption to others had become... a corruption of humanity for her.

In fact, this corruption didn't even start now.

It had been creeping in slowly, ever since she crossed paths with a certain fool long ago.

It was so slow, so subtle, that Chaos never noticed.

Not until she entered this dungeon and the Darkness wrapped itself around the shard—only then did she realize something was wrong.

She was being eroded by humanity.

And that wasn't something her flames could burn away.

In fact, quite the opposite. Because Frenzied Flame was born from despair, if she dared to burn this concentrated despair with her own fire, sure—it would ignite.

But what would happen after that...

That was anyone's guess.

She touched the fragment on her neck, then looked up and spoke bluntly.

"Then can you let me leave? If you do, I can offer you something else—something truly valuable..."

Even though she had responded to his call on her own, this was Lloyd's domain. Once inside, leaving wasn't something she could decide for herself.

"No."

For once, Lloyd—usually easygoing—rejected her request without hesitation.

"And I can promise you this: even if you choose to die, your soul will remain here. In fact, it might be even more vulnerable to corruption."

"Ah... my kin, you really..."

Chaos had expected that answer, but hearing it still made her sigh.

"If you let me go, we could keep things as they are. But if you insist on keeping me here, maybe next time... I won't answer your call."

"Then I'll come find you."

Lloyd looked her in the eyes, his tone serious.

"Even if you leave Roundtable Hold, I'll find a way to reach you again."

"Whether you're in Limgrave, Caelid, or somewhere even farther—I'll find you."

"And then..."

Lloyd reached out and pinched the fragment on her neck. His fingertips glowed with lingering flame, making the darkness writhe even more.

"I'll keep corrupting you. Like this."

Chaos didn't resist. She simply stared quietly at the man before her.

"Why?"

"Because I think the way you are now is wrong."

Lloyd said it plainly.

"I don't agree with your philosophy. I don't believe the despair of a few should drag the entire world into the mud."

"But I still support you. Because I believe those who despair deserve a flame of their own."

Cosmic balance? Retribution? Just deserts?

Lloyd wasn't sure what to call it.

But he didn't believe the existence of the Frenzied Flame was inherently wrong.

When justice fails, when darkness and cruelty become all-consuming, when despair becomes inevitable—then the Frenzied Flame that erupts in response is, in its own way, a kind of justice. A kind of salvation.

He didn't support the Frenzied Flame as it was now, and he wouldn't hesitate to destroy it when the time came.

But if it could be corrupted—changed...

He wanted to try.

Just like he had with Chaos before.

"You want to corrupt and defile me? You really are insane, my kin..."

Normally, anyone—man or god—would resist something like this. Or run.

But Frenzied Flame? If she had a normal mind, she wouldn't be what she was.

In fact, after a brief pause, she realized—this might be a chance.

A chance to turn herself into kindling. To feed the flame standing in front of her.

She reached beneath her blindfold, fumbled for a moment, then pulled out two rotting "grapes" and held them to Lloyd's lips.

"My kin, if you want to..."

She hadn't even finished speaking when Lloyd leaned in and ate both grapes in one bite.

He chewed for a moment, then let the deep blackness soak into his soul, completely staining the Frenzied Flame's essence within those eyes.

Then he pushed Chaos back onto the tree stump, leaning forward, slowly opening his mouth toward her empty eye sockets.

Thick, viscous black mist poured forth.

That tainted essence flowed into her, threading into her sockets, coiling and churning—gradually forming two circular shapes.

Lloyd lowered his head, looking at her face—twisted slightly with pain—and whispered:

"This is only the beginning."

"Whether you fight or give in, I'll keep defiling you."

"Ah... my kin, you really..."

Chaos tried to say something, but the pain overwhelmed her. A soft groan escaped her lips instead.

Lloyd watched her closely. Once he was sure of her condition, the last traces of flame on his body faded. He stood up.

Then looked around.

Old Margit stood to the side.

Radahn, beside him, had his eyes covered by the little horse's hand.

Morgott stared at Lloyd—and the Chaos lying beneath him—completely stunned.

Even the small Godrick lantern he held slipped from his grasp.

Inside, the severed head opened its eyes wide, filled with shock and disbelief.

...

[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]

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