Elden Lord of Cinders

Morgott.

At the mention of the name, Margit visibly stiffened. A strained expression crept onto his face.

"I don't know who you are, but you must be mistaking me for someone else. I'm Margit, the Fell Omen..."

Elizabeth shrugged, clearly uninterested in pressing the issue.

"If you say so, then sure."

Seeing her let it go, Margit breathed a quiet sigh of relief and turned to Lloyd.

"And this is...?"

"Elizabeth. An old friend. She's into blood builds."

Elizabeth? He didn't recognize the name, but for some reason, it felt oddly familiar...

And she seemed to know him...

Margit fell into thought.

While he was mulling it over, Elizabeth looked toward Chaos, ready to speak—then caught sight of the ring on her hand.

She froze for a moment, eyes widening, then turned sharply to Lloyd.

"Isn't that a little fast to be cheating on me?"

Lloyd: "...?"

What did she mean, "cheating too fast"? And when had he even cheated?

"Didn't we just form a covenant?"

Elizabeth pointed at the twinblades in his hand, her tone full of righteous indignation.

"Our token's still right here. And then you go and cozy up to someone else the moment I turn my back? If that's not cheating, what is?"

Silence.

Lloyd looked at the weapon in his hand, then back at Elizabeth.

"You never said it was a token, or that there was any promise involved. You just told me to stab you to death with it."

Elizabeth's neck stiffened.

"Just because I didn't say it doesn't mean it wasn't a covenant! Covenants aren't things to be taken lightly... Whatever, I'm done teasing you."

She glanced at the ring on Chaos's hand again and sighed.

"I was planning to take things slow, but you've already gotten involved with someone else. Though, I guess it doesn't feel too bad... Anyway, who is she?"

"She's the Frenzied Flame."

"Oh, Frenzied Flame..."

Elizabeth nodded, then suddenly froze and looked up in disbelief.

"Wait—who?"

"The Incarnation of Frenzied Flame."

Elizabeth stood frozen for a few seconds, then looked at Lloyd, then at Chaos. The latter didn't bother hiding her identity and casually displayed her Frenzied Flame Silence.

After a long pause, Elizabeth finally spoke again with a sigh.

"Of course it's you..."

Truth be told, Elizabeth didn't like the Frenzied Flame.

In fact, unless you counted those lunatic followers with scrambled brains, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone across the Lands Between who did.

Elizabeth knew she wasn't exactly a good person, and she didn't pretend to be.

But compared to the Frenzied Flame, she almost seemed too kind.

And now, not only had Lloyd entered a covenant with the Frenzied Flame, it looked like he'd actually tamed this mad fire...

She'd never seen anything like it.

Out of sheer curiosity, Elizabeth later went to speak with Chaos.

After learning the full terms of the covenant, she was stunned all over again.

"You two... really went that far?"

To Margit, making a covenant with Frenzied Flame was already an abstract concept.

But in truth, as a wild demigod born from the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, his strength wasn't lacking—only his perspective. There were many things he simply didn't know or couldn't grasp.

But Elizabeth was different.

As a deity herself, she knew exactly what it meant.

This wasn't just a merging of souls, or a simple agreement—it was a corruption and rewriting of one's very existence.

In the Lands Between, gods possess something known as "divine essence."

It is the most fundamental and vital part of a deity—more essential than life or soul. To them, life and soul are merely external manifestations, or vessels.

Their true foundation lies in that essence.

Even if their body is reduced to ash, even if their soul is obliterated, even if their worshippers and all records of their existence are wiped from the world—so long as that essence remains intact, so long as it still exists somewhere, they still exist. They can return.

But the opposite is also true.

Even if the body and soul are left untouched, if their essence is corrupted or even rewritten...

To put it simply, Elizabeth had never dared to go that far.

Not only had she never tried it—she had never even considered the idea.

Yet now, not only had these two actually done it, one of them was the Frenzied Flame... and the Frenzied Flame was the one being tampered with.

All in all, Elizabeth was completely stunned.

And for the first time, she felt like an outdated conservative when it came to this kind of play.

You two might be taking things a little too far.

...

As for the abyssal environment around them?

Elizabeth wasn't particularly surprised.

After witnessing that bleeding heart, forget the Abyssal-tainted Caelid—Lloyd could drag her straight into the Abyss for a stroll and she wouldn't even bat an eye.

Others might be awed by the heart's agony and distortion, but that would be the extent of it.

Elizabeth, with her specialization in this domain, could see beyond that. She could sense the sheer weight it carried—it was far more powerful than it appeared.

Compared to that thing, even the Abyss felt tame and restrained.

...

After a brief exchange, the group of four set off again, continuing their progress through the area.

This time, as combat began, Elizabeth drew her new weapon—a blood-red trident nearly as tall as she was.

And the moment she entered the fray, Lloyd witnessed an ability she hadn't shown in their previous battle.

Invisibility.

Or rather, a return to her true, intangible essence.

In the blink of an eye, Elizabeth vanished.

Almost instantly, she appeared amidst the horde of monsters, raised her trident high, and drove it down with force.

Squelch—

Accursed Blood sprayed outward, followed by an explosion.

The attack didn't deal massive damage, but the bleeding buildup was significant enough to shave off huge chunks of health from the surrounding monsters.

But Elizabeth didn't press the attack to finish them off. Instead, with a wave of her hand, she disappeared again—then reappeared beside Lloyd.

"How did you...?"

"Shh—you'll see in a second."

And sure enough, they didn't have to wait long.

Moments later, red light gleamed in the eyes of the monsters struck by the Accursed Blood. A sweet, life-rich aura began to emanate from their bodies.

Clearly, they'd grown stronger and more bloodthirsty—but...

They no longer distinguished between friend and foe.

Then the monsters turned on each other, and the group of four simply stood by to enjoy the show.

As they watched the chaos unfold, Elizabeth suddenly remembered something and motioned for Margit to hand over his cursed sword.

"Give me a hand—draw some blood."

She held out her small arm to Lloyd.

Without hesitation, Lloyd pulled out his Poleblade, raised it, and stabbed it into her arm.

Squelch—

The blood-red blade pierced through, emerging from the other side. Dark crimson Accursed Blood poured from the wound, flowing down the blade and slowly gathering at its tip.

Then it dripped.

Splat—

Like raindrops hitting the ground, beads of blood laced with Accursed Blood struck the blade of the cursed sword.

The moment they made contact, dark red markings erupted from the point of impact, spreading outward in a burst.

Bloodflames surged upward.

Framed by the flickering bloodflames, the cursed sword looked even deeper, more ominous.

Seeing this, Margit finally remembered where that familiar feeling had come from. His gaze toward Elizabeth gradually turned strange.

Back in the Royal Capital's Subterranean Shunning-Grounds—where a certain pair of demigod brothers had once been imprisoned—something... eventful had happened.

And where there's excitement, there are always those drawn to watch it unfold.

Like a certain Miss Elizabeth, who at the time hadn't even taken that name.

Back then, she wasn't Elizabeth. She wasn't even human. She was something else entirely—an essence known as the Formless Mother, or perhaps a natural phenomenon.

Even so, she hadn't done much at the time—just showed up to watch the spectacle.

Then, purely by chance, she was glimpsed by the demigod brothers down in those sewers.

And that fleeting glance triggered something dormant within them—a power already buried deep inside, simply yet to be awakened.

But this power... it wasn't of the Erdtree. Judging by Elizabeth's current demeanor, it was tainted—clearly something twisted.

So Margit rejected it outright. He even took the initiative to seal it away and developed a deep aversion to that being.

But now...

After retrieving his newly enchanted cursed sword, Margit looked at Chaos on one side, then at Elizabeth on the other—who was currently pestering Lloyd about a ring and a covenant.

After progressing through the map a while longer, Margit eventually approached Lloyd on his own.

"I just remembered there's something I left unfinished. I need to head back first."

Talking with the little horse had at least helped restore some of his mental energy.

But now that little horse was gone, if this kept up, it wouldn't be the Abyss that broke him—Lloyd would beat him to it.

Lloyd readily agreed to the request.

Not only because of Margit's reasoning, but also because the further they went, the more specialized and numerous the enemies became—especially those targeting Margit and Chaos.

Even with the buff from his newly enchanted cursed sword, it only bought him a bit more time. If anything, the targeting got worse. It really was time to send him back.

Honestly, if Chaos's situation hadn't been so unique, Lloyd would've sent both of them back together.

As for the covenant Elizabeth wanted...

"It's not that I'm refusing. Just look."

Lloyd pulled out the ring and reached for Elizabeth's outstretched hand.

But it passed right through her—as if she weren't fully there. And the moment he let go, the ring bounced right back into Lloyd's inventory.

"According to Chaos, this thing needs to be awakened by strong emotions—and it needs a ritual, too..."

Hearing that, Elizabeth thought for a moment.

"Then how about you stab me a few times and see what happens?"

Lloyd was about to refuse—but then realized it was a decent opportunity to test the conditions. He gave a nod.

Elizabeth turned on friendly fire and held still while Lloyd pulled out his Poleblade and jabbed her in the gut a few times.

Squelch—

Squelch—

Squelch—

After several rounds of crimson blades piercing in and out, Elizabeth even erupted into a burst of blood.

She dropped to one knee, face flushed, body trembling.

"Now... is it working...?"

Lloyd crouched down, took her hand, and tried once again to slide the gray ring onto her finger—then shook his head.

"Still nothing."

Elizabeth looked a bit deflated at first, but after a moment, she brightened up again. Getting stabbed a few times for free wasn't exactly a loss, after all.

Chaos, who had been silently watching the whole scene from the side, paused before her expression shifted into something more subtle.

"You two... really don't hold back, huh."

She didn't actually mind Lloyd forming a covenant with someone else. In fact, she was willing to support it.

As she'd said before—she wanted Lloyd to burn brighter.

And the most straightforward way to make a fire burn brighter is to throw more fuel into it.

Chaos had offered her support to Lloyd largely for that reason. Even her earlier willingness to be defiled was, in a sense, an attempt to turn herself into kindling for his flame.

So now, if someone else was volunteering to feed that fire, she certainly wasn't going to object. She might even lend a hand.

The only issue was—by Frenzied Flame standards, even these two were pushing it.

After all, pain was still a tool of torment, even for the Frenzied Flame. And these two...

Well, she didn't know what to say.

...

After that little interlude, the three of them resumed their advance.

This time, things were much tougher.

With Old Margit gone—the only one who could cast healing incantations or provide meaningful support—the group had lost its safety net.

Worse still, the enemies had evolved. A new kind had emerged with extreme resistance to ranged spells, only vulnerable to close-range physical strikes that could break their shell. That alone sidelined Chaos almost entirely.

Sure, the Frenzied Flame should've had some affinity for melee, but Chaos's role had always been more of a Finger Maiden—built for support, not strength or agility. Melee just wasn't an option for her.

Without ranged chip damage or healing, and with the enemy actively countering them, their progress slowed to a crawl.

Lloyd's twinblade whirled, shredding the stitched monster in front of him.

But at the same time, hidden wraiths nearby detonated, sacrificing themselves in a burst that clipped Lloyd directly.

Elizabeth blinked into the horde again, unleashing a storm of Accursed Blood—but when she returned, her legs were covered in fresh wounds. Traps had been laid among the monsters, activating on contact.

And Chaos?

Chaos was... wandering.

Not that she had a choice. With everything targeting her now, the best she could manage was casting a few damage buffs on the other two.

But her buffs came with nasty side effects—madness buildup or HP drain. If they really crunched the numbers afterward, she'd probably done more damage to them than the monsters had.

...

After grinding forward for a while, a new issue cropped up.

"Do you have any way to heal yourself?"

After wiping out another wave, Lloyd turned to Elizabeth—or more precisely, to the half-empty health bar hovering over her head.

Yeah. She hadn't healed once this whole time.

Lloyd had Seriel's regen talisman, but that only worked on him—it didn't affect anyone else.

Chaos, for her part, wasn't taking any damage since she wasn't fighting. But Elizabeth was locked into melee, and now the enemies had tools specifically designed to bleed her dry.

At this rate, Lloyd would either have to send her back manually or watch her drop on the spot.

"Well, I used to..."

Elizabeth shook off some blood from her trident, watching the Abyss-tainted filth drip down as she smacked her lips.

"If I had access to a cleaner blood source, I could restore some damage. But look at this place—where am I supposed to find clean... blood?"

Her gaze suddenly fell on Lloyd. She raised an eyebrow, something clicking in her mind.

Technically, he should be more potent than the Abyss.

Even in the Abyss, you could dig around and find something usable.

But Lloyd's current vessel—tuned by a certain Miss Alice who preferred to remain unnamed—was purer than anyone in the Lands Between...

"What are you planning?"

Catching her gaze, Lloyd narrowed his eyes, on alert.

Elizabeth didn't seem fazed. A knowing smile curled across her face as she began walking toward him slowly.

"Nothing much. Just thought of something fun..."

Lloyd backed up two steps.

"...Don't come any closer. If you do, I'll strike."

"Really?"

Rather than backing off, Elizabeth lit up at the threat and charged forward even faster.

"Then I won't hold back!"

"You little—"

Squelch—

...

[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]

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