An Open Conspiracy

Everything returned to how it was when we first woke up here, as if nothing had happened, as if we had just woken up here.

"In your Remembrance, how many times have you rewound?"

Upon hearing this Gwen frowned and asked thoughtfully.

Five times.

Eden answered decisively.

"Did you notice anything different during these five rollbacks?"

"Not at the moment."

Eden looked somewhat helpless and sighed.

"We have explored all the places we could reach, but this place seems to have been transformed into a lonely city, surrounded by bottomless abysses."

Moreover, some of the powers we possess have been severely suppressed—

"If it weren't for Danzhu Cang Xuan being there, allowing us to make full use of what we had access to, we might never have even seen Elysia."

"Hmm... I think I understand..."

Gwen nodded slightly upon hearing this, revealing a gentle smile.

"Leave the rest to me."

"Yes, I believe you can tear through the darkness of this world."

Although the silver decorations obscured his eyes, when Eden raised his head to say those words, Gwen felt for a moment as if he were looking directly into those magnificent golden eyes.

After learning the general situation from Eden, Gwen then wandered around the building—it was hard to tell whether it should be called the Bonfire Altar or the Tenshukaku—

There was no more discouraged guy, and no more boxing champion blacksmith, but the old lady selling things became two—

"Gwen, you've finally arrived..."

When the sisters, who were sitting side by side in the corner, saw Gwen, Danzhu immediately sprang into action, looking as if she had seen a savior.

Although Cang Xuan appeared calm, her beautiful eyes lit up.

Even though the two sisters had experienced many ups and downs, their souls had just recovered to a certain extent when they fell into this strange and unknown situation, making it difficult for them to maintain their composure.

After comforting the playful Danzhu, Gwen also inquired about the situation from the two sisters, but did not receive any additional information.

"Etc..."

However, before Gwen left the corner where the two sisters were, Cang Xuan called out to Gwen again—

"If I had to talk about changes..."

Meeting Gwen's gaze, a hint of hesitation appeared in his Cang Xuan blue eyes—

"Perhaps some kind of change is taking place, but we haven't noticed it..."

As he spoke, Cang Xuan paused, a thoughtful expression on his face, but the light in his eyes shone even brighter—

"No, some kind of change must have occurred, but we just didn't notice it."

"Um...

I'll keep that in mind, thank you for the information.

Having finally obtained a valuable piece of information, Gwen smiled and nodded, preparing to continue his exploration, but then suddenly stopped in his tracks—

"By the way, why have you been squatting here the whole time instead of going outside to be with Eden?"

"..."

Upon hearing Gwen's question, the two sisters paused, exchanged a glance, and instantly understood, saying in unison—

"This is it!"

"The first time we met was when we were searching for each other, the second time we met outside after we knew of each other's existence, and the third time we went out on our own initiative to continue exploring."

Danzhu spoke with sparkling eyes.

"After the fourth time, we explored all the explorable areas except for the endless abyss below, so we returned here on our own initiative."

Cang Xuan's face was somewhat solemn as he said in a deep voice,

"By the fifth time we reloaded, we both lost the desire to continue exploring, and it seemed that staying here was quite nice..."

"In other words..."

With each rollback, your understanding is being subtly altered...

Gwen's smile vanished, replaced by a somber expression.

It seems his time is running out.

Unable to confirm whether this modification was reversible, he had to break the trap set by his Inner Demon as soon as possible.

Otherwise, Eden and the others would be in danger...

"You should leave here first, go and talk to Eden, reminisce about your past life, and clarify your identities."

Gwen grabbed the two sisters by the arms and led them to the place where Eden was.

Afterwards, Gwen searched the entire place again, but couldn't find Rin anywhere. It was as if she and the Kusanagi that Gwen had placed there had vanished.

"It seems that when the Inner Demon made its move, it directly stole Ling along with the control of the Kusanagi..."

Do you want to use the power of erosion...?

Heh... I feel like this Inner Demon mine is surprisingly intelligent.

While he was pondering, Gwen had already returned to where Eden and the other two were. To their astonishment, he planted the Demon Blade: Crimson Sakura, which he had previously stolen from Yae Sakura, into the campfire in front of where Eden had stood.

Boom!

As the flames rose, they enveloped the Crimson Sakura that were stuck there, transforming them into a slowly burning campfire.

Upon seeing the campfire, Eden almost instinctively stood up, wanting to say something, but she covered her mouth and swallowed it back.

Once Gwen's power entered his body, Eden returned to normal, but his complexion was still not good.

"It seems this is where I've been affected—"

Seeing what just happened, I suddenly felt like saying something, as if I was here just to say those words...

"Hmm, it seems to be some of the Inner Demon's designs."

Gwen put his arm around Eden's shoulder, and an invisible spiritual force spread out to soothe her emotions.

Once Eden had calmed down, Gwen let go and walked towards the campfire.

"I guess... if nothing unexpected happens, the other side should be the original Stigmata Space of Caslana."

Over there, there should be a big feast prepared for me by my Inner Demon.

As for this side, I will leave you with some means to protect yourselves, at least enough to ensure you can maintain your own existence.

"Go quickly, we will stay here and protect Eden..."

Although she was actually a little afraid of the future where she might lose herself, Danzhu still waved her little hand with a smile.

"Wait for me to come back."

Gwen nodded and touched the Demonic Blade that had transformed into a campfire—

The next moment, the scenery before Gwen's eyes suddenly changed, transforming from the dimly lit Bonfire Altar / Tenshukaku into a similarly gloomy church.

Looking around, Gwen's gaze was drawn to a line of small, blood-red text—

"Even if the Stigmata has long since Honkai, please become the King of the Fire Keepers."

Chapter 514 Conspiracy

"Heh... They've even brought out a shrine maiden..."

Looking at the blood-red characters that resembled the Elden Ring and the witch's last words at the start of the game, Gwen's lips curled into a sneer.

However, despite saying this, Gwen still took a few steps to the blood-red writing and began to examine it carefully.

At Bonfire Altar, or more precisely, in Yae Village, Gwen has gathered a considerable amount of information, but some things are still missing...

The blood-red writing was indeed written in blood, and Gwen sensed a familiar presence in the still-dry blood.

"So... it's you, Elysia..."

Gwyn wiped away the bloodstains that carried Elysia's scent, Gwen up, and walked out of the narrow, enclosed chapel.

A hurricane swept in, making Gwen's trench coat flutter wildly, and the bottomless cliff below seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance.

Climbing onto the roof, Gwen looked around and, somewhat unexpectedly, saw a radiant Golden Tree.

"Heh... Dark Souls, Elden Ring, let me see if you've sewn on Sekiro too?"

With a sneer, Gwyn, unaware that his Gwen Inner Demon watching him, turned and leaped to the statue of the Goddess opposite the drawbridge of the Chapel of the Chosen.

"This statue..."

Why does she look so much like Elysia?

Looking at the statue that should have been Marika, but which looked more like Elysia, Gwen was puzzled and a variety of thoughts arose in his mind—

"Could it be... that Elysia... at least a part of her was brought here to play the role of Marika?"

While Gwen pondered, the Grafted Scion lay in ambush—

A quantum crab monster, consisting of dozens of Honkai zombie, Honkai Beast limbs and weapons, launched a sneak attack on Gwen.

However, before the sharp weapon could even touch Gwen, it was blocked by an invisible golden light and shadow, making it impossible to advance any further.

Then, before the "Grafted Scion" could react in the slightest, the golden barrier rolled back and enveloped him.

An invisible flame rose up, burning the limb-attached Honkai Beast into nothingness.

"Replace the monsters in the game with monsters derived from Honkai Beast Factor?"

Oh..."

Withdrawing his gaze from the statue, Gwen turned to look at the seemingly eternally standing Golden Tree in the distance, golden flames rising from his body as he took flight.

Based on the principle that whatever the enemy wants to do, he absolutely cannot let them succeed, Gwen had no intention of going through the entire Elden Ring process—

Although the environment here is more oppressive to him, it is not a problem at all for Gwen, who is used to the suppression of the gods' barrier in the Saint Seiya world.

After traversing the seemingly well-constructed Limgrave, Liurnia, and the Altus Plateau, Gwen charged straight into the Leyndell, Royal Capital at the foot of the Golden Tree.

Ignoring the dubious monsters along the way, Gwen charged straight to the Elden Throne.

With a single punch, Gwen killed the monster—whether it was about to recite its lines or was about to fight him—and then stood before the Golden Tree.

The so-called "Thorns of Rejection" could not stop Gwen's steps at all, and he was directly blasted away by a punch.

In the strange space of the Golden Tree, Gwen saw... Elysia suspended in mid-air?

Before Gwen could do anything, the figure with long pink hair like Elysia, but whose face was closer to Marika in Gwen's memory, had already fallen and transformed into... Gwen?

"Snort!"

Looking at that cracked face, Gwen snorted softly, clenched his fist, and swung it—

Light Speed Fist!

With one punch, he rendered the guy unable to get up again. Gwen grabbed him, examined him for a moment, then, his face darkening, he utterly crushed him.

It can be confirmed that there is absolutely no trace of Elysia in it.

One can imagine how much time Gwen would have wasted due to these ambiguous things if he had followed the game's progression.

However, even so, judging from the current state of the Inner Demon, it's unlikely that it will actually show itself...

Thinking this, Gwen saw the "Elden Beast" here—

"Imaginarium God's Remains?

I thought you were going to come up with something new?

Gwen chuckled softly and flicked his wrist—

"But who does this kind of thing look down on?"

The Imaginarium God's Remains remained silent, only drawing his sword.

Gwen wasn't in a hurry to deal with this thing; instead, he watched its performance with great interest.