Enlightenment · Four

The paladin was badly injured, and the Princess was exhausted from overusing her power.

Therefore, late on the fifth night, the weakened paladin handed a spark of fire to Kal'tsit.

"This is an unclaimed Profaned Flame, a trophy I obtained while hunting down an enemy. I originally intended to give it to my granddaughter so that she too could become a knight of the church. But now, I hope you can make the best use of it."

Fedorlink pushed the fire towards her, his unwavering gaze and the dire circumstances leaving her no room for refusal or deference.

"I understand." Kal'tsit nodded heavily and accepted the flame. She knew that the release of spells required a medium, just like the Twilight within Surtr and the Profaned Flame she controlled.

The moment she received the spark, she sensed a change in her soul. It was as if a limb had sprung up out of thin air, or as if she had formed a contract with another Mon3tr. She realized that even if she returned to Terra now, she would not lose this newfound power.

"What should I do?" she asked.

"Ah... you are indeed very talented. Perhaps you have the potential to become a hero?" However, the paladin just looked at her in astonishment, as if she were a monster. "I thought it would take you at least an hour to adapt to the Profaned Flame. But you didn't even take a single breath. It seems... fate is on our side."

He shook his head with a wry smile, as if he were a wave that had been swept away and died on the beach. But he didn't give up. Instead, he seized the time to teach Kal'tsit spells.

In ten minutes, Kal'tsit learned 'Warm Flame'. She summoned healing flames to repair the wounds and exhaustion of herself, Fedorlink, and Gwyndolin. This accelerated the paladin's instruction. By the end of the fifth night, she had mastered the use of 'Flame Spray' and 'Fireball'.

On the night of the seventh day, she mastered the 'Iron Body' and the 'Explosive Fireball'. Before dawn on the eighth day, Fedorlink claimed he had nothing more to teach.

She thus gained power that wouldn't be limited by her unique body even after returning to Terra. Instead, it was a power she could possess anywhere. And this power brought victory to her and her team.

On the night of the twelfth day, they once again encountered the knights who were pursuing them. This time, the knights suffered five casualties.

On the fourteenth day, there were fifteen people. At the same time, the secret that the Knights were trying so hard to hide was also exposed to her.

"An undead." Kal'tsit concluded after examining a corpse and finding ample supplies on it. "Obtaining supplies in this wasteland is difficult. There are only three of us, while they are an army. I deliberately disrupted their pursuit, but I didn't discover any logistical shortages."

"This means they need a covert supply line... The Princess has been missing for so long, even if Lothric and Irithyll are slow to react, they should have reacted by now. And a logistics team that doesn't attract attention, can break into smaller units, and can carry large amounts of supplies into the wasteland without worrying about transportation costs can only be composed of undead that don't need to eat."

She explained to Gwyndolin.

"The forces behind this knightly order are affiliated with the Undead. Your Princess Highness, do you have anyone around you... whose aura is different from ordinary people, yet who can still get along well with those around them?"

The young Princess gritted her teeth and, after a long while, finally uttered a name.

"Yuria. She is my handmaid... my handmaid in the caravan. She stood with the knight when my brother's knight brought the warrant."

"It seems a force with undead backing wants to instigate a war between Lothric and Irithyll," Miss Lynx nodded. She also guessed that many people in both countries were already hoping for war. And the fact that the real Princess Gwyndolin, was successfully deceived must have been due in no small part to the collusion of certain local forces on both sides.

—Gwyndolin... her position in the court was perhaps more than that of an ordinary Princess.

"And I've heard that in the past, there was a land of wandering spirits." This was something she discovered while researching background information on France.

"Rundall," Fedorlink added. "After the Undead Legion of Farron linked the First Flame, a remnant of the former Carthus forces formed an undead kingdom called Rundall. No one knows where their kingdom is hidden, but as far as I know, they possess a magic called 'Mimicry.' They can transform into various forms to conceal their identities."

The paladin touched his sword.

"I have killed several of them, and one of them almost fooled me when she became my granddaughter."

The cause and effect now seem clear. As the First Flame dimmed, the conflict between Church Authority and Royal Authority eased. However, the undead forces, growing stronger with the extinguishing of the flame, were not pleased—they plotted to incite war between the two powerful nations. And once the war began, the rise of the dead and the undead would follow.

—Lordran's 'Reunion Movement'?

Ah... if the Reunion Movement hadn't stopped at Chernobog, but instead had driven that mobile city-state straight to the nearest Yan city, would Yan and Ursus have been plunged into war?

—I don't know. And there's no need to consider it. But isn't Princess Gwyndolin's current position equivalent to Chernobog's in Terra? Tsk, I never expected that, after all this, I'd end up doing something I'm familiar with: mediating a war between two great powers before a global crisis...

Miss Lynx shook her head inwardly. She pretended not to hear Fedorlink's cold laugh—the Undead are merely sick, not inherently evil? Then what is this? The machinations of ambitious individuals? But if these ambitious individuals don't have the support of the people, where does their power come from?

She had no way to answer this question in Terra and could only hope that someone could solve it.

And now, it's the same.

—Surtr, did I fall in love with you because of your influence? Or was it because...?

—Are you actually the answer I've been searching for?

She didn't know which answer was correct. The former was shirking responsibility, while the latter highlighted her incompetence.

However, she also knew that if she could not distinguish which side had a greater or lesser weight, it meant that the truth was that both were present and roughly equal.

She did not continue to consider the issue.

On the fifteenth day, when the knights' pursuit weakened under her sorcerous flames, and the High Wall of Lothric were already visible in the distance, Gwyndolin extended an invitation to her.

"Miss Kal'tsit."

"Would you be willing to become my knight?"

7600... continuing with the two-in-one strategy, probably for the next few days. So, 26/75.

By the way, I hereby formally declare that this book has now entered world line β, and I will no longer concern myself with the original settings of Arknights and other worlds. In fact, I haven't paid much attention to them, and I have made corresponding adjustments to both Arknights and other worlds.

In short, there are probably less than ten chapters left in Dark Souls, and I've given up on any support from fanfiction or other means. Kal'tsit's sudden new character design messed with my mindset, disrupted my rhythm, and caused me to lose almost a thousand subscribers. Well, this is my own fault; writing fanfiction to ride the wave of popularity means I deserve the karmic consequences. _(:з"∠)_

However, things have been largely adjusted now. The original Kal'tsit was a Terra saint, not someone anyone other than the Doctor could romance. From now on, Arknights will be Arknights, and I'll be mine. I think most of the people who liked the original Kal'tsit are probably among those thousand or so lost subscribers, so I at least have to do right by the audience who are still supporting me _(:з"∠)_

(I should have gone and written an infinite flow novel _(:з"∠)_)

Chapter 215 Enlightenment Part 4

The knight's name was Bordeaux; he was strong, fierce, and scarred, yet still retained his fighting spirit. He was the captain of Gwyndolin's Captain of the Guard. And he appeared at a very opportune moment.

Kal'tsit ultimately did not accept Gwyndolin's invitation. Before speaking, she thought of Surtr and said that she still needed to consider it.

The High Wall fortress on the border of Lothric is a trap.

As Kal'tsit and the other two successfully broke through the Nameless Knights' pursuit and were about to step inside the High Wall amidst the guards' welcome, Miss Lynx's far more acute senses detected a familiar scent in the air.

A familiar feeling, an unusual feeling, a terrible feeling.

The feeling was that the attackers she had encountered before being driven away by Surtr had the same symptoms.

Almost without thinking, she grabbed Gwyndolin and quickened her pace, and amidst the latter's scream, she hurled a large fireball of magic at the group of guards who were coming to greet her!

The mimicry was broken, and the guards transformed into black-robed knights wearing skeletal masks, charging towards the group. Meanwhile, on the city walls, the archers and crossbowmen who had almost brought them within striking distance also removed their masks, which they had been using for defense. A hail of arrows rained down; had it not been for the formidable strength of Fedorlink's Dusk Shield, the most deadly arrow would have pierced Gwyndolin's skull.

Fighting.

Retreat during the battle.

The knights who were initially 'out of reach' suddenly quickened their pace, and a trap was about to surround the three of them!