Gostoc

"Haha... Tarnished, you're quite good!"

Morgott, the Omen King, suddenly let out a laugh, his eyes filled with praise? Or perhaps resentment?

A mixture of complex emotions swirled within, and Lin Luo couldn't immediately decipher Morgott's words.

"Naturally..."

Lin Luo said coldly, his famed blade slicing across Morgott's neck.

However, there was no gushing blood as he expected.

Morgott's body slowly faded, transforming into starlight that flew towards the royal city.

"Tarnished! I'll see you again in the royal city!"

Morgott's voice echoed in the air.

"I remember you, Tarnished, you who are manipulated by the fire of ambition. Fear the darkness lurking in the shadows— 'Morgott' will never let you go..."

"Yo... not bad."

Lin Luo chuckled. He had expected Morgott to curse him before dying. Well, he supposed he was being petty. How could anyone be so disgusting? Don't you agree, Godrick?

[Godrick: I'll *you, you *]

"As expected, it's Morgott..."

Melina murmured, a couple of blurry figures flashing through her memory.

Melina pondered for a moment before ultimately giving up on searching further.

"Lin Luo, you're very strong..."

"Naturally!"

Lin Luo curled his proud lips upwards, looking like a child seeking praise, a stark contrast to his cold, calm demeanor during the battle.

With the fight concluded, the Runes Lin Luo possessed had reached an incredible amount.

Lin Luo absorbed all the Runes into his body. Although his three-dimensional attributes didn't seem to increase, Lin Luo keenly felt the proximity to that critical point.

"Your Runes..."

Melina looked at Lin Luo with surprise. She wasn't astonished by him absorbing the Runes, but rather by his lack of obvious improvement. This was enough to show how terrifying Lin Luo's strength had become...

"Let's go..."

Lin Luo took a deep breath and naturally embraced Melina, his hands conveniently resting on her chest...

"You..."

Melina's face flushed red as she tried to break free from Lin Luo's embrace.

"Heh heh..."

Lin Luo let out a mischievous laugh and lifted Melina into his arms.

Goodness, I didn't realize how it was with her usual loose robes. This... practice makes perfect.

"Lin Luo, let go..."

Melina's voice softened as she spoke.

Lin Luo eventually put Melina down. Wood was so shy, her face was flushed red; what if she caught fire...

Lin Luo still felt a bit unsatisfied but refrained from any further actions. He simply held Melina's small hand and proceeded towards Stormveil Castle.

The path was very close to Stormveil Castle, almost at its entrance. Yet, for some reason, Lin Luo's battle with Morgott, the Omen King, had barely affected the soldiers inside.

Perhaps they were accustomed to it. After all, they knew there was a monster ahead, a monster that would crush any Tarnished who dared to covet the Elden Ring. Perhaps they assumed the Tarnished from just moments ago had died in regret.

Lin Luo didn't summon Torrent, and instead, slowly walked hand-in-hand with Melina...

Soon, they arrived at the entrance of Stormveil Castle.

There was a massive gate at the entrance. Behind it lay several dismembered corpses, perhaps those who had been grafted, or perhaps Tarnished like Lin Luo.

There was a dilapidated small room by the entrance.

Lin Luo noticed someone standing in the corner. He was tall and pale-faced, with a massive shackle around his neck. Oh, perhaps not a shackle; he heard it was the latest fashion in the Lands Between... but Lin Luo couldn't appreciate it...

Though he didn't know why this person was here, he looked like some kind of oddity.

"Excuse me, could you come over here..."

The odd person spoke, his voice faint, as if he had suffered some torment.

Lin Luo didn't reply, merely staring at him coldly.

The odd person continued, "You're a Tarnished, aren't you? If you want to enter the city, I advise you not to go through the main gate."

"There are highly skilled soldiers blocking the way. But don't worry, go through that cave over there. The soldiers are unaware of that path, and you should be able to infiltrate the city directly without being discovered..."

"Open the gate!"

Lin Luo said coldly.

"Oh... a most unwise choice. Perhaps you possess sufficient strength, perhaps you could escape. But have you considered the lady beside you..."

"Enough babbling!"

Lin Luo directly drew his sword and pointed it at Gostoc's head.

This utterly stunned Gostoc. Good heavens, are all Tarnished this reckless now??

Gostoc hastily raised his hands.

"Ah... no, no, no, apologies. I'll call for them right away. I'll have them open the gate..."

"Yes, it's natural for you to be suspicious. I respect your choice... but consider this..."

Gostoc slowly lowered his hands, intending to say more.

"Shut up! Open the gate!"

Lin Luo was growing impatient. He knew this guy was no good, just waiting to follow them and steal Runes when he died!

"When a person is set on death, no one can stop them!"

These were supposed to be Gostoc's lines, but he didn't dare say them here...

Lin Luo sheathed his longsword, shot Gostoc a cold glance, and walked towards the gate...

"Open the gate! Please, open the gate! Open the main gate!"

Gostoc's loud voice rang out, calling to the soldiers within the castle.

Before long, with a resounding clang, the gate slowly began to rise.

"Become Unseen..."

The gate was presumably inside the castle, so there were no soldiers visible at the entrance. Lin Luo immediately cast a spell, applying an invisibility buff to both of them.

"Night sorcery..."

Melina praised softly, showing no great surprise. She had likely seen this spell before.

Melina seemed to recall something and then asked, "That gatekeeper?..."

Melina paused, not finishing her sentence, but Lin Luo understood her meaning.

"That gatekeeper isn't a good person..."

Lin Luo looked at Melina and said, "There are also quite a few guards on that side path. While fewer than the soldiers inside the main gate, he has his own plans, waiting to pick at our scraps from behind, or even... stab us in the back."

"Oh, right. If I remember correctly, he used to be a loyal servant of Godrick, specifically tasked with finding and capturing materials for Godrick the Grafted..."

"If he hadn't been useful just now, I would have simply snapped him!"

Lin Luo said calmly. He hadn't mentioned another reason: with Melina present, he didn't want to leave her with an impression of wanton killing. Even with an explanation, it would still create a rift.

Melina nodded, So it's as I suspected...

After the two left, Gostoc revealed a resentful expression.

"Insolent Tarnished, how dare you!"

Gostoc snorted coldly and ran towards the castle through the side path.