Another Clash with the Greater Will

Lin Luo was no stranger to facing the Greater Will.

In the final cycle, Lin Luo had laid everything bare before the Greater Will. That had been their first clash.

At Stormveil Castle, the Greater Will had tried to control Lin Luo, only for him to break free. That had been the second.

And this time should have been the third.

What he had encountered this time were the Two Fingers, messengers of the Greater Will.

They did not possess the Greater Will's true might, but the Greater Will could use them to control nearly the entire Lands Between.

The Greater Will's true body was beyond the heavens, and its seal had yet to be lifted. For now, it could only control others through these Two Fingers.

There were many Two Fingers. For example, the Two Fingers atop the Divine Towers each represented the demigod they controlled.

Ranni had first used part of the Death Rune to kill her own body and escape the Two Fingers' control. Then she had used the Fingerprint Stone Blade to kill the Two Fingers controlling her, finally breaking free from the Greater Will's control...

After each demigod died, the corresponding Two Fingers would die as well.

Only the one before him... Lin Luo had no idea what it represented.

Lin Luo slowly approached. To be safe, he held Melina tightly while the Death Rune wrapped around her.

The Greater Will's methods of controlling hearts and minds were truly impossible to guard against. The Crystal Mirror Necklace had once been able to repel the Greater Will's consciousness.

But now that he was facing the Two Fingers directly, Lin Luo did not want any accidents.

Lin Luo walked toward the Two Fingers and glanced at Enia the Witch beside them. He knew this witch was likely a backup plan Marika had left behind. She would deliberately distort the meaning of the fingers... to guide the Tarnished.

It had to be said, she was very good to the Tarnished as well...

But right now, Lin Luo had no time to concern himself with her...

Seeing that Lin Luo did not speak to her, Enia said nothing either. She merely remained seated to one side with a kindly smile, though that smile was somewhat unsettling.

"Tarnished! You still dare come here!"

At that moment, the Greater Will's voice suddenly rang in Lin Luo's mind.

It turned out Lin Luo had already removed his Crystal Mirror Necklace, specifically so he could "have a chat" with the Greater Will.

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

Lin Luo chuckled as he spoke to the Two Fingers before him.

Seeing Lin Luo's inexplicable behavior, Melina seemed to understand something.

She simply hugged Lin Luo tightly, hoping nothing would happen to him.

"You should just stay beyond the heavens."

Lin Luo smiled. "Sometimes, I think you're really stupid. The Greater Will, my ass. Some lousy god from god-knows-what backwater corner, coming to the Lands Between to play king."

"Don't you think you're stupid?"

"The king you raised with your own hands only wanted to shatter your Golden Law. The defense you created for the Elden Ring became your greatest prison. And the puppet you cultivated has now become your greatest opponent..."

"Isn't that right... idiot?"

Lin Luo laughed without restraint, his hearty laughter making several people outside look over in confusion.

"Foolish human! You will never know what you are facing! You deserve to die! You insect, you are only fit to smell my farts!"

"...What's wrong? Feeling unwilling to accept it?"

"Dragonlord Placidusax could only curl up in Sky City because of your schemes. The God-Slaying Queen had the Death Rune taken from her by you and vanished without a trace. The giants, servants of the fell god, were also exterminated by your lot..."

"When others hold the knife, we are the fish on the chopping block. There really is nothing to complain about..."

Lin Luo spread his hands. "But when I meet you again next time..."

"I'm afraid our positions will have to switch!"

"Arrogant!"

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve?"

Lin Luo smiled and put on the Crystal Mirror Necklace.

"Eh, I'm not listening, I'm not listening."

Lin Luo even stuck out his tongue. This time, he had probably disgusted the Greater Will to no end...

Melina smiled at the sight. It seemed... Lin Luo was fine...

But thinking about it, that made sense. When had Lin Luo ever been the kind of person to suffer a loss?

Though he could no longer hear what the Greater Will was saying, Lin Luo could imagine it cursing him furiously and making all kinds of threats.

In any case, Lin Luo was not listening. What the ear did not hear could not disturb the mind, and what the eye did not see could not annoy it.

"Lowly Tarnished, you will pay for your foolish actions!"

In the end, the Greater Will gave up trying to invade Lin Luo's consciousness.

"Do you truly think there is nothing I can do to you?"

"Foolish Tarnished, you will eventually learn that there is only one end for opposing a god—"

"Death!"

These were all the Greater Will's mutterings to itself... or rather, Lin Luo had not heard a single word of them...

But it was clear that the Greater Will still had other cards to play?

Lin Luo naturally knew... the Black Knife organization?

It was hard to say, really... Lin Luo still did not know whether the Black Knives served Marika or the Greater Will.

But what did it matter?

Even if they served the Greater Will.

If the Greater Will truly wanted to send him all that dispersed Death Rune energy, Lin Luo would gladly accept it.

There were no shortage of people in the Black Knife organization with the strength of demigods, but to Lin Luo, they were not much to look at.

Enia seemed to have noticed that something was wrong with the Two Fingers as well. After all, she herself was a Finger Maiden.

"Oh?... Tarnished... you actually... made Lord Two Fingers angry..."

Enia looked somewhat angry, yet also... her state was hard to describe. Marika's backup plan probably wanted to change the Golden Law rather than let it become a tool for the Greater Will to gain power...

Enia herself did not know what she was feeling.

After struggling for a while, she still said to Lin Luo, "Sigh... Tarnished, no matter... what... become the Elden Lord... I do not know Lord Fingers' will either..."

Enia was pitiful... manipulated by the Two Fingers and controlled by Marika...

"I will..."

Lin Luo said solemnly. He still held Enia in high regard.

She was one of only two people in the entire Roundtable Hold who sincerely treated the Tarnished well...

Lin Luo had originally intended to kill the Two Fingers within the Roundtable Hold directly.

But Lin Luo always felt that these Two Fingers had some vague connection to the Roundtable Hold.

He did not do anything without confidence. Killing them would merely mean killing one messenger of the Greater Will, which would not truly harm the Greater Will anyway.

And if the Roundtable Hold rejected him outright after he acted, the loss would outweigh the gain.

"Let's go."

Having obtained the information he wanted, Lin Luo no longer had any interest in the Two Fingers.

He now needed to find Sir Gideon Ofnir.

Sir Gideon Ofnir, Gideon Ofnir, was perhaps the smartest man on this continent. After the Finger Maiden conveyed the will of the Two Fingers, he immediately grasped how events were unfolding: the Elden Ring had shattered, Marika, the true god he worshipped, had vanished without a trace, and the Greater Will needed a new king to restore order. It had even reached the point where it had no choice but to rely on them, the exiled Tarnished.

After arriving at the great blessing that used the real Roundtable Hold as its projection, Sir Gideon Ofnir became the leader there through his endless knowledge.

Lin Luo felt that Sir Gideon Ofnir was the person most likely to discover the Greater Will's conspiracy aside from himself.

But at this point in time, Sir Gideon Ofnir had probably yet to discover that despairing answer.

His only goal now was to become the Elden Lord.