Empyrean

"I didn't sense any fluctuation of power from her..." Lansseax murmured. "No divine power, no magic, none of that. Aside from her extraordinary intelligence, she seems no different from an ordinary beast."

"Come to think of it, I've wanted to ask since the shadow-beast summoning ritual," she said with a grave expression. "Do we truly need to be so wary of the Two Fingers—or rather, the god behind the Two Fingers?"

Of course she could tell that Lucia had deliberately chosen such a shadow beast, one that possessed neither the earth-shaking power of "Black Blade" Maliketh nor the level of wisdom Blaidd the Half-Wolf had displayed. Before she left early for the Ancient Dragon Temple, Lucia had even deliberately seized the moment when Malenia carried the little fox off to play and asked her to secretly examine the shadow beast's condition.

Every one of those actions looked nothing like how one treated an intimate guard meant to follow an Empyrean like a shadow. Instead, they looked more like precautions against a potential mortal enemy.

"Sister Lansseax, how much do you understand about beings like 'shadow beasts'?" Lucia asked after a moment of silence.

"Hmm... They are all living creatures that already existed in The Lands Between. During the Empyrean investiture ceremony, the Two Fingers cross space through a fog gate, causing an Empyrean to form a bond with the beast most suited to their heart's desire, then, under the witness of the Greater Will, sign a soul contract between the two. In life or death, they will never turn away from each other," Lansseax summarized thoughtfully.

"I've also heard that the fog gate contains the blessing of the Greater Will, and that shadow beasts receive a tremendous strengthening in the trait the Empyrean desires most. Take Maliketh, for example—many years ago, when he was still named Gurranq, he was a beast high priest who followed His Majesty Hlaris. His status in the Sky Temple was second only to the High Priest Gulan. Before Fortissax and I became priests, he was the one assisting the High Priest in managing court affairs. Though he was already famous throughout the world for his martial might back then, he was nowhere near as terrifying as he became after becoming Queen Eternal's shadow beast."

"When the Ancient Dragon Temple was first established ten years ago, I saw him once in the royal capital," she recalled. "That was the first time I had met him after many years. Just the pressure he unconsciously emitted made me feel an indescribable oppression... That feeling was even more terrifying than Godwyn under the Erdtree's blessing. He was simply like a walking furnace of divine power; even a trace of aura leaking out from him was enough to make the bravest knight fall silent in fear."

"The trait an Empyrean desires most... If it was Queen Marika back then, what she desired should have been power, right?" Lucia murmured.

"In short, I can sense through the soul contract that shadow beasts who pass through the fog gate are no longer what they originally were. Whether it is a blessing or something else, their bodies have already been branded with a mark of the Greater Will that is difficult to erase."

"So you suspect that god used such a method to plant a hidden piece at your side, using it to interfere with your next actions, even to control your life?" A flicker of understanding appeared in Lansseax's eyes.

Lucia nodded at her words. Unfortunately, he could not tell her that this was not some conjecture of his at all, but an irrefutable fact he had personally experienced in his previous life.

On this land, beginning with Queen Eternal Marika, behind every Empyrean who seemed to possess supreme honor stood an unfathomable Two Fingers divine envoy. They hid in the shadows, secretly controlling everything about the Empyrean. Once an Empyrean acted like Ranni, attempting to break free of that control, what awaited them was the backlash of their shadow beast and the endless extermination by the Black Knife Assassins.

The only thing that exceeded his expectations was that the Two Fingers divine envoy named Epsilon had not chosen to follow him into Valeria Hall. Instead, it said it would be stationed long-term in the Two Fingers Church outside the Golden Sanctuary, and would occasionally go to places like the Royal Library. If Lucia wanted to see him, he only needed to send someone to the Two Fingers Church to summon him, and it would respond at the first opportunity.

Lansseax sighed softly and said apologetically, "Before arranging for you to come to the royal capital, I never imagined the Greater Will would specifically add an Empyrean position for you. In the end, through a twist of fate, I dragged you completely into Leyndell's whirlpool. What a miscalculation..."

As a priest of the Sky Temple who guided the dragons, and after preaching and spreading the faith in the royal capital for more than ten years, although she could not foresee the future Shattered War that would swallow all the demigods, she still saw the current undercurrents in Leyndell with perfect clarity. Even setting aside the original conflict between Erdtree doctrine and Golden Order fundamentalism, the Greater Will's actions in the investiture of Empyreans could absolutely be called malicious.

Queen Eternal, as a god, clearly had a boundless lifespan, and upon the Elden Throne sat Radagon, an almost perfect incarnation of order. Even the position of crown prince was occupied by the widely supported Golden Prince. Yet three Empyreans of entirely different positions still had to be invested.

Among them, Malenia was still young and frail, and burdened by the curse of rot, so for now she did not possess the strength to compete for the position of god. But the other two—whether Prince Miquella, who had crushed his peers in prayer since childhood, or that Princess of the Moon of Caria, whose talent in the way of magic was overflowing—undoubtedly both possessed the potential to create their own order, as well as the qualifications to become the god of a new age.

Looking across the countless dynasties in history that had risen and fallen, whenever more than one being with the power to become king also possessed the qualification to become king, the situation of the entire dynasty would immediately fall into an extremely dangerous balance. Once the state of affairs changed and that balance collapsed, the struggle between kings would be only a matter of moments. For the dragons, from the ignorant ancient era until today, they had seen situations like this far, far too many times.

"How can that be blamed on you?" Lucia shook his head. "Thinking about it carefully, as long as I hatched alive from that Supreme Egg, what happened today would have come sooner or later. The Golden Dynasty and Caria both have their own Empyreans. Sky City, standing in a tripartite balance with them, naturally has no reason to stay out of it. My coming to Leyndell at most advanced this investiture ceremony by a few days."

At the current stage, he had too little information, and his understanding of the future Night of the Black Knives and the Queen's motive for smashing the Elden Ring was, at most, stuck at the level of speculation. There was little value in discussing it in depth. But for now, the Two Fingers and the Greater Will behind them had clearly already begun preparing for the next age.

The order of the new age might be the Golden Order fully carrying out fundamentalism and governed by Radagon. It might also be a brand-new order created by any one of the five—Godwyn, Ranni, Miquella, Malenia, or himself. The Greater Will did not care who would win. It would only set up enough choices in advance to ensure the arrival of the next age.

That would be an age in which the Erdtree still towered at the pinnacle of the world, and also an age in which Queen Eternal Marika no longer existed.

"Sister Lansseax, since we decided together to come to Leyndell, there has long since been no room or possibility for retreat. From now on, all I can do is continuously seize more power and strive to hold enough trump cards before the upheaval arrives."

At this point, he no longer hesitated and said, "When we were in Kallen City two days ago, I felt a stir from the Dragon Bloodline Inheritance deep in my soul. Next, I plan to enter seclusion for a few days and try to open the seal. I'll have to trouble you with matters outside."

"The Dragon Bloodline Inheritance?" Lansseax's expression changed. "I only began attempting to open the seal when I was one hundred and six, and only fully succeeded when I was two hundred and thirty—isn't it too dangerous for you to try now?"

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Lucia said with a smile, comforting her. "Besides, I'm only trying it. Nothing will go wrong."

Lansseax stared fixedly at him, as though trying to discern from his eyes how much of this decision was driven by impulse. But what answered her was only a calm rationality.

Only after a long while did she take a deep breath, nod helplessly, and say, "Then you must be extremely careful. The moment you notice anything wrong with your condition, stop at once. No amount of power is more important than your life!"

"No problem—" Lucia answered seriously.