Church of Elleh

Lucian listened coldly to Varre's nonsense. He knew Varre was a recruiter for the Blood Dynasty, poaching people everywhere and tricking them into joining the Blood Dynasty.

They had their eye on the fact that most Tarnished had no maiden by their side and could not see Grace, yet possessed considerable martial skill.

They used Stormveil Castle to test the mettle of these Tarnished, then recruited the best among them as Blood Knights.

But Lucian was in no hurry to make a move against Varre. He intended to keep Varre around for now.

Once he entered the Blood Dynasty through Varre, it would be time for Varre to pay for his loose tongue.

So Lucian put on a doubtful expression and silently left in the direction Varre had pointed.

"Hehe, I have a feeling we'll meet again soon, my dear~"

Lucian ignored him, afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would not be able to stop himself from killing Varre ahead of time.

Varre simply stood there and watched Lucian disappear into the distance.

The eyes beneath his mask were cold and unfathomable. No one knew what he was thinking; only his bloodstained white mask continued to smile.

Following the direction indicated by Grace, Lucian crossed hill after hill and finally arrived near the church ruins.

Only one hill separated him from the church ruins—the former Church of Elleh—but Lucian stopped.

Lucian crouched in one of the ubiquitous bushes and removed the helmet Hakan had given him, lest its reflection expose his position.

That was because a powerful field boss, the Tree Sentinel, patrolled back and forth nearby.

This was not the time to fight it. Lucian had needed cheats even to deal with an elite enemy like the Grafted Scion, much less a field boss like the Tree Sentinel.

Although he had Wind Spirit Moon Shadow, its uses did not seem to recover with time so far. Of course, perhaps not enough days had passed yet.

In any case, every chance to use Wind Spirit Moon Shadow was incredibly precious.

Compared to the Tree Sentinel, Lucian would rather save his cheats for the main-story bosses that possessed Great Runes.

Lucian remained perfectly still in the bushes, searching all around for any sign of the Tree Sentinel.

But after a long while, he still did not see the Tree Sentinel's eye-catching golden figure.

With such a flashy color scheme, there was no way Lucian could have missed it if it had entered his field of vision.

"Could it be different from the game? Is there no Tree Sentinel stationed here at all? Or was it transferred somewhere else?"

Lucian stood and slipped out of the bushes, but after taking only two steps, he immediately darted back inside.

Cold sweat broke out across Lucian's body. The moment he had stood up, he suddenly spotted a golden figure emerging from his blind spot on the dirt road leading to the Church of Elleh, below and to the right of the hill where he stood.

Back in the bushes, Lucian watched the Tree Sentinel in full golden armor patrol leisurely along the dirt road atop a massive horse clad in the same golden armor.

Its enormous body was even as tall as the trees by the roadside.

"Just how far does this guy patrol? He actually came out from the direction I came from."

Earlier, Lucian had been afraid soldiers might be guarding the road, so he had not followed the dirt path. Instead, he had traveled over the hills all the way here, only to narrowly pass by the Tree Sentinel.

"Whew, that was dangerous, but at least he's within my sight now. I won't have to worry about him suddenly charging out and slashing me while I'm moving."

Lucian let out a breath and pulled the dense bushes beside him closer around himself.

Lucian had already decided to wait here until he fully understood the Tree Sentinel's patrol route before leaving.

"Grrr~"

Lucian's stomach growled traitorously. He looked up at the sky.

Seeing only the enormous Erdtree, he remembered that there was no sun in the Lands Between.

He decided not to worry about the time. If he was hungry, he would eat.

Lucian slowly took out the packet of white meat slices from his small bag.

It was just an ordinary packet of meat slices, not soaked in any special potion, so it had no special effects and could only fill his stomach.

The slices had been dried for easy storage and transport, so naturally they did not taste good.

Not to mention they had drifted here with Lucian and been soaked through by seawater once.

They were truly nothing more than food to fill his belly. Lucian chewed with difficulty while keeping his eyes on the Tree Sentinel.

The Tree Sentinel moved slowly. Fortunately, because the meat slices tasted so bad, Lucian ate even more slowly than the Tree Sentinel walked.

By the time the last slice of meat entered his stomach, Lucian had also figured out the Tree Sentinel's patrol pattern.

"The patrol range is much larger than in the game. One round trip takes more than half an hour."

Although the Tree Sentinel rode slowly, that massive horse was huge, and the patrol route was still quite long.

"And it never patrols the roadless area on the left. Once it leaves the hill below me, I'll set out and circle around from the left."

After making his plan, Lucian continued to wait quietly for the right moment.

When the Tree Sentinel once again passed by the hill below, Lucian silently counted to three minutes, then quickly left the bushes.

Nothing unexpected happened along the way. Lucian jogged all the way and successfully arrived at the Church of Elleh.

More than half the ruined church had collapsed. Broken walls and rubble stood scattered everywhere, turning the place into an open-air structure. Only a bit of the church's front entrance remained intact.

The moment he entered the church, Lucian saw a fire burning by the wall, along with a man and a donkey beside it.

The man was dressed in an unusually festive manner: a bright red coat with a white scarf, orange-yellow trousers, and a fluffy crimson hat adorned with several strange feathers.

He held a peculiar instrument, playing it while humming an unknown tune.

When he saw someone suddenly enter the ruined church, his body stiffened, and the tune stopped as well.

Only after seeing that Lucian had no intention of attacking did he gradually relax.

"You're Tarnished, aren't you... And you don't look like you're going to attack me. In that case, how about we do some business?"

He put away his instrument and introduced himself.

"My name is Kale. You might not be able to tell, but I'm a merchant."

Kale looked at Lucian. His hair was long and grizzled, while the lower half of his face was wrapped in a mask. He truly did not look like a shrewd merchant.

Lucian nodded. He remembered that Kale had quite a few useful early-game items.

"Sure. Let me see what you have first."

Kale stood up, unloaded the goods from the skinny donkey beside him, and spread them out before Lucian.

"By the way, that Tree Sentinel patrolling outside won't come in here, right?"

"Oh, it's fine. It doesn't bother anyone except Tarnished. I've been here for quite a while. As long as you're careful not to let it see you, you'll be fine."

Knowing the Tree Sentinel would not come inside, Lucian breathed a sigh of relief. Back when he played the game, the Tree Sentinel had killed him plenty of times, leaving him with a bit of psychological trauma.

Lucian began picking through the various items before him.

After some careful browsing, Lucian ultimately chose a torch, a monocular telescope, a crafting kit, and two crafting notes left behind by nomadic warriors.