Entering the City

For the moment, Lucian had no idea where to begin. There was too little information at hand. The only thing certain was that both the Two Fingers and the Three Fingers had become involved with this peninsula.

What they wanted was probably more than just Irina.

At the very least, the Two Fingers wanted more than just Irina.

They had had plenty of chances to eliminate Irina, whether by assassinating her in the city or launching a direct assault during the rebellion.

Yet they had let Irina escape, and later had only sent a very weak Confessor to deal with her.

There had to be a more important mission inside Castle Morne, one important enough to keep the remaining people in the city.

The Leonine Misbegotten and the other two people left behind would probably not be easy to handle, especially if they worked together.

As for the Three Fingers, although he did not know their intentions, he had best prepare himself. There might also be Frenzied Flame-infected people lying in ambush within the city.

"Mr. Lucian..."

Irina's trembling voice carried a plea.

"Mm. We'll set out now."

"Oh, right. Thank you for the information. It helped a lot."

Yanogo waved a hand.

"There's nothing to thank me for. Be careful on the road. Those people are probably very strong."

Lucian rose to his feet and blew his whistle, summoning Torrent to his side.

He helped Irina up. She was like a newborn fawn, unable even to stand steadily.

After mounting Torrent, Irina wrapped her arms around Lucian from behind as usual. Through his armor, Lucian could feel her trembling body.

Lucian did not know what to say to comfort Irina, so he could only urge Torrent into a full-speed run.

Before long, the towering Castle Morne appeared at the edge of his vision. It had been built atop a solitary mountain.

The terrain was remarkably strange, surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs. No one would have thought someone could leap onto the outer walls and invade.

A massive Golem stood guard beneath the castle.

"Irina, as long as you have the token on you, the Golem won't attack, right?"

"Yes. I have the token with me. Just charge straight through."

Torrent galloped down the main road, passing a stele identical to the one at Gatefront along the way.

Lucian did not stop to search for a map, but he had to make a detour to the glowing phantom Minor Erdtree on the nearby hillside.

If he could obtain a Golden Seed, he could increase the number of uses for his Flask of Crimson Tears. That was extremely important.

Lucian guided Torrent up the slope to the Minor Erdtree, where he found an Erdtree Seed on the ground. It was an enormous seed.

After picking it up, they continued toward Castle Morne—but then a sudden change occurred.

"Whoosh—"

A massive arrow flew toward them.

Lucian hurriedly rode Torrent down the slope. The giant arrow streaked overhead and slammed into the spot where they had just been, scattering a shower of rubble.

Lucian looked back. The enormous arrow had embedded itself deeply in the rock, blasting the Minor Erdtree to pieces.

"W-what was that just now?"

Irina was startled by the deafening sound.

"An arrow fired by the Golem. Looks like the token doesn't work anymore."

"Hold on tight. We're charging through."

Lucian knew the Golem's range was immense. Even if they turned back now, they would not escape its range anytime soon. Worse, they could not see its movements, making its shots even harder to evade.

A wide, open plain lay ahead. Normally, it would be difficult to cross, but fortunately, many huge fragments of ruins were scattered across it.

Lucian intended to use those as cover, rush across in one go, and cut down the Golem.

Timing his movements around the Golem's firing intervals, Lucian weaved through the ruin fragments.

But the final stretch of road would leave them exposed to the Golem's fire.

After waiting for the Golem to release another arrow, Lucian spurred Torrent out from behind the ruins. The Golem nocked and fired its bow slowly, but the remaining distance was not short.

When Lucian had crossed more than half the distance, the Golem fired its next arrow.

Torrent burst forward, accelerating once more. The giant arrow landed just behind them without incident.

Before the next arrow could come, Lucian finally reached the Golem's feet.

Lucian swung his halberd in his right hand, hacking wildly at the Golem's legs.

This Golem had long fallen into disrepair. Its leg armor was badly damaged, and magma-like liquid could be seen flowing through the cracks.

Feeling the attacks on its leg, the Golem belatedly lowered its half-drawn bow and instead tried to attack Lucian with its hands and feet.

But Torrent was exceptionally nimble, darting back and forth beneath the Golem's feet. The sluggish Golem could do nothing.

As Lucian drove a thrust into a crack in the Golem's leg, the limb finally gave way. Its outer shell cracked apart inch by inch, and magma-like liquid gushed out.

One of the Golem's legs lost power and could no longer support its body. Its entire massive frame collapsed forward.

Lucian seized the chance to run to the Golem's chest, where a massive Crucible served as its source of power.

Lucian found a gap in the Crucible and drove his weapon in viciously. With a fierce tug, he successfully destroyed it, and flaming liquid poured out continuously.

The Golem struggled to rise, but as more and more liquid drained away, it gradually lost power and slumped to the ground.

Lucian let out a breath. He had dealt with it without much danger. Then he noticed several Crystal Knives embedded in the Golem's waist.

It seemed someone had used Crystal Knives to interfere with the Golem's operation, throwing it into confusion and preventing it from recognizing the token.

The magic within his body was suddenly drawn out, automatically unleashing a storm.

Lucian whipped around. A silent, pitch-black Ballista Bolt had been intercepted by the storm and was now tumbling crookedly toward the ground.

Following the direction from which the Ballista Bolt had come, Lucian saw a black-robed figure on the city wall turn and leave.

Lucian's heart pounded. That Ballista Bolt had been fired the instant he relaxed, without making a sound.

If the Ancient King had not drawn on his magic to use the storm and block it, whether the target had been him or Irina, the victim would likely have lost their life.

Melina's voice sounded by his ear:

"That Ballista Bolt looks like something used by a Confessor. It is nearly soundless and entirely black, with different poisons smeared on its barbs."

"The terrain inside the city is narrow. Riding Torrent would make fighting more difficult instead."

"Let Torrent keep Irina outside the city. Torrent is very clever. If he is on guard, neither Ballista Bolts nor arrows will hit him easily."

Lucian considered it. This was indeed the safest course of action. Once inside the city, there would be no room to ride freely, and Torrent and Irina might even be caught in the crossfire.

Outside the city, even if they came after Irina, they would not be able to catch Torrent carrying her.

Lucian explained things to Irina, then told Torrent to run immediately if anything seemed wrong.

Watching them head away, Lucian turned and walked up the steps toward Castle Morne's main gate.

Massive defensive shields blocked the central platform, and flame-spewing cannons were aimed outward from the city.

With such defensive equipment, it would have been extremely difficult to storm the city—but it had happened to suffer a rebellion from within.

Stepping over the bodies of the soldiers at the entrance, Lucian entered through the main gate.

There was an armory at the entrance to Castle Morne, with quite a few things inside: Stormveil-style flamethrowers, swords, spears—enough to arm a garrison of more than a dozen people. What a pity there had been a rebellion. Also, Crystal Knives: firing four or five of them into stone statue enemies could make them unable to distinguish friend from foe, like Golems and Erdtree Burial Watchdogs. Pretty interesting. And while I'm at it, please send some free recommendation votes too. ∩_∩