A Living Hell

After entering through the main gate, he found a Grace in the passageway. Lucian touched it, paused briefly, then prepared to take the lift into Castle Morne.

"Wait a moment."

Melina called out to Lucian.

"That seed you picked up earlier is a seed of the Erdtree. I can refine it into a Flask of Crimson Tears for you."

Lucian had nearly forgotten about that. He handed the Erdtree seed to Melina.

Having another Flask of Crimson Tears before entering the castle would make him safer.

Melina accepted the Golden Seed, somehow produced a small knife, and began working on it.

"Don't worry. It won't take long."

Lucian used the time to sort through his equipment.

He brought along both the halberd equipped with Storm Stomp and the Lordsworn's Greatsword.

He was comfortable using both weapons. One was for being surrounded by large groups of enemies, while the other was for stronger individual foes.

Lucian also intended to bring a shield. If he could not dodge in time while surrounded, he would have no choice but to withstand the blows with a shield.

He first took out the Brass Shield, but it was rather heavy. Its effectiveness when used one-handed would probably be lacking, and it was on the small side as well.

After considering it, Lucian pulled out the Flame Crest Wooden Shield he had found in the Sick Village. It was a long shield, and although it was a medium shield, it could protect a large area.

Since it was wooden, it was also very light. Its defense was somewhat lacking, but against weaker enemies like the Misbegotten, it would not be a problem.

It seemed there was nothing else he could bring.

Then Lucian found a metal block with the image of a golden Ancient Dragon engraved upon it.

It was the Sacred Dragoncrest Talisman Hakan had picked up for him outside the Stranded Graveyard.

Lucian had never known how talismans were meant to be used. If simply hanging one on his body was enough, could he not cover himself in talismans that boosted his attributes?

"Melina, do you know how to make a talisman work?"

Melina did not stop what she was doing as she found time to answer:

"Talismans are items imbued with power. To make them work, you must use special methods to merge them with yourself."

"For example, by eating them."

Lucian was dumbfounded. Eat such a large chunk of metal?

Melina continued.

"Besides eating them, there are other ways to merge them with yourself, such as embedding them in your body."

"The safest method is a Talisman Pouch sewn by a Finger Reader Crone of the Two Fingers. The pouch deceives the talisman into believing it is inside your body."

"As for talismans, I cannot help you right now. I'm sorry."

Lucian shook his head.

"There's no need to apologize for that."

"You're my Maiden. We are supposed to rely on each other. If I had to depend on you to find a solution to everything, then I would be far too useless."

Melina's hands stopped moving. With her head lowered as she worked, Lucian could not see her face.

"As your Maiden, of course I feel sorry that I can't help you in a place like this."

Melina raised her head. Though she said she was sorry, the corners of her lips were slightly raised.

She handed Lucian the newly finished Flask of Crimson Tears.

"Use it to hold the Tears you need."

"And then, I wish you victory over your enemies. Whatever you do, don't die."

Lucian accepted the Flask of Crimson Tears, feeling something indescribable in his heart. In the end, he merely gave Melina a solemn promise:

"Don't worry. No matter what, I won't die here. If I'm going to die, it will only be after I bring you back beneath the Erdtree."

Lucian stepped onto the lift that led into Castle Morne.

The old wooden lift creaked as it rose, but it remained fairly steady as it climbed through the mountain.

However, after the lift had risen to a certain height, Lucian caught a scent.

It was a revolting stench that made him nauseous.

It mixed the smell of burned things, the foul odor of Scarlet Rot, and an intensely pungent scent of blood.

Black blood that had flowed down the rock walls beside the lift, then congealed there, gradually began to appear.

The higher the lift climbed, the more blood there was—and the fresher it became.

Dark red blood covered the black blood, and vivid red blood covered the dark red blood.

It was still flowing without end...

At last, the lift arrived. Several residents' corpses had been carelessly thrown across the space before it.

The steps ahead had once led to Castle Morne's gates, but now they led to hell.

Blood flowed down the steps from within the castle. Looking through the gates, Lucian saw the distant walls hung with the corpses of residents and soldiers.

Lucian's expression darkened terribly, utterly devoid of emotion.

He stepped onto the blood-covered stairs. The thick, sticky sensation beneath his feet felt as though it were holding him back.

Crying out in pain, begging him not to enter the city—not to add another corpse to the pile.

Standing beneath the city gates, the complete scene that had been hidden by the height of the lift unfolded before Lucian's eyes.

Corpses lay scattered throughout the vast courtyard, blending into the dirt until there was nowhere left to set foot.

At the center of the courtyard, densely packed corpses had been piled into a small mountain. The Misbegotten had lit bonfires atop the bodies, gathering in a circle to cheer and celebrate their victory.

Lucian looked over the corpses scattered everywhere: children, elders, soldiers, servants.

They had been afraid. They had been desperate. Yet without exception, they had been hacked beyond recognition, chopped into pieces.

They had not been killed merely to kill them, but tortured for amusement.

Even death had not spared them. The Misbegotten continued to mutilate the corpses, seemingly delighted whenever blood splattered from their blades.

Because of the Aspects of the Crucible, the Misbegotten had been born as slaves and subjected to abuse and humiliation.

In the game, Lucian had not felt much toward this race that had suffered injustice since birth. He neither liked nor particularly hated them. They were merely ordinary minor enemies.

He believed it was perfectly reasonable to resist after being oppressed.

In the game, he cared about the various NPCs, powerful enemies, and legendary stories.

He had never paid attention to the massacre in Castle Morne. All he had cared about was Irina and her father's questline.

But now, the city beneath his feet was wailing. The corpses were crying out, and no one cared about them.

The great demigods did not care. The powerful heroes did not care.

Only Lucian cared now.

This vision of a living hell had changed Lucian's view of the Misbegotten as a race.

These creatures deserved to be born slaves. Look at what they had become after breaking free of their shackles—every one of them slaughtered without restraint, every one of them delighted in torture...

Such a view was unfair. Of course it was unfair, because Lucian was human! Human, not Misbegotten!

He did not need to consider whether their actions were reasonable from the Misbegotten's perspective. He only needed to take revenge as a human.

Lucian gripped his halberd so tightly that his fingers ached.

Watching the Misbegotten call to one another after spotting him and begin closing in, Lucian ground his teeth and growled:

"Since you've all gone this far, then it's fine if I go a little too far too, isn't it..."

Because I was writing the novel, I used invisibility to carefully observe Castle Morne. That pile of bodies right after entering really was entirely made of corpses. It only became clear after getting close; from a distance, it looked like a dirt mound. Sigh, it was truly too tragic. Since it is normal for the Misbegotten to rebel as slaves, then it is also normal for humans to avenge their fellow humans, right?