Clean-Up

After eating and drinking his fill, Xia Tong sat by the campfire and began reviewing the plan for the journey ahead.

According to his original plan, after obtaining the Sacred Tear at Pilgrimage Church, he should have descended from the mountaintop and pushed straight ahead.

He would fight his way back along the main road to Castle Morne, activate a Site of Grace before the city walls, then press onward in one push to Castle Morne and quell the unrest.

After all, the route was entirely wide-open road. With Torrent's current speed, he was fully confident that he could reach the foot of Castle Morne within a single day.

But after the fierce battle against the Demi-Human Queen, Xia Tong's somewhat inflated confidence immediately cooled considerably.

To be fair, the Demi-Human Queen herself had not been all that powerful in combat.

What truly made her troublesome was her despair-inducing ability to rally others—she simply had too many underlings, too many to kill them all.

Even now, the memory still sent chills down his spine.

At the very end, if the remaining Demi-Humans had not been terrified by the Demi-Human Queen's death and fled in panic, then once night had fully fallen and they entered a berserk state, Xia Tong would truly have left his life there.

In the past, Xia Tong had always been the one ganging up on others. Now, he was the one being ganged up on.

It really did not feel good!

I need someone to hold the line, Xia Tong thought.

He stood up and walked to the entrance of Pilgrimage Church. His gaze passed over the hills and settled on the dim wilderness beneath the moonlight, his next destination already decided—the Tombsward Catacombs.

As long as he successfully defeated the BOSS guarding that place, the Cemetery Shade, he would obtain the legendary Spirit Ashes—Lhutel the Headless Knight.

Back when he had played Elden Ring in his previous life, she had been an exceptionally powerful legendary Spirit Ash, one who could accompany him almost all the way into the late game.

Most importantly, she was incredibly durable, with extremely strong survivability.

If she had been there when he fought the Demi-Human Queen, sharing some of the attacks and drawing the queen's attention, Xia Tong would never have won so miserably, nearly losing his life in the process.

Besides, considering that the catacombs were filled with mechanisms and far too dangerous, there was no way he could let the frail Irina risk going in with him.

Therefore, the best arrangement was for Irina and Melina to remain at Pilgrimage Church while he went alone to the Tombsward Catacombs.

Under the church's protection, beside the warm Site of Grace, there should not be any danger.

Still, to be safe, before leaving, he needed to thoroughly clear out some of the petty threats lurking around the church.

The next day, dawn had barely broken.

Xia Tong rose early and began his local cleanup plan.

The first task was to clear out the graveyard beside the church.

The graveyard was not far from the church. It only took a few minutes to get there along the path.

The graveyard was especially quiet in the early morning, with only the rustling of wind through the tangled weeds.

As he walked, a sudden change occurred.

A tall figure abruptly sprang out from behind a nearby tombstone without warning.

It was a revived Skeletal Warrior.

Massive long horns grew from its head, and it wielded two rusty yet sharp pole-mounted curved blades, chopping toward Xia Tong with a howling gust of wind.

Xia Tong reacted quickly, raising the Shield of the Guilty in his hand to lightly block the attack.

Clang!

The instant he blocked the blow, he lifted his leg and viciously kicked the skeleton in the ribs.

The Skeletal Warrior staggered back.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xia Tong followed up with a heavy slash.

With a crack, the Skeletal Warrior instantly fell apart, shattering into a pile of white bones.

But it was not over yet.

Those Who Live in Death are really troublesome.

Looking at the pile of broken bones on the ground, Xia Tong felt a wave of disgust from the bottom of his heart.

Because among the scattered dry bones and rusted armor, something strange began to happen.

Clusters of pale light, writhing like thin snakes, suddenly lit up within the heap of bones.

Within that faint light, a twisted and illusory spirit form seemed to emerge.

The lights resembled living mycelia, yet also greedy threads, tugging fiercely at the broken bones on the ground.

They were trying to piece the scattered parts back together and make the Skeletal Warrior stand up again.

As a veteran of Soulslike games, Xia Tong naturally understood how this worked.

He had to finish it off.

Xia Tong raised the heavy Lordsworn's Greatsword once more and fiercely slashed at the writhing pale light on the ground!

As the blade swept through, the illusory spirit struggling within the pale glow seemed to let out a shrill, hollow wail.

The pale light finally dispersed completely, losing its power to revive.

The broken bones and shattered armor that had still been twitching on the ground finally fell completely still, becoming truly lifeless objects.

59 Runes flowed into Xia Tong's body.

Ding-a-ling—

Xia Tong rang the Spirit Calling Bell.

Three Stray Wolves and two Fanged Imps answered the call. After a night's rest, they had fully recovered and were brimming with energy.

With this Spirit Ashes battle group, Xia Tong began carefully patrolling the entire graveyard.

He searched it inch by inch, refusing to overlook a single one of Those Who Live in Death that might be lying in wait.

After an hour of thorough sweeping, during which he killed another seven or eight Skeletal Warriors, the entire graveyard had been turned upside down. He confirmed that not a single one of Those Who Live in Death could rise again.

Afterward, Xia Tong also casually killed off the Wandering Nobles and Noble Sorcerers roaming nearby one by one.

For Xia Tong now, dealing with these minor enemies was as easy as chopping vegetables.

He left none alive.

After finishing all that, Xia Tong turned his gaze toward the distant sky.

Several irritating Giant Bats were circling there.

With a raise of his hand, Xia Tong summoned Godrick Soldiers armed with crossbows.

At the same time, the sharp-eyed bats seemed to have noticed the intruders below and shrieked as they dove toward them.

"Perfect!"

Xia Tong waved a hand, signaling the melee Stray Wolves and Fanged Imps not to act rashly lest they be kited around.

He and the Godrick Soldiers both raised their light crossbows, aimed at the sky, and prepared to fire.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

When the Giant Bats dove close, several bolts shot through the air.

However, these Giant Bats were far more agile than those slow-witted Winged Misbegotten.

That volley only struck two of them.

And it did not inflict any fatal injuries. The bolts merely pierced their leathery wings.

But those fleshy wings were incredibly resilient. Even after being pierced by sharp arrows and left with several holes, their flight was barely affected.

They continued circling overhead, screeching arrogantly.

The piercing sonic attacks made Xia Tong's eardrums ache in waves.

Suddenly, as though they had coordinated beforehand, the beasts acted as one.

Four or five Giant Bats folded their wings in unison and swooped down together, their enormous claws carrying a foul wind as they lunged downward.

This was exactly what he had been waiting for!

Xia Tong swiftly drew the Demi-Human Queen's Staff. The massive purplish-red glintstone atop it gradually lit up as it gathered magic power.

Just as the Giant Bats came within half a meter of Xia Tong, nearly pressing against his face.

"Crystal Barrage!"

With an explosive shriek!

Dozens of icy-blue glintstone projectiles shot forth like a shotgun blasting at point-blank range.

The sharp magical crystals instantly pierced through the Giant Bats' bodies and wing membranes.

At this distance, they had nowhere to evade.

For a moment, most of the bats were blasted to the ground, struggling in pain.

The Fanged Imps and three Stray Wolves, already poised to strike, swarmed forward and frantically tore into the grounded enemies.

The last bat that slipped through flapped its wings and tried to flee, but the quick-eyed Xia Tong and the Godrick Soldiers fired another bolt, shooting it down on the spot.

After making another circuit around the area, Xia Tong found that Pilgrimage Church's surroundings had been completely cleared, with no potential threats remaining.

Only then did Xia Tong put away his weapon in satisfaction and return to the church.

After this round of clearing, he gained another seven or eight hundred Runes.

Including his previous savings, his total number of Runes was already closing in on the major threshold of 4,500.