Cleaning Up

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

Originally, according to his plan, after obtaining the Sacred Tear from the Pilgrimage Church, he would descend from the mountaintop and charge straight ahead.

He would fight his way back along the main road to Castle Morne, activate a Site of Grace before the walls, then head straight into Castle Morne in one final push to quell the rebellion.

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

But after that brutal battle against the Demi-Human Queen, Xia Tong's somewhat inflated confidence had immediately cooled down.

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

What truly made her troublesome was her despair-inducing ability to rally followers—she simply had too many underlings. There was no end to them no matter how many he killed.

Even now, thinking back on it still left him shaken.

At that final moment, if the remaining Demi-Humans had not been terrified by the Demi-Human Queen's death and fled in all directions, then once night fully fell and they entered a berserk state, Xia Tong would have left his life there.

Before, Xia Tong had always been the one ganging up on others. Now, he had been the one getting ganged up on.

It really did not feel good.

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

He rose to his feet and walked to the entrance of the Pilgrimage Church. His gaze crossed the hills and settled on the shadowy plains beneath the moonlight, and he had already decided on his next destination—the Tombsward Catacombs.

As long as he could defeat the boss guarding that place, the Cemetery Shade, he would obtain the legendary Spirit Ashes—Lhutel the Headless Knight.

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

Most importantly, she was incredibly durable and had extremely strong survivability.

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

Besides, considering the catacombs were filled with mechanisms and far too dangerous, there was no way he could let the frail Irina accompany him into such danger.

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

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

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

The next day, dawn had only just begun to break.

Xia Tong got up early and began his local cleanup plan.

The first thing he needed to do was clear out the graveyard beside the church.

This graveyard was not far from the church. It only took a few minutes to reach by following 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 reanimated Skeletal Warrior.

Massive horns grew from its head, and it brandished two rusty yet sharp polearm scimitars, chopping toward Xia Tong with a howling gust.

Xia Tong reacted swiftly, raising the Shield of the Guilty and lightly blocking the attack.

Clang!

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

The Skeletal Warrior staggered backward.

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

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

But it was not over.

"Those Who Live in Death really are troublesome."

Xia Tong looked at the pile of shattered bones on the ground and felt a wave of disgust from the bottom of his heart.

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

Clusters of pale light, writhing like slender snakes, abruptly lit up within the pile of bones.

Within that pale glow, a twisted and illusory spirit seemed to faintly emerge.

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

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

As an experienced Soulslike player, Xia Tong naturally knew what this meant.

He had to finish it off.

Xia Tong raised the heavy Lordsworn's Greatsword again 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 release a shrill, hollow wail.

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

The broken bones and tattered armor that had still been twitching on the ground finally fell silent as well, becoming truly dead things.

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 resting through the night, all of them had fully recovered and were brimming with energy.

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

He conducted a carpet search, refusing to overlook a single one of Those Who Live in Death that might be lurking nearby.

After an hour of thorough clearing, 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 crawl back out.

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

For the current Xia Tong, dealing with such fodder was as easy as chopping vegetables.

He left none alive.

Once he finished all that, Xia Tong turned his gaze toward the distant sky.

Several irritating Giant Bats were circling there.

With a lift of his hand, Xia Tong summoned the bow-wielding Godrick Soldiers once more.

At the same time, those keen-sensed bats seemed to notice the intruders below and screeched 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 swooped close, several bolts shot toward them.

But these Giant Bats were far more agile than those dim-witted Winged Misbegotten.

That volley struck only two of them.

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

However, those fleshy wings were extremely tough. Even pierced through 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 if they had coordinated in advance, the beasts acted together.

Four or five Giant Bats folded their wings in unison and descended at once, their massive claws diving down with a stench of blood.

This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for!

Xia Tong swiftly drew the Demi-Human Queen's Staff. The enormous purplish-red glintstone atop it began to glow slowly as it gathered magic.

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

Crystal Barrage!

With a violent shrrrk!

Dozens of icy-blue glintstone projectiles burst forth like a shotgun fired 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 dodge.

In an instant, most of the bats were shot down and fell to the ground, struggling in pain.

The Fanged Imps and three Stray Wolves, who had long been waiting to strike, swarmed forward and frantically tore into the grounded enemies.

The one that slipped through flapped its wings and tried to flee, but Xia Tong and the Godrick Soldiers swiftly fired another bolt, shooting it down on the spot.

After making another round through the area and confirming that the surroundings of the Pilgrimage Church had been thoroughly cleared of all potential threats.

Only then did Xia Tong satisfactorily put away his weapons and return to the church.

This round of clearing earned him another seven or eight hundred Runes.

Including his previous savings, his total Runes were already nearing the major milestone of 4,500.