Land of Grafting

Ken Kaneki and Lu Mingfei cut down every enemy in their path. They even encountered Exile Knights wielding swords and shields, as well as banished soldiers. In the past, they would have been a huge headache for Lu Mingfei, but now that he had help, they were no more than brittle deadwood before the wind.

They soon reached an open-air walkway. The air was thick with the stench of blood and decay, as though countless heaps of flesh had rotted and fermented here.

Just as they were about to step onto the walkway, Ken Kaneki suddenly reached out and stopped Lu Mingfei.

"Lu."

Ken Kaneki asked,

"Your hometown is Earth too, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Lu Mingfei scratched his head. "But it's not the same one as yours. We don't have Ghouls where I'm from, only Mixed-Bloods and dragons. Why?"

"The place you used to live in was probably fairly peaceful, wasn't it?"

"More than fairly peaceful!" Lu Mingfei slapped his thigh. "It was practically all song and dance! Forget my hometown—just look at the school I attended. Aside from seeing blood while carrying out missions, it was classes, clubs, dances, sailing..."

"I see."

Ken Kaneki said gently.

"The place ahead is horrifying even by the standards of my life, and of the entire Lands Between. I'm a little unusual, but Emiya and the others told me that when they first came here, they all basically threw up.

"And this isn't even a necessary route if you want to reach the depths of Stormveil."

Ken Kaneki put it tactfully, but his meaning was clear enough. Anyone who had lived in peaceful times would probably find it difficult to accept what lay ahead.

Could it really be that frightening?

Lu Mingfei thought.

"We're already here," Lu Mingfei said to Ken Kaneki. "Taking a detour would be a hassle. If I die, I'll have to run through it again anyway..."

"All right."

Ken Kaneki let out a faint sigh.

"Volcano Manor and the Blood Dynasty are much the same, anyway. You'll get used to it sooner or later. Lu, you can look to your left now."

The two stepped onto the walkway, and Lu Mingfei turned his head.

On the left side of the walkway, a massive square pit abruptly entered his view. Its edges were neat and orderly, clearly man-made.

At the bottom lay more than a hundred swollen sacks. Dark red-black fluid seeped from every one of them, pooling into thick puddles of blood below.

Through the ruptured mouths of the rotting sacks, incomplete limbs were exposed: arms brutally hacked off, twisted legs and feet...

A swollen human head rolled across the ground. Its face looked as if it had been gnawed by wild beasts, its jaw completely missing, with half a tongue still dangling between its exposed gums. Maggots crawled through its hollow eye sockets, while clumps of white wriggled inside its nostrils.

"Ugh—"

Lu Mingfei abruptly covered his mouth and nose as his stomach churned.

The stench of rotting corpses was so thick it seemed almost tangible, pouring into his nostrils like viscous liquid and making it hard to breathe.

Even more horrifying, two enormous wild dogs were crouched atop the pile of corpses, frantically tearing at the remains. Their fur was smeared with blood, scraps of flesh hung between their fangs, and greedy swallowing sounds rumbled in their throats.

After Lu Mingfei finished vomiting, he wiped his mouth and forced down his nausea.

"Grafting... So this is how the grafted nobles were made?"

"Yes."

Ken Kaneki's left eye glowed scarlet in the dim light. His Kagune silently unfolded, crimson tendrils trembling faintly in the shadows.

"These... are all people whose limbs were cut off by Godrick."

The wild dogs suddenly began barking madly.

They sensed the newcomers and jerked their heads up, their murky eyes locking onto the two of them.

Ken Kaneki's Kagune shot out like lightning, instantly piercing their skulls. Filthy blood and brain matter splattered across the corpse pile, adding another layer of crimson to this graveyard of flesh.

"Let's go."

He retracted his Kagune, and there was compassion in his calm voice.

"This Godrick fellow... really deserves to die."

Lu Mingfei said quietly.

No wonder that old knight was so furious... Even someone unrelated to this, seeing such a scene, would feel angry as a normal human being, wouldn't they?

"This debt will be settled sooner or later."

Ken Kaneki sighed.

"Up ahead... it gets even bloodier."

Lu Mingfei followed Ken Kaneki onward. The darkness around them grew denser, while the scent of rotten flesh still hung in the air.

He instinctively raised his torch. Its flickering light barely dispelled a small patch of shadow, illuminating the deep corridor ahead.

"Careful."

Ken Kaneki's voice suddenly dropped. He reached out to stop him while pointing to the left.

That side had been wholly swallowed by darkness, as if something indescribable lurked within.

"There's a banished soldier with a large axe hiding here."

Lu Mingfei's heart tightened. He immediately held his breath and slowly moved the torch to the left.

The dim yellow light drove back the darkness inch by inch. At last, a cold metallic glint stabbed into view—the outline of an axe blade flickered in the firelight, its sharp edge aimed directly at where he had just been standing.

If Ken Kaneki had not stopped him, that massive axe would have cut him in half the next second!

A chill ran down his spine.

Even though he could die and revive, this was no game world. If Ken Kaneki had not stopped him just now, that huge axe blade could have cleaved him straight into two pieces!

But now that they had discovered it, dealing with it became much easier.

He suddenly stepped forward, his boot slamming down onto the planks with a sharp creak.

Sure enough, the banished soldier in the darkness was alerted. Heavy footsteps sounded out, and the next second, the howl of the great axe tearing through the air came straight at him!

The instant the axe came down, Lu Mingfei pushed off with his legs and sprang backward.

The huge axe crashed into the rotten wooden floor with a boom.

He spun, swinging his greatsword in a fierce arc and slashing viciously at the soldier's head!

Crack!

A dull sound of shattering bone rang out. The soldier's head rolled to the ground, tumbling several times before stopping at the edge of the torchlight. Its headless body swayed twice, then collapsed with a crash.

"Lu, your swordsmanship is excellent," Ken Kaneki could not help praising. "At this point, I only knew how to wildly swing a straight sword.

"If I hadn't seen Mr. Joestar's golden sign in front of Godrick's room, I probably would have been stuck in Stormveil for the rest of my life."

Lu Mingfei was rarely praised. He scratched his head somewhat awkwardly and replied,

"I only met a good teacher. And Emiya helped me very early on. Now Ken is guiding me too, so there's nothing worth praising."

"Being able to fight your way alone to Godrick's chamber door is what's truly impressive, isn't it? Since you can defeat Margit, the Fell Omen, I think defeating Godrick is only a matter of time."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Ken Kaneki's gentle face instead became more solemn.

He shook his head.

"You're wrong, Lu. Demigods and other enemies... are entirely different concepts.

"No matter how much we look down on or despise Godrick, he still possesses the Great Rune called the Center of Gravity Elden Ring. That is what supports him as a demigod.

"If his talent were stronger, and he could fully bring out the power of that Great Rune, then at his peak... he would be enough to rival a natural disaster."