Afternoon

Lu Mingfei panted as he sheathed the greatsword. Blood dripped from its sharp edge.

He casually grabbed a rag and vigorously wiped the dried blood from his armor, but that strange, fishy stench still lingered.

Honestly, Lu Mingfei seriously suspected that Godrick had mastered some biotechnology far beyond his era. How else could he have forcibly transformed a handsome young noble into such a thing?

"How the hell did he do this?"

Lu Mingfei muttered a curse.

No matter what, from everything he had seen and heard along the way, the process must have been cruel and bloody.

The title of "demigod" should have borne divine glory and the majesty of a king, yet Godrick had trampled it at will, turning it into something close to a carnival of blasphemy.

He greedily seized power, tearing apart and stitching together living bodies without hesitation. The severed limbs hanging everywhere and the twisted monsters all proclaimed the truth that he was, in fact, a "weakling"—

So-called "Grafting" was nothing more than a coward's diseased craving for power, using the screams and flesh of others to fill the emptiness of his throne.

The name of gold...

Lu Mingfei shook his head, driving away his wild thoughts.

He looked up, and his gaze was suddenly drawn to a massive oil painting on the wall.

The man in the painting wore magnificent armor and a golden crown. His face was stern, and a lion stood at his side. Though it was only a painting, Lu Mingfei could clearly sense the man's bearing and imposing presence.

"That is the first Elden Lord—Godfrey."

Ken Kaneki's voice came from behind him. He shook the blood from his Kagune and followed Lu Mingfei's gaze toward the painting.

"Godrick's ancestor, and also the father of Godwyn the Golden."

Lu Mingfei stared at the mountain-like figure in the painting, then glanced at the severed limbs and mangled remains filling the room. He could not help clicking his tongue.

"The gap is way too huge, isn't it? Now I'm really curious what Godrick actually looks like..."

"Godfrey was a true God of War," Ken Kaneki said softly. "Legend says he fought across the land, slew Ancient Dragons, defeated the Storm Lord, and founded the age of the Erdtree.

"As for Godrick..."

He seemed to recall something. With a sigh, he said,

"You will soon see his 'honor' for yourself."

Godfrey's eyes in the painting gleamed like torches, as though he were looking down upon this blood-soaked Land of Grafting.

Lu Mingfei suddenly felt an immense irony. Perhaps beneath that gaze's majesty lay a faint sorrow, too subtle to detect.

"How far have we gone? And how much farther is it ahead?"

Lu Mingfei asked, his voice carrying a trace of exhaustion.

Ken Kaneki raised one finger and lightly touched his cheek, tilting his head as he pondered.

"Hmm... if Lu really wants to challenge Godrick, there is a shortcut. But in terms of exploration progress, we've covered about one-tenth."

"What?"

Lu Mingfei was shocked.

"We fought our way here with our lives on the line, and we've only uncovered one-tenth of the map?"

Ken Kaneki smiled gently.

"Stormveil is the main city of Limgrave, and it is quite large. But there are some places I do not think Lu needs to visit. If we calculate it that way, we should reach the small room deep inside in three days."

"Three days?"

Lu Mingfei looked hesitant.

"You mean that even if we avoid the places we do not need to go, we still have to explore and fight without sleep for at least three days before we can see Godrick?"

His voice was full of disbelief.

In Lu Mingfei's understanding, Stormveil was just an old medieval castle. The terrain might be complicated and the paths convoluted, but surely it did not take three days to traverse?

One sunrise and sunset in the Lands Between lasted far longer than on Earth!

Ken Kaneki nodded slightly. His tone was calm, though it carried a hint of helplessness.

"Yes, and that is assuming we do not run into any unexpected situations."

Lu Mingfei rubbed his temples.

Of course, he knew what kind of unexpected situations Ken Kaneki meant.

If a troublesome elite knight suddenly appeared, or if he was ambushed, Lu Mingfei would respawn at a Site of Grace and have to start all over again.

After all, Lu Mingfei was a rookie.

In terms of combat strength, his actual power was roughly:

Exile Soldier < Beastman of Farum Azula < Godrick Knight ≈ Lu Mingfei ≤ ordinary Exile Knight < Margit, the Fell Omen

He turned to Ken Kaneki, his tone suddenly becoming a little awkward.

"Um... Kaneki, you really don't have to keep accompanying me. This place is filthy and stinks, and it's not like handling it alone puts that much pressure on me.

"Or you could give me a map or something. I can make my way there myself."

Ken Kaneki gently wiped the blood from his Kagune and said calmly,

"Lu, there is no need for this. When we are in the Lands Between, time in our original world slows to the point of nearly stopping."

"I know, I know!"

Lu Mingfei sighed theatrically and used the tip of his sword to lift a severed limb that was still twitching.

"I just feel kind of bad about it. Look at this... it's such an appetite killer. I definitely won't feel like eating for two days after I go back."

For some reason, Ken Kaneki suddenly wore a strange expression.

He seemed to want to say something, but in the end he said nothing. He merely patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder.

Lu Mingfei suddenly shot upright in the large bed, cold sweat still beading on his forehead.

The curtains of Norton House billowed in the wind. A ray of sunlight shone in, while the shadows of leaves outside swayed across the floor.

The digital clock on the desk read 14:23. It was an ordinary afternoon, as if all that slaughter had merely been an overly vivid nightmare.

To avoid drawing attention, Lu Mingfei had gone to the Lands Between before midnight. By the time he returned, his mind had been exhausted to the point of near paralysis, so he simply collapsed into bed.

When he woke, he instinctively reached toward his waist. Through the fabric of his coat, his fingertips touched the hard, cold outline of an object—the hilt of Night Tempering.

This alchemical weapon from Caesar Gattuso now rested quietly in a specially made leather sheath at his waist.

Lu Mingfei froze for a moment. His first reaction was that it felt wrong, completely different from the Storm Knight Greatsword. Only then did he realize that he was not in the Lands Between, but at Cassel College.

"...Do I have PTSD too?"

He muttered as he casually drew Night Tempering.

The bronze hilt gleamed with a dull metallic luster beneath the sunlight. It was slightly cool to the touch and just the right weight, while ancient dragon-scale patterns left a distinct texture beneath his fingers.

"Now it really is, 'In a dream, I mistook myself for Zhuang Zhou's butterfly; desolate clouds separated me from the Chu terrace.'"

Lu Mingfei tugged at the corner of his mouth and muttered softly,

"One day, I won't be able to tell which side is reality anymore... Forget it. Why think so much? Time to eat."

Lu Mingfei rubbed his growling stomach and carried Night Tempering as he slowly wandered toward the Cassel College cafeteria.