Pontiff's Left Eye, Road Home

Why?!

When the magical words "[Sulyvahn's Undead]" appeared before their eyes, the adventurers were stunned.

Especially the phrase "big brother," the voice coming from beneath the Living Dead's face confirmed the monster's identity as a little boy.

But why?

Why did the little boy suddenly turn into a monster?

What about the logic behind it?

The mental shock Malu is experiencing now is no less than when she saw the Warrior Pot explode in front of her at the Great Tomb. Seeing a living person being transformed into a monster is probably even more shocking.

Unfortunately, if Gong Qiying been a bit more ruthless and made the entire transformation animation, showing the little boy happily putting on the armor in front of everyone to go find his brother, only to immediately start screaming in pain and distorting and mutating, there would have been a more exciting moment.

However, the effect of this abrupt transition is not bad now; it's just that opinions vary.

Malu screamed when the Warrior Pot exploded, but now her brain has shut down, and she didn't even have time to scream. Her face is just changing little by little, which makes people think of a world-famous painting.

The Scream

"Delu!" Leon only said one sentence, but Delu immediately reacted, stepping on the towering pillar of fire and rushing towards Malu, before the other's emotions could fluctuate further, and slapped a green light on her head.

[Tranquilizing Spell]!

A green light flashed overhead; today, Malu would see through the illusions of the world and no longer concern herself with worldly affairs.

Her mouth, which was about to scream, instantly shut up, and her expression became blank; she was now frighteningly calm.

"Help! Help!"

The little boy's voice came out haltingly, but it was immediately drowned out by a beastly roar. Now, like the Pontiff Knight, he was Sulyvahn's Undead.

No matter how you look at it, there's no way he can be saved; it's better to give him a peaceful death.

Under the effect of the Tranquilizing Spell, Malu's eyes sharpened, Mercenary Twinblades gleamed in his hand as he said:

"Alright, it's time for me to come and save you."

Sulyvahn's Undead moved with the lightness and agility of Pontiff Knight, and brandished his wand like Fire Witch, causing the raging flames that shot into the sky to burst open at people's feet.

"Bang!"

As Malu rushed to his side, the Mercenary Twinblades. Sulyvahn's Undead was able to nimbly counter with the Pontiff Knight's curved sword, unleashing Ice Mist with his blade and then Flame Jet from his wand. The contrast of cold and heat was a perfect combination of two different types of monsters.

His attack power is also much higher than that of normal monsters, and his strength is completely comparable to that of Battle Knight.

"Watch me!"

With Greatshield made of magic, Te Er charged through the sea of fire, catching the undead off guard. The undead was sent flying, crashing against the wall before quickly getting back up.

It seems that while Sulyvahn's Undead combines the advantages of two different types of monsters, it has also inherited their pathetic resilience. Moreover, the shield that belonged to the Pontiff Knight is gone, further reducing its defensive capabilities.

Delu imitated the magic of his elven aunt that he had seen before, summoning plant-like monsters at the necromancer's location in an attempt to bind it, but the flames released by the necromancer immediately forced the plant-like monsters back.

[Fire Witch Armguard]

[The ruthless undead of Irithyll, the witch's arm guards wielding the Profaned Flame]

The witches who led the Pontiff Knight were said to have originally been knighted as Holy Knight, but were soon seduced by the Profaned Flame.

The flames from the Fire Witch are no ordinary fire; they are the Profaned Flame from the homeland of the giant king Yhorm.

Although this small amount is certainly not as powerful as the huge ball of Profaned Flame in the Profaned Capital, and it doesn't have the ability to bewitch people, its destructive power is definitely top-notch.

"Tsk, I really shouldn't have copied others so easily." Delu was disappointed and decided to stick to his best technique, the Mud Swamp Technique, from now on.

Under the effect of the Tranquilizing Spell, Malu was able to fight the undead at her normal level. She didn't lose her will to fight; they were professional adventurers and wouldn't usually surrender.

But it's certain that I feel uneasy. Whether it was the Warrior Pot last time or the little boy this time, it was definitely all intentional on the Zane Dungeon! They were deliberately trying to mess with people's mentality!

The understanding Leon naturally wouldn't let his partner fight while feeling resentful. He took over for Malu and immediately went all out to eliminate the enemy as quickly as possible.

The Strategy Team had no problem dealing with a regular elite monster. Sulyvahn's Undead didn't have any overpowered abilities, though it did know a little bit of the marathon skill. Unfortunately, the surrounding monsters had already been cleared out by the Strategy Team, so even the marathon was useless. If they couldn't find a group of monsters, the marathon's power would be halved.

The battle should last no more than ten minutes, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

[The Dark Moon Blade "Li Ge Fen" has invaded our territory!]

"Again?"

During a lull in the battle, Leon stared at Fingel, who had slowly emerged as Dark Blue Spirit, completely bewildered by what he was up to.

The first intrusion could be attributed to Fingel's carelessness, but the second one was clearly intentional.

It would be a real headache if the other party really came to cause trouble while they were fighting the monster, but Fingel shouldn't be such an ungrateful person.

Looking back at Fingel's side, he was also a little confused.

"Me, why am I here again?"

He swore he didn't come to intrude intentionally.

He and his companions had just told the little boy the location of the Yorshka's Church and were on their way to the shortcut. They were too busy clearing out the monsters along the way to bother with an invasion.

He was just playing with the Blue Eye Orb on the road. Because he was a bit of a jerk, he would switch between using the intrusion function and canceling it, enjoying the feeling of constantly switching back and forth.

The result was disastrous; the last time he chose to use it, he was teleported to Leon's world.

"So there are no other adventurers in Irithyll?!"

Fingel quickly jumped aside to indicate that he had no intention of fighting them and had simply wandered in by mistake. People then stopped paying attention to him and focused on fighting the undead.

"How come I've never seen this monster before?"

Fingel looked around and realized that this was where the little boy's house was, but what was this monster in front of him that looked like Fire Witch and Pontiff Knight?

"I'll lend a hand too."

He joined the battle against Sulyvahn's Undead with the intention of being friendly (and gathering information), and inquired about the monster's origins.

With his addition, the pressure of the battle was greatly reduced, and Leon recounted the whole story.

"What?! This is that kid in disguise?" Fingel's mouth gaped open so wide he could have been a passerby on the set of One Piece next door. He asked in astonishment, "What's going on? What happened?"

"We don't know either."

Malu unleashed her final blow, Sulyvahn's Undead fell to the ground, unable to rise again.

"Elder brother."

The undead stretched out its arm toward the sky, and with a final breath, it slowly turned to ashes.

The equipment he had been given earlier was scattered on the ground in the form of light spots, and there was something new.

A replica of the Pope's left eye.

[The enchanted rings bestowed upon knights by Pope Sulyvahn allow them to drain the life force of enemies with sustained attacks. This is a replica of the original ring, quite popular among the common people of Irithyll, said to represent their reverence for Pontiff Sulyvahn.]

[Gazing into the Pope's left black eye will ignite a heightened emotion and a desire to Deathmatch. Ultimately, the knight will degenerate into a beast-like Warrior. Therefore, the Pope only bestows this item upon knights when they are away on campaign.]

The berserk effect of the replica is weakened, but its combat effectiveness is also reduced. If the wearer is exposed to sufficient triggers over a long period, berserk mode can still occur.

"Wearing monster equipment turns you into a monster. Does that mean we'll become like that too?" Fingel became a little worried. However, the armor produced by Sion was not as popular as its weapons, and its availability was not high.

Leon fell into deep thought, checking the descriptions of each dropped item to see if they had changed, but they hadn't.

However, all the equipment mentions that the Pontiff Knight / Fire Witch is Sulyvahn's Undead, and the monster the little boy turned into was also called an undead.

Could it be that Sulyvahn possesses the ability to transform people into beings called "necromancers," and has applied this ability to equipment?

That's possible, but what's the meaning of that replica of the Pope's left eye? The description is exactly the same as the right eye, both capable of driving the wearer into a frenzy.

"Could it be that the trigger in the Pope's left eye also involves the monster's armor, and that the little boy who somehow got a replica ring went berserk after putting on the armor?"

Leon guessed.

"Sulyvahn doesn't seem like a good person," Malu said coldly.

The Zane Dungeon didn't explain the whole story clearly, so the adventurers are just guessing, and the more they think about it, the more confused they become. Everyone has their own interpretation.

The more people with different opinions, the better. Let them guess slowly, just like the Soul Scholars. Anyway, Gong Qiying doesn't intend to give an "official explanation".

Who knows, in the end, adventurers might analyze the various equipment descriptions word by word and start doing reading comprehension exercises.

"Whatever the reason, it seems that giving equipment will turn children into monsters." Fingel suddenly felt somewhat glad that he hadn't given the armor to the little boy, but had only told him the location of the church.

That's great! Now he won't turn into a monster and can live safely in the church.

Thinking of this, he told Leon and the others about his choice, with a hint of pride in his voice.

Malu said:

"Won't such a young child have an accident on the road?"

This sentence put Fingel under hard control for half a minute.

The more he thought about it, the more restless he became. He casually greeted Leon and the others and returned to his own world.

"Back again?" Matilda stared at him, her eyes condemning her captain's careless abandonment.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Fingel said, putting his hands together in prayer. "Could everyone come back to the church with me first? I want to see if that child has arrived or not."

"Big brother is so concerned about the fate of the afterimage; he truly is a person of excellent character!" Tus said with a smile.

Compared to Malu, the Guzha Squad was not so "sentimental" and did not feel anything for the little boy's story, or rather, they had not yet encountered a story that could resonate with them.

Ah, Patch's messy affairs really did make them feel something—red-hot.

Opening a Shortcut and return to the West Avenue, heading towards the Yorshka's Church.

For some reason, even though it was snowing heavily, Fingel's palms were sweating a little.

Why? Because after witnessing the plight of the little boy in Leon's world, he couldn't help but worry about the little boy on his side.

However, since he has cleared out all the monsters on the West Avenue, the little boy should be safe, right?

Wait a minute! Something I just said sounds really weird! Stop planting flags!

As the rooftops of the Yorshka's Church gradually came into view, he suddenly smelled a familiar scent.

That's the stench of a wild beast, the smell of Crocodile Sunlight King Cinder!

Sure enough, on the main road, the enormous Crocodile Sunlight King was facing away from them, head down as if chewing something.

Fingel recognized the familiar wounds on Crocodile Sunlight King; they were inflicted by his twin blades.

This is actually the Crocodile Sunlight King that escaped from the lake!

"Hey, what a small world! Perfect timing, I'll settle things here—"

Just as Fingel revealed a sinister grin, he suddenly realized what Crocodile Sunlight King was eating.

It was a mangled corpse, not very tall, like an underdeveloped child, with blue worm pills scattered all over the ground around it.

His expression froze on his face, his heart pounding wildly.

"Hey, wait a minute, is that right?!"

"Aww!"

The Crocodile Sunlight King spotted the adventurers and turned around, excitedly pouncing towards the even more delicious creatures.

"Rub--"

The blade flashed instantly.

Fingel suddenly appeared behind Crocodile Sunlight King and crouched down in front of the corpse.

The body was so badly disfigured that it was unrecognizable. Even if the body had been well-preserved, he wouldn't have recognized it because he had never seen what the little boy looked like.

"Huh?"

Crocodile Sunlight King turned around in confusion, and suddenly his body was covered with countless wounds, from which blood gushed out.

Before he could even utter a wail, he shattered into countless pieces on the spot.

Without turning his head, Fingel stared at the unidentified corpse. Suddenly, he noticed something, gently moved the corpse, and a purple light appeared on the ground.

After picking it up, he discovered it was a page that recorded a miracle.

[Miracle: The Road Home]

[The miracle was taught to the traveling priests, and later everyone could learn it and return to the campfire where they finally rested.]

[It was originally a miracle that allowed the user to return to their homeland, but the curse of immortality distorted its effect. Or perhaps the campfire is the homeland of the undead?]

Because he touched the pages of the book, he automatically learned this miracle.

The conditions for using the Road Home are somewhat different from before. It doesn't require magic power, but it can only be used once within a certain period of time, with an interval of about a whole day.

I wonder if it can be used outside of dungeons, and if it can teleport directly from home to Firelink Shrine after use?

Fingel didn't have time to think about anything else. He threw a ball of fire to incinerate the corpse, then gestured to the people to continue towards the Yorshka's Church.

It's not yet certain that the body is the little boy's. What if it's just a coincidence? Maybe when they get to the church, they'll see a cute and well-behaved child thanking them.

Their footsteps drew closer to the Yorshka's Church, and Fingel looked down at the ground.

The heavy snow had accumulated into a thick layer on the road, and their footprints were clearly visible.

However, the snow in front of the church was perfectly smooth and flat, without a single footprint.

Fingel's heart sank, and he strode inside.

The Yorshka's Church remained the same, but because the doors were open, snow had blown in, making it even colder inside.

The entire church was deserted.

"No!"