Zane Has No IF Route

"Huh?"

Elsa looked bewildered as she stared at the Brass Armor scattered on the ground.

She never imagined that she would see this armor in this form for the first time outside of the Painting World, Anor Londo.

That familiar brass color, that identical armor pattern—could it be...

No, no, no, she quickly shook her head, thinking that the other party was Fang Huo Nv Keeper stationed in Anor Londo. Fang Huo Nv wouldn't leave the campfire, so how could they possibly come to Irithyll?

These two places don't even look like they're adjacent!

The warm and inviting Anor Londo shouldn't be next to the snow-covered Irithyll, right?

Maybe this armor belongs to another Dark Moon Knight?

But!

The thought of Sid's speculation on stage raises the question: what if it really was Pontiff Sulyvahn who led the attack on Anor Londo, which was forced to defend itself?

So, perhaps, during the chaos of battle, some corpses ended up here.

Elsa shook her head harder and harder, as if she wanted to shake off all the jumbled thoughts in her mind.

With a "crack," I twisted my neck.

"Huff, huff"

She stood still and took several deep breaths. While clutching her neck, she tore a piece of rag from a nearby building and picked up the scattered Brass Armor one by one, carefully binding them tightly to her back.

She remembered that the Brass Woman always liked to lean against the wall, and that posture must have caused wear and tear on the armor. So, by checking the wear and tear on the armor, she might be able to determine the owner of the armor.

But the reason Elsa wrapped herself in the armor and carried it on her back was because she didn't want to examine it closely, even if it was just to deceive herself.

After donning the armor, she stopped opening the grave mounds and instead turned onto the shortcut leading to the square, heading towards Sulyvahn's cathedral.

Her dejected appearance throughout the journey was a stark contrast to her radiant spirit when she first left the Painting World; she was practically a different person. Upon reflection, her good mood hadn't even lasted half a day before it ended.

How can there be such pitiful people in the world?

What am I doing?

As she walked, she suddenly sighed and slammed her fist on the wall, causing the entire tunnel to tremble.

"They are afterimages, which means they have long since disappeared into history. What I'm feeling down about is just the discovery of what appears to be armor."

She pounded on the wall again, and the tunnel began to shake precariously.

One of the adventurer's rules, published sometime in some unknown year, states. "The afterimage is a shadow of the past. When you come into contact with the afterimage of a dungeon, you can empathize, but you must never actually feel any emotion."

Someone once fell in love with the afterimage, but it was destined to end badly. After the afterimage disappeared, that person went completely insane.

"Thump!"

The wall was slammed again, and Elsa suddenly clenched her teeth, her pretty face contorting with rage.

Even though she already knew the afterimages had disappeared, she still hoped that the atmosphere would be lighter when she encountered anything related to them, and that when she learned of their fate, she could sigh, "That was the best outcome," rather than having a random reunion in a grave, or with their corpses.

Before the appearance of Sein, even in dungeons filled with tragic stories, adventurers could potentially change the tragic future of the afterimages by fulfilling certain conditions, thus creating a storyline that, though known to be false, was still heartwarming and never happened before.

However, the Zane Dungeon doesn't give adventurers any chance to change the tragedy. Even Painting World with an "IF" scenario would be nice, at least it would let people feel some positive energy!

"Sain."

Elsa murmured the name of the dungeon, then suddenly understood why she had reacted so strongly. The afterimage that appeared in Anor Londo was too real, and the kindness it showed her was also real. Moreover, she had only been away from the Painting World for an hour or two when she discovered the corpse that was very likely the Brass Woman.

What does this feel like? It's like a friend who was laughing and joking with you one second suddenly dying right in front of you!

The Zane Dungeon is all about these abrupt twists and unexpected developments!

Elsa laughed in exasperation.

She began to suspect that the reason she was able to dig up the Brass Armor in the tomb was because the dungeon was deliberately set up that way. If she hadn't been friends with the Brass Woman, or even if she hadn't, she wouldn't have been able to dig up the Brass Armor at all.

"Thump!"

The tunnel trembled violently, and she couldn't take it anymore; she needed to vent.

With eyes fixed on the tunnel exit, the Pontiff Sulyvahn's Phantom begins the Blood sacrifice with you!

Elsa took a firm step, her fists clenched!

"Crackling sound—"

The tunnel collapsed the next second, burying her underground, who had just been energized by anger.

"."

After an unknown amount of time, Elsa, covered in dust and looking travel-worn, appeared at the cathedral entrance, wiping the blood from her face with her sleeve.

Behind her, the entire "Legion" of Pontiff Knight fell, instantly turning into dust and disappearing, leaving the square a pristine white expanse.

She single-handedly broke through the Legion of Pontiff Knight!? Her strength increased so quickly?

They did kill them all, but it wasn't a reckless attack.

Elsa's greatest takeaway from Solaire was the importance of remaining calm in battle.

Ignore the monsters' terrifying appearance, ignore the exhilarating background music, ignore the howling wind, and focus entirely on devising tactics and how to kill the enemy. Don't be afraid of wasting time; steady and methodical attacks to kill the enemy at the lowest possible cost are the best way to save time.

She probably won't be Recklessness anymore.

She placed the Brass Armor at the entrance, pushed open the church doors, and was immediately enveloped by a sacred and solemn atmosphere. This sacredness was then consumed by raging flames, and the leader, [the Pontiff Sulyvahn's Phantom], appeared there.

When the leader appeared, she simply walked forward slowly until he rushed in front of her with lightning speed and thrust out the Punishment Greatsword with precision and ruthlessness. Only then did Elsa make a move.

When I first fought Sulyvahn Phantom, I felt that this move was so fast that it was almost impossible to defend against, but now I see it again.

"Much slower than Ornstein!"

Elsa raised her greatsword to block, and when the Punishment Greatsword touched the broad blade of the greatsword, she suddenly exerted force and reversed the position of the greatsword. A miraculous scene appeared, and she actually deflected the attack of the Punishment Greatsword!

It's not a parry, but a special defensive technique that can only be used when observing the battle situation with great composure. She used to be too hot-blooded to use this move in battle.

The enemy's attack was blocked. At this moment, an ordinary person would definitely seize the opportunity to attack, right? Sulyvahn Phantom did not seem to react, which was the perfect time to attack.

However, Elsa paused for a second, then raised her sword again to parry, blocking the Profaned Greatsword that was thrusting at a tricky angle!

If he had launched an attack just now, he would probably have been pierced through by the flaming Profaned Greatsword by now. Sulyvahn Phantom also knows how to deliberately create openings.

Seeing that his opponent hadn't fallen for his trick, Phantom stopped pretending and unleashed a series of incredibly fast and impenetrable slashes.

While parrying and dodging, Elsa couldn't help but mentally complain:

How has it become weaker? Its strength is clearly no different from before, okay?

She finally found an opportunity to attack, and the heavy greatsword struck the phantom of Sulyvahn Phantom as if it had hit a large piece of hard diamond. On the contrary, her own arm was shaken back and became numb.

This still doesn't cause any damage! Lu Lu Wo, you're lying!

With less than a second's pause, Elsa's shoulder was slashed, instantly revealing a bloody mess.

When she was slashing at her, Sulyvahn Phantom paused for a moment, and she immediately seized the opportunity to swing her sword with all her might and strike Vanished.

The all-out attack had an effect; a wound appeared where it was struck, and something resembling liquid splattered out!

Elsa was greedy and struck again, but this time, seeing that Sulyvahn Phantom was about to get up, she used much less force.

This time, he felt the sensation of striking something extremely hard again, but not a single scratch was left on Sulyvahn Phantom's body.

The attack failed, which is regrettable.

But Elsa's eyes suddenly widened; she seemed to have discovered something!

Is it some kind of classic mechanism?

The battle continued, but she adopted a somewhat peculiar rhythm of attack.

The attacks alternated between light and heavy blows, repeating in a loop, and the parts targeted were random, as if the goal wasn't to cause damage.

She had many wounds on her body, some of which were still burning with the Profaned Flame, making her look quite disheveled, but the expression on her face was somewhat excited.

She seems to have figured out how to effectively damage the Sulyvahn Phantom.

This guy... this guy is immune to weak attacks!

Only powerful attacks can damage him, and the damage will not be mitigated; it will only leave normal injuries.

No wonder Lu Lu Wo said that sometimes attacks work and sometimes they don't; that's why.

Just then, the Profaned Greatsword, burning with flames, pierced through Elsa, mercilessly transferring the flames to her body, and her petite figure instantly transformed into a new era of Flame Fist.

With a flick of his arm, Sulyvahn Phantom sent Elsa flying until she crashed into the wall.

Although it is important to remain calm during battle, when injuries are too severe, it is inevitable that one will feel powerless.

Judging from the injuries on Pontiff Sulyvahn's Phantom, Elsa may have already taken away a full fifth of his life force, or perhaps still had close to a quarter left! And this was achieved through continuous trial and error!

"Next time, I can do better."

Elsa muttered something under her breath, then rolled to the cathedral entrance before being engulfed by the Profaned Flame. She hugged her Brass Armor tightly, then deftly twisted her neck.

The person burning with the Sin Flame would see terrible sights, and she didn't want to suffer in vain here, so she decided to end her own life.

Today's battle was an experiment for her, and unexpectedly, she achieved remarkable results in the process.

Based on her current Spirit Power, it's estimated that if she dies this time, she'll have to Resurrection Room and recuperate before she can come back.

But it's okay, next time she comes back, she will definitely not be alone again!

Not long after, at Lake Liurnia.

After a long time of going to bed before midnight, Lu Lu Wo decided that she must get a good night's sleep this time.

However, just as she was beginning to feel sleepy and was almost drifting off to sleep, Ta Mi sent an urgent telepathic message.

"What do you mean by 'the strategy for defeating Sulyvahn Phantom has been found'?"

Lu Lu Wo was woken up, was initially a little angry, but after hearing what Ta Mi said, she became completely bewildered.

Her speech this morning encouraged people to challenge Sulyvahn's phantom, and by tonight a strategy for defeating it had already been found.

Are adventurers these days all incredibly efficient?

In that instant, Lu Lu Wo felt a sense of panic that she was falling behind the times.