The Bloody Fingers were a faction in the Lands Between who worshipped the Formless Mother and served Mohg, the Lord of Blood.
Blood, blood. They craved blood and wounds with an almost insane hunger. Quite a few had even been battlefield physicians, ending the lives of the wounded with deranged smiles in their pursuit of blood.
It would be no exaggeration to call them the most dangerous people in all the Lands Between.
And many powerful Tarnished seeking strength had joined their ranks.
To be perfectly honest, fighting them was the very last thing I wanted to do.
But I had no time to think. Bloody Finger Nerijus, drenched in scarlet, was already charging at me with a dagger in each hand.
I tightened my grip on my straight sword and took a deep breath.
In Elden Ring, there were two extremely effective ways to deal with humanoid enemies, especially lightly armored ones wearing nothing but cloth.
The first was to overwhelm them with brute force and send them flying. Skills such as Giant Hunt on a spear or Upward Cut on a greatsword could keep them from ever getting back to their feet.
The second was to use attacks that dealt heavy poise damage, leaving them unable to even raise a hand! And the simplest of those was-a jumping slash!
"Haaaah!" I roared, mustering all my strength as I charged straight at Nerijus. After gauging the distance, I took a great leap, raised my straight sword high, and brought it crashing down.
Water sprayed everywhere, and a deep gouge opened in the riverbed!
Huh? Huuuh? That's strange. Why didn't I hit him?
That was an Elden Ring straight sword for you. Its reach was enough to drive anyone mad.
I awkwardly lifted my head and found myself staring at Nerijus, who stood just beyond my sword tip. "Oh, hello~"
Beneath his hood, the reddish corners of his smooth, pale, skull-like face curled upward, and his eyes suddenly blazed red.
"Kehahahaha! I'll offer you to the Formless Mother!" He spread his daggers and unleashed a ferocious, relentless assault like a lion's claws, every strike aimed straight at my throat.
"W-wait a second!" I frantically rolled out of the way, looking just like a dung beetle... oh, no, its ball of dung.
I finally managed to put a little distance between us, only for Nerijus to sweep his dagger through the air and send a crimson slash flying at me!
Skill-Blood Blade!
I hurriedly raised my shield. The slash crashed into it, and icy, razor-sharp streaks of blood inevitably splashed onto me.
"Kehaha!"
A second later, Nerijus had already seized the opening to press his attack, his whole body becoming a drawn blade as he lunged at me.
But-
Clang!
I swung my sword with blinding speed, precisely intercepting his dagger strike.
Straight sword skill-Square Off!
Then, following through with my left hand, I slammed my shield hard into his crazed face and sent Nerijus flying.
Heh. If a jumping slash won't work, don't blame me for using the top-tier skill for Elden Ring's straight swords.
Fast light attacks, powerful heavy attacks, and impressive poise damage on both-that was Square Off, the skill that practically played the game for you!
Now you know what I'm capable of, right?
Nerijus covered his face and silently sat up, his entire body trembling slightly.
What, scared already? Surely not.
I kept my guard up.
Sure enough, he let out that strange laugh again. "Good! Good! Good! Very good!"
Then, to my surprise, Nerijus plunged both daggers into the ground and used his arms to launch himself like a rocket, charging at me once more.
The exact same move-you don't learn, do you?
I calmly raised my hands, judged the timing, and unleashed Square Off again with a sweeping slash!
Splurt-
Huh?
Beneath the deep night sky, crimson spider lilies scattered like rain and seeped into the dark river.
My shoulder burned with pain.
But I definitely hit him!
Yet Nerijus hadn't flinched at all. He took the blow with his body, then lashed back with a dagger and nearly severed my entire arm.
Fortunately, the warrior instincts of my Tarnished body were faster than my thoughts. I jumped backward, barely avoiding that lethal strike.
But he didn't even give me a chance to catch my breath.
Nerijus wildly swung his daggers, sending Blood Blades flying one after another, almost impossible to dodge.
I instinctively raised my Large Leather Shield to defend myself... No, I can't block these with a shield!
Splurt-
Suddenly, wounds burst open all over my body without warning!
My chest, my arms, my legs... in a single instant, I was like a pig carcass sliced up on a meat factory's production line. Countless wounds covered me, each one gushing crimson blood.
It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts so much-
Agony shot straight into my brain. Every part of my body screamed as though it were being burned alive.
My strength vanished in an instant, and I collapsed to my knees.
...Is this... is this what the full, real hemorrhage effect feels like?
All I could hear was the roaring wind, mixed with Nerijus's ecstatic laughter. "Kehehe! Very good! Very good! Yes, offer everything you have to the Formless Mother!"
For the first time since arriving in the world of Elden Ring, I could hear Death's slow, approaching footsteps with terrifying clarity.
Another dreadful thought began to consume even the pain.
Death, death, death, death-
Fear completely filled my mind. My whole body went so cold that I coughed and choked, and even my vision began to darken...
No!
No, no, no! I don't want to die yet! I don't want to die!
Right, my flask! I have to heal, now!
Trembling, I hurriedly pulled out my Flask of Crimson Tears and gulped it down.
"Oh?" Nerijus had barely spoken before Death let out another piercing shriek!
Another Blood Blade struck me. My body had reacted a fraction too late!
Fortunately, I had enough charges in my Flask of Crimson Tears. After drinking twice in succession, the wounds that could heal had all closed up.
I have to put some distance between us and stay alert.
But my hands and feet still wouldn't stop trembling.
...Am I afraid of Nerijus?
Come to think of it, I'd started fresh playthroughs several times to try different builds, and almost every time, I'd slipped up here and lost some runes to him.
He's pretty tough for a beginner!
But on that note, where's my good buddy Yura?
He always arrives late, but a friendly NPC is supposed to come help us fight Nerijus. Don't tell me he's gotten lost in the dark.
I waited hopefully for help to arrive.
But Nerijus was already ready for another round and charged at me.
Square Off... no, this guy's a rabid dog. He'll just take the hit and counterattack like before!
Then a heavy attack... but do I still have time?
"Kehehe!"
While I hesitated, Nerijus had nearly closed in against my chest, his twin daggers whipping through the air.
All I could do was raise my straight sword to block, forced back step after step.
Something unexpectedly caught my foot, and I instinctively glanced down.
[Aah-]
Someone's corpse. A pale face. From the bottomless darkness inside its mouth, stretched wide in terror, came a deathly wail!
A soft clang followed, and my straight sword was knocked away. At the same time, I lost my balance and fell hard onto my backside.
"Kehehe! And with that, it's over!"
Beneath the cold night sky, a dagger gleaming with icy light plunged straight toward my head.