Wolf and hound

The wind roared!

Inside the evergaol, Blaidd the Half-Wolf and Bloodhound Knight Darriwil fought furiously. Bloodhound's Fang clashed again and again with the Royal Greatsword, their ringing blows rolling on like waves.

Clang! Clang!

Weak and helpless, the Tarnished could only huddle in a corner and watch the sparks fly between them.

"Ahahaha-Blaidd, can that nose of yours still keep up with my speed?" Darriwil jeered.

Judging by the situation, Blaidd the Half-Wolf was clearly at a disadvantage.

Bloodhound Knight Darriwil moved like the wind, impossible to see clearly or pin down-and that was no mere metaphor.

His Weapon Skill-Bloodhound Swordsmanship. Oh, no, it was something even more fundamental: Bloodhound's Step.

A staple of every Elden Ring highlight reel, it was the ultimate show-off skill. Almost like teleportation, it let the user vanish in an instant, put some distance between themselves and their opponent, then wait for an opening. Advance or retreat, they became a swift, invisible shadow.

Calling it the embodiment of a man's pursuit of speed and the romance of it would hardly have been an exaggeration.

And now, that very speed had Blaidd thoroughly pinned down. Only by using his nose to track Darriwil could he barely fend off his attacks, let alone counterattack.

Whenever Blaidd's attack missed, it exposed a huge opening instead. Darriwil would circle behind him and retaliate with a vicious Spinning Slash from his Great Curved Sword.

Clang-

Fortunately, Blaidd reacted quickly enough. He swung his greatsword around to block, finally forcing Darriwil back.

"Hah! Hah! Hah!" Blaidd panted.

Darriwil, meanwhile, clearly still had plenty to spare. "You've lost quite a bit of your edge, Blaidd. Have you spent so long hiding in the sewers like a rat that even your body has forgotten how to fight?"

"Hmph, quit spouting nonsense. Grr." Blaidd shot back without hesitation. "What about you, Darriwil? Has sitting in this evergaol for so long robbed you of your strength?"

"You've always hated losing!" Darriwil gave a cold, mocking chuckle, then became a gust of wind once more! When he reappeared a second later, he was already inside Blaidd's reach, the sharp iron claws on his left hand stabbing straight for his throat.

Blaidd narrowly dodged by leaning back, but in the blink of an eye, Bloodhound's Fang came screaming through the wind, bearing down on him in a Diagonal Slash.

Before he could even pull his sword back to block, a heavy blow struck his shoulder. Had it not been for his armor and his sturdy physique, that strike might have sliced off half his shoulder.

Just watching from the sidelines had me breaking out in a cold sweat.

Darriwil was a hundred times more aggressive than he was in the game, and his ability as a warrior was beyond anything ordinary AI could imitate.

If this were the game, I would have gone to the Weeping Peninsula first and picked up a Turtle Shell Shield.

Only after applying the Weapon Skill Barricade Shield could I fully block the powerful attacks of his Great Curved Sword. Then I could use guard counters, break his stance in three hits, and finish him in about three rounds.

But all of that depended on the game's mechanics letting me lock onto an enemy without ever losing track of him.

And on him not using Bloodhound's Step as often as the real Darriwil did, as effortlessly and naturally as breathing.

Still, beneath my horror, I could not help feeling my blood begin to stir.

This was a classic battle of strength against agility, with both fighters evenly matched. If I could set aside my bias and observe carefully, I was bound to learn a great deal...

-But with Blaidd in danger, there was no way I could do that!

Clang!

Bloodhound's Fang struck Blaidd once again.

Under that relentless, crashing-wave assault, even the sturdy Carian Armor had begun to crack.

Blood seeped from his wounds, and Blaidd's ragged breaths emerged in clearly visible clouds.

Unlike a traditional werewolf, he did not possess terrifying regenerative abilities. Covered in wounds, Blaidd swayed on his feet. It would hardly have been surprising if he collapsed right then.

"Blaidd!" I instinctively reached into my pocket and gripped the Fire Pot inside.

But Blaidd still insisted, "Zero, this is our fight. Please stay out of it. Grr!"

"Are you sure you don't need help, Blaidd? I thought you'd brought that Tarnished because you couldn't beat me." Darriwil continued his taunts. "No wonder none of you would listen to my advice. So this is all the royal household has left. Even the famous Half-Wolf knight amounts to no more than this."

I could not help shooting back, "Hmph. Celebrating at halftime, huh? Careful those death flags don't come back to bite you and cost you the match."

"...What the hell are you talking about?"

Well, that felt like punching a pillow. Darriwil had not understood my mockery at all.

I could only put it another way. "Blaidd! Give it everything you've got! Even if you go down, I'll finish him off! That weapon of his looks pretty good, after all."

"Oh, quite the big talker, aren't you, Tarnished!" Darriwil's eyes gleamed fiercely beneath his helmet.

Blaidd, however, gave a quiet laugh at my words. "Thank you, Zero. That puts my mind at ease. But... I can't hand this fellow over to you just yet."

"Darriwil, you are indeed strong." He had steadied his breathing again and stared coldly at his opponent. "But do you understand our situation?"

"..."

"After the princess burned away her flesh and the Queen lost her reason, the Cuckoo Knights immediately betrayed the academy. They even tried to swallow up the royal household. The Academy of Raya Lucaria was already riddled with factions, held in submission only by the Queen's power. And throughout the Lands Between, the eyes of the Two Fingers are everywhere... We-we were already surrounded by enemies." Blaidd tightened his grip on the Royal Greatsword, flecks of white frost drifting from its blade. "What you proposed would only expose us completely and destroy everything the princess has worked for!"

"Then join forces with the General and the Jurist! Those two are legitimate members of the royal family as well, children of the Queen!"

"Then did you know that the alliance shattered, that General Radahn succumbed to rot and ruin, and that Jurist Rykard fell to blasphemy?" Blaidd roared.

Darriwil fell silent.

Clearly, all of this had happened after he was imprisoned in the evergaol.

"Plots everywhere, lies blinding us. This world isn't so simple that strength alone can rule everything! Grr!" Blaidd unleashed Wolf's Assault, leaping high into the air before crashing down like a thunderbolt.

Frost burst outward, whipping a bitter wind through the air.

Though Darriwil reacted a beat too late, the mobility of Bloodhound's Step still let him evade Blaidd's attack with ease.

But this time, Blaidd did not stop. He kept swinging the Royal Greatsword, setting off burst after burst of frost. Even when Darriwil dodged every one, he did not relent.

-This won't work! You're just wasting your strength, Blaidd!

Yet Blaidd seemed to have descended into madness. "I was once as lost as you are, but every ideal we once held ended in failure! That's why we have to endure, why we have to hide away from the light like rats, just as you said!"

"...No, we haven't failed!" Darriwil clung just as stubbornly to his beliefs. "As long as I'm still here, even if I'm the only one left, I'll pursue the Elden Ring for the princess!"

Bloodhound's Step carried him swiftly into striking range. He was about to deliver a mighty slash, but Blaidd moved first, bringing the Royal Greatsword crashing down over his head.

"Wha..."

Clang-

Another fierce collision, but this time, Darriwil was forced to retreat.

"Let it end, Darriwil." Bitterness colored Blaidd's voice. "As servants of the princess, we will naturally draw that creature's attention. Whether the Cuckoos or its other minions, they will come swarming... And now, you can't even defeat me. Do you really think you can challenge those demigods alone, let alone the true god above them?"

"Hmph, I thought you had something worth saying. Turns out it's just your cowardice!" Darriwil charged at Blaidd again, but this attack was blocked as well. Blaidd even knocked him back without much effort.

How had it suddenly become so easy?

Huh?

Wait, what's this? Even I can make out the path of Bloodhound's Step... Was Darriwil running out of FP? But that shouldn't happen in the game...

No, it was the temperature!

When had the evergaol become so bone-chillingly cold that it was hard to move at all?

That bitter cold was slowing Darriwil's steps, while Blaidd, as a Beastman, had fur that protected him from the cold far better than any ordinary human!

Only then did I understand. Blaidd's wild bursts of frost had not been a fit of madness. He had done it deliberately!

Besides, I could not even remember exactly when white frost had first begun drifting from his greatsword. He had probably started laying this trap long ago.

...Thank goodness I hadn't butted in with a Fire Pot. Otherwise, all Blaidd's work would have gone to waste.

Darriwil had clearly realized it too, but it was already too late.

"Give it up, Darriwil. I know why old Iji locked you in this evergaol. Stay here quietly, and I'll spare your life." Blaidd made no move to attack.

But Darriwil refused to let it end. "You've changed too, Blaidd. But-don't forget what it means to be a warrior!"

This was probably Darriwil's all-out strike. His figure stretched into a blur, even sweeping up the frost on the ground.

Yet compared with his earlier movements, he was still far too slow.

Blaidd merely raised his Straight Sword, and Darriwil seemed to run onto it himself. The blade pierced his chest in a single thrust.

"You..." Even Blaidd seemed startled.

But Darriwil gave a faint cough, a trace of relief in his voice. "Y-yes, you've won, Blaidd. I... I admit it..."

Blood seeped from his helmet. His voice grew ever fainter, but he persisted, trembling as he held out the red-haired Ranni Doll. "The princess... the princess is in your hands now..."

Once he saw Blaidd silently take the doll, he collapsed, dissolving into a wisp of pale blue haze.

[Enemy Felled]