The assault on Fort Haight, part two

As I entered Fort Haight, my eyes were immediately drawn to the enormous corpse of the Demi-Human Queen.

She had clearly been dead for days. Her entire body had dried out in the sun, and even the stench of rot had faded considerably.

Boom-

Holy crap!

Suddenly, a Fire Pot exploded beside me, and the scorching flames sent me scrambling sideways.

Hu Ge?!

Oh, no, it was Pot-Throwing Bro!

Out of the corner of my eye, a dark shape clambered onto the Demi-Human Queen's body, then lunged at me.

I turned my head and found myself face-to-face with a fat, pointy-snouted face. Its foul breath nearly knocked me unconscious.

"Get lost!"

I hurriedly kicked the giant rat away.

-What a revolting, embarrassing creature to have in Elden Ring. A rat the size of a dog? Talk about overfeeding. No wonder there didn't seem to be any cats.

The thing refused to give up and tried to come at me again.

Have another slash, you disgusting thing!

Boom-

Again?

I rolled out through the fort's entrance to get away from Pot-Throwing Bro for a moment, then took two quick swigs from my Flask of Crimson Tears to recover.

"Roar!"

I glanced down beneath the fort's steps. Big Brother Bear was still doing his best to keep the soldiers from returning to defend it.

Several little Misbegotten had joined the fray, too. Had they slipped inside during the chaos to stage a revolt?

Then I'd better give it my all, too!

I entered the fort again. The earlier commotion had drawn more enemies, and they had even released the giant rats they kept, sending them charging at me.

But you're all standing next to those red powder barrels, so don't blame me!

I pulled out a Fire Pot and struck first, hurling it at the group on the raised platform in the courtyard.

Boom!

Boom, boom, boom-

Art is an explosion!

The Fire Pot ignited the powder barrels, setting off a chain of explosions. Several golden runes drifted out of the spreading black smoke and merged into my body.

Hahaha! I could aim at the powder barrels without locking on.

In that respect, the real world of Elden Ring was far more convenient than the game. That old bastard Miyazaki really ought to add a lock-on option for these kinds of triggerable objects in the DLC.

Still, I had no idea why they had so many powder barrels sitting around them. There were even several on the stairs.

In the game, they were traps for a newly arrived Tarnished, and they had indeed blasted me into a panicked mess back then.

But in reality, were they meant for trading with someone? People from the Mohgwyn Dynasty, for instance?

I had simply happened to stumble upon them.

...Well, this wasn't the time to think about that stuff.

While the smoke and ash from the explosions obscured the vision of the guards above, I hurried across the small courtyard and climbed the stairs.

Fort Haight was roughly divided into three levels: the ground-floor courtyard and raised platform, the inner platform connected to the ballista terrace, and the large platform atop the ramparts. Of course, there was also a tall tower above that last platform, with a chest containing half of the medallion needed to activate the Grand Lift of Dectus leading to the Altus Plateau.

I took out the Kukri I had prepared beforehand and sent one flying at each of the two remaining pot-throwing guards, straight at their heads.

I felt as though my throwing technique and accuracy were steadily improving-from only being able to hunt Little Rabbits by stealth at first to hitting an enemy's weak points at will even while moving, provided they weren't too far away.

I remembered Melina saying that agility improved observation and dexterity of response-in other words, it enhanced both vision and thought. My improving throwing skills might have had something to do with the points I had allocated when leveling up.

Oh, I almost forgot.

I stopped heading straight for the third level, turned around, and walked onto the outer terrace on the fort's second level. As promised, I delivered a hard kick to the backside of the soldier operating the ballista there, sending him down to officially join the battle.

Hehe, you're welcome.

I dusted off my hands. Everything troublesome inside the fort had been cleared away. Next came the source of all the trouble.

After catching my breath and resting briefly, I followed the stairs up to the final platform.

"Ha~ ha~ What beautiful blood. What a beautiful color." The knight captain in golden armor was carefully tending several roses of a vivid, dripping red in one corner of the ramparts.

And what he was pouring over them was a bucket of blood!

-Had this guy ordered the Demi-Human Queen killed just for her blood?

"In just a little while, I'll be able to take you all to the Mohgwyn Dynasty and have an audience with our king! Ahahahaha~ Grow big, my darlings~ Grow big, my darlings~"

Yikes... What a freak. He was even humming some bizarre song. Had he really not noticed any of the commotion inside and outside the fort?

"...Oh, all gone." The knight captain suddenly stood up. "Wait a little longer, my darlings. I'll fetch another bucket right away."

He turned around and met my gaze before I had time to look away.

"Yo." Well, I hadn't intended to hide anyway, since this guy was my ultimate target, so I greeted him first. "I don't know much about it, but giving flowers too much fertilizer can actually make them wither."

The eyes beneath the knight's helmet instantly sharpened. "Oh, really? To be honest, I've been wondering whether there was something wrong with my cultivation methods myself."

"Good, then. Come to your senses and put an end to this farce."

But before I could breathe a sigh of relief, he threw down the wooden bucket, drew his longsword without hesitation, and swung an upward diagonal slash at me from a distance.

Carried by the fierce slash, blood transformed into an enormous blade and flew toward me.

Weapon skill-Bloody Slash.

One strike wasn't enough. He raised his hand and followed it with a downward diagonal slash.

My little wooden shield couldn't defend against this blood knight's attacks. Even if I blocked one, a bone-piercing pain would shoot through my arm, as though a blade had cut directly into the bone.

Besides, Bloody Slash built up blood loss extremely quickly. After just a few hits, my body would probably give out and suffer a grievous hemorrhage.

-At least, that was how it worked in the game.

"Ahahahaha! Well? Well? This is my newly acquired power! Unstoppable! Invincible!" And this blood knight was far too crazy. Was his Bloody Slash a passive ability? How could he keep using it? "That Queen's blood is no good anymore. I'll water my darlings with the fresh blood in your body and help them grow!"

A complete lunatic.

Fine, I'm not fighting you!

Knowing better, I rolled off the ramparts and jumped straight down along the stairs.

"Don't run! My fresh blood!" The blood knight chased after me without hesitation.

But has all that blood clogged up your brain, too? Can't you see the powder barrels on the stairs at all?

After putting some distance between us, I turned around. Just as the blood knight ran beside a powder barrel, I let a Fire Pot fly.

Boom!

Have some fireworks for your Mohgwyn Dynasty!

How was that for a line?

"Aah-"

Holy crap, you scared me! Why are you yelling so loud?

"It's not enough! Not enough!" The blood knight, blasted off the stairs onto the ground floor, actually ignored the flames raging over his body, stood back up, and charged at me with his longsword.

Hey, hey, hey! You Mohgwyn Dynasty lunatics have way too much willpower!

That Nerijus fellow had fought by trading injuries, too, utterly indifferent to death.

Bloody Slashes came one after another.

I couldn't be bothered to compete with a madman... Whoa, the stairs had been blasted to pieces. Getting back up would be hard. Better run toward the courtyard.

"Don't-don't run!"

"Then stop chasing me!" I turned and hurled another Fire Pot.

He actually weathered that one, too, but his unsteady, staggering steps betrayed just how badly he was injured.

I jumped onto level ground, suddenly turned around, held my Straight Sword beside my waist, and charged at the blood knight.

Weapon skill-Square Off, heavy attack, imitation version!

Seeing that I intended to face him head-on, the blood knight planted his feet, gathered his strength, and swung with everything he had!

Weapon skill-Bloody Slash!

At that instant, even a few of his fingers flew off, and an enormous blade of blood hurtled straight toward my face.

But it was too slow!

I ducked beneath the rising diagonal slash, then thrust my sword forward. Thrust, thrust... Huh?

Before my Straight Sword even touched the blood knight, he collapsed all on his own and stopped moving.

Runes gathered into my body, accompanied by a trace of grayish-white light.

It was the Bloody Slash Ash of War, meaning I could now apply it to a weapon myself.

Still, in the end, this guy really had been devoured by his own blood. And I had wanted to test whether imitating a weapon skill's movements would actually work...

Bloody Slash used one's own health to unleash a powerful attack in the first place. Use it too often, and of course the body wouldn't be able to withstand it.

He had only himself to blame.

Farewell, you poor soul swallowed by blood. It was time to return the fort to its rightful owner.