"I'll help, but I need to visit the Third Church first." The Tarnished had not forgotten his main objective.
"Oh, of course. Go ahead." Kenneth said nothing more. It would not take long to reach the Third Church of Marika from here.
After leaving Kenneth, the Tarnished followed the Crystal Tear Flask's resonance on his way to the Third Church and found another Golden Seed, along with a lone Troll.
Trolls were an offshoot of the Giants from the northern Mountaintops of the Giants. They were tiny compared to ordinary Giants, and they were traitors despised throughout the Lands Between, all because they had committed the most unforgivable crime against their own kind-colluding with the enemy and betraying their people.
When the Erdtree's forces gained a slight advantage over the Giants, the Trolls, resentful of the discrimination they faced among their kin, had rebelled without hesitation. They joined the Erdtree, swore their allegiance, and slaughtered nearly all their former brethren.
No one liked turncoats or traitors, and Marika and Godfrey were no exception. Thus, after the War of the Giant, the Trolls had been reduced to slaves. Their bellies were hollowed out and filled with mysterious stone tablets, and they were put to work at the lowest of tasks, such as hauling carts, cutting through mountains, and mining.
"How was becoming the Erdtree's slaves any better than being looked down on by the Giants?" This was another reason the people of the Lands Between despised Trolls. The war between the Erdtree and the Giants had merely been a clash of interests, while the Trolls had betrayed their kin simply to vent their anger. There were plenty of ways to do that, yet they had chosen treachery, leaving themselves despised by both sides. Most Trolls received no recognition among the Erdtree's forces. They truly were a pitiful, wretched race.
No... perhaps an incurable servility ran in their blood. Rather than rebelling against discrimination, perhaps they had simply seen the Erdtree's strength and wanted to trade slavery under the Giants for slavery under the Erdtree.
Still, there were exceptions to everything. Not all Trolls were like that, but those who were different remained a minority.
"Get out of my way. You're blocking the road." Seeing the Troll standing directly in his path, the Tarnished immediately unleashed his killing intent. He did not want to waste time dealing with a creature so poor at communicating, but the Troll refused to heed the warning. It roared at him and brought a massive fist crashing down, slow but heavy.
"You're asking for death..." The Tarnished stepped back to evade the blow, then drove his curved sword through the Troll's huge fist and into the ground beneath it. Before the Troll could roar, he sprang up its arm and landed before its face. Drawing the Uchigatana at his waist, he killed it with a single thrust. The blade pierced its rock-thick skull in an instant.
"Killing huge things is my specialty." The Tarnished glanced at the fallen Troll. He had fought countless bloody battles against Giants in the past, including more mountain-sized ones than he could count. A Troll, smaller yet just as sluggish, was hardly worth mentioning.
The Tarnished did not linger, for the Third Church stood just ahead. But when he entered it, he froze.
The Third Church of Marika stood on the border between Limgrave and the Altus Plateau, offering a view of Caelid in the distance. The once ocher-colored Caelid Plateau was now a sea of scarlet, as though drenched in blood.
"What happened here...?" Caelid had been the Expeditionary Army's final objective, but Marika's banishment had prevented them from exploring much of that vast plateau. Even so, they had known the basics. The Caelid before him was nothing like the place he remembered. Even at this distance, its aura of decay radiated outward like blades.
The Tarnished was deeply curious about Caelid's condition, but it was not his current destination. He still had unfinished business in Limgrave... Kenneth's request, the traitorous Knight Commander, and Godrick the Grafting all warranted a visit.
Setting aside his thoughts of Caelid, the Tarnished found the Flask of Wondrous Physick hidden near Marika's statue. It was a vessel fashioned from gold, its gleaming body exuding grandeur.
"The Flask of Wondrous Physick... I'll be taking this." The Tarnished spoke as though to himself, or perhaps to the statue of Marika beside him.
After obtaining the Flask of Wondrous Physick, the Tarnished headed south into the Mistwood.
"So I still ended up having to come in here." He had remained alert ever since entering the Mistwood. Wisps of fog drifted everywhere. They did little to hinder him, but the Rune Bears living in these woods were formidable foes.
If they ambushed him from some hidden corner, even he would be in for a rough time in his current state.
The Mistwood did have its advantages, though. It was easier to stay hidden here than in other terrain. Not every creature roaming the area was native to the woods, and some lacked particularly sharp eyesight, such as the two giant crabs before him.
Thanks to the thin fog, the Tarnished slipped past them with ease.
He did not know how much time had passed. Perhaps he was halfway there, or perhaps he had reached his destination, when he spotted golden motes drifting ahead-a sure sign of a Site of Grace.
As the Site of Grace activated, the radiance of golden runes briefly dispersed the thick fog. Taking the opportunity, the Tarnished spotted a small fort ahead. It was the destination of his commission: Fort Haight.
After passing through the abatis before the fort, he encountered a burst of life he had not felt in the Lands Between for some time. A soldier dressed in gray, green, and gold drew his bow at him. Before he could loose an arrow, however, a Pumpkin Head behind him sent him flying with a headbutt. He screamed, hit the ground, and died.
"..."
"Why is it you again?" He watched speechlessly as the rampaging Pumpkin Head kicked soldiers around like balls, making no distinction between friend and foe.
"You seem to be having some trouble. How about I lend a hand?" The Tarnished had no desire to keep watching. He had come here for a reason, after all. Better to end this farce quickly and deal with the Knight Commander inside.
"Who are you? Get lost! Outsiders aren't welcome here. Or do you want to become blood fodder for the Knight Commander too?"
"You really don't know what's good for you. Fine, no more playing nice." The Tarnished walked up to the soldier and punched him away, then killed the Pumpkin Head with a single slash. Ignoring the soldiers groaning around him, he entered the fort.
The fort was small and simply laid out, with two floors and a Watchtower. There was also a room between the two floors, probably used to store weapons and supplies.
"Huh? Is he a soldier too?" Among the armored soldiers, one scrawny man looked distinctly out of place. He wore only thin, ragged Tattered Clothes, with a tag hanging around his neck.
The moment the scrawny man saw the Tarnished, he began throwing little steaming pots without a word. When they struck the floor or walls and shattered, flames burst out. These items were called Fire Pots, portable weapons with moderate offensive power that served well in ordinary warfare.
They required no particular skill to use. Even the frail man before him could throw them easily enough, though his aim left much to be desired.
"Get out, get out! I won't let you approach the noble Knight Commander!" The frail man was almost frantic. As the Tarnished drew closer, he saw that the man's eyes were bloodshot.
Just then, a knight in brass-colored armor emerged from behind the man, laughing loudly. "Hahahaha! Let him come. A Tarnished's blood is still blood. He'll make a fine demonstration of the power of noble blood!"
"..." The Tarnished showed no reaction, merely watching the armored man. "You're the Knight Commander sent by Stormveil?"
"Lowly Tarnished, indeed I am. I am the Knight Commander you speak of, though I no longer serve Stormveil."
"I am now the Blood Knight Commander! Come up here and die, lowly Tarnished!"
"Oh, you're with that Mohgwyn Dynasty too?"
"Insolence! Who gave you permission to blaspheme against the great dynasty?!"
"..." The Tarnished remained silent, his piercing eyes fixed on the arrogant Blood Knight Commander. "Get down here. You're not worthy of making me come up there myself."
"You bastard!" The Knight Commander's fury ignited at once. He had never met such an insolent Tarnished. But what the Tarnished produced next frightened him so badly that he nearly collapsed-the Pureblood Knight's Bloody Finger he had obtained from Varre earlier.
"You... how do you have that?!" The Knight Commander was aghast. Only high-ranking members of the dynasty could possess a Pureblood Knight's Bloody Finger. Though he called himself a Blood Knight Commander, he was, to put it generously, merely in charge of a few soldiers. He was still a novice.
"C-could you... no, might you be a member of the dynasty, sir?" His earlier arrogance vanished instantly, leaving him thoroughly cowed. He understood rank well enough.
"Oh? This thing seems to carry quite some weight in your dynasty. Looks like Varre had a bit of standing after all." The Tarnished glanced at the Bloody Finger and chuckled.
"Unfortunately, you've misunderstood. This thing..."
"Is loot I took off someone I killed." With a brazen grin, the Tarnished tossed the Bloody Finger to the ground and stepped on it.
"You, from the Mohgwyn Dynasty. I told you to come down here yourself."
"You!! I'll never forgive you! How dare you defile the Bloody Finger?!" Enraged beyond restraint, the Knight Commander shoved the frail man aside and leaped from the platform above, thrusting his Knight's Sword at the Tarnished.
"I'll kill you! Your blood will pay for your blasphemy against the dynasty!!"
"Wha-!" The Knight Commander watched the Tarnished calmly draw the Uchigatana from his left hip. Clang! The Uchigatana met his Knight's Sword, and the impact sent the Knight Commander flying.
"Everyone in your Mohgwyn Dynasty is all talk." The Tarnished mocked the Knight Commander as he flew backward. "Why not show me your dynasty's signature technique? Or does being a blood knight mean spilling your own blood?"
"Oh, I get it. You're all masochists. No wonder you talk so much, only to put up less of a fight than a roadside goat." The Tarnished's voice was calm, but every word cut deep.
"Fine... fine! You forced my hand!" The Knight Commander staggered to his feet and shouted at the man above. "Wretch! It's time to prove your worth. Offer me your blood! You will become a hero who helped the dynasty's soldiers defeat an invader, and your name will go down in history!"
"Yes, yes, my lord! I'm coming!" The man eagerly scurried down from above.
Watching the deranged man, the Tarnished still asked, "Are you really going to follow that damned Mohgwyn Dynasty down its rotten path?"
"Get lost, Tarnished! You're nothing but scum. How could you understand the greatness of the Mohgwyn Dynasty? The Mohgwyn Dynasty is the new ruler of this age!" The man spoke with crazed conviction, without the slightest hesitation.
"Fine." Seeing this, the Tarnished said no more. If the man wanted to die, why should he stop him? He wanted to see what the Knight Commander could do anyway.
"Offer your blood in sacrifice! The dynasty will accept even your lowly blood!" The Knight Commander drove his sword into the frail man. Within moments, the already gaunt man shriveled into a dried corpse. When the knight pulled his sword free, a terrifying scarlet aura coiled around it. Empowered by the blood, its blade had grown more than ten centimeters longer.
"Tarnished, you will pay for your blasphemy against the dynasty!" The Knight Commander turned toward him. The glow of his crimson eyes was visible even through his helmet.
"Interesting. Come on, then."
Before you continue