Godwyn, Prince of Death

Fia and the Tarnished remained nestled together for a long while before she reluctantly let go. Feeling his warmth was a strange and wonderful experience for her.

"You're so warm... But... is this the power passed down through generations? Lord White Wolf, how do you feel? Have you grown weaker?" Fia suddenly came to her senses.

"I'm not that fragile." The Tarnished straightened and sat beside Fia, looking at the girl whose beauty could captivate the world.

Sure enough... I've had a lot more luck with women since coming back this time. Losing Grace really did improve my luck.

"What is it, my lord...?" Fia grew a little shy as the Tarnished stared at her without speaking.

"Nothing. There is something I wanted to ask you, though." The girl before him should know something about death. Perhaps she could clear up some of his doubts.

"Please, go ahead." Fia listened attentively to his question.

"You know about Godwyn the Golden's death, don't you? That child was something of a nephew to me. His death left me with a few questions."

"Godwyn... I never imagined you were related to him that way." A flicker of surprise crossed Fia's alluring eyes. "If that's what you wish to ask about, I do know something of it."

"When I first arrived in the Lands Between, my unusually keen sensitivity to death allowed me to notice something. There are many 'living dead' here. The locals seem to call them Those Who Live in Death."

"I saw quite a few of Those Who Live in Death on my way here."

"I can feel it, Lord White Wolf. Some being has brought death in these Lands Between to a standstill."

"A standstill? What do you mean?"

"Life and death form an endless cycle... Even a Deathbed Maiden draws strength from others to nourish the departed. That is a relatively normal cycle... But the Erdtree as it stands now is different. To give you a simple comparison..."

"Hundreds of Deathbed Maidens have drawn upon the strength of tens of thousands of heroes to resurrect one great figure. Yet that figure has not truly died, meaning all the strength they draw is wasted. But the Deathbed Maidens refuse to give up, so they keep taking. This excessive behavior completely disrupts the normal cycle of life and death..."

"As for Those Who Live in Death... From what I can sense, I have a vague impression that they arise after coming into contact with something related to death, causing their souls to be accepted by the Erdtree."

"Something related to death... Things are worse than I thought." The Tarnished frowned.

"And that is the Erdtree's current situation. A being who has died, but not completely, is consuming its power at an accelerating rate. The Erdtree's power is not infinite, and it functions just as I described... You should know, Lord White Wolf, that there is a practice called return to the Erdtree. Its purpose is to feed the strength of the departed back into the Erdtree."

"That's right." The Tarnished nodded.

"But now that cycle has been broken by a being who is neither alive nor dead. That being is the former Godwyn the Golden... Though Godwyn, Prince of Death would be a more fitting name now..." Considering Godwyn's relationship with White Wolf, Fia sounded a little downcast.

"Neither alive nor dead... I see. I wondered why Godwyn's death alone could throw the entire system of life and death into chaos. So that's why... But what kind of power could leave him in that state? Could it be..." Suddenly, the Tarnished's brows drew tightly together, as though something had occurred to him.

"Lord White Wolf, there are only two ways to be neither alive nor dead. One is for the body to die while the spirit remains. The other is for the spirit to be erased, leaving only an empty shell. I believe Godwyn is the latter... And because the Erdtree would not permit his soul to die, it expended far too much power trying to revive him. But that process must have produced something, and that something is the root cause of Those Who Live in Death."

The latter... Could some power have erased Godwyn's spirit? Still, that does give me something to work with.

"I think I understand now."

"Nothing could make me happier than answering your questions. There is so little I can do for your great ambition..."

"All right. If you've chosen to follow me, don't talk like that. Have a little confidence in yourself." The Tarnished gently patted Fia's shoulder.

"I understand." Fia nodded obediently.

"Well, then." The Tarnished stood up.

"Are you leaving?" Fia rose as well, and the Tarnished answered in the affirmative.

"I shall always be here to welcome you, Lord White Wolf... May your journey be safe." With a gentle smile, Fia watched him leave.

"What took you so long... You..." Drawn by the sound of the door opening, Hewg was about to speak when he saw the Tarnished emerge, rubbing his shoulder and closing the door behind him.

"What were you doing in there?"

"Just get on with your smithing. We haven't done anything yet." One look at Hewg's peculiar expression told the Tarnished exactly what he was thinking.

"Yet? This is Roundtable Hold! How could you do such a thing here?" A loud clang rang out as Hewg failed to control the force of his hammer.

"What happened to that aloof attitude you had at first? Didn't you say you wanted nothing more to do with me?"

"..." Hewg froze, blinked, and thought for a moment. "Right... All I need to do is smith. What does anything else have to do with me?" With that, he resumed swinging his hammer in silence. If not for that lord's explicit instructions, he would never have spoken to the Tarnished so much.

That was a quick change of face.

Afterward, the Tarnished wandered around Roundtable Hold for a while longer. He found another set of tightly closed doors, and the presence coming from behind them displeased him somewhat. Still, since he could not open them yet, he let it go.

As he made his rounds, a man leaning against a wall with his arms folded caught his eye. The Tarnished approached to speak to him, only to find that the man would not say a word.

"Ah, you're the newcomer from earlier, aren't you? The man outside my door is named Ensha. He works for me, you might say. He has always been a man of few words, so pay him no mind." Gideon's voice came from inside the room.

"Given how much time has passed, I imagine you've finished looking around the Hold. Keep following this passage, and you'll find the Twin Maiden Husks at the far end. They neither speak nor think... Just treat them as a means of trading. You can buy many items there." Gideon showed no intention of coming out to open the door. He was evidently busy with something.

"I think I've got the general idea."

"Oh, one more thing. The members of the Hold you've seen are only a drop in the ocean. Many Tarnished have returned to the Lands Between, and countless among them qualify to enter this place. Still, since fighting is forbidden here, things never get too chaotic. There are parasites, though."

"Go. Hunt a Demigod and obtain proof. Only then will you truly be a member of the Hold." After that, Gideon fell silent.

The Tarnished did not linger. He went to the Twin Maiden Husks, bought some essential supplies, and replaced his equipment with a Knight Set.

"It covers up my handsome face, but whatever." Stretching his limbs, the Tarnished returned to the center and reached out to touch Roundtable Hold's great Grace.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, he sensed something strange.

"I see... No wonder Melina said this place was hidden. So that's how it works." Only when he thrust his hand into Roundtable Hold did the Tarnished sense what was unusual about this place. Unlike the Grace outside, which ran straight and direct, Roundtable Hold twisted and wound along a convoluted path. That meant this place existed in a different space and time from the outside world, connected to it only through Roundtable Hold.

"Interesting. Looks like the person borrowing my name isn't completely useless." In the blink of an eye, the Tarnished returned to Stormgate Tunnel.

"You look well prepared..." As always, Melina appeared beside him.

"It's an interesting place. It certainly could serve as a base."

"Stormveil lies ahead... This will be the first Demigod you encounter on your journey." Melina raised her gaze to the magnificent Stormveil Castle.

"The castle's a lot more dilapidated than it used to be. The soldiers have all been replaced with Godrick's men, too." Looking into the distance, the Tarnished happened to meet the eyes of an old man who was glancing furtively around. He looked destitute, dressed in rags, with hair so sparse that his scalp showed through. One sleeve hung empty. He was plainly missing an arm.

"You're Tarnished, aren't you?" The destitute man approached the Tarnished and Melina timidly. "Are you going into Stormveil Castle? I'd advise against using the main gate. There are plenty of skilled soldiers guarding it." He was filthy, and when he opened his mouth to speak, they could see that several of his teeth were missing.

"And who are you?"

"My name is Gostoc. I'm the gatekeeper here." The filthy man chuckled.

A gatekeeper... How strange. Shouldn't a gatekeeper hurry to alert the soldiers inside to prepare their defenses? Why warn me about the danger ahead instead? Isn't Stormveil hunting Tarnished?

"Oh, no, I mean you no harm. Truth be told, my life here isn't good. I've been unhappy with this position for a long time. I'd love for someone to kill Godrick." Gostoc's expression turned vicious.

"Fair enough. Tell me, then. If we're not taking the main gate, where do we go? Are you saying there's a side path?" the Tarnished asked casually.

"Exactly, exactly. Look over there." Gostoc pointed toward a hole. "Some terrifying fellow blasted that great hole open a while ago. The soldiers haven't had time to secure it yet. In other words, the defenses there are relatively weak. You can get in that way."

The Tarnished looked where Gostoc was pointing and found that there was indeed a large hole.

Did Enkuro make that hole? Judging by the edges, which looked as though they had been churned up by a vortex, and Enkuro's tendency to lose his way and fly into a rage when he could not find the right path, it seemed quite likely.

"Still, if you insist on using the main gate, that's possible too."

"No need. We'll take this little path." The Tarnished gave a meaningful smile.

"A very wise choice. I'm quite fond of clever Tarnished like you." Gostoc cackled.

Finally, the Tarnished and Melina exchanged a glance before heading toward the side path. Once Melina had also vanished from where she stood, Gostoc smiled at the Tarnished's retreating back. It was a malicious smile.

Stormveil Castle was an enormous fortress perched atop a cliff. Once wreathed in storms, it now held only what could be called a gentle breeze...

The Tarnished jumped down from the broken wall and discovered that he was right at Stormveil's edge. One misstep would send him plunging over the cliff.

"Danger never disappears. It only takes another form," the Tarnished mused as he surveyed the steep cliffs. "The law of conservation of danger..."

From this side path, he could see that Stormveil had suffered considerable damage. Crumbling walls lay everywhere. Judging by their structure, they had been there for a long time. Unlike the relatively fresh breach from earlier, this was clearly not Enkuro's handiwork.

"He's got a side path like this, and he doesn't even repair it or post more guards. Godrick really is an idiot." Once again, the Tarnished found Godrick's intelligence deeply worrying. Was this really how a ruler behaved? Even a Stormhawk would govern better than Godrick.

"There really are Stormhawks." No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he saw flocks of Stormhawks swooping down from above. Iron hooks were fastened to their talons, and combined with their swift movements, they made formidable opponents. Fortunately, the Stormhawks were not targeting him.

"Just flying around, then? I'd better keep going."