"Oh, right. There is another way to help you get a Sword Catalyst quickly." Rogier suddenly clapped his hands as something occurred to him. The Tarnished looked at him in puzzlement.
"There's a Glintstone Dragon in the lake in Liurnia. It's lived among glintstone for years and even feeds on it, so it's become an enormous storehouse of crystals. But because it devoured so many crystals, it fused with them completely. In other words, it doesn't need any catalyst to freely cast all sorts of troublesome sorceries."
"Ah, but that dragon is rather strange. I don't know where it came from, but I've always felt there was something unusual about it."
"Something like that actually exists?" The Tarnished was somewhat surprised.
"Dragons truly deserve their reputation as the former rulers. Even Flying Dragons can't be underestimated. An ordinary person could never do anything like that," Rogier said, filled with awe for Flying Dragons.
Wait, dragons... Since I have dragon blood, could I use the same method to assimilate glintstone crystals? Wouldn't that let me cast sorcery barehanded, without a catalyst? It might work.
"Wh-what's wrong?" The Tarnished shot to his feet, startling Rogier.
"I've got a lead. You've been a huge help, Rogier!" The Tarnished gripped Rogier's shoulders with both hands, brimming with excitement.
"Ha... I'm glad I could help." Rogier had no idea what had happened, but helping someone was always a pleasure. He could only nod in a daze.
The Tarnished chatted with Rogier for quite a while, but Rogier never revealed what he was looking for. Clearly, he didn't want to trouble the Tarnished, whose own undertaking was far from easy. They agreed to meet again at Roundtable Hold, then parted ways.
Relying on his knowledge of Stormveil and his own agility, the Tarnished darted back and forth across the rooftops. He had no idea how much time had passed or how many enemies he had killed, but at last he reached the main gate of Stormveil Castle.
"Damn it! Stop that Tarnished! Don't let him escape! He's strong. Lord Godrick will reward us handsomely if we offer him his limbs!" An Exile Soldier commanded the Godrick Soldiers nearby as they surrounded the Tarnished, who had slaughtered his way through their ranks.
"You think you can take me?" The Tarnished leaped into the air and swung his blade toward the sky. Ice crystals condensed into sharp blades, then the golden grace within guided them. Like living creatures, the blades chased the soldiers, seeking their lives.
"What are those things? What the hell is this guy-aaagh!" The soldiers were soon engulfed by ice crystals. At that final moment, three Banished Knights jumped down from a platform on the other side and roared at the Tarnished.
"This ends here! You're strong, but we're no weaklings either!" The three Banished Knights charged at once. Three hurricanes threw the entire Courtyard into chaos, tearing even the defensive Ballistas to shreds as though they were made of paper.
The Tarnished held his Curved Sword across his chest. His throat began to swell, then grew searingly hot.
"What is that... Get out of the way!" A Banished Knight armed with a sword and shield sensed the danger and hurriedly warned his two companions. He slammed his Knight's Shield into the ground, and a gale lifted him clear of the flames from the Tarnished's Aspect of the Crucible Throat Pouch.
"How the hell can he breathe fire too?" a Banished Knight cursed. Just as they moved to attack again, they were met head-on by Aspect of the Crucible's Tail. One failed to dodge in time and was sent flying into the heavy iron gate. Amid the clang of heavy armor striking iron and the knight's muffled groan, he lost the strength to move. Their three-man defense instantly fell apart.
"Damn it, he's a real monster..." The sword-and-shield Banished Knight tightened his grip on his longsword, while the knight beside him clicked his tongue and began to waver. "Why the hell are we still fighting? How much are we getting paid to risk our lives? That old bastard Godrick isn't paying enough."
"Hmph, true. That old bastard Godrick's getting what's coming to him. There's no reason for us to die with him. Grab him and let's go." The sword-and-shield knight swung his longsword, raising a storm of sand and dirt that obscured the Tarnished's vision. They then tried to flee with their incapacitated companion, but they had barely taken a step when a voice behind them sent chills down their spines.
"Pretty loyal to your own, aren't you? But you think you can attack me and run? Did I say you could leave?" The Tarnished flashed behind the Banished Knights and drove his knee toward the sword-and-shield knight with an explosive crack that tore through the air.
"Damn you!" The sword-and-shield knight barely managed to raise his Knight's Shield, but he had never imagined the Tarnished possessed such tremendous strength. The knee strike shattered both the shield before him and his left arm.
"We only took a commission from Godrick! We don't want to fight you anymore, and you're still going to kill us?" the Banished Knight howled, clutching his broken arm.
"That's a funny thing to say. It's not like I went out of my way to attack you. I deliberately avoided you, but you just had to come rushing over to die. Now you want to surrender because you can't win? You don't get off that easily." There wasn't a trace of mercy in the Tarnished's words.
"Damn you! You lowly Tarnished... Fine, we're unlucky to have crossed a menace like you. But we won't die without a fight!" The sword-and-shield knight swung his remaining arm, and the still relatively uninjured Banished Knight beside him attacked as well. A storm surrounded the Tarnished, slicing through his armor and skin like a meat grinder.
"Good. You've still got a little of the old Storm Knights' stubbornness." The Tarnished put his Curved Sword behind his back, and crimson dragon aura appeared around his hands.
"How is that possible?!" Enormous Dragon Claws pierced the storm, appearing on either side of the three Banished Knights. Then they clapped together, instantly flattening all three into iron pancakes.
"Banished Knights these days really are just a bunch of high-end mercenaries." The Tarnished flexed his wrists, looked at Stormveil's tightly shut gate, then glanced at the guardroom beside it. If he remembered correctly, the gate mechanism was in there.
He went inside and, sure enough, found an enormous wheel-shaped mechanism and a Site of Grace.
"This is... Gatefront? We've come all the way back here." Melina stepped out of the room and looked around.
"Follow this main road straight ahead, and we'll reach the castle lord's quarters. Godrick should be there." The Tarnished casually pointed ahead, then lowered his head to wipe his Curved Sword.
"We're very close to our goal..."
"Speaking of which, why are you still wearing your hood?" Melina was dressed just as she had been when they first met, her roomy hood concealing most of her delicate, beautiful face.
"..." Melina offered no answer and merely tugged her hood lower.
"Huh?" Puzzled by her gesture, the Tarnished glanced behind him and only then noticed the many people ahead who had been drawn over by the sounds of their earlier battle. Could this girl be shy around strangers? Doesn't seem like her.
"Never mind. As long as you're happy." The Tarnished thought no further about it. He took out his Crystal Tear Flask and drank a deep mouthful.
"This stuff tastes pretty good." The sweetness of Crystal Tears ranked among the finest in all the Lands Between.
"I can sense that you've gathered a great many runes again... Do you need my help?" Melina asked calmly.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot. Sorry for the trouble."
As Melina worked her magic, the runes earned through his battles along the way fully merged into the Tarnished's body. His strength and speed reached another peak. He could now withstand a Crucible Knight's fierce assault without losing, and even force them back.
"..." Melina gazed at the Tarnished in silence.
"What's wrong? You've made that face before." The Tarnished was puzzled by her demeanor.
"Can't you feel it...? There's something like a vortex inside your body."
"Huh? A vortex?" When did I get something like that? The Tarnished looked just as bewildered.
"I don't know either... But whenever I guide runes into your body, I can feel a terrifying suction... They seem to yearn to become one."
"Become one? How strange." Is it because I used to absorb the power of runes without outside help? Could that have left something inside me? No matter how he thought about it, the Tarnished couldn't make sense of it. His body seemed to have undergone some very strange changes after he died in the Land of Fog and was reborn.
Melina was equally puzzled. She didn't know what it was either, but still said, "I think... this isn't a bad thing. At least... I haven't sensed any danger." Her expression relaxed slightly as she spoke. From that vortex, she had sensed a warmth and a curious feeling of nostalgia.
"I don't feel anything wrong myself." That very lack of anything amiss was what puzzled the Tarnished. Still, he couldn't figure it out now, so he might as well keep moving.
After resting at the Site of Grace for a while, the Tarnished noticed that more and more enemies were gathering around them, with no sign of dispersing.
"Perfect timing. Let's give Godrick a little Tarnished shock. Today, I'll take down all of Stormveil Castle single-handedly... Huh?" Just as the Tarnished was about to force his way through, a woman's furious shout rang out from behind the crowd.
"Godrick's villains! Die!" With that furious cry, a storm laced with Golden Lightning tore through the massed enemies.
"Another Tarnished?! Damn it, kill, kill, kill! Kill them!" The enraged soldiers' attention was drawn entirely to the woman behind them.
"You vile scum! You've defiled the storm here! Pay with your lives!" The dark-skinned woman showed no fear of the enemies before her. She swung her Twin Axes, swiftly cutting them down with thunderous force.
"Aaaagh!" Just then, the Troll stationed deep in the Courtyard was drawn over by the commotion. The shock wave from its roar was about to strike the woman warrior's exposed, unguarded back.
"Oh, no you don't." At some point, the Tarnished had already reached the woman warrior's back. With one punch, he shattered the Troll's roar. That punch even produced a more terrifying shock wave, striking the dumbfounded Troll square in the head.
When did he get behind me...? And his strength is truly terrifying... The woman warrior was inwardly shocked, but her attacks never stopped. Axe blow after axe blow cut down the frenzied enemies before her.
"You're all monsters! Lord Godrick won't let you get away with this! You lowly Tarnished!"
"I'll personally kill the culprit who defiled the wind. Go on ahead and wait for him." The woman warrior raised her Twin Axes overhead, then brought them down hard. Rumbling golden lightning blasted the last group of enemies to ash.
"Oh~ Now that's a pure storm." A storm carrying lightning was a rare sight indeed. And her attire... looked rather familiar.
"Huff... huff..." After that final axe swing, the woman warrior was clearly exhausted. She panted heavily, large beads of sweat running down her bare shoulders.
"Thank you for your help... mighty warrior... You're Tarnished too, aren't you?" The woman warrior wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned to thank the Tarnished behind her.
"My name is Nepheli Loux. I'm a warrior, and a Tarnished... I've come to Stormveil on my adoptive father's orders." The woman warrior named Nepheli had a frank, easygoing air about her.
Nepheli... Loux? Come to think of it, that old barbarian's surname was Loux too... Could she be a descendant of his clan? Now that's interesting.
Before you continue