Demi-Humans were a very ancient race in the Lands Between, with absolute class distinctions within their society, and their sizes also corresponded to the various ranks from smallest to largest.
The Demi-Humans at the very bottom were like small beasts, while above them were larger chieftains and the absolute ruler of the tribe-the Demi-Human Queen.
Yet, without exception, none of them possessed very high intelligence; they were a race loyal to instinct. Although communication was not entirely impossible, the wildness of Demi-Humans at night would reach a new height, completely engulfing that tiny shred of sanity. Overall, they were an extremely unstable factor.
"Old friend, the number of these Demi-Humans is even greater than I anticipated..." Istvan wielded a large curved sword, looking at the dozen or so small Demi-Humans surrounding him and the Tarnished. Among them were even three or four fellows holding giant clubs, which were symbols of their honor, representing valor in battle... at least they thought so.
"What, we've been through harsher battles than this." The Tarnished spun a sword flower, pointed directly at the Demi-Humans, and charged straight in the next second, slaying four Demi-Humans in no time.
"A fine attack... Hahaha, it seems I worried too much. I can't afford to lose either." Istvan immediately joined the battle. The Demi-Humans' combat was chaotic and disordered; they only knew some simple slashing and biting, and in certain circumstances used traps and sneak attacks.
Not long into the fight, a deep beastly roar resounded from the depths of the cave, and a huge Demi-Human wielding dual swords crawled over at high speed, launching a direct attack on the two of them.
"The chieftain is out! Be careful, there's more than this one!" Istvan held his curved sword horizontally in front of him to block the Demi-Human chieftain's attack, then used a shoulder check to put some distance between himself and the chieftain.
Istvan suppressed the chieftain on his side, and the Tarnished's fight with the small Demi-Humans was also nearing its end. Just as the last one remained, another chieftain appeared... This chieftain was even larger than the previous one, and its speed and strength surpassed that one as well.
"How is it? This must be your target, that Demi-Human chieftain who 'crossed the border' from the Weeping Peninsula," the Tarnished clamped the chieftain's forelimbs, asking Istvan with ease.
"Right, it's him. I'll leave him to you!" Istvan disarmed the chieftain's dual swords and kicked it straight in the head. The Demi-Human chieftain fell backward straight onto the ground. Istvan seized the right moment to slash down and kill the Demi-Human chieftain. The chieftain let out a terrified beastly roar, struggled a few times, and lost its life.
"Need help, friend? Hahaha, looks like it's not needed." Istvan, who had intended to offer reinforcement, turned his head just to see that Demi-Human chieftain already beheaded by the Tarnished.
"This is for you." The Tarnished threw the Demi-Human chieftain's head toward Istvan. "To deal with fellows whose wildness outweighs their rationality, using the remains of the strong within their tribe can suppress them. That way, the Demi-Humans of the Weeping Peninsula should quiet down for a while. Though a queen should exist in that place, the deterrent force of a mere chieftain might not be enough."
"Thanks, friend. I am truly most grateful. Ah... it's just that I don't seem to have anything decent to offer." Istvan wore an embarrassed look.
"Never mind, I got my Runes too, so this trip was not in vain." The Tarnished waved a hand.
"Then how about this? If you're in trouble, you can look for me anytime. I am currently at Castle Morne... After completing the commission, I will settle down beneath a huge bridge in Limgrave. You can come to that place to find me, and I will leave a mark."
"Understood."
"Then I should be off too. Thank you for your help. I never expected to meet such a fierce Tarnished like you in this shattered, mad world... I also have some motivation to press onward now,hahaha." Istvan gave a bow, and holding the head of the Demi-Human chieftain, turned into points of light and vanished into the cave.
"Such a courteous fellow is rare indeed... Speaking of the Weeping Peninsula... Castle Morne, eh? Perhaps it's necessary to take a trip to this place." He had not participated in the battle of Castle Morne; he only heard that after Godfrey defeated the castellan of the time and completed the subjugation, this city had always been in a headless-snake state, yet now it unexpectedly had a new castellan.
"Come to think of it, does this Castle Morne belong to Stormveil Castle now?" He vaguely remembered it was so. After the old barbarian fought the Storm Lord, the Weeping Peninsula was annexed as well.
The Tarnished carefully observed the cave, wanting to find some useful items from it, but apart from some wild flowers and weeds and a set of tailoring tools he rummaged off the body of the cave's local chieftain, there was nothing else useful.
"Ah... tailoring tools." He couldn't think of any use for them, but even if he didn't use them, he couldn't afford to not have them-maybe they would come in handy someday.
Emerging from the other end of the cave, he found that the sky had long since brightened into daytime. "The flow of time really is problematic; we hadn't been inside long before it went from night to day."
The Tarnished ultimately decided to head toward the Weeping Peninsula, for no other reason than to fully explore this Lands Between. As for the guidance of gold? With or without it, he could go to Leyndell. With that said, the Tarnished immediately set off.
The journey was quite distant and there were quite a few enemies along the way. To conserve stamina and avoid unnecessary battles, the Tarnished did not get into direct conflicts.
Passing by a huge shallow lake, the Tarnished intended to rest briefly. He removed his helmet and looked at the water, which could not be called clear but rather extremely turbid. Reflected in the water was a face with sword-like eyebrows, star-like eyes, and resolute features, untidy strands of hair fluttering in the wind, with even an imperceptible trace of orange-red mixed among them.
"Hah, I'm as handsome as ever... Pity that being handsome is useless in this era." The Tarnished spread his hands and shrugged, calmly gazing at the lake surface. The colors within those eyes, sharp as a starving wolf's, had long since faded, filled with a sense of vicissitudes.
"Huh?" The Tarnished, who was appreciating his own high attractiveness, suddenly felt his head enveloped by a shadow. Looking up, it turned out to be a huge flying dragon.
The vicious flying dragon flew while spewing scorching dragon breath from its mouth, incinerating all the walking-corpse creatures in the distance, and the screams were endless.
"A flying dragon? There's actually a flying dragon in this place, interesting." The Tarnished stood up. He was not going to single-handedly challenge this huge flying dragon; whether considering the terrain or his own equipment, fighting such a huge flying creature in the sky would yield not the slightest advantage and only add needless injuries. He planned to come back and slay this flying dragon later.
"A very sensible choice. You don't seem like the reckless sort of Tarnished." A man wearing a metal straw hat and a long sword at his waist walked over.
"Who might you be... an Easterner?" Seeing the special weapon worn at the man's waist, the Tarnished made a preliminary judgment.
Outside the Lands Between, there were many races, such as his birthplace in the north, which was a cold region, and weapons there were generally centered around curved swords. In the east, however, there was a group of warriors from the Land of Reeds who called themselves samurai, and their weapons were swords forged to the absolute limit.
Yet in the past, these races from outside the Lands Between all ultimately gravitated toward the Erdtree's Lands Between without exception, as if drawn by some kind of attraction.
"Mm, not bad. My name is Yura. You're a newcomer... doesn't really look like it, though."
"I really did just arrive in the Lands Between not long ago. I never truly expected there would be dragons here." The Tarnished looked toward the flying dragon, which had already fallen asleep.
"Its name is Agheel... This is its territory, also called Agheel Lake. Dragons are both powerful and beautiful, and of course, very dangerous."
"Unless you want to be burned to death by it like that bunch of Wandering Nobles." Yura pointed to the creatures in the distance that had been burned beyond recognition by Agheel's breath.
"The Wandering Nobles, eh... What's that about?" The Tarnished's memory held no such creature resembling a living corpse.
"Mm... It's normal that you don't understand having just returned to this Lands Between. These are a bunch of fellows who cannot die even if they die."
"What happened?" Wasn't the Rune of Death sealed by the Black Blade? Shouldn't commoners return to the Erdtree after death? Why would they wish for death in vain?
"That is because of... Godwyn the Golden."
"Dead."
"?" Godwyn was dead? The Crown Prince of the Golden Dynasty was actually dead?
"What on earth is going on?"
"The event took place on the mysterious Night of the Black Knives. Someone whose identity is unknown used a weapon that seemed capable of bestowing death to assassinate Godwyn. Ever since then, death in the Lands Between has been thrown into disarray, and Those Who Live in Death were born from it. These Wandering Nobles are a type of Those Who Live in Death." Yura pressed down his straw hat.
"Such a thing actually happened..." A weapon capable of killing a Demigod, and the big nephew just died like that? But that wasn't right either; shouldn't he still return to the Erdtree even if he died? Why would this kind of problem occur?
"You still seem to have questions... But regrettably, I cannot continue to answer them. I don't know much about this myself."
"Forget it, what needs to be known will eventually be known."
"All in all, if you don't want to die, do not approach this flying dragon... Unless you are sufficiently prepared, you can try to challenge it."
"Indeed." The Tarnished gave his affirmation. Although the flying dragon was merely a descendant of the Ancient Dragons, a dragon was still a dragon no matter how lesser it was, not something ordinary creatures could compare to.
"Well, I've rested enough. We shall meet again if fate allows." The Tarnished waved goodbye to Yura and set off once more toward the Weeping Peninsula.
...Why does he... have the scent of a Bloody Finger on him? Is it my imagination? Yura lowered his head in thought.
"Bloody Finger..." Yura drew the Nagakiba from his waist, fury harboring in his eyes. "I will not let you have your way."
The road leading to the Weeping Peninsula was not peaceful. To reach the Weeping Peninsula, one inevitably had to pass through a place called the Bridge of Sacrifice. This place had narrow terrain and was also the boundary between Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula, naturally guarded by heavy forces.
Sure enough, by the time the Tarnished hurried over here, a large number of Madness Soldiers were wandering about. Catching sight of the Tarnished's arrival, they hauled the Ballista, and the ballista bolts of immense destructive power shot toward the Tarnished accompanied by a piercing tear in the air.
Yet relying on his footwork, the Tarnished evaded the countless attacks and subsequently eliminated all the soldiers guarding this place.
"Trolls pulling carts as well..." The place where the huge Trolls were advancing was precisely Limgrave, and the supplies naturally came shipped from the Weeping Peninsula.
"The Weeping Peninsula is already in this wretched state, yet they're still exploiting it. The castellan of Stormveil Castle is a fool as well."
Crossing the Bridge of Sacrifice led to yet another long, winding path. Along the way were quite a few corpses of soldiers and Misbegotten, and naturally those of Demi-Humans as well.
"It really is an utter mess."
"I wonder how Istvan left. Could it be through a site of grace too?" In truth, everyone's records of sites of grace were different; at the same site of grace, some people could see them while others could not. The severed connection of the site of grace he recorded would not affect others; perhaps they had long since activated sites of grace unknown to him.
Conversely, the sites of grace activated by others had no great relation to him either... This was a problem that had existed in the past.
Perhaps it was related to the space of the Lands Between. He heard that the Dragonlord, who governed time, space, and storms, had long since vanished without a trace, and perhaps that was what caused this chaos of time and space. The shattering of the Elden Ring only aggravated this problem.
Therefore, the Finger Sign was born in response to this problem, though at the time it was called the Golden Finger. By using the signs drawn with the Finger, even the most chaotic space and time could be unified.
"Sigh, what a pain."
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