Remembrance

The unconscious Zhao Si was terribly tense, drenched in sweat, especially when he heard the woman in his dream tell him to find "Destined Death."

In the dream, Zhao Si's vision was a little blurry. Only after rubbing his eyes did he see clearly: the woman had no face at all. The left half of her head was a mass of burning black flame. From the remaining right half, he could see that the broken edge was jagged, as though something had smashed it apart.

The only bright spot was that single eye, a gleaming gloam-colored eye that seemed to proclaim her ambitions had yet to fade.

"Queen?" Zhao Si swallowed with difficulty. The records contained only one vague title: Queen of the Full Moon Eyes. Nothing else.

How convenient. No need to come up with a name for a character. Just describe her defining feature.

Zhao Si still couldn't stop himself from snarking inwardly. It was also his way of relieving stress.

"Oh? People these days don't even know my name anymore. Marika really was thorough." The Queen didn't even have a mouth, so he had no idea how she produced her voice, but she didn't sound particularly angry.

Perhaps she felt that she had already lost and the outcome was settled. Anger would solve nothing, so she might as well calmly plan how to turn things around.

"Y-you aren't dead?" The moment Zhao Si blurted it out, he clapped a hand over his mouth. He had spoken instinctively, then immediately realized how inappropriate the question was.

The Queen didn't get angry. She merely laughed softly. "I am death itself. How would you make 'death' itself die?"

It sounded like a tongue twister, but it wasn't difficult to understand. Zhao Si patted his head, grasping her meaning. Compared with things like Scarlet Rot, the Erdtree, and the Giant's Flame, the Queen was a god who embodied a concept.

She herself was the concept of death, one that had existed ever since life first appeared in the Lands Between. Even the Erdtree couldn't eliminate death entirely. Marika could only have the Black Blade seal away Destined Death.

Meanwhile, the way other living beings died had changed. Not only did they rely on the Erdtree's Grace to extend their lives, but their souls now returned to the Erdtree after their bodies died.

It barely counted as a roundabout way of escaping death.

"All things must eventually die." The Queen's laughter was lovely. "Neither the Erdtree nor Marika can escape it. Haha."

"Then..." Zhao Si opened his mouth, wanting to ask: Then how did you lose to the Black Blade and Marika?

But he forcibly swallowed the words before they came out. This time, he controlled himself and changed tack. "Then I'm far too weak. Even if I knew where Destined Death was, I couldn't bring it back."

"Caw, caw, caw, caw!"

The Deathbird beside them shrieked, ghostflame flaring over its body.

"Look. That is the child you killed." The Queen pointed at the Deathbird. "Take a look at what lies within its Remembrance."

"Remembrance?" Zhao Si froze for a moment. "Even this has a Remembrance?"

As soon as he spoke, the Deathbird's ghostflame gathered into a ball. Spectral images of memories appeared within it, then drifted into Zhao Si's head.

Those memories centered on graves and flames. The Deathbird stood watch beside a cremation furnace, bathing corpses in ghostflame and using a hooked rod to rake out the burned remains.

As the memories merged with his own, Zhao Si felt power rising inside him, demanding release. He spread his hands, and two masses of ghostflame ignited in his palms.

"This is... ghostflame?" Knowledge of ghostflame and how to use "Destructive Spirit Flame" appeared in Zhao Si's mind.

Destructive Spirit Flame wreathed a weapon in ghostflame. The cold flames could inflict magic damage and steal an enemy's life.

I can't throw fireballs, but this is still pretty good.

For Zhao Si, who had next to nothing, any ability was welcome.

"Good, good, good. As long as you support me, I'll have the confidence to help you steal-no, retrieve Destined Death." Looking at the ghostflame in his hands, Zhao Si felt somewhat more assured.

"Ah, and your original combat memories." The Queen extended her index finger. A spark of black flame ignited at its tip, then flicked into Zhao Si's forehead.

"Why do you have my combat memories?" Zhao Si frowned in confusion.

The Queen pointed at Zhao Si from a distance. "There's no harm in telling you. You're easier to control when you're weak. If you had your combat memories, you might not go around asking for help. But since you've been so cooperative, I'll return them for now."

Zhao Si opened his mouth to speak again, but the Queen waved a hand. "You consumed some Frenzied Flame today, and then you encountered a Deathbird. That's why I was in the mood to talk to you. Once you find other flames connected to me, we can talk again."

Everything before Zhao Si went black. When he opened his eyes again, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

His head hurt terribly. It took a long while before he could slowly sit up. His mouth was dry, and he instinctively wanted to find some water, only to notice a little girl asleep with her head resting beside his bed.

"Hey." Zhao Si gently nudged the girl. His voice was hoarse and sounded terribly weak.

"Hm?" Little Irina woke up and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. "You're awake, big brother?"

She turned her little apple-red face toward his voice, speaking to Zhao Si as though she were "looking" at him.

The sight of Irina's blindfold reminded Zhao Si of Helena. Both had problems with their eyes and couldn't see, yet both did their best to act like ordinary people.

No, thinking back to the way Helena ran through the castle, she clearly wanted to do even better than an ordinary person.

This world could never be fair. It had nothing to do with the Elden Ring or the Erdtree. Even if he shattered the Elden Ring and burned down the Erdtree, Irina would still be blind.

In the game, Hyetta had suddenly appeared after Irina's death. They looked so alike, and Shabriri had taken over Yura's corpse...

Zhao Si couldn't help stroking Irina's little face. "I won't let you get dragged into it again."

Feeling the warmth of Zhao Si's fingertips, Irina tilted her little head. "Dragged into what?"

"Grown-up business," Zhao Si said with a smile. "I won't let you get dragged into 'grown-up business.'"

"I don't understand." Irina shook her head, finding his words strange.

She trotted out of the room. "I'll tell big sister Helena you're awake."

It was obvious where Zhao Si was now. His companions must have brought him back to Castle Morne to recover after he fell unconscious.

He had no idea how many days had passed since they cleared out the plague village.

Zhao Si instinctively felt his wrist, but couldn't find the burn mark. He hurriedly inspected it and discovered that the burn had become an ice-blue flame pattern.

Apparently, this was proof that he had obtained ghostflame. The Queen had granted him special permission to use it, bestowing it on him in the form of "Grace." He could use it directly, regardless of his intelligence or faith.

Zhao Si found a mirror.

It reflected his appearance. He still looked as ghastly as ever, but his eyes had changed-they gleamed with an ice-blue light.

Just as those blessed with the Erdtree's Grace had golden light in their eyes, Zhao Si had gained ice-blue eyes after receiving the Queen's Grace.

Of course, this wasn't the full extent of the Queen's power or Grace.

At the highest level, his eyes would probably be gloam-colored like hers. To reach that point, it seemed he would have to collect all the flames connected to her.

In fact, the only flames clearly connected to her were black flame and the red flames wreathed in black vapor emitted by Maliketh the Black Blade's Destined Death.

What other flames were connected to her? After all, Zhao Si had never imagined that Deathbirds and ghostflame had anything to do with the Queen. There had originally been eight Deathbirds in the Lands Between. Now that he had killed one, seven remained. In that case, he would take care of the remaining seven, absorb their Remembrances, and strengthen his ghostflame!

The stronger he became, the better his chances when he went to seize Destined Death.

He scratched his head and dressed properly.

Taking a pair of curved swords from his Inventory, he strapped them to his waist. "I'd better find Master Ba and test my combat memories."

His combat memories had returned, including some important knowledge and fighting techniques. Only now could Zhao Si truly call himself a competent warrior.