Light flowed within the Erdtree. Godwyn strolled toward the brilliantly shining golden Elden Ring.
The red talisman in his palm had already shattered. Blackish-purple smoke seeped between his fingers, and the Rune of Death flickered in and out of sight.
Just as that leisurely hand was about to touch the edge of the Elden Ring, a voice came from behind him. "Stop. You cannot, and should not, overstep the rules I laid down."
Golden chains emerged from the void, surrounding Godwyn in layer upon layer.
"Even you are no exception..."
Horace approached slowly, a trace of helplessness in his eyes. He had not wanted to get involved in this sort of thing... He could hardly be called a man of leisure.
But Godwyn had gone too far for him to stay out of it. Besides, Marika, who never did anything useful, had actually done something useful for once.
Surrounded, Godwyn stopped and turned around unhurriedly, an expression of perfectly measured surprise appearing on his face.
"Oh? Uncle? How did you..."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly flipped backward, slipping through a gap in the chains before they closed.
The movement was clean and crisp, as though he had practiced it specifically. Well, perhaps he really had practiced it countless times...
While he was still in midair, a small hand axe flew from his waist, spinning straight toward Horace's face.
Those fluid movements certainly deserved praise. Skills honed in battle would not fade...
Yet none of it helped.
Let the world fall still... and time paused for just a moment.
The hand axe hung in midair, its blade only a palm's breadth from the tip of Horace's nose.
The golden chains wound around it like living creatures, binding its handle tight. At the same time, more chains surged from every direction,