Defeating the Dragon Mother again, passing through the dragon nursery again, meeting Jergal again... the player retraced the same path, but the experience felt entirely different.
Everything was exactly the same. Was something wrong with the player's memory, or was the game's save file bugged? Or was Miquella still manipulating the player?
Just as the player was at a loss, aging, which had remained unchanged until now, underwent a change. The old man who symbolized aging raised his head, his black-hole eye sockets seeming to pierce the mists of time. "You hold a withering flower... I see. Aging will not change. The passage of time inevitably leaves traces, but you should not lose yourself in this."
Jergal's figure faded amid the creaking of the rocking chair.
The player continued forward, then encountered someone who should not have been there.
An enormous treasure chest sat incongruously in the middle of the road. As the player approached, its lid opened a crack on its own, revealing a pair of wine-red eyes inside.
Lilith smiled lazily. "Kid, we meet again... oh, she's jealous~"
Before she finished speaking, the player's screen went black. Only the word "Death" remained on the screen. The player's silence was deafening!
Rising again at the site of Grace, the player returned to the chest's location.
It was completely empty, with only a pool of blood left on the ground... beside the blood, a purple point of light glimmered faintly.
"See? I won't die. Uh, looks like that's all the warning I can give... keep it. I've been looking forward to this for ages."
Obtained [Formless Mother's Mark]: [Description: Stay tuned! They hunger for harm, and you still owe number nine... however, They do not need a lord to resolve this.]
Continuing forward, the player crossed the courtyard