Elden Lord of Cinders

"Why do you smell like Frenzied Flame?"

Back in Caelid, as the group was being gathered for departure, Melina's small nose twitched slightly. She turned to look at Lloyd.

Lloyd didn't bother hiding anything and spoke up right away.

"Oh, I just went and defiled Chaos."

Melina: "...?"

What did he just say? And who defiled whom?

Before she could react, Lloyd continued, looking a bit confused.

"And when I was about to leave, she said she wanted to defile me too—but she just pulled me into her arms and held me for a while, then... nothing."

Lloyd had been puzzled by this ever since he left Chaos's room.

When Chaos said she wanted to defile him, he'd instantly gone on alert, ready for the usual sanity-shredding plot twist. But in the end, she didn't do anything—just hugged him for a bit, at most pinched his nose, and then let him go.

It was... weird.

After listening to his story, Melina opened her mouth to speak, but after a long pause, no words came out.

Her mind was a bit of a mess. She needed a moment to process.

Seeing she had nothing to say, Lloyd didn't press further. He pulled out the Spectral Steed Whistle, blew it, and summoned Torrent.

Seeing his trusty steed again, Lloyd took out some fruit he'd picked by the roadside and fed it to him, sighing as he did.

"If only I could bring you into the dungeon with me..."

Because of how hard he'd pushed things last time, the Caelid dungeon was now inaccessible.

The Death Blight in the City of Pus of Man still hadn't been solved in any effective way.

As for the deeper part of the Crystal Academy, Alice had said there was something extremely dangerous inside. At Lloyd's current level and reinforcement, going in would be suicide.

With all the dungeons locked out and Caelid thoroughly explored, it was time to head elsewhere.

And the next destination...

"Have you heard the story of the Eternal City?"

In Ranni's Sorcerer's Tower, Renna looked at Lloyd and spoke slowly.

"Long ago in the Lands Between, a race known as the Nox founded the Eternal City.

It was a city of immense grandeur, filled with countless people and towering structures—prosperous beyond measure...

But what truly set them apart wasn't their architecture or art. It was their deep and godlike understanding of sorcery—so advanced that they could even create life itself."

"By now, you're probably wondering—how could such a great civilization and majestic city vanish overnight, leaving barely a trace in history?"

"The answer is simple. They angered the Greater Will—and brought about their own ruin."

In the Sorcerer's Tower, Renna was enthusiastically recounting the tale of the Nox and the Eternal City to Lloyd.

She didn't know why a blonde girl had suddenly appeared beside them halfway through, but she didn't care.

Just a little girl. Let her listen—it's not like she'd interfere.

That was what Renna thought.

Then...

"So, what exactly is the Greater Will?"

It was the second time Lloyd had heard that name. The first had been from the Two Fingers, and no one had mentioned it since. He'd nearly forgotten about it.

"This..."

Renna's eyes flickered with a trace of fear as the topic came up.

"I don't really know how to describe It. And honestly, I suggest you don't dig too deep into this... otherwise..."

She shook her head and said no more.

Alice looked at Renna, paused to think, then chose not to comment.

Lloyd mulled things over for a bit, then began asking follow-up questions—things like "How was the Eternal City destroyed?", "What did the Nox do to anger the Greater Will?", and "What exactly is the Eternal City?"

After getting his answers, he went quiet for a moment, looked at Renna, and nodded.

"I didn't get any of that."

Renna: "..."

Then why'd you nod earlier!?

After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Renna patiently explained everything about the Nox and the Eternal City all over again. And then...

"Maybe just tell me what I actually need to do."

After thinking it over, Lloyd said sincerely,

"Yeah, still don't get it."

Hearing that, Renna inhaled sharply, suppressed the irritation rising inside her, and gave in.

"Go to the Eternal City, find a weapon called the Finger Slayer Blade, and bring it back to Ranni."

"Oh, that's all? You could've just said that from the start."

Lloyd had been wondering why she'd gone on with such a long setup—turns out, it was just to fetch a quest item.

Although, now that she mentioned the Finger Slayer Blade...

"Don't even think about it. That's a very special weapon—only someone tied to a specific fate can wield it."

Renna immediately saw through what Lloyd was thinking.

Lloyd clicked his tongue and looked over at her.

"So where's the Eternal City?"

"I marked it on your map. Just head there directly."

She paused, then added, seeing Lloyd getting ready to leave,

"Once you're there, you can fast travel back to me. I've done some research on the place, so I can come along if needed."

"Got it."

Lloyd nodded.

Sounded like there'd be some optional side quests along the way.

...

After receiving the mission at Ranni's Tower, Lloyd glanced at the marker on the map, then teleported to the nearest Site of Grace and started heading toward the spot labeled "Starfall Crater."

The journey was uneventful—just a few scattered weak mobs, easily cleared out. Soon, he arrived at the marked location.

In front of him was a massive crater.

Ever since Radahn's seal had been broken and the stars began to move again, the skies over the Lands Between had been anything but quiet. Occasionally, a meteor would come crashing down.

The one in front of Lloyd was just such a meteorite's handiwork.

It had smashed straight through the surface, causing massive destruction to the surrounding land—and in doing so, revealed something hidden beneath.

Following the edge of the crater, Lloyd eventually found some protruding rock walls. After playing a little impromptu platforming—Miyazaki's favorite post-school activity—he made his way down to the bottom.

Once inside, he wandered around for a while and eventually jumped through what looked like a building's window. The tight, narrow space suddenly opened up into a vast underground expanse.

Fake stars hung in the ceiling above, illuminating a sprawling cityscape bathed in dim purple light.

Though much of it had been ruined, leaving the area empty and desolate, even the broken remnants hinted at a past brilliance.

Nokron, the Eternal City.

This massive city—once the pinnacle of Noxian wisdom and among their greatest achievements—now stood revealed before Lloyd.

He leapt through the window and began making his way across the ruins, hopping along collapsed walls and shattered buildings.

After a bit of exploring and a few tricky jumps, he found a piece of gear called the Ghostflame Torch and gathered some crafting materials labeled as Silver Tear Husks.

But...

Were there no enemies here?

He'd been wandering Nokron for quite a while now, and whether it was the platforming segments or areas that clearly looked like they were meant for ambushes—there wasn't a single monster in sight.

Could it be like the Lower Undead Burg in Dark Souls—where enemies suddenly ambush you from the front and back once you reach a certain point?

That was Lloyd's thought, and he raised his guard accordingly. He even walked to the edge of the terrain to check the sides, just in case something was clinging there, waiting to climb up.

But there was nothing.

Still, he wasn't exactly wrong to be suspicious. Originally, this place was supposed to have monsters. But now...

Anyway, after moving ahead cautiously for a while, Lloyd finally reached the first Site of Grace.

Even then, as he carefully activated it, he found himself wondering if it might be a mimic. But nothing happened.

Weird. This place was huge, yet not a single monster? Had Miyazaki gone soft?

Or was he setting up something much worse...

With lingering doubts, Lloyd activated the Site of Grace and pressed on.

After stepping through a door, a courtyard came into view.

And then—he saw it.

The circular courtyard was covered in dark brown, writhing flesh.

It was completely at odds with the otherwise serene environment of the Eternal City. Disgusting, shifting, and unnatural.

Sensing his presence, the piles of flesh slowly began to merge and form into humanoid, zombie-like creatures that moved to attack him.

Lloyd deliberately took a hit to gauge their damage, then leapt back, dodging a claw swipe aimed at his face.

More of the zombies behind them, ones that seemed slightly more aware, picked up discarded bows and fired arrows at him.

Lloyd raised his shield to block the shots, then switched to his Twinblade, cutting down the zombie in front of him before rolling away from another volley and slicing through the archer.

They were weak—low stats, slow movements, and they even took time to fully form.

But something felt off.

After killing both zombies, Lloyd noticed that his Rune count hadn't increased.

The two piles of meat on the ground kept writhing... and after a short while, they reformed again.

He killed them again.

Still no Rune gain—but this time, the writhing slowed down a little.

They reformed, and he killed them once more.

Finally, the zombies collapsed and slowly faded away.

[Rune +256]

When the reward message popped up, Lloyd's face turned green.

What kind of trash mobs were these?

Two revivals, pitiful reward, and no real enjoyment in the fight.

And that was just the warm-up.

He hadn't taken more than a few steps when more of these zombie grunts showed up—not just one or two, but whole packs, three or four at a time.

Worse, once combat started, they would let out a roar that attracted nearby zombies, pulling even more into the fight.

Despite their slow speed and weak stats, their two revives combined with overwhelming numbers put Lloyd under heavy pressure, forcing him into a fighting retreat.

It was during this skirmish that Lloyd realized another shortcoming of the Twinblade—it was poorly suited for crowd control.

So, after a quick assessment, he swapped it out for a katana.

Moonveil.

This katana came with a horizontal Unsheathe skill that released a wide arc of magical blade light.

Though it didn't deal massive damage due to Lloyd's current stat allocation, it was fast and had decent range—perfect for mowing down mobs.

And then...

"One Unsheathe coming up—"

Using his footwork, he gathered the zombies together, positioned himself just right, and transformed into a living weapon art loop, spamming the horizontal Unsheathe like a grain harvester cutting through a field.

Moments later, as his two FP bars ran dry, the last zombie finally dropped.

Total garbage...

After confirming that the area was cleared, Lloyd shook his head, gripped Moonveil tightly, and continued on.

Not long after, Lloyd came across a new kind of monster.

It was silver, slime-like, writhing constantly across the ground.

But these silver slimes didn't seem to be allied with the zombies. When Lloyd spotted them, they were actually in the middle of a fight.

Despite their jelly-like appearance, the slimes could shapeshift parts of their bodies into weapons—spikes, longswords, and the like—to attack the zombies.

Just as Lloyd was about to go over and see what was happening, several purple, star-like or eye-like objects drifted in from the side.

After a brief charge-up, they unleashed what looked like Gravity Sorcery, lifting rubble from the ground and hurling it toward both the slimes and the zombies.

Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk—

The damage wasn't high, but it was annoying enough to infuriate both sides. What had been a two-sided skirmish instantly turned into a chaotic three-way brawl.

Seeing the action heating up, Lloyd casually sat down, pulled out some shrimp, and watched while snacking.

"C'mon, hit it already! That slime's health bar is basically gone—it's just one more hit!"

"What are you doing, slime? Raise your shield! Shield! Don't you have a mimic shield? Block from the front, stab from the back!"

"And that big eyeball—how do you even miss with an AoE like that? Do those two look like they can dodge? Use your brain, predict their movement... come on..."

As Lloyd delivered his colorful commentary, the fight gradually wound down.

The zombies were the first to fall. Their slow movement and low stats left them vulnerable—even with two revives, they didn't stand a chance.

Then the silver slimes, already worn down by the zombies, started losing ground to the gravity-casting eyeballs and began falling one by one.

Just as Lloyd thought the fight was wrapping up, he put away the crab and got ready to swoop in for cleanup—when a blue light suddenly flickered into view.

A figure emerged, riding a spirit stag glowing with pale blue light. It looked like an NPC, bow in hand.

The moment she arrived, the stag leapt into the air. The rider drew her bow, light gathering at the string—then:

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Great Arrows infused with the power of the Ancestor Spirits tore through the floating eyeballs in a blink.

When she landed, the silver slimes didn't attack her, suggesting they were on the same side.

Just as the rider turned to leave, she paused and looked in Lloyd's direction, as if sensing something.

Lloyd didn't hide. He stepped out openly.

"…A lucid living person?"

She scanned him up and down, visibly surprised, then seemed to realize something.

"You… came from outside?"

"If you mean the Lands Between, then yeah, I guess I did."

Lloyd nodded, studying the figure atop the spirit stag with growing confusion.

Was this person male or female?

The outfit looked masculine, and the face was delicate but with some feminine features. The chest armor… suggested male again...

Noticing his gaze, the figure raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

She had more important matters.

"How did you get here? Can you return?"

"If you can go back—or if you can communicate with the outside—please pass on a message for me."

"Tell them that the Sleeping Arrow is trapped in the Eternal City. A new form of contamination has been discovered. We're investigating and need backup."

Sleeping Arrow?

Lloyd thought the name sounded familiar. After a moment, it clicked.

"You're Dolores?"

Dolores blinked.

"You know me?"

"Yeah, I've heard of you."

Lloyd had heard about her during a chat with Nepheli. Supposedly, she used to be close with The All-Knowing but was later tricked into drinking a potion that turned her into a puppet, robbing her of her mind.

After that, the con artist escaped with her puppet and severed ties with The All-Knowing entirely.

But Lloyd had also heard another version from Sellen.

According to Sellen, the scammer had indeed intended that, but when he poured the potion, something extra—a fragment—had slipped into the bottle.

No one knew exactly what happened after, but once the potion went down, Dolores vanished. In her place, a monster appeared—and nearly beat the scammer to death.

The man barely escaped with his life. Since then, he'd given up on potion-making and had even developed a phobia of puppets. Last Lloyd heard, he was working for Ranni now.

Lloyd still didn't know which story was true, and he hadn't really cared—until now.

He thought it over, then looked up and met Dolores's eyes.

"Maybe I should take you to meet The All-Knowing?"

Dolores: "...?"

"Are you one of The All-Knowing's subordinates?"

"No, we're just colleagues."

After a brief conversation—though it felt more like enduring a mental assault and she still wasn't quite sure what exactly Lloyd had said—Dolores at least understood the core idea: he wanted to bring her to the Roundtable Hold to speak with The All-Knowing directly and deliver her message in person.

It sounded a bit absurd. As far as she could remember, there was no such method to teleport directly to the Roundtable Hold, and this guy didn't exactly scream reliability...

But the details he casually dropped about The All-Knowing—things only someone with close, personal experience could possibly know—made her reconsider.

After a moment of thought, Dolores decided to take a leap of faith.

—Mainly because he really didn't look like someone capable of lying convincingly.

"How are we getting there? The Roundtable Hold's pretty far from here..."

"Not far. We'll be there in no time."

With that, Lloyd casually fast-traveled the two of them straight to the Roundtable Hold.

The All-Knowing's door was closed, but this time, there was no seal—just a note pasted to the front: "Please knock before entering."

It was a safeguard to let The All-Knowing prepare—apply a few buffs to stabilize his mind, reduce the risk of having his brain shut down by whatever nonsense Lloyd might blurt out.

This time, when The All-Knowing heard Lloyd knock and even politely ask if it was a good time to enter, he let out a deep sigh of relief.

Inside the room, a flurry of spell and incantation effects lit up.

Rejection. Dull the Senses. Mental Fortification...

Mechanized Mind. Information Filter. Thought Delay...

By the time the knock came again, The All-Knowing was fully shielded—calm, focused, and even a bit sentimental.

Mental corruption? Sudden existential whiplash? So what?

He'd faced worse on his pursuit of knowledge. Each obstacle he'd overcome had become another stepping stone.

True, Lloyd's nonsense was uniquely intense—but after the last few rounds, and with ample time to reflect, he had developed a strategy: Rational Self-Constraint.

With proper mental bracing, he could suppress his thoughts no matter how absurd Lloyd's statements were. Maybe not forever, but long enough to process the information and recover.

Now, with all his buffs active, The All-Knowing's mind was more stable than ever.

His will fortified, his confidence surged.

He was ready. Whatever ridiculous task or incomprehensible madness Lloyd threw at him next, he would remain composed.

After all, he was Sir Gideon Ofnir—the All-Knowing...

Creak.

With his permission granted, the door opened.

But the person who stepped through wasn't the usual idiot.

Instead, it was a strikingly familiar face—dressed in a sharp, tailored men's outfit.

"Hmph. I knew this place felt familiar. Definitely your style..."

She stepped inside without hesitation, glancing around and immediately diving into a well-practiced string of complaints.

"How many times have I told you not to pile documents like this? I've cleaned it up for you so many times. Do you ever learn?"

Sigh. "Some people really can't function without others... Oh right, where's little Nepheli? Don't tell me you left her running around outside again..."

While she spoke, she walked right up to The All-Knowing and, with casual familiarity, removed his helmet.

Then, seeing the dazed expression beneath, she touched his face with curiosity.

"It's been a while, Gideon."

"Why do you look so much older?"

Crack—

The moment those words left her mouth...

Lloyd could almost hear something shatter.

Thud.

...

[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]

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