Elden Lord of Cinders

After a brief conversation and inviting Asimi to join his team, Lloyd resumed exploring the map.

As for why he brought Asimi along? The reason was simple.

Just watching how she absorbed the monster's core made it clear—whether or not she was essential to progressing through the map, she was at least a major side quest.

There was no way Lloyd was letting her go.

Once Asimi joined and activated the Site of Grace dropped by the boss, the two of them started moving forward along the stone bridge. After walking for a while, they found a place they could drop down. Once they jumped, they landed in a forest-like area.

Just like before, a place that should've been peaceful was now a battlefield.

The Silver Tears, relying on their artificial bodies immune to filth, were fighting the zombie-like monsters in close quarters on the ground. Behind them, Nox swordsmen and witches directed these artificial beings, using their extendable Nox fluid weapons to strike at mid-range.

Further back on higher ground, tall women with antlers sang as burly men with ox-horn decorations held Greatbows. Alongside some floating blue lightning orbs, they provided long-range support to the Nox and Silver Tears below.

It was a brutal setup—enough to make the average player's scalp go numb just by looking at it.

But even such a solid defense line was slowly being pushed back.

To be honest, the zombies weren't fast or strong. Even the elite ones were quickly dealt with by concentrated firepower. The real issue was their sheer numbers.

And with so many of them, even when they were torn apart, they didn't need to respawn. They just slapped the shredded meat onto someone else and kept going.

Watching the scene unfold, Lloyd considered sitting down like he had during the earlier three-way battle—just wait it out.

He had just sat down and was about to grab a shrimp from his inventory when his eyes fell on the badge Dolores had given him. He raised an eyebrow.

Wait a second...

After activating it, a blue badge with a deer antler icon appeared on his chest, and a new, unfamiliar icon popped up in the status bar.

What the hell is this?

Lloyd fiddled with it for a while but didn't notice any buffs. Instead, when he looked up, the health bars above the Ancestral Followers and Nox had vanished.

And more than that—they didn't seem hostile anymore.

After observing for a bit, Lloyd got up and cautiously moved closer.

Just as he suspected, the Ancestral Followers no longer had any hostility toward him. Even friendly fire was disabled.

Even if he stood directly in the path of their arrows, they'd pass harmlessly through him.

So... this was a faction battle?

After confirming that the Ancestor Spirits now counted as allies, Lloyd glanced over at the battlefield—then pulled out Moon Hide and jumped in.

And then...

Unsheathe, Unsheathe, still fucking Unsheathe!

Wave, wave, still fucking wave!

The zombie waves came one after another, and under normal circumstances, it should've been a real pain.

But Lloyd wasn't fighting alone. Up ahead, a squad of Silver Tears under the Nox's command was drawing aggro, shifting into shields to block the zombies' charges.

All Lloyd had to do was stay behind them and keep sending out waves.

Some of the zombies had ranged attacks—bone spikes, thrown rocks—but they couldn't lay a finger on him.

Not because he was dodging. In fact, he wasn't even moving.

That was thanks to a Silver Tear girl beside him. She reacted instantly to incoming projectiles, transforming into a shield and blocking everything.

Eventually, watching her run back and forth to protect him started to seem like a hassle, so Lloyd had an idea—he just let her wrap herself around his neck, the two fusing into one.

Half of Asimi's body melted into Lloyd's, her small head upright, scanning the incoming trajectories.

When needed, she would generate a shield directly on his body. When not, she could produce spikes and hurl them outward to provide covering fire.

Then—

Swish—

Blade sheathed. He leaned forward into a stance. A pale blue flash shimmered from the scabbard.

He swung.

The blade cut through the air, bursting with blue magic. A crescent-shaped sword wave flew forward, slicing clean through over a dozen zombies in an instant.

A brief pause—then, with a crisp click, the blade returned to the sheath. The zombies collapsed in halves, their bodies slamming to the ground and melting into dark brown sludge.

Then, an elite-looking monster ignored the Silver Tears in front of it, charging past the defensive line with a massive hammer made of bones and swinging it straight at Lloyd.

Lloyd leapt backward, the hammer barely grazing his sleeve before crashing into the ground with a deafening impact, sending up a thick cloud of dust.

As he moved, the Moonveil in Lloyd's hand morphed into a blood-red twin-bladed weapon. He dashed forward, transforming it again into the Bloodhound's Fang. Raising it high, he brought it down with brutal force just as blood burst from the ground.

Pffft—

The monster was reduced to a pulp of flesh.

Just as Lloyd shredded the creature into minced meat, several zombies behind him hunched over. Bone spikes sprouted from their spines, and after a brief, wailing cry, they launched the spikes toward Lloyd...

Clang, clang, clang—

A silver shield suddenly materialized, blocking all the bone spikes. Behind it, a few silver cones swiftly formed. As the shield vanished, the cones shot forward, piercing the zombies right through their eye sockets.

[-31]

Though the damage didn't seem particularly impressive.

Time passed amidst the relentless battle. Jiu had lost track of how long he'd been swinging his blade, how many zombies had been cut down by the sweeping blue waves, or how many projectiles the silver shield had intercepted for him.

As the Flask of Cerulean Tears ran dry, Asimi's movements slowed, and even Moonveil showed signs of dulling.

The endless tide of corpses finally began to wane. After some time, with the last zombie collapsing, the brown, writhing flesh at last fell still. No more reinforcements came.

The battle was over.

At least, for now.

Lloyd sheathed Moonveil, glanced down at his Rune bar, and nodded in satisfaction.

No wonder Miyazaki hadn't dared to assign too high a Rune yield to those monsters. If he had, Lloyd would've farmed a ridiculous amount in that last wave.

Especially considering the classic Souls mechanic—doesn't matter who lands the kill, the souls still come to him.

Even if he'd just AFK'd and watched the chaos unfold, he'd still rake in the Runes.

After the fighting ended, though the Ancestral Followers and the Nox Swordsmen still couldn't speak, one Ancestral Follower girl wearing a shining horned headband stepped forward, using gestures to welcome him.

Of course, while she was called a "girl," the Ancestral Followers were all a size larger than ordinary people, and those with Shining Horned Headbands were even bigger. Standing in front of Lloyd, she looked like a small giant.

It was only when he got up close that Lloyd realized he'd been mistaken all along. He'd thought they were minotaurs, but the large horns on their heads were actually just decorative headbands—not real.

Guided by the Ancestral "girl," Lloyd arrived before the massive corpse of a stag, its body covered in horns and glowing with a faint, bluish soul-light.

Across different parts of the area, other Ancestral Spirits lit the braziers embedded in stone tablets. As the flames burned, the corpse in front of Lloyd began to glow. Then, a prompt appeared:

[The horned carcass somewhere has gained power]

Lloyd reached out and touched the horned remains.

Dazed for a moment, he blinked—and when he came to, he found himself in a cavern-like place surrounded by a pale blue aura, with shallow pools of water scattered across the ground.

Across from him stood a towering stag with glowing antlers. When it saw him, it let out a few gentle grunts.

"Baa~ Baa~"

Lloyd paused, then looked up and responded earnestly.

"Baa~ Baa!"

Regal Ancestor Spirit: "...?"

After a bit of back-and-forth baaing and gesturing, Lloyd finally grasped what it meant.

"Because I protected your people, you want to reward me?"

The Regal Ancestor Spirit gave a weary nod, already regretting inviting this fool in.

After that, Lloyd stepped forward. Following the Spirit's guidance, he slowly raised his hand.

As he did, the Regal Ancestor Spirit lowered its head.

A faint blue soul energy slowly gathered atop the massive antlers, then descended into Lloyd's hand, coiling and condensing until it formed into two items.

[Obtained the amulet 'Ancestor Spirit Horn']

[Obtained the item 'Ancestor Spirit Stone']

The Ancestor Spirit Horn is an amulet that restores FP after defeating enemies. The recovery isn't much, but it works wonders when dealing with large groups of minor foes.

If Lloyd had this earlier during the corpse tide, managing his FP would've been far less stressful.

As for the Ancestor Spirit Stone, according to its description, it's a material used to enhance soul-related items.

After thinking it over, Lloyd took out the Spectral Steed Whistle and activated it. A system prompt popped up:

[Spectral Steed Whistle has changed]

He blew the whistle again and summoned Torrent. Lloyd noticed that his calf-horse had undergone a few visual changes. Its horns had grown slightly, a faint blue aura reminiscent of the Ancestor Spirits now surrounded it, and ghostly blue effects flickered around its hooves.

But the appearance wasn't the most important change.

Thanks to the enhancement from the Ancestor Spirit Stone, Torrent could now perform a triple jump—and it had gained a new attack skill: Soul Breath.

After feeding the little steed some fruit and letting it frolic for a bit, Lloyd dismissed it and turned his gaze back to the Regal Ancestor Spirit.

"So, uh... wanna go out and fight yourself?"

Lloyd had realized by now that this wasn't a real location—it was a spiritual space residing within the giant deer's corpse.

Judging by how the Nox and the Ancestral Followers were cooperating outside, it was clear they were being pushed to their limits by the zombie monsters.

The Regal Ancestor Spirit clearly wanted to protect her people, but from the looks of the corpses outside, she seemed to be in some kind of state that made it difficult to intervene directly.

But Lloyd had a workaround.

"Your physical strength might not be great, but at least this'll let you go fight…"

"Also, since my skills are limited and I basically copied someone else's template, the appearance might be a little different…"

The Regal Ancestor Spirit looked visibly surprised after hearing Lloyd's explanation.

Similar to Elizabeth, the Regal Ancestor Spirit specialized in matters of souls and life and death, so she had a deep understanding of such things.

Which is exactly why she understood better than most how utterly absurd the things Lloyd casually mentioned actually were.

This wasn't some divine law, nor a cycle of reincarnation—it was someone smashing the boundary between life and death purely through their own power...

It was... abstract.

Still, even though it sounded ridiculous and likely incompatible with her own system, using it carelessly could potentially cause issues. But after just a brief pause, the Regal Ancestor Spirit nodded in agreement with Lloyd's proposal.

After all, the Nox had already been driven to seek alliance with the Ancestor Spirits—that alone said enough about the gravity of the situation.

And just moments ago, if Lloyd hadn't shown up, the corpse tide might've breached their defenses and brought its corruption right to her doorstep.

So even if Lloyd's resurrection method risked disrupting her own system of life and death, it was still better than being overrun by zombies.

As for the change in appearance?

That was the least of her concerns.

Her power stemmed from the life and death of all kinds of creatures, ever-changing, constantly mimicking the forms of other animals. Transformations were normal.

This was just a shift in appearance. It wasn't going to affec—

...affect?

Surrounded by a soul-charged aura and radiating a sacred glow, the antlered girl raised her hand, looked down at her body, then looked at the man before her. A brief flicker of confusion crossed her eyes.

To be honest, this body was stronger than she'd expected.

And since it had been remade from the corpse lying on the ground, the fit was almost perfect. She could jump into battle right away if she wanted to.

But...

Something just felt... off.

"...Thank you."

Even though something didn't sit right, the Regal Ancestor Spirit still thanked Lloyd. After a short exchange, she charged into the fight against the zombies.

With the Regal Ancestor Spirit's Incarnation joining the battle, the relentless tide of filth was finally pushed back. After a brief stalemate, the Ancestor Spirit Alliance even began to mount a counteroffensive.

But that no longer concerned Lloyd.

After helping the Regal Ancestor Spirit, he continued exploring and discovered a secluded path. Jumping down from the edge of the Ancestor Spirit Forest's Site of Grace, and after a bit of platforming that felt like one of Miyazaki's favorites, he arrived at a place called the Night's Sacred Ground.

This area was originally Nox territory, guarded by Nox swordsmen, sorceresses, and Silver Tears. But when Lloyd got there, all he saw was writhing brown flesh and hordes of wandering zombies.

He equipped the Ancestor Spirit Horn he had just obtained, planning to jump down and start slashing through the undead—when he suddenly paused, turned to the silver-haired girl beside him, and asked,

"Hey, Asimi, I've got a question."

Asimi blinked. "What is it?"

"Can you turn into a weapon?" Lloyd asked, curious.

He'd seen that the Silver Tears weren't limited to just their slime form—many of them could take on humanoid shapes and simulate weapons in combat. And Asimi seemed even more versatile than the others, so the idea came to him naturally.

"Maybe… I can," Asimi replied, a little unsure.

While she had mimicked many things before and could create weapons from her body, she had never tried fully transforming into a weapon.

Still, it might be worth a try.

"What kind of weapon would you like me to become?" she asked.

Lloyd thought for a moment. He was about to suggest a sweeping greatsword—but then remembered a particular Ash of War.

"How about a tachi?"

Asimi still looked a bit lost, so Lloyd took out the tachi he had and set it down in front of her as a reference.

"Something like this. If it's a little longer, even better."

After observing the blade and preparing for a bit, Asimi hesitantly nodded.

"I'll… give it a try."

As she spoke, her body began to melt and, after a while, reformed into a large silver tachi.

But it wasn't a full transformation.

Because a tachi doesn't use much material, and Asimi's body was simply too large. Even after compressing herself as much as possible and enlarging the blade, she couldn't fit her entire body into it. And what remained wasn't just a small leftover.

To be specific, her lower half had become a long silver tachi, but her upper body remained human. A silver liquid connected the two halves, making the whole thing look rather bizarre.

Realizing the transformation couldn't be completed no matter how hard she tried, Asimi looked at Lloyd with an awkward expression.

"Sorry… I think I failed…"

But Lloyd just looked at her, puzzled.

"Isn't this even better?"

He then picked her up, letting her upper body rest on his back. Following his guidance, Asimi raised the silver fluid connecting her upper body to the blade. It spiraled like a spring around his arm.

At the end of the coiling, she handed him the tachi's hilt, and he grabbed it firmly.

[Obtained Weapon: 'Mimic Tachi']

[Mimic Tachi]

[A silver-white half-body blade]

[A weapon formed from the Silver Tear 'Asimi']

[Possesses both hardness and fluidity]

[Can extend like a liquid when swung]

[Slightly boosts Arcane when equipped]

[Cannot be enhanced with Smithing Stones]

[No exclusive Ash of War]

After reading the description, Lloyd nodded.

"See? Not only can you be my weapon, but you can still block projectiles for me like before. Isn't that better than just being a regular sword?"

Asimi blinked, looked at her own body wrapped around Lloyd's arm, then glanced at the silver tachi in his hand.

It felt a little weird—but also kind of right.

Once he confirmed the Mimic Tachi didn't have an exclusive Ash of War and could equip one, Lloyd pulled out the Waterfowl Dance Ash of War and gave it to Asimi.

And then…

"Holy crap, this is broken!"

After a quick test, Lloyd was stunned.

Originally, he had just planned to turn Asimi into a longer sword—something like a glorified clothesline pole—to pair with the Waterfowl Dance for wide-range attacks, perfect for mowing down mobs.

What he didn't realize was that the fluid swords wielded by the Nox—capable of extending several times their length—were made from the same material as Silver Tears.

In other words, they were naturally extremely extendable.

And Asimi wasn't just any Silver Tear. She had even greater elasticity, and she could think, adjusting her form in real-time to match Lloyd's movements.

Combined with the flowing properties of the Waterfowl Dance, it didn't take long for Lloyd to realize something was off.

Wait… isn't that range a bit much?

To put it simply—once the Ash of War activated, it created a literal silver storm around him.

And in front of him, the attack range was so ridiculous it felt like casting a spell. He could slash wildly from an absurd distance.

Even better, the sweep was wide enough to hit multiple targets, applied poise damage, caused bleeding buildup, and could be sustained—basically a crowd control powerhouse.

—But only for crowd control.

Despite its massive range and AoE, the actual damage wasn't that impressive. The bleed buildup was modest, and the strikes lacked poise-breaking power. Against single targets, it was… not great.

But when clearing out hordes of zombies? It was perfect. Especially paired with the Ancestor Spirit Horn—he actually recovered FP after a full combo.

Once they finished cutting down the undead, Lloyd and Asimi continued forward. After walking for a while, they came to a flat, open area covered in dark brown sludge.

As they approached, the muck began to writhe, creeping toward the center.

After a moment, it all gathered into a towering mass of flesh and blood. With a roar toward the sky, its name and health bar appeared.

[Filthy Giant]

Then, after the roar, the grotesque giant lowered its head.

It glanced down at the two tiny figures before it, then raised its foot and brought it crashing down.

Boom—

Filth erupted.

The ground trembled.

...

[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]

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