Elden Lord of Cinders

"Phew... I'm alive."

After a long exhale, Elizabeth lifted her head, her expression one of blissful satisfaction.

But Renna, standing beside her, didn't look nearly as pleased. In fact, she seemed a little horrified.

Because just moments ago, she had witnessed the entire "feeding" process between the two, and it had left her deeply shaken.

How to even describe it...

If Renna had to pick a word, it would probably be torture.

It started with Lloyd slamming her to the ground like he was subduing a rabid beast. Then he yanked her arms back, roughly crossing them behind her, and pinned her down with his knee.

Once he was sure she couldn't move, he extended a hand to her mouth and let her bite down. With his other hand, he gripped her neck. And just as she began to greedily gulp down his blood, he clenched.

Crack!

That neck was definitely broken! She heard it snap!

Even with her neck seemingly crushed and her breathing labored, the woman still bit down hard, desperately sucking blood from his hand like her life depended on it—completely ignoring her own condition.

Throughout the process, Lloyd's hand on her neck alternated between tightening and loosening, keeping her struggling, guiding her with a low, coaxing voice like he was taming a wild beast.

"Easy, easy... no one's taking it from you. If you behave, I'll let you drink your fill..."

"Control yourself. Don't be so rough—yes, like that, good... I'll loosen up a bit..."

"Don't move... stop struggling. That's right, stay just like that..."

Under Renna's gaze, it took about ten minutes for the frenzied, disoriented "beast" that had first arrived to gradually settle down, now obediently crouching in front of Lloyd.

She drank in small sips from his hand, her body slowly relaxing. The crazed hunger in her eyes faded into satisfaction... and maybe even enjoyment?

Eventually, when her thirst was finally sated, Elizabeth lifted her head, her body melting into Lloyd's arms like jelly. Her face was flushed, breath coming in hot gasps, her tongue flicking out to lick the blood from her lips. She clutched at Lloyd's hand, voice trembling.

"Now... the covenant..."

But it didn't work.

Emotionally, she was there—but clearly, forming a covenant took more than just feelings.

After several failed attempts to slip on the ring, Elizabeth had more or less recovered.

She bowed her head, cleared her throat, and hacked up the shredded meat and splintered bones from her crushed neck, then let out a deep breath.

"Phew... I'm alive."

She really was.

But Renna stood there dumbfounded.

What the hell were these two doing?

Especially when, after Elizabeth seemed more or less recovered, Lloyd pulled out his Poleblade and jabbed her in the stomach a few times—that was when Renna just lost the ability to respond.

With this level of treatment, if this were back at the Academy during an interrogation, people on your own side would be calling it excessive. But now...

Looking at the satisfaction and pleasure on Elizabeth's face, Renna genuinely didn't know what to say.

"This is..."

"Elizabeth. My... friend?"

Honestly, Lloyd wasn't quite sure how to define his relationship with her, so his tone came off uncertain.

Elizabeth raised a brow at that and corrected him.

"I'm your covenant partner."

"But we haven't formed a covenant yet."

"Then I'm your prospective covenant partner."

After a bit of back and forth over semantics, Lloyd turned to her with a puzzled look.

"Why'd you show up out of nowhere like this? We're not in a dungeon right now. If you wanted something, you could've just come to me."

At that, Elizabeth averted her gaze for a moment.

Well... how to put it...

She had intentionally avoided coming to Lloyd. There were quite a few reasons for it.

She was afraid of becoming too dependent and letting him control her. She didn't want to be driven by her cravings and tried to resist. She even thought that enduring the hunger felt kind of... good.

Unlike Chaos, who was a complete romantic, Elizabeth—despite her obvious fondness for Lloyd and her cheerful demeanor—was actually quite rational and cold-blooded underneath.

But as it turned out, no amount of logic or emotional detachment could withstand the overwhelming force of that craving.

Because it wasn't her own desire—it was something rooted deep inside her.

If it were just her own feelings, she could've endured it completely. She might've even taken a bit of twisted pleasure in resisting it.

But the core of that desire was something entirely different—a "rule" she simply couldn't defy.

So, once she failed to suppress it and realized something was wrong, she teleported straight to Lloyd and threw herself at him.

And now...

Since there was someone else present, Elizabeth didn't feel comfortable talking to Lloyd about it. After glancing around, she smoothly changed the subject.

"Where are we? Why does it look so gross...?"

Lloyd gave her a rough rundown of the current situation.

Given his current mental state, Elizabeth didn't glean much useful information from what he said. But by observing the surroundings and pulling a few keywords from his explanation, she pieced things together and gave a small nod.

"Looks like there are a few factions fighting over something here... probably something like Nox's legacy."

She turned to look at Renna.

"So, miss, you came here for something too, right?"

"And from the scent of your blood... there's a trace of Nox in it."

Faced with Elizabeth's sudden shift to seriousness, Renna furrowed her brow and glanced at Lloyd.

Lloyd nodded.

"Other than her, uh... unusual preferences, she's trustworthy."

Unusual was putting it lightly...

But with Lloyd vouching for her, Renna went along with it, even though Elizabeth's gaze was still a bit unnerving. She briefly explained why she was here.

"An artificial king? That's quite a bold idea..."

Elizabeth thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"Too bad—I'm not really interested in that kind of thing. If anything, the chaos going on around here seems a lot more fun."

She took out the trident she had earlier and gripped it in her hand, then looked over at Lloyd.

"You gave me your blood, and I don't care for this pile of meat... so in return, I'll help you out for a bit."

Lloyd stared at her.

"You just want to watch the mess unfold, don't you?"

Elizabeth gave a few awkward coughs and averted her gaze, saying nothing.

Lloyd didn't mind.

After all, having a teammate for exploration was always a plus—especially one whose combat ability had already been proven in previous dungeons.

As for Renna, even though she felt like she'd found her target, she couldn't be sure yet. And seeing Elizabeth hanging around Lloyd didn't exactly ease her mind.

Besides, the Nox legacy likely included more than just high-tier items. Wandering around might uncover something useful. After a brief deliberation, she decided to stick around too.

Still, with two new teammates joining, Lloyd didn't immediately resume the exploration.

That was because he'd already fully explored the Night Sacred Ground—he'd cleared it two or three times by now.

To continue exploring, he had to head back to the Ancestor Spirit Forest.

Upon returning and seeing the Tears and zombies still fighting in the distance, Lloyd paused and suddenly remembered—he still had a few allies to call in.

Like Melina and Millicent.

Both had taken heavy damage in earlier fights and were left weakened for a while. Because they needed rest, he hadn't brought them along while roaming the Eternal City.

But now, he'd been exploring for a good while—they should be recovered.

And there was also Dolores, who had been sent to Roundtable Hold. By now, she was likely done talking with The All-Knowing and ready to rejoin them.

With that thought, Lloyd informed Elizabeth and Renna, then opened the map and teleported to pick up Melina and Millicent, bringing them over to the Ancestor Spirit Forest.

Then he made a quick trip to the Roundtable and headed to The All-Knowing's office.

Whatever they had talked about, by the time Lloyd arrived, The All-Knowing had already returned to his usual self.

Dolores was sitting on the edge of his desk, fiddling with a small bow. The atmosphere was still slightly awkward, but far less tense than before.

As usual, The All-Knowing had no plans to leave.

Dolores was used to that and didn't expect otherwise. After exchanging a few words with him, she left with Lloyd and returned to the Ancestor Spirit Forest.

As for her original intent to request reinforcements...

After hearing The All-Knowing's explanation of the Golden Order's current situation, Dolores dropped the idea entirely.

Still, The All-Knowing offered his support in his own way.

[Acquired Incantation: "Golden Shards"]

[Golden Fragments]

[A prayer based on the faith of the Erdtree]

[Fires three golden shards forward]

[Fragments explode upon hitting a target]

[Can be cast repeatedly]

[Developed by Sir All-Knowing based on information from a Tarnished, modeled after the shattered Elden Ring]

[—Rumor has it, it was originally made to shut someone up]

[Acquired Sorcery: "Sluggish Thought"]

[A spell researched by Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing]

[Converts the user into a puppet form to enhance Strength and Dexterity and improve resistance to abnormal effects]

[However, Intelligence is reduced while active]

[It's said the spell was originally created to suppress Sir All-Knowing's own rationality]

[But suppressing reason leads to emotional vulnerability]

[And that was where things began to unravel]

Two highly practical spells.

One was a triple-cast with solid damage and explosive impact—perfect for ranged crowd control.

The other was similar to The All-Knowing's previous "Rejection" spell, trading Intelligence for boosts in other stats.

Along with the spells, he upgraded Dolores' gear and gave her several useful items.

He hadn't stepped out himself, but the support was substantial.

And the moment she returned, Dolores threw herself into battle against the filth.

As for Lloyd—after gathering everyone, his inventory suddenly shifted, and a silver-white chrysalis appeared in his hand.

Moments later, it transformed into a silver-haired girl, who glanced around at the others in confusion before shyly hiding behind his back.

"She is...?"

"Asimi. A child I picked up on the road. She's actually a Silver Tear."

As he spoke, Lloyd took Asimi's hand and gently led her out, introducing her to the others.

After the greetings, seeing Lloyd preparing to continue the expedition, Asimi hesitated, then spoke up with a suggestion.

"Just resisting the filth won't accomplish much."

"Because the filth is merely an extension of His power acting on flesh. Its true essence is hidden within the Holy Grail."

"If you truly want to suppress the filth, you must find those corrupted beings that hold the Grail's power. Only by killing them can you stop the filth from spreading..."

Got it—kill the boss.

Lloyd nodded, glancing toward the distant city blanketed in filth as he started calculating where a boss might be hiding.

As he was thinking, another figure approached him voluntarily and joined the team.

A girl with massive antlers on her head.

Yes, the Regal Ancestor Spirit.

"Blind resistance won't solve anything. I'd like to join your group and help eliminate the source of the filth..."

Lloyd was, of course, happy to have the Regal Ancestor Spirit on board.

Partly because she looked like a side quest trigger, and partly because from his earlier observations, the monster density in that distant filth-covered city seemed absurdly high.

The sheer number of enemies—it didn't even look like a Soulsborne game anymore. More like Dynasty Warriors.

For some reason though, after the Regal Ancestor Spirit introduced herself, the expressions on everyone else's faces grew... complicated.

Lloyd didn't dwell on it. After confirming the situation, he had Asimi transform into her living katana form and prepared to continue the expedition.

Starting from the Site of Grace in the Ancestor Spirit Forest, they followed the trail of corruption. Before long, Lloyd discovered a new Grace.

Siofra Aqueduct.

After jumping from the cliff and platforming down the ruined structures, he came across the corpse of a Crucible Knight lying beside the road, surrounded by heaps of dead zombies.

Touching the body triggered a system prompt.

[Acquired Equipment: "Crucible Hornshield"]

[Crucible Fragment has changed]

A few steps ahead, another Crucible Knight appeared—this one wielding a Treespear and no shield.

But unlike the corpse from earlier, this one was clearly tainted. Dark, rotting sludge oozed from his body, and he was surrounded by a mob of elite filth-infected zombies.

As Lloyd approached, a name and health bar popped up.

[Filthy Crucible Knight]

Then, as golden fog began to rise, and just as the filth fused with the knight and he unleashed a roar—he got wiped out.

Golden flame-imbued blades, a whirlwind of waterfowl-like slashes, chilling frost sorceries...

A blood-red trident appearing out of nowhere, a Regal Ancestor artillery blast stronger than Frenzied Flame, and even a silver-white claw dealing triple-digit damage just for show...

The roar hadn't even finished. Amid the multicolored barrage of attacks—before Lloyd could even make a move—the Filthy Crucible Knight's health bar dropped straight to zero.

A new prompt appeared.

[Crucible Fragment has changed]

As for why this happened?

Well, you'd have to ask a certain outsider deity who had only just arrived here, didn't understand the local mechanics, saw some strange law, and casually enabled a rule lifting the team size limit for both sides...

Yes—believing his filthy zombies could win through sheer numbers, and without fully grasping the consequences, that god flipped on a mutual no-limit rule. That's how he managed to stack so many enemies even under Lloyd's Law.

But now...

With the limit removed, Lloyd didn't hold back either. Once everyone was gathered, they charged in together.

To be fair, the number of corrupted monsters was massive, and as the group pushed forward, the quality of the zombies ramped up just as quickly.

Alongside the regular zombies and the elite variants they'd encountered before, new enemies appeared—giant ant zombies and partially melted Nox zombies that looked like the phase-one version of that early boss.

If Lloyd had come here alone, no matter how much stamina or FP he had, he wouldn't have stood a chance pushing through this mess of a city packed to the brim with corrupted enemies.

After all, unlike other games, the monster stacking in Soulslike games feels like it comes with a "touch-you-and-you-die" passive.

Stagger-lock chains, corner traps, relentless wake-up pressure...

You don't even need elites. Without strong AoE tools, just throw in three aggro-chained dogs, and a skilled enough AI could tear you apart in seconds.

Previously, even though that one zombie fight had heavy mob stacking, the surrounding enemies weren't that strong, and the Ancestral Followers were busy with their own faction war.

So even if things were a bit unfair, Lloyd let it slide since it was still within the realm of balance.

But now? You're stacking monsters on your own turf, and not just grunts—but elites, and even bosses?

Sure, there were other ways around it. He could've just switched to his main character or something.

But Lloyd didn't want to take that route. He'd rather give the enemy a taste of their own medicine.

You want to stack? Fine—let's both stack.

So after rounding up everyone, Lloyd went all-in and brought the whole team.

He and Asimi held the front, with Millicent right behind unleashing Waterfowl Dance.

Melina handled buffs and healing. The Regal Ancestor Spirit wielded a sniper that hit like artillery.

Renna provided magical support and damage, while Elizabeth zipped around the battlefield, cleaning up the wounded.

And it turned out the filth had really gone all in with the stacking—there wasn't a single Site of Grace in sight, but you couldn't walk ten paces without running into a boss.

First it was the Filthy Crucible Knight, then an upgraded version of the Filthy Nox Witch, followed by two Filthy Giants—all mixed in with waves of mobs and elites. Some of them even spawned right in boss arenas.

Was it effective?

Maybe a bit.

At the very least, Asimi was having the time of her life.

After carving through seven or eight bosses and absorbing their cores, her stats and attack modules had visibly improved.

She still wasn't on par with the team's heavy-hitters, but compared to her former self, she was vastly stronger. A fully charged slap could now deal four-digit damage.

And beyond just stat boosts, once she absorbed enough Holy Grail energy, her appearance began to change as well.

Her body grew larger, her mimicked form became more mature—like she was rapidly aging up.

Lloyd had assumed that once she grew a bit, she'd become more independent. Maybe stop clinging to him so much.

Instead, the opposite happened. As she got bigger, she stuck to him even more.

Once she reached a certain size, in addition to transforming her lower body into a katana, she used the excess mass to form a thin, living membrane that wrapped around Lloyd's body.

Put simply, it acted like organic armor—on top of his normal gear, it granted additional physical damage reduction.

Since the ability was genuinely useful, Lloyd didn't think much of it and just treated it as a bonus for completing a side quest.

What followed was the team's unstoppable advance—cutting down everything in their path. The carnage was so widespread that even as far off as the Ancestor Spirit Forest, people started noticing the filth receding and wondered why nothing new was showing up.

But really, it wasn't all that surprising.

After all, the filth was just an external deity, relying on the power of the Great Grail in Nox City to grow to this scale. When it was still playing by the rules, Lloyd was only using his secondary team, so things hadn't escalated.

But now...

Let's take stock of Lloyd's current lineup.

Demigods, external gods, the Regal Ancestor Spirit...

In this team, even the Snow Witch who studied the Dark Moon barely qualified as a low-tier combatant.

Under these conditions, the filth couldn't even stall them, let alone resist.

And it wasn't just Lloyd's group and the Ancestor Spirit Forest—filth was fighting against two other factions as well.

Once they pushed open the final golden fog gate, Lloyd finally saw them.

[Incarnation of Filth]

["Deathbed Companion" Fia]

["Naturalborn of the Void" Astel]

The moment they entered the fog gate, three boss names and three health bars popped up.

At first, Lloyd thought it was a three-way boss stack—but looking up, he realized those three health bars were fighting each other.

They stood in a vast pool blooming with countless filth flowers, with a waterfall cascading down in the distance. On the edge of the falls loomed a colossal humanoid torso, forged from dark-red sludge. Embedded in its forehead was a pitch-black shard. As it slammed both arms down, waves of filth erupted outward.

In front of it stood a female knight clad in black armor. Two black shards were embedded in the backs of her exposed hands, and she held a bone-colored greatsword. After charging for a moment, she plunged the blade into the ground, summoning a dozen spirits of Those Who Live in Death.

And near them, floating midair, was a starry centipede—its body seemingly made of constellations. One of the stars on its back held a black shard, and beneath it drifted several of those big-eyed creatures Lloyd had seen before.

It was absolute chaos—an all-out brawl between three massive forces.

Seeing the scene, even Lloyd couldn't help getting a little excited to spectate—Elizabeth definitely was.

But the moment he stepped forward, the starry centipede turned to look at him. At first, it seemed like it was preparing to attack—opening its mouth and gathering mana.

But midway through charging, it froze. Something had triggered its instincts. After locating the source of the aura, unmistakable fear flashed in its eyes.

It immediately shut its mouth, suppressed the magic it had built up—despite the internal backlash—then summoned a black hole and vanished into it without hesitation.

The black-armored knight didn't know what had just happened, but seeing that thing retreat in such a panic, she realized something was seriously off.

After a brief moment of thought, she climbed into a nearby coffin next to the Incarnation of Filth, closed the lid, and disappeared into the depths below, carried away by the waterfall.

"Wait—seriously? You're all running?!"

Lloyd had just crouched down to take out a shrimp snack when both enemy factions vanished without a trace.

Seeing that the show was over, he sighed, stood up, and walked over to the Incarnation of Filth.

Behind him was a gathering of demigods and gods.

Then came a roar, loud enough that even those back in the Ancestor Spirit Forest could hear it. It was filled with fury and pain.

Responding to the roar, dark brown sludge began to churn. The filth flowers in the pool opened their eyes one by one, growing twisted and blasphemous forms.

The ground trembled. The oppressive aura thickened. Far beyond mere zombies or infected beasts, the true essence of the filth finally revealed itself before Lloyd.

Massive wings that darkened the sky. Flesh-twisted claws dripping blood. Sludge pouring from every part of its body, congealing into shape. And a pair of eyes filled with horror and dread...

Then—

Click.

Moonveil returned to its sheath.

The towering monster collapsed.

[Acquired Item: "Fragment of Filth"]

[Acquired Spirit Ash: "Incomplete White Lady"]

...

[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]

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