Bai Shi made his way through the city along its main thoroughfare.
But as he passed a certain spot, he suddenly stopped.
He raised a hand and pointed in that direction.
Then he inquired of the Crucible Knight, Red, who stood beside him:
"What is that?"
Red followed the direction of Bai Shi’s finger.
There stood a greatsword carved from rock, its tip pointing diagonally toward the sky, encircled by a storm.
Thanks to the artisan's exquisite skill, the storm entwined around the blade was so lifelike it seed as though a real tempest had been frozen in ti.
Behind this statue of sword and storm was the very section of the city wall that Bai Shi had cleaved open with a tempest when he used Fengling Yueying to eliminate Godrick. The cut was as smooth as a mirror.
"This is a monunt commorating your victory over Godrick and the reclamation of Stormveil."
Bai Shi found it strange. How did he not know that sothing like this had been built in Stormveil?
At least they hadn't directly sculpted a statue of him. Being observed by people day in and day out would have felt a bit odd.
Bai Shi carefully examined the monunt.
From a purely aesthetic perspective, the sculpture was quite handso. The craftsman's skill was evidently superb.
Moreover, using a sword and storm as a the did indeed capture the spirit of that battle, making it rather fitting.
"When was this built? Why does the person in question not even know about it?"
Red thought for a mont.
"Construction began quite so ti ago. The monunt was put on the agenda right after the main restoration of Stormveil was completed."
"Everyone thought it would be best to inform you after it was finished."
"But it was only completed a short while ago, around the ti you left, so we missed the chance to tell you."
Bai Shi was curious as to who had co up with the idea of building a monunt.
He guessed it might be Lanslet; it seed like sothing he would do.
"Whose idea was this?"
But to Bai Shi's surprise, Red pointed to himself.
"It was
and Andre."
Bai Shi thought about it, and it seed quite reasonable.
Back when the Crucible Knights fought alongside Godfrey, they left a trail of achievents everywhere they went, and many monunts were erected to celebrate their deeds.
Perhaps the custom of building sword monunts to commorate wars in the Lands Between began with them.
Bai Shi walked over for a closer look and noticed an inscription carved into the base of the statue.
That made sense. Without words, it couldn't be called a monunt.
The inscription on the base read—
The Battle of the Storm's Restoration.
‘Stormhawk King’ Bai Shi slew ‘the Grafted’ Godrick, restoring the Storm Dynasty.
Thus, Stormveil was once more embraced by the storm.
—
Bai Shi nodded. It was a concise summary of the events.
More than the line boasting of his victory, Bai Shi preferred the final sentence.
Stormveil was once more embraced by the storm. "Embraced" was a very gentle word.
On one hand, it signified a return to the dominion of the storm; on the other, it reflected the benevolent rule Bai Shi had consistently promoted.
Whether it was the peaceful takeover of the post-war situation or the implentation of racial harmony, the word "embraced," rather than "ruled" or "led," truly resonated with Bai Shi's heart.
Seeing that Bai Shi seed rather pleased, Red continued:
"In fact, after last night's battle with the Night's Cavalry, we're also preparing to build another monunt."
"It will be erected on that battlefield to commorate the complete annihilation of Limgrave's Night's Cavalry."
Bai Shi had intended to stop them, feeling it was a bit of a waste of manpower.
But on second thought, building monunts also served to spread his na and expand his influence, things that could not be achieved with manpower alone.
Besides, it was a token of their goodwill, a symbol of their admiration for him.
Although most of his key subordinates had joined him midway, many after a fight, Bai Shi had a genuinely good relationship with them.
And, he had to admit, being celebrated like this felt pretty good.
—
Bai Shi left Stormveil Castle via a small path at the rear.
After navigating a winding secret passage, he erged onto the cliffside behind Stormveil.
Stepping out from the dark passage to overlook Liurnia, Bai Shi once again found himself imrsed in the spectacular, breathtaking scenery of the Lands Between.
Gazing out from this high vantage point, his line of sight seed endless, stretching toward an infinite horizon, greedily trying to take in the entirety of the landscape.
Below him lay the boundless, sea-like Lake of Liurnia.
Even now, in the bright light of day, a faint blue mist still hovered over Liurnia's waters, shrouding the region in a veil of mystery.
Beneath the cover of the lakeside trees, the glintstone crystals growing in the region emitted points of shimring light, appearing just like a cluster of stars.
On the eastern and western shores of Lake Liurnia, vast, lush forests spread out in every direction.
The Raya Lucaria Academy, brimming with an air of mystery and fantasy, stood proudly at the edge of his vision.
The distant Golden Erdtree added a touch of warmth to this breathtaking scene, preventing one's passion from being chilled by the cool waters of the lake.
Perhaps this was how harmonious things were when the moon and the Golden Erdtree were once allied.
Bai Shi stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing out in awe, looking down upon this magnificent worldly view.
lina stood beside Bai Shi, also deeply captivated by the beautiful scenery, and couldn't help but praise it aloud:
"It's so beautiful..."
Although Red was still nearby, Bai Shi felt compelled to speak, to share this common feeling with lina.
"It's truly beautiful."
In a tone that didn't sound like a response and wouldn't seem strange to Red, Bai Shi praised the sight from the bottom of his heart.
Red glanced around, confirming that only he was present beside Bai Shi.
Assuming Bai Shi was speaking to him, he pondered for a mont before chiming in:
"...Indeed."
At this, lina covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh.
Though he couldn't see lina, hearing her carefree laughter caused Bai Shi's expression to soften.
However, the harmonious atmosphere was soon shattered.
A sharp eagle's cry echoed from the sky.
Then, a broken bird-like marionette soldier plumted down, crashing beside Bai Shi and the others.
The marionette soldier was very crudely made, little more than sheet tal cobbled together with so strange parts.
It was a mystery how they were made to function. The sheet tal clanged loudly as it hit the stone.
As the bird-like marionette soldier fell from the sky, its body disintegrated, scattering small parts everywhere.
This bird-like marionette soldier was still functional. Spotting Bai Shi and Red beside it, it imdiately began swinging its scythes on the ground.
However, since its legs were broken, it only managed to spin around furiously on the ground a couple of tis.
Bai Shi didn't humor it, kicking it off the cliff with a single motion.
Behind Stormveil was a series of sheer cliffs, impossible for any human to climb.
This was part of Stormveil's natural defenses; normally, there was no need to worry about an enemy attack from this direction, so the defenses had always been relatively weak.
But from the current situation, it seed they couldn't afford to be complacent.
The academy's marionette soldiers could scale the cliffs from this side, heedless of any losses.
And then there were these flying, bird-like marionette soldiers and hot air balloons, as annoying as flies.
The body of the bird-like marionette soldier crashed against the stone protrusions of the cliff, tumbling all the way down until it finally broke apart completely.
Only then did Bai Shi notice that at the bottom of the cliff, there were already many wrecked marionette soldiers and hot air balloons.
It seed these were the ones that Erlisa and the Stormhawks had dealt with earlier.
A massive Stormhawk landed in front of Bai Shi, its twin-bladed talons piercing the soil to steady its body.
For a Stormhawk, this was already a considerably old one.
An artificial vocal sac had been grafted onto its throat, giving it the ability to breathe fire.
Its talons had been amputated, replaced by long, thin blades. Over the long years, flesh and steel had fused completely, becoming one. This was a modification made to so Stormhawks during Godrick's rule over Limgrave.
The marionette soldier that had just crashed was clearly its handiwork.
Every ti he saw these Stormhawks, Bai Shi felt a pang of sympathy.
But the Stormhawks themselves were warriors, untroubled by these matters. Instead, they pledged their loyalty to Bai Shi with bodies that were stronger than those of their kin.
Bai Shi nodded and asked the Stormhawk for Erlisa's location.
The Stormhawk took to the skies, flying in a particular direction.
From ti to ti, it would fly back, waiting for Bai Shi and the others to catch up.
Following the Stormhawk's guidance, Bai Shi and his party soon arrived at a church outside Stormveil.
This church was called the Church of Irith, the location where Sorcerer Thops is found in the ga.
However, Sorcerer Thops was currently busy with research back in the city, so this place was vacant.
There was a Sacred Tear here, but Bai Shi had already sent soone to collect it, so the church was now completely empty.
The church was now being used as a resting camp for Erlisa and the Stormhawks.
Many Stormhawks were inside, each one perched on the church's ruined walls.
A few Silver Knights sat on the church pews, their greatbows leaning beside them.
As the marionette soldiers were not launching a large-scale offensive but rely harassing them, not many Silver Knights were stationed here.
These Silver Knights were not permanently assigned here either, but were sent on rotation to practice their archery skills.
The main fighting force still consisted of Erlisa and the Stormhawks.
Erlisa was standing before the great statue of Marika, gazing at it, lost in thought.
Bai Shi knew that when she stood like this, she was actually resting.
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