Elden Ring: With God Chapter 257: Soul Dash

The monsters that surged from the darkness were endless, a ceaseless tide.

The Dragonkin Soldiers' spirits were severely wounded, so Bai Shi recalled them to their ashes. After that, he summoned various other spirits in rotation until, at last, they had annihilated all the monsters in the hidden chamber.

Ashmi plunged her mimicry of the Sword of Night and Fla into the last monster, bringing the battle to a close.

The darkness, which had been churning and spewing forth monsters, finally settled, becoming perfectly still.

Leaning on her sword, Ashmi sat down, then fell back to lie flat on the ground.

Bai Shi and Shard of Alexander ca forward to check on Ashmi.

Bai Shi hadn't been able to contribute much in the fight. Against so many monsters, if he had tried to wear them down with his soul alone, they could have skinned him alive with just a few scratches each.

So, Bai Shi had stayed in the rear, applying various buffs to his spirit ashes.

Looking at the motionless Ashmi on the ground, Bai Shi asked:

"That was your first real battle. How did it feel?"

Ashmi lay on the ground, the recent battle more strenuous than all the movent of her previous existence combined.

"So... tired...!"

"It’s much more comfortable just staying inside my host."

"If I had the choice, I'd rather not move at all..."

Bai Shi chuckled.

"Well, I'll have to rely on you for a while longer."

"Once I find a way to attack, you should be able to take it easy again."

Ashmi had accounted for at least half of the damage output in the preceding battle.

Although she couldn't unleash her full power, her connection to Bai Shi's system of strength allowed her to perform remarkably well in combat.

However, the enemies were nurous, and formidable foes occasionally appeared, so Ashmi inevitably sustained injuries.

Wounds of all sizes from various monsters' attacks covered her body.

These injuries couldn't heal on their own; they had to be nded with humanity.

Now that the battle was over, there was finally ti to tend to her wounds.

Shard of Alexander went to Ashmi’s side, ignited a piece of humanity, and gave it to her.

After Ashmi absorbed all the humanity, her slightly faded spiritual form once again emanated a soft, gray luster.

Afterward, Bai Shi gave all the other spirit ashes that had fought and been injured to Shard of Alexander for healing.

They had slain countless monsters in that battle, and the rewards were naturally substantial.

To quantify it, if the humanity used for one minute of illumination was considered a single unit, then Bai Shi and Shard of Alexander had started with about two to three hundred units between them.

After this battle, their total had soared to over five thousand.

There was no need to worry about scrimping and saving anymore; they had more than enough to repair all the spirit ashes.

Besides the humanity, the monsters had also dropped a large number of dark souls.

Although they were rarer than the humanity they had collected, the amount was still quite impressive.

Once purified by Shard of Alexander, these dark souls could be used to strengthen the spirits of Bai Shi and his other ashes.

As for Ashmi, she had her own unique upgrade path using the Teardrop Chalice, so she had no need for them.

After this battle, Bai Shi's group had beco wealthy in an instant.

Of course, healing the spirits also consud a considerable amount of humanity—it would likely take two to three thousand units.

Among the ashes, the two Dragonkin Soldiers were the most severely wounded.

They were large, and having charged into the enemy's front lines during the first wave when the foes were most nurous, they were now in tatters.

Since the two had no nas, Bai Shi decided to give them a pair of nicknas based on their peculiarities: "Heaven's Flaw" and "Earth's Defect."

Funnily enough, one of them could fly but couldn't use ice lightning.

The other's wings were incomplete and couldn't get airborne, yet it had mastered ice lightning.

Bai Shi planned to use the dark souls to strengthen these two Dragonkin Soldiers, as well as Banished Knight Oleg.

As the acknowledged Stormhawk King, Bai Shi already had a master-servant relationship with the Stormhawk Knights, resulting in an exceptionally high degree of recognition.

Therefore, Oleg could manifest almost all of his strength from when he was alive, placing him near the level of a top-tier champion.

The two Dragonkin Soldiers were also powerful, ranking in the upper-middle tier among champions, and were extraordinarily effective against large groups of enemies.

Right now, in the Spirit World, they were the most dependable and trustworthy of his forces, aside from Ashmi.

Besides, they had been doing all the work so far. An upgrade was definitely in order.

While Shard of Alexander was treating the other spirit ashes, Bai Shi approached the altar.

Upon it, the mysterious sphere of light still stood silently.

It was because Bai Shi and the others had approached this altar, intending to touch the sphere, that they had triggered the ambush from the surrounding monsters.

Now that the battle was over, it was ti to investigate what kind of treasure was being guarded by so many monsters.

Bai Shi stood on the altar and reached out to touch the white sphere.

The mont his fingertip made contact with its surface, the sphere instantly shattered and dispersed into a sky of dancing motes of light.

The tiny motes floated for a mont before swarming into Bai Shi’s body from all directions.

Bai Shi felt it silently. Sothing new had appeared upon his soul.

In his perception, a pair of pure white, epheral wings had sprouted from the back of his soul.

The wings draped down like a cloak, covering the back of his spiritual form.

Outside his soul, the pure white motes of light also extended, ultimately fusing with his cape and blanketing it in a thin, white luminescence.

Bai Shi was surprised when he perceived how to use this power, and he imdiately tried it out.

His body instantly transford into a pure white spiritual state and dashed forward with ferocious speed.

After crossing a distance of several dozen ters in an instant, Bai Shi returned to his physical form.

Bai Shi cupped his chin, pondering.

What is this, the Soul Dash from Hollow Knight?

The speed was absurd; from Bai Shi’s perspective, it was practically teleportation.

Is this the speed of a soul?

The dash had consud a portion of his spiritual energy.

But even with a cost, the power was undeniable.

However, this dash transford his own form, so he couldn't bring anyone with him.

He also wondered if he could use the dash to attack directly.

He would have to test it later to see if he could pass through walls and if it was still usable after returning to the Lands Between.

Also, if every one of these spires held sothing similar, then there might be other items, perhaps ones that could be used for offense.

Even a couple of nails would be fine.

If Bai Shi had any way to deal damage to spirits—even just a small knife—he could carve his way through the Spirit World.

Unfortunately, this spire contained a dash, not sothing offensive.

So, for the ti being, he would have to continue playing the part of a Pokémon trainer, applying buffs and commanding his spirit ashes in battle.

Bai Shi stopped studying his new ability and left with Shard of Alexander and the fully healed spirit ashes.

Now that they had a great deal of humanity, Bai Shi asked Shard of Alexander to burn it more brightly.

The feeling of being surrounded by oppressive darkness when they were low on humanity had been terrible.

If you weren't constantly watching your step, you could fall right into an abyss.

Shard of Alexander nodded and obediently did as he asked.

She ignited the humanity in her hand, and the path ahead was instantly illuminated.

This ti, they didn't walk for long before reaching the end of the road.

Descending a stone slope, Bai Shi and Shard of Alexander stood on a wide, open platform.

They had successfully reached the 'top of the tower'.

There was only one path forward, so the two of them walked straight ahead.

At the end of the path, a massive beast was hidden in the darkness; the light from Shard of Alexander’s hand could only illuminate a portion of its body.

Shard of Alexander’s heart leaped into her throat. She increased the brightness of the light, illuminating the beast’s entire form.

Once its full appearance was revealed, Shard of Alexander let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, it's just a statue."

Bai Shi stared at the beast's statue and joked:

"What's wrong with a statue? We've seen empty suits of armor that can move before."

"Maybe this one can move too."

Hearing Bai Shi say that, Shard of Alexander grew nervous again.

The beast resembled a lion but also had features of other creatures; Bai Shi couldn't quite tell what it was.

Bai Shi walked up to the statue of the beast and circled its base. This thing surely wasn't just placed here for no reason; perhaps the secret to conquering the spire was hidden within it.

However, Bai Shi couldn't see anything unusual about the statue just yet.

He placed his hand on it. His soul didn't burn, so it seed to be just a statue after all.

Shard of Alexander stood before the statue, trying to identify the creature, when she made an unexpected discovery.

She quickly called out to Bai Shi:

"Huh?"

"Bai Shi, I think there's sothing in its mouth."

At her reminder, Bai Shi looked up.

Sure enough, the beast statue was holding sothing in its mouth that reflected the light of the spirit fla.

Bai Shi leaped onto the beast statue's head and stood by its mouth to get a closer look.

In its mouth was a tal ring, the object that Shard of Alexander's light had reflected off of.

His intuition told him that this tal ring was the secret hidden within this spire.

Bai Shi reached out, attempting to remove the ring from the beast statue's mouth, but it wouldn't budge.

Just then, it was as if a ga prompt had appeared before him—"The chanism cannot be moved."

It seed he couldn't just take it directly; he probably needed to find the proper thod to remove it.

This item was related to whether he could return to the Lands Between, so Bai Shi didn't dare try to break it. He could only observe the ring.

Looking at the ring in the statue's mouth, Bai Shi suddenly realized it was about the size of a bracelet.

He held up his hand to compare, and it seed his hand could fit through it.

Without hesitation, Bai Shi put his right hand through it.

Then, just as he thought, the ring successfully slid onto his wrist. The statue's teeth that had locked the ring in place loosened, and it seed he could now pull his hand free.

However, as Bai Shi withdrew his hand, the beast statue's open mouth snapped shut.

But Bai Shi's body was no joke.

How could a re statue compare to his well-honed physique?

The statue's teeth bit down, leaving only a small bloody mark on Bai Shi's hand.

Bai Shi pulled his hand from the beast statue's mouth, the tal ring now firmly fixed on his wrist.

Looking at the ring on his hand, Bai Shi understood.

This was a key.

Although it wasn't activated, Bai Shi already knew much of its purpose.

Bai Shi snapped his fingers, and spirit flas instantly ignited along the spire's walls, illuminating the surroundings.

Seeing the sudden bright light around them, Shard of Alexander extinguished the burning humanity in her hand.

Bai Shi leaped down from the statue's shoulder and said to Shard of Alexander:

"Alright, I know how to conquer this spire now."

Shard of Alexander looked at Bai Shi's confident smile and nodded.

"Then I'll follow your lead."

Bai Shi led Shard of Alexander back to the ramp and pointed at a staircase so distance above their heads.

"We need to get to that spot next."

Shard of Alexander glanced at the staircase hanging upside down above them, then turned back to Bai Shi, a little puzzled.

Bai Shi leaped lightly. As his body neared the staircase, he suddenly felt the direction of gravity shift.

He adjusted his posture in mid-air, did a half-turn, and landed steadily on the steps.

Bai Shi looked up. Shard of Alexander, still in her original spot, was now 'hanging' upside down above him.

The position where he now stood was the proper orientation of the stairs.

Looking at Shard of Alexander, who was also craning her head to look at him, Bai Shi said:

"Hold on, I'll co carry you over."

Shard of Alexander recalled the previous ti he had suddenly picked her up, and her face flushed red as she refused.

"No need. I've been navigating the Spirit World for a while now. This distance is nothing."

Since she said so, Bai Shi stood where he was and waited to see what she would do.

Shard of Alexander took a deep breath and then jumped with all her might.

However, her first attempt was unsuccessful; she fell just short of reaching the point where the two gravitational fields t.

After landing back where she started, Shard of Alexander felt a little embarrassed, then stubbornly tried a second ti.

This ti, Shard of Alexander successfully jumped past the dividing line, and her face lit up with joy.

But the sudden change in gravity caught her off guard. Unable to adjust her posture in mid-air, she began to fall headfirst.

"Eek—!"

Shard of Alexander was at a loss, but fortunately, Bai Shi easily caught her.

Bai Shi shrugged and said to Shard of Alexander in his arms:

"Looks like you still need so training."

After he put her down, she turned her back to him, covered her face, and squatted on the ground.

'So embarrassing!'

Shard of Alexander was trembling all over. If she had known this would happen, she would have just obediently let Bai Shi carry her over.

After a mont, she stood up, trying to pretend that nothing had happened.

Now that there was light, there was no need to burn humanity for illumination.

Bai Shi and Shard of Alexander ran up the staircase, following its true orientation.

After a while, Bai Shi decided this was too slow. After discussing it with Shard of Alexander, he gave her a piggyback ride.

With the light, Bai Shi's pace was extrely fast. Coupled with the fact that he had already cleared all the obstacles, their path was now completely unimpeded. They only lost a little bit of ti on the jumping puzzle sections.

Before long, Bai Shi, with Shard of Alexander on his back, arrived at their final destination.

A massive stone slab appeared before them.

The slab was engraved with complex and intricate runes, as well as patterns made of various straight and curved lines.

Bai Shi couldn't understand the aning of the runes, but there was a hole in the slab about the size of his bracelet.

That being the case, it was obvious what he had to do.

Bai Shi set Shard of Alexander down from his back and stood before the giant slab.

As Bai Shi inserted his hand with the ring into the hole, the various runes and patterns on the slab began to light up from the center, emitting a soft, pure white glow.

After this process was complete, the tal ring that had been on Bai Shi's wrist completely vanished.

In its place, a faint white mark appeared on his hand.

The mark was shaped like a thorny vine, wrapping around Bai Shi's wrist.

Finally, the light on the slab receded in sequence, flowing into the mark on Bai Shi's hand.

Once Bai Shi had completed this activation ritual, the functions of this spire flooded into his mind.

Just as Shard of Alexander had guessed, the spires could indeed connect to the Lands Between.

Bai Shi glanced at Shard of Alexander and said to her:

"Wait for

for a mont."

"I promise I'll be right back."

Shard of Alexander nodded, waiting quietly.

Bai Shi activated the mark on his hand. As a milky white light enveloped his body, his figure slowly faded.

The next mont, Bai Shi's figure appeared on a hillside in the Weeping Peninsula.

Bai Shi checked himself over. His body was unchanged, but his soul had been significantly strengthened by the reinforcent.

Now that he had confird he could travel freely between the Lands Between and the Spirit World, he was relieved.

Then, Bai Shi activated the mark on his hand again and transported back to the Spirit World.

Seeing Bai Shi's figure reappear, Shard of Alexander let out a soft sigh.

She hoped Bai Shi wouldn't get involved in the affairs of the Spirit World; it would be better if he left and never returned.

That way, Bai Shi wouldn't have to face the dangers here. In the Lands Between, he was still an incomparably powerful king who should be fighting to beco Elden Lord.

And yet, a part of her heart hoped he would return as promised.

She wanted to be with him, to explore like this, to overco hardships together.

Even though she knew it was a selfish wish, she couldn't stop herself from thinking it.

As Bai Shi walked toward her, Shard of Alexander pushed aside her chaotic thoughts and gave him a smile.

Bai Shi took Shard of Alexander's hand and, using his newfound control over the spire, led her away from that place.

The locations of several other spires had appeared in his mind, but he didn't plan to go to them just yet.

Bai Shi planned to find Godwyn's followers first and disrupt a part of their death ritual.