Led by the Black Knight Harold, Bai Shi made his way to the small encampnt beside the church.
A dead silence hung over the camp, broken only by the crackling of firewood in the flas.
The soldiers sat huddled around the fire, their gazes fixed numbly on the dancing flas before them.
The only signs of life in the camp were a few dogs wreathed in black and red fire.
They patrolled continuously around the periter, occasionally rooting through the dirt for food.
The soldiers here had all taken part in the rebellion alongside the Black Knights, and more than half of them had perished in the fighting.
However, about twenty or thirty soldiers still remained in the camp.
They all sat with their heads bowed in silence, as dispirited as the dead. They didn't even stir when Bai Shi and the others approached.
Seeing their state, Bai Shi shook his head.
The Shattering of the Elden Ring had affected the Land of Shadow as well.
This place had been sealed off for a very, very long ti. These soldiers had been here since the war with the giants.
Worn down by such an imnse passage of ti, their minds were even weaker than those of the soldiers in the Lands Between; they had long since beco severely hollowed.
And it was more than just hollowing.
Many soldiers in the Lands Between were also severely hollowed, yet they could still fight, driven by a lingering, obsessive will to battle.
But these soldiers in the Land of Shadow had first endured a conflict called a Holy War, which in reality was a massacre.
Their weariness of war was already profound.
Furthermore, this particular group had rebelled and been defeated, a blow that only worsened their ntal state. At this point, they had lost all will to fight.
No wonder only three n responded when the Black Knight had called for them earlier.
Harold turned and spoke to Bai Shi.
“The soldiers have been through so much, their souls are deeply corrupted. My sincerest apologies for their discourtesy...”
“I fear they will be of little use from now on...”
Bai Shi waved his hand, signaling that he didn't need to say more.
He hadn't expected these soldiers to play a major role anyway, so he wasn't disappointed by their condition.
After a mont's thought, Bai Shi extended a hand toward them.
The power of the Great Rune manifested once more, scattering rays of golden light upon the soldiers.
The n, who had lost their wits and all fighting spirit, now felt that long-lost golden radiance once again.
From the depths of their hearts, an inexplicable feeling of vigor surged forth.
The despair and emptiness, the tornt that had long gnawed at their hollow hearts, was now refilled by the golden light.
The pain did not vanish, nor were the scars on their hearts healed.
But under the golden radiance, all of it was temporarily forgotten.
Now, all that remained in their hearts was the gold that had once guided them.
The return of the gold stirred their bodies to action once more, chasing after that illusory light.
Bai Shi had to admit, faith was a terrifying force.
One by one, the soldiers rose to their feet and looked at Bai Shi, who had bestowed this grace upon them.
Then, in silence, they knelt on one knee, pledging their loyalty without a word.
Bai Shi nodded.
Though the soldiers were still completely hollowed, having received grace anew should lessen the despair that clung to them.
At the very least, they could now be mobilized.
Seeing the soldiers finally showing improvent, Harold was overco with excitent.
Of course. In a situation like this, only this lord, who could bestow grace, could accomplish such a feat.
He himself had received grace once, and now he had witnessed Bai Shi bestow it a second ti.
These two blessings solidified Harold's resolve to follow Bai Shi to the death.
After bestowing the grace, Bai Shi casually withdrew his hand.
Blessing these common soldiers hadn't cost him many runes—only a few thousand per person.
This amount had no real effect on their combat strength or abilities; its primary purpose was costic.
It was essentially a special effect, ant to make them feel that the Erdtree had not abandoned them.
Bai Shi looked at Harold and said to him:
“I will take you to a place now.”
“It is another church, where my companion, lina, is waiting.”
“From now on, you will take your orders from her and help her manage things there.”
Harold imdiately nodded in agreent.
“Please rest assured!”
He was also quite curious about lina, a child of Queen Marika whom he knew only by na.
Unlike the other golden demigods, who had gained renown and forged fearso reputations in war, lina's existence was known to very few.
The Black Knights were a major force within ssr's army and held a respectable status.
Even so, Harold only knew that such a figure existed among Queen Marika's children.
Among the common soldiers, the vast majority of warriors were completely unaware of her existence.
This made her all the more mysterious.
Harold glanced at the soldiers and asked:
“When do we depart?”
Bai Shi glanced at them as well, then smiled and replied:
“Now.”
Harold nodded and imdiately began to rally the soldiers, preparing to pack up and leave.
“My lord, we will be ready to depart shortly.”
Bai Shi clapped him on the shoulder. He had clearly misunderstood sothing.
“No need for all that trouble.”
“We’re flying.”
Harold turned his head, incredulous.
“?”
The next mont, Bai Shi swept them all up in a tempest, blowing them into the sky.
Even the flaming dogs on the ground were not left behind.
Floating in mid-air, Harold struggled to adapt.
Although so Black Knights could manifest the wings of the Crucible, he, a wielder of a greatshield and great hamr, certainly couldn't.
The Land of Shadow felt slightly weightless...
—
Bai Shi led the Black Knight and the other soldiers to the church where lina and the Nun were staying.
Leaving the Black Knights behind served no purpose, but handing them over to lina would at least give her so people to command.
Caring for so many Nun was a troubleso task, after all.
Hearing the commotion outside, lina walked out of the church.
lina watched as the soldiers tumbled from the sky like falling dumplings and blinked at Bai Shi.
“Bai Shi, what is this?”
Bai Shi landed steadily, stood before lina, and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the soldiers.
“I found you so help.”
“Useful or not, just leave them here.”
Harold had now found his footing and hurried over.
Upon seeing lina, he imdiately sensed the pure power of gold emanating from her.
There was no mistake. She was the unseen child!
Harold knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
“We pledge our loyalty to Lord Bai Shi and to you.”
“We are all faithful followers of the Erdtree and can be trusted!”
“From this day forward, please command us as you see fit. Whatever the difficulty, we shall overco it!”
lina was a little confused about what Bai Shi had done. How had he recruited more people?
But since he had said so, lina reached out and helped him up.
“In that case, please help
care for the patients here.”
Harold rose and followed lina and Bai Shi into the church. He felt a pang of apprehension.
Patients?
He had just made a bold promise, but how were soldiers like them supposed to care for the sick?
However, the mont he saw the patients, all such trivial concerns vanished from his mind.
“This... this is...”
Harold stared, dumbfounded, at the malford Nun gathered around the small golden sapling.
lina lowered her gaze and said softly:
“These are my mother's people, and mine.”
“The Hornsent did this to them. I am now trying to heal them.”
Harold clenched his fists.
“Is this the work of the Hornsent...”
Harold lowered his head.
Oh, Queen Marika... why couldn't you have simply told us the truth...?
—
Bai Shi bid lina farewell and used a Site of Grace to teleport directly out of the Land of Shadow.
His next destination was back in the Lands Between, to find Ranni.
Originally, Bai Shi had planned to return straight to Stormveil.
But having just heard from Harold about Ranni's aunt, Rellana, the Twin Moon Knight, he changed his plans.
Bai Shi decided to alter his course and continue along Ranni's questline to find her.
When he opened his eyes again, he was on the eastern shore of Liurnia.
The Site of Grace he had chosen this ti was the Artist's Shack.
Among his unlocked sites, this was the closest one to the Carian Study Hall.
Looking at the now even more dilapidated shack, Bai Shi turned and gazed at the Study Hall that rose majestically from the cliff's base.
The Carian Study Hall was an imposing structure, only a little shorter than the Divine Tower behind it, and equally deserving of the title “soaring into the clouds.”
Bai Shi focused on the mark of the moon on his person.
If he could contact Ranni directly, he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of searching for her.
But no matter how he tried, there was no response from the mark.
After a mont, Bai Shi tried contacting Blaidd and Master Iji instead.
This ti, he was successful. Blaidd quickly responded:
“Lord Bai Shi? What is it?”
Bai Shi rubbed his chin and asked them:
“Has Ranni contacted you recently?”
This ti, it was Master Iji who replied:
“Hmm... Ranni has not contacted us.”
“I imagine she is currently striving to achieve her goal.”
Seeing that Blaidd and Master Iji had no news of Ranni either, Bai Shi nodded.
“I see...”
It seed Ranni had her "Do Not Disturb" on.
She was probably still off sowhere trying to deal with the Two Fingers.
Looks like he'd have to find the Small Ranni doll she left behind.
If Ranni left a doll behind as she did in the ga, he could definitely use it to contact her.
Bai Shi started walking toward the Carian Study Hall.
—
After an unimpeded walk into the Study Hall, Bai Shi imdiately headed for the massive celestial globe in the center of the room.
Though called a globe, its centerpiece was a remarkably realistic moon, complete with detailed craters on its surface.
Exploring the Carian Study Hall in its normal state offered so items, but Bai Shi couldn't be bothered with them now.
Bai Shi retrieved the apprentice-shaped inverted statue from his spatial disc.
Flipping the statue so the apprentice's head faced down, Bai Shi placed the inverted figure on the pedestal before the globe.
As he placed it, the inverted statue fit perfectly into the pedestal.
Instantly, the entire Carian Study Hall began to shudder violently.
Standing within it, Bai Shi felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.
Just then, the globe before him began to change.
All four concentric rings of the globe started to rotate on their own, the moon within spinning continuously.
When the tremors ceased, the globe had transford into a state completely opposite to its original one.
The phase of the moon within, the orientation of the outer rings—everything was reversed.
The main hall where Bai Shi stood was unaffected, remaining as it was.
But Bai Shi knew that the tower-like structure inside the Carian Study Hall had now been completely inverted.
Without hesitation, he imdiately walked deeper into the Study Hall.
The interior of the Carian Study Hall was completely upside down.
Bai Shi stood on the ceiling, dispatched a few Fingercreepers blocking his path, and stepped into the inverted interior.
The mont he entered, a glintstone cot shot toward him.
Bai Shi sidestepped the attack and looked toward his assailant on the opposite ceiling.
The figure wore a massive hat and a deep blue Carian robe, their face completely obscured by a mask.
This was Preceptor Miriam, the guardian of the Carian Study Hall.
She had already realized that this intruder was no ordinary foe who could be dealt with by simple glintstone sorcery.
Therefore, she held her staff before her as blue magic gathered, gradually forming a massive bow.
A dazzling magic greatarrow was already solidifying as she drew the bowstring.
Looking at the Preceptor before him, a sowhat savage grin spread across Bai Shi's face.
So you're the infamous Miriam, huh? You’re the one who spams greatarrows and teleports?
Today, you're going down!
I'm ripping that damn mask off!
Long, long ago, when Bai Shi was still a newbie, he had been utterly tornted by Miriam.
Back then, he didn't even know warriors had any ranged options and got thrashed by her for ages.
In the end, he had to charge through a hail of magic arrows just to get in close and land a hit.
But when he got her to half health, she just teleported away and started firing arrows again.
The mont she teleported away, leaving him surrounded by puppets, Bai Shi truly felt the urge to smash his controller.
Seeing his opponent charging another Loretta's Greatbow, Bai Shi whipped out his repeating crossbow.
You think you're the only one who can shoot!?
Twelve crossbow bolts versus one magic greatarrow. The advantage is mine!
Bai Shi infused magic into the repeating crossbow, and the power of the bolts surged with the infusion.
He instantly activated the weapon's unique skill, and the bolts in the magazine fired in rapid succession.
Soon, the flas on the bolts beca a continuous streak as a volley flew swiftly toward Miriam.
Seeing Bai Shi counter with a crossbow, Preceptor Miriam let out a soft laugh.
Foolish. Overconfident.
If crossbows could counter sorcery, sorcerers would have been obsolete long ago.
Even with a large number of bolts, it would be useless.
However, the power carried by the continuous stream of bolts far exceeded Miriam's expectations.
Her magic greatarrow was shattered in an instant?!
The dense volley of bolts was upon her in a flash.
Miriam imdiately cast her unique spell, ‘Miriam’s Vanishing.’
She waved her staff, and a mist of glintstone enveloped her.
Miriam’s form dissolved into the glintstone mist, concealing her figure as she instantly moved in another direction.
The puppet soldiers left behind raised their shields to block, but they were sent flying one after another by the exploding bolts.
Miriam paid the puppets no mind, reappearing off to the side.
Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she caught a glimpse of the intruder vanishing from sight.
Her heart tightened. She frantically scanned the rafters that led to her position, searching for Bai Shi's figure, but found nothing.
“Are you looking for ?”
A hand ca to rest on Miriam’s shoulder.
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