Night fell, and the Land of Shadow, already darkened by its perpetual gloom, was plunged into complete blackness.
Yet, from within the church on the mountaintop, a soft, bright light still shone.
By now, the interior of the church had changed considerably.
Using his command of gravity, Bai Shi had pulled massive stones directly from the earth, reshaping them into beds, chairs, and other furniture.
With this new furniture, along with the physicians, the place had finally started to resemble a proper treatnt center.
Gravity sorcery was quite convenient, wasn't it?
Bai Shi was currently seated on one of the stone chairs, feeling a bit weary.
Two days had passed since his return to the Land of Shadow.
After two full days of treatnt, he had finally managed to heal the Nun one by one.
The process was quite draining of both energy and stamina; even Bai Shi felt a touch of fatigue.
He glanced at Irena, curled up beside him and sleeping soundly, and shook his head with a faint smile.
These past two days had been utterly exhausting for her as well.
Although the healing was primarily perford through Bai Shi's power, Irena had to remain by his side, constantly channeling the pixie's power to guide the process.
Having only recently acquired this power, Irena's physical constitution and strength were much improved, but she hadn't made any drastic leaps in progress.
She was stronger than her forr self—an ordinary girl—but she was still a long way from reaching the level of a hero.
More importantly, Irena's reserves of spiritual power were still very low, which was the single biggest factor limiting their efficiency.
Even with occasional breaks, two consecutive days of high-intensity work proved too much for her to bear.
And because of that, she was now completely worn out and had fallen into a deep slumber.
Regardless of the process, the outco was excellent, and that was enough.
There had been no unexpected twists or turns; all the Nun were treated successfully.
It was all thanks to Irena inheriting the pixie's power. Otherwise, he might not have had a solution.
After separating them from the flesh of the Hornsent, Bai Shi used the healing properties of his sunlight to nd all their wounds.
Their physical injuries were now healed, but the trauma etched into their minds could only be soothed with ti.
When it ca to matters of the psyche, Bai Shi was at a loss.
There were no effective thods for psychological therapy in the Lands Between.
On the contrary, there was a whole slew of techniques for tornting and breaking the mind.
Fortunately, Bai Shi had the foresight to bring a considerable number of physicians with him from Stormveil.
Now it was their ti to shine.
They would act as caregivers, tending to the Nun while also providing psychological support.
Even if psychotherapy in the Lands Between was underdeveloped, professional physicians were always more useful than amateurs.
Just then, Bai Shi saw lina, who had been beside him, stand up.
lina extended her right hand from her cloak and gave him a small wave.
Bai Shi rose as well and followed lina out of the church.
They walked in silence, lina leading Bai Shi to the edge of the cliff.
From this vantage point, they could look directly at the twisted, withered Shadow Tree in the distance.
Under the night sky, the silhouette of the Shadow Tree rged completely with the darkness, its outline only faintly discernible by the slow drip of golden light.
lina adjusted her cloak and sat gracefully on a rock at the cliff's edge.
Seeing that lina seed to have sothing to say, Bai Shi casually sat down beside her, their shoulders nearly touching.
In a fleeting mont, Bai Shi realized lina’s hand was already covering his, holding it tight.
lina began to speak softly.
“For a while now, I’ve co here whenever I had a spare mont.”
“There is no Erdtree in the Land of Shadow, so I could only stare at that Shadow Tree in confusion.”
“Sotis, I would suddenly wonder if my mories were false.”
“After all, those mories feel so illusory to , so distant.”
“Mother was always cold, impersonal, leaving
with no real understanding of the concept of a mother.”
“For , the only thing I truly possess is this beautiful mory of journeying with you.”
“Though I am willing to fulfill my purpose, thoughts like these still surface outside of that mission.”
lina turned her head, her gaze fixed intently on Bai Shi.
She knew with certainty that she had fallen in love with him.
Was she truly ant to burn all of this away with her own hands, to lt away all love and hate, joy and sorrow?
But if her purpose was truly as she understood it, this was likely the only way for Bai Shi to beco the Elden Lord...
If that was the case, then there was really nothing to hesitate about.
Though it pained her to think of it, if it was for Bai Shi, her desire to fulfill her mission was no longer tied to her mother’s expectations.
lina spoke again.
“After seeing the tragic state of my kin, whether any of it is real or false no longer matters to .”
“Mother... she must be in as much pain as I am. Of that, there is no doubt.”
“I don’t know what her reasons were, but it must have been for the sake of a better Lands Between.”
“For the ones we love, so things must be sacrificed.”
“Now, I can finally understand her, just a little.”
Bai Shi quietly t lina’s gaze.
Her face was already deeply engraved in his heart, clearly visible even in the darkness of night.
Taking a deep breath, lina leaned closer to Bai Shi.
“I’m sorry you had to worry about all this.”
“You should have been continuing your journey toward becoming the Elden Lord, yet you stopped your advance because of this...”
Bai Shi lowered his head, resting his forehead against lina’s.
“None of that matters.”
“Ti is not so pressing that I have to race against every second.”
“Since I have the leeway to deal with this, how could I possibly stand by and do nothing about your troubles?”
“After all, you are what’s most important to .”
lina stared intently at Bai Shi, and a smile blood on her face.
“If, one day in the future, a critical situation arises, and it’s sothing caused by ...”
“Then you must make becoming the Elden Lord your goal.”
“I want to be a help to you, not a burden that holds you back.”
Bai Shi hesitated for a mont, deciding not to tell lina about Godfrey’s imminent return to the Lands Between just yet.
The chapter with the Nun had only just closed; he didn’t want her to imdiately start worrying about the next crisis.
“Alright. For all the sane living beings in the Lands Between, and for you.”
“I will beco the Elden Lord.”
“I believe I was brought here for that very purpose.”
With this important matter of the heart settled, lina finally felt the heavy shackles that had been weighing on her mind release.
However, the pressure that had built up over the past days still needed an outlet.
Before she fulfilled her purpose, she still had ti to create more mories with Bai Shi. This was a wonderful thing.
It was a small, selfish wish of hers. When the final mont of farewell arrived, lina didn’t want Bai Shi to forget that she had ever existed.
Gazing at Bai Shi with deep affection, lina’s fingers moved unconsciously, gently brushing against the hard calluses on his palm.
Naturally, Bai Shi felt the touch.
He couldn't help but swallow hard. What was this all about?
They were so close that they could feel the warm breath from each other’s nostrils on their faces.
And lina's unique, faint fragrance drifted into his nose at the perfect mont.
It was like the natural scent of small wooden logs ward by the midday sun in winter. It wasn’t stunning, but it was utterly intoxicating to Bai Shi.
Bai Shi’s heart pounded, like a small drum in an orchestra striking up a fast-paced march, thumping ceaselessly.
Wait, we're just holding hands. It's not like we've never kissed. Why is my reaction so strong today!
As he thought this, his hand, which had been resting on the stone, almost subconsciously flipped over, and their palms t as their fingers intertwined.
His thumb gently rested on the back of lina’s hand. He held her like that, neither of them applying any force.
Though they were pressed together, there was still a sense of elusive distance between them—the kind of distance born from the distinction between a man and a woman.
The mountaintop suddenly grew very quiet, and ti seed to slow.
A Gravebird rustled its wings in the cetery below. A cold wind carrying the stench of decaying corpses blew through the woods, making the leaves tremble.
Everything felt so right... even in the oppressive atmosphere of the Land of Shadow.
In such a broken world, being with the person you love is better than anything else.
Bai Shi couldn’t help but think.
lina’s thoughts also grew complicated.
A rush of heat climbed from her neck all the way to her cheeks, making them feel hot.
Bai Shi is as dependable as ever...
lina recalled the ti he ca to the Grand Library to get her after she had reconstructed her body.
She then thought of the ti in Stormveil that had been interrupted...
Gradually, lina’s breathing grew a little ragged.
Just then, to lina’s surprise, Bai Shi turned his head and kissed her on her soft lips.
lina closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
A long ti passed before their lips parted, both still wanting more.
“Let’s go back to Stormveil.”
lina exhaled slowly, wrapping her arms around Bai Shi and resting her head on his shoulder.
In response to his words, she simply gave a submissive nod.
“Mm...”
—
By the ti the two of them returned to the church, it was already noon the next day.
In the night that had passed, they both had grown a great deal, leaving behind a beautiful mory.
Other than it being slightly unfriendly to the bed. The collapsed bed: I have no objections.
Seeing Bai Shi and lina return to the church side-by-side, Irena seed to sense sothing and lowered her head, biting her lip.
The mont they stepped into the church, Lilianna impatiently rushed up to Bai Shi and asked:
“When are we going to find the Lord of Frenzied Fla?”
“I’ve been remotely sensing and observing him for the past two days.”
“Although that guy is in a sealed state, it’s not a stable seal.”
“No, it’s hard to even say if he’s sealed at all. It’s fluctuating as if it could be undone at any mont.”
Lilianna shivered.
The thought alone was terrifying.
Even with the power she’d inherited from the pixies, she couldn’t say for certain that she could seal him.
Could other, cruder thods have truly contained the Lord of Frenzied Fla?
Bai Shi nodded. The Frenzied Fla was indeed sothing that needed attention.
This was the Lord of Frenzied Fla they were talking about; he had to be dealt with as a priority.
In the Frenzied Fla ending, the player character who becos the Lord of Frenzied Fla burns the Erdtree and the entire Lands Between.
Even if the one here wasn’t as powerful, once he was unsealed, he would cause unimaginable destruction.
Bai Shi thought for a mont, then took out a map and said to Lilianna:
“Let’s go now.”
“Mark his approximate location on the map, and we’ll fly over.”
To his surprise, Lilianna shook her head and replied:
“No need for all that trouble. I’ll just teleport us there directly.”
Lilianna stretched out her hand, and a vast amount of spiritual power radiated from her petite body.
A viridian light enveloped everyone, and the space around them rippled like water.
The next mont, their figures vanished from the church.
—
When he ca to his senses, Bai Shi found himself in a shallow pool of water, surrounded by massive stone coffins and tombstones.
A thick fog hung in the air, exuding an ominous aura. It seed to swallow all sound, leaving the area in dead silence.
lina glanced around and quickly spotted traces of the Frenzied Fla.
On a nearby cliff face, a large patch of the rock was scorched and lted, leaving behind a vivid yellow scar.
The bright yellow hue was so intense that just looking at it instilled a sense of madness.
Just as Bai Shi thought they had arrived, Lilianna spoke up in confusion.
“Strange... this isn’t the location I targeted.”
“The Lord of Frenzied Fla should be much deeper in. Why did we appear here?”
With that, Lilianna began to doubt herself.
“Could my teleportation have malfunctioned? Did I make a mistake...”
Lilianna once again released her spiritual power, and the viridian light enveloped them. She attempted to teleport again.
However, when they opened their eyes, they were still in the exact sa spot.
Though Bai Shi didn’t know the specifics of what was happening, he had a rough idea.
Clearly, sothing had been set up here to specifically counter teleportation, preventing them from going any further.
Sure enough, Lilianna quickly realized what was happening and said:
“The teleportation was intercepted...”
“This is the farthest we can go. We can’t teleport directly any deeper.”
“Fortunately, we’re still so distance from the Lord of Frenzied Fla, but we’re not far now.”
Irena felt a bit uneasy. This was the first ti the pixie's power had failed.
Lilianna asked Bai Shi for the map and pointed at it with her finger.
“We’re currently located right at the entrance to the valley floor.”
“And the Frenzied Fla creatures are all along this path, guarding the Lord of Frenzied Fla.”
Bai Shi understood.
“Perhaps they were the ones who intercepted us. They don’t want us getting near the Lord of Frenzied Fla.”
Lilianna frowned, a strange expression on her face.
“Is that so? But I don’t think this has ever happened before...”
“...Alright, I guess that must be it. In any case, let’s get moving.”
Just then, several spiraling columns of grayish-white light erupted from beneath their feet.
After a brief mont of charging, the rings of light exploded outwards.
Bai Shi grabbed Irena and easily dodged the attack.
lina and Lilianna, who didn’t need his help, dodged on their own as well.
Watching the spiraling energy dissipate into the air, Bai Shi imdiately recognized it as an incantation from the Tower Settlent.
The assailant had to be one of the Hornsent.
A gloomy, low voice slowly drifted from the fog. The sound was ethereal, making it difficult to pinpoint the speaker’s location.
“I didn’t say you could leave.”
Bai Shi sneered contemptuously.
“Hmph, trying to be mysterious.”
Who did this guy think he was, trying to act all high and mighty in front of him?
Acting tough, huh? In a mont, I'll send you flying!
His feelings for his little wooden doll weren't anything special. It was just love.
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