Elden Ring: With God Chapter 357: 'Lord of Frenzied Flame'

Having read through the letter, Bai Shi couldn't help but frown.

The letter was strange... When the woman nad Nanaya wrote it, she must not have been in her right mind.

Especially those last few lines—they were twisted to the point of being disturbing.

Although the handwriting was no different from the rest of the letter, it sohow exuded an air of madness.

Could these be the words of the “other her” she ntioned in the letter?

Bai Shi’s gaze fell once more upon the spine-torch clutched in Nanaya’s corpse.

The torch’s origin was unknown, yet it emanated an aura similar to the Lord of Frenzied Fla—so similar that it had even deceived Lilianna.

Clearly, it was an object of imnse significance to the followers of the Frenzied Fla.

In any other setting, it would be no surprise for a cult to worship it as a sacred relic.

A ray of hope...

No good could co from a sealed Lord of Frenzied Fla encountering a fire like this.

Did Nanaya truly want Middla to be set free?

To free him from agonizing torture only for him to descend into the madness of the Frenzied Fla and accept his identity as its Lord?

She ntioned in the letter that she had died and been resurrected, giving birth to an unknown presence within herself.

These final, chaotic words were likely the thoughts of that "other her."

But still, what did this "death and resurrection" truly an...?

Just as Bai Shi clutched the letter, lost in thought, his vision was completely filled by the back of a green pixie.

"Let

see, let

see!"

At the sa ti, heads leaned in from Bai Shi's left and right, peering at the letter.

With a sigh of resignation, Bai Shi held out the letter so the two won and the pixie could see it clearly, while he continued to ponder from mory.

Just then, Bai Shi turned to look at Irena, an idea suddenly striking him.

Death and resurrection... wasn't that just the Frenzied Fla's way of possessing a corpse?

Such possessions were surely not limited to the few cases like Shabriri.

In the Lands Between, there had long been legends of witches being reborn.

Bai Shi could even recall a shield crafted specifically to commorate such events.

The Shield of the Guilty, which could be found in the Weeping Peninsula.

It was a shield used to pacify souls and bolster one’s mind.

A witch who had touched the Frenzied Fla was, naturally, a sinner.

And bolstering one's mind was precisely what helped a person resist the Frenzied Fla.

Bai Shi looked at Nanaya's corpse. Her eyes were covered by a cloth strip, so he couldn't tell if they were intact.

And in the paintings of Middla and Nanaya he had seen on the way here, her eyes had also been left undrawn.

If that was the case, then everything made sense.

The gnarled On horns on their infant would have caused a difficult birth, leading to the mother's death.

As Hornsent, Middla and Nanaya were not immune, and Nanaya died because of it.

And that was the turning point in the fate of everyone in this manor.

Having died in childbirth, Nanaya's body was possessed by the Frenzied Fla, creating a state of apparent resurrection.

After that, she—or rather, "she"—manipulated everything from the shadows.

Bit by bit, she lured Middla into approaching and studying the Frenzied Fla, ultimately plunging the entire manor into despair.

Her final goal was likely to bring forth the Lord of Frenzied Fla.

However, unlike Shabriri and Hyetta, who were completely unaware of their bodies' origins...

For so reason, Nanaya retained her past mories and was able to live with Middla as normal.

Was Nanaya changed by the Frenzied Fla, or was the witch of the Frenzied Fla influenced by Nanaya's love?

Perhaps it was the Hornsent's unique trait—their horns' ability to house souls—that allowed a part of Nanaya's spirit to remain.

...

Bai Shi set the letter down and turned his gaze to Nanaya's corpse, and the "Nanaya's Candle" in her arms.

Regardless, he would not hand this torch over to Middla as she had intended.

If Middla could be transferred from his current, unstable seal to a more secure one, it would certainly save a lot of effort.

If one could reason with him, Middla seed like the more rational type.

It was even possible he had stopped resisting and accepted his confinent voluntarily; otherwise, his inquisitors would surely have been no match for him.

An object that could agitate Middla like this should be kept far from his sight. It would be disastrous if it triggered a rampage.

It was best to secure it and keep it away from him.

Having made up his mind, Bai Shi turned to Irena with instructions:

"Irena, can you seal this thing?"

"If you can't seal it securely, just extinguishing it is fine too."

Irena glanced at the faintly burning fla and nodded.

"Mm."

"I'll try."

Irena held out her hands, aiming them at the Frenzied Fla on the spinal column.

As her spiritual power flowed out, a ripple of lake-like light slowly spread over it.

However, the mont the light touched the fla, sothing unexpected happened.

The spine-shaped torch instantly erupted in a violent blaze, burning itself to ashes just before the seal could completely envelop it.

Although the end result was the sa—the torch was extinguished—the process was completely unexpected.

Even Irena was startled by the sudden turn of events.

"Th-that..."

"I haven't even done anything yet..."

The others could clearly see that this wasn't Irena's doing, but rather a preditated plot.

Nanaya had never expected anyone to bring the candle to him.

Bai Shi’s eyes sharpened as he looked toward the room's wall.

More specifically, what lay behind it.

The mont the candle was extinguished, its faint, residual aura seed to be drawn away, instantly vanishing to that spot.

To Middla's place of imprisonnt!

Everything in this manor was still unfolding according to Nanaya’s plan!

"Boom—"

Bai Shi smashed straight through the wall and imdiately stepped into another room.

Just as the letter had said, only a single wall separated Middla and Nanaya.

lina followed close behind, stepping in beside him, her gaze warily fixed ahead.

Behind the wall was a vast, empty hall.

Only one person was imprisoned here—Middla, who was both a king and a prisoner.

He was a man whose body was withered and twisted by cruel instrunts of torture.

The sight of the device piercing Middla’s body made even Bai Shi suck in a sharp breath, a phantom pain shooting through him.

It was a fan-shaped contraption resembling a tree's root system.

A central trunk, like the main vein of a leaf, entered from the top of Middla's head, while below, countless golden barbs fanned out wantonly.

Its imnse size made it impossible for Bai Shi and the others to imagine how it had been forced into his body.

The bizarre instrunt pierced Middla from above, forcing his head to remain tilted back at an unnatural angle.

anwhile, the lower, root-like section of countless golden barbs tore through his chest, jutting out haphazardly from between his ribs.

Middla was stripped of all human dignity, appearing like a corpse impaled on so religious icon.

At this mont, Middla was staring blankly at the faint flicker of light, his head tilted back. The instrunt had torn the skin from his scalp, and the flesh on one side of his face was bunched up, blinding him.

Just then, a cloudy tear trickled from his one good eye, and muffled words escaped his lips:

"Nanaya..."

"Was it all a lie?"

"Then why... why reveal the truth to

now?"

"Was the truth of the past nothing more than a fiction you wanted

to see?"

"How laughable... to think I was so imrsed in that falsehood..."

Bai Shi didn't interfere, rely preparing himself for a fight.

Nothing could change it now. Middla's heart was already dead.

"Please forgive , Nanaya..."

"It was my selfishness that turned you into what you beca."

"This is all my sin..."

Slowly but firmly, Middla gripped the torture device that impaled him, not even pausing as the barbs pierced his palms.

"Aaaaargh—!"

Before Bai Shi and the others, Middla pulled the greatsword that had beco one with his body free.

—Along with his own head.

—

Pain, tornt, curse, despair.

Throughout this lengthy punishnt, Middla had teetered on the brink of collapse countless tis.

If he had not touched the Frenzied Fla in the past, this tornt would never have befallen soone of his noble status.

If he hadn't given up resisting and willingly accepted the punishnt, instead slaughtering his inquisitors, he would never have ended up in this state.

But Middla knew it was impossible.

No matter how many tis he faced that choice, he would always end up here.

As a husband, as a lover, he could not accept Nanaya's death.

For that reason, he turned a blind eye to the abnormality of her resurrection, imrsing himself in a false happiness.

But as a sage, as a scholar, he also understood the gravity of his sins.

For that reason, even knowing the agony of the punishnt, he acknowledged his guilt and willingly accepted eternal damnation.

Amidst the everlasting pain of the golden barbs, Nanaya's words had been Middla's pillar—

Please, endure.

Those words were a curse.

The instrunt of eternal punishnt was no Unalloyed Gold Needle; it had no power to suppress the surging Frenzied Fla.

All along, it had been Middla himself suppressing the fla while simultaneously enduring the torture.

Punishnt and happiness had beco one and the sa to him.

But today, everything Middla had held onto was shattered.

When he saw the Frenzied Fla, tinged with Nanaya's aura, appear before him, Middla had no choice but to admit the truth he could never face.

What he saw was not a ray of hope, but the blackest despair.

'Nanaya' knew him too well. Was even his tornt part of 'her' plan?

Everything in the past had just been a puppet show directed by the presence behind it all.

For Middla, this was utter despair.

Lies don't hurt you. It's the truth that cuts you like a knife.

It was all fake.

Middla had known for a long ti. He just hadn't been willing to face it.

As both a scholar and a sage, he wasn't blind to sothing so obvious.

Especially not after reliving the past again and again amidst endless agony.

Her undisguised resurrection had been too brazen.

The mont he saw that Frenzied Fla, Middla understood everything.

His reason told him the person before him was no longer Nanaya.

But the cage woven from love was the strongest prison of all, one that the sage Middla was fated never to escape.

The dead should rest in peace, but his own selfishness had defiled Nanaya's very existence.

A single wall. A barrier that separated them completely, impossible to overco.

Not only their bodies, but their hearts as well.

From start to finish, nothing had escaped 'Nanaya's' control.

The love was real, but so was the Frenzied Fla.

The usurping fla twisted their love, ultimately creating the tragedy known as the Lord of Frenzied Fla.

—

When Middla's body stood up, a sun of Frenzied Fla ignited atop the headless corpse.

The golden instrunt of torture was crushed in his grasp, its golden barbs twisting inward, contorting into a malford greatsword.

Within that fiercely burning sun of Frenzied Fla, Bai Shi saw flashes of Middla's past.

His entire life appeared as a phantasm before Bai Shi's eyes, only to be lted away into the void.

All love and hatred were incinerated by the Frenzied Fla.

The mont Middla pulled out the sword of eternal punishnt, he had abandoned the struggle.

He had endured despair and tornt for too long.

The one standing before them now was no longer Middla.

Just as 'Nanaya' had hoped, in the depths of despair, the Frenzied Fla burned brighter than ever.

The Lord of Frenzied Fla had co into the world.

Throughout the valley, all traces of the fla reignited. The yet-undestroyed creatures of Frenzied Fla raised their heads high, acclaiming the arrival of their king.

—

Facing the Lord of Frenzied Fla, Bai Shi was on maximum alert.

This ti, he didn't dare hold anything back.

Enjoying the thrill of battle was sothing best saved for more conventional opponents.

Bai Shi took a deep breath, activated the power of his Great Runes, and switched his state.

Instantly, a boundless aura erupted from him. His presence surged! It soared! It went wild!

The creatures of Frenzied Fla, which had been prostrating themselves in worship just monts before, were now crushed by this violent, overwhelming presence, unable to even lift their heads.

At this mont, every living thing in the valley could only lie flat on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

A king's majesty instilled a fear that arose from the very core of their being.

This was the realm of kings.

After his intimate contact with lina two days ago, Bai Shi had taken the opportunity to have her help him expend all his runes, converting them completely into his own power.

Vigor, Strength, Dexterity.

All three attributes had broken their limits, reaching a superhuman level.

With it ca a trendous increase in his overall strength.

Bai Shi had officially stepped into the realm of gods and kings.

Stretching his shoulders, Bai Shi casually summoned the Sword of Night and Fla.

The Sword of Night and Fla had also expanded several tis over, becoming a size appropriate for him.

During its last reinforcent, Bai Shi had Master Hewg make so adjustnts. Now, the weapon could finally change its size along with his to suit combat.

Bai Shi raised his sword, its tip aid directly at the Lord of Frenzied Fla.

"Out of respect for Middla, I will erase you from this world without holding anything back."