Hearing the na from Bai Shi’s lips, ssr propped his head on one hand and spoke coolly.
“Miquella...”
“I have indeed t him. Or rather, he ca looking for .”
The mont Bai Shi heard that ssr had truly seen Miquella, his spirits lifted imdiately.
Ever since learning of Miquella’s ambition to achieve godhood before the sealed spiral tower, Enir-Ilim, at the end of the tower settlent, Bai Shi had been deeply concerned about his plans.
After all, sothing like an Infinite Tsukuyomi that could hypnotize the entire Lands Between was best avoided.
At the ti, however, there were too few ways to get information. Even among Miquella’s followers, likely only Leda knew a part of his plan.
But if he made a move against Leda, it would certainly alert the enemy.
If Miquella went into hiding again as he had during the Shattering, he would probably be impossible to find.
Now that there was finally news of Miquella, a smile slowly spread across Bai Shi’s face.
“Excellent. Can you tell
the details?”
ssr recounted the scene as he rembered it, speaking slowly.
“It has been so ti since this happened.”
“For so reason, he found a gap in the seal of the Land of Shadow and slipped in.”
“I don’t know where he learned of the Land of Shadow, but he was clearly well-prepared.”
“He knew about the events that transpired on this land, and even its deeper secrets...”
“After finding , Miquella revealed his identity.”
“Our conversation was quite amicable, and he ended up staying in the fortress for several days.”
ssr paused for a mont before continuing.
“Ever since the Land of Shadow was sealed, it has been completely cut off from the outside world.”
“During his stay, he also brought
up to speed on what had happened in the Lands Between.”
“Especially the cataclysmic Shattering of the Elden Ring.”
Bai Shi was not surprised by ssr’s treatnt of Miquella.
To soone like ssr, Miquella’s identity was likely spotless.
As a golden demigod born of Marika, and an Empyrean at that, his status was perfectly clear.
Furthermore, even without using his powers of bewitchnt, Miquella naturally endeared himself to others.
Unless one was like Bai Shi, who was explicitly determined to deal with him, a first eting was unlikely to lead to conflict.
Bai Shi quickly pressed on.
“So what else did Miquella do? Or did he tell you what he planned to do?”
“Miquella didn’t co all this way just to chat, did he?”
ssr looked up, casting a curious glance at Bai Shi.
“That’s right. After several days, Miquella made a request of .”
“Miquella wanted
to undo the seal on the ‘God’s Tower,’ Enir-Ilim.”
“I surmised that Miquella wanted to use the miracle within, passing through the God’s Gate to imitate our mother’s own ritual of ascension.”
“But at the very mont the Holy War ended, Mother used the power of the Scadutree to seal that place completely, making it impossible to enter ever again.”
“The seal can only be broken by using a special kindling to ignite the sealing tree.”
When Miquella ntioned Enir-Ilim, ssr had already guessed his intentions.
After all, aside from the ‘God’s Gate,’ the place was utterly empty.
Still, Miquella’s desire for godhood wasn’t entirely incomprehensible to ssr.
Other than the pursuit of divinity, what else could motivate a demigod to uncover the existence of the Land of Shadow from re scraps of legend and then journey here?
Although the events in the Lands Between were unbelievable to ssr, since they had occurred, the Empyreans indeed had the right to succession.
And Miquella was undoubtedly the Empyrean closest to that goal, having even found his way to the Land of Shadow.
However, that didn’t an ssr would simply cooperate with Miquella’s wishes.
ssr chuckled lightly before speaking again.
“Of course, it was impossible for
to break the seal.”
“This is the Land of Shadow, entirely different from their Lands Between.”
“I answer to no one but my mother, and I have no need to care for their so-called rules of succession.”
“I refused Miquella.”
“A few days later, he left.”
“As for his movents after that, I have no news. He never again revealed his presence within my domain.”
“...You seem quite focused on Miquella’s trail. It appears you two have so history.”
Bai Shi nodded, confirming it.
“According to the information I have, Miquella desires to beco a god.”
“He was born with the power of bewitchnt and can make any creature like him without even trying.”
“If I’m not mistaken, once Miquella ascends to godhood, he intends to use this power to srize all life in the Lands Between.”
“Miquella wants to create a ‘peaceful’ Lands Between full of string puppets.”
“Such a world is sothing I can never accept. I must stop him.”
Bai Shi looked at ssr. The information he needed next would have to co from his esteed brother-in-law.
“It’s just that, regarding godhood, I still know almost nothing.”
“The conditions for ascension, the power one gains afterward—these are things I urgently need to understand.”
“Only by knowing this can I predict Miquella’s plan.”
Upon understanding what Miquella wanted to do, ssr himself was taken aback by such world-shaking ambition.
Frowning, ssr sat up straight.
“So that’s how it is... No wonder he sought
out.”
“From the sound of it, he is indeed a dangerous figure.”
“Although I knew he wanted to beco a god when he made his request,”
“I never imagined his ultimate goal was to realize such an absurd idea.”
ssr shook his head, not taking the matter too seriously just yet.
“But the seal is still intact. There’s no way Miquella could have entered the ‘God’s Tower.’”
A thought suddenly struck Bai Shi, and he retorted.
“Not necessarily.”
“When you t him, was Miquella’s body whole?”
ssr raised an eyebrow.
Though he found Bai Shi’s question odd, ssr answered truthfully.
“Of course it was whole... no, I have never seen him before that.”
“Although he looked perfectly normal at the ti, I suppose I cannot be certain that was his original appearance.”
“Why do you ask?”
Bai Shi stroked his chin, lost in thought.
“In the Land of Shadow, Miquella left behind traces of his movents.”
“The crosses of Miquella.”
“Buried beneath those markers are parts of Miquella’s body that he has cast off.”
“I suspect that Miquella intends to abandon everything of himself to pass through the seal in spiritual form.”
“It’s possible he left parts of his body even in your fortress. With his bewitching power at play, ordinary soldiers might have seen this anomaly and thought nothing of it.”
ssr’s brow furrowed as he considered the feasibility of this thod. In his eyes, the seal was absolutely airtight; could a soul truly pass through it?
That was a seal established by his mother using the power of the Scadutree.
Until the sealing tree was burned, even he himself couldn’t enter.
And even if his soul did get inside, without a king to guide him, how could Miquella possibly ascend to godhood through the ‘God’s Gate’?
No matter what Miquella was thinking, he could accomplish nothing.
However, despite believing Miquella was out of options, ssr committed this information to mory.
He planned to have his knights pay closer attention and see if they could uncover Miquella’s movents, just in case the unexpected truly did happen.
Nodding at Bai Shi, ssr spoke again.
“This information is important. I will be on guard.”
“Rest assured, I have no desire to see this world beco like that either.”
ssr changed the subject, beginning to speak of the God’s Gate that Bai Shi was so eager to learn about.
“Since you wish to know about ascending through the spiral tower, I will tell you.”
“My and lina’s mother—that is, Queen Marika—is the god of the Golden Tree.”
“But few people know that Mother beca a god through the miracle within Enir-Ilim: the ‘God’s Gate.’”
“To beco a god through the ‘God’s Gate,’ several conditions must be t simultaneously.”
ssr raised his fingers one by one, gesturing to Bai Shi and lina.
“First, one must possess a principle worthy of godhood.”
“Second, one must have a king to provide guidance, otherwise one will beco lost within.”
“Third, to open the ‘God’s Gate,’ there must be a sacrifice.”
“As for whether there are any other conditions, I do not know.”
Lowering his three raised fingers, ssr spoke again.
“This is why I am not worried about Miquella entering Enir-Ilim.”
“Even if he successfully gets his soul inside, he cannot satisfy the other conditions.”
Bai Shi committed these conditions to mory, but they only left him more confused.
Miquella surely had sufficient knowledge of the ‘God’s Gate’; he shouldn’t be ignorant of the other requirents.
Yet he chose to proceed with his plan anyway. It was highly unusual, but unfortunately, he still knew too little about him.
A question ca to Bai Shi’s mind, and so he asked ssr:
“What if... I wanted to beco a god?”
Although the sun had said it could help him beco a new sun, the specifics were still unknown.
But through the God’s Gate, Bai Shi could unleash the full power of the principles within the Sun Rune ahead of schedule.
As for how this process might affect his future as the true sun... Bai Shi truly couldn’t see any downside.
Becoming a god in the Lands Between would prevent him from becoming the sun? Was the sun such an inconvenient thing?
No matter how he thought about it, it was a matter of all benefit and no harm.
And unlike a god who relied on a king, Bai Shi was a king himself.
If he succeeded, he would be a combination of god and king. His individual strength would surely be astronomical.
ssr gave Bai Shi a strange look and said:
“...Give up.”
“I won’t break the seal, not even for you.”
“Besides, don’t you want to be Elden Lord?”
After a pause, ssr continued to question Bai Shi.
“And according to the ritual, one needs a king’s guidance to cross the ‘God’s Gate.’”
“If you want to cross the ‘God’s Gate’ and beco a god, who could possibly guide you?”
“Being a king isn’t just about strength.”
“Even if they haven’t beco a king, at the very least... they must have so connection to that destiny in their fate.”
Bai Shi thought it over. It was true that finding soone with such qualifications would be difficult.
He wanted to be both king and god, but he couldn’t very well guide himself...
A flash of inspiration struck Bai Shi. He suddenly had a bold idea.
That’s right, why couldn’t ‘he’ guide himself?
Wasn’t Ashmi there?
There was no need to worry about strength; Ashmi was definitely capable enough to serve that role.
As for the status of a king... Ashmi was originally born to beco the ‘King of Night,’ so she should... count, right?
Recalling Ashmi’s sowhat dazed expression, Bai Shi temporarily set the idea aside.
—
After having asked about everything he wanted to know, Bai Shi was thoroughly satisfied.
His brother-in-law was truly the top authority in the Land of Shadow; his intelligence was maxed out.
Whether it was matters related to the Land of Shadow or the situation with the Scadutree, Bai Shi learned a great deal.
He had even obtained information on the whereabouts of the followers of the Prince of Death who had snuck into the land.
While Bai Shi was continuously questioning ssr about the Land of Shadow, lina stood silently to the side, gazing up at the statue of their mother.
In ssr’s private chamber was what was possibly the only intact statue of Marika in the entire Land of Shadow.
And unlike the poses of other statues, this one depicted Marika cradling a swaddled infant in her arms.
Once the two had finished their conversation, lina looked at ssr with a serious expression and asked:
“Brother, I wish to know our true origins...”
“Although it has nothing to do with my mission, perhaps searching for one’s own genesis is a fundantal instinct of life.”
Looking at lina, ssr fell silent for a short ti.
After a mont, he raised his eyes again to et lina’s gaze.
“Do you truly wish to know?”
Seeing the resolve in lina’s eyes, ssr tilted his head back, looking up at the tall statue.
“We are special, unique beings.”
“Because we are children who should never have been born, who should not exist in this world.”
Although lina had already had her suspicions, hearing the truth still left her stunned.
“What in the world does that an?”
ssr’s face was expressionless as he continued his explanation.
“We were not born as children in the normal sense. We were created. We were born for a mission.”
“Though we are Mother’s children, we possess powers that have no connection to her whatsoever.”
“One of your eyes is the Gloam Eye, while I have the evil serpent within . That alone is strange enough.”
“Furthermore, your current body is not your original one, yet it feels perfectly natural to use.”
“...As if it were your very first body. Am I wrong?”
“Have you ever thought about the problem with that?”
lina’s breath caught in her throat. The various clues instantly connected, and a na surfaced in her mind.
“The Great Rune of the Unborn...”
ssr nodded gently.
“The Hornsent believe that witches can rge with other life... This is not without basis.”
“Using this faint characteristic and the Great Rune of the Unborn, Mother created us from a Teardrop.”
“We were born to complete a mission.”
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