The Unalloyed One... no, a pair of bare feet stepped over the flesh and blood of all creation at the Gate of a God, revealing their true form.
He wore a long white robe with gold trim, and his golden hair was as long as his body. His handsome features showed neither joy nor sorrow, only a solemnity that made his gender difficult to discern, leaving only an impression of pure charisma. Of course, there was also the divine pressure coalescing in the golden crown upon his head—this was a true god, sublimated.
He had yet to contain the complete Elden Ring, but his station could not be underestimated.
"Brother, you have finally returned."
The next moment, two hands made of Miquella's magic rested on Radahn's shoulders, imbuing his body with a touch of Holy magic. The two seemed to merge into one, perfectly complementing each other.
"O Tarnished, O King of an olden law. If you know of sin, and are troubled by the world—"
"Then please, make way. That path is for I, Miquella, and my promised king, Radahn, to walk together."
Frieren shook her head.
"The tradition of the Lands Between has always been that the strong grasp the Elden Ring. Prove it to me. The law of the victor shall continue on to rule destiny."
She had been waiting for this; the prelude had been far too long.
At the same time, Ranni, on her shoulder, couldn't help but clutch her collar. This was the materialization of all support, all concerns, all hopes. Everyone bore their own burdens, and only a contest of strength could decide the outcome.
Miquella offered no more persuasion. With a light raise of one hand, the King of Promise slowly levitated.
It could not be interrupted, for specks of golden light flowed across the ground, gathering and swirling around them, lifting god and king into the air.
A pillar of light erupted from the ground.
Their magic connected heaven and earth, surpassing the height of the Gate of a God to point directly at the Erdtree, overlooking the entire battlefield. The condescending pressure struck fear into everyone's hearts. It was here: the judgment of god and king.
Boom!
A colossal pillar of light pierced through the Spiral Tower from top to bottom, shattering all creation. Its holy power swept away all that was unclean.
The entire battlefield was thrown into chaos, with men and horses sent flying.
The Army of the Lord of Cinder and the Haligtree army, who had been locked in close combat, were thrown to the ground in heaps.
Seizing the opportunity, the Mother of Fingers tried to escape from below, but Messmer's long spear blocked its path. At the same time, Melina's Destined Death plunged viciously into the body's fingerprint-like skin, absolute death flowing through the target's form.
Its shriek was drowned out by the might of Miquella's light.
The brother and sister exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock and worry. They couldn't spare a thought for anything else; their mission was to utterly destroy the Mother of Fingers. The duel of god-kings could only be left to Frieren.
They weren't the only ones. At the base of the tower, the Mimic Tear, the Undead Legion of Farron, and Rellana didn't cease their movements either.
The shockwave's effect was weaker here, allowing them to exert their full strength to suppress the Twin Princes.
They had stabilized the situation.
After sustaining some injuries, the three of them formed an encirclement, restricting the Lothric brothers' movements. The two could only fight together, but this was not a long-term solution. They knew that the outcome still depended on the battle at the Gate of a God.
The clash at the top of the Spiral Tower gradually subsided. Had this terrifying torrent of light finally ended?
"Frieren, are you still conscious?"
At this moment, Ranni was terrified by the sight of the silver-haired girl bathed in blood. She hadn't expected the price of defense to be so heavy. That must have been the strongest of incantations.
She coughed once and replied, "It won't affect the battle for now."
Just now, she had stacked a series of buffs on top of Ironjar Aromatic and Endure to withstand the blow.
Her injuries were not light.
An instant cast of Heal allowed Frieren to quickly catch her breath and avoid collapsing; otherwise, being caught by a critical hit from the opponent would have been troublesome. But she wasn't much better off now, as the assault resumed.
A dual gravity blade uppercut!
Unable to channel magic in time, Frieren could only roll to dodge.
This battle had already forced her to roll twice; the days when she could simply jump to evade were gone. There was no good opportunity to create an opening. First, she had to hold on and see what unexpected new moves this new phase brought—
The King of Promise took the chance to fly into the sky and release Rock Sling. There was a wind-up, the trajectory obvious.
Frieren dodged them all with graceful movements, not a single one touching her, but the warning from her intuition never faded. Something was wrong. What was it?
After a shower of meteorites, Radahn vanished in an instant.
Damn it!
She immediately activated all her enhancements. Sure enough, with a flash of light, the twin swords teleported before her eyes, unleashing a continuous flurry of light-infused slashes. It was less like chopping and more like a spinning onslaught of continuous swings, with no sign of his stamina wavering, each move at full power.
But Frieren's reaction kept up. Golden Parry, Carian Retaliation, and Thops's Barrier deflected the blows.
Neither speed nor strength could falter for an instant; it was a perfect defense.
By the time Radahn showed signs of finishing his combo, her arms were already numb. She couldn't feel them. Was it a fracture, or was she bleeding...
Whoosh!
It wasn't over. Suddenly, the twin swords plunged into the ground, kicking up rings of light pillars that tore up the earth from below, finally sending the petite, silver-haired girl flying off balance.
It was a Phantom Flurry!
Though heavily wounded, Frieren's mind was still clear. She performed a kip-up to get back on her feet, renewing her stance. She could still fight. She wouldn't risk transforming unless absolutely necessary; the risk was too great.
"Breathe deep, I'll heal you now." Ranni cast Heal, her heart aching, not forgetting to use a Dark Moon sorcery to deflect a pursuing meteorite.
She was so anxious she had figured out how to dual-cast, but it was far from enough.
Seeing Frieren covered in wounds pained her heart. She hadn't realized a god-king could be so overwhelmingly powerful. Could they win? Regardless, seeing those determined emerald eyes gave her a sliver more of confidence. No matter what, she would first do her utmost.
"Go all out, Your Majesty. I, Ranni, will face life and death with you."
"Don't say such things yet. It's not over."
Before her voice had faded, Frieren took out a brass shield, replacing the staff in her left hand. Was she going to fight defensively? But why a shield?
It did have some reinforcement levels, but was it enough? Even with Scholar's Shield, it might not be.
Bang!
Then, Radahn, who had closed in, was parried by that very shield, his greatsword knocked away. His rhythm was broken in an instant, failing to build up the oppressive momentum of his twin-blade assault. He didn't lose heart, however, and renewed his attack.
But then came another precise parry. The reactive force staggered the towering figure, even causing Miquella on his back to raise an eyebrow.
It was no coincidence. It was a divine skill, executed with meticulous precision.
At the same time, a Glintblade Phalanx followed up the attack, striking Radahn and forcing him to one knee. Unsurprisingly, Frieren followed up with a critical hit, a flower of blood bursting from his abdomen, adding another wound.
That worked?
Putting aside the dazed King of Promise, Ranni, watching from a first-person perspective, was also stunned.
She had never heard that Her Majesty was skilled with a shield, let alone that a god-king of such absurd strength could be parried. An ordinary person wouldn't even think of it, much less dare to try it with their life on the line.
Only one with skill, mettle, and resolve could succeed.
In that split-second thought, Radahn was already back on his feet, but this time, it was Frieren on the offensive.
A Dragon Communion Incantation!
The phantom of a great dragon rose from behind Frieren, far more than just a limb—it was a soul form, magnified several times over.
Above the Spiral Tower, the power of Dragon Communion roared to the heavens, echoing through the nine skies, declaring that the Soul Cinder King still stood in defiance of such a terrifying assault. The great dragon was unstoppable, its right claw coalescing with fire and lightning.
Bayle's Flame Lightning!
The rampaging energy slammed viciously into Radahn, forcefully piercing through the defenses of gravity and holy light.
The shockwave made the highest tower crumble, and falling rocks pattered down onto the battlefield of the followers below, causing both sides to look up involuntarily.
In an instant, she had overwhelmed the god-king's aura!
Frieren's incantation wasn't so much using the power of the great dragon as it was using a high-level native medium from the Lands Between to channel all of her proficient lightning and fire elements for an all-out release.
The attack hadn't stopped; after breaking the King of Promise's stance, it continued to explode.
Crackle!
The crimson flames turned the auspicious white clouds lingering over the Spiral Tower into a fiery sunset, raining down meteors of fire. All the while, lightning coiled, lingering endlessly. This was not a single-burst spell, but a violent, forceful twisting of the entire environment.
Radahn, enduring the onslaught of flame lightning, suddenly emanated a golden light and broke free.
The blessing of a god allowed him to avoid internal injury at the critical moment, finally weathering the storm.
"Soul Cinder King, you are indeed powerful."
Miquella praised him, but his movements in directing the King of Promise were not slow, returning the favor with a massive area-of-effect spell.
The purple light of a gravity blade swept across the city in a fan shape, and for a moment, the stars appeared in the sky.
The Dragon Communion power that had been trying to envelop the entire battlefield dissipated somewhat. Miquella understood the common sense that you couldn't let a top-tier sorcerer successfully construct an elemental field, or it would become very troublesome.
Rock Sling!
The hurtling gravity magic gave chase, but Frieren dodged it. The two began a high-speed exchange in the air.
Suddenly, the silver-haired girl stepped on a bolt of red lightning that hung from the sky.
With a pull of her staff, she drew it back like a full moon bow, charging a lightning arrow that she instantly fired. Even the King of Promise couldn't react in time, taking the hit with a crack of thunder. He was pierced through, lightning splashing everywhere and chaining to create more currents.
His body was briefly paralyzed, and Miquella's stream of light filled the opening, but the one who launched the attack had already calculated the rhythm.
Ranni's Pupil Moon!
The frost-colored, magic-breaking power exploded, further weakening the King of Promise's defense.
Seizing the opportunity, she coordinated with Frieren, launching a suppressive attack. The power of a demigod sorcerer was not to be underestimated.
Although she couldn't grant a blessing like a god, Ranni would do what she could.
Gravity blade!
Another of Radahn's attacks missed. The silver-haired girl was seen ricocheting between lightning bolts, using the lightning as a bowstring and herself as the arrow. Her speed was astonishing, weaving through the thunderstorm, continuously accumulating electrical charge. He couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes.
Immediately after, Frieren grasped with one hand, condensing crimson lightning. The entirety of the thunderstorm remaining in the clouds was refined—this was her all-out strike.
It was the power of an ancient dragon from a distant age combined with her own mastery of the lightning element.
Gransax's Lightning Blade—
A scarlet pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth fell in a deadly fan-shaped slash.
It struck Radahn down and simultaneously split the upper half of the Gate of a God tower in two, carving a vertical chasm. The mere shockwave that extended outwards split the earth into a rift valley, geothermal heat steaming from its deep, dark space.
Boom!
The heavy sound struck fear into the hearts of all, the shock of the thunder buried deep in their biological instincts. What exaggerated magic output. Perhaps even an Ancient Dragon would struggle to produce such powerful energy.
Such a large-scale attack was built upon Dragon Communion and Ancient Dragon Man transformation, exceeding the limits of an Astrologer build.
Even Frieren was panting heavily to recover.
If Ranni hadn't been continuously healing her, she wouldn't have attempted it so easily. The effect was good; the King of Promise before her had his aura diminished. Taking a full-force ancient dragon lightning strike was no small matter.
However, the next moment, he made a charging grapple motion...
A throw?
Frieren reacted, but Miquella's light flashed past first, hitting the ground by her feet and creating a moment of delay, which was enough.
The King of Promise suddenly appeared before her, his arms grabbing her tightly as he lifted her high.
Miquella wrapped one arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear: "I swear to you—I will follow the law of kindness and begin a journey of a thousand years."
"Frieren, snap out of it! I'll dispel it for you!"
Before Ranni could finish, the King of Promise had already thrown the silver-haired girl aside and grabbed the blue puppet's host body. The latter desperately supported a magic barrier, but it shattered on contact. On the other side, the bewitchment symbol on Frieren's head had only just begun to fade.
Too late.
She might be killed by the monster made from her brother's soul first.
A lightning spear streaked across the King of Promise's arm. The brief paralysis allowed Ranni to break free. "You've recovered?"
But alas, a trace of confusion still lingered in Frieren's eyes.
A sorcerer who can only cast spells while clear-headed can never become a first-rate sorcerer.
Vmmm!
The Law of the Stars promptly nullified a bewitchment. Almost at the exact moment the effect faded, Frieren grabbed Ranni and rolled continuously, narrowly avoiding a Phantom Flurry.
"No, you're injured."
Although she reacted in time, she still saw that the silver-haired girl's armor was completely shattered, blood staining her clothes. She had probably been stabbed in the back.
She had taken the hit to protect her. If only she could have dispelled the bewitchment a little sooner...
They didn't even have a chance for regret, because the next moment, the King of Promise slowly rose into the air. This move was all too familiar. A second beam of Miquella's light descended from the heavens, covering the entire Gate of a God, annihilating all creation. No heavenly light could be seen, only solidified holy power.
Rumble!
After the earth-shattering sound, all fell silent.
The sharp-sensed demigods were the first to notice the change. A life force was missing from the top of the tower, a very faint one. It was Frieren. Could the battle of the god-kings be about to end? With the victory of the King of Promise and Miquella.
"Ranni, you wait here for a moment. It'll be over soon."
The blood-soaked silver-haired girl spoke gently, then forcefully threw the blue puppet aside.
"What are you doing?"
The next moment, she watched as the King of Promise launched another throw attack at the dying Frieren. She heard Miquella's melodious voice, like a final judgment: "O King of an olden law, come with us."
A complete bewitchment was difficult for even a quasi-king to resist. With a thud, she knelt on one knee.
"But it is a pity we cannot accommodate each other. In a contest of kings, it is life or death. Frieren, farewell forever."
Shink!
A greatsword pierced through the thin body, dripping with blood. The blade ran through her abdomen, taking her life force with it. The chill of death began to spread. She slowly lowered her head, no longer showing any magical reaction.
Ranni cried out, staring at the scene with wide eyes.
Is it over? Has the war of the god-kings come to an end?
____
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