After striking a deal with Ranni, Duanmu Huai finally had a reliable ally—and more importantly, a capable guide. Ranni, being a native of the Lands Between, knew this world inside and out. So Duanmu Huai directly asked for her help in locating the others scattered across the land.
That task was not difficult for Ranni. At the moment, only Lorena's whereabouts were particularly remote. Based on Ranni's descriptions, she deduced that Lorena was likely somewhere near the Stargazer's Ruins in the snowy region. As for Volcano Manor, Ranni warned him that the road there was exceptionally dangerous.
The reason was simple.
During the assault on the Royal Capital, three heirs had joined forces—Rykard, Radahn, and Malenia. Godrick had seen how bad things were going and slipped away with the crowd, but another figure had stepped forward to fill the gap—the Omen King, Morgott. Leading the Night's Cavalry and the Capital's elite troops, Morgott not only held off the three-way assault but even counterattacked, pushing all the way to Volcano Manor's doorstep.
Because of that, the entire stretch between the Capital and Volcano Manor had become a massive battlefield. Even now, soldiers still fought a desperate, endless war there.
To be honest, this surprised Duanmu Huai quite a bit. He didn't know how strong Rykard or Malenia truly were, but Radahn—he had personally fought. That guy's meteor strike alone could flatten entire armies, and Malenia, who fought him to a draw and escaped even after corrupting his domain with Scarlet Rot, was clearly no weakling either.
And yet, the three of them together couldn't take down Morgott?
Was this guy the real final boss?
Ranni explained that things weren't quite that dramatic. Although three armies had indeed besieged the Capital, Rykard hadn't gone himself—he'd sent his subordinates. As for Malenia, she was formidable, but in the middle of the siege, she learned her brother Miquella had been kidnapped. The doting sister immediately abandoned the campaign and turned back to search for him.
That left only Radahn, who fought Morgott to a stalemate. When he saw the others retreat, Radahn—no fool himself—decided there was no point in fighting to the death just to let others take advantage. So he withdrew as well.
In short, the "allied army" was nothing more than a showpiece. The moment things got difficult, the whole alliance fell apart.
Anyway, back to the main issue—finding Mistrina.
Duanmu Huai had already searched the regions of Limgrave, Liurnia, and Caelid, yet found no trace of her. It seemed likely that Mistrina, too, had been transported to some isolated domain.
From what he'd seen, every one of his companions had ended up in a distinct region:
Bambi in Caelid,
Milphy in Liurnia,
Olgis in the Eternal City beneath Limgrave,
Odelle in Volcano Manor at Mt. Gelmir,
and Lorena among the snowfields' Stargazer ruins.
By that pattern, Mistrina was likely somewhere separate as well.
Based on this logic, she could be on the Weeping Peninsula, the Altus Plateau, Miquella's Haligtree Village, or the Royal Capital itself…
And then there was the worst possible place—beneath the Capital, in the sewers where the Frenzied Flame and the Three Fingers were sealed.
After assessing the situation, everyone quickly made their plans.
Bambi and Milphy would head to the Weeping Peninsula to investigate—it was relatively safe, and if Mistrina was there, that would be ideal.
As for Duanmu Huai, Ranni wanted him to go to the Divine Tower of Liurnia. She told him that after performing her ritual long ago, she had transferred her soul into her current doll body and used the Black Knife to kill her original Empyrean body. The other half of the Death Rune's centipede mark still remained on that corpse.
He simply needed to go to Caria Manor, enter the Divine Tower, and reach its summit to claim the missing half of the mark.
Ranni herself was curious—what would a complete bearer of the Death Rune truly become?
After that, Duanmu Huai would continue searching for the remaining Great Rune fragments as Ranni guided him.
So far, he already held the Great Runes of Godrick, Radahn, and Rennala.
That left four more "Shardbearer Lords":
Rykard of Volcano Manor,
Morgott the Omen King,
Mohg, Lord of Blood,
and Malenia, the Scarlet Valkyrie.
As for Olgis, she would remain at Ranni's tower—for good reason. She needed time to adapt to her new body.
This wasn't an easy process for her. After all, she had once been a doll, and dolls had no sense of touch. To Olgis, cold winds or burning flames had meant nothing—her body simply lacked the ability to feel.
Now, however, after merging with the Mimic Tear, she could experience all sensations like a human being. The problem was, all these sensations were alien to her. Touching something, feeling heat, cold, pain—even the sensation of injury or tearing—these were things every human took for granted, yet to Olgis, they were entirely new.
That was why, earlier, she'd sat motionless on the ground—because even the simple act of "feeling" the earth beneath her had been overwhelming.
So now, Olgis's task was to adapt to the flood of sensory feedback from her new body, and to adjust her fighting style as well. She'd always attacked by manipulating puppet threads. That was fine for a doll—but for human skin, those threads, thin and taut as fishing line, were brutally painful to control.
Imagine grabbing a fishing line barehanded when a fish bites—yeah, that kind of feeling.
It would be a rough journey of adaptation.
Time, however, waited for no one. With everyone's goals clear, the group quickly split up.
Bambi, being able to fly, carried the small-bodied Milphy to the Weeping Peninsula.
Duanmu Huai headed for Caria Manor to retrieve the missing half of the Death Rune mark.
Olgis stayed in Ranni's tower to train her body and senses anew.
But while they were busy with their missions, Mistrina herself was experiencing an unimaginable ordeal.
"Uu… ah…"
The girl knelt on the ground, trembling. Looking at her, Mistrina asked anxiously,
"Are you alright, Miss Hyetta?"
"Hu… I'm fine."
The girl named Hyetta slowly raised her head. Her eyes were covered with bandages, her robe thin and frail, her body emaciated—but her voice burned with an almost feverish conviction.
Did I make a mistake?
Watching her, Mistrina couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.
Her journey since separating from Duanmu Huai had been far from simple. After being teleported to a strange new region, she had come across a blind girl sitting by the roadside. Being a guardian of the forest, Mistrina naturally couldn't ignore her. Approaching, she learned the girl's name was Irina, daughter of the Lord of Castle Morne. The castle's servants had risen in violent revolt, and her father was desperately trying to hold them back. Worried for his safety, Irina begged Mistrina to deliver a letter to him.
Of course, Mistrina couldn't refuse. She took the letter, went to Castle Morne, and helped the Lord suppress the maddened rebels.
But when she returned with him to reunite with his daughter, Irina was already dead—murdered.
The sight devastated the grieving father and left Mistrina drowning in guilt. She had known the land was dangerous, yet she hadn't protected the girl.
Before parting, the Lord, broken with grief, handed Mistrina an item he called a Shabriri Grape, asking her to deliver it to a finger maiden named Hyetta. Out of remorse and responsibility, Mistrina agreed. She watched the old man limp away, carrying his daughter's body in his arms.
Following his directions, Mistrina traveled through Stormveil Castle—hoping to find Duanmu Huai along the way—but by then he had already gone to the Academy, and she missed him.
At the back gate of the castle, Mistrina finally met the finger maiden Hyetta.
She looked strikingly similar to Irina—blind, and dressed in the same manner. Hyetta told her she was traveling in search of the Light of the Other Shore, and asked if Mistrina carried any Shabriri Grapes.
When Mistrina produced the item, she was horrified to discover that the so-called "grape" was actually—someone's eyeball.
And what shocked her even more—Hyetta ate it without hesitation, believing it to be a literal grape!
Even after Mistrina revealed the truth, Hyetta didn't stop. She claimed that by consuming these "grapes," she could sense the guiding light of the Other Shore more clearly.
Seeing this frail, blind girl's obsession, Mistrina swore she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. This time, she would protect her—no matter what.
And so, Mistrina became Hyetta's bodyguard, traveling beside her and gathering more Shabriri Grapes along the way.
Yet the further they went, the more uneasy Mistrina became.
She didn't know what this "Light of the Other Shore" truly was—but something about it felt wrong.
"Thank you, my lady," Hyetta said softly, trembling but smiling. "I can already feel the Light of the Other Shore. It's waiting for me, just ahead… Let's go."
With that, she took another step forward.
Mistrina hesitated for a moment—then followed.
No matter what lay ahead, she would protect this girl to the very end.
(End of Chapter)