Melina had not mentioned her brother's name earlier.
According to her, her memories had not fully returned yet, some portions were apparently still sealed.
At the time, Queen Rennala had focused most of her power on breaking the seal of Melina's gloam eye, leaving many minor details untouched.
Of course, Rennala was no longer in a state where she could be communicated with properly, so it was entirely possible that Melina still carried deeper seals that Rennala had been unable to affect.
In short, Melina said that if she ever met her brother in person, she would definitely recognize him.
For the moment, Lucian assumed that the person in question was Messmer.
Messmer was a character who had never been mentioned in the game itself, and like Melina he was one of Marika's children whose name began with "M."
However, there was one detail that Lucian found particularly strange, something that kept nagging at him.
According to the Ancient King, Messmer possessed serpent-like traits and wielded flame.
Meanwhile, Melina bore the gloam eye and could wield Black Flame.
At present, the only thing that could be confirmed was that their mother was Queen Marika.
As for their father… that was much harder to determine.
Serpents.
Flame.
The Gloam Eye.
Black Flame.
Among these traits, the closest figure Lucian could think of was the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
Black Flame and the gloam eye went without saying, and even the Godskin Apostles and Godskin Nobles possessed serpent-like tails.
The Gloam-Eyed Queen actually satisfied three of those characteristics at once.
'Wait…'
Could it be that Queen Marika and the Gloam-Eyed Queen had somehow gotten together… and then produced these two?
Lucian shook his head repeatedly, drawing a puzzled look from Melina.
However, Melina assumed Lucian was simply deep in thought about her origins and didn't interrupt him.
Lucian quickly dismissed that idea.
The possibility was far too small, it was better treated as nothing more than a joke.
Thinking about the Anchor Ring he possessed, and its ability to incorporate many different powers.
Another possibility suddenly occurred to him.
Could it be that Marika had defeated other Empyreans, then used their powers to create offspring?
Children not born through natural means, but deliberately created with the powers of defeated enemies in order to fulfill some purpose.
Perhaps Messmer, like Melina, had been born carrying some kind of mission.
…Forget it.
Better not think about that for now.
Lucian turned to look at Melina.
At that moment, Melina had secretly opened her gloam eye again while Lucian was thinking, peeking toward his chest.
When she noticed Lucian looking back at her, she quickly closed it again.
"What is it?" Lucian asked.
Melina reached out and poked Lucian lightly in the chest.
"That Miss Asimi… is she still inside your body right now?"
"With the gloam eye, it seems like I can see her."
"Don't you think you should properly introduce her to me?"
Lucian scratched his head.
After dealing with the avatars of Mohg and Morgott earlier, he had already called Asimi back inside.
The atmosphere in the bedroom tonight had been completely shattered by the series of interruptions.
Lucian had figured there was no way things could continue anyway, so he simply didn't let Asimi wander around outside anymore.
Calling out to her mentally, Lucian summoned Asimi.
Asimi's form slowly began to materialize in the room.
Once her body fully condensed, she looked at Melina and greeted her first.
"Ah, hello. We meet again."
"Sorry about earlier. I didn't deal with those strange guys quickly enough, so you two couldn't continue."
Melina immediately recalled the earlier scene and flushed red.
"N-no… it's fine."
"Important matters come first."
Asimi tilted her head slightly in confusion.
Wasn't mating considered an important matter?
It was an essential ritual for continuing life and expressing affection.
Humans really were difficult to understand.
Melina looked at Asimi carefully from head to toe.
Asimi's appearance was extremely similar to Lucian's, essentially a female version of him.
"Hmm…"
"Calling you his little sister does feel quite appropriate."
"Although… I didn't expect Lucian's female form would actually look quite nice."
Melina then turned her gaze toward Lucian.
"By the way… Asimi really stays inside your body all the time?"
"While I was gone, you went and made a decision like that on your own. You really are quite bold…"
"Even if I can tell she doesn't mean any harm, this is still a parasitic form of existence."
Lucian shrugged.
Of course he knew Asimi was harmless.
And the Mimic Tear's combat strength was extremely high. With her cooperation, things would become much easier in the future.
Melina sighed.
Lucian had indeed taken quite a reckless step this time.
But then again, none of Lucian's decisions so far had ever gone wrong.
Every strange place he visited somehow ended up yielding exactly what he needed.
Melina looked at Asimi and spoke with a gentle smile.
"My name is Melina. I travel together with Lucian."
"It seems we'll be spending quite some time together."
"Please take care of me."
—
Early the next morning, Lucian woke up and headed to the Roundtable Hold.
Today was the day he had arranged with Smithing Master Hewg to retrieve his upgraded weapon.
He had come to collect his strengthened Crystal Staff in preparation for the upcoming journey.
After paying Hewg the smithing fee, Lucian held the staff up and examined it carefully.
The appearance of the Crystal Staff had not changed at all.
It was still a pure, flawless crystal gem. Lucian had no idea how Somber Smithing Stones had been fused into it to strengthen it.
The staff was now upgraded to [+7], and the boost it provided to sorceries was far greater than before.
At present, it had become Lucian's best choice when casting magic.
After retrieving the Crystal Staff, Lucian immediately headed to another location within Stormveil Castle.
The Swordspear that Iji had crafted for him had also been completed.
This new Swordspear was even larger than the previous one.
Even when reduced to its smallest size, it was nearly as tall as Lucian himself, an astonishing length.
Lucian casually swung it a few times.
The feel in his hands was still excellent.
Yet during the swings, he could sense the differences between weapons crafted by two different master smiths.
Even though both were Swordspear of the same design, each carried a distinct style.
However, Lucian couldn't really describe what the technical difference between the two was.
As long as they worked, that was good enough.
Upgrading both weapons to [+7] had used up all of Lucian's Somber Smithing Stone [7].
Still, that wasn't much of a problem.
In the near future, he would gradually obtain even rarer smithing materials.
When that time came, he could upgrade all his weapons again.
At present, Lucian's most powerful weapon was the Starscourge Greatsword obtained from General Radahn, upgraded to [+9].
Most of his other weapons were currently around [+7].
A weapon upgraded to [+9] was already near the peak level of weapons throughout the Lands Between.
As for the Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone, it remained extremely rare, even rarer than it was in the game.
After all, those stones were scales taken from the Dragonlord.
Weapons strengthened to their ultimate limit using them could truly be called "god-slaying weapons."
And even if one possessed such a stone, the blacksmith still needed the skill to properly fuse it into the weapon.
Some purple-grade weapons might not even withstand the power of the Dragonlord's scales.
Ordinary weapons of lower quality had even less chance of becoming god-slaying weapons.
That said, there was also good news.
Once Lucian killed the Dragonlord, Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones would never be in short supply again.
How many god-slaying weapons could be forged would simply depend on how much energy old Master Hewg had left.
After storing both weapons away, Lucian headed to the reception hall of Stormveil.
A guest had already been waiting there.
When Lucian arrived, he saw the first visitor of the day:
Leda.
She had arrived early, hoping for an audience with Lucian.
But since he had gone out earlier that morning, the attendants had no choice but to ask her to wait in the reception hall.
When Lucian saw her, he paused for a moment.
Leda had removed her helmet and was sitting upright in a chair.
Upon seeing her face, Lucian was briefly stunned.
Not because of her beauty.
Although Leda was indeed beautiful, Lucian had already encountered many beautiful women during his travels.
What truly surprised him was that her appearance looked remarkably similar to a famous character from a long-running legendary franchise.
Artoria Pendragon.
Too similar. Far too similar.
With that face… was she secretly some version of the Knight King?
Combined with her resolute knightly aura and her radiant armor, the resemblance was uncanny.
If Elden Ring were a gacha game, Leda would absolutely be the kind of character who could drain players' wallets.
After his brief moment of surprise, Lucian quickly returned to normal.
In the end, it was only appearance, the person herself was entirely different.
When Leda saw Lucian arrive, she stood to greet him respectfully.
Soon, the two sat facing each other across the table.
Lucian assumed she had grown impatient and asked,
"Have you all run out of patience already?"
Leda shook her head.
"When we depart will be entirely according to your arrangements."
"I came today to determine a meeting location in the Consecrated Snowfield, and to discuss a plan in advance."
It was a reasonable suggestion, so Lucian gestured for her to continue.
"Lord Lucian… have you ever been to the Consecrated Snowfield?"
Lucian nodded.
"I've been there once before."
"The place was covered in dense fog, and the blizzards were so strong that they blocked my vision. I could barely see the road ahead."
"Later I found a small house and discovered a Site of Grace, but I never explored further."
"If I travel using the Grace, I could return directly to that location."
"The only problem is… I don't actually know where that place is."
After hearing his description, Leda thought for a moment before speaking again.
"I believe I know which place you visited."
"We call that area the Inner Consecrated Snowfield."
"The Consecrated Snowfield is filled with danger, and its history is extremely ancient, predating even the era of the Erdtree."
"Our exploration of the region hasn't even reached half of its full extent."
"And the Inner Consecrated Snowfield is considered one of the most dangerous areas in the entire snowfield. It's normally a place we should avoid."
After finishing her explanation, Leda smiled at Lucian.
"Of course, those dangers likely aren't a problem for someone like you."
"As long as you have a map, you should be able to leave the area easily. Otherwise, we can also come retrieve you."
"Please accept this map. It should prove helpful."
Leda took out a rolled-up parchment, untied the thin cord binding it, and spread it open before Lucian.
It was a map of the Consecrated Snowfield.
Clearly it had been drawn recently, the ink still carried a fresh sheen.
Most likely, Leda and the others had created it just last night.
The map marked numerous large natural landmarks, yet conspicuously omitted many of the more obvious architectural locations.
Places like Ordina, Liturgical Town were left completely blank.
Whether that was because they saw no need to mark them, or because they deliberately wished to conceal those places, Lucian couldn't be certain.
Still, having a map at all was useful.
At the very least, Lucian would now know roughly where he was.
After scanning the map once, Lucian looked back at Leda.
She had mentioned earlier that they could retrieve him from the Inner Consecrated Snowfield.
"Even with a map," Lucian said, "it would still be difficult to find where I was."
"From what I observed, the mountains and that ruined hut are both extremely remote."
"There weren't any particularly distinctive landmarks nearby either."
"So I'm curious, do you have a way to locate me under those circumstances?"
Leda seemed fully prepared for this question.
She took out another object.
It was a branch glowing with golden light, somewhat translucent, with several red petals growing from it.
The moment Lucian saw it, a hint of caution rose within him.
The shape of the branch resembled a Bewitching Branch, which forced him to stay alert.
Leda then produced another branch from her other hand.
It was nearly identical in appearance, just slightly larger.
She placed both on the table and began explaining.
"This is an item unique to the Haligtree."
"These branches always appear in pairs, tightly twinned together."
"It seems to have been influenced by the Haligtree itself, something born from the joint nurturing of Lord Miquella and Lady Malenia."
"Because of that, they embody the concept of 'twins.'"
"When the two branches are separated, they remain connected and begin to call to one another."
"By using these together with the map, we can easily find each other even in the vast Consecrated Snowfield."
Lucian picked up one of the branches and moved it away from the other.
Sure enough, a golden glow similar to the light of Grace floated out from the branch and pointed toward the other one.
The light formed a straight golden line between the two branches.
When Leda saw the golden line appear, she couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion.
It reminded her of the Golden Needle Knight's vow, the oath she had devoted herself to.
'To steady and ward away all things,
Lord Miquella binds us together with the needle.'
If everything went according to plan…
Soon they would once again behold the radiance of Lord Miquella.
Lucian studied the glowing line and understood the purpose of the branches.
He nodded.
"Alright. I understand."
"With these two branches, meeting up in the snowfield will indeed be easy."
"But there's no need to come fetch me."
"I can simply follow the branch's guidance and leave the Inner Consecrated Snowfield myself."
Since Lucian said he didn't require their help, Leda accepted it without objection, it would save them the trouble.
"Very well. When the time comes, we will wait somewhere conspicuous outside the Inner Consecrated Snowfield and guide you with the light."
"So then, Lord Lucian, when do you intend to depart?"
Lucian thought for a moment before deciding.
"Tomorrow."
"Let's all prepare today, and we'll meet in the Consecrated Snowfield afterward."
"Once we reach the portal to the Mohgwyn Dynasty, I won't interfere with whatever you choose to do."
A smile appeared on Leda's face as she stood.
"Understood. In that case, I will take my leave."
"I look forward to witnessing the moment Mohg dies."
Lucian remained seated in the reception hall rather than leaving immediately.
He sat there, lost in thought.
After some time, he summoned Selyra.
There were some matters he needed her to handle.
Selyra soon arrived from outside and stood before him.
Normally she didn't have much to do, only last night had given her some work.
Being summoned by Lucian after such a long time surprised her a little.
"You called for me?"
Lucian tapped the table lightly before speaking.
"There's something I want you to do."
"I'll give you the location of where the Black Knife Assassins are hiding."
"Go and bring them back."
The Black Knife Assassins themselves didn't know one another's hiding places.
The location Lucian possessed had originally been given to him by Ranni.
For various reasons, Lucian had never rushed to gather them before.
After all, they had each been hiding there for hundreds of years.
Waiting a little longer wouldn't have made much difference.
But now that Mohg and Morgott had dared to extend their influence into Stormveil itself, Lucian felt it was time to bring every usable force under his command.
He needed to gather his troops immediately.
The Black Knife Assassins were highly mobile, and those who had participated in the Night of the Black Knives could wield the power of Destined Death.
If they had been present during last night's attack, when Sanguine Nobles and Bloody Fingers infiltrated Stormveil, they could have quietly hunted them down across the castle.
Those invaders wouldn't have stirred up nearly as much trouble.
Even against the avatars of Mohg and Morgott, a coordinated strike using Destined Death from several assassins might have been enough to finish them.
Selyra accepted the order and prepared to leave.
But before going, she turned back and asked one more question.
"After I bring them back, do you have any specific instructions?"
Lucian thought about it briefly.
For the moment, there wasn't anything he urgently needed them to do.
"First check if any of them are injured. Treat all their wounds."
"After that, just like you did before, have them change into less conspicuous clothing."
"Then let them follow you around for now and get familiar with Stormveil Castle."
"Keep an eye out for suspicious individuals."
"When I need you to act, I'll give the order."
Selyra nodded.
She accepted the simple map Lucian handed her and silently set off.
Only then did Lucian leave the reception hall.
As soon as he stepped outside, he discovered that Melina had already been waiting there for quite some time.
"There's no one inside," Lucian said. "Why didn't you just come in to find me?"
Melina shook her head.
"I didn't have anything urgent to do anyway."
Lucian remembered their upcoming trip to the Consecrated Snowfield and asked,
"The Site of Grace we activated there before, can you still travel to it?"
Melina nodded with certainty.
"Of course. A Site of Grace binds to the soul."
"We went there together back then, so it naturally recorded both of us."
Lucian smiled and took Melina's hand.
"Then let's go."
"It's time to continue our journey."