Lucian looked at the Ghostflame Dragon before him and, after a long time without using it, cast Litany of Proper Death toward the waters ahead.
As the sacred seal in his hand lit up, a golden pattern of holy script spread rapidly across the lake's surface.
The power of the incantation soon reached the dragon's feet.
When the light of Proper Death swept over it, the decayed matter clinging to the Ghostflame Dragon began to break apart and fall away, and it let out a strained, pained roar.
Seeing how strongly it reacted, Lucian confirmed his judgment, this dragon was indeed one of Those Who Live in Death.
As the Ghostflame Dragon charged toward him, Lucian remained calm. He took out the secret treasure he had obtained from the Tower Settlement, the twinblade Euporia.
A good chance to test it.
The dragon closed in rapidly, its skeletal wings crashing down with immense force.
Lucian poured magic into Euporia, activating its inherent skill.
A faint golden glow spread along the blade as energy gathered.
He aimed it at the incoming wing.
Euporia floated before his palm, spinning at high speed and forming a radiant vortex.
The dragon's wing was caught in the spinning force, gradually breaking apart under the relentless rotation.
Only then did the Ghostflame Dragon realize something was wrong, its body faltering as it pulled back.
Seeing the effect of the skill, Lucian slightly revised his opinion of the weapon.
Though… this "skill" really did feel like just spinning it very fast.
Still, the holy damage was decent.
By normal weapon standards, it was respectable.
But as a +9 weapon and a so-called treasure of the Tower, it was only just acceptable.
Compared to something like the Starscourge Greatsword at the same level, it was clearly lacking.
At that moment, the guardian spirit formed from the horned crone's son opened its mouth, releasing wave after wave of vengeful spirits from within its skull toward the dragon.
The Ghostflame Dragon roared and exhaled a sweeping surge of cold ghostflame.
The summoned spirits were instantly wiped away.
'…What exactly are you guarding?'
Lucian leapt into the air, avoiding the incoming flames.
His body shifted fluidly midair, and Euporia left deep, clean marks across different parts of the dragon as he struck in succession.
As the fight continued, Lucian gradually became more familiar with this unusual weapon, his control improving.
Euporia cut cleanly through the dragon's heavily deteriorated body.
Even its hardened bones offered little resistance, and the parasites clinging to them were severed along the way.
If this had been an ordinary drake, it would have already fallen.
But as one of Those Who Live in Death, it could not be ended so easily.
In the end, Lucian leapt above the dragon. With a light tap of Euporia against its head, he pushed himself higher.
Then he aimed the blade downward at its spine and struck with force, driven by the momentum of his movement.
"Dragonfall."
A flash passed.
Lucian plunged into the lake, sending waves across the surface.
The Ghostflame Dragon's head separated and fell into the water along with the rest of its body.
Lucian raised his hand and cast Litany of Proper Death once more, extinguishing the ghostflame within it.
As the dragon's head was fully destroyed, its body quickly collapsed.
Its remains faded away, leaving behind only dry bones, as though time had passed in an instant.
Lucian watched the remains disperse.
This was the first time he had seen a drake become one of Those Who Live in Death.
And here, of all places, the Land of Shadow.
The implications were far more concerning than the creature itself.
Did this mean the power of Death had already seeped through the barrier separating the Lands Between and the Land of Shadow?
That was the real issue.
It seemed Death was spreading here as well. Something to keep in mind.
Just as Lucian was about to leave, something among the remains caught his attention.
A large, pale, stone-like scale.
His eyes widened.
This… was a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone?
He stepped forward and picked it up.
The faint text before him confirmed it.
It really was one.
Lucian held the stone, momentarily stunned.
This place was truly strange.
Inside the Tower Settlement, the items had been unimpressive—throwing knives, mushrooms, low-tier stones.
Yet out here, a single drake yielded something like this.
Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones were among the rarest materials in the Lands Between, treasured wherever they were found.
It wasn't that people didn't want to use them, they simply couldn't. Most smiths lacked the ability.
Weapons strengthened with such materials could be considered god-slaying armaments.
Lucian had searched for a long time in the Lands Between and barely found any.
Only after destroying Mohg's dynasty had he obtained one they had kept enshrined.
And now, in a remote lake, he got one so easily.
Was that really reasonable?
And why would a drake carry something tied to an Ancient Dragon?
Lucian sighed and stored the stone.
Now that he had it, he needed to think about how to use it.
Among his weapons, only the paired Starscourge Greatswords and the newly acquired Euporia had reached +9.
Since the greatswords came as a pair, upgrading them together clearly wouldn't be as simple as in the game.
Compared to the uncertain Euporia, enhancing the Starscourge Greatswords to their peak seemed like the better choice.
With that decided, Lucian planned to return to the Roundtable Hold later and consult Master Hewg.
Though whether the old blacksmith could currently forge such a weapon… remained uncertain.
After putting away the stone, Lucian turned toward the cave entrance in the mountainside.
A rusted iron gate sealed it tightly.
Cold air seeped out from within.
He summoned a cluster of starlight above his head to illuminate the path.
Then, with a single kick, he broke the gate and stepped inside.
The prison had been carved directly into the mountain. The passage ahead was narrow.
Multiple heavy metal gates blocked the way, layer after layer.
Lucian broke through them one by one as he advanced.
The torches burned with cold ghostflame, casting a pale light.
All of the gates had been intact before his arrival.
It seemed that even during the crusade, this place had gone unnoticed by Messmer's forces.
The prisoners inside had neither been freed nor discovered.
Otherwise, the path would already be open.
After breaking through the final barriers, Lucian entered the true interior.
A vast hollow space opened within the mountain.
Looking up, he saw frost-covered rock and thick icicles hanging down.
A crack above let in a faint trace of light, offering a slight illusion of warmth.
Ice crystals drifted through the dim space, glimmering faintly like stars.
Following them, Lucian noticed large jars suspended in the air by heavy chains.
He touched his chin.
Why hang jars like that?
Unable to understand, he shook his head and looked ahead.
A rough spiral path extended along the cliffside, while below lay a deep abyss.
The bottom was hidden by blue mist.
Along the walls were tightly packed prison cells, sealed with iron bars.
There were also many suspended metal cages, the same ones he had seen near the lake.
Inside them were dried hornsent corpses, their limbs hanging out through the gaps.
Unlike these, many of the cliffside cells were open.
Some prisoners had already left.
Strangely, those hornsent were also in shadow form.
Lucian rested his head on one hand, studying this.
If only those affected by the crusade had become shadows, it would make sense.
But these prisoners might not even know what happened outside.
At most, they would have realized no one came anymore.
And if all hornsent changed this way, then why hadn't others—like the crone, warriors, or those with Leda, become shadows?
'Could it be a choice?'
At the moment their prayers were answered… did something appear before them, like a prompt—?
"…Do you wish to understand life… cough… do you wish to become a shadow, and continue to exist?"
Lucian chuckled softly, dismissing the stray thought, and continued walking down the path.
From an opened cage nearby, a pitch-black, shadow-like hornsent suddenly lunged toward him.
Lucian simply shifted to the side. The creature missed him entirely and plunged straight off the cliff.
A drawn-out scream echoed upward, only to end abruptly with a faint, distant impact.
Though the bottom was hidden by mist, the sound made one thing clear, there was ground down there.
Lucian glanced around. Seeing nothing particularly noteworthy, he continued forward.
Before long, however, the path ahead had collapsed. The downward route was gone, replaced by a wide platform below.
Standing at the edge, Lucian looked down.
Quite a few prisoners had already escaped their cells. They were scattered across the platform, crouched low, digging frantically at the ground and stuffing whatever they found into their mouths.
Wooden crates, frozen solid, lay shattered across the area—broken apart, their contents long gone.
Lucian dropped down onto the platform and approached one of the hornsent who was lying prone on the ground, watching his movements.
The moment the hornsent noticed him, it froze, then stumbled backward in fear before fleeing in panic.
Lucian ignored it and looked at what it had been digging up.
The moment he saw it, he regretted getting closer.
What lay in the soil were plump, wriggling larvae, each about the length of a finger.
A layer of frost clung to their bodies, yet the cold had not stilled them, they continued to move sluggishly.
Looking around at the hornsent digging up these pale, swollen grubs and hastily eating them, Lucian felt his appetite vanish.
So this was their idea of a "snack"…
Shaking his head, he walked toward the narrow path leading onward.
The road ahead was extremely tight, like a narrow bridge, barely enough for two people to pass.
At the far end, two hornsent stood watching him closely.
As Lucian approached, they immediately rushed onto the narrow path, attempting to block his way.
Lucian swung Euporia, the twinblade tracing a smooth arc as it spun before him, releasing a swift double slash.
A flash of steel passed.
The hornsent collapsed instantly.
At that moment, Lucian noticed a faint glow begin to gather along the blade.
This weapon… was gaining strength from the strike?
Without hesitation, he rushed toward the second hornsent, Euporia already in motion.
The twinblade spun rapidly, its arcs of light weaving into a dense, continuous pattern. The hornsent could not withstand it and fell apart under the relentless assault.
With each successive strike, the glow on Euporia grew brighter.
By the time the fight ended, both ends of the weapon shone with a vivid golden light.
Euporia had fed on what it took in battle, drawing energy from it.
The once dull, withered blade now seemed to regain a hint of vitality, like a tree beginning to sprout anew.
Sensing the gathered power, Lucian activated the weapon skill again.
Euporia floated before him, spinning as magic poured into it, forming a golden vortex.
A brilliant surge of light shot forward in an instant, flowing like a radiant current.
Everything in its path was swept aside, unable to withstand its force.
Feeling that surge of power, Lucian couldn't help but feel a spark of excitement.
So this was how the twinblade was meant to be used.
It needed to draw from its foes to restore its strength.
When the vortex faded, the blade dimmed once more, returning to its half-withered state.
Lucian now understood why the Ghostflame Dragon hadn't empowered it.
As one of Those Who Live in Death, it lacked the vitality Euporia needed to draw upon.
And from what he could tell, that earlier burst hadn't even been its limit.
There was still a higher threshold it could reach.
Perhaps, against stronger foes, after gathering more of that energy, it could unleash something even greater.
He found himself wondering just how far that power could go.
The energy he had just felt was strangely familiar.
There was no doubt, it was the power of the ancient Erdtree.
The very force born when the Greater Will's falling star merged with the primordial Crucible of life in the Lands Between, the origin of the Erdtree itself.
It seemed likely that Euporia had been forged from something tied to that source.
Its current half-withered state further supported that idea. It truly resembled a fading tree.
Perhaps, if he could one day obtain the abundant vitality of Miquella's Haligtree, he might be able to fully restore it, returning it to a state of constant brilliance.
Putting Euporia away, Lucian continued deeper into the prison.
He explored the interior for quite some time, but found little of value.
Aside from shadowed hornsent and lifeless remains, there was nothing of note.
At last, in a small room deep within, he encountered a hornsent spirit.
It knelt on the ground, trembling, repeating the same words over and over:
"Oh please. Not the jar...Anything but that!"
"I promise. I won't ever do it again!"
"I swear - a living saint I'll surely be!"
"Please... you must forgive me. Forgive me, please."
The spirit shook uncontrollably, the fear from its life lingering even after death.
After listening for a while, Lucian frowned slightly.
Jars… was it referring to those outside?
What did that even mean?
What could be inside them that inspired such fear?
…No.
Lucian paused, a thought forming.
If this was a prisoner, then what terrified him most would likely be punishment within this place.
Just like solitary confinement or other methods used in prisons, the "jars" might be a form of punishment unique to the hornsent.
Leaving the room, Lucian soon found himself facing numerous massive jars suspended by chains.
Together, they formed a descending path.
He glanced at the sealed jars below, each tightly closed.
Jars… a tool of punishment? A place? Or something else entirely?
Rather than speculate further, Lucian simply descended, reaching a wooden platform below.
Just as he was about to search for anything useful, one of the overturned jars nearby suddenly moved and lunged toward him.
Lucian stepped aside, avoiding the impact. The jar crashed to the ground and shattered on its own.
From within, a strange figure emerged.
It resembled a compact mass with thin limbs extending from it.
Lucian instinctively thrust his blade forward.
But the moment he saw it clearly, he abruptly stopped, pulling his strike back before it could land.
He stared at the figure struggling to rise.
Pale hair. Pale skin. A tall, slender frame.
Those features alone were unmistakable.
There was no doubt about it.
This… was one of the Numens.