In the ruins of what had once been known as the "Mohgwyn Dynasty," countless figures moved back and forth.
Before his last return to the Land of Shadow, Lucian had brought more than just a group of medical personnel from Stormveil.
Several sorcerers had accompanied them as well, along with a large number of Silver Knights responsible for providing security.
They had not gone with him into the Land of Shadow. Instead, they had remained behind in the Mohgwyn Dynasty to complete the tasks Lucian had assigned to them.
Following Lucian's instructions, the Silver Knights had already cleaned up the entire battlefield. The scattered remains of buildings had all been cleared away.
The sorcerers had gathered together and were currently constructing a teleportation gate connecting the ruins of the Mohgwyn Dynasty to the Siofra River.
As for the Silver Knights, they were now diligently patrolling the area back and forth.
Even though the streets were extremely quiet and deserted, they did not dare relax in the slightest.
Although there appeared to be no enemies around anymore, in reality, several Bloody Fingers had gradually returned during this period.
When the Mohgwyn Dynasty fell, all of the Bloody Fingers who had received the accursed blood felt it.
There were quite a few Bloody Fingers who simply could not believe that the Mohgwyn Dynasty had actually collapsed.
Only after these Bloody Fingers returned from various parts of the Lands Between through the power of the accursed blood did they finally give up completely and accept reality.
Once they saw that the Mohgwyn Dynasty had truly fallen and that their lord had died, the reactions of these Bloody Fingers varied.
Some immediately left after realizing that the situation had changed, cutting themselves off from their past.
Others were unable to accept it and went mad, desperately seeking revenge against the Silver Knights.
These crazed Bloody Fingers caused the Silver Knights some trouble.
That said, the Silver Knights were not pushovers either.
Most Bloody Fingers could only bully ordinary Tarnished, and even then, they had to pick off lone targets. They had simply gotten too used to beating up weaker opponents.
The Silver Knights, on the other hand, had all been selected from among powerful Tarnished.
After receiving additional training and being equipped with their specialized armor, their strength was no weaker than the knights serving the various lords' armies.
And every single one of them was a knight.
So, unsurprisingly, when those scattered Bloody Fingers returned one after another, it was basically a case of the Calabash Brothers going one by one to rescue their grandfather.
Not only were they not particularly powerful themselves, but once they found themselves surrounded by groups of Silver Knights and sorcerers, two fists simply could not fight four hands.
Not a single one escaped being captured.
Of course, there were also some powerful Bloody Fingers who were troublesome even when fighting alone.
For example, some Sanguine Nobles and Pureblood Knights who had slipped through the net.
And then there was a certain Mr. White Mask Varre.
White Mask Varre in particular was the most loyal of them all, and his strength was considerable enough to give the Silver Knights quite a headache.
The Silver Knights admitted that Varre was strong.
But suppose, just suppose...
More than a dozen Silver Knights stood in front of him with swords and shields.
Another dozen or so stood behind them, continuously firing greatbows.
What exactly was Lord Varre supposed to do about that?
And so Varre, riddled with arrows like a hedgehog, was unsurprisingly thrown into prison.
Varre had been the first person they captured, so he was also being guarded the most strictly.
The moment Varre sensed that Mohg had already departed this world, he stopped hiding and dodging Stormveil's wanted notices and desperately rushed back to the Mohgwyn Dynasty.
When Varre arrived at the Dynasty Mausoleum in a daze and saw the glorious dynasty of the past occupied by Silver Knights, he completely lost his mind.
The Silver Knights only remembered him shouting:
"Lord Mohg!"
"I came here to find Lord Mohg! What are you doing?!"
...
Watching the prison gradually fill up, the Silver Knights could not help feeling fortunate.
If all these Bloody Fingers had not returned one after another, they probably would have had a hard time dealing with such a large number of people.
That said, having so many prisoners was genuinely troublesome to deal with...
Lucian had not anticipated this situation beforehand, so he had never given them any instructions regarding what to do with captured Bloody Fingers.
Therefore, the Silver Knights had not taken matters into their own hands. They had simply captured every Bloody Finger they defeated.
If more people kept coming, they might soon run out of room to put them.
Fortunately, they would not have to worry about that for much longer.
...
As flashes of light appeared one after another, Lucian's figure materialized inside the Dynasty Mausoleum.
After setting foot in the Mohgwyn Dynasty once again, Lucian immediately rose into the air and looked down, inspecting the situation below.
Seeing that everything was proceeding according to the plans he had made, Lucian nodded in satisfaction.
The Mohgwyn Dynasty had already been cleaned up.
Once the teleportation gate was completed, he would have complete control over this passage connecting the Land of Shadow and the Lands Between.
One figure after another continued to emerge from the teleportation passage.
Melina's figure appeared immediately after Lucian.
Then came Rellana and the numerous Carian warriors.
The warriors from Caria looked up at the fantastical underground night sky, exclaiming in amazement at the spectacle.
Rellana, however, quickly realized where she was as she gazed at the dazzling false night sky.
"To think this is actually underground..."
"Caria's origins are also connected to the Nox dynasty. It really brings back memories..."
Melina turned around and smiled gently at Rellana.
"Yes. There is also an Eternal City nearby, although it is some distance from here."
"If you're interested, you can visit it later."
Rellana nodded.
She was indeed very interested, but not right now.
She turned around and began directing the army that had now completely arrived.
This time, every single Carian warrior had returned, including their troll and other allies.
Next, she would lead the warriors back to their homeland.
Lucian descended back to the ground.
A squad of Silver Knights immediately stepped forward and knelt on one knee, saluting and welcoming him back.
These Silver Knights had been specifically stationed in front of the mausoleum, where they were responsible for preventing anyone from approaching without permission. Lucian had granted them extremely high authority.
At the same time, they were also responsible for managing and overseeing this entire area.
Lucian looked at the Silver Knights before him and directly asked,
"Did you complete everything according to my instructions?"
The squad leader obediently lowered his head and answered truthfully,
"Everything has been carried out according to your will."
"The Silver Knights have now completely cleared this area. Nothing has been overlooked."
"At the same time, the sorcerers have also severed the teleportation passage at the cliff."
"The passage leading here from the Consecrated Snowfield has been closed and sealed."
"However... the teleportation gate to the Siofra River region is still under construction."
"The sorcerers have tried several times, but the locations have not been ideal, and they have yet to achieve the expected result."
Lucian nodded without saying anything.
The progress was not particularly slow, and this was not something that needed to be rushed.
As long as they continued working step by step, it would be enough.
Lucian looked at the Silver Knights before him and suddenly noticed that there appeared to be some scratches on their shields.
Moreover, the Silver Knight captain seemed to have something else he wanted to report.
So Lucian took the initiative and asked,
"Has anything else happened here while I was away?"
The Silver Knight had been considering when to make his report.
Now that Lucian had asked, he immediately answered,
"Yes. Actually, there have been frequent invasions by Bloody Fingers during this period."
"But because they were completely disorganized and came here one by one, we were able to capture them individually without suffering any losses."
"There were no fatalities, and all the wounded have already recovered."
"Oh, and among them was one of the wanted criminals you ordered us to capture, 'White Mask' Varre."
After hearing the Silver Knight captain's report, Lucian suddenly felt that things had become a little difficult to process.
It was not strange that the Silver Knights knew Varre.
A long time ago, when Lucian had first seized Stormveil, he had issued wanted notices for the Bloody Fingers.
But because Varre was the only one Lucian personally knew, he was the only Bloody Finger who had actually been named on the wanted notice.
As for others, such as "Bloody Finger" Eleonora and Okina, who was still alive at the time, Lucian had not issued wanted notices for them.
He had merely ordered everyone to remain vigilant and run if they encountered them.
If they were officially wanted and some overconfident Tarnished actually managed to track them down, they would simply be throwing their lives away.
Therefore, when the wanted notice for the Bloody Fingers was distributed throughout the Lands Between, Varre was the only one whose name and face were specifically listed.
He was practically impossible for anyone to miss.
But Lucian had not expected that, after so many people had searched for Varre without finding him, the man would eventually come straight back of his own accord and even get captured by the Silver Knights.
Well, this worked out nicely.
At least Lucian would not have to keep searching for him while Varre continued hiding everywhere.
Lucian briefly explained the situation to Rellana and asked her to wait with the army for a while.
Then he followed the Silver Knights toward the prison.
...
Varre lay inside a solitary cell, his entire body restrained by sturdy shackles, with only his head able to move.
As for his injuries, the power of the accursed blood had already allowed them to slowly heal completely.
At this moment, Varre stared blankly at the familiar ceiling.
Naturally, the Silver Knights had not constructed these cells themselves.
They were remnants left behind by the Mohgwyn Dynasty.
They were the prison cells built into the cliffs near the accursed blood swamp.
In the past, Mohg would lock away people he had taken an interest in but who refused to submit to him here, continuously defiling them with the power of the accursed blood.
If they still refused after a certain period of time, their stomachs would be cut open, allowing the accursed blood that had been cultivated inside them to flow into the blood pool.
But after Lucian had completely evaporated the accursed blood swamp, these cells had truly become nothing more than ordinary prisons.
In the past, when Varre had been abducted by Lord Mohg and brought to the Mohgwyn Dynasty, this seemed to have been the very same prison cell.
He remembered it clearly.
It was here, in this very prison, that he had received the power of the accursed blood and become completely devoted to Lord Mohg.
It could be said that this place held the love between him and Lord Mohg.
But now, the Mohgwyn Dynasty had been occupied by those detestable Tarnished, and this place had truly become the prison where he himself was being held.
Varre stared up at the rock above him, tears continuously welling up in his eyes and flowing from the corners, soaking the hair behind his head.
Varre refused to believe that Lord Mohg was dead.
How could such a brave and powerful lord have possibly died in battle?
And this had happened in the Mohgwyn Dynasty, Lord Mohg's own territory, where he could command practically endless amounts of accursed blood!
Varre simply could not imagine how Lord Mohg could possibly have lost under such circumstances.
He kept comforting himself in his heart.
Lord Mohg must have gathered the accursed blood and temporarily retreated to avoid the enemy's detection, waiting for the right opportunity to make his return...
Clack...
clack...
A set of footsteps different from those of the Silver Knights rang out, interrupting Varre's delusions.
The footsteps eventually stopped outside Varre's cell.
"Silver Knight-captured Varre, step forward!"
Varre struggled to turn his head.
And there, he saw Lucian's face, wearing a faintly amused expression.
When Varre saw that extremely familiar face standing outside his prison cell, his expression changed drastically.
Lucian looked at Varre, who had been placed under strict confinement and could barely move, and waved his hand.
"Long time no see, Varre."
"If I remember correctly, you were the one who said we would meet again someday."
"I just didn't expect it would take quite this long for us to meet again."
Facing this White Mask who had called him maidenless, tricked so many Tarnished and had almost tricked him as well, Lucian naturally had no intention of giving him some happy ending where he could wash away his sins and walk free.
There were some characters in this world who were good or neutral. Those were people Lucian could save.
As for certain others...
Lucian could only say he was sorry.
He had never shown mercy to his enemies.
With the culprit behind everything standing before him, Varre could not help recalling the first time he had met Lucian.
Back then, Lucian had merely been a young Tarnished who had just set out into the world.
If Varre had not recognized his potential, ten Lucians tied together would have been nothing more than prey for him to hunt down!
Varre's eyes turned bloodshot.
He gritted his teeth so hard that blood even began to seep from his mouth.
"You...!"
"I should have killed you the very first time I met you!"
"I could have done it! I really could have done it back then!"
Lucian shrugged without denying it.
When he had first arrived in the Lands Between, if he had really fought Varre head-on, there was a good chance he would have lost.
After all, at that time, even dealing with Godrick's soldiers had been difficult for him.
Varre was no weakling either.
Lucian might even have had to pull out the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow.
"Pity. Things that have already happened don't come with 'what ifs.'"
Varre stared wide-eyed and thrust his head toward Lucian, shouting,
"Where did you hide Lord Mohg?!"
"My Lord Mohg! Give him back to me! Give him back, waah..."
As he spoke, Varre's eyes nearly split open, and blood tears actually began flowing from them.
Lucian was somewhat puzzled by Varre's words, but he quickly understood.
"Mohg has already been killed by me."
"He was carrying the accursed blood inside his body. You should have known that."
"Oh, I see..."
"You simply don't want to believe the truth, do you?"
"You're really quite fond of deceiving yourself, aren't you? Just like that recruitment pitch of yours."
Lucian's words were devastatingly effective.
They pierced straight through every last one of Varre's defenses.
Varre immediately began gasping for breath before letting out a miserable howl in the midst of his overwhelming grief.
Seeing this, Lucian stroked his chin and delivered one more blow.
"Come to think of it, if it weren't for you, I might never even have learned that the Mohgwyn Dynasty existed."
Unfortunately, Varre was already completely immersed in his grief and had no mind to listen to Lucian anymore.
Lucian shook his head, reached into his spatial disc, pulled out a short sword, and tossed it into Varre's cell.
"Considering how truly loyal you were to Mohg, and how much love you held for him..."
"I'll show you one final act of mercy."
"I'll give you the right to continue following him and go to your death together."
"Even if you want to die by my hand, just like he did, I can help you with that too."
The short sword struck precisely into the gap between Varre's shackles, shattering them completely.
Varre's body was instantly freed.
Varre picked up the sharp short sword and immediately felt an intense sense of familiarity.
Because this short sword was none other than the Misericorde, the weapon used by the white-clad military physicians.
And Varre himself had once been a military physician, tending to people on the battlefield before ultimately being abducted by Mohg.
Medicine was founded upon mercy.
On the battlefield, mercy meant granting someone release.
And this was also the final mercy Lucian had granted him.
Varre stared blankly, lost in thought.
Finally, he stood up and walked to the door of the prison cell, looking outside.
But he couldn't see it...
So Varre slowly leaned backward instead, tilting his head beneath the bars above the cell and desperately looking outside.
This time, a satisfied laugh escaped his lips.
Just as he remembered, from this particular angle, he could barely glimpse a corner of the mausoleum at the top of the mountain.
That was the Mohgwyn Dynasty.
That was where his lord was.
After a while, Varre remained lying on his back.
With both hands wrapped around the short sword, he slowly and firmly drove it toward his heart.
Blood burst forth and splattered across his clothes, gradually blooming into a crimson rose.
Just like the bouquet-shaped weapon Varre had loved so dearly, the weapon most beloved by those who served the Lord of Blood.
This was the final time Varre would offer Mohg blood and flowers carrying his love.
"Haha... Lord Mohg..."
"May the Mohgwyn Dynasty be bathed in love...!"
"I... I..."
In the end, Varre never revealed what was truly in his heart.
As a subject, that love was disrespectful to his lord.
It would stain his lord's name.
So everything ultimately became nothing more than a quiet sigh, fading away together with Varre.