Silently watching Varre die for Mohg, Lucian shook his head.
Varre really was a difficult person to evaluate.
Lucian did not understand him, but considering how genuinely devoted he had been, he could at least give him some measure of respect.
As a former battlefield physician, Varre had undoubtedly been a normal person in the beginning. He could even be considered upright and kind.
It was only after he was abducted by Mohg that he was completely changed.
Mohg had abducted a large number of battlefield physicians in an attempt to bestow the power of accursed blood upon them.
However, no one was able to withstand the accursed blood.
The only exception was Varre.
Military physicians were not particularly powerful. In practically every respect, they could not compare to proper warriors.
Perhaps this had merely been one of Mohg's early experiments, where he randomly abducted some people to use as test subjects.
The result had unexpectedly led to the birth of someone like Varre.
After being subjected to what could practically be called torture through the injection of accursed blood, something strange seemed to awaken inside Varre.
He was simply... conditioned into submission.
It was impossible to tell whether this was yet another case of Stockholm syndrome, or whether Varre had genuinely accepted and longed for the Mohgwyn Dynasty that Mohg had described to him.
Regardless, from that point onward, Varre became utterly loyal and devoted, joining the Mohgwyn Dynasty and following and serving Mohg.
Could Varre's experience be described as tragic?
Perhaps it really was.
But Varre himself did not think so.
On the contrary, he had become completely intoxicated by it.
And regardless of what his experiences had been like, as a member of the Bloody Fingers, Varre had harmed countless Tarnished over the years.
Whether those Tarnished ultimately joined the Mohgwyn Dynasty or became nourishment for the Lake of Blood, neither outcome could be considered a good one.
His death now was simply the consequence of his own actions.
There was nothing worth sympathizing with.
The fact that Lucian had allowed him to end his own life with dignity was already the final mercy he could offer.
Still, just to be cautious, Lucian examined Varre one more time to make sure he was truly dead and was not attempting to fake his death and escape.
After all, although Mohg was dead, the power of the accursed blood still belonged to the Formless Mother.
Therefore, the Bloody Fingers had not lost their powers simply because their leader was gone. Like the blood creatures in the Land of Shadow, they could still use them.
Lucian checked Varre once more and confirmed that he was truly dead.
He really was loyal.
Even when it came to dying for love, he had been decisive.
Lucian waved his hand, and the Silver Knights behind him immediately stepped forward to await his orders.
"Dispose of the body."
"And then..."
Lucian turned his head and looked toward the other Bloody Fingers in the nearby cells.
These Bloody Fingers had been separated according to their strength and level of danger, divided into numerous groups with varying numbers of prisoners in each cell.
The stronger Sanguine Nobles and Pureblood Knights were almost all kept in two-person cells.
The ordinary Bloody Fingers, Ravenmount Assassins, and the like could only suffer the indignity of squeezing seven or eight people into a single cell.
Pairs of eyes hidden within the darkness of the prison cells contained all kinds of emotions.
Some bowed their heads humbly and begged for their lives.
But most were filled with hatred.
Anyone who had been able to return to the Mohgwyn Dynasty, look upon it one last time, and then launch a desperate attack was basically as devoted to the cause as they could possibly be.
Lucian's gaze swept over the Bloody Fingers, examining them one by one and memorizing each person's appearance.
Eleonora was not among this batch of Bloody Fingers.
That left Lucian somewhat disappointed.
"Bloody Finger Eleonora," the so-called Violet Bloody Finger, was an extremely dangerous figure even among the Bloody Fingers.
She was not someone an ordinary Tarnished could handle.
If he could have dealt with her here as well, that would have been ideal.
But after thinking about it, Lucian felt that he was asking for too much.
If Eleonora had actually come here, even if they had managed to capture her, the Silver Knights and mages stationed here would probably have suffered enormous casualties.
And the more likely outcome would have been that the Silver Knights and mages exhausted themselves without being able to defeat her.
Their individual strength was already far apart, and Eleonora was also an extremely agile fighter who could escape at any moment.
Against such an overwhelmingly powerful Bloody Finger, Lucian still hoped that his subordinates could live a little longer.
Of all the Bloody Fingers Lucian currently knew of, there were three who could truly be considered powerful, the kind that could not simply be overwhelmed through numbers.
The Ashura of the Land of Reeds, Okina.
The "Violet Bloody Finger," Eleonora.
And the "Pureblood Knight Captain", Sir Ansbach.
If he had to choose the strongest among them, Lucian believed it was the "Pureblood Knight Captain" Sir Ansbach whom he had encountered in the Land of Shadow.
From what Lucian had sensed at close range, Sir Ansbach should have been somewhat stronger than Okina.
But the difference was limited.
He was still at the level of a top-tier hero, without possessing the kind of overwhelming gap in strength that would place him in an entirely different category.
With the boost from the Scadutree Fragments, perhaps he had already touched the level of a demigod.
But so far, Lucian had never seen him truly display the full extent of his strength.
As for Okina, he was certainly powerful, but he was already dead, so there was nothing more to say about him.
As for Eleonora, Lucian had yet to encounter her.
However, based on her strength in the game's lore, Lucian believed she should be roughly on the same level as Okina.
But to this day, Lucian still had no idea what she wanted to accomplish, or what her relationship with Yura really was.
Whenever he thought about how stubbornly Yura had devoted himself to finding Eleonora, Lucian could not help sighing.
Lucian had once wondered whether, if he simply stopped the paths of characters who were destined to throw their lives away and kept them by his side, they might not die.
But in reality, probably none of them would have been willing to accept that.
The people of the Lands Between were more stubborn and obstinate than the last.
But that was also part of their charm.
In their hearts, there were always things that mattered more than their own lives.
So Lucian abandoned the idea of disregarding their convictions.
He respected their will and would not arbitrarily decide how they should live their lives.
All he could do was help when he was capable of doing so.
He could not possibly follow them around like a babysitter all the time.
...Hopefully, Yura would still be alive the next time they met.
After discovering that there was no one of particular interest among the Bloody Fingers imprisoned here, Lucian waved his hand and gave the Silver Knights their orders.
"Deal with all of them."
"Leave no one alive."
"They have no value."
Having given his instructions, Lucian simply turned and walked away.
Behind him, the sound of prison doors being opened soon rang out one after another, accompanied by an endless chorus of pleas for mercy and screams.
The territory of the Mohgwyn Dynasty was not particularly large.
Across most of the region, these frightened cries could be vaguely heard one after another.
The other Silver Knights continued patrolling the territory as usual.
The mages remained focused on constructing the teleportation gate.
Not a single person felt any sympathy for the screams echoing through the area.
The Bloody Fingers were enemies of the Tarnished.
They took pleasure in hunting down their own kind.
No one was going to feel sorry for them.
Otherwise, the blood shed by all those Tarnished and Bloody Finger hunters would have been spilled for nothing.
Before long, there was no more movement within the Mohgwyn Dynasty.
Everything once again returned to its former silence.
—
After finishing his inspection of the work being carried out throughout the Mohgwyn Dynasty, Lucian soon returned to Melina and Rellana.
There were quite a few Carian soldiers, far too many to fit inside the Mausoleum of the Mohgwyn Dynasty, so they had already formed up elsewhere.
When Lucian returned, Melina stood up and walked over to him.
"How did it go?"
"Was there anything unusual?"
Lucian shook his head.
"Nothing worth worrying about."
"I had the Silver Knights deal with the remaining Bloody Fingers."
"But seeing Varre did make me feel a little nostalgic. Time really does pass quickly."
Melina puffed out her cheeks slightly, muttering to herself.
Lucian had told her about meeting Varre before.
That had happened on the very day he first met her.
Yes.
Time really had passed quickly.
How long had it actually been?
Lucian was already practically on the verge of becoming Elden Lord.
Although Lucian's journey had certainly not been easy, and he had fought countless battles along the way, his rate of growth was simply ridiculous.
Just then, Rellana also walked over.
She looked at Lucian and asked,
"Is everything taken care of?"
"When can we roughly set out?"
Lucian looked behind her.
One by one, the Carian warriors had emerged from the teleportation gate and regrouped into formation.
All of the Carian warriors were now fully prepared.
They could depart at any moment.
Lucian nodded.
"We can leave now."
"I'll take you to the Siofra River basin on the other side first."
"Then we can use the underground well there to reach the Mistwood above."
"There are already roads that have been cleared through the Mistwood, so traveling from there onward will be much more convenient."
Rellana nodded in agreement. Having a road and having no road were completely different matters, and they would have a tremendous impact on the army's marching speed.
Lucian thought for a moment before continuing.
"I don't know if you have a clear idea of where the Mistwood is."
"The Mistwood is in Limgrave, southeast of Stormveil, near Caelid."
"After that, we'll head to Stormveil for supplies, then take the main road connecting Limgrave and Liurnia."
Ever since both Limgrave and Liurnia had fallen under Lucian's control, Stormveil had begun a massive reconstruction project.
The main focus was repairing the enormous bridges and roads that had once connected the two regions, with the goal of strengthening control over the surrounding territories.
The three largest reconstruction projects included:
The "Liurnia Highway," connecting Limgrave and Liurnia.
The "Gate Town Bridge," connecting the eastern shore of the lake with the Academy.
And the "Academy Main Gate Bridge," connecting the Academy with the Grand Lift of Dectus.
Before Lucian had left last time, these projects had already been completed one after another, while the remaining work was close to completion.
Judging by how much time had passed, they should all be finished by now and ready for use.
Although the diligent Grace-Given was no longer around to haul cement and do construction work, the Stormveil construction crew was still highly capable.
It could be said that all the roads that had been severed by the fires of war during the Shattering had now been reconnected.
Now, from Stormveil, one could travel directly along the convenient roads, setting out from the city gates and reaching the Academy, before heading straight toward the Grand Lift of Dectus beneath the Altus Plateau.
As Rellana listened to Lucian describe the route, she gradually formed a clear picture in her mind.
Although she had been isolated in the Land of Shadow for so long, the general geography of the Lands Between had not changed much.
Rellana chuckled softly before replying,
"Mm. The Carian warriors are ready to depart at any time."
"As for supplies, we brought plenty from Castle Ensis, so there should be no need to replenish them."
Seeing how eager Rellana was to return to her homeland, and with everything here already taken care of, Lucian immediately decided to set out.
Looking at the large Carian army before him, Lucian put the Divine Beast Head back on, using it to strengthen his storm.
His storm was already powerful, but there were quite a few hefty Trolls among the Carian warriors...
With the enhancement from the Divine Beast Head and the Enraged Divine Beast Talisman, Lucian's storm power reached its peak.
With a sweep of Lucian's arm, a magnificent and enormous tornado rose within the Mohgwyn Dynasty.
Almost instantly, the storm enveloped the isolated ruins, reaching all the way into the heavens.
Inside the tornado, an extremely gentle circulating current wrapped around the Carian warriors, forming an independent pocket of air.
Under Lucian's control, everyone floated steadily within it, without being tossed around chaotically by the tornado.
Lucian willed it.
Wind. Move.
The tornado immediately began moving at tremendous speed, heading toward the distant Siofra River basin.
Before long, the tornado crossed a vast distance and arrived at the edge of the Worshippers' Woods.
On one hand, it was because this was the closest location, and there was a very flat open area where the army could land without having to worry about damaging the surroundings.
On the other hand, Lucian also wanted to investigate the situation regarding the Ancestor Spirits.
The storm slowly dissipated, gently setting the warriors down on the ground. As it gradually vanished, it had astonishingly caused almost no impact on the surrounding area.
The moment he landed, Lucian spotted traces of a battle near the edge of the temple, along with the corpse of an Ancestor Spirit that had been half devoured.
Looking at the somewhat familiar bite marks, Lucian rubbed his chin.
It seemed he already knew who the culprit was...
Just then, a howl of wind came from the sky, and a massive pale figure rapidly descended in front of Lucian.
With a heavy crash, the creature landed, sending dust billowing through the air. Its entire form was revealed before everyone's eyes.
Seeing the enormous Ancient Dragon, the Carian warriors were startled and immediately prepared for battle, becoming extremely vigilant.
Even Rellana frowned, holding her two swords parallel in front of her as she assumed a combat stance.
Although her strength was formidable as well, an Ancient Dragon was no weak opponent. Taking one down would require a great deal of effort.
However, only a few seconds later, another sudden development left the Carian warriors completely bewildered.
They watched in astonishment as the enormous Ancient Dragon gradually transformed into human form, then obediently stood beside Lucian.
Selinsax clasped her hands together in front of her abdomen and bowed toward Lucian in greeting.
"Master, welcome back."
When she had seen the storm in the distance earlier, she immediately knew it had to be Lucian and hurried over.
Seeing Selinsax's behavior, the Carian warriors realized that she was an ally rather than an enemy. Somewhat awkwardly, they silently put their weapons away.
Seeing Selinsax Lucian became even more certain of his earlier guess.
"Selinsax, you're here?"
"If that's the case, then Sif must be nearby too, right?"
Normally, Selinsax was the one who took care of Sif.
Selinsax nodded and replied,
"Yes."
"Sif should be arriving soon..."
Before Selinsax could finish speaking, another trail of dust began rising from the distant Worshippers' Woods, where the ground had been carved into a path.
Along with the tremors caused by the enormous cyan beast running toward them came Sif's excited cry.
"RUA!"