After hearing that Arthur did not dislike her, Ranni quietly let out a sigh of relief.
She looked at him and said softly:
"As long as my king is willing… any moment can become the right opportunity."
Those words struck Arthur straight in the heart.
Perhaps even Ranni herself didn't realize just how devastating that sentence was to him.
For a brief moment, Arthur genuinely had the urge to scoop her up over his shoulder and carry her straight back into the Zen Garden.
Still, he forcibly suppressed the impulse.
He nodded slowly.
"I understand."
"We'll talk about this properly after we return."
"For now, let's clean up Thanatos' corpse and finish handling the aftermath."
(Thanatos: Oh, thank you SO much for remembering I'm still here. Flirting beside my dead body is truly unbelievable!)
Ranni obediently stepped out of Arthur's embrace and stood quietly beside him.
Arthur walked over to Thanatos' corpse and placed his hand upon it.
Then he activated an ability known as Golden Absorption.
So-called "Golden Absorption" was the name Arthur gave to the Erdtree-derived trait within himself—the power to devour external energy and convert it into his own strength.
Its meaning was simple:
The Erdtree consumes all things.
Black streams of death energy began flowing from Thanatos' body into Arthur's hand.
Mixed within them were two additional energies—one crimson, one azure.
Life force.
And soul power.
Arthur had not expected those energies to remain intact even after Thanatos had been killed by Ranni.
Was that some unique property of gods?
He extended his spiritual perception and carefully inspected the corpse.
Soon, he discovered the abnormality within Thanatos' body.
His current state could best be described as:
The divine soul had perished.
But the divine body remained.
And that undying divine body was forcibly preserving the shattered remnants of the soul imprint.
Ranni truly had killed Thanatos.
But what she destroyed was only the god's soul imprint.
If Arthur simply left the corpse untouched, then after countless years, a brand-new soul imprint might eventually form within the divine body.
At that point…
A new God of Death could potentially be born.
Arthur suddenly felt extremely fortunate that Melina had not accompanied him today.
If it had been Melina instead of Ranni, Arthur wasn't sure whether anything at all would have remained of Thanatos after being struck by the Black Knife infused with Destined Death.
After all—
Godwyn the Golden had become a soulless demigod because of that very power.
And Ranni herself had lost her Empyrean flesh beneath the effects of Destined Death.
Clearly, Destined Death was capable of completely erasing even divine beings.
Unlike Ranni's Fingerslayer Blade, which seemed specifically designed to destroy only a god's soul imprint.
Arthur suddenly remembered the Two Fingers Ranni had slain long ago.
Back then, after obtaining the Fingerslayer Blade, Ranni had murdered the Two Fingers beneath Manus Celes.
At the time, Arthur had been confused.
If the Two Fingers were already dead, why hadn't they returned to the Erdtree?
Now, however, he finally understood.
That corpse had likely existed in the same state as Thanatos' current body.
Once he realized that, Arthur decided that when he had spare time, he would return and inspect the corpse of the Two Fingers personally.
And while he was at it…
He would destroy the body completely.
Otherwise, a new soul imprint might someday be born within it, creating an entirely new Two Fingers.
While Arthur was lost in thought, the absorption process had already completed.
This time, the sensation of fullness he experienced far surpassed anything before.
It felt as though his body itself was undergoing a massive transformation.
A metamorphosis.
And instinctively, Arthur knew this evolution would grant him enormous benefits.
Having lost all its power, Thanatos' divine body finally crumbled into fine ash and scattered throughout the Underworld.
Only one thing remained behind.
The divine authority belonging to the God of Death.
The invisible authority that Arthur had previously placed before Thanatos merged together with the newly released portion.
Then—
Without warning—
The authority flew directly toward Arthur and fused into his body.
Arthur blinked slightly in surprise.
Because the authority immediately transmitted a message into his mind.
This world required a God of Death to maintain the stability of the Underworld.
The implication was practically explicit:
"You must become the next God of Death."
Arthur instantly frowned.
He had absolutely no interest in becoming some kind of death god.
After all, the position came with severe restrictions.
A true God of Death was bound to the Underworld and could not freely descend into the mortal world.
Granted, the authority was still incomplete, so perhaps the restrictions were not yet absolute.
But Arthur had no intention of gambling on that possibility.
Especially because the remaining fragment of authority still existed inside Melina.
Who knew whether the moment he returned, that missing authority would automatically fly from Melina into him and complete the position entirely?
So gambling on "incomplete authority" was meaningless.
Just as Arthur was wrestling with the issue, he suddenly sensed a new presence appearing within the Zen Garden.
A strange…
Yet familiar…
Presence.
Strange because it had never entered the Zen Garden before.
Familiar because Arthur immediately recognized its owner.
Spirit Tuner Roderika.
Arthur had not expected her to arrive this quickly.
Her appearance likely meant that the Roundtable Hold had already burned completely.
At the very least, Master Hewg had almost certainly returned to the Erdtree by now.
Still—
Roderika's arrival suddenly gave Arthur an idea.
He immediately located her within the Zen Garden and condensed a projection of himself before her.
The moment Roderika saw him appear, she performed a proper noble curtsy.
"Lord Arthur, Roderika reports for duty!"
Then she hesitated slightly.
"Though… your current form is…?"
Only now did she notice that Arthur's body appeared translucent and illusory.
Arthur waved casually.
"My real body isn't here right now. This is only a temporary projection."
"I see."
Roderika nodded obediently before looking around the Zen Garden with shining eyes.
"Your private world is beautiful, my lord! May I ask where I'll be working?"
As she admired the scenery around her, she felt genuinely pleased with her future environment.
Compared to the gloomy and oppressive atmosphere of the Roundtable Hold, this place was far more comforting.
Unfortunately for her—
Arthur's planned workplace for her wasn't actually here.
Instead of answering directly, Arthur merely activated his authority over the Zen Garden.
In the next instant, Roderika was transferred before the stone gate connected to the Underworld altar.
Arthur pointed toward the gate.
"My real body is beyond that door."
"We'll discuss everything once you come through."
Roderika nodded without hesitation.
Then she stepped through the stone gate.
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