After a while.
Lloyd returned to the clearing where he had just been with Alice and rejoined the others.
Since he had spent quite some time with her, by the time he came back, Godwyn had already managed to calm Morgott down. Though the younger brother hadn't completely worked through his turmoil, at least he no longer seemed on the verge of self-destruction.
After soothing Morgott, Godwyn turned to Miquella, explaining what had happened during that time and filling him in on some background information about Lloyd.
Miquella already knew a bit about him—he had even recognized his identity the moment he opened his eyes—but he had never actually met him. Most of what he knew was secondhand, hearsay passed along from others.
He was aware that Lloyd was a legendary Tarnished who had gathered many Great Runes, but he lacked any detailed understanding and was genuinely curious. So when Godwyn began to recount everything, he listened closely.
Then...
Miquella's eyes widened.
Seriously, what.
He could understand embracing the Albinaurics—that much made sense. After all, he himself had once considered doing something similar.
Tolerating the Formless Mother was pushing it, but after a moment of disbelief, he could accept it, barely. That one, for all her extremity, still had something of a "motherly" side.
But the Frenzied Flame...
"Brother, you're kidding, right?"
Miquella couldn't even picture how one could possibly "embrace" Frenzied Flame.
Godwyn sighed, looking conflicted.
"Honestly, I wish I were joking. But no."
He hesitated, then added,
"And it's not just 'tolerance.' To be exact... he defiled the Frenzied Flame. And with its incarnation... he's in that kind of relationship."
Miquella was stunned.
For the first time, he understood how those in the Haligtree who had thought him "too accepting" must have felt.
You might be just a bit too tolerant.jpg
After some time, he recovered his composure and continued talking with Godwyn, learning more about Lloyd and his unique brand of "tolerance."
In the end, even without delving into every detail, Miquella couldn't help but sigh. Compared to Lloyd, his own compassion and inclusiveness seemed almost narrow.
This gentle Empyrean... it should have been him instead.
...
Not long after their talk, Lloyd had finished dealing with his affairs and returned, taking a moment to confirm the situation.
Once he was sure everything was stable, they began discussing what to do next.
The first topic was Miquella.
"I... don't want to go back to the Haligtree."
His gaze wavered as he spoke, like a child afraid to go home after doing something wrong. Remembering all he had done, Miquella couldn't bring himself to face that place again. He had strong feelings for the Haligtree—and for the people within it—but that only made it harder.
During his earlier conversation, he had also learned that Lloyd had taken over his Haligtree. Strangely enough, he didn't mind. In fact, he felt relieved.
Though he had founded it, Miquella knew full well he was never meant to lead. He couldn't even manage the Golden Needle Knights, and his failures had driven Leda to her extremes.
After everything he'd done—after all the irreversible harm—he didn't believe he had any right to that role anymore.
Besides, ever since realizing he had become the bystander in the trolley problem—the one forced to weigh human lives on a scale—he had come to hate that position. He just wanted to disappear somewhere quiet.
Godwyn thought for a moment, then turned to Lloyd.
"Then let him come with me."
The Golden Order Dynasty was in shambles and needed rebuilding. One of his brothers was running the Dynasty of Blood, and the other had withdrawn into silence over the Hornsent.
In such a state, Godwyn needed capable help. Miquella was soft by nature, but he was competent and level-headed. Maybe not fit to rule, but perfect as a supporting hand—someone who could share the weight.
Lloyd agreed without objection. After nodding, he even pulled Trina out from his inventory to introduce her to Miquella.
But that was all it was—an introduction.
Though the two had once been halves of the same being—and unlike certain village maidens and redheaded warriors, they weren't enemies, even having a decent relationship—one would think such a reunion after so long would spark heartfelt words.
Yet... nothing.
"Apart from matters concerning Malenia, we've hardly ever spoken."
Miquella gazed at the small purple flower resting on Lloyd's shoulder, fell silent for a long moment, then let out a deep sigh.
"Because she truly never wakes up. Even if I wanted to call her out to take my place, I couldn't..."
Lloyd understood that feeling all too well.
Trina had been with him for a long time, yet even after obtaining the Dream Nail, the number of times she'd awakened could be counted on one hand—and most of those were because he'd forcibly roused her. She was, in every sense, on the verge of eternal sleep.
After arranging for Trina and Miquella to meet, Lloyd then asked if he wanted to see his sister.
Faced with the suggestion, Miquella hesitated for a while before shaking his head.
"It's my fault that Malenia became like this. I have neither the face nor the courage to meet her again... And my brother told me that you've been taking good care of her. So from here on, I'll leave her in your hands..."
Lloyd didn't insist.
After all, the golden flower and the purple flower were now bound items. When he had summoned the purple one earlier, the golden flower hadn't appeared. That alone suggested that Malenia herself probably didn't know how to face her sibling if they did meet.
"Then we'll leave it at that for now."
With that nod, Miquella's matter was settled.
Next was Godwyn.
As the former Crown Prince of the Golden Order Dynasty, Godwyn had never liked overworking—he even had a bit of a lazy streak—and resurrection hadn't changed that. The last thing he wanted was to inherit the Golden Order's crumbling mess.
But the problem was, he had no choice.
His mother still hung in the heavens, his father's whereabouts were unknown, and while Morgott had once held things together, he'd now locked himself away because of the Hornsent incident.
In such a state, without someone to step forward and take command, the Golden Order wouldn't even need enemies—it would rot from within.
Still, Godwyn didn't intend to lead for long.
The situation was clear. Even if his father returned, Lloyd was destined to become the next Elden Lord. Both his strength and his nature—aligned with the Law of Compatibility—made him more than capable of founding a dynasty far greater than the Golden Order.
Godwyn's role wasn't to stubbornly maintain the fading light like Morgott once did, but to give the Golden Order a dignified end and lay a foundation for Lloyd's coming reign—a gesture of gratitude for the help he had received.
Aside from preparing to help with the rebuilding, Godwyn had also acquired something after his resurrection.
It was precious, but useless to him—so it made for a fitting gift.
[Acquired Incantation: "Death of Gold"]
[An incantation held by Godwyn the Golden]
[When used, transforms the caster into a "Those Who Live in Death" form, increasing physical resistance]
[Upon death, if left unharmed for a short time, the user can resurrect on the spot and becomes immune to Death Blight]
[However, resistance to holy attributes greatly decreases]
[It is said that in his final moments, Goldwyn glimpsed true death]
[It was the most terrifying curse]
[And the most beautiful blessing]
The moment Lloyd saw the incantation, he immediately knew where it was meant to be used.
[City of Deathrot · Stormveil (Mid Level)]
[World State: Total Disorder]
[Special Domain: City of Deathrot]
[City of Deathrot: Greatly increases Death Blight efficiency, drastically boosts revival speed for Those Who Live in Death, and inflicts Death Blight with their attacks]
This was a dungeon Lloyd had unlocked long ago after clearing the Rot City.
However, since every section of the map was drenched in Death Blight, he'd never found a way to enter—until now. With this incantation, entry was finally possible.
Souls games really loved doing this, didn't they? Hand you a locked path early on and make you wait until late-game for the key item.
Shaking off the thought with a sigh, Lloyd stored the incantation and looked up at Godwyn.
Beside him stood the white-scaled Dragon Lady, doing her best to keep a calm face, though anyone could tell she was panicking inside.
When Lloyd's gaze turned toward Fortissax, Godwyn's own expression wavered. He cleared his throat and cautiously asked,
"Um... the three meters and five minutes rule... really can't be—"
"No."
Lloyd's reply was firm and immediate.
Sure, he could have loosened the restriction if he wanted to—but first, it would've been a hassle.
And second...
If he fixed the problem for them, who would supply his entertainment?
"Oh, right."
Speaking of the Golden Order Dynasty, Lloyd suddenly remembered someone.
Wait—short on manpower, aren't they?
"Hold on a sec."
With that, Lloyd used a long-unused teleport to the Roundtable Hold and pushed open the door to The All-Knowing's office.
He hadn't been there for quite some time, having been busy dealing with the Great Gulch and everything happening inside his dungeon. Although he'd handed The All-Knowing a golden branch before, between his own work and the poor connection in the Shadowlands, Lloyd hadn't visited—or interrogated—him in ages.
At that very moment, The All-Knowing had just been talking to Dolores, remarking that he'd gotten so used to Lloyd's outrageous remarks that not hearing them lately felt oddly unsettling.
After all, for all his wild talk, Lloyd's information was never lacking—if anything, it was too much, often so overwhelming that The All-Knowing couldn't process it all at once.
Having grown accustomed to Lloyd's chaotic but efficient way of delivering intel, he had recently started to feel that his own methods of research and analysis were, frankly, inefficient.
And just as he was thinking that—Lloyd walked in.
The All-Knowing's words immediately died. Without a second thought, he instinctively cast a full set of buffs on himself.
Habits were habits. Reflections were one thing, survival instincts were another.
Yet, to his surprise, Lloyd wasn't here to rant or fact-check anything this time.
"You seem to have some free time lately. Interested in taking a job?"
A job?
Both The All-Knowing and Dolores froze.
Lloyd went on to explain the situation: the Golden Order Dynasty was in the middle of reconstruction and needed people to help manage and rebuild. Conveniently, one of his friends was overseeing the work and could use an extra pair of hands.
Morgott, obviously.
The All-Knowing caught on immediately. After a moment's consideration, he nodded and agreed.
After all, he had once been a loyal servant of the Golden Order. The only reason he'd stayed here all this time was to study Queen Marika's ideals.
But after Lloyd's repeated informational "crits"—regardless of how much he'd actually learned—Lloyd had practically dismantled Marika's mysteries himself. There wasn't much point theorizing anymore; he might as well go ask her directly.
With that decision made, and knowing he was about to meet his new superior, The All-Knowing decided that showing up covered in random buffs wouldn't be appropriate. He dismissed them one by one, and then—
"Yo, The All-Knowing. Long time no see."
Godwyn greeted him with a casual smile.
The All-Knowing: "...What?"
Reeling from the shock of Godwyn's revival, The All-Knowing took a moment to process and then glanced around, realizing that something about the surroundings felt distinctly off.
"Where... is this?"
"The Land of Shadow," Lloyd replied, pausing before adding, "More specifically, the Spiral Tower region—the site of the Gate of Divinity. See that? That's the Gate itself."
Following Lloyd's gesture, The All-Knowing looked—and his mind short-circuited again.
When he finally recovered from that shock and tried to speak, another realization hit him.
"Um... the one standing beside Lord Godwyn..."
"That's Fortissax."
Three consecutive shocks. Truly world-shattering.
After watching The All-Knowing's mind melt for a third time, Lloyd thought for a moment before speaking again.
"Oh, right. Speaking of the Gate of Divinity, I'm planning to make use of it..."
Of course, not to become a god.
After all, even if it could grant him divinity—assuming he even wanted that—it was still smaller than the corpse piles he used to build for fun back in the day. If piling corpses was enough to achieve godhood, he would've ascended countless times since arriving in the Lands Between.
So if not to become a god, then what exactly did Lloyd plan to do with it?
"I intend to use the Gate to connect the 'Dungeon' with 'reality.'"
Hamlet's domain was nearly complete. After long preparation, the population and resources there were abundant, and the surrounding resource points had been almost entirely cleared. The next step was expansion—consuming other dungeons.
But that wasn't simple. Lloyd's goal wasn't just to bring other dungeons under his control; he wanted to reconstruct the world that had turned to ash.
To do that, a dungeon couldn't remain just a dungeon. It needed to become a real world.
The simplest way was to link it to reality—to anchor it through some node that would stabilize its existence until it evolved into a true, physical world.
None of those present objected to Lloyd's plan. After all, the Gate of Divinity wasn't theirs to begin with.
As for its true master, Horned...
"What do you plan to do with them?"
"Nothing."
Lloyd's attitude toward the Hornsent was largely indifferent. They might be stubborn and a bit strange, but compared to the things he himself had done, their actions were little more than a drizzle in a storm.
Besides, with Messmer regaining his senses and the witches recovering, the fall of the Hornsent civilization was only a matter of time. Even without Messmer, from everything Lloyd had seen along the way, it was clear that their civilization had already collapsed long ago.
What remained were not dying embers, but cooling corpses. Even if Messmer never struck them down, they would still wither away on their own.
And beyond that, linking a dungeon to reality would inevitably affect the surrounding area near the "connection point." It wasn't impossible that things from within the dungeon might slip through the gateway. What might happen then...
"In any case," Lloyd said, "I'll have someone explain the situation to them."
"If they choose to leave, I won't stop them. If they'd rather stay and perish with what remains of their civilization, I'll respect that too."
"I only hope they understand what it means to stay—and what they'll be facing if they do."
With just those few words, the fate of the Hornsent was decided.
...
After discussing the Gate of Divinity and the matter of the Hornsent, there was only one thing—or rather, one person—left for Lloyd to deal with concerning Miquella.
"Well, Miquella... Leda is in Shadow City right now. There are also a few of your followers active in the area..."
At the mention of Leda's name, Miquella's body tensed. He fell silent for a while before speaking softly.
"This..."
After a long pause, Miquella took out an item and handed it to Lloyd.
"Since you've already taken charge of the Haligtree, and I no longer have the face to see them again, I'd like to ask you to look after them. They're good people—they should be able to help you in some way..."
[Acquired Weapon: "Miquella's Sacred Seal"]
After a moment's hesitation, Miquella's tone shifted as he thought of someone.
"As for Leda... yes, she's extreme—too extreme—but I can't restrain her. In fact, it's because of my own failings that she became that way."
"So, I have one more favor to ask. If you can... please help her return to normal, even if only a little. I'll do my best to repay you afterward..."
Lloyd considered it briefly, then nodded.
"Alright. I'll see what I can do."
After settling how to handle Leda, and since everyone had their own duties to attend to, they chatted for a bit longer, confirming the final details. Then Lloyd sent them back to their respective places one by one.
As for himself, once everyone had gone, he paused to think, then opened the map and teleported to Shadow City—to the room where Leda was staying.
Then...
After showing Miquella's Sacred Seal and briefly explaining the situation, Lloyd sat down in a chair, looking at the blonde knight before him with a faint smile.
"Miss Leda," he said.
"You don't want to never see Miquella again, do you?"