Lucian studied the map for a long time before finally settling on a likely location.
When he had spoken with the Finger Reader Crone, they were at the Gate Town Bridge before the Academy. Directly south of that lay only the southern reaches of Liurnia—and beyond that, the Moonlight Altar.
Clearly, Godwyn's followers would not be able to ascend to the Moonlight Altar to conduct prayers or rituals.
If that was the case, then "south" likely referred to the southern reaches of the Lands Between as a whole.
By that reasoning, the most probable place was the Weeping Peninsula.
On the Weeping Peninsula stood a Wandering Mausoleum, guarded by numerous headless soldiers. In addition, many more headless soldiers were stationed across the nearby plains, some even standing watch before the Fourth Church of Marika.
Because of that, Lucian decided his destination would be the Tombsward Catacombs on the Weeping Peninsula.
The boss there was known to drop a legendary spirit ash—Lhutel the Headless.
If there was truly any narrative connection, it would most likely be there.
—
Lucian donned his restored Nameless King's Dragonscale Set and used a Site of Grace to teleport to the Church of Pilgrimage.
From there, directly ahead stood a towering Minor Erdtree.
Using the Minor Erdtree as a landmark, Lucian summoned Torrent and galloped toward it.
Before long, he reached the slope near the tree.
But instead of climbing upward, he veered right, descending along a gentle incline while searching carefully.
Ancient stone pillars dotted the landscape here, the remnants of a long-lost civilization.
From memory, the catacombs should be near these ruins.
Among the scattered pillars, Lucian finally located the narrow entrance to the underground tomb.
Passing through a tight stone crevice, he pushed open the heavy doors.
The moment he stepped inside, two headless soldiers attacked from left and right.
Lucian seized each of their swords in one hand, twisted sharply, and slammed them together.
Then he raised his hand and pressed it against one soldier's chest.
In the next instant, a beam of gravitational energy burst forth from his palm, piercing straight through both of their bodies.
As the headless soldiers collapsed, Lucian flicked his wrist.
The gravity laser had been something he had discovered by accident during his studies. It wasn't a technique typically used by the Alabaster or Onyx Lords—instead, it resembled the abilities of beings like Astel.
After discovering it, he had deliberately practiced mimicking those starborn techniques.
The white dwarf fragment within him seemed to grant him a subtle affinity with cosmic lifeforms.
Not enough to transform him outright, but enough to enhance his talent and resonance with gravity.
Looking at the corpses on the floor, Lucian felt a flicker of surprise.
It seemed he had chosen the right place on the first try.
He continued downward, venturing deeper into the catacombs.
Soon, he encountered a side chamber sealed by an imp statue—requiring a Stonesword Key.
Without hesitation, Lucian inserted the key. The seal dissolved.
After clearing out the skeletal undead within, he picked up a Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook [9].
Ordinarily, crafting manuals did not interest him much. With his current position and resources, logistics were fully supported—he had no need to craft tools personally.
Unless the manual detailed something particularly rare, it would hold little value.
Fortunately, this one did.
It described the crafting of a Rancor Pot.
In ancient times, death was said to undergo a purification of the soul. Ancient death hex were believed to be the residue left after ghostflame burned away the soul.
This pot allowed one to summon a swarm of vengeful spirits to attack enemies, closely tied to ghostflame and death.
Lucian stored the cookbook away and exited the room, proceeding down the adjacent corridor.
Soon he reached the boss chamber, constructed in the familiar layout of other catacombs.
But this entrance, too, was guarded by two headless knights.
That confirmed it.
This was indeed the ritual site the Finger Reader had spoken of.
He stepped forward and easily dispatched the two guards, then turned his gaze to the massive door before him.
Behind it likely lay Godwyn's followers—hiding, praying, conducting their rites.
This time, Lucian did not kick the door open.
Instead, he placed his palm against the metal surface.
Magic flowed inward. He quickly located the internal mechanism.
Using gravity, he tugged at the hidden components, shifting them into place. The heavy door creaked open normally.
Lucian nodded in satisfaction and entered.
After descending a short distance, the chamber came into view.
It was nothing like he remembered.
In his recollection, this catacomb's boss chamber should have housed a Cemetery Shade.
Now, that shadow was gone.
In its place stood multiple headless knights, and a circle of strange devotees.
The devotees were hunched figures draped in thick, tattered cloth. Upon those rags were golden sun emblems.
They knelt in a circular formation shaped like a sun, surrounding a strange iron spire at the center.
Above the spire floated a gray mass of mist, coalesced into a spherical shape—perhaps, in their eyes, a faded sun.
The surface of the mist sphere shimmered with an eerie, iridescent glow.
Lucian's gaze passed over the worshippers and toward the rear wall.
The chamber contained more than this.
Embedded within the back wall was a massive, grotesque face.
And it was unmistakable.
It was the face of the Prince of Death, Godwyn.
At that moment, the headless knights at the front noticed him and charged forward with spear and shield in hand.
The devotees did not react. They remained motionless, praying as if already dead.
Lucian did not draw his weapon.
He intended to fight using dragon lightning and gravity magic alone.
Suddenly, he ducked.
Two short axes crackling with violent lightning slashed through the space where his head had been moments before.
Lucian turned, startled, to see a strange knight who had appeared at his flank—wielding twin axes.
He had not sensed this figure at all upon entering. He had nearly been ambushed successfully.
The knight was wreathed in gray mist. Beneath his heavy black cloak burned pale spirit-flame, flickering like countless wraith faces drifting behind him.
His armor was unlike that of any knight in the Lands Between.
Instead of plate, he wore finely woven chainmail, intricately inlaid with dense golden ornamentation. A golden chain secured his cloak.
Most unsettling of all was his face.
It was a bare skull, stripped of all flesh. Gray hair flowed beneath a golden helm.
Atop that helm rested a golden circlet from which branch-like prongs extended outward.
Lucian did not yet know it—
But this was a Death Knight, once a royal guard of Godwyn in life.
At a glance, Lucian could only tell one thing:
The design upon the helm resembled a sun—overgrown with thorns, corrupted and faded.
Lucian frowned slightly.
This was another figure he had never encountered in the game.
The lightning crackling along the axes just now was unmistakably that of the Ancient Dragon Cult of Leyndell—the golden lightning once wielded by the knights of the royal capital.
He didn't know this knight's exact identity, but one thing was certain—he was one of Godwyn's men.
In that case, he would deal with the headless knights first.
As they charged forward, Lucian stomped heavily on the ground.
In an instant, overwhelming gravity surged outward from his position. The headless knights' movements were immediately restricted, each step becoming laborious and slow. The kneeling devotees were pressed flat against the ground entirely.
Only the strange Death Knight remained capable of moving.
Twin axes flashing, he slashed toward Lucian in rapid succession, attempting to relieve pressure for the others.
But Lucian tore up a slab of stone with gravity and hurled it skyward.
At that moment, the Gravel Stone Seal in his hand shone with brilliant crimson lightning.
Ancient Dragon's Lightning Strike had finished charging.
He raised his arm high.
Scarlet dragon lightning filled the chamber in an instant, bolts raining down ceaselessly.
The headless knights and devotees, restrained by gravity, found it nearly impossible to evade the lightning striking from all directions.
Under this combined assault, they fell one after another.
Soon, only the skeletal Death Knight remained.
Lucian ceased the lightning barrage and looked toward the knight who had deftly avoided every strike.
For a new enemy, observation always came first.
The Death Knight seemed to understand.
Lightning erupted violently from his body, intent on tearing Lucian apart.
Two orange-gold bolts extended from his axes, coalescing into dazzling lightning spears.
As he formed them, several Ancient Dragon sigils materialized behind him. When he hurled a spear, the sigils simultaneously fired additional lightning spears in unison.
When the second spear launched, another coordinated volley followed—an overwhelming spectacle.
Lucian tilted his head slightly.
Firing multiple lightning spears simultaneously… interesting.
He could learn that technique later.
Standing casually in place, Lucian sidestepped through the narrow gaps between the incoming projectiles as though strolling through a garden.
Seeing his attacks so easily avoided, the Death Knight tightened his grip on the axes and lunged forward.
Lucian did not retreat.
He waited.
But in the next instant, the knight transformed into a bolt of lightning and streaked to Lucian's side at blinding speed.
Lucian paused in surprise.
This was no metaphor for speed.
The knight had literally become lightning.
He had never seen such a technique before.
If anything in the game resembled it, it would be the transformation into a lightning cloud.
The Death Knight materialized at his flank and slashed toward his ribs.
Lucian's arm instantly hardened with stone, and he blocked both axes with a simple elbow.
With his free hand, he pressed his palm against the knight's chest.
Repulsive force exploded outward.
The Death Knight was blasted backward at greater speed than he had charged, smashing through a stone pillar and embedding himself into the far wall.
When he rose, his breastplate had been pierced through. Beneath it lay a nearly rotten corpse—bones shattered, flesh decayed, though the spine remained intact.
Lucian felt a flicker of regret.
He should have held back.
He had wanted to see more of the knight's unfamiliar techniques.
Yet the Death Knight did not seem diminished.
If anything, he grew fiercer.
A shockwave burst from his body as violent pale ghostflame enveloped him.
In the next instant, he became lightning once more and appeared directly before Lucian.
An unseen force seized Lucian's body, lifting him into the air.
His vitality began draining away, siphoned into the Death Knight to repair his injuries.
Lucian assessed the sensation.
It was simple HP loss—no curse, no Destined Death, no special debuff.
He remained calm.
He even had the leisure to observe the cloak spreading behind the Death Knight like wings.
The mist-shrouded, ghostflame-wreathed cloak split upward and outward, forming vast spectral wings.
It looked undeniably cool.
Lucian made a mental note to acquire something similar someday.
Once the knight's wounds had largely mended, Lucian finally broke free of the restraint and seized the knight by the skull.
He slammed him downward and drove a kick into him, sending him crashing into the ground and creating a deep crater.
As Lucian's foot struck, a gravity wave followed.
The already fractured stone floor crumbled into fine rubble.
Yet the Death Knight instantly dissolved into lightning and escaped.
His twin axes now shone brighter than ever. Vast arcs of lightning surged from the blades, spreading across the ground as he spun, wings propelling him in a whirling assault toward Lucian.
Lucian judged that this was likely the extent of his arsenal.
It was time to end it.
He leapt upward, avoiding the spinning charge beneath him.
Now positioned directly above the Death Knight, who looked up to launch another lightning spear—
But gravity had already locked onto him.
Magic surged like a flood, pinning him immovably in place.
As he pressed downward with gravity, Lucian formed two lightning spears—one in each hand.
In his left hand: a straight, brilliant golden lightning spear.
In his right: a forked crimson Ancient Dragon lightning spear.
The Death Knight's body was forced downward by crushing gravity, yet he continued staring up at Lucian.
Lightning illuminated Lucian's face, making him resemble a god about to pass divine judgment.
Even as gravity shattered his legs, the Death Knight did not kneel. Empty skeletal eye sockets fixed unwaveringly upon the figure commanding lightning above.
In Lucian, he glimpsed the shadow of the lord he once served.
The uncanny resemblance stirred anger deep within him.
So, he would answer lightning with lightning.
From below, the Death Knight hurled his spear. The Ancient Dragon sigils behind him unleashed their own volley in tandem.
Lucian casually lowered the golden spear in his left hand.
The two lightning attacks collided midair and dissipated.
But he still held the crimson dragon spear in his right.
That spear would conclude the battle.
Lucian slowly lowered it.
The Ancient Dragon lightning spear pierced the ground.
Crimson lightning flooded the chamber.
BOOM—!
When the thunder faded, Lucian dispelled the gravity field and descended.
He approached the corpse and examined it carefully.
Dead beyond death.
He picked up the twin axes.
Before him appeared their name:
[Death Knight's Twin Axes]
"So… that guy was called a Death Knight."
—
[T/N:]
Death Knight is a recurring optional boss in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, appearing in two locations with distinct gear and stats:
Fog Rift Catacombs (Recommended Level: 150+): Wields Death Knight's Twin Axes.
Drops Crimson Amber Medallion +3 and 110,000 Runes.
Scorpion River Catacombs (Recommended Level: 160+): Wields Death Knight's Longhaft Axe.
Drops Cerulean Amber Medallion +3 and 130,000 Runes.
Both are elite knights from Godwyn the Golden's personal guard, now serving as protectors of his cadaver surrogate in the Realm of Shadow. They use powerful lightning-based attacks, dragon cult incantations, and possess high poise and aggressive melee combos.