"Is every part of her truly indispensable to waking Malenia?" the Tarnished asked, feeling a surge of doubt.
"While it's not strictly impossible to wake her... if she lacks Millicent's crucial 'dignity,' Malenia will no longer be Malenia," St. Trina explained. "The so-called 'restoration' is the repair of Malenia's shattered persona. After the restoration, she might be influenced by those avatars, but the core subject remains Malenia. It's like role-playing; she simply experiences different things through them. But if a single avatar is missing, she will be incomplete. Whether she can wake up is one thing, but without the support of that dignity, the blooming of the rot will only accelerate."
The Tarnished fell into deep thought. Unquestionably, he wanted to protect Millicent, but he also had to wake Malenia—for he understood that this might be Millicent's true mission.
What he needed to do was fulfill Millicent's mission of returning her dignity while simultaneously preserving Millicent as an individual. To this end, Trina and the Tarnished brainstormed many ideas in the dream. The Dragon Lord's secret seat was viable, but the specific mechanics of the operation were unclear to them both.
Furthermore, Trina could not guarantee that the moment Millicent approached Malenia, she wouldn't be forcibly reabsorbed, or whether a "shadow" of Millicent would remain afterward. If the latter were true, the problem wouldn't be so difficult to solve.
"...Wait, I have an idea..." Trina became unprecedentedly serious. If the goal was to preserve both Malenia and Millicent... why not emulate that method? Others might not be able to pull it off, but Malenia and she were Empyreans...
"My Lord... please wake up..."
"Tarnished...? Asimi, is he alright?"
"Miss Millicent, do not panic. It seems he has simply fallen asleep..."
Two voices filtered into the Tarnished's mind. He slowly opened his eyes to see the two women hovering over him.
"A lap pillow..." He found himself resting on Asimi's legs. A bit bony... he glanced at Millicent; clearly, her attire looked softer. Well, it didn't matter.
"Tarnished, you're awake? Are you hurt?" Millicent leaned in to confirm. Once she saw he had truly just been sleeping, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm better than ever." The Tarnished stood up and gave a light chuckle as he felt the Fingerslayer Blade at his waist. "Mission accomplished. I think we should head back."
"My Lord, please wait a moment. I have good news to tell you." Asimi then explained the changes she had undergone after drinking from the Great Holy Cup. Aside from becoming stronger, she could now split off microscopic silver tears to replace the function of Grace, allowing for long-distance teleportation.
"You can do that too?" This was incredibly convenient; it would make returning to this underground world much easier in the future.
"Indeed. Miss Millicent can use it as well..." Asimi explained how someone other than the host could utilize this power. Currently, the Tarnished and the tear Asimi were fused as one, allowing her to cover his entire body for movement. For anyone else to use this ability, they had to share a very strong bond with the host, creating a connection to the Tarnished and, by extension, Asimi.
"I can do it too...?" Millicent truly trusted the Tarnished. "But how do we get back now?" They had leaped down into the deep pit; returning the way they came would be far too troublesome.
"No need to rush. Since you also possess Grace... though you aren't a Tarnished, you should still be able to enter the Roundtable Hold." He opened his palm, letting the Memory of Grace float in his hand. He signaled Millicent to take his hand, then crushed the memory. The surrounding golden light of Grace enveloped them both.
When they opened their eyes again, they had arrived in a place Millicent had never seen before.
"I know you're curious about this place, but we're in a hurry." Currently, no one in the Hold had noticed them. This was the perfect time to leave before being discovered. After all, the Roundtable Hold was intended for Tarnished. Millicent was not a Tarnished and carried the rot; it went against the rules.
Through the Great Grace, the two immediately traveled to the site closest to Ranni—the Grace before the ruins, a short distance from Iji.
"You've returned?" Seeing the familiar aura, Melina immediately manifested before them. "Mmm... wait?" Clearly, Melina noticed the recent changes in the Tarnished. Not just him, but even Torrent had undergone a significant transformation.
"Mmm..." Melina stared intently at the Tarnished's right hand. "What happened to your right hand?"
"Oh, you mean this?" With a flick of his right hand, the pitch-black Godslayer Flame whipped out like a long lash before coalescing into a greatsword.
Black flame... Melina stared blankly at the terrifying fire. Suddenly, she felt an itchy sensation in her left eye, and the greatsword in the Tarnished's hand erupted with even more violent flames at the same moment.
(What... what is happening to me...) Melina gazed at the fire, gradually losing herself. Slowly, her fear of the flame vanished, replaced by a familiar sense of intimacy. She reached out her hand toward the fire as if possessed.
"What are you doing!" The Tarnished was quick. He retracted the sword the moment Melina's hand was about to touch the flame. Melina was usually a bit spacey, but he hadn't expected her to try and touch the Godslayer Flame with her bare hands. What was wrong with this girl?
"I... I just..." Clearly, Melina didn't know why she had acted that way either. It was as if she hadn't been herself just now. But if it wasn't her, then who?
Seeing that something was off, the Tarnished pressed his hand to Melina's forehead. "Doesn't look like a fever... then again, spirits don't get sick, do they?"
"..." Millicent stood by silently, watching. For a brief second just now, Melina's eyes seemed to change... they had grown sharp, possessing the gaze of someone who had campaigned on battlefields for years.
"Pay it no mind... please continue." Melina didn't give them a chance to ask what had happened before she vanished back into the Grace, leaving the Tarnished and Millicent staring in bewilderment.
In the end, no matter how they called for her, Melina did not reappear. Left with no choice, they mounted the empowered Torrent and galloped toward Ranni's location. Having received the Ancestral Spirit's blessing, Torrent's leg strength had increased dramatically, cutting their travel time nearly in half.
It took very little time to reach Ranni's tower.
"What in the world is that speed? Scared me half to death." Darriwil, guarding the area, drew his blade in caution, only to realize the riders were the Tarnished and Millicent. He lowered his weapon.
The Tarnished looked around but still saw no sign of Blaidd. He would have to ask Ranni.
The Tarnished and Millicent climbed Ranni's Rise together. There, they found Ranni in a deep slumber, looking quite peaceful. One had to admit, Ranni's ability to project a sense of royal nobility even through a doll was impressive. She possessed that inherent aura; otherwise, the Tarnished wouldn't tease her so often... no, he meant "play with her."
"Sister...? We brought the item." Millicent called out softly, but Ranni did not react.
"Are we too early...?" The doll's body was inconvenient; Ranni would fall into slumbers of varying lengths from time to time. Ranni had told Millicent this herself.
"Ahem... wakey wakey... Blue Jelly—agh!" Before he could finish his sentence, the Tarnished was blown backward by a gust of force.
"Be quiet! Call me that again and I shall sew your mouth shut! I'll make you just like those Preceptors!" Ranni suddenly flared up, startling Millicent.
"Ah... Tarnished, are you alright!" Millicent asked with concern through the window.
"Don't worry about him. His skin is so thick... even Blaidd's sword couldn't cut through it," Ranni said, taking a deep breath to calm her heart, which had been ruffled by the Tarnished.
"Millicent, you should learn from this. Look, didn't she wake up?" The Tarnished had landed face-first but his mouth was still working.
"Don't you dare learn that! Do not teach Millicent such nonsense; you have absolutely no manners!" Ranni was a girl raised with high education; she couldn't bring herself to use the crude language Darriwil favored. Her most "vicious" words were limited to this.
"Easy, easy. I've brought something good..." Using the Aspect of the Crucible: Tail, the Tarnished climbed back into Ranni's "chambers." He then presented the pitch-black, blood-stained Fingerslayer Blade before her.
"This..." Ranni's voice wavered slightly. "I must thank you... with this, I can take the next step... and set foot upon my path of the Night..." Ranni ignored the Tarnished's irritating comments from before; now, she felt only gratitude. This was a vital link in her plan.
"Sister..." Millicent felt a sense of reluctance. She naturally knew what kind of path Ranni's was.
"Millicent, we each have our own paths... let us maintain our original intentions and keep walking... let us have no regrets for being born into this world. My thanks for your help, Tarnished... with this, our alliance comes to an end. It is time to give you the reward for your journey." Ranni produced an inverted statue that appeared to be carved from ancient bronze.
"This item grants entry to the Carian Study Hall. The Divine Tower at the end of it was once mine... It was there that I slew my own flesh. The Cursemark of Death resides upon that body... You require that item, do you not? You are now the true leader of the Black Knives; death is closely linked to you."
"It seems neither of us is destined for the path of light... may we both find success." Ranni spoke coldly, but the Tarnished had met too many people to be fooled by such an act.
Seluvis might have been a creep, but he was right about one thing: regardless of everything else, her nature was still that of a young woman. Her voice carried a nearly imperceptible trace of reluctance, but she had to move. This was her own path.
But if this path was destined to cross his own eventually, how would she feel then?
"Wait a moment, I have something to ask you," the Tarnished spoke up.
"Ask away. This may be our final conversation... I shall answer whatever questions you have." Ranni tried her best to remain aloof.
"Anything? Then you—"
"Quiet! You may not ask about private matters." Although Ranni had spent less time with the Tarnished than Millicent or Melina had, she had arguably seen his most irreverent side more than anyone. The moment he opened his mouth, she could basically guess what he was going to say.
"I'm done joking... What I want to ask about is Radagon... your father."
"Heh, a nostalgic name indeed. He was a tedious man. Do you truly wish to hear of him?" When speaking of Radagon, Ranni's tone held no emotion, as if she were talking about a stranger.
Seeing the Tarnished nod firmly, Ranni let out a sigh. "Very well... since you wish to hear it... then I shall tell you..."