Falling Farum Azula, the Erdtree engulfed in flames, the Royal Capital shrouded in black smoke, and the crown of the Elden Lord rolling across a ground covered in ash, left for no one to claim... The images within the bubble flickered faster and faster. Raven and the Monitor watched with rapt attention, yet they could only catch fleeting fragments, neither certain of how much the other had seen.
Until, finally, the vision froze on a single scene.
Queen Marika knelt upon the ground, her head bowed and her golden hair cascading down, masking her expression. A figure stood before her, a burning left hand thrust into her chest. His fingers were clamped tightly around the Elden Ring within her body, appearing as though he were trying to forcibly wrench the Ring away.
Raven's expression went rigid. The face of the man forcibly extracting Marika's Ring was illuminated by the firelight; it was unmistakably his own.
The Oracular Bubble rose higher and higher, vanishing silently into the cavern's ceiling. A moment later, the ceiling's surface surged like waves. Terrifying sounds of cracking stone echoed through the strata as countless fissures split open, yet neither man atop the tower looked up.
The Monitor reached for his face, tearing away a light brown veil from thin air. His stature suddenly increased by several inches, and his hair transformed into a brilliant, gilded gold. When he turned his face, his features had become the handsome countenance of the Golden Prince.
"If Lansseax knew her sister had lied to her, she would be heartbroken," Raven sighed. Strangely, he felt no surprise.
Godwyn did not respond. He simply folded the veil with meticulous care and placed it into the inner pocket of his tunic.
Concealing Veil
A light brown veil of delicate design. Consumes FP to mimic various objects.
One of the treasures taken in large quantities by Godrick when he was driven out of the Royal Capital, Leyndell. Known as "Marika's Mischief."
"Back in Windmill Village, I considered getting rid of you, but I decided you weren't a threat. In fact, even today, I don't see you as much of one. You lack the talent to be a King, Raven of Caria."
"I never had any intention of being a King," Raven shrugged.
"Is that so? Your words and actions don't quite align. You had many opportunities to flee, to return to your little kingdom in the swamp. If you had, we might have even remained friends who wrote to one another. Or, you could have stayed quietly in the fiefdom granted to you and played the idle noble. You could have even rebelled! It would have been better to raise the banner of treason alongside that Praetor brother of yours."
Opposite Raven, Godwyn walked slowly, his palm trailing over the outer wall of the tower's summit.
"But you didn't do that. I watched you jump around, running back and forth, foolishly trying to prove yourself before Mother... Everything you have done is in vain, Raven."
"Perhaps in your eyes, these things are meaningless," Raven said, his lips thinning as he too began to pace along the outer wall. "But what about you? Since defeating the Great Ancient Dragon and saving the Capital, what has the Golden Prince done besides fight for power with the Royalists and spread the faith of the Frenzied Flame?"
"You understand nothing," Godwyn laughed. "Mother chose me; it could only ever be me. I am the one truly acting for her! You are nothing but a toy for her amusement. You cannot see the guidance of Grace, and you are ignorant of the true 'Grand Plan.' If you hadn't possessed enough self-awareness to never seek Mother out again, I would have killed you long ago."
The two men, empty-handed, walked clockwise around the tower's summit. Their strides were perfectly synchronized, the distance between them neither increasing nor decreasing, as if they were mirrors of one another orbiting the center of the tower.
Raven closed his eyes, his breathing long and steady. The Blind Spot skill allowed every minute change in the environment to reflect in his mind. He and Godwyn were locked onto one another; the slightest opening would invite a devastating strike.
"The content of that prophecy just now aligned with my expectations, except for that final image," Godwyn's voice turned chillingly cold. "It is impossible for you to appear there. The Elden Ring is not something a person like you can lay hands upon."
"Perhaps that too is part of the 'Grand Plan'?" Raven said with a touch of mockery.
A series of thunderous crashes from the ceiling interrupted their dialogue.
The ceiling struck by the Oracular Bubble was riddled with more and more cracks, finally unable to support the tectonic stress. Debris, large and small, began to rain down like a storm. A massive boulder landed right beside them, collapsing a corner of the platform and sending the mangled corpses of the priests tumbling down.
Raven and Godwyn stood their ground, motionless, their robes fluttering violently in the dust and wind.
"The future can be changed," Godwyn suddenly spoke.
"That was only one possibility of the future," Raven agreed.
After those words, silence fell again.
Godwyn suddenly crouched low, his palms slamming heavily into the ground.
Ash of War: Hoarah Loux's Earthshaker
An Ash of War that grants an armament the "Heavy" affinity and the following skill:
Skill: Hoarah Loux's Earthshaker Slam the ground with spread arms to produce a shockwave, causing violent tremors. Follow up with an additional input to slam the ground again.
Usable on all melee weapons.
The entire platform was instantly torn apart by the violent shockwave, fragments tumbling into the air and intersecting with the stones falling from the ceiling. Godwyn leapt up, his body wreathed in crimson Dragonbolt. Treading upon the platform shards, he charged toward Raven. Chanting an incantation, golden light condensed into a long-handled war axe, which he swung down with the force of endless thunder.
"Great Carian!"
Raven evaded the shockwave with Bloodhound Step. From his Sword of Night and Flame, a massive, crackling azure greatsword extended, clashing violently with the golden war axe. Both men's Dragonbolt surged into one another, yet when the light faded, they were both unharmed.
Their Dragonbolt inherited the essence of Lansseax and Fortissax. Those sisters might bicker and fight, but they would never truly harm one another; even their lightning was steeped in that bond.
This unexpected result caused both men to freeze for a heartbeat. In the next instant, they both reached out. Lashes of lightning connected to the iron-rich boulders nearby, using the magnetic force of the Dragonbolt to hurl the massive stones at each other.
The two boulders collided in mid-air, their shards whistling as they flew in all directions. By then, Raven and Godwyn had vanished from their original positions.
Treading upon the platform debris being thrown upward, the two clashed in a high-speed series of impacts. They hurled stones and traded Glintstone Pebbles and golden Incantations. They rose higher and higher. Dozens of weapon strikes occurred almost simultaneously, merging into a single, thunderous roar like a giant bell, which then ceased abruptly at its peak.
The Glintstone Greatsword and the golden war axe collided for the last time, both exploding into fragments. The intense flash left both men blinded by white light.
Raven gripped the Sword of Night and Flame with both hands. Reddish-black flames surged along the blade, striking toward Godwyn like a bolt of dark lightning. The Golden Prince's radiant fist also struck toward Raven's chest. However, due to the sword's reach, Raven was clearly set to land his blow first.
Raven poured all his will and killing intent into the blade, but from the corner of his eye, he saw Godwyn's vambrace shatter. A thick, scale-covered arm was revealed beneath, elongating rapidly amidst a series of cracking joints.
Dragon Communion! Godwyn devoured the heart of the Great Ancient Dragon... Raven realized this, but instead of panicking, he grew calm. He cast aside all distractions, thrusting the sword with his whole heart.
A moment before the blade could touch, a hideous, clenched dragon claw slammed into his chest.
Sensing the collision of Dragonbolt atop the tower, Lansseax looked up in horror. The disintegrating summit looked as if it were being torn apart by a storm, the thunderous roar unending.
"The top... what is happening?"
Suppressing the exhaustion from her over-expenditure of Dragonbolt, Lansseax unfurled her wings, about to fly to the summit, when her ankle was gripped tightly by a dragon claw.
"Fortissax, I'll be right back," Lansseax said, trying to comfort her sister, assuming she was instinctively unwilling to let her leave.
"Do not go," Fortissax said, opening her eyes. Her voice was weak but firm.
"Raven is fighting a powerful enemy. I must—" Lansseax looked into Fortissax's clear, ruby-like irises and suddenly realized something. "Your Dragonbolt essence is on the summit. That is... Godwyn?"
"Give it up," Fortissax whispered. "I said I was interested in Raven and told you to watch him, but this game must end. Come back to me. Let us together—"
"Let go of me!" Lansseax struggled fiercely, her heart aching at Fortissax's words. "This was never a game!"
"Think of Placidusax, our father!" Fortissax's voice rose over Lansseax's. "Have you forgotten our goal? We are to call Father back from the rift in space-time! Only Godwyn can help us! You have become too immersed. This is my fault, but would you truly abandon the salvation of our Father for a human? Abandon the salvation of the Dragonkin?"
Lansseax's struggling stopped.
"Father..."
Fortissax relaxed slightly, thinking she had finally persuaded her sister. Suddenly, a massive force surged from the claw she held. Lansseax kicked off the ground with immense power, dragging Fortissax into the air and flapping her wings desperately toward the summit.
"You chose Godwyn, but I chose Raven! He is ten times, a hundred times better than Godwyn! We will see who was right!"
Using Dragonbolt to shatter the stones falling from above, Lansseax and Fortissax flew toward the summit in a tangled, erratic flight. They saw a figure thrown outward, his body ignited by golden flames, falling toward the Ainsel River like a shooting star.
"Raven!" Flapping her wings with everything she had, Lansseax dived. But she was too late. She could only watch as Raven plunged into the roaring torrent.
She didn't slow down at all, dragging Fortissax with her as she plunged headlong into the water. The splash they made was swallowed instantly by the turbid current.
Several minutes later, she surfaced more than ten kilometers downstream. She struggled to push the unconscious Fortissax onto the bank. Countless stones were carried by the rapids; she turned her body, using her back to shield her sister. Dull pain radiated from every part of her body, but it could not drown out the agony in her heart.
Finally pushing her sister to safety, she dragged her heavy body onto the shore, lying soaked and exhausted beside her. The roar of the Ainsel River echoed, sounding as if it were mocking her powerlessness.
"Raven..."
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(258 Chapter - Ongoing)
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