On the rooftop of the aquarium, a slender hand snuffed out a stick of scarlet incense in the corner.
Lilith tucked away the remaining incense, gathered her skirt, and sat at the edge of the roof. The scarlet signal smoke—visible only to the people of the rot—had vanished.
She gazed toward the other side of the city where the red clouds were dissipating. Her legs dangled off the edge, kicking in time to a beat as she softly hummed an unknown tune.
"The gods gather in the new world, at dawn the tiger thrush cries... Flowers bloom in prayer to the gods, a fleeting life in vain sorrow. The dream has faded, resentment drifts..."
"The worker's light is growing weak," Xingmei said anxiously. "He is still refusing my communication requests. What is happening over there? The sounds of battle kept coming through before, but now there is nothing. I wonder if the guest is in danger—"
"They are fighting the invaders from the subway."
"Fighting?" Xingmei's eyes widened. "Will they come back?"
"The battle is over. They are returning," Lilith answered.
"The others said that too. One by one, the aquarium staff left, and they all said they would come back before they went." Xingmei lowered her head despondently. "But in the end, only Xingmei was left."
"The Kindred of Rot pursuing you have been dealt with." Raven's voice drifted in from outside the rooftop. Using the footwork of a Black Knife Assassin to defy gravity and walk along the exterior wall, he vaulted lightly onto the terrace.
"Ah, Guest, you're back!" Xingmei said joyfully. "Did the 'light' guest not come with you?"
"Number 404? He was tainted by rot during the fight and decided to go to the Ainsel River to wash himself clean before returning." Raven turned toward Lilith. "He asked me to tell you that he is fine, so please do not worry."
Number 404 had been drained of much of his life by the priest, but the ground was covered in water brimming with the power of rot. In that situation, even if he didn't want to drink the water, his body would absorb it, allowing him to recover quickly—though such a recovery would inevitably lead to further corruption.
Lilith nodded. "I understand."
"For those infected by rot, flowing water is an agonizing torture. I didn't think any Kindred of Rot would willingly enter it. Moreover... he betrayed his race and faith, risking everything to rescue you from the Grand Cloister. Did you change him?" Raven asked.
He remembered that in the infection camps of Leyndell, doctors had initially tried to treat the infected with flowing water, but it only caused their bodies and wills to collapse simultaneously, forcing them to abandon the method.
"It seems that when he was young, he was washed by flowing water; his constitution and senses are different from ordinary Kindred. I did not ask for details," Lilith said, shaking her head slightly. "He was the Captain of the Guard at the Grand Cloister. Before he rescued me, we hadn't even spoken more than a few words."
"Captain of the Guard... There seems to be a troublesome fellow at the Lake of Rot who calls himself the King of Kings. Was 404 originally his man?"
"Kalinykus, the amalgamation of the kings of the ancient dynasty." Lilith's face twisted in disgust.
"The great kings who served the Goddess of Rot," Raven recalled the words of the Mudman High Priest. "Their amalgamation? What does that mean?"
"They were anything but great. They pretended to be faithful followers of the Goddess of Rot, mobilizing millions of people over a century to build the Grand Cloister as a temple for her, welcoming her from the stars into the Lands Between."
"But the Grand Cloister wasn't a temple; it was a trap and a cage. From the beginning, they never intended to serve her; they only wanted to imprison her and exploit her divine power. However, the power the Goddess displayed upon her arrival far exceeded their expectations, forcing them to abandon their plan and continue their charade."
"Later, the allied forces of the various races launched an attack on the Goddess of Rot. They led her armies into battle while faking their own deaths to merge into a single entity in the depths of the Lake of Rot. During the critical moment of the Goddess's duel with the blind swordsman, they triggered the trap in the Grand Cloister. This led directly to the Goddess's defeat; her body fell into the deepest layer of the Cloister, where she has been sealed ever since."
"After the allied forces left, that loathsome monster crawled out of the lake. Initially, he feigned reverence for the Goddess, but after several tests confirmed she could not influence the world outside the seal, he crowned himself God-King. He restructured the priesthood, replacing them with his own subordinates. Now, his sacrifices have become increasingly brazen; he no longer even maintains the facade of respect."
Listening to this secret history, Raven nodded slowly, finding it curious that Lilith's tone toward the Goddess was so reverent.
"And then? What happened next?" Xingmei urged Lilith to continue.
"This is not a story for amusement," Lilith said.
"I know, it is precious knowledge," Xingmei said seriously. "To record and pass down knowledge is the mission of the things created by the Nox. If another visitor comes to the aquarium and wants to learn about the history and ecology of the Lake of Rot, Xingmei can explain it to them."
"Miss Lilith, you said before that you were a vessel for the descent of the Goddess of Rot," Raven asked. "Since the God-King wants to usurp her authority, this should be very worrying. Why would he allow you to exist?"
"The vessels of the past were all imperfect. If the Goddess wished to descend, she could only do so in her weakest, fragmented form. The false king was happy to see this; a weak Goddess would only be easier for him to control." Lilith shook her head. "My sister and I were confined to the Grand Cloister to serve the Goddess, forbidden from contacting the outside world. We were only brought out as symbols during rituals."
Raven pondered in silence. He had already clashed with this God-King from a distance; though powerful, the entity was still ultimately mortal. The Goddess of Rot had been suppressed by this God-King for so long that she couldn't even protect her own priests. Her state was clearly at its absolute lowest.
Lilith saw that Raven was silent and assumed he had lost heart after witnessing the God-King's power.
"The false king's power is immense. The entire rot army is under his command." Lilith bowed deeply. "I appreciate your kindness, but—"
"You and 404 have a way to sneak into the Grand Cloister, right?"
"Yes, there is a secret path for auditing the Goddess. Its sealed door can only be opened from the outside. The false king does not know of this secret."
Raven was about to speak again when a cry of surprise came from Xingmei: "It's the worker! How did he become like this?"
Using his iron hammer as a crutch, the Troll dragged his severed leg, lumbering over with great difficulty. A portion of his lower leg was gone, blood dripping steadily from the stump. He was covered in wounds, and the single eye on his chest was closed.
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring
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