The Winged Greathorn, with its great horns unfurled, showed some spiritedness in a few swings, but felt too light, stirring up mere gusts of wind with its jabs.
Trying out various weapon skills further revealed its sluggishness. As expected, she was not suited for massive weapons. Even with Greatswords and the Starscourge Greatsword, she primarily used them for poise breaking and as weapon skill launchers. She should honestly stick to her own style.
She dismissed the colossal, axe-like weapons with a shake of her head.
Little did Melina and the Finger Reader Enia know, they were surprised. They hadn't expected Frieren to wield it so masterfully right from the first touch, grasping it immediately by analogy.
Generally, ordinary people couldn't operate such exaggerated weapons.
It's a pity, but judging by her performance, it will most likely become a collector's item. Still, it's not surprising, coming from the Regal Ancestor Spirit, who isn't skilled in combat. This weapon probably isn't the main point of the Remembrance.
Frieren, after carefully experiencing the Winged Greathorn, quickly lost interest. Then she cast her gaze upon its Soul-Stifling Hex.
As expected, it also had no highlights; it was essentially a rather mediocre weapon. This weapon skill claims to reduce defense, but its practical value is questionable. Furthermore, she has never lacked attack power from beginning to end.
On the contrary, the talisman exchanged from the Remembrance was worth noting, especially for a sorcerer.
[Ancestral Spirit's Horn]
[An item made from the horn of the Regal Ancestor Spirit.]
[Restores FP upon defeating enemies.]
[When the Regal Ancestor Spirit falls, young shoots use its horns as a fertile bed, blooming with light.]
[This is life budding from death,]
[and power gained from death.]
As long as she defeated enemies, she could restore some FP, which increased her sustain and reduced the need to drink as many FP flasks. Besides, drinking potions was always a disruption; the less, the better. This could be considered a quite valuable reward.
Its appearance also gave it the aesthetic appeal of a work of art: a meticulously carved and polished broken horn, blooming with blue light.
Quietly resting in her palm, a few gentle activations caused it to emit more magic.
On a whim, Frieren tried to see if it could be worn as an accessory, but unfortunately, the numerous horn segments were too conspicuous. Ultimately, she had no choice but to store it in her dedicated talisman pouch.
"How is it?"
Melina finally saw a satisfied expression on Frieren's face from this exchange, guessing it was something good.
"It can restore magic after defeating enemies, so it should become a frequently used talisman."
"I've almost never seen you short on magic."
"That's because I've used other energies to supplement it. Purely in terms of an Astrologer's attributes, it's still needed; it's adding icing to the cake. Moreover, I should indeed reduce the transfer of other powers. In the Lands Between, one should use the methods of the Lands Between."
For her, acquiring another useful talisman was already an unexpectedly good harvest. It was worth it; as expected, the underground world held treasures.
Since the ancient civilization had opened its embrace, of course, she had to collect everything.
After this brief replenishment, Frieren waved goodbye to the Finger Reader Enia, her figure vanishing into the glow of the Roundtable Hold.
"How busy she is..."
Though the Finger Reader Enia had witnessed this several times, she was always moved by the eager and unstoppable aura surrounding Frieren, ready to embark on her journey, overflowing with youthful vigor.
Everyone else is clearly no longer young, yet you are full of drive.
She turned to look at the Two Fingers at Roundtable Hold and muttered, "The Soul Cinder King is already moving to kill the other Two Fingers. They (the benevolent Two Fingers) will definitely not sit idly by. This is the first time a Tarnished has been in such fierce conflict with the divine envoys. It will have a great impact, won't it...?"
Unfortunately, there was no concrete response. For a long time, the Two Fingers at Roundtable Hold have been as if asleep. After the last meeting with the new Shardbearer, Frieren, they became even more silent.
Let fate unfold freely.
Far away in the underground world, Frieren, having returned to the entrance of the Eternal City, gazed into the distance.
Previously, in order to quickly rendezvous with Blaidd, she had essentially flown over, only getting a fleeting glimpse from high in the sky.
Now, towering, ruined castles dotted the land beneath the starry sky. Compared to the primal, forest-like scenery of Siofra River, this place was the ruins of a lost city, giving off a palpable sense of desolation and antiquity.
The past's prosperity unfolded before Frieren's eyes, magnificent and grand.
A breathtaking view lay ahead.
The architecture embodied a civilization's artistic aesthetics and engineering prowess, best reflecting its profound heritage. The magnificent city complex beneath her feet was enough to represent the grandeur of the Eternal City. It must have been unparalleled in its time.
"...Such a spoilsport," the silver-haired girl muttered with a grave expression. "You're right, there's a massive residual aura of gravity magic here, and the output level is very strong."
Melina nodded and replied, "Astel, Naturalborn of the Void is sleeping in the underground world; no one knows when it will awaken."
"It's useless for us to think about it here. Let's go down first."
Frieren lightly leaped across the building tops, advancing along the rooftops. Next to her was a bottomless super-deep chasm; falling down would certainly mean death.
The great pit created by the meteorite impact back then was even deeper. Their current vantage point was equivalent to a high point in the city center, and the buildings easily reached hundreds of meters high. With the dense fog, nothing below could be seen at all; a mass of darkness was devouring all things.
Extreme beauty and darkness interwoven—this was the impression it gave.
At the same time, she noticed several slime-like blobs hiding along the edges of the buildings, pitch black and lurking on the ground. Don't think I don't know where you are just because you're lying there, plotting something nefarious?
Gloop, gloop~
However, with just a glance from her, they surprisingly knew better than to stay and moved away, transmitting a faint sense of terror.
"The aftershocks of your battle in Siofra River must have been sensed by them, right?" Melina deduced. "So they don't consider themselves capable of provoking you, and actively left."
"Good, without their disturbance, I can focus on collecting."
As she spoke, Frieren picked up a Ghostflame Torch, which emitted grayish-black flames and looked quite unique:
[A metal torch burning with frigid ghostflame.]
[Equipment of the fallen legions who make their home in the underground rivers.]
[At the end of their expedition, the legion lost their flame.]
[So they burned the bones of their comrades instead, obtaining the bitterly cold ghostflame.]
[Ultimately, they remained forever underground.]
This truly was a standard adventure story. For those lacking sufficient strength, just the monsters existing within the Eternal City and the frigid environment would be fatal enough. How could they have the luxury to study ancient texts?
Rest in peace.
Frieren muttered silently, looking at the corpses nearby.
Well, here comes a Demigod with nothing better to do, who loves to wander around, guaranteed to turn everything upside down for you, and bring the underground civilization back into the light.
The silver-haired girl ran and leaped along the walls between houses, rooftops, or broken sections, light as a swallow. Just moments ago, some bold, ill-intentioned monsters were eyeing her, but in an instant, her figure vanished, moving towards the collapsed main structure.
Drangleic parkour.
Her old skills were brought out once more. With familiarity, Frieren easily traversed the most severely broken areas.
During this time, she maintained her super-wide-range perception, but found no other important items.
"On the contrary, there's movement of ropes at the entrance... The adventurers gathered by Fort Haight must be starting to move. With them filling in the gaps and making up for oversights, I just need to clear out the threats ahead."
Frieren certainly didn't want her own people to suffer too many losses.
While contemplating, she had already arrived inside a building, lighting up the Site of Grace, and a string of words appeared simultaneously:
The name of the Site of Grace revealed that Frieren had indeed reached this underground city, the hallowed halls of the Nox civilization, standing tall through the ages.
Pardon the intrusion.
Stepping out of the circular hall, she found herself in a Garden Boulevard, with a beautiful gazebo at its center.
There were also some small collectibles mixed in. For such items, she simply kept her "auto-pickup" module running, sucking them all in. Unless they were particularly valuable, she didn't actually need to specifically pick them up.
Unfortunately, there were living corpses here, watching covetously.
Unlike those on the surface, they displayed pale, desiccated skin, their eyes were hollow, and their movements even stiffer. The whole area exuded a dark aura, and the surroundings were frigid.
Sun Healing.
With a "let's try it" mentality, Frieren generously bestowed Soul Healing Magic.
But it only stimulated the undead to shriek and wail. The others also swarmed in, even taking up weapons, charging over howling like ghosts and wolves.
"The zombification is too severe. What a pity."
After making her diagnosis, she casually unleashed a wave of Sorcery: Collapsing Stars, breaking them one by one, killing them in a single blow regardless of whether they were equipped or not. These enemies, so frail they couldn't stand steadily, simply couldn't withstand the power of a Demigod's magic, and fell silent after a single encounter.
They collapsed with thudding sounds, most turned into dust and vanished. The former inhabitants of the Eternal City now bid a complete farewell to existence.
Frieren wasn't even sure if their souls would successfully return to the Erdtree; everything was too ancient.
Everything she had encountered since arriving in the Lands Between was ancient, but the Eternal City was increasingly filled with the scars of time. It was too far from the Erdtree, and no one knew if their return to the Erdtree would be problematic.
"Your Soul Healing was useless on them?"
Melina already knew the answer, and muttered to herself with regret.
"Yes, too much time has passed. Moreover, the underground world is even colder and dense with magic, accelerating the severity of zombification. Even if they improved, they would hardly survive."
"This is the price of grave sin."
"If we are retaliated against, then Limgrave, Caelid, and Liurnia would also fall, wouldn't they?"
Compared to Melina's lament and sighs, Frieren, however, spoke with murderous intent. "Don't expect mercy from the enemy; only killing them ensures safety. It seems there's another reason to kill the Two Fingers. Who asked them to retaliate so outrageously? It's an endless war until one side is dead."
The silver-haired girl continued her exploration, wondering aloud as she walked:
"Is merely forging a Fingerslayer Blade such a grave sin that it warrants such a massive reaction?"
"Perhaps the truth isn't just an attempted crime, as we habitually think, but that the Nox Dynasty has already used its national treasures to create [something truly dangerous]."
She caressed the lingering dark aura on the walls, her eyes gleaming.
Hearing this, Melina pressed for an answer:
"Based on what?"
"We've seen the sickly state of the Roundtable Two Fingers many times, and other Two Fingers aren't much stronger. And if they die, it would cause civilization-ending disasters? Not necessarily. Do they really feel like such important figures?"
"So you think the Nox Dynasty actually killed or wounded a higher-ranking envoy than the Two Fingers? Assuming that was the envoy?"
"Exactly. Do you remember when Radahn reminded us of the entity manipulating the divine from behind the scenes? Perhaps the Two Fingers are just pawns, and the true puppet master behind them is someone else."
"Once we get the Fingerslayer Blade, we should have more clues." She thought quietly.
Frieren didn't delve deeper into the topic, as it was currently just speculation, and they shouldn't mislead each other yet.
No matter what, the underground world would provide some answers. Even if not, killing that Two Fingers would buy them time to investigate slowly. Sooner or later, the truth would come out, or the enemy would reveal themselves.
Just by relying on auto-pickup, she could find Larval Tears, Grave Gloveworts, and the like.
She had come to the right place. The entire once-prosperous city had opened its embrace, allowing free searching. It would be an insult to their achievements if she didn't thoroughly scour the place.
Therefore, Frieren searched quite meticulously, and incidentally eliminated potentially dangerous monsters one by one, not even sparing those in corners, considering it as paving the way for the adventurous teams that would follow.
After all, her immunity to the underground world's cold didn't mean others would be, and the monsters would pose even greater dangers.
"There's the aura of Spirit Ashes here." Melina pointed in the distance.
"That's a huge help."
"Having followed you for so long, it's hard for me not to notice collectibles."
No matter where they went, the Tarnished always first considered if there were treasures. Whether it would be useful was another matter; as long as it was collected, they'd be happy. You're too easily satisfied, absolutely the style of a scavenger.
Following the traces, Frieren indeed found Spirit Ashes. There was also an undead here; after casually dispatching it, she picked it up:
[Greatshield Soldier Ashes]
[Can summon 5 Greatshield Soldiers' spirits.]
[The souls of several Greatshield Soldiers from the fallen legions who investigated the Eternal City in the past.]
[Their role in the legion was to consolidate defenses. They would tie down enemies, and then throw spirit-fire from the rear, etc., employing simple group tactics.]
The description matched the earlier record from the Ghostflame Torch. These adventurous pioneers, even if they remained forever, still transformed into Spirit Ashes through sheer will, finally awaiting a fortuitous encounter.
Frieren's soul aura was very appealing to them.
They had endured the damned cold of the underground world; even their souls felt a bone-chilling loneliness. But their years of waiting were not in vain. They had welcomed a monarch bearing the aura of a Great Rune—no, two. The Lands Between once again had a quasi-monarch.
Moreover, for some reason, her soul was grander and vaster than any other.
They would surely follow her to the end.
This delighted reaction caused Frieren to give a faint smile. Of course, she knew full well how special her own soul was.
It was perfect for summoning Spirit Ash Warriors.
Ding-a-ling!
After shaking the Spirit Calling Bell, a full 5 towering soldiers guarded her side, like a high wall. They even actively advanced to clear out the surrounding undead, eager to demonstrate their strength.
Frieren understood their excellent performance after just a few glances, and the "advice" also affirmed it:
[Much stronger than those less useful Spirit Ashes. They can absorb damage and even retaliate. With a full 5 soldiers surrounding you, the sense of security is immense.]
[Suitable for one-on-one combat!]
[Meaning: You, the BOSS, fighting all of us 1-on-1!]
[The Greatshield Soldiers' intelligence is also commendable; at least they know how to coordinate to pin down enemies. They won't foolishly stand by and watch me swap out troops every time. Besides, they can even deal a bit of damage.]
[Can be strengthened/upgraded. Can be considered a counter-card (strategy card), and has a bit of versatility.]
Frieren indeed needed a certain number of Spirit Ashes to assemble her planned Spirit Ash army. She just happened to lack shields. After all, everyone (referring to her and her primary spirits) was squishy; with front-line protection that could tank damage, their combat power would greatly increase.
After understanding the Greatshield Soldiers, she re-collected the Spirit Ashes. At this moment, the courtyard was utterly silent, with no monsters left.
"With whom?"
Perhaps because of the commotion here, a wave of psychic energy came from the distant long corridor ruins; the other party had sensed something and was actively searching.
But Frieren's perception revealed the other party to be a Mimic Tear?
__
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