Bathed in the blazing radiance of the sun, Lucian easily locked onto the vermin that had infiltrated Stormveil Castle.
Aside from the battlefield where Morgott and Mohg were fighting, by far the most intense clash in the entire castle, there were numerous smaller skirmishes scattered throughout Stormveil.
Under Mohg's orders, Bloody Fingers and Sanguine Nobles were carrying out acts of sabotage within the castle walls.
The Ancient King had long ago deployed the Storm Knights to intercept them, but due to limitations in both strength and numbers, the situation was far from optimistic.
Fortunately, the sounds of battle had awakened the Tarnished residing within the castle.
Many of them voluntarily took up their weapons and joined the Storm Knights in resisting the enemies of the Mohgwyn Dynasty.
After all, Stormveil had always treated the Tarnished fairly well.
More importantly, the Mohgwyn forces were infamous for hunting and slaughtering Tarnished across the Lands Between.
To the Tarnished, they were already sworn enemies.
Because of this, the destruction carried out by the Sanguine Nobles had achieved little success.
One Sanguine Noble disengaged from the Tarnished who had been surrounding him.
Even as he withdrew, his rapier lashed out in a precise counterattack, piercing straight through a Tarnished warrior.
The surrounding Tarnished hesitated for a moment and did not rush forward again. Instead, they maintained their encirclement while waiting for the Storm Knight behind them to receive treatment.
Standing behind the group was the Finger Maiden, Therolina.
Raising the sacred seal in her hand, she invoked an incantation.
Great Heal.
Golden light blossomed from the seal.
Under the power of the healing prayer, the Storm Knight whose body had been pierced by the rapier slowly recovered. The wound closed, strength returning to his limbs.
He rose from the ground once more and stepped forward, once again placing himself between the Sanguine Noble and the others.
The Sanguine Noble frowned as he watched the knight stand again.
The man before him was clearly weaker.
Yet his determination was absurdly stubborn.
He had managed to hold the noble here for far longer than expected.
The Sanguine Noble himself was hardly in good condition.
The luxurious noble robe that symbolized his status had been shredded by storm winds until it resembled the rags of a beggar. His body was covered in countless thin cuts.
Raising his rapier, he prepared to kill the Storm Knight with a single decisive strike.
But before he could move—
He suddenly looked upward.
Hanging above Stormveil Castle was the blazing sun.
An ominous feeling surged within his chest.
At this moment, Stormveil was as bright as day.
No, far brighter than daylight itself.
The Sanguine Noble felt a deep shock.
'What is that thing?'
'Why does its brilliance surpass even the light of the Erdtree?'
The Tarnished and Storm Knights also gazed toward the sun above.
But what they felt was not fear.
It was warmth.
Comfort.
"It's Lord Lucian!" someone shouted.
"Lord Lucian has taken action!"
High in the sky, the storm of Stormveil seemed to gain physical form.
It roared louder than ever before.
The winds grew heavier and heavier, and within the storm, red lightning began to flash repeatedly.
The gale howled violently.
A chill ran down the Sanguine Noble's spine.
Then suddenly—
He realized something.
At some unknown moment, faint strands of red lightning had begun flickering across his body.
Only he was marked by it.
None of the others around him carried this lightning.
The Sanguine Noble immediately understood.
It was a targeting mark.
Without hesitation, he dissolved into blood, attempting to escape.
But beneath the radiance of the sun...
There was nowhere to hide.
Before he could react further, a purple gravitational wave erupted from the center of the castle and spread outward at tremendous speed.
The moment it detected the dragon lightning marking the Sanguine Noble, the gravity wave forced him out of his blood form and slammed him firmly against the ground.
The suppression lasted only a brief instant.
But that instant was enough.
From the heavens descended a blazing solar flare, crossing every distance in a heartbeat and falling lightly upon the Sanguine Noble.
The warriors nearby were forced to shut their eyes to avoid the blinding brilliance.
When they opened them again.
The enemy they had been fighting had vanished.
The descending pillar of light had disappeared with him.
Only a charred black silhouette remained etched into the ground.
No matter how hard they tried, the shadow could not be erased.
It was the only proof that a powerful enemy had once fought there.
Under the sunlight, the wounds on their bodies began to heal.
Their strength returned.
Their spirits burned with renewed vigor.
The warriors raised their hands high, praising Lucian's name.
And scenes like this unfolded across Stormveil.
Divine punishment descended again and again.
Within mere seconds, every enemy hidden within the castle was annihilated.
At the same time, the warriors' injuries were soothed and restored.
After this night, everyone would remember this sun.
The enemies would fear its scorching heat.
And the people would forever remember its warm light.
From this day forward,
Lucian would no longer merely be the Storm King.
He would be the true Sun King.
Rex Solis
—
High above the castle, Lucian looked down at the Bloody Fingers and Sanguine Nobles being eradicated one after another.
At the same time, he silently made a note to update Stormveil's future inspection methods.
These Bloody Fingers and Sanguine Nobles had all been strengthened by accursed blood.
Their individual strength was quite respectable, and their numbers were not small either.
Without a proper detection method, it was indeed difficult to identify them.
Fortunately, these mass-produced enforcers were not overwhelmingly powerful.
Otherwise, the Storm Knights would not have been able to hold them back at all.
Against these enemies, Lucian had unleashed a powerful killing technique.
The storm and dragon lightning first swept across the castle, searching and locking onto enemies.
Next, the gravity wave surged across the ground, suppressing every marked target while avoiding harm to others.
And once everything was prepared;
The sun's blazing fire descended as divine punishment.
This was Lucian's judgment.
And a warning to all.
Stormveil was no longer what it once had been.
To achieve this display, Lucian had spared no effort.
Simply raising this artificial sun had already consumed all the magic power in his body.
Even that was not enough.
He had been forced to drink three flasks of Cerulean Tears in succession.
Maintaining the sun itself required an enormous, constant expenditure of magic.
And the city-wide combined technique afterward consumed even more.
Yet the results were undeniable.
The effect was outstanding.
Lucian then turned his gaze toward the battlefield where Asimi, Selinsax, and the others were fighting.
He had deliberately refrained from using the sun to eliminate the two figures there.
After all, it was obvious that everything happening tonight had been orchestrated by those two.
Simply vaporizing them with the sun would be far too merciful.
Lucian intended to crush them personally.
To annihilate them in absolute dominance.
After Asimi left earlier, Melina's planned night raid had completely failed and had eventually been abandoned.
After that, Melina seemed to lose any interest in conversation.
The two of them simply remained there in silence.
Yet Lucian noticed that she still had not left.
He recalled the words she had spoken earlier.
Perhaps—
This was one of those moments when saying nothing was best.
So he simply leaned forward and kissed her again.
Melina made a token attempt to dodge twice, but she did not resist.
Soon, the two of them were locked in another deep embrace.
Just as the moment deepened and they were about to go even further.
The commotion in the castle, caused by Morgott joining the battle, finally reached a level that could no longer be ignored.
If not for that interruption, the outcome of tonight might have been very different.
Lucian let out a sigh.
Judging purely from the visible combat strength, his side would certainly win, but he still couldn't fully put his mind at ease.
More importantly, Melina had quite literally pushed him out the door and told him to go deal with the situation properly.
At this moment, Lucian had already recognized the Tarnished-looking figure whose appearance was overly flamboyant.
It was Mohg.
Although Mohg had completely changed his outward appearance, techniques like the Blood Domain and other blood-based abilities were simply too distinctive.
To be honest, the incarnation standing before him didn't seem particularly impressive in Lucian's eyes.
If Lucian hadn't previously been unfamiliar with Mohg's appearance, then based solely on that gaudy yet strangely reserved noble aesthetic, he might have immediately suspected this person was Mohg's avatar.
As for the other one…
Lucian truly couldn't find any obvious traits that revealed the person's identity.
But no matter how he thought about it, the answer was obvious.
Someone who would rescue Mohg and possess such strength.
There was probably only one person in the Lands Between who would do that.
Mohg's elder brother.
Morgott, the Omen King.
And Lucian just happened to know that Morgott possessed the ability to create avatars and disguise himself as others.
During the battle in Leyndell, Royal Capital, many players had once been startled by Morgott suddenly appearing while disguised as someone else.
Lucian left the sun he had created hanging high above the sky and flew toward the battlefield.
By this time, Leda and the others had already retreated to stand beside Asimi and Selinsax, withdrawing from the attack range of the two brothers.
With their opponents gone, Morgott and Mohg simply stood where they were, quietly watching Lucian approach.
During this time, Mohg repeatedly tried to signal to his brother with subtle glances, urging him to leave immediately and find somewhere to change his appearance.
But Morgott ignored him completely.
He had no intention of running.
Judging from the sun hanging in the sky and the methods Lucian had just demonstrated, there was clearly no chance of escape tonight.
If he believed he could simply hide somewhere, transform again, and evade pursuit…
That would be far too naïve.
In that case, it was better to stay.
Rather than flee only to be hunted down one by one later, he might as well make a final stand here.
After all, these were only two avatars.
Still…
Morgott narrowed his eyes and looked toward the blazing sun suspended above Stormveil Castle behind Lucian.
A deep sense of vigilance rose within him.
'Is that… the sun?'
During the long years he had ruled Leyndell, Morgott had thoroughly studied every scrap of information available in the royal archives.
From those records, he had learned about the once-powerful Sun Realm that existed in ancient times.
But the sun itself was supposed to have departed the Lands Between long ago, gradually drifting farther and farther away.
So how had Lucian obtained such power?
While Morgott was still pondering this, Lucian had already descended and landed before them.
The two brothers stood facing him.
Aside from Asimi and Selinsax, everyone else present respectfully bowed to Lucian.
Lucian glanced around, paying particular attention to the condition of Leda and her companions.
Although Miquella was secretly scheming something behind the scenes, Lucian actually held a favorable impression of these few people.
They had traveled a long way to come here, and they had just assisted his side in battle.
It would be improper to treat them discourteously.
Warm sunlight fell from above, instantly healing the injuries of everyone present.
Stepping across the sticky blood coating the ground, Lucian suddenly recalled the scene of his first battle with Mohg back at Castle Morne.
That fight remained vivid in his memory.
It had been the most perilous battle he had experienced since arriving in the Lands Between.
A weaker fighter facing a far stronger opponent.
Every step had been fraught with danger.
Even with his cheat-like powers, he had endured pain far beyond his limits.
But now—
Everything was different.
Lucian casually waved his hand.
Under the sunlight, all the blood covering the ground instantly evaporated.
Mohg was not surprised.
The commotion caused by Lucian summoning that thing in the sky had been far too enormous.
It obviously wasn't just for decoration.
Since they were fighting on Lucian's home ground, being suppressed was perfectly normal.
"Mohg," Lucian said calmly, "you actually dared to show yourself before me."
Seeing that Lucian had recognized him, Mohg burst into laughter.
"Heh heh… So what if I did?"
"You should be grateful."
"Today I didn't find a suitable target."
"Otherwise you would have had to watch helplessly as someone important to you was slaughtered by my hand."
"Hahaha… I wonder what kind of expression you would make then."
Lucian nodded.
This time, it was indeed fortunate that Mohg had chosen Asimi as his target.
Otherwise, the victim might not have survived.
No matter who it was, seeing them harmed would have filled Lucian with grief.
"You think I have no way to deal with you?" Lucian asked.
The smile on Mohg's face grew even wider.
"Hahaha! Anyone can talk big."
"If you've got the guts, come find me."
"I'll be waiting for you in my dynasty."
"If you can't find it, I might as well give you a hint."
"My beautiful dynasty lies in a place where the light of the Erdtree cannot reach."
"Come look for it."
"It's time we settled our grudges."
"I'll show you what true terror is."
Lucian frowned slightly.
Seeing this troubled expression, Mohg grew even more confident.
The seal set by his Mother was impossible for mortals to cross.
It was an absolute barrier in every sense.
Anyone who touched it would immediately attract his Mother's attention, possibly even being teleported directly to Her true form among the stars.
Watching Mohg's smug expression, Lucian felt relieved.
The troubled look he had shown earlier had been an act.
In truth, the possibility was small, but Lucian's greatest fear right now was that Mohg would simply abandon everything and flee.
He certainly wasn't foolish enough to tell Mohg to his face that he already knew the location of his real hideout.
Although seeing Mohg's shocked expression would surely feel satisfying...
It wasn't necessary.
The real spectacle would come later.
When Lucian stormed into the Mohgwyn Dynasty, beat Mohg until he was barely clinging to life, and then casually revealed every secret Mohg believed hidden; his relationships, his origins, everything.
That would be when Mohg's expression would truly be worth seeing.
Lucian pretended to be enraged by Mohg's provocation.
His face darkened as he stretched out his hand.
"Tsk. A coward hiding in the shadows."
"Sooner or later, I'll drag you out."
"But for now…"
"You can die one more time."
A beam of blazing fire shot forward at unimaginable speed.
Mohg had no time to react.
No matter how fast someone was...
Could they be faster than light?
However, Mohg was no longer standing where he had been.
What remained there was only an afterimage.
Morgott suddenly lunged forward, appearing before Lucian, while Mohg simultaneously hurled his Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear toward him.
Lucian casually raised a hand.
Gravity erupted from his palm.
A purple beam of gravitational energy shot forward, shattering Mohg's spear head-on and piercing straight through Mohg's body.
Then the sun's blazing flames descended again, completely engulfing the place where Mohg stood.
This time, Mohg had no chance to escape.
He didn't even have time to utter a final threat before he was vaporized.
Meanwhile, Morgott charged fiercely toward Lucian.
But Lucian moved faster.
His hand wrapped in crackling dragon lightning shot forward, grabbing Morgott by the throat and slamming him violently into the ground.
This was the power of raw stats.
Dragon lightning erupted point-blank, pouring directly into Morgott's body.
Morgott struggled desperately.
Lucian simply raised his left fist and delivered a plain, straightforward punch.
Morgott's head was completely crushed.
With no way to resist, Morgott's avatar dissolved into countless motes of light and scattered into the air.
—
[T/N: Rex Solis is a Latin phrase meaning "King of the Sun". This is something I added myself. Umu! ]