Asimi walked over to Lucian with Shadow of the Stars in hand.
The automatic rune-farming machine known as Asimi had successfully completed her mission.
The Dragonkin Soldier could no longer produce even a single rune.
Behind her lay the remains of the creature, scattered into countless fragments. Its body was covered in patchwork seams from repeated repairs, but now it had finally fallen apart for good.
No matter how much Rot power was poured into it, there was nothing left to stitch together.
Tilting her head, Asimi looked curiously at the transformed Euporia in Lucian's hand.
"Hm? Why does Euporia look like that now?"
As she spoke, she poked the Abundance side of the weapon.
The radiant life energy immediately responded, tiny sprouts of luminous power budding from the blade.
A pleasant warmth flowed through Asimi's body.
The minor injuries she had sustained during the battle vanished instantly.
This was the power of the Abundance side.
It could heal both the wielder and others through the power of life itself.
At the same time, it retained Euporia's original ability to drain vitality from enemies and further enhanced the strength of its vortex effect.
As for the Rot side...
Besides the obvious ability to inflict Scarlet Rot upon enemies, Lucian could now also make flowers bloom.
The problem was that if he activated Embers, the Rot blossoms would simply be burned away first.
But if he didn't use Embers...
Then he'd have to endure the Rot himself before it reached anyone else.
Holding Euporia, now imbued with both Abundance and Rot, Lucian carefully studied the weapon.
At the same time, he answered Asimi's question.
"The thing I fought earlier was a Vessel of Rot."
"The God of Rot poured Its power into it, including a fragment of Its fundamental essence, Its Divine Essence."
"After I destroyed the Vessel, that essence leaked out."
Divine Essence was an incredibly powerful force.
Back when Mohg had been nearly vaporized by the aftereffects of a Wind Spirit Moon Shadow-enhanced attack, the Formless Mother had saved him by infusing him with Divine Essence.
Not only had it pulled him back from the brink of death—
It had strengthened him beyond his previous limits, elevating him into the realm of gods and lords.
That alone demonstrated how extraordinary Divine Essence truly was.
Of course, the amount infused into Mohg had been vastly greater than the tiny fragment Lucian had just acquired.
Even so, the amount he'd recovered would have been sufficient to elevate an ordinary lifeform all the way to demi-godhood.
And if such power were used to strengthen a weapon...
The results spoke for themselves.
The current Euporia had already surpassed every weapon Lucian had ever seen.
Rotating the twinblade, he raised the golden Abundance side upward.
Golden motes drifted from the blade and slowly fell toward the ground.
Yet as they passed the midpoint of the weapon, their color faded.
By the time they touched the earth, they had become Scarlet Rot.
"I experimented a little," Lucian explained.
"I discovered that under sunlight, the Divine Essence could shift toward the aspect of Abundance."
"So I thought I'd keep it and use it to repair Euporia."
"And maybe restore the missing portion of its Abundance power while I was at it."
"Everything went smoothly at first."
"But... well."
He gestured toward the blade.
"You can see the result."
Asimi nodded.
Lucian then flipped the weapon, bringing the Rot side upward.
Immediately, viscous Scarlet Rot began flowing downward along the blade under the pull of gravity.
Yet as it crossed the midpoint, its color gradually faded.
By the time it reached the Abundance side, it had transformed back into brilliant gold.
Watching the constant cycle between Rot and Abundance, Lucian finally confirmed something important.
The two forces existed in perfect equilibrium.
At the very least, he no longer had to worry about Euporia spontaneously collapsing in the middle of a fight.
Resting a hand against his chin, he continued both his explanation and his own analysis of what had happened.
"I still don't understand why."
"It stayed in an Abundance state the entire time."
"Then suddenly it became this."
"The Rot aspect separated itself out, almost like the two were naturally dual aspects of the same thing."
Even now, Lucian couldn't fully explain it.
To prevent Abundance from reverting back into Rot, he'd maintained the power of sunlight continuously throughout the process.
Not once had he stopped.
Yet right before his eyes, the Rot half had separated itself anyway.
And honestly...
That was the part he hadn't wanted to keep.
After all, he himself was still vulnerable to Scarlet Rot.
Combined with his personal feelings about the stuff, he naturally preferred pure Abundance.
Having to worry about Rot every time he entered battle would be ridiculous.
It would only limit him.
Asimi listened with a thoroughly confused expression.
Although she'd spent a long time inside Lucian and had heard these terms before, understanding them was another matter entirely.
For a Mimic Tear, concepts like Divine Essence, Abundance, and Rot were difficult topics.
She didn't really understand.
But it sounded impressive.
And for her, only one question actually mattered.
"Mmm..."
"So basically, Euporia got stronger, right?"
Lucian hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Yes."
"Without a doubt."
"Euporia became incredibly powerful after inheriting Divine Essence."
"That power comes from beings worthy of being called gods—their final, fundamental essence."
"Even if we still don't fully understand it."
"And even if Scarlet Rot introduces some risks."
"If we ignore all of that and focus purely on results..."
"Euporia became dramatically stronger."
"And that's unquestionably a good thing."
Hearing that answer, Asimi grinned.
"Then that's great!"
"I honestly don't know why you're worrying so much, My lord."
"Weapons are supposed to get stronger, aren't they?"
Lucian laughed.
Her words eased his concerns more than he'd expected.
He couldn't afford to be as carefree as Asimi.
But she was right.
At the end of the day, it was a weapon.
A stronger weapon was a good thing.
And if he was worried about the Rot aspect...
He could simply let Asimi use it.
As a Mimic Tear, she had no reason to fear Scarlet Rot's corruption.
Furthermore, her current strength was only a hair below his own.
She was more than capable of wielding the weapon properly.
The more Lucian thought about it, the more reasonable the idea seemed.
After all, he wasn't lacking weapons.
He had so many powerful armaments that he could barely use them all.
Meanwhile, Asimi couldn't replicate a weapon this powerful or one possessing such unique abilities.
Giving her a proper weapon would significantly increase her combat effectiveness.
So Lucian patted her shoulder and said:
"Alright."
"Until I figure out a way to avoid being affected by Rot..."
"You can use this weapon."
Asimi's eyes lit up immediately.
"Yay!"
Now she had a new toy.
Her body dissolved into shimmering droplets before flowing back into Lucian's body, returning to the task of digesting the power of the Tear Chalice.
Lucian stored Euporia away.
The weapon no longer displayed a reinforcement level suffix.
Its name had become:
[Euporia: Wilted Heaven]
It could no longer be upgraded.
Or rather—
It no longer needed to be.
It had already reached the level of a God-Slaying Weapon.
Ordinarily, a God-Slaying Weapon required the power contained within the Dragonlord's scales.
That fragment of twisted time had to be forged into the weapon.
Only then could it pierce the almost conceptual defenses possessed by true gods.
Much like how the Fingerslayer Blade possessed a specific bonus against the Fingers.
The difference was that weapons upgraded with Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones were more versatile.
They didn't require specialized counters.
Naturally, that meant their effectiveness was lower.
Rather than a true "super effective" bonus, they simply possessed the ability to break divine defenses.
The God of Rot was a being on the same level as the Dragonlord, perhaps even higher.
Although Euporia lacked that time-distorting power from the storm beyond time, the powers of Rot and Abundance were no less extraordinary.
Against certain gods, they might even prove particularly effective.
"Just how effective it will be..."
"I'll have to use it to find out."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Afterward, Lucian turned his attention toward the runes he had gained during the battle.
Feeling the enormous quantity of runes flowing within him, he couldn't help smiling.
He now possessed a staggering:
23 million runes.
Back in Mohgwyn Palace, he had spent over 12 million runes to gain fifteen levels.
Even accounting for the ever-increasing cost of leveling, these runes would easily grant another ten or more levels.
Lucian couldn't help sighing in admiration.
No wonder people said murder and arson were the fastest roads to riches.
The Lake of Rot branch had paid out far more generously than the Blood Bank branch.
Almost twice as much.
Back at Mohgwyn Palace, he had slaughtered every follower of Mohg he could find.
After emptying the entire Blood Bank, he had only managed to gather around eight million runes.
Including Mohg's drop and his previous savings, he had barely reached thirteen million.
The Rot creatures, meanwhile, were worth far less individually.
Their quality varied wildly.
But their numbers were absurd.
The Sanguine Nobles and soldiers of Mohgwyn Palace had merely been gathered followers.
The creatures of the Lake of Rot, however, were a naturally reproducing ecosystem.
The difference in population wasn't even comparable.
Altogether, those Rot creatures had contributed more than 17 million runes.
The repeatedly exploited Dragonkin Soldier and Rot Vessel had added another 3 million-plus.
The remaining 2 million had been accumulated throughout his journey.
The Horned Warriors and Divine Beast Dancing Lion of Belurat...
The Astel outside Nokstella...
They had all made respectable contributions.
Together, those countless victories had resulted in this mountain of runes.
Lucian now possessed enough runes to push any single attribute to the point of breaking its limit.
Even attributes he had barely invested in before.
He smiled happily.
Few things in the world were more satisfying than becoming stronger.
And honestly, it was rather amusing.
He had only recently lamented that there were no more opportunities to earn huge amounts of runes.
Then one had appeared almost immediately.
Not only that—
It had paid even better.
In any case, chances like this probably wouldn't come again for a long time.
(He looked forward to being proven wrong.)
Though he was eager to spend the runes immediately, Melina wasn't with him.
She was still in the Land of Shadow.
He would wait until he returned there before leveling up.
That would also give him time to carefully plan his stat allocation.
His current intention was to raise Dexterity past its limit.
It was already one of the attributes closest to breakthrough.
Once Dexterity joined Perception as a limit-broken stat, he would possess three limit-breaking attributes while using his Great Rune transformation.
That would allow him to officially step into the next tier of power.
The realm of Lords and Gods.
The level occupied by most of the truly terrifying enemies he would face next.
Maliketh.
Radagon.
Godfrey.
As for opponents beyond even that level...
There were probably only the Elden Beast and the False Greater Will.
Recalling the immeasurable strength of the False Greater Will, Lucian's excitement gradually cooled.
Feeling happy about growing stronger was perfectly normal.
But becoming arrogant would be foolish.
For now, his goal was simple.
Complete the three breakthrough attributes in Great Rune form.
Obtain power comparable to a true king.
After that, he could focus on developing his normal form.
Perception had already broken its limit.
All he needed was two more attributes.
Viewed that way, the goal didn't seem so distant.
One form would focus on physical combat.
The other on spellcasting.
In Great Rune form, every attribute would support pure physical prowess, turning him into a second Hoarah Loux.
In normal form, he could invest heavily into Intelligence and Faith, becoming an exceptional sorcerer and priest alike.
A perfectly balanced all-rounder.
Beyond that...
He would work toward the day when every attribute surpassed its limit.
The real question was whether he could gather enough runes.
Once attributes crossed their limits, leveling costs would become astronomical.
How many runes would it take to reach the next realm?
At that point...
He would probably have to rely on Wind Spirit Moon Shadow again to bridge the gap separating him from true gods like the Elden Beast.
Lucian sighed.
Typical FromSoftware.
On the surface, their games looked simple.
Grab a sword.
Swing it.
Roll.
Keep swinging.
Fight your way from a hollow to Gwyn.
Or from a Tarnished to the Elden Beast.
But according to the lore, the gap in power between those opponents was absurd.
Lucian was already approaching the absolute peak of the Lands Between.
Compared to ordinary lifeforms, the difference was almost insurmountable.
And yet even now, he could barely resist the False Greater Will.
Granted, part of that was because the Shattering had weakened all life in the Lands Between.
The age of heroes was long gone.
Still, even the Dragonlord in its prime probably wouldn't have deserved a seat at the same table as that monster.
The closer Lucian came to that level, the more terrifying his future enemies seemed.
Still—
He would win.
With Wind Spirit Moon Shadow in his hands, he had every reason not to lose.
Whether it was when he first reached demigod-level strength...
Or now, standing on the verge of lordly power...
Or someday, when he faced the Elden Beast itself...
He had overcome too many obstacles already.
What were a few more?
Lucian took a deep breath.
Then he stepped into the Lake of Rot and headed deeper within.
No matter what—
It was time to collect the spoils of war.