Although Arthur harbored doubts about the current state of the Erdtree, he still tried his best to calm his somewhat anxious mood and led the Misbegotten, who were carrying the corpses of their brethren behind him, into Morne Castle's castle.
Arthur understood the significance of returning to the Erdtree for those who believed in it, especially since this was the Misbegotten's first return to the Erdtree in many years. He did not want to spoil their mood by rushing them.
As they passed through the Golden Lineage's residential area outside Morne Castle, the Misbegotten, without exception, straightened their chests and followed Arthur into Morne Castle's castle, under the astonished gazes of the Golden Lineage.
"Let's do it here," Arthur said upon arriving at the isolated courtyard where the Erdtree stood, "Let these Misbegotten who died gloriously in battle return to the embrace of the Erdtree."
He then approached a Misbegotten and picked up a frozen Misbegotten corpse from the pushcart the Misbegotten was pushing.
"Arthur, Your Majesty? Th-this, how can we let you…" The Misbegotten's eyes widened, and he quickly reached out to help.
Arthur sidestepped him and calmly said to him and the Misbegotten behind him, "Let us send them off together. Although I know that in your hearts, their death in battle for me is an honor, if possible, I still wish they could have lived."
The Misbegotten withdrew his hand. He looked at the Misbegotten who were continuously entering around him and nodded silently.
Arthur's words made the expressions of the Misbegotten, who had been somewhat emotional, turn solemn.
The Misbegotten also realized that even if returning to the Erdtree was the greatest honor, their departed brethren could no longer stand up and converse with them.
They pushed their pushcarts into the courtyard one by one, and like Arthur, picked up the corpses of their brethren and brought them before the Erdtree.
Arthur gently placed the cold Scale-skinned Hybrids corpse he held onto the golden grass swaying in the wind, releasing the ice-binding effect of the snow magic.
The resplendent Erdtree swayed gently in the wind. Its branches moved rhythmically with the wind, intertwining and making a rustling sound, as if singing a mournful elegy for the Misbegotten who died on the battlefield.
Golden leaves slowly drifted down, accompanying the trembling of the branches, as if they were tears shed by the Erdtree.
Beneath the Erdtree, the corpses of the Misbegotten were neatly arranged. Their expressions were now peaceful and serene, as if they were merely sleeping.
Golden leaves gently fell, quietly covering the fallen Misbegotten bodies.
Suddenly, a faint golden glow emanated from the corpses. This soft light gradually spread, accompanied by subtle flickers, and the bodies of the Misbegotten began to turn transparent until they transformed into clusters of brilliant light particles.
They leaped and spun in the air, circling Arthur and the Misbegotten, seemingly bidding their final farewell.
After circling a few times, they began to slowly ascend, eventually reintegrating into the Erdtree.
A deathly silence enveloped the surroundings, broken only by the swaying of branches and the rustling of leaves carried by the wind.
Arthur stood there, closing his eyes, praying for the Misbegotten who had returned to the Erdtree.
Behind him, all the living Misbegotten prostrated themselves on the golden grass, knelt three times, and then raised their hands, softly chanting their remembrance of their departed brethren.
Arthur waited quietly until the last Misbegotten also stood up and bowed to him before speaking: "Go find Nepheli Loux and have her arrange for people to prepare your return to Thorndale, including weapons, rations, and bedding. Hmm, first have her prepare for about 300 people. There are still some old supplies stored in Morne Castle's warehouse, which should be enough for your use in Thorndale."
The Misbegotten nodded and left one after another, not forgetting to take their pushcarts out of the Erdtree's courtyard as they departed.
After Arthur was the only one left in the courtyard, he walked to the trunk of the Erdtree, closed his eyes, and sensed the elden ring within the tree.
The Erdtree showed no problems whatsoever.
On the contrary, due to the existence of the Shadow Tree, the Erdtree could better guide the departed souls and, at the same time, avoid being corrupted by the power of death from absorbing too many deceased souls.
Moreover, the appearance of the Shadow Tree also brought new visions within the elden ring.
Arthur recognized at a glance that these visions depicted everything from the Land of Shadow.
He looked at the various scenes from the Land of Shadow, but then shook his head and turned his gaze towards Stormveil Castle.
The Golden Lineage were unaware of the Land of Shadow's existence, and if its contents were summoned, letting the Golden Lineage know about these buried sins would undoubtedly cause immense panic.
Furthermore, Arthur discovered that summoning things from the Shadowland did not require Grace, but rather Phantom Grace.
That is, the grace stored within the Shadow Tree. It was clear that the Shadow Tree, having only recently appeared, did not have enough Phantom Grace stored.
However, although the cities of the Land of Shadow could not be summoned for now, some old friends he was familiar with could be summoned later to help.
First, he would summon Stormveil Castle. Afterwards, if there was any remaining grace, he would need to summon more soldiers and residents, and the Misbegotten far away in Thorndale also needed more brethren.
The grace accumulated by the Erdtree over the past month, plus the orc souls he absorbed from Thorndale, should be enough.
Once Stormveil Castle was summoned, Stormhawks, Exiled Soldiers, and Banished Knights could also be summoned. This time, Nepheli Loux would truly be the Storm King, finally not having to command Godrick's Royal Army.
More importantly, there was also a Demigod of The Lands Between who could be summoned.
Although the grace required to summon this Demigod was not even half of the grace needed to summon Stormveil Castle.
As Arthur mused inwardly, he took out the soul collector crafted by Teacher Sellen.
The soul collector, made of deep blue glintstone, released a large number of orc and warg souls the moment it appeared before the Erdtree.
As the Erdtree absorbed these souls, the Shadow Tree, which was born with it, also gradually transformed into a black-gold color.
After releasing all the souls, the soul collector lost its luster and fell back into Arthur's hand.
Arthur carefully placed it back into his embrace, then eagerly touched the Erdtree's trunk again.
In the tranquil courtyard, sunlight filtered through sparse clouds, casting its rays upon these two trees born as one.
The Erdtree and the Shadow Tree, after Arthur confirmed the summoning, simultaneously radiated lights of different colors.
The Erdtree's golden-yellow radiance was like flowing molten gold, both warm and vibrant.
Its branches, laden with leaves, rippled with golden waves under the gentle caress of the breeze, like a golden river, flowing gently in the silent courtyard.
The Shadow Tree beside it, however, displayed its solemnity and dignity in a completely different manner.
Its leaves also swayed gently in the wind, but they glowed with a black-gold light, like jewels hidden in the deep ocean, not ostentatious yet impossible to ignore.
The radiance of the two trees intertwined, enveloping the entire territory of the Erdtree. Accompanied by a brief tremor, the majestic fortress of Stormveil Castle appeared around the Erdtree.
Morne Castle, meanwhile, shifted to the original location of Fort Haight, while Fort Haight moved to a position further north from its original location.
As for the Gatefront Ruins, its position remained unchanged, as it was inherently a outpost set before Stormveil Castle.
The dwarf and elf residential areas also remained unchanged, so the fields and farms were unaffected.
The appearance of Stormveil Castle also meant that the Erdtree's territory expanded significantly once again.
Now, it would take a full day to walk from Stormveil Castle to Morne Castle, and only half a day from Morne Castle to Fort Haight.
It was time to build roads between Stormveil Castle, Morne Castle, and Fort Haight to facilitate carriage travel.
As Arthur pondered, he continued to immerse his mind in the elden ring.
There was still grace remaining from the Erdtree, and he intended to summon more things.
Inside Morne Castle's City Lord Hall, Rogier looked at the dissipating light outside the window and the magnificent outline of Stormveil Castle in the distance. He smiled at D and Nepheli Loux behind him and said, "Shall we guess what else Arthur summoned this time?"
D, who had been praying when the light enveloped them, hearing Rogier's words, tossed out, "Boring."
Rogier, seeing his friend reject him, deliberately pouted, then looked at Nepheli Loux.
Nepheli Loux looked at the small black dots rising from Stormveil Castle in the distance, closed her eyes to sense for a moment, then opened them and said excitedly, "I feel a familiar aura in the wind, it's a flock of eagles! The Stormhawks are back!"