The Ainsel River Mainstream was in fact an underground waterway.
Though the sun never shone here, the place was teeming with life — Death Frogs, giant ants, even remnants of the Eternal City's people.
Yes, this place was also tied to the Eternal City. For here lay another city of that lineage: Nokstella.
Long ago, the people of the Eternal City, unwilling to live under the dominion of the Greater Will, created a weapon capable of slaying the Two Fingers — the Fingerslayer Blade. Unfortunately, their plan was discovered. The Greater Will sent down Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, smashing the entire Eternal City civilization into the depths of the earth.
It was said the first Eternal City had been annihilated by Astel. Compared with Nokron, Nokstella was a ruin, far more broken. Arthur speculated that perhaps the people of Nokron were survivors who had migrated here. After all, he had seen several lesser Astels lingering here. No Eternal citizen could live in peace under such conditions.
But Astel itself was a tragic existence. Once its mission was complete, it had been abandoned — or sealed — by the Greater Will, left to rot in the depths. A hard life for a "star-beast," indeed.
Though not as miserable as another race: the people of the Regal Ancestors, who worshiped ancestral spirits. Because they dwelled too close to the Eternal folk, their Uhl Dynasty had been banished underground along with them. From that day on, they never again saw the sun.
After exploring and passing through the ruins of the Uhl Dynasty, Arthur arrived at Nokstella.
Here, the place stirred Ranni's memories. The petite Ranni in his arms spoke:
"Let us speak a little about the past. I was once Empyrean. Among the demigods, only I, Miquella, and Malenia were Empyreans."
"Wait—Malenia was an Empyrean too?" Arthur interrupted curiously. That part, he had absolutely no impression of. In his last life when he played the game, he had skipped some text. On his first run, he had never reached the Haligtree to fight Malenia. He hadn't even gone to Mt. Gelmir. After Melina burned the Erdtree, he stormed straight back into Leyndell, the Royal Capital, and brute-forced his way through Radagon and the Elden Beast with the help of his "big brother."
Then he'd simply summoned Ranni and triggered the Age of Stars ending. You could say he'd cleared the game half-blind — he hadn't even unlocked the full map.
And with Elden Ring's fragmented narrative, he hadn't pieced together much during play. Most of what he knew had come from lore breakdowns by community experts. He had always thought the relationship between Malenia and Miquella was like that of the first Elden Lord Godfrey and Queen Marika — the bond between Elden Lord and divine consort.
"Yes," Ranni answered.
"Then what was her law? Yours is of the Stars and the Dark Moon, Miquella's is the Unalloyed Gold. What about hers?"
"She has no law."
"No law, yet chosen by the Two Fingers?"
"Yes. Long ago I saw through it. The Greater Will merely seeks to have the Empyreans shape the world in Its image, perpetuating Its rule. Malenia was chosen by the god of Scarlet Rot — that ancient god wished to use the bloom of rot to corrupt the Erdtree. The Greater Will made Malenia an Empyrean candidate, hoping to harness the power of the Rot for Itself."
"…Alright, go on." Having cleared his doubts, Arthur motioned for Ranni to continue.
"We were each found by different Two Fingers, chosen as candidates to succeed Queen Marika and become the god of the next age. Blaidd was a retainer sent by the Two Fingers, but it was obvious — I rejected them."
"Indeed, obvious enough, since we are now hunting down the baleful shadows they dispatch."
"What happened afterward you already know. I refused their control, stole the Rune of Death, and slew and cast away my own Empyrean flesh. Thus I severed myself from them completely. Speaking of which… it seems you've taken my discarded body."
Ranni's tone was deep, probing. Though she had abandoned her body, she did not like the thought of anyone casually taking it. If not for Arthur's outstanding performance and his great aid to her cause, she might have already crushed him flat.
"Ahem. Your body's safe. Give it some time — I'll even prepare a surprise for you." Arthur chuckled sheepishly.
"…Let's hope it's not a shock instead. Enough. I must rest. A soul inhabiting a doll is ever inconvenient."
It was clearly an excuse, but Arthur knew better than to press her. With his body's power growing, he had grown attuned to gazes upon him. He could feel two now: one from Ranni, and the other — needless to say — from Melina, ever the faithful visitor to his Sites of Grace.
That girl could never be summoned when called, yet would always appear in churches and shrines to interpret Marika's inscriptions. A chronic social recluse, that one.
Arthur had intended to continue exploring Nokstella, but then thought better of it. He'd already played enough today. Time to log off. Not depression-time… cough, cough — sleep time.
The next morning, upon waking, Arthur saw Hermione sulking over a book. She turned the pages every few seconds, clearly not reading.
"What's with the long face?" Arthur asked, patting her head.
"Sigh, it's that stupid rule about underage wizards not being allowed to use magic outside school," Hermione said gloomily.
At the end of their first year, all wizarding students had to sign a document — Underage Wizards Are Strictly Forbidden to Perform Magic Outside the Wizarding World. Once signed, a magical Trace was placed upon them.
The Ministry of Magic could use it to detect whether a young wizard was following the law. If they violated it, the Ministry would issue a warning. In serious cases, they might even send Aurors to arrest the offender.
After all, the Statute of Secrecy demanded that no wizard expose magic to Muggles. Because of this rule, Hermione couldn't even practice spells now, left with nothing but books to pass the time.
"You… Did you forget about this?" Arthur tapped her forehead and pulled a key from his pocket.
"This is—'Zen Garden'! Cousin, you're the best! I love you! Hurry, let me in!" Hermione cried, leaping into his arms so hard he nearly choked.
Arthur sighed helplessly. When would this little witch finally put some meat on her bones?
He opened the Zen Garden and let Hermione inside. Just a few days ago, the garden had expanded with new space he hadn't yet planned how to use. For now, he could carve out a section for Hermione to practice magic.
He set the flow of time to 1:1 — otherwise, he feared a single afternoon outside would leave Hermione starving to death there.
Visit my patreon for more chapters
Advance 30+ Chapters Available
patreon.com/WhiteDevil7554