"White Wolf! How dare you throw me! And make me a decoy on top of that! Don't let me catch you slipping, or I'll kick you for sure! Hiss... scared the life out of me." Patches, having severed his spectral link, took a sharp breath and cursed under his breath.
"Uh... wait, I seem to have forgotten something... what was it? Oh, right! I forgot to tell the White Wolf that those guys are probably arriving for the festival soon..."
On the other side, the Tarnished was still locked in a fierce battle with Radahn. The terrifying aura made it difficult for anyone to even draw near; it was a further filtration of the weak. By now, only Blaidd's group and a few other capable fighters remained on the battlefield... including that witch with the strange posture.
"Alexander, let's go. Our friend might not be able to handle this alone... Alexander? Hey, what's wrong with you!" Blaidd suddenly realized that Alexander was covered in cracks, and the remains of the warriors stored inside him were spilling out.
"Ha... haha, sorry, I'm a disgrace... One roar from the General and I started falling apart... I'm afraid I can't go on... But don't worry about me, I can still hold together. Go help the Tarnished first." Alexander waved a hand, then sat there looking somewhat despondent.
"But... sigh, alright... watch yourself." Blaidd gave a worried warning before re-entering the fray with Jerren and the others. He saw the Tarnished and Radahn fighting with such intensity that the world seemed to dim; countless martial arts and techniques hammered the wastes, leaving the plains riddled with craters.
"Radahn... I truly longed for a duel with you at your absolute peak..." The Tarnished retreated a step, preparing to unleash his ultimate move. But in that moment, a sudden change occurred. A group of people in unknown attire rushed onto the battlefield, laughing maniacally as they ruthlessly slaughtered the phantoms of isolated warriors.
"These people... they really came here after all," Blaidd thought to himself. Were they here to snatch the Great Rune?
"Hehehehahaha! There are so many strong ones here! Brothers, charge! From this moment on, we make our name known!" A sinister-looking man at the lead waved his hand, and his followers ceased holding back. Sorceries and combat arts flew everywhere, and they even wielded a power very similar to Incantations.
Like a meat grinder, they scattered everyone whose strength was insufficient, leaving only Blaidd's group. Then, they turned their predatory gazes toward the deathmatch between the Tarnished and Radahn.
"That's enough. Stand still right there." A killing intent dropped from the sky like a voice of judgment, followed by a descent of golden light. It was the Crucible Knight who had remained in Redmane Castle.
"Where did this tin can come from? Get out of our way!" The blood-crazed group of intruders launched an attack at the Crucible Knight.
"Ridiculous... even your ancestors weren't confident enough to speak to me like that." Langshi stomped the earth, and golden patterns erupted from the ground, blasting the crowd of enemies away.
"This is a sacred battle, not to be defiled... Die." A vortex gathered in his hand before he slammed it down. The group suffered heavy damage, but they seemed unable to feel pain, their eyes bloodshot as they continued their frenzied assault.
"Ugh, another group of troublesome bastards..." The Tarnished was impatient; he just wanted a proper fight. "Hm...?" Just then, Radahn's state turned peculiar. His movements stopped, and with a roar, he ran past the Tarnished and charged straight at the meddling intruders. It seemed protecting his domain was an instinct carved into his soul.
"General... ah... even now, you still care for the world... you... are still you..." Jerren struggled to contain his grief. He saw Radahn's mountain-like body looming over the "ants" below, raising his twin blades like guillotines and letting them fall.
"Starscourge General, you—"
"Stop talking and run! This move is different... This guy is a monster, he still has this much power in this state!" The leader was no mere madman; he knew that if Radahn's blades landed, they would all die.
Thus, under the leader's timely warning, they fled in a panic.
"AARRGGHH!!!" Radahn, having missed his strike, could only vent his rage in a heaven-shaking roar.
"Starscourge Radahn... truly respectable... I am one of the Crucible Knights... beneath the first Elden Lord... allow me to trade a few blows with you." The two began to clash, a scene even more magnificent than the duel with the Tarnished.
"Good, very good! This strength is not inferior to the First Lord... however... I am not the one to grant you rest." The Crucible Knight raised his hornshield, which instantly expanded several times in size, followed by a surge of brute force that pushed Radahn directly back toward the Tarnished's location.
"Caught me off guard there." Radahn, pushed toward the Tarnished, was spinning like a top, and the speed of the small horse beneath him was equally terrifying. From man to horse, not a single part of them was ordinary.
Just as Radahn was about to reach the Tarnished, his movement changed... he utilized a massive gravitational pull to launch himself into the high heavens, vanishing from sight.
"This... this is..." Blaidd felt a sense of dread.
"Run! This is the General's life-defining technique!" This was the reversed version of the move Radahn used to crush the stars. The sky suddenly let out a muffled sound like thunder, followed by a burst of fire. An infinite pressure, as if the heavens themselves were collapsing, bore down on everyone.
Seeing this, Blaidd sensed disaster and shouted for everyone to run. He pulled the despondent Alexander along to dodge the terrifying attack. When he looked back, he found the Tarnished standing perfectly still.
"What are you doing! Get out of there!" Seeing the Tarnished make no move to dodge, Jerren and the others were filled with panic.
The Tarnished closed his eyes, deaf to the calls around him. He simply whispered to the Asimi within him.
"Want to join me for something big?"
"The honor is mine... my dear host... Asimi is with you."
Radahn descended at high speed like a falling meteor. Two small figures below showed no intention of retreating.
"Radahn... this is my highest respect to you... Your will is epic, and your deeds are worth carving into history... Rest now." The crescent moon shone brilliantly as multiple powers fused together. "Accept this; my strongest strike should go to a powerhouse like you."
Using the trajectories of the stars as a vessel, the triple powers of Frost, Gold, and Fire intersected in a spiral. Asimi released her power in perfect sync. This attack was the full strength of both combined.
"He... he plans to take it head-on?!" The horrifying pressure nearly blew the distant onlookers away. They could only catch a glimpse of this magnificent battle—a collision between the long-arcing stars and the indestructible seal.
"Farewell... Starscourge General Radahn." Following the Tarnished's eulogy, his unique blood-aura suddenly surged into the torrent, breaking the stalemate. The newborn stars shattered the ancient seal, and a majestic shadow crashed heavily from the sky.
"General... this is!" Jerren almost burst into tears. Starscourge General Radahn and his beloved horse stood upon the earth like a giant statue carved from crimson jewels. Jerren saw the glorious image of the Radahn of old.
"General... Radahn... old friend... rest in peace... May the Lion's fire live forever in our hearts!" Jerren raised his flamberge and cheered through his tears.
"Cough... I'm exhausted..." The Tarnished was spent. He wouldn't be able to use any magic for a long time; over-exerting oneself was never good.
"Brother! Beautifully done! You are... you are... forgive me, my vocabulary is insufficient..." Blaidd couldn't hide his excitement; he had witnessed a new legend with his own eyes.
"Congratulations, good friend... you are a true hero... unlike me, who broke halfway... sigh, I am a useless jar..."
"Alexander, don't—Wait, what is that!" Blaidd suddenly looked up. The stars were streaming like wild horses breaking their reins. Several massive meteorites, no smaller than Radahn himself, crashed into the ground. The heavens and earth changed color.
The surface was violently torn apart by the meteorites. In an instant, the Lands Between was pockmarked with countless craters. One of them flew toward the high tower in the northwest of Caelid.
"Hm? A meteorite?" On top of the high tower, the Crucible Knight, stepping on the "Two Fingers" that looked like a dead dog, examined the meteorite before him.
"Fingers, Radahn is liberated... I suppose it's time for you to die too? Well, it has nothing to do with me. There's a bit of trouble here though."
Just then, a massive hooked tail shot out from the meteorite, attempting to impale the Crucible Knight.
"A beast of the stars... I remember you are... Astel? Forget it, what does your name matter to me? Let us see who prevails..." The Crucible Knight faced the meteorite—specifically, the high-speed Fallingstar Beast within.
...
"Heh, trash..." The Crucible Knight held the head of the Fallingstar Beast. Though it was several times larger than him, it appeared as weak as an ant before him.
"You certainly brought me to a strange place... where is this?" After crushing the beast to pieces, the Crucible Knight looked around. He had just been carried into the underground world by the beast's momentum. He didn't know how long they had been flying, nor did he care.
"An underground world... interesting. But that floating-like building ahead is..." Beneath the false starry sky stood a structure completely different in style from the rest of the Eternal Cities.
"Oh...? The scent of a compatriot... It seems we Crucible Knights must gather in the end after all." That said, he didn't plan to move immediately. The building before him gave him a sense of being both near and far; though the feeling was strange, he was certain the building was real—it likely used some method of concealment.
In all his time in the Lands Between, this was the first time he had seen such a secretive power.
"Where did this meteorite come from?" Looking at the massive crater overhead, Qier Baxia was somewhat puzzled.
"It should mean the White Wolf succeeded. That man truly was the seal of the stars."
"I see... I didn't expect the release of the seal to cause such a phenomenon... I wonder if he will come to this underground world."
"Hard to say. That fellow is unpredictable; we can't get a read on him."
"Forget it... but it must be said, Radahn was a respectable man... such a massive unsealing phenomenon... A 'Cataclysm of the Heavens and Earth'—that would be an appropriate name for it."