"Hah… this feeling never gets old…"
At the mist-wreathed summit of the Divine Tower, he stood beside the corpse of the Two Fingers and let the newly awakened power wash through him as the Great Rune stirred back to life.
The boost wasn't massive—not compared to the absurd heights he'd reached over the course of countless cycles—but the sensation itself was rare, familiar, and strangely comforting, like a long-forgotten rhythm returning to his blood.
Before coming here, he'd actually followed Hu Tao's advice.
One by one, he summoned his Spirit Ashes and asked them what they wanted.
Aside from the purely bestial ones—things like the Land Octopus and the Lone Wolf pack—and the Ashes tied to Those Who Live in Death, most spirits didn't have any "wish" to speak of. Their answers were simple, almost unbearably sincere: they wanted to stay by his side.
Just like Lhutel the Headless, who declared eternal loyalty without hesitation.
To be honest, learning Lhutel was a woman had completely blindsided him.
A headless knight… and she was still somehow that cool.
And speaking of Spirit Ashes—yes, he'd given Roderika the Lone Wolf Ashes, but his own pack was still overflowing. He had more than six hundred sets in his bag, all courtesy of Ranni.
At this rate, he was going to stop being a Tarnished and start being a full-time beast tamer.
Still, a few of the Ashes did have wishes.
Cleanrot Knight Finlay wanted to see Malenia, Blade of Miquella, one last time.
Redmane Knight Ogha was the same—he wanted to see General Radahn again.
Which was… odd, when you thought about it. Those two should've been enemies, yet every time he summoned them, they didn't start swinging at each other. Rare, honestly.
And Finlay, too—another female knight.
Carrying an unconscious Malenia all the way back to the Haligtree wasn't just "impressive." It was insane. If there was ever proof that valor didn't care about gender, it was that.
Kurara's wish was far more personal.
She wanted to go to the Stargazers' Ruins in the Consecrated Snowfield—to see her little sister.
The problem was… he'd run the Consecrated Snowfield for over six hundred cycles, and he had never once noticed a place called Stargazers' Ruins. Maybe the blizzards had hidden it, maybe he'd overlooked it, maybe the world had shifted again in ways he still didn't fully understand.
Either way, he'd find it—eventually.
But among all those wishes, the one that truly surprised him was Black Knife Tiche's.
Tiche wanted him to end the Erdtree and open a new era—an era like the Age of Stars Ranni had carved out.
When he asked why, she didn't explain. She only said it wasn't just her wish, but also her mother's—the Black Knife ringleader, Black Knife Alecto—and the wish of the Numen as a whole.
He didn't need a full explanation to sense the shape of the truth.
Marika was tangled in that story. Deeply.
And then there was an unexpected bonus—something he'd never known, even after all this time.
His strongest Spirit Ash, the one he'd always jokingly called "big sis," actually had a name.
Asmi.
Asmi didn't voice any wish at all. She simply said she wanted to remain with him, as if the words themselves carried an unspoken weight.
A secret, maybe. Or pain. Or something she couldn't bring herself to ask.
It might've been nothing more than his imagination—but he'd learned long ago that in the Lands Between, imagination and truth often walked the same road.
"…Congratulations," Melina said, appearing beside him as softly as a breath. There was a clear note of happiness in her voice. "You have defeated your first demigod, and obtained the power of a fragment of the Elden Ring."
He only smiled and spread his hands, unbothered.
"Well, if I can't beat Godrick, how am I supposed to become Elden Lord? Right?"
"…Mm." Melina nodded, then said something that made him blink.
"…I'm sorry. I wasn't sincere enough."
…What?
The apology came so abruptly his mind short-circuited for a second.
Not sincere? Where? About what? Don't tell me you were secretly scouting other Tarnished behind my back.
Name and location. Right now. He'd go handle it.
While his thoughts were spiraling into nonsense, Melina continued calmly.
"…In truth, I have been observing you. I doubted whether you were truly guided by Grace."
Her gaze shifted past him, toward the dead Two Fingers.
"But now I see I was worrying for nothing. I'm truly sorry—for my lack of sincerity, and for my doubt."
She lowered her head in apology.
He exhaled, tension slipping out of him like air from a punctured flask.
Oh. That's all.
Right—she always apologized for that, didn't she? It just happened later than usual this time.
A line leapt into his mind, uninvited—
If you're really sorry, then have a few kids for me.
He didn't say it.
Instead, he waved it off.
"It's fine. Really. If I were you, I'd do the same."
He had long since gotten used to being watched, tested, weighed.
"…There's another matter I must apologize for," Melina said, voice softening. "I once said I would take the place of a Finger Maiden, but in truth… I cannot guide you."
Her lashes lowered further, and her words grew quieter, as if each syllable was heavier than the last.
"For I am not a maiden. And… I have lost the purpose my mother once gave me beneath the Erdtree."
She paused, then spoke again, almost to herself.
"In truth, I am searching as well—searching for a reason to live on, even after my body has burned away and I remain only as a spirit."
He didn't know how to answer.
Six hundred cycles. More conversations with Melina than he could count. Moments of closeness, moments of trust—yet no matter how he approached it, he had never managed to draw out the one thing he wanted most:
Who was her mother?
"…Melina," he asked carefully, "forgive me for being blunt—but is your mother Queen Marika the Eternal?"
Melina shook her head, gentle but firm.
"…I'm sorry. I still cannot tell you that. It is for your sake."
The same answer.
The same familiar deflection.
And yet the more she insisted it was "for his sake," the more convinced he became.
Melina knew Leyndell too well. She moved through its memory as if it were her own home. She could recite the hidden words spoken in Marika's churches—words that weren't meant for strangers, or even for most of the faithful.
He'd once shared the suspicion with Ranni, but even she had said she didn't know.
"…Fine," he said at last, letting it go. "Then I won't press."
He turned away and stretched, taking a deep breath of the tower's thin, cold air.
"Guidance or no guidance—what does it matter? All I know is this: my Finger Maiden is you, Melina. And that's enough."
He didn't add the rest.
I've endured all those cycles for you.
"Thank you," Melina said softly, then bowed again.
When she raised her head and looked at his back, a faint smile touched her lips—so light it could've been mistaken for the mist.
In that moment, she felt—truly felt—that her choice had been the right one.
This Tarnished really was as gentle as she'd hoped.
If he took the throne, the Lands Between might finally step toward a brighter future.
"…Even if I cannot guide you," she continued, "there is still something I can do. Though Lady Nepheli Loux has already invited you…"
She looked at him steadily.
"Would you go to the Roundtable Hold? It is where Tarnished guided by Grace—heroes—gather. I can bring you there."
That, too, was one more reason he'd always suspected her ties to Marika.
Across hundreds of cycles, he'd come to believe the Roundtable Hold sat somewhere impossibly close—perhaps directly beneath the Erdtree itself. The doors were sealed, and entry relied on the guidance of Grace, but the architecture carried echoes of Leyndell's style… and near the Divine Tower of West Altus, he'd even seen a place that felt eerily similar.
Not to mention the fact that the Hold's leader was Sir Gideon Ofnir—the All-Knowing—who had spent his life chasing the truth of Marika.
Even so, he refused. Even if it meant giving up another chance to clasp Melina's hand.
"Not yet," he said. "I still have things I need to do. Once I'm done, then I'll go."
"…Very well," Melina replied, accepting it without complaint. "If that is what you desire… then when you wish to go, simply call for me at a Site of Grace."
Unlock 100+ advance chapters on Patreon — every follow inspires me to keep going!
patreon.com/legacyverse1