Liurnia.
This land had once belonged to the Carian royal family, bordering Limgrave. Year-round fog smothered the region, making it easy to lose direction—until you vanished into the forests for good. Light rain often followed, and with so much water everywhere, it earned another name:
Liurnia of the Lakes.
But after war after war, little remained. Aside from the Academy of Raya Lucaria, Caria Manor, and the Carian Study Hall, most of Liurnia had been reduced to ruins.
Now, after days of travel, he rode Torrent into this marshy, reed-choked country.
Normally, he loved the rain.
This time, he looked utterly uninterested—so listless he couldn't even be bothered to touch a Site of Grace.
"…Sigh."
He'd lost track of how many times he'd sighed already.
Ever since Melina left, the world felt drained of color—like the aftershock of madness, the hollow numbness that came after a storm.
Melina… my Melina…
It reminded him of that line—
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me…
Like the decline of Placidusax itself.
"Aaaa…"
Perched on his shoulder, Tiamat reached out with tiny hands and patted his cheek, trying to comfort him.
It didn't help much.
"Don't bother. I'm fine…"
He answered with empty words, riding slowly through the Laskyar Ruins as he pulled out his map.
At this point, the only thing keeping him moving was simple:
Go see Ranni.
And while he was at it, kill Preceptor Seluvis and White-Faced Varre, those two pieces of trash.
In these cold, merciless Lands Between, only Ranni's small embrace could give him enough warmth to breathe again.
…Well. Melina's would work too.
But first—he needed a route.
By his experience, at this stage, Varre should be waiting in Rose Church, west of the Main Academy Gate.
"Rose Church… tch."
Just thinking about it made his face twist in disgust.
Bloodroses were beautiful when they bloomed—
But knowing they were watered with blood, and that Mohg—the filthy old degenerate—loved them?
It turned his stomach.
Worse, every follower of the Lord of Blood loved them too.
And Rose Church was one of the Blood Dynasty's rare gathering places above ground.
As for why he hated Varre so much… it was simple.
Varre was one of the suspects in the murder of his Finger Maiden.
And not just a suspect—the biggest one.
Judging from the wounds on the corpse, the scion of the Grafted probably did the chasing—cornering the maiden in the Chapel of Anticipation.
But the one who actually struck the killing blow?
Varre.
So whether it was Godrick or Varre—
Both of them had to die.
After that, he'd go see his "second wife," Ranni—
And then remove Seluvis from the world while he was there, hiding among the Three Sisters.
Seluvis served Ranni… and still ranked near the top of his personal kill list.
Not for politics.
Not for loyalty.
Because Seluvis was a puppet-fetish freak.
He'd killed Dolores and turned her into Spirit Ash.
And he'd tried to do the same to Nepheli Loux—and even to Ranni herself.
As long as that man lived, even the Dark Moon Greatsword in his pack wouldn't tolerate it.
Finally, he'd visit the Four Belfries, teleport back to the Chapel of Anticipation, and give his Finger Maiden a proper burial.
But before all that, there was one necessary stop:
Village of the Albinaurics.
One half of the Haligtree Secret Medallion was there. Only with both halves could the Grand Lift of Rold open the path to the Consecrated Snowfield.
As for Rennala's Great Rune?
He had other plans.
"…Perfect. Everything's planned out."
He folded the map away, nudged Torrent with his heels, and headed toward the cave leading into the Village of the Albinaurics.
Liurnia's fog was nothing to him now.
He could cross it blindfolded and still find his way out.
The only problem was that the ride was long—and boring.
So he opened the chat group.
It had been days since he'd bothered "watering the group," as they called it. He wondered what he'd missed.
Then he saw it.
999+ unread messages.
"…What the hell happened?"
Even if he'd been gone awhile, this was insane.
Tony Stark: "Guys, take a look at this armor. How's it look? image.jpg"
Chika Fujiwara: "Tony, it doesn't look that different from the previous one…"
Tony Stark: "No, the difference is huge. This time I mounted a compact tracking missile system, kind of like Miss Northern Princess's, and I made the Mark 4 lighter—"
A wall of jargon hit Chika like a truck. She was a high schooler. This was way past her grade level.
Chika Fujiwara: "Okay okay, Tony, stop. I don't understand any of that."
Northern Northern North: "Sounds amazing.jpg"
Chika Fujiwara: "But why are you so obsessed with red? For combat, shouldn't you be more low-key?"
The King of Heroes: "If it were my choice, I wouldn't pick red either. Gold is better."
That was… a heavyweight opinion.
Northern Northern North: "This Northern thinks the Zero Fighter is best."
Tony Stark: "No. According to JARVIS's calculations, only red fits my low-key, simple image."
Chika Fujiwara: "..."
Chika Fujiwara: "Red and gold are literally the flashiest colors…"
At this point, she felt like Gilgamesh and Tony had redefined the meaning of "low-key."
The King of Heroes: "Hmph. Fool. Are you questioning my taste?"
Chika Fujiwara: "But Gil and Tony's colors are way more showy!"
Northern Northern North: "Boring. I want to see blood everywhere.jpg"
Aizen: "Now, now. Don't argue."
Aizen: "Miss Fujiwara isn't wrong, but color isn't what matters most. What matters is that Lord Stark's armor should prioritize agility. It must not be too cumbersome."
Otto Apocalypse: "Aizen is correct. Stark's firepower is probably sufficient. He should raise flight speed as well, and develop multiple models based on different functions."
Otto spoke like a man who knew armor inside and out.
Tony Stark: "Oh, you two are some of the few real scientists in this group. You're right. This time I boosted both firepower and flight speed, and strengthened the power source again—"
Chika Fujiwara: "Hmph… Aizen isn't even on my side! (pouting)"
That was when he finally cut in.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Uh… sorry to interrupt. What exactly is going on here?"
Chika Fujiwara: "Perfect timing! Judge this for me—aren't gold and red more showy?!"
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "…Put that aside for a second. I want to know why Tony Stark suddenly has time to talk."
In his memory, Tony was a legendary lurker—worse than him. Since joining, Tony had barely spoken at all.
Chika Fujiwara: "Fine… (sniff)"
Chika Fujiwara: "Tony got kidnapped in Afghanistan about a week ago. The group sent a mission saying he was in danger and needed help. Northern accepted it and rescued him."
Chika Fujiwara: "The Mk series armor was Tony's 'forging in a cave' masterpiece."
Chika Fujiwara: "After that, Tony got addicted to chatting. He also gifted Northern a few Zero Fighters."
Northern Northern North: "Yes. That's exactly it.jpg"
Northern Northern North: "Fufu.jpg"
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Oh. That explains it."
Tony Stark: "Yes. And I still can't believe it. The person I trusted most betrayed me. I treated him like an uncle—then he orchestrated the kidnapping and tried to steal my work!"
Just mentioning it made Tony burn with fury. Those days hammering metal in a cave were the darkest in his life.
He'd never been humiliated like that.
But it was over now.
Obadiah Stane had gotten what he deserved.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "That's rough. You have my sympathy for one second."
A second was all he could spare.
Betrayal was normal to him by now.
Like that old bastard Gideon.
He'd once thought Gideon was decent too.
Then the knives came out.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "By the way—what's that tin can you posted? Armor?"
Honestly, the picture looked weirdly familiar.
Like the silver "tin cans" roaming Stormveil.
Almost like a Banished Knight.
Forever Seventeen: "My, what a sharp comment. Exactly my opinion. It's a tin can. (smile)"
The King of Heroes: "Hahahaha! Indeed. A perfectly accurate assessment."
To them, that armor would be useless at best—and a burden at worst.
Yukari had the most experience here.
She'd seen "tin knights" in the West before—once divine blessings faded, they really did become cans waiting for someone to open them.
Tony Stark: "..."
He choked so hard he couldn't respond.
Was it really necessary to be that rude?
Still—he wasn't stupid.
After realizing this chat group wasn't a prank, he'd become cautious.
What Northern unleashed in Afghanistan still haunted him.
From that day on, Tony swore an oath:
He would build armor with even more terrifying firepower than that little girl's.
Maybe he needed a dedicated anti-yōkai suit…
And an anti-Tarnished suit too.
JARVIS was already analyzing the chat group as well, but so far it couldn't trace anything—not even the source of the messages.
Maybe the next mission jump would reveal something.
The King of Heroes: "@Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife You're here. Good. I have something to ask."
The King of Heroes: "Were you the one who cut open a rift between the world of the living and the underworld?"
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "A rift into the underworld?"
He frowned and thought.
The only time he'd caused large-scale damage recently was his fight with Quetzalcoatl.
That had been in Eridu.
He typed:
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "If you mean the Eridu incident, yeah. That was me. Why?"
The King of Heroes: "Hahahahaha! So it was you! You never stop surprising me! Hahahahaha!"
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Can you speak normally and tell me what's going on?"
The King of Heroes: "Nothing important. Just that some idiot underworld goddess is planning to cause you trouble over it."
Sitting on his throne, Gilgamesh laughed with genuine pleasure.
Even now, he couldn't forget Ereshkigal's face when she'd been hunting for the culprit—furious, flustered, and utterly ridiculous.
She'd sworn she'd never forgive the one who tore open the underworld.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Oh. Whatever. If she can cross worlds, let her come find me. Or you can pack her into a red packet and send her over."
The Lands Between could use an underworld goddess, honestly.
If she dared show up, he'd just keep her here managing the dead.
Fia would probably be thrilled.
Probably.
But he had something else he wanted to confirm.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "By the way, Gilgamesh. I brought a creature from your world back with me. Do you recognize it?"
The King of Heroes: "What creature?"
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Hold on."
He finished typing, then pinched the little beast on his shoulder by its horns and held it up to the chat interface.
"Aaaaa?"
Tiamat's confused little face was captured in a photo and sent.
Chika Fujiwara: "Eee! What is that?! It's so cute!"
Forever Seventeen: "From the looks of it, it resembles a human… my, Tarnished, did you kidnap a humanoid creature?"
Tony Stark: "Is this some kind of yōkai too?"
He ignored the three "idiot-tier" comments and waited for Gilgamesh.
And when the reply came—
It was unusually serious.
The King of Heroes: "@Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife Tarnished. Where did you get that creature?"
Gilgamesh's brows knit tight.
He knew that thing.
He knew it far too well.
It was the one they had been resisting only yesterday—
Tiamat, the Primordial Mother.
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