The fire-clouds churned violently, revealing a massive, rapidly moving shadow. A moment later, an Ancient Dragon dived from the clouds, its four wings fully extended. Its entire body was wreathed in crimson Dragonbolt, the electricity dancing and crackling like a wild thicket of thorns.
Raven's eyes widened. As he took in the color of that Dragonbolt, his expression shifted.
A few Man-Serpents hurled fireballs at the beast, but the distance was too great; most were swept aside by the gale-force winds generated by the dragon's wings. The few that managed to strike the dragon's scales exploded with a low rumble, but once the smoke cleared, they had left nothing more than a few charred smudges on the snow-white scales.
The Ancient Dragon raised a claw and swung it down. The crimson lightning condensed into the shape of a blade, plowing through the mass of Man-Serpents like Moses parting the Red Sea, leaving only a trail of charred remains in its wake.
A section of a mushroom cap began to tilt slowly, collapsing with a series of rhythmic cracks. Dozens of Man-Serpents on its surface hissed in panic, their limbs scrabbling frantically against the fungal surface as they slid toward the edge, eventually falling to the ground along with the shattered cap.
"Lansang!" Raven waved his arms, shouting toward the dragon flying straight for him. "The Man-Serpent beneath me is Rudy! Don't hurt him!"
The second lightning blade forming between Lansang's claws dissipated. She circled once, appearing somewhat confused.
"Rudy, hold on just a little longer," Raven said, turning back. "We're about to—"
"Catch."
A blood-stained dagger flew through the air. Raven instinctively reached out and caught it, realizing it was the Dragon-Tooth Dirk he had given back to Rudy just moments ago.
Raven looked up, meeting Rudy's slitted pupils. Though they were the inorganic, crimson eyes of a monster, he felt as though he could read something within them.
"Goodbye, Raven."
Before Raven could speak, Rudy's head snapped to the side, tossing Raven upward at an angle.
Lansang hovered in mid-air, extending a claw to catch Raven before placing him gently on her head and beating her wings to rise.
Raven gripped a dragon horn, bracing himself against the fierce wind. He looked down; the Man-Serpents were a crowded, swarming mass below. Rudy had already retracted his neck, vanishing like a single drop of water into a vast ocean.
Lansang circled once more. Raven knew she was asking for his direction.
"Let's go," Raven said. "Rudy won't be coming with us."
She nodded and surged upward into the fire-clouds, using the haze and smoke as cover to speed away. The cacophony of the Man-Serpents soon faded into nothingness.
Once they were clear of the mushroom forest, Lansang followed Raven's directions and landed on a cluster of hills, folding her wings.
"I left my gear here. Wait for me a moment." Raven jumped to the ground and stripped off his Volcano soldier equipment. Using an Ice Mist spell to create a clump of snow, he scrubbed away the hardened blood scabs on his skin before picking up his own clothes and weapons.
Lansang turned her head away.
"Hey, I'm wearing undergarments," Raven said, his voice muffled as he pulled his robe over his head.
The Ancient Dragon folded its four wings, its body shrinking within a shroud of lightning until it returned to human form. "Hmph. Who would be interested in seeing a human naked?"
"Wait, don't tell me you didn't wear—" Raven started, but before he could finish, he saw the priest's robes and various boots falling from the air. A bolt of Dragonbolt exploded right in front of him, leaving his vision a wash of pure white. "My eyes!"
"Don't look!"
Bathed in crimson lightning, Lansang quickly dressed herself before letting the electricity dissipate. She looked back and saw Raven rubbing his eyes, feeling a slight pang of guilt.
"Captain, can you still see? Do you need me to heal you?"
"I'm fine. I have the Blind Sense technique; I can see—"
Thump!
Raven clutched his nose and took a half-step back, then suddenly burst out laughing.
Lansang pulled back her small fist, caught off guard by his laughter. "What are you laughing at? Did I punch you stupid?"
"No, it just feels good to be alive." Raven wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and stopped laughing, then suddenly gave Lansang a heavy hug. "Thank you, Lansang."
Lansang's body stiffened for a moment before she relaxed. She hugged him back gently, muttering, "What's this? So even you can feel afraid."
"Everyone feels afraid," Raven said. Lansang smelled of Lightninggrease—a scent that calmed the mind—and he couldn't help but take a few more breaths of it before letting go.
"That's what you get for playing the hero," Lansang huffed. "You were halfway down a snake's throat. I hope you've learned your lesson."
"That Man-Serpent was Rudy." At the mention of Rudy, the joy of Raven's narrow escape faded, and his voice dropped. "He was actually protecting me."
"Was it really him? Then why didn't he come with us? Did he choose to live on as a Man-Serpent?"
"He is still Rudy the Albinauric. He always has been." Raven told Lansang about the fragment of the Rune of Death.
"So you're saying... he's going to sacrifice himself to destroy the Great Serpent?" Lansang's eyes widened. "Is that what he said?"
"Things like that don't need to be said." Raven picked up the dagger Rudy had returned to him and wiped away the dried blood. "He is a natural-born hero. If his life were written in a book, I doubt you'd find a single flaw."
"I see," Lansang said, looking at the dagger with a bit of a pout. "I suppose I forgive him for lying."
"What lie?"
"When he said he defeated an Ancient Dragon and made a dagger from its tooth?"
"Wait, you recognized that it wasn't a dragon tooth?"
"That's my tooth. That time I hid from my sister and went to Greyoll's Dragonbarrow, I passed through Limgrave on the way back. I was hungry, so I ate a few cattle on Stormhill. I remember there was an Albinauric there—he was probably hired by the herders to mind the cattle."
"...How exactly did Rudy break your tooth?"
"He didn't break a thing! He was so scared he curled into a ball and rolled down the hill. It was my sister who found me then; she was angry that I'd left without a word and picked a fight with me. She's the one who knocked out my tooth. Rudy must have picked it up and gone around bragging about defeating a dragon... When we met him on the Altus Plateau and heard him talking big, I was so annoyed I nearly shifted forms just to squash him with a claw."
"The world works in strange ways," Raven said. "A person might step onto the path of a hero because of a bizarre coincidence—like a lie. But if the people around them keep pushing and pulling them toward that perfect version of themselves, they eventually become a hero for real."
"Is that how you started, Captain? Trying to become a version of yourself you imagined?"
"I'm no hero. Even in my fantasies, I only ever imagined being an ordinary person with power. No hardships, no responsibilities. Occasionally saving a damsel, showing off, effortlessly gaining people's admiration, and living a peaceful, comfortable life."
Raven sighed. "If someone told me I had to sacrifice myself to save everyone, I don't think I could even trust myself not to run away. Only naive children fantasize about being some kind of tragic hero."
"But you've never run away," Lansang pointed out.
"Maybe it just hasn't been dangerous enough yet. If we hit a crisis where I had to abandon you to save my own skin, would you believe me if I said I wouldn't run?"
"No."
Raven felt a lump in his throat. "Didn't you answer that a bit too fast?"
"Someone who just had to be rescued by me shouldn't be wallowing in self-doubt." Lansang reached out a slender finger and poked Raven's chest. "Next time there's danger, just run faster so I don't have to waste energy saving you, idiot! Now, where are we going?"
"...Back to the Manor. But since you can fly, we don't need to take the same way back; they've likely reinforced the defenses on the path we took." Raven looked up at the dome. "There must be volcanic vents in the ceiling that lead to the surface. We'll find one and get out."
"You should have said that earlier; transforming twice in a row takes a lot of effort!" Lansang spun Raven around by his shoulders. "About face! March! Go behind that rock. If you dare peek, I'll slice you with a forty-meter lightning blade."
"Do I really need to worry about anyone getting 'ideas' about an Ancient Dragon? Isn't that also a form of self-doubt—" Before he could finish, Lansang gave him a sharp poke in the ribs. Raven raised his hands in surrender and began to march.
Lansang took off her boots and watched Raven's back disappear behind the rock. She muttered to herself as she began the transformation.
"If I told you I believed you wouldn't run, you'd be even less willing to leave, wouldn't you, idiot?"
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(155 Chapter - Ongoing)
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