Chapter 393 - 296: Ranni: I Need You

Having finished everything, Lucian rose to his feet.

"The Church of Inhibition. That's a good name."

"No one will disturb her anymore."

Melina followed closely behind Lucian, silently mourning the tragedy that had unfolded.

Lucian returned to the battlefield and picked up Vyke's war spear.

The spear, marked with the burns of the Fingerprint, had suffered the same torment as Vyke himself. The yellow Frenzied Flame had burned it from the inside out.

Vyke had left his indestructible spear here as both an unbreakable shield to protect the Finger Maiden and an extension of his own will.

If the opportunity ever arose, Lucian intended to return it to Vyke.

After all, even a projection formed from the power of the Frenzied Flame had managed to summon the will to remain human in its final moments.

Perhaps Vyke's true body, imprisoned far away in the Mountaintops of the Giants, might be in an even better state.

In other words, there might still be a way to save him.

After all, the "Roundtable Knight" Vyke imprisoned in the mountain evergaol did not use the Frenzied Flame. He relied solely on Dragon Cult incantations.

Even the skill released by his weapon no longer carried the power of the Frenzied Flame.

If he had not been left with no other choice, Vyke would never have taken this path.

The Frenzied Flame was the embodiment of chaos. It freely manipulated and exploited human emotions, using them as fuel.

Even those who stood on the verge of becoming Elden Lord could succumb to its temptation.

But the Frenzied Flame would never understand what human will truly meant.

When faced with its maddening whispers, Vyke had resisted through the pride he possessed as a human being.

The Frenzied Flame was powerful. It eroded the mind, and no one could defeat it in the internal war that unfolded as their sanity crumbled apart.

But how could something that yearned to return everything to chaos ever understand human emotions?

Even when people made the wrong choices, even when they strayed down the wrong path, some would never give up resisting.

The hymn of humanity was the hymn of courage.

—

With the matter of the Frenzied Flame finally settled, Lucian took Melina with him and traveled all the way to the Altus Plateau.

Their destination was still the swamp filled with countless moving coffins.

The enormous coffins had been abandoned here haphazardly. Many were damaged or overturned.

As a result, countless corpses had spilled out of them, their remains worn down by the passage of time until nothing but dry bones remained.

Regardless of how unpleasant the surroundings were, there was a Site of Grace nearby. That was all that mattered.

Standing atop a coffin beside the Site of Grace, Melina gazed into the distance at the majestic Erdtree towering above the land.

Looking at the Erdtree from the Altus Plateau felt different from viewing it anywhere else in the Lands Between.

Only here, beneath the colossal tree that covered the heavens, could people truly feel how insignificant they were and appreciate the full grandeur of the Erdtree.

By extension, even those born at the foot of the Erdtree seemed to possess a special status.

The inhabitants of the plateau still firmly believed this to be true, and they took great pride in it.

Yet, to Melina's eyes, the Erdtree looked desolate beyond words.

Even from its falling leaves alone, she could glimpse the tree's decline.

Melina had been born at the foot of the Erdtree. It was there that she had received the mission bestowed upon her by her mother...

However, now that she had returned to her homeland, she suddenly realized that she wasn't nearly as emotional as she had imagined she would be.

After all, the fragments of her past memories contained very little at the foot of the Erdtree that she truly wished to hold on to.

Joy, sorrow, confusion... Such emotions had existed, but none of them had been particularly significant.

One could say that her life had only truly begun after she met Lucian.

Not as a demigod, a kindling maiden, or one of the Golden Lineage, but simply as a person.

—

Watching Melina's back, Lucian gradually broke into a smile.

When they had first met, the condition of their agreement had been that he would take her to the foot of the Erdtree. Now, he had finally fulfilled his promise.

Although they had initially called it a transaction, he had somehow managed to win her heart along the way, too.

All Lucian could say was that this had been a win-win situation. The kind where he won twice.

Just then, Melina turned around and spoke.

"Lucian, I need to go to the Royal Capital next."

Lucian was a little surprised, but after thinking it over, he found her decision perfectly reasonable.

If Melina had wanted to return to the foot of the Erdtree, then naturally, she must have intended to visit the Royal Capital as well.

Lucian nodded.

"All right. Then I'll go with you."

Ranni still hadn't contacted him to begin their operation, and there was no urgency to gather anything from Volcano Manor, either.

However, Melina shook her head.

"There's no need. Don't you still have things to take care of on the plateau?"

"Whether it's the matter of the Two Fingers or collecting Great Runes..."

Lucian smiled and took her hand.

"Of course, what matters to you is more important."

Hearing his words, Melina smiled faintly as well.

"I'm happy to hear you say that."

"But really, there's no need."

"I can handle this on my own. You don't have to worry about me."

Melina was confident that she could enter the Royal Capital without being discovered by anyone.

Once inside, she would search through its past, attempting to recover all of her lost memories.

Even though Melina had said all this, Lucian still couldn't help feeling somewhat uneasy.

After all, many things had already changed compared to the game.

In the game, when they reached the Altus Plateau, Melina still existed in a spiritual form. Naturally, she could enter and leave the Royal Capital as she pleased.

But now she had a physical body, which made things much less convenient.

Furthermore, the Royal Capital could hardly be left undefended. Morgott would certainly be on guard against potential intruders at all times.

After all, Morgott's goals were directly opposed to Lucian's. If he didn't want Lucian to become Elden Lord, he would actively try every possible means of preventing it.

Until Godfrey returned, the thing he needed to worry about most was someone infiltrating the Royal Capital and striking at its heart. He would undoubtedly have the capital under the strictest possible guard.

The one advantage Melina had was that she now possessed more memories of the Royal Capital and was more familiar with it. That should prove useful.

A little while later, Melina was just about to speak again, hoping to persuade Lucian, when he shook his head first.

He smiled at her.

"I trust you."

"Just as you've always trusted me, I trust you."

"Since you've made up your mind, of course I'm not going to reject your wishes."

However, Lucian held Melina's gaze and continued.

"But there's one question you have to answer."

"Once I have your answer, I'll be able to let you go to the Royal Capital without worrying."

Melina nodded and replied earnestly.

"All right. Ask me. I don't want you to worry, either."

Lucian looked directly into her eyes.

"Are you going to Leyndell because of your mission?"

"If you are, then there's no need anymore. The thorns blocking the way aren't a problem at all."

"There is no kindling in this world more vigorous than the Sun."

"With the power of the Sun, no sacrifice is necessary."

"More than anything else, I need you."

Melina finally understood what Lucian had been worrying about. She smiled and shook her head.

"Please don't worry. I'm not going there for the sake of my mission this time."

"Although it does have something to do with the mission, you could also say I'm doing this for myself."

"I want to recover my past memories."

"My memories still haven't been completely unsealed. You know that."

Melina rarely desired anything for herself. All she wanted was to remain by Lucian's side and witness the Lands Between become a better place.

But discovering the truth about her own origins was one of the few things she genuinely longed to do.

Even if Leyndell held no particularly meaningful memories for her, her homeland was still her homeland.

Melina's memories remained incomplete.

At the very beginning, her mind had contained only information related to her mission and the various skills she would need along the way.

She had very few memories of herself. She didn't even understand the specific details of her mission.

She also had no idea why she could continue living even after her physical body had been burned away, leaving her with a body that resembled a spirit.

It was only later, when her body was being reconstructed, that Queen Rennala unlocked part of Melina's sealed memories. This had allowed her to learn many things ahead of time.

If possible, Melina also hoped to recover the remaining memories that were still sealed away.

Only then could she truly be considered complete.

Lucian finally understood. Melina wanted to complete herself.

He had been worried that his little wooden girl might secretly be planning to set herself on fire. If that was all there was to it, then he had much less to worry about.

Suddenly, Lucian remembered that there was something he still hadn't given Melina.

He took a talisman out of his spatial storage disk.

It was none other than Erdtree's Favor +2.

A symbol of the Erdtree's special blessing, it was one of the legendary talismans.

According to legend, at the beginning of the Age of the Erdtree, Queen Marika had personally bestowed this talisman. It carried a special significance.

Its image depicted the scene of Marika granting her blessing, surrounded by the branches and leaves of the Erdtree. There could hardly be a more suitable gift for Melina.

When Melina received the meaningful talisman from Lucian, she looked quite surprised.

"This is..."

Lucian gently stroked her hair and spoke with a hint of embarrassment.

"It's a present for you."

"Actually, I should have given it to you back in the Land of Shadow..."

"But we were so busy with the treatment that I ended up forgetting about it again."

"Since you're going back to Leyndell now, I suppose this is a pretty fitting time to give it to you."

After thinking for a moment, Lucian took out another talisman: Sunscion Heirloom.

Holding the special talisman, he once again poured the power of the Sun into it.

The sun engraved upon its surface grew scorching hot, as though it were a real sun.

Lucian had already placed his own unique mark of the Sun upon this talisman.

He placed it in Melina's hand and spoke gently.

"Keep this talisman with you at all times."

"As long as you call for me, I'll come straight to your side."

With the help of the mark, Lucian could determine Melina's location whenever he wanted.

Combined with the various techniques he had been learning and mastering, he could even try using the mark as a coordinate to teleport directly to her.

All he needed to do was transform himself into the state he used for a Soul Dash, then use this flame anchor, which functioned much like a Site of Grace, to teleport.

He hadn't really tested the technique yet, but it should be possible to make it work.

Feeling the warmth of that power, Melina's heart softened.

More precious than the legendary talisman itself was the concern for her that Lucian had poured into it.

Melina accepted the talisman, held it tightly in her hand, and carefully put it away.

Suddenly, she took two steps forward and embraced Lucian tightly.

Then she lifted her face and rose onto her tiptoes.

Their lips met, warmth passing between them.

After a gentle kiss, Melina smiled and stepped back twice, waving to Lucian.

"You always worry too much about the people around you."

"I don't have nearly as many things to worry about as you do. I just want to tell you that I love you, right now."

—

The spectral steed whistle sounded.

Torrent carried Melina swiftly toward the Erdtree.

Lucian remained where he stood, quietly watching her figure until it gradually disappeared into the distance across the Altus Plateau.

After a while, he finally took the doll of miniature Ranni out of his spatial storage disk.

Melina hadn't really had any objections to Ranni, and the two of them could have continued traveling together without any problems.

But considering Ranni's personality, perhaps things were better this way.

Lucian poked miniature Ranni on the head and began calling out to the real Ranni.

He didn't even have a detailed map of the Altus Plateau. He only knew the general directions and had no idea how to navigate the place properly.

In the game, Lucian could easily find his way around, but the actual Lands Between was far, far larger.

Take Mistwood, for example. In the game, it wasn't even as large as a park. In the real world, an ordinary person could genuinely get lost in those woods and wander until they died.

Besides, Ranni still hadn't given him an exact location. He couldn't simply run around at random.

However, after waiting for a while, miniature Ranni still gave no response.

Lucian frowned at this development, suddenly feeling a foreboding sense of unease.

Fortunately, the Moonlight Mark on his body remained completely intact, which at least meant things hadn't reached the worst possible outcome.

There was no point in panicking. For now, Lucian could only wait patiently.

Fortunately, after some time, Ranni finally responded.

However, instead of projecting her consciousness into miniature Ranni, she contacted him directly through the Moonlight Mark.

Ranni's voice came through the mark in broken, intermittent fragments.

"Mine apologies. It seems a slight complication hath arisen on mine end…"

Her voice sounded somewhat weak, and the howls of beasts could be heard rising and falling in the background.

Even so, Ranni still tried to sound composed.

"Nevertheless, all remains well within mine control."

"...I shall seek thee out once more, ere long."

But Lucian already knew Ranni well enough.

The moment he heard her voice, he knew her situation couldn't possibly be as simple as she claimed.

Pride often dragged people along, twisting the paths their love might otherwise take.

Lucian didn't give Ranni the chance to continue.

He interrupted her.

Rising to his feet and preparing to set off, he spoke calmly to her.

"Stop trying to tough it out."

"Where are you?"

"I'm coming over right now."

On the other end, Ranni gritted her teeth. At this critical moment, she finally set aside her pride and spoke in a vulnerable voice.

"Mm…"

"Seems Celes hath at last discerned mine intentions. And now, in his waning hours, he makes one final, pitiful stand against his inevitable end."

"By the light of the moon, I shall guide thee. So, pray…"

"Remain by mine side. For I have need of thee."

Hearing Ranni speak in a voice softer and more vulnerable than ever before, Lucian frowned instead.

It seemed the situation might be even worse than he had imagined.

The Moonlight Mark began to shine with a gentle, silvery radiance, and a force connected the two of them.

Immediately, they sensed each other's locations.

Lucian looked in that direction. It was roughly toward the northwestern part of the Altus Plateau.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lucian shot forward at full speed, flying across the Altus Plateau.

A storm was about to sweep across this otherwise tranquil land.