Chapter 221: Chapter 221

Ranni let out a long breath.

Although Bai Shi's sudden uninvited arrival had flustered her a little, it was also true that she very much wanted to obtain this crucially important weapon.

She had longed for this Fingerslayer Blade for a long time.

So Ranni calmed herself down and, setting aside all unnecessary emotions, faced Bai Shi with a serious attitude once more.

"You're right. I've been waiting for this weapon for who knows how long."

"I truly want to see for myself if this weapon is as formidable as the legends say."

"Please, take out the Fingerslayer Blade. Let me see it with my own eyes."

Bai Shi nodded, took the Fingerslayer Blade from his spatial disc, and handed it to Ranni, who was sitting upright in her chair.

Ranni reached out with both hands and took the secret treasure from the Nox Dynasty.

Ranni had seen the Two Fingers, and she was quite familiar with them.

Therefore, with just one glance, she knew:

This weapon had indeed once harmed a being like the Two Fingers.

Without a doubt, this weapon born from bone was the supreme secret treasure capable of harming the Fingers.

Now that she had the Fingerslayer Blade, the most crucial part of her plan was complete.

All that remained was to wait quietly for the right moment to truly set foot upon her dark path.

Ranni confirmed that the Fingerslayer Blade would work as expected, put it away, and looked at Bai Shi.

"Thank you. Without you, I doubt I could have obtained this vital weapon."

"With that, your part of our agreement is complete."

"Now, it's time for me to fulfill mine."

"I will help you transfer a soul, so your friend can regain a body."

This was not a problem for Ranni.

However, to do this, a physical body was needed.

Bai Shi had mentioned before that he wanted to use a body obtained through the 'rebirth' rite.

In that case, he would have to wait until Bai Shi conquered the Academy of Raya Lucaria and rescued her mother, Rennala.

"You need to rescue my mother from her imprisonment in the Academy."

"After that, once you've obtained a body through 'rebirth,' I can help you achieve your goal."

"I will not begin my own plan until our business is concluded, so you need not worry."

"I just wonder, when do you plan to go to the Academy and rescue my mother?"

When she spoke of her mother, Rennala, Ranni's tone couldn't help but soften.

With the Fingerslayer Blade now in her possession, she suddenly felt a great sense of relief.

Her goal was now within reach.

And now, the only one Ranni still worried about was her mother.

Of her two brothers, one had been spirited away by Miquella, and the other had been devoured by the God-Devouring Serpent.

Blaidd and Iji already knew what kind of path she was about to walk, and they knew what a bleak end she would ultimately face.

Although Ranni was very concerned about the pact Radahn had mentioned—the one between him and Miquella.

But rather than spending time investigating an Empyrean whose whereabouts were unknown, Ranni's first priority was to achieve her own goal: killing the detestable Two Fingers.

But her mother, Rennala, was the one person she couldn't easily let go of.

Only when her mother's situation was secure would Ranni be truly free of worldly concerns.

Having obtained the Fingerslayer Blade, Ranni seemed much more relaxed. Even Bai Shi could see the tenderness that showed in her eyes.

Bai Shi felt a bit emotional.

Although Ranni appeared very cold, she actually cared deeply for those close to her.

However, she was also a resolute person and would never abandon her goal for the sake of family ties.

She would bear the pain of forsaking her family all by herself.

Because only by doing so could she step into the moonlight.

Ranni's Dark Moon was cold, but it also possessed a gentle glow, just like any other moonlight.

No matter what kind of moon it was, its light was always gentle.

Bai Shi thought about his schedule and said to Ranni:

"I still have some things to finish in Caelid. It will take a few days."

"Once I've settled matters in Caelid, I will head to the Academy."

"Don't keep a witch bent on revenge waiting too long."

Bai Shi turned his head to look outside the magic tower.

The Academy of Raya Lucaria stood proudly, its sealing magic still flawless.

But in Bai Shi's eyes, the seal on the Academy was a joke.

"Don't worry, it won't be long."

Bai Shi looked at Ranni again.

Ranni was currently using her soul to possess a doll's body.

Because a doll's body could not fully support the possession of a demigod's soul, Ranni's soul had never been able to completely merge with it, instead floating beside the doll's body.

Normally, a translucent half-face would flicker in and out of view beneath the brim of her hat.

Ever since Bai Shi had seen the white dwarf and the sun, he had significantly increased his perception stat.

After that, Bai Shi could faintly see souls.

For example, right now, Bai Shi could make out the color of Ranni's soul beneath her hat.

Ranni's soul, like that of her brother Radahn, had a head of fiery red hair.

This illusory, fiery red hair cascaded over the doll's blue hair, and it wasn't as strange as Bai Shi had imagined.

"Ranni, you were at the Radahn Festival, weren't you?"

"I think I saw you on the dunes back then."

Ranni gave Bai Shi a slightly curious look.

She had indeed gone to the Wailing Dunes in her pure soul form at the time, and had only appeared for a moment at the very end.

Had Bai Shi really seen her during that brief period?

Oh well, there was no need to worry about such a trivial matter.

Ranni admitted it freely:

"That's right, I did go to the festival."

"After your battle ended, I even saw my brother's soul."

"Speaking of which, there are some important things I need to tell you."

Ranni recalled her earlier conversation with Radahn and slowly began to speak to Bai Shi:

"I remember you once said you wanted to use the Fingerslayer Blade in the future as a contingency against the Two Fingers, correct?"

Although he had no issue with the Two Fingers at the Roundtable Hold, there was no telling if they might change their mind in the future.

Besides, they weren't the only Two Fingers in the Lands Between.

To deal with these special beings, one had to have a way to harm them.

Since Ranni was bringing it up now, she must have some new information.

Ranni spoke again, her expression somewhat complicated:

"According to my brother..."

"In the Lands Between, the Greater Will left a long, long time ago."

Bai Shi was a bit confused.

After the Shattering, the Greater Will abandoned the demigods and left the Lands Between.

He already knew that, and there was no way Ranni was only just learning of it now. But Ranni's next words left Bai Shi stunned.

"The true Greater Will left at the dawn of time."

Bai Shi found it hard to believe.

The Greater Will left that early?

Then what was the Greater Will that had been acting in the Lands Between all this time, issuing all sorts of commands?

Wait a minute, Ranni said 'the *true* Greater Will'...

Could there be a false one?

Were all the events that happened later in the Lands Between caused by this so-called 'false Greater Will'?

As if seeing what Bai Shi was thinking, Ranni nodded at him.

"There is a false Greater Will in the Lands Between."

"It has been impersonating the Greater Will, toying with the fates of all living beings in the Lands Between."

"But even if it's false, it is immensely powerful."

"To other beings, and even other gods, its power is unmatched."

"Therefore, in the Lands Between, there is no difference between it and the true Greater Will."

Bai Shi understood Ranni's meaning and nodded.

The difference in power was simply too vast, an unbridgeable gap.

If the power gap between the false Greater Will and the true one was absurdly large, like a mayfly gazing at the azure sky...

...then for the beings of the Lands Between, facing the false Greater Will was probably like a frog in a well gazing at the moon.

After all, if the true Greater Will was on the level of a creator god, then its station would be higher than the sun, not lower.

To be able to impersonate the Greater Will under the eyes of numerous gods and remain unscathed, its power must be terrifying indeed.

Even if it was an imposter, it was still an unrivaled existence.

"I never would have thought..."

"All this time, the Greater Will we believed in was actually a fake..."

"This news is simply too shocking."

Amid his shock, Bai Shi also began to think.

This false Greater Will must be staying in the Lands Between, unlike the true one, which seems to wander.

In that case, he might have to face it in the future...

Bai Shi instantly felt a wave of pressure. An enemy of this magnitude was no joke.

For the sake of his own life, Bai Shi would absolutely have to max out his uses of Fengling Yueying before facing it.

Even the Two Fingers possessed a unique power that required a specially designed weapon like the Fingerslayer Blade to harm them. What about this false Greater Will?

Perhaps he would still have to rely on the Fingerslayer Blade.

It was said this blade could harm the Greater Will and its envoys, the Fingers.

Bai Shi had originally thought that the part about harming the Greater Will was just a boast.

But now, it seemed things weren't so simple.

Since the true Greater Will had long since left the Lands Between, the past deeds of the Fingerslayer Blade were likely even more extraordinary than Bai Shi imagined.

Perhaps the Fingerslayer Blade had once harmed that false Greater Will.

And because of that, it brought about the Nox's destruction.

There were so many Two Fingers in the Lands Between; there were even corpses of them on the Divine Towers.

The Two Fingers also chose different Empyreans, took opposing stances, and could very well have died in conflict with each other.

Destroying an entire civilization just because one Two Fingers died seemed unlikely.

After all, there was currently no indication that this imposter Greater Will valued the Two Fingers that much.

But if the Nox had stabbed the imposter Greater Will, and that was why the Nox Dynasty was destroyed, then it all made perfect sense.

For some unknown reason, the Nox people learned that the Greater Will was false and found its true body.

The Nox first experimented on the Two Fingers.

After confirming that the weapon was indeed effective, they made their move and attacked the imposter Greater Will.

And that was the true origin of the Fingerslayer Blade's legend, as well as the real reason for the Nox Dynasty's destruction.

He didn't expect the value of the Fingerslayer Blade to keep rising.

Now, once Ranni was done killing her Two Fingers, he had to get it back as soon as possible.

Bai Shi let out a long breath.

"Thank you for providing such rare intelligence."

"Speaking of which, what happened to General Radahn's soul?"

Bai Shi asked curiously.

Since it was Radahn who told Ranni these things, his soul must be lucid, right?

The Erdtree system has collapsed, and souls can no longer be reborn.

But Ranni, who was an expert on souls, might have some way to help.

After Bai Shi finished speaking, he saw Ranni's expression become incredibly colorful.

This was the first time Bai Shi had seen Ranni lose control of her expression.

Ranni said, grinding her teeth:

"We have to talk about a certain detestable fellow named Miquella."

"He took my brother Radahn's soul away." Updates are released by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱

Bai Shi was dumbfounded once again.

"Miquella took Radahn's soul?"

She had long thought that Miquella fellow was strange, but she never imagined he would secretly make a pact with her brother Radahn.

Although she still didn't know what exactly had happened, or what that pact was about.

But Ranni was smart and quickly figured some things out.

She, Miquella, and Malenia were all Empyreans.

Empyreans were demigods who could one day establish their own order.

Malenia completely followed Miquella's command and had no will of her own.

In reality, only Ranni could compete with Miquella.

But Ranni was unwilling to become a puppet of the Two Fingers and had no desire whatsoever to become the next vessel for the Elden Ring according to their wishes.

So Miquella was the only demigod with ambitions of godhood.

So it was obvious that he wanted to become a god.

Perhaps even when they cooperated to assassinate Godwyn, he had this purpose in mind.

Recalling Miquella's actions before and during the Shattering...

...Ranni realized that Miquella's behavior and actions were perfectly consistent with his motive of becoming a god.

Since Miquella wanted to become a god, he would certainly need a king to accompany him.

This was the god-king rule that had existed in the Lands Between since ancient times.

Ranni told Bai Shi all of her speculations, one by one.

Bai Shi was stunned as he listened. Why was all the news today so explosive?

Originally, Bai Shi had just thought Mohg was gay, which was why he'd abducted the young femboy.

But Miquella too? And he was involved with Radahn?

Why had the Lands Between turned out ?