Elden Ring: Atai vows to have a perfect ending

Chapter 435 Whispers in the Dark

“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

After defeating the divine noble guarding the Tower of Ranie, I carried Latan on my back, took the elevator of the Tower of Ranie, and climbed the stairs for a long time before reaching the top.

That's right, Latan is still sleeping and shows no sign of waking up.

Moreover, after taking the elevator of the God-granting Tower in the game, it was only necessary to climb half a flight of stairs, but in reality, I actually climbed around the entire tower five times! Is this some kind of strange ritual?

But no matter what, when night fell again, I finally reached the summit.

The night sky is vast. The golden tree that covers the sky in the Royal City of Rodel cannot be seen here. There is only the silent and endless night, and the body of the god-man abandoned by Lani below.

I walked forward. The body had been burned into charcoal. I couldn't recognize Lani's original appearance at all. But at least in terms of body shape, she looked a little taller than Ati... No wonder she always liked to put four books in the position. After getting used to the original eye level height, the doll's body was indeed a little too small for Lani.

Squatting down, I looked carefully at the body, looking for the location of the centipede curse pattern.

Got it, got it. Pushing aside the little bit of Lani's long red hair that was left, the other half of the Rune of Death was on the back of her neck.

——But how do I take it off?

I reached out my hand curiously, and the moment I touched the curse pattern, it seemed as if my finger was bitten by it, and the rune that was a part of my life was quickly deprived of me.

Drop······Drop·······Drop·······

Drop drop drop-

In a trance, I seemed to hear a rapid ringing sound in my ears, and I subconsciously pulled my hand back.

——What happened just now?

I didn't understand what it meant, but when I looked back at the death pattern, it had been filled with the golden light of Rune. Then the pattern seemed to come alive, shedding its golden shell and turning into a gray centipede, which drilled into my mind at an unexpected speed.

【die! 】

【Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah--】

A very strange door suddenly appeared before my eyes. The door was tightly closed, and it reached straight into the sky like a tall tower.

On top of the gate, countless people were screaming and begging for mercy, trying their best to climb out and struggle. It was like a picture of hell.

【Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah--】

My head suddenly ached and when I came to my senses, I was gasping for air, as if I had escaped from that big door... What was that just now?

——Is it a message about death? Or...or is it the dark place where Rani is heading?

——Yes, Lani!

I carefully glanced at Latan who was still leaning against the wall. There was still no sign of him waking up, so I quickly took out the petite Lani and called softly, "Hey~ Hey~ Lani, can you hear me? Lani."

"..."

"Lani, I found your abandoned body, come and have a look, hey~"

"... Ha, you're really clingy. Or, do you have the habit of talking to dolls, Zero?" Lani was finally willing to talk to me. "Fortunately, this place is covered by the Realm of Night. However, I have to remind you that if you talk to me outside and are discovered by the remnants of the Two-Finger Party, you might be killed, Zero."

——Hey, so the sky here is the realm of darkness? No wonder I can't see the golden tree from inside.

Speaking of the remnants of Two Fingers, I slapped my head and said, "Ah, I forgot! When I went back to Rhea Lukalia, I forgot to remind Iggy to be careful of the black knife assassin!"

Lani sighed softly: "If it is Iggy, don't worry. Since he knows that I have embarked on the path of seeking the law, he will naturally be prepared to deal with it."

——······It seems so. After all, Iggy thought of giving his mirror helmet to Blaze, so how could he not be on guard against the black knife assassin.

"So, Zero, my ally, why did you summon me out?" Lani ended the greetings. "You didn't really come here just to report to me that you obtained the death curse on the body that I abandoned, did you?"

I responded seriously, "Rani, although this question may bring up painful memories for you, I want to ask, when the Rune of Death was engraved on you, did you see anything?"

"Oh?"

"When I got the curse pattern just now, I saw a strange door." As I said that, I described the door to Lani.

Petite Lani was silent for a moment, then replied with a little surprise: "Incredible. To be honest, I have indeed seen the door you mentioned when the curse was carved. When I walked forward, the door was still tightly closed, with no sign of opening. I don't know what the meaning of its existence is... Moreover, whether it is my impression or a simple investigation afterwards, there is no such door of the dead at the junction, not even a similar one."

“But if we all see it, then that door must be closely related to death,” I speculated.

“…Maybe.” Lani sighed again, “Perhaps my teacher knows something about this. But she has disappeared for a long time, and even I can’t find any trace of her.”

"teacher?"

"Oh, I don't seem to have mentioned it to you. After I met the dark moon when I was young, my mother took me to visit a witch who lived in the forbidden area of ​​​​the snowy mountains. It was she who laid the foundation of magic for me. The appearance of the doll was also made to commemorate that teacher." Lani explained.

——Oh, it’s the Snow Witch, right? No wonder Lani’s Dark Moon also comes with the accumulation of frost value.

——However, there is very little description of her in the text of Fahuan, and I only know that she has this name.

"Your teacher is good at ice and snow magic, right?" I said in a slightly different way. "What's her relationship with death?"

"······My teacher has a pair of night-blue eyes."

——······Hmm? Xiao, eyes of the color of Xiao? !

I almost suspected that I had heard it wrong... The eyes of the night sky. In other words, Lani's teacher, the Snow Witch, is probably the goddess with the eyes of the night sky who competed with Queen Marika for the throne? !

And Lani continued, "Of course, you may be able to understand this better if you ask Torret. Do you remember what I said? Torret was originally my teacher's mount."

——Indeed, it was for this reason that Lani came to us, Atei.

"But, but, there is something I need to make clear to you, Lani." Because of this topic, questions popped up in my mind one after another. "Torret, actually, in the beginning, it was Melina who entrusted me... Although, she said that Torret chose me, but... But it's strange, Melina and your teacher should not have much relationship, and besides, you didn't recognize her at first, right?"

Before Lani could answer, another voice came from behind me.

"That's because Torret is a spiritual life created by my mother and the goddess. After my mother spread the blessing of 'eternity', the goddess with the night-colored eyes gave it to my mother." Melina squatted down next to me and greeted me softly, "Long time no see, Moon Princess Lani."