After leaving Seluvis' underground cellar, Lucian headed straight for Renna's Rise.
Renna's Rise stood at the northernmost edge of the Three Sisters, far removed from the other two towers.
Along the way, Lucian crossed vast stretches of ruined land.
In the past, packs of wolves had roamed these grounds, while a Glintstone Dragon guarded Ranni's tower.
The traces of their lives still lingered among the ruins.
But now, neither the wandering wolves nor the dragon remained, making the place feel even more desolate.
They had all been allies of the Carian royal family, upholding their oath to protect Ranni.
But Ranni had already departed, and they no longer had any reason to remain here.
Looking over the completely abandoned ruins, Lucian shook his head.
Ranni had set out to fulfill her goal, decisive as ever.
She chose to walk that dark and freezing path alone, unwilling to drag anyone else into her conflict with the Two Fingers.
Unfortunately, regardless of her intentions, both Smithing Master Iji and Blaidd still met tragic ends in the original story.
But this time, neither Iji nor Blaidd would come to harm.
Soon enough, Lucian arrived at the last of the Three Sisters towers, Renna's Rise.
It was obvious that no one had set foot here for many years.
Compared to the other nearby rises, this place was even more barren and lifeless.
The tower lacked an elevator, so Lucian simply leapt up to the second floor himself.
Inside this otherwise unremarkable level sat a lone treasure chest.
Lucian walked over and opened it.
The moment the chest opened, an intense chill burst outward, instantly coating his hand in frost.
Lucian ignited the lingering embers within his body, dispersing the cold before looking inside.
As expected, it contained the Snow Witch set.
Though identical in appearance, Lucian could tell this was a completely separate set from the one Ranni wore.
So this must have been the actual belongings of the Snow Witch herself.
The Snow Witch had been a heretical sorceress who studied cold sorceries.
Yet despite being such an outcast, she had secretly become Ranni's mentor.
The young Ranni once encountered the aged Snow Witch deep within the forest and learned cold sorcery from her.
Even the doll body Ranni inhabited had been modeled after the Snow Witch's appearance.
Lucian picked up the witch's frozen pointed hat.
It was the signature pointed hat symbolizing the identity of a heretical witch, the symbol of the Snow Witch herself.
The inside of the hat was covered in brilliant frost crystals that emitted a chilling gleam.
Lucian placed it on his head for a moment, only to realize how badly the enormous brim blocked one's vision.
Maybe the reason Ranni always liked sitting up high wasn't just pride.
The hat probably had something to do with it too.
If she sat too low, the brim would practically block her entire field of view.
And raising her head to look up at others was probably something Ranni absolutely refused to do.
Thinking about it that way, her habit of sitting in elevated places really did pair perfectly with the oversized hat.
Looking at the Snow Witch's relics, Lucian felt a little regretful.
Ranni's teacher must have possessed an incredible breadth of experience. She might even have known world-shaking secrets.
Even setting information aside, as Ranni's mentor alone, she would have been someone worth meeting.
And Lucian couldn't help but wonder whether the cold nature of Ranni's Dark Moon had been influenced by the Snow Witch.
After all, Ranni clearly respected the old witch greatly, otherwise she never would have used her as the template for her doll body.
Based on the form of Ranni's spirit that Lucian had once seen in the Wailing Dunes, Ranni's original body hadn't looked very different from her current appearance to begin with, only slightly altered.
Which meant her doll body still largely resembled her true self. She was simply dressed in the Snow Witch's attire.
Lucian placed the pointed hat back into the chest and closed it once more.
He wasn't playing a female character, so there was no point taking it.
In the game, equipment could be mixed and matched however you liked without caring about appearances.
Whether it was absurd armor combinations paired with horrifying eldritch character presets, or elegant outfits matched with beautiful character customization, all of it added to the fun of the game.
But in the real Lands Between…
Lucian felt it was better not to push his luck.
Continuing upward, Lucian soon arrived at the room atop the tower.
There, a glowing portal stood quietly in the center of the chamber.
Without hesitation, Lucian reached out and touched it.
A deep blue magical radiance flared to life, enveloping his body.
In the next moment, Lucian vanished from the tower.
When he opened his eyes again, the scenery before him had completely changed.
He now stood within a silent ravine deep underground, inside a vast subterranean hollow.
A gentle stream flowed before him, nourishing the lush vegetation around it while silver fireflies shimmered continuously above the water.
Following the distant roar of crashing water, Lucian looked ahead.
Within the dark underground riverway, countless gigantic waterfalls poured from unknown heights, sending torrents of water crashing downward.
Beneath the falls lay a bottomless abyssal pool that swallowed all the rushing waters whole.
It was because of that deep basin that the nearby stream remained so calm.
This place was the main current of the Ainsel River.
Lucian looked upward toward the waterfalls, trying to explore what lay above them.
But the towering cascades stretched beyond sight, disappearing into countless black caverns whose origins were impossible to discern.
Lucian knew that one of those waterfalls originated from Deeproot Depths.
In the future, he could simply fly upward and trace the source in reverse to reach Deeproot Depths directly.
Of course, with so many waterfalls here, checking each one individually would definitely take a very long time.
Still, no matter what, it was another route available to him.
In the game, one could travel from the Nameless Eternal City in Deeproot Depths to this place via coffin transport.
But looking at the stone coffins scattered across the ground, cracked from impacts, Lucian shook his head.
The person who came up with this transportation method was truly a genius.
That was genuine praise.
The countless waterfalls flowing from different origins would naturally carry every coffin toward Ainsel River.
Long ago, this had been a stable means of transportation, allowing all roads to converge upon the Eternal Cities.
All roads led to Nokstella.
They just happened to be waterways.
Though it was probably because the various Eternal Cities no longer had anyone maintaining them, causing water levels to shift dramatically, that this transportation method had become rather unsafe.
Lucian stopped paying attention to the environment and walked toward a nearby stone coffin.
Directly opposite the portal, in a spot impossible to miss, sat a very conspicuous little object atop one of the coffins.
Lucian approached and saw the doll resting near the edge of the stone coffin.
It was a miniature doll identical to the witch Ranni herself, crafted with remarkable detail even in its smallest features.
The tiny Ranni's head drooped deeply beneath the weight of the oversized pointed hat.
All Lucian could really see at first was the enormous hat itself, while her tiny face remained completely hidden beneath it.
Now that she had been shrunk down proportionally, the hat looked even larger by comparison.
Petite Ranni's four arms rested neatly over her abdomen, while her legs dangled over the edge of the stone coffin like a decorative weight holding down instant noodles.
Clearly, placing her in such an eye-catching spot had been carefully planned by Ranni herself, ensuring that Lucian would notice her the moment he arrived through the portal.
And the result had indeed worked perfectly.
Although the time had finally come, Ranni still cared deeply about strange little things like this.
So before setting out alone upon that cold and dark path, she had specifically taken time to carefully position this doll here.
After repeatedly observing the portal's arrival point and the surrounding terrain, she had finally found the perfect location.
Easy to notice at a glance, yet not so obvious that it felt unnatural.
According to her own standards, even a doll still represented the Lunar Princess of Caria. Naturally, it could not simply be tossed aside carelessly.
And if Lucian somehow failed to notice it because of poor placement…
Then Petite Ranni would probably leap up on the spot to remind him before immediately pretending once more that "nothing happened, she is merely a doll"...
Lucian carefully picked up the Petite Ranni doll and held her in his palm.
The craftsmanship was incredibly delicate, perfectly recreating Ranni herself. She was unbelievably adorable.
No, actually, something this cute should probably be called a plushie rather than a doll.
Lucian gently lifted the oversized pointed hat that was pressing down on Petite Ranni's head, finally allowing her to raise her face.
Once her head tilted upward, the two faces—one on the left and one on the right, appeared before Lucian once more.
Lucian poked Petite Ranni's face, trying to figure out why the second spectral face existed.
But after failing to find an explanation, he could only suspect that perhaps Ranni herself was already logged into the Petite Ranni account.
"Ranni?"
Lucian called out tentatively.
Petite Ranni showed no reaction whatsoever.
And so Lucian's attention naturally drifted elsewhere.
Her face felt hard to the touch.
Well, of course. She was still a doll.
The "skin" material on Petite Ranni's limbs and torso was in remarkably good condition, noticeably different from the Ranni Lucian remembered.
It seemed Petite Ranni wasn't a perfect replica after all… this doll had actually been specially repaired?
Lucian remembered that parts of Ranni's actual body showed signs of wear and damage, but Petite Ranni looked exceptionally complete.
Those repairs made her seem even more perfect.
If Seluvis' puppets would trigger uncanny valley discomfort in the real world, then Petite Ranni would absolutely qualify as a flawless collectible figure.
Looking at the finely crafted doll in his hands, Lucian nodded approvingly.
'Seluvis, oh Seluvis… I've already begun appreciating the beauty of Petite Ranni. What about you?'
'Sigh. Your dream is just my daily life.'
At that moment, Lucian also realized the biggest difference between Petite Ranni and the real Ranni herself.
Petite Ranni didn't constantly emit that intense freezing aura like Ranni did.
Still, when held in one's hands, there remained a faint trace of coldness.
Maybe that was how one could tell whether Ranni had attached her consciousness to the doll?
Lucian wasn't entirely sure.
After all, he couldn't sense any soul presence within this Petite Ranni doll at all.
Ranni's ability to possess dolls was an exceptionally rare skill even within the Lands Between, making it impossible for Lucian to properly judge.
Then again…
Maybe Ranni was secretly watching him through Petite Ranni right now?
Thinking about it that way was strangely exciting.
Ranni watching her own doll body being handled and examined in Lucian's hands, yet forced to pretend nothing was happening in order to avoid revealing that her consciousness was currently inside it, silently enduring Lucian touching her all over…
…Ahem.
Okay, his train of thought had started veering dangerously off course.
In any case, Lucian had no intention of doing anything weird to Ranni's doll.
Because if Ranni really was secretly watching, his image would be ruined forever.
Besides, the doll was made of hard material. It wasn't some kind of soft realistic body pillow.
So Lucian didn't have any particularly dangerous ideas toward it.
Just as Lucian was preparing to continue admiring Petite Ranni, a tremendous crash interrupted him.
BOOM—!
Something heavy fell from above and slammed into the shallow waters like a depth charge, sending enormous sprays of water exploding outward.
The commotion was so absurdly loud that Lucian almost thought some national diving team had arrived to practice bombing techniques.
Looking carefully, he realized it was actually a massive stone coffin that had crashed down beside him into the shallows.
Lucian was a little curious.
Why were coffins still drifting down here now?
Was there someone inside?
Lucian carefully put away the Petite Ranni doll and secured it properly before walking toward the fallen coffin.
Stepping closer, he pushed open the heavy stone lid.
The moment he saw what lay inside, Lucian shook his head in disappointment.
Inside the coffin was a dried corpse that had already been shattered apart from the violent impacts during the journey.
Judging by the corpse's condition, it definitely hadn't climbed in there recently.
Most likely, it had entered the coffin long ago, gotten stuck somewhere along the route, and only now been washed downstream.
Lucian turned and began walking toward a nearby passageway.
But just as he was about to enter it, strange rustling sounds suddenly echoed from the cliffs nearby.
The noises were peculiar.
Soft, yet impossible to ignore.
As the sounds gradually drew closer, more details became apparent.
Lucian quickly identified them.
It was the sound of some sort of creature moving, its limbs scraping against surrounding surfaces.
And judging from the noise, there were a lot of them.
Far too many.
Lucian quietly stood outside the passage, concealing his presence while waiting to see what exactly was happening.
As the sounds neared, Lucian pinpointed their source.
Above the main route of the Ainsel River were numerous large tunnels leading to unknown destinations.
Soon, a gigantic creature crawled out upside down from one of the tunnel ceilings.
It was a giant ant colored in red and white patterns, massive in size, even larger than many of the beasts commonly seen across the Lands Between, enough to rival the giant crows and monstrous dogs of Caelid.
Compared to it, ordinary wolves and wild dogs looked like toys.
And there wasn't just one.
There were seven or eight of them.
The giant ants rapidly moved along the tunnels before surrounding the stone coffin that had just crashed down.
Their antennae touched one another briefly, as if communicating.
Then they moved.
Their horrifying serrated mandibles immediately began tearing into the corpse inside the coffin.
Within mere seconds, the body was reduced into even smaller fragments beneath those saw-like jaws before the giant ants neatly packed away the pieces.
After collecting every last scrap until almost nothing remained, the ants departed with their harvest.
Retracing their route, they disappeared back into the tunnels.
Only then did Lucian reveal himself again.
Looking toward the place where the ants had vanished, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
So these ants were basically coming out to pick up takeout deliveries?
Back in the day, this coffin transportation system probably had been incredibly convenient.
But nowadays…
Only Red Bull would still invest in something like this.
Shaking his head, Lucian continued deeper along the waters of the Ainsel River's main current.
—
[T/N: The Snowy Crone, also known as the Snow Witch, was an unseen, heretical witch in Elden Ring who served as the secret mentor to Lunar Princess Ranni. She was an elderly woman dressed in white robes and a heavy gray fur cloak who practiced forbidden cold sorceries deep within the woods.]
Key details about her identity and role include:
Mentorship: She taught Ranni cold sorceries and warned the young Carian to fear the Dark Moon, imparting knowledge that influenced Ranni's eventual path.
Ranni's Appearance: After Ranni's physical body perished during the Night of the Black Knives, her soul was bound to a life-sized doll modeled after the Snow Witch's likeness, which explains why Ranni wears the Snow Witch armor set.
Identity Theories: While her true name is unknown, the community has debated her identity, with prominent theories suggesting she could be Rennala (hiding to teach Ranni in secret), Melina (linked to the Gloam-Eyed Queen and death magic), or a member of the Zamor people associated with ancient ice sorcery.
Legacy: The spells Freezing Mist, Frozen Armament, and Glintstone Icecrag are attributed to her, and her clothing is found in Ranni's Rise after completing her questline.