CLANG—!
A knight in heavy golden armor, armed with a halberd and shield, silently charged at him. He swung his halberd diagonally, the blade nearly grazing Nidhogg's head as it passed just inches away.
Nidhogg had left the city at night, and not long after, a "Tree Sentinel" had invaded.
But he didn't panic. He even dismounted, planning to fight on foot.
The Tree Sentinel was all too familiar. It seemed like there was hardly anyone in the Elden Ring community who didn't know him.
Even as the golden halberd nearly struck him, Nidhogg remained calm. Following his established strategy, he circled toward the Tree Sentinel's shield side, using Bloodhound's Fang or his Lordsworn's Greatsword to land occasional strikes.
The Tree Sentinel was quite brave, but felt helpless against Nidhogg.
No matter how he charged on horseback, how he slashed and swung his halberd, Nidhogg maintained a rhythm that seemed to dance with him. When the Sentinel's fierce attack ended, Nidhogg would strike and then retreat, never greedily overextending.
To make matters worse, Nidhogg always circled toward the side where he held his shield.
Because he was heavily armored and difficult to turn quickly on horseback, his halberd had a very hard time hitting Nidhogg.
As a result, the Tree Sentinel also changed his strategy.
He began to use his oversized shield to ram Nidhogg, sometimes even leaping into the air with his horse and slamming the shield down at Nidhogg. It looked quite intimidating.
But no matter what, Nidhogg had a strategic response: avoid the tip of the attack, dodge when he could, evade when he could, and use Bloodhound's Finesse when it was too late. There was always a fierce counterattack waiting for the Tree Sentinel.
Nidhogg kept an eye on the Tree Sentinel's health bar with his Spectral Sight, watching it gradually wear down.
Finally, Nidhogg managed to stagger the Tree Sentinel and knock him from his horse.
Only then did he calmly step forward and deliver the final, life-ending strike with his sword.
The Tree Sentinel was defeated. He and his horse dissolved into white light and gradually vanished.
Just before disappearing, he tossed his halberd from his hand, threw it before Nidhogg, and gave a slight nod—a gesture of acknowledgment.
However, Nidhogg, having been ambushed countless times in Elden Ring and nearly developing PTSD, waited until the Sentinel had completely vanished before stepping forward to pick up the halberd.
「Golden Halberd」
A heavy halberd wrought of gold, the weapon of the heavy knight known as the "Tree Sentinel." Possesses attack power with the Sacred attribute.
This is a heavy and powerful weapon, but it may be difficult for an ordinary person to wield effectively.
「Skill: Golden Vow」
The knights of the Royal Capital inherited this skill from ancient times, raising their weapons to the sky and vowing to fight for the Erdtree. It enhances the attack and defense capabilities of the user and surrounding allies.
Nidhogg hefted it. It was indeed quite heavy, but with his current strength, wielding it was perfectly manageable.
After storing the Golden Halberd, Nidhogg whistled, summoned Torrent, mounted, and continued on his way.
He planned to ride for a while and, after putting sufficient distance between himself and the Slug Count's city, find a place to settle and spend the rest of the night.
After running for some distance, whether by intuition or chance, Nidhogg turned his head and glanced back. He saw a black dot hovering on the distant cliffs, silhouetted against the full moon.
Huh? What's that?
Nidhogg blinked. When he looked again, the black dot had vanished.
Just as he was wondering if he was being paranoid, he saw the black dot again. It was leaping swiftly and nimbly across the treetops, running toward him like an arrow.
Now Nidhogg couldn't ignore it.
He touched Torrent's head. The horse snorted knowingly and continued running forward. Nidhogg produced Rickert's crossbow and stared in that direction.
The black dot's speed didn't slow. It kept jumping between the treetops and branches, occasionally revealing itself, then vanishing in an instant. It descended into the forest in the blink of an eye.
Then, with a crash, a dark shadow burst from the undergrowth.
Nidhogg warily raised his crossbow, about to loose a few bolts. But as the figure drew closer, its outline and appearance became clearer and clearer. He was stunned and lowered his crossbow.
It was a man and a horse, just like Nidhogg. But neither man nor horse looked like anything from the modern world.
The man was a skeleton. His dark eyes glowed. He carried a sword and shield, and on the shield was a crest resembling a rose.
A skeleton knight?
Nidhogg recognized the other party at first glance. Surely no one would impersonate this figure, right?
He gently pulled on the reins and let Torrent slowly slow his pace and come to a stop.
The skeleton knight was riding like the wind. He also reined in his horse just over ten meters in front of Nidhogg, dismounted, and came to a halt.
His empty eye sockets, glowing with ghostly fire, scanned Nidhogg from head to toe. Then he spoke, his voice calm and serious:
"If I'm not mistaken, you should be human... But why do you have two Beherits on you? That defies all common sense."
Very sharp instincts.
Nidhogg raised an eyebrow. He glanced briefly at the pack on Torrent's back and produced two stones with contorted faces—one from the Queen Bee, one from the Slug Count.
"You mean these?"
Seeing that Nidhogg indeed had two Beherits, the skeleton knight's dark eyes narrowed, then quickly widened.
So his "senses" hadn't been wrong.
Generally speaking, even one Beherit was rare. Two Beherits together—the skeleton knight had never seen such a thing.
But the skeleton knight had trusted his instincts and pursued him all this way. Now, the facts had proven his intuition correct.
Looking at Nidhogg's youthful face, the skeleton knight had many doubts in his heart. He couldn't help but ask.
"Why are they in your hands? How much do you know about them?"
"I know enough." Nidhogg replied. "They're called Beherits. They're keys connecting the depths of the astral world to the real world. They're talismans capable of summoning the God Hand."
The skeleton knight pondered this, looking into Nidhogg's eyes. He finally confirmed that this young man truly understood the nature of the world well.
He paused, then continued Nidhogg's thought: "Yes. Beherits appear no different from ordinary stones, but they are intertwined with the fate of the law of causality."
"At the destined moment, they will fall into the destined hands. If they belong to you, even if you throw them away, when that moment arrives, they will surely return to your hands."
"If they do not belong to you, whether you want them or not, they will soon leave your possession."
"The so-called 'moment' is the instant their owner prays for power. Therefore, in any case, this is not something human will can control."
"You're right." Nidhogg tossed the two Beherits to the skeleton knight. "Then they are not mine. Perhaps they are more suited to you."
The skeleton knight extended his claw-like hand, caught them precisely, and looked at them. He sensed no trickery or magic. He couldn't help but look at Nidhogg again.
"Who are you?"