Clop, clop, clop—!
Across the rain-soaked wilderness, Torrent galloped, splashing mud with every stride.
Nidhogg, mounted, occasionally glanced down to confirm the direction indicated by the Spirit Tree Pavilion's compass.
For the past month, he had essentially been traveling. But he occasionally encountered Apostles or invaders, and the results were still good.
「Level」
LV 73 (Low-Rank Apostle)
「Armor」
Confessor Set
Grafted Soldier Set
「Quest」
Eliminate Low-Rank Apostles and Low-Rank Invaders in the Kingdom of Midland (20/?)
The most noticeable change was that his level had increased from 71 to 73. And after killing invaders, the Confessor Set had dropped.
Now Nidhogg wore this Confessor Set—a hooded cloak over armor. He looked like a mysterious assassin.
In truth, Confessors were indeed assassins who served the Two Fingers.
Honestly, after merging his Vagabond Knight Set into Runes for enhancement, Nidhogg had regretted it a little. Wearing the Grafted Soldier Set every day would have gotten old for anyone.
As for armor stats, Nidhogg wasn't lacking. It was better to change frequently—it felt a bit fresh.
Now that he had unexpectedly obtained the Confessor Set, he immediately switched to it and felt very pleased.
At that moment, Torrent snorted discontentedly. Nidhogg, having been with him for years and sharing an unspoken understanding, immediately understood.
"I know, I know. You've been running all this way and you're tired. Let's find a place to rest a bit. We'll continue after a break."
So Nidhogg rode Torrent onto a path through a forested area.
They heard the sound of water in the distance. Perfect timing to find a nearby water source. They walked for a while and saw a cascading waterfall.
Nidhogg dismounted and led Torrent to the small lake formed by the waterfall's impact. He let him drink water and fed him fruit.
After that, Nidhogg took out the map Casca had given him and compared it with the Spirit Tree Pavilion's compass.
By the way, the gifts given to Nidhogg by the Hawk Company members—Corkus's money pouch, Pippin's miner's lamp, and Judeau's throwing knives—had been lost under various circumstances.
All he had left in his hands were Casca's map and Rickert's crossbow.
Opening the map and placing the compass beside it, Nidhogg quickly found his general location. It was quite far, but essentially in this region.
The Spirit Tree Pavilion was still a long way off.
As he looked at the densely populated place names near this area, he suddenly spotted a rather familiar and prominent location name.
The Tower of Conviction.
It was also known as the Saint Albion Monastery or the Sea Son Monastery. But due to its historical significance from a thousand years ago, it could collectively be called the Tower of Conviction.
The skeleton knight's true enemy, the object of his revenge—Void, one of the God Hand—had once been a sage among men. He had been imprisoned in this monastery's tower by the skeleton knight, who was then the sovereign Gaiseric.
Afterward, during the Eclipse, the five angels descended upon the royal capital and destroyed it. It became underground ruins buried beneath the Tower of Conviction in Windham City.
The empire crumbled after that day. Its territory was divided. One of the resulting states was the current Kingdom of Midland.
That day, the skeleton knight had lost everything. The obsession with revenge had burned within him for a thousand years, consuming his body but still not extinguishing his will.
Nidhogg knew that two years after this Eclipse, the Tower of Conviction would give birth to another demonic egg and become Femto's incubation site—the place where Griffith would be reborn as "Femto."
The reason for such a magnificent reincarnation was to satisfy Femto's desire to possess a kingdom. To achieve this, he would not hesitate to plunge the entire world into chaos.
On the other hand, it was also because the God Hand could not easily come to this world and could not exist for long after arriving. To remain in this world permanently, one needed to undergo a ritual sacrifice to obtain a body suitable for a God Hand member.
Of course, the most important factor was the guidance of the law of causality.
The Abyss needed a living agent like Femto to lead the entire world into a Dark Age.
They didn't want to destroy the world—that would harm the Abyss and the God Hand. They wanted to create a world where Apostles, monsters, and vengeful spirits were everywhere, and humanity endlessly struggled between hope and despair.
In such an era, resentment, depravity, ignorance, ecstasy, and many other emotional thoughts from human groups would continuously reach their peak and become food for the Abyss.
Now, with the spirits of the four directions weakening and the teachings of the Holy See spreading, the time was gradually approaching.
Since this was such an important node, the "Femto Incubation" at the Tower of Conviction would also become a key link in the guidance of the law of causality—just like Griffith's incarnation as Femto at the Eclipse.
Nidhogg's current principle was to temporarily avoid anything directly related to Griffith, so that he would have the strength to save a small number of people before the Eclipse.
If he could save even a few people during the Eclipse, all these years of hard work would be worth it.
He would not go to the Tower of Conviction, even if it was only a few days away. Better to be cautious. The force field there was too strong. The God Hand might manifest. Not a joke.
Suddenly, Nidhogg, lost in thought, sensed something with his Spectral Sight.
He immediately looked up. Torrent, who had been drinking water, also raised his head.
Deep within the forest shadows, several figures had appeared.
Invaders...
Nidhogg stood up and put away his map and compass.
His Spectral Sight saw them clearly: two tall, thin black shadows leading three skeletal soldiers.
Three skeletal soldiers—two with long knives, one with a bow and arrow. All approached, their movements jerky.
Nidhogg recognized the invader.
「Graveyard Shadow」
There were only three Graveyard Shadows in all of Elden Ring. He hadn't expected two to show up this time, leading three skeletal soldiers that could resurrect after death.
This was the first time so many invaders had appeared simultaneously.
Nidhogg's head ached at the sight.
At that moment, he remembered the Golden Halberd he had obtained earlier. Its Sacred attribute damage should deal extra damage to the undead. He relaxed a little.
First, he retreated, creating distance. Then he rang his bell and summoned Ingvall the Lost Knight and the three Lone Wolves in one breath, positioning them in front to buy time.
Afterward, Nidhogg produced the Golden Halberd and used its skill, Golden Vow.
The halberd pointed to the sky. Golden light enveloped Nidhogg. His attack and defense would be enhanced for a short time.
Immediately, he drew Bloodhound's Fang, holding it in his left hand and the Golden Halberd in his right. Then he re-entered the battlefield, first observing from the edge.
By now, the Graveyard Shadows, skeletal soldiers, Ingvall, and the three Lone Wolves were already fighting.
The three Lone Wolves had each bitten a skeletal soldier and pinned them to the ground. In the short term, it was hard to tell who would win.
Ingvall charged at the two tall Graveyard Shadows.
FWOOSH—!
Suddenly, a green light sphere shot from the head of one Graveyard Shadow, struck Ingvall, and actually pinned him in place!
At the same time, the other Graveyard Shadow raised its dual knives and, as if slicing melons and vegetables, began hacking at Ingvall!
FWOOSH—!
Nidhogg's Golden Halberd shot out from behind Ingvall. It viciously stabbed the Graveyard Shadow, plunging into its chest and abdomen, temporarily halting its movements.
Then Nidhogg raised his halberd and, with a loud cry, immediately lifted the Graveyard Shadow into the air!