CREAK—!
The friction of the elevator chains lifted the platform to the top floor accessible by the elevator. The structure here was almost identical to the first and second floors.
Nidhogg, Azan, and Serpico exited the elevator and climbed the spiral staircase to the top of the walled tower.
After the battle with the Crucible Knight, Melina had vanished again. She always came and went in a hurry, but there was no helping it. Only by temporarily entering a dormant state could she regain the focus expended when praying for Nidhogg.
After killing several exiled soldiers in crimson cloaks who were lying in ambush here, the three emerged from the wall tower and saw the chaos atop the walls of Stormveil City.
Burning flames, exploding barrel fragments, destroyed ballistae, charred people and flying hawks, and the blackened walls—all showed the tragedy here.
"What happened here?" Azan asked in confusion.
Nidhogg wiped a handful of black ash from the wall with his index finger, observed for a while, turned, and said, "This was Flying Dragon Agheel. He flew over the city wall and spewed flames onto the soldiers and Stormhawks on the wall."
"Besides them, on top of the city wall, there were many explosive barrels placed here. An explosive barrel meeting flames—the result is predictable. This group of exiled soldiers defended the city in such a way that it could be considered self-inflicted punishment."
"However, Agheel clearly couldn't have it his way. His eyes and wings must have been pierced by the ballistae and artillery of Stormveil City. And Margit knocked him down when he tried to fly away from the city."
From Nidhogg's deduction, Azan and Serpico could imagine what had happened.
Then Azan and Serpico followed Nidhogg, leaping between the walls, towers, and platforms of Stormveil City, fully demonstrating the complexity of this huge castle's structure.
Nidhogg soon discovered that many items that appeared on the path and could be easily obtained, such as weapons, talismans, keys, and smithing stones, were missing.
This was normal too. After all, the soldiers walking here weren't machines. They would know how to collect treasures left on the ground. They wouldn't leave them for him when he arrived late.
Nidhogg didn't care. He wasn't a Tarnished in a game in his own place. He didn't need all the achievements. Most things could be discarded. It didn't matter if he wanted them or not.
Circling around, Nidhogg led them through Stormveil City with the skill of returning home. Although poor Azan and Serpico were dizzy following him.
In the end, jumping here for a while, leaping there for a while. In some places that seemed like dead ends, there was actually a road. In some places that seemed like the right path, going to the back was a dead end. It was very strange.
However, quite strangely, Nidhogg took the two of them for a long time, revealed a Lost Knight along the way, but in the end magically circled a large area and returned to the wall tower.
If Nidhogg hadn't calmed down and led them to the second floor of an unfamiliar banquet hall, they would have thought they were lost.
No, it should be said that if they had infiltrated Stormveil City themselves, 80% of them would already be lost.
Standing on the second-floor platform of the banquet hall, the three quickly saw uncomfortable shriveled corpses hanging on hooks above. Some were arms, legs, and some were torsos.
Azan found it disgusting to see this. Even if he had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield and seen shocking scenes of cultist sacrifices, such a scene of desecrating corpses still challenged his psychological limits.
Serpico also felt uncomfortable. He frowned and asked, "This is the so-called 'puppet' Roderika mentioned, right? Her companions will most likely become like this..."
Nidhogg suddenly raised his hand.
Azan and Serpico were familiar with this gesture and fell silent. Soon, they heard a strange sound coming from beneath the banquet hall.
All three looked down over the edge of the platform and saw a huge, spider-like strange creature that had entered the banquet hall from a corner.
Looking closely, one could clearly see that it wasn't a spider, but a human body connected to countless human arms and legs, expanding the thickness of its torso and increasing the number of its limbs.
Both Azan and Serpico's expressions changed. They frowned.
Nidhogg whispered, "These are the scions of the 'grafted' nobles, those nobles who imitated the 'grafted' Godrick. They gained power in the same way as 'grafting.'"
Azan and Serpico had heard Nidhogg, Rogier, Hewg, Roderika, and others mention the word "grafting." Now they saw their true faces. It was truly gruesome.
Nidhogg pointed at several residents with daggers and hollow wooden boards, who were walking along the edge of the banquet hall, and said to them, "I'll go down and deal with the noble scion. You kill these residents."
Both Azan and Serpico nodded and slowly felt their way towards the residents along the platform steps.
Nidhogg was much more direct. He grabbed the railing with both hands, flipped over, and fell from the platform, landing directly above the noble scion.
When the noble scion heard the movement, he looked up and noticed Nidhogg. He couldn't help but tense up, waving his limbs like a terrifying spider trying to hunt.
Three of his hands held two swords and a heavy shield. At this moment, the two sharp swords were already beckoning to Nidhogg, who had fallen from the sky.
Nidhogg admits that in the game, noble scions are sometimes even more troublesome than some bosses, mainly due to their strong attack desire and terrain restrictions. In most cases, you can't summon spirit ashes.
However, now it's different. Not only are Margit and the Noble Scion not restricted by game mechanics, but the movement restrictions on Nidhogg are also lifted.
The two sharp swords thrust forward, but only pierced the visual afterimage left by Bloodhound's Step. Nidhogg himself passed between the two swords and stepped onto the noble scion's torso.
Bloodhound's Fang pierced the noble scion's terrified face, hit the center of his brow, and penetrated through to the back of his head!
The noble scion was momentarily stunned. He had no time to let out a piercing scream. His many arms and legs subconsciously swung a few times, then they drooped. His entire huge spider-like body also fell.
「Quest」 Golden Tree (Growth: 80%)
Nidhogg grunted, withdrew Bloodhound's Fang, calmly jumped down from the noble scion's torso, then turned to Azan and Serpico and saw that they had just dealt with these residents.
When Azan and Serpico turned, they also saw that Nidhogg had dealt with the noble scion.
Obviously, enemies of different levels, but they were killed faster. Azan and Serpico were not surprised in this situation.
Following Nidhogg all the way, such scenes often occurred. They no longer made as much fuss as before and calmly approached.
However, looking at the corpses and the "puppets" hanging from the roof, the old knight Azan still felt compassion and asked, "Nidhogg, can you give me a little time to bury them?"
"It's so pitiful that they are always like this."
Nidhogg also remembered Roderika's words, remembering that she had walked through these places, seen countless specters wandering in Stormveil City, and heard their wails. It was truly tragic.
Then he said, "Alright. I'll go up to the second floor, deal with the enemy there, and patrol the perimeter. You and Serpico try to bury them here."
Azan removed his helmet and smiled.
Serpico didn't mind. He followed Nidhogg's instructions and stayed here to help Azan.
Nidhogg returned to the second floor of the banquet hall, turned a corner, and approached a spacious study. Then he came face to face with a Lost Knight wielding a halberd.
Both were stunned for a moment, and then almost simultaneously raised their weapons. But Nidhogg was clearly faster.
FWOOSH—!
Before the knight could summon his whirlwind, his head was severed by Bloodhound's Fang. It smashed to the ground like a ball and rolled to the side.
THUD—!
As Nidhogg and the Lost Knight's torsos passed each other, the Lost Knight fell. He probably didn't even know what had just happened before his death.
Nidhogg put away Bloodhound's Fang and approached a bookshelf filled with various books. On the ground, he saw a treasure chest quietly sitting there.
This study was guarded by a Lost Knight. Naturally, no one in Stormveil City dared to steal the treasure from the chest. But now it benefited Nidhogg, the intruder.
With a click, the chest opened. Nidhogg took out an exquisite ornament from within.
「Mimic's Veil」
"A bright brown veil with a fine pattern. Can absorb focus points and mimic various items. This is one of the treasures Godrick brought with him when he was exiled from the royal capital of Leyndell. It is known as 'Marika's Mischief.'"
Looking at the explanation through his Spectral Sight, Nidhogg seriously suspected that Godrick had relied on mimicking this veil to blend in with a crowd of women and leave the royal capital, unnoticed by Radahn the Starscourge, who had ordered his army to break through the border.
Such a memorable and rather infamous veil, Nidhogg naturally put away.
Then Nidhogg exited through another door in the study and saw the body of a huge, small giant—a mountain troll knight—hanging upside down, missing an arm and a leg.
The furry hair on the mountain troll knight's head still resembled a lion's, but the corpse had long since lost its life force.
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