Godrick recognized Ranni, but felt he had uncovered a conspiracy. He believed Ranni had ordered the Tarnished to come and take his Great Rune and Stormveil City.
No wonder everything was going wrong today. Turns out another demigod was plotting to take everything that belonged to him! And among the many demigods, she was one of the three he hated the most.
These three demigods were, naturally, Radahn, Malenia, and Ranni.
Godrick hated Ranni because he had learned from Maliketh, the Black Blade, that Ranni was the orchestrator of the "Night of the Black Knives." She had stolen a fragment of the Rune of Death, guarded by Maliketh.
It was she who sent the assassins to kill Godwyn, indirectly sparking the Shattering. Since then, she had fled and disappeared, leaving no news.
This led to Godrick losing the chance to comfortably wait in the royal capital of Leyndell to inherit the throne. How could he not hate this?
Again a demigod, again a demigod! You all look down on me, you all delight in trampling my dignity! Fine, fine, fine! I can't defeat your brother Radahn yet, but I can't defeat you?!
Little Ranni understood what he was thinking as soon as she saw the malicious expression on Godrick's face. But at this critical moment, she was in no hurry to defend herself.
Even if she said something, she feared Godrick wouldn't believe it.
Godrick was enraged. The royal axe in his hand swung like thunder, slashing at Nidhogg, who was nearby.
Nidhogg simultaneously exerted force, transforming the space before him into an apparition—the head of a flying dragon!
Godrick couldn't help but be stunned. He recognized this transformed dragon head. Wasn't this the very "Flying Dragon" Agheel who had nearly severed his neck with the royal axe not long ago?
Why?
Agheel's power was used by him?
Can one use the power of a flying dragon without grafting?
How can this be?
A multitude of chaotic thoughts caused Godrick's royal axe to hesitate for a moment as it struck down, and it was engulfed by Agheel's Flame!
Agheel's Flame was no weaker than the flame spewed by the wyvern. With one sweep, it engulfed Godrick's royal axe, as well as the limbs and appendages of the right half of his body!
The sound of burning was horrifying to hear!
"GRAAAH—!"
Godrick, wracked with intense pain, let out a cry similar to when he had severed his own left arm earlier. The royal axe slipped from his grasp and crashed to the ground. The right half of his body was scorched by the dragon's breath, causing him to retreat again and again in agony!
Suddenly, both Godrick's grafted wyvern and his royal axe were sealed by Nidhogg!
Little Ranni stood on Nidhogg's shoulder, raised her right hand, and pointed forward: "Go. End this unworthy demigod's life."
Nidhogg certainly wasn't going to miss this opportunity. As soon as Miniature Ranni finished speaking, he surged forward, stepped, and leaped. Gripping his sword with both hands, he pointed the tip of Bloodhound's Fang directly at Godrick's throat!
He had already pierced Godrick's throat with Crucible Horn. But Godrick had covered the wound with one of his limbs. Combined with the power of his demigod body, he had barely stopped the bleeding.
At this moment, Bloodhound's Fang directly pierced the grafted hand and thrust again into the old wound on his throat, penetrating deeply!
Nidhogg stepped onto Godrick's shoulder and leaped onto it. Bloodhound's Fang cut through half of Godrick's neck!
FWOOSH—!
A fountain of blood gushed out. This time, Godrick couldn't stop it!
Pain!
Godrick continued to suffer severe injuries: his left arm was frozen by Ranni's Dark Moon, the right half of his body was scorched by Agheel's Flame, his royal axe was frozen, and now his throat was nearly cut, as if decapitated!
All kinds of intense pain overwhelmed him. His emotions were overflowing. His vision darkened. His breathing became rapid.
Only at this moment did he realize this fact.
I... I'm going to lose again... Having paid such a high price, I've lost again, and to a mere Tarnished... Such a thing...
Obviously, I am orthodox. These demigods are all offshoots. I should be the Golden King, the next Elden Lord. But I find myself in such a place, unable to realize my ambitions...
King Godfrey, am I truly unworthy?!
CRASH—!
Godrick's giant body crashed to the ground with a rumble. The power of the demigod gradually faded, giving way to the erosion of death.
Nepheli, Slan, and the others were stunned by this scene, watching as Godrick the Grafted was completely defeated by Nidhogg. It was hard for them to recover for a long time.
Nidhogg turned and returned, standing before Godrick.
Godrick's eyes were half-open. After a while, tears flowed. His lips moved, murmuring something deliriously.
Neither Nidhogg nor Petite Ranni listened carefully.
Little Ranni simply said, "After all, he is of the Golden Lineage. Let him die with the last trace of demigod dignity. Do not let him further disgrace the bloodline of Marika and Godfrey."
Godrick's eyes widened slightly. He saw Nidhogg unhesitatingly swing his sword. A silver arc swept across the ground. His eyes began to roll back.
THUD—!
Godrick's head was severed. It tumbled through the air several times and finally landed.
Level Up: LV 94 → LV 95 (Mid-Rank Apostle)
Weapons: Acquired weapons "Godrick's Royal Axe" (Skill: Kneel!), "Grafted Wyvern" (Skill: Bear Witness!). Grafted Blade Greatsword strengthened to +6.
Spirit Ashes: Ingvall the Lost Knight strengthened to +10 (maximum reached). Oleg the Lost Knight strengthened to +8.
Quest: Golden Tree (Growth: 100%). Acquired "Minor Erdtree", which can be planted on land requiring shelter and healing, and will connect acquired Junction zones around it.
Junction: (2 Zones Acquired: "Limgrave", "Weeping Peninsula")
Elden Ring: (1/7, Acquired "Godrick's Great Rune")
After the battle with the demigod Godrick, it was no wonder Nidhogg's level, weapons, and spirit ashes were improved and strengthened.
Strangely, he directly obtained two of Godrick's weapons, which originally would have needed to be exchanged using the "Remembrance of the Grafted." If one didn't consider copying the remembrance, they could only exchange for one of them.
Nidhogg didn't need to follow this restriction. Godrick's Royal Axe and the Grafted Wyvern—their combat skills would be used for his own purposes. But it would take a little time to control a demigod's weapon.
The Golden Tree quest had reached 100% without surprise, and was finally completed, yielding the "Minor Erdtree."
As for the description of the "Minor Erdtree," it was quite intriguing.
Was it to find a place to plant the Minor Erdtree in the real world? And after planting, the two main territories he had now acquired—Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula—would actually appear in the real world?
Like the Island of Fairies?
In fact, it could be understood that the Island of Fairies is a soft overlapping of space, and the moment of the Eclipse is a violent overlapping. Now the appearance of the Minor Erdtree clearly follows the same path as the former.
So where to plant it?
Nidhogg left this relatively important question for later consideration.
Finally, there was "Godrick's Great Rune."
This Great Rune, which should have been activated at the Divine Tower and could only be used through the Rune Arc, was repeatedly imprinted on Nidhogg's chest, appearing deeper than the other intertwined traces of the Great Rune, directly activated.
「Godrick's Great Rune」
"Through the effect of blessing, all attributes can be increased."
"This Great Rune is called the Ring of the Center of Gravity, located at the center of the Elden Ring. The 'Elden Lord' Godfrey and his descendants, the Golden Lineage, were the first demigods to appear."
Put simply, the Great Rune that Godrick grabbed wasn't weak. But unfortunately, his own qualifications were too weak. Even with the blessing of the Great Rune and the enhancement of "grafting," he remained the weakest demigod.
Little Ranni stood on Nidhogg's shoulder. She first looked at Godrick's body lying on the ground, then at the brand on Nidhogg's chest, and sighed softly.
"At the beginning, I stole the Rune of Death, imbued it into the black knives, and used it to kill myself, to escape the fate of the gods. Only they from the Eternal City could make the black knives capable of killing gods, similar to the Fingerslayer Blade."
"Many think the Night of the Black Knives was orchestrated by me. Godrick probably thought so until his death, right?"
"In truth, I simply rose up and satisfied my own selfish desires. What point would there be for me to have Godwyn killed by the Black Knife Assassins? Did Marika shattering the Elden Ring also happen on my initiative?"
"What happened after that truly exceeded my expectations—whether it was Godwyn dying simultaneously with me, or Maliketh shattering the Elden Ring... In any case, the beginning of this Shattering war has its own causes."
"'Shardbearer' Godrick, rest in peace and cleanse all your sins. This time, I will learn the truth, ask everything from Marika herself, for your sake, for my sake, for all the demigods."
After these words, Miniature Ranni nodded to Nidhogg again. Her entire doll form slumped and fell.
Nidhogg hastily caught it, rubbed it with his fingers, and seeing that Miniature Ranni didn't react, he placed her back into the golden brand on his chest.
At that moment, he saw Melina approaching. Her short chestnut hair and cloak fluttered in the wind. She hadn't turned to dust and scattered as usual.
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