Because the main doors of the Bestial Sanctum had already been destroyed, Bai Shi and D stepped directly over the shattered stones and walked inside. Two of the pillars carved with ferocious beasts had already collapsed, and the few that remained were broken and crumbling, looking as if they might topple at any moment. Bai Shi walked forward, and together with D, he approached the figure shrouded in a coarse cloth robe. The Beast Clergyman kept his head bowed, motionless. D walked up to Gurranq and spoke first. "Gurranq, what happened here?" "Things are looking pretty grim." At the sound of his voice, Gurranq finally raised his head. His face was completely hidden beneath the hood of his priest's robes. The face above it was entirely obscured by some special means, leaving only a patch of darkness. As for his body, though it was bundled up tightly in the coarse robes, its inhuman posture was obvious. The robes were ill-fitting, looking much larger than his actual form, making him seem like a great beast, a bear even. A deep, raspy voice emerged from Gurranq's mouth. Immediately after, he seemed to come to his senses, as if regaining some clarity. Seeing D, Gurranq gave a slight nod. "This place was attacked. A bit of a hassle." Gurranq seemed unwilling to elaborate, so D didn't press the matter. In any case, Gurranq himself was unharmed, and that was enough. Gurranq looked at Bai Shi, who was observing quietly by D's side, and asked: "And who might this be?" D turned slightly to introduce Bai Shi to Gurranq. "This is Lord Bai Shi, the one with the greatest hope of becoming Elden Lord in all the Lands Between." "He has hunted Deathroot before." "You've been collecting that stuff, haven't you? So I thought I'd introduce you two." "It was also to ensure Lord Bai Shi received the proper reward for turning in the Deathroot." Hearing D's introduction, Gurranq let out a derisive snort. He found the notion that Bai Shi was the most likely to become Elden Lord laughable. Beneath his helmet, D's expression turned grim. Gurranq had made no effort to hide his scornful laugh. Although he knew Gurranq possessed a mysterious background and was certainly powerful, D believed his own description to be accurate. Bai Shi, however, was not angered by this. After all, he knew Gurranq's true identity. He was Queen Marika's stepbrother and her shadow-bound beast—Maliketh. Before he even had control of Destined Death, Maliketh had defeated the Gloam-Eyed Queen and her legions of Godskin Nobles and Apostles. From that day forward, at Queen Marika's command, he sealed Destined Death within his own body. This event was recorded in many texts related to the Black Flame. As the beast who had sealed Destined Death, his very name was synonymous with death for the demigods, a name they feared. Whether in terms of strength or experience, Maliketh had every right to be dismissive. He had, after all, seen an Elden Lord—two of them, in fact. Nevertheless, Maliketh began to observe Bai Shi with great seriousness. Knowing D, he wouldn't make such a claim without basis. After carefully scrutinizing Bai Shi, Maliketh gradually felt a sense of surprise. Bai Shi was indeed strong. He made no effort to conceal his aura, so Maliketh could easily gauge his level. Not bad. Such openness was, in its own way, a kingly trait. Though his strength still fell short of a true king or a god, he was already more powerful than the vast majority of demigods. But what left the deepest impression on Maliketh was Bai Shi's youth. Even if one's appearance remained ageless, the scent of the soul would change over the long years. And Bai Shi was truly as young as he appeared. To achieve this level of power in a human body, and in such a short time, was truly worthy of praise. In the Lands Between, the lifespans of living beings were long, and they became even more exaggerated after Destined Death was sealed. Demigods inherited the bloodline and power of kings and gods, making them incredibly strong from birth. But even so, they still needed to grow, to experience the long passage of years before they could touch upon true power. Despite this foundation, only a handful of demigods had ever managed to barely catch Maliketh's eye. And the foundations of the Tarnished were nothing before the demigods. If he were given more time... then perhaps he could truly achieve it. Maliketh couldn't help but see Bai Shi as someone who required special attention. At that moment, Bai Shi was also observing Maliketh. The other man was staring right at him; not returning the gaze would feel like a loss. However, Maliketh was currently using special means to conceal himself, making it impossible to discern his true identity and strength. In contrast to Maliketh, Bai Shi couldn't see through the deeply disguised warrior's power at all. Bai Shi felt a bit helpless about this. He still lacked any method of concealing his own strength, so for now, he could only let Maliketh observe him while he could see nothing of his opponent. Although he didn't necessarily need to use such a skill himself, Bai Shi felt he couldn't afford to be without a method of hiding his power. Fortunately, even if he couldn't directly perceive Maliketh's strength, Bai Shi could infer it based on his in-game power level and the demigods he had already encountered. Maliketh was, without a doubt, an enemy far more troublesome than any of the demigods. Not only was his own strength preposterous, but once he unleashed Destined Death and fought in his complete form with the Black Blade, he was nothing short of terrifying. Bai Shi had no desire to be touched by something like Destined Death. Maliketh no longer dwelled on D's earlier words and spoke: "I smell death. Present it to me..." Orıginal content can be found at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝕟𝕖𝕥 "And I shall grant you an eye, and claws." Maliketh extended a large, furry paw. D turned and nodded at Bai Shi. Bai Shi took out the three Deathroots he had collected from eliminating the Tibia Mariner and exploring the catacombs. All three Deathroots had been sealed by holy law, preventing their deathly aura from leaking out. Bai Shi released the seals and placed the Deathroots on Maliketh's outstretched paw. D also produced a similarly sealed Deathroot from his own person. It was one they had found while tracking their quarry. Maliketh clenched his paw, gripping the four Deathroots tightly, then drew them under his cloak and began to devour them greedily, the sound of chewing audible. After swallowing all four Deathroots, Maliketh let out a pained whimper and began panting heavily. "Not enough... Still not enough..." He kept devouring Deathroot, but... he was still so hungry, so incredibly hungry... Marika, is this my sin? Can I never return to how things were? This hunger would remain with him forever, for it was his eternal, uncleansable sin... Only by devouring the Deathroot and returning the power of death within it to the Rune of Death could he reduce the emergence of Those Who Live in Death across the Lands Between. Those Who Live in Death began to spread across the Lands Between precisely because the Rune of Death was stolen all those years ago. Therefore, Maliketh believed it was his responsibility. To find the culprit from back then and to eliminate all of this Deathroot. This was his atonement. Bai Shi watched Maliketh's clearly abnormal state and recalled how, in the game, he would fly into a rage after being fed too many Deathroots. It seems that sealing Destined Death isn't easy for Maliketh either. Containing this power that did not belong to him was an agony in itself. Furthermore, this death had already changed its form out in the world, no different from food that had gone bad. But for now, only Maliketh, the one who sealed Destined Death, could completely dispose of these Deathroots. After taking a moment to recover, Maliketh understood they had no more Deathroot. Now, it was time to give them their reward. Maliketh produced four items and handed them to Bai Shi. Among them were a Clawmark Seal, a Beast Eye, and two pieces of hide inscribed with different incantations. "I hope these prove useful." Bai Shi nodded and accepted them. The Clawmark Seal was a physical sacred seal. In truth, such tangible seals were common in the Lands Between; the two ethereal seals Bai Shi had used, the Dragon Communion Seal and the Ancient Dragon Seal, were the truly rare ones. The seal itself was a smooth, rounded stone. If there was anything special about it, it was the several deep claw marks gouged into its surface. One glance was enough to understand that Maliketh's fury resided within those marks. Therefore, this sacred seal could enhance the Bestial incantations that Maliketh taught. As for the Beast Eye, it was a special support item. It was a stone eyeball imbued with power. Whenever it neared a place where Deathroot existed, it would tremble, alerting its holder. However, this item wasn't particularly useful for Bai Shi. He already had the locations of all the Deathroots memorized. The other two incantations were quite decent. One was Bestial Sling, the other Bestial Vitality. Bestial Sling could quickly launch a spray of sharp rock shards from the hand. It could also be used immediately after other actions, making its casting speed extremely fast. In the game, it could be used to cancel the recovery animation between combos to pull off all sorts of stylish moves. In reality, its power probably wouldn't be immense, but it should still be usable. The other incantation—Bestial Vitality—was a different story. It was an exceptionally useful spell. This incantation bestowed the vitality of a beast upon the body, allowing for a continuous restoration of health over a period of time. In the game, it was the most optimal incantation for using FP to heal HP. Bai Shi had high hopes for this incantation, hoping its healing would be potent. If so, it would be useful whether he was activating his embered state to self-ignite for a damage boost, where it would work with his natural regeneration to constantly heal him, or when it wasn't convenient to drink a flask. He just didn't know what kind of recovery rate this incantation could achieve. He would have to test it later. As for D, Maliketh simply took out a large Golden Rune and placed it in his hand. D accepted it without any hesitation. The two of them had already agreed upon the terms of their cooperation—a transaction using runes. Bai Shi now roughly understood their arrangement. As a steadfast believer in the Golden Order and a student of its fundamentalism, D's sole purpose was to drive every last one of Those Who Live in Death from the Lands Between. He would never use incantations from other faiths; in essence, he was just using Maliketh as a recycling bin for Deathroot. Once all the rewards had been distributed, Maliketh issued an order to leave. "Very well, you may go." "I await your next offering of death." Bai Shi and D left the Bestial Sanctum and decided to part ways there. D still had much to do, and coming here had been an unexpected detour. So he decided to hurry back to the Roundtable Hold, while Bai Shi planned to take this opportunity to look around the area. Bai Shi was actually hesitant, wondering if he should take care of Maliketh right now and claim the Rune of Death ahead of schedule. But he immediately shook his head. Because just a moment ago, a certain theory had come to him. He could probably only obtain the Rune of Death by killing the Maliketh in Crumbling Farum Azula. Killing this version of Gurranq at the Bestial Sanctum would likely be useless. In the game, the deaths of these two characters were not linked, though a specific line of dialogue confirmed they were the same person. Although the space-time of Farum Azula was in disarray, something like the Rune of Death should be unique. It ought to be unaffected by space and time. Perhaps, to prevent Destined Death from being stolen again, Maliketh had hidden it within the temporally chaotic Farum Azula. Therefore, even if he killed his body in the current timeline, he likely wouldn't be able to retrieve Destined Death from it. As long as no one could find Farum Azula, Destined Death would never be found. It was just a theory, but it seemed highly probable. After a moment's thought, Bai Shi walked down the slope in front of the Bestial Sanctum. Lenne's Rise nearby could be entered directly. He might as well fly in and take the things inside. Bai Shi descended the slope, passing countless tombstones. Here, he could also see the shattered corpses of the Fallen Hawks lying on the ground. The Fallen Hawks were nameless guards who protected places no one approached—foul-smelling, abandoned battlefields or forbidden domains best left forgotten. In the Lands Between, those with smaller statures were discriminated against. Therefore, becoming these dishonorable Fallen Hawks was the way for these dwarfed people to survive. Bai Shi shook his head and walked past them. In his Stormveil, there would be no such discrimination. That place had room for even Demi-Humans and the Misbegotten, and the Fallen Hawks were merely small people. Bai Shi turned to look back. Maliketh had run to the side of the Bestial Sanctum and was letting out a roar to the heavens. No one could know what emotions were hidden within that roar. Classes were packed today, three in the morning, and evening lab work until nine. By the time I finished writing, it was a bit late...