A/N: I'm back! Now without having to worry about college anymore, partially the reason for the delay in this chapter. But yeah, final exam passed, it was fucking horrible, and I must say I'm unsatisfied with myself. But it is over. From now on, I'll do my best to print out these chapters quicker and with a more stable schedule compared to the last few months.
With that out the way, let get on to the chapter.
Beta: Genatools (In Spirit)
Chapter 17: Being of Chaos and Fire.
"We should be ready now. Aaah. Gotta admit. I never thought Purple Moss could feel so fresh. I should have done something like this a couple years ago." Siegmeyer said as he stretched with his armor back on.
"I'm impressed as well. Never thought I would feel something like this as an Undead. Haha. Sometimes I forget the joys one can find on their journeys. I'm very thankful to have met all of you on the journey to my sun." Solaire said to the entire little community of Firelink Shrine with his usual over honesty.
"Umm… I would prefer if you wouldn't say it as if you shan't return from this trip to the swamps below. But I suppose it's a possibility. Though it would be a shame considering all the effort we put into cleaning and preparing your armor and attires. You don't often get a chance to do a proper wash, not even with plenty of Pyromancers around. Heh heh." Laurentius laughed as he scratched the back of his head.
"If this is as prepared as we can be. Then we should have a higher chance than normal to return in one piece." Eskar commented.
"It is true, and I would certainly hope it is the case." Griggs nodded.
"We faced the swamp without knowing what we were dealing with. We should be capable of facing it once again. Even more so now that we know what we are dealing with." Oscar said.
"That is until we find the Bell and its guardian. If we find them." Beatrice pointed out.
"It has to be somewhere down there. And if it's not in that nest, then it's gotta be the tree." Eskar jumped in on the subject.
"Oh, dear. You don't even know where it is? All that preparation and the speeches and all of it could fall apart if you just happen to don't find it ever." The Crestfallen Warrior sighed.
"I don't think you would know where it is, mmm?" Eskar stared at the Crestfallen Warrior.
"No, I suppose not. But I can tell you it's probably now the massive tree over there." The Crestfallen warrior pointed at the tree. It was all the way over at the edge of Blighttown, but it was still visible from Firelink Shrine. "I did go down there once, and all I could find in those places were giant leeches and solid wood. There doesn't seem to be even a way to enter the tree."
"If that's the case. We have one other option. If there's no other path we simply don't know about." Beatrice reasoned.
"This could be one of the most helpful things you have done for us." Oscar said. It was arguably true, but it was also a fact that the Crestfallen Warrior was necessarily trying to help them. He barely could be driven to care for himself.
"I don't expect it to be that easy. But you have come back before. And I'll admit, I'm curious whether or not you'll make it, though I shouldn't get my hopes up. Nothing good has ever come out of going down to that place, not that I'm aware at least. And there's a reason it hasn't been done yet. Whatever that guardian is, I don't expect you to come out in one piece." The Crestfallen Warrior said.
"We'll do our best to prove you wrong then." Eskar said to the Undead.
"If you say so…"
"I'm… I'm sure you are all ready. I've prayed for you, and I'll continue to pray even after you leave. I know your party is ready to face the dangers below. You came back from those depths and are willing to go back down there again. Your bravery is that of heroes. The Rite of Kindling has served its purpose as well, you should have enough Estus in your flasks for your task." Rhea said to all of them.
"Thank you, Lady Rhea." Oscar bowed his head to her. And she did the same to him in response.
"Umm… Please do return. I do wish to see all of you again." Rhea said to the party.
"She's not the only one. I've grown fond of you lot. It feels almost like… I don't really know. But it is nice, and I still have some things left to teach you." Laurentius said to both Eskar and Beatrice.
"I do so as well. Well, more or less, there are so many ideas I wish we could explore. I also still have to search for Master Logan, but I don't want to leave either Laurentius or Rhea alone here. So I'll wait until you have returned." Griggs said to them.
"Heh. Don't worry. It shouldn't take longer than our previous trip." Beatrice chuckled.
"We'll return as soon as we can. I promise you'll see us again!" Siegmeyer said to them. "Very well, I don't believe we are getting more ready than this."
"I don't think so." Eskar said, staring as Solaire praised the sun before they departed.
"Ah. Are we ready then?" Solaire asked.
"We are." Oscar nodded and soon all of them were walking down the stairs towards the elevator to New Londo.
Of course, that meant passing by Lautrec. He sat in his usual spot while seemingly pondering. As they approached him, he turned to them and was able to tell they were ready to set off into the dangerous world once again. And not only that, he could smell it.
"Hmm. Didn't think you'll come back smelling like… whatever that is. Better than the filth you smelled like before though. Much better." He commented. "I suppose you are going to go on and perform one of your heroic trips again. Keh heh heh."
"We are far more prepared this time." Beatrice said to him.
"And if you wish, you could join us. You helped us with the dragon on the Depths, and we could use that assistance again." Solaire asked Lautrec for his help.
"Hmm. I'll admit, somewhat tempting. But I don't think so. I have other business to deal with, and from there I'll probably go on and continue on my own. Trust me, it's better this way." Lautrec responded.
"If you say so Sir Lautrec." Oscar said as he went ahead to speak to Anastacia.
"Well. I do hope that you find what you are searching for Sir Lautrec. Good fortune to you!" Siegmeyer said to the night of Carim.
"Keh heh heh heh… Good fortune to all of you as well. People certainly need it in this dangerous land. Keh heh heh." Lautrec laughed. It seemed like his words were sincere though. Eskar and Beatrice would admit that Lautrec's mannerisms were a bit suspicious. But so far he hadn't done anything that should worry them. Regardless, it seemed Lautrec preferred to keep his path split from theirs, and perhaps that was for the better for both parties.
"I promise I'll return. Then we can talk again." Oscar said as he held Anastacia's hand, Anastacia herself looked at both their hands as she kept her head down.
Soon after, Oscar pulled his hand away as he was ready to go on. As the party left the balcony and descended down the stairs into the elevator Lautrec had paid attention to the interactions of the Firekeeper and Knight of Astora.
"Hmm…" As the balcony became lonely once again, Lautrec thought carefully about his next course of action, it was something that he should have done sooner perhaps. He just wondered about the risks, weighing them. But deep down, he knew the true prize.
The group had gone down the elevator and crossed the canyon of the Valley of the Drakes, entering the cave that led them to Blighttown, where the large monsters, the Infested Barbarians, and Ghouls were waiting for them. But the party knew they would be there. They knew due to their previous trip through the cave connected to the waterwheel of the mill, and they were ready for them.
The Infested Barbarians were waiting in the tunnel. Guarding the path from anything or anyone that would dare cross, but some of them were looking in one direction while others were waiting in the other. One of the Infested monsters was looking in the direction of the canyon, and it was the one that dealt with first. The Infested Barbarian was blasted by a soul spear, a great soul arrow, and a lightning spear, one after the other and dealing enough damage to kill it. The other Infested heard the commotion, but didn't move fast enough before they were rushed.
An Infested Barbarian was impaled through the back by Siegmeyer, who then used the sword to lift the monster and slam them to the floor. Oscar rushed in next to him and attacked another Infested Barbarian, hitting the back of one of its knees with his shield, forcing him down, and then thrusting his sword through the back of its neck, though it was still moving afterward. Infested Ghouls and other Barbarians still remained, growling and roaring as they became aware of the party. One Ghoul ran in and tried to pounce on Oscar, who was making sure that his foe was dead by decapitating it, but before it could come too close, Eskar rushed in with a sliding kick to the Ghoul's leg, rose up with a slash to its chest with one of his swords, followed up with another slash from the other sword and then thrust the other through the Ghoul's jaw. Finishing it off by wrenching out the sword and hitting it with a rising spinning heel kick, and a follow-up pushed back kick that sent the corpse tumbling back.
A fourth Infested Barbarian showed up and tried to attack them, but it was knocked out of its charge by homing soul mass and great soul arrow from Beatrice, and was further pushed back as Solaire jumped in and thrust his sword at its head. The sword passed through most of it, and Solaire finished the Barbarian off with a shield bash that knocked it flat on its back, killing it as the sword was pulled out.
Siegmeyer managed to pull his Zweihander from his enemy's body, just as a pack of Ghouls began to close in on them. He spun as he managed to pry the sword off the body, and turned with a massive swing that clobbered two Ghouls, nearly tearing both of them in half. As the Ghouls approached, Siegmeyer hefted his Zweihander and was prepared to meet them, on guard as the first Ghoul rushed in. Just as it came close enough, Siegmeyer thrust his blade, and pierced through the chest of the Ghoul, right before dislodging his sword and killing it with an uppercut swing. More Ghouls quickly approached him, but Eskar was right there to intercept them, blocking their path as he slashed a Ghoul's chest and knocked it to the ground with a flying spinning roundhouse kick. He quickly killed one Ghoul with two thrusts of his blades and a combustion spell, and then turned to kill another with three quick slashes with his blades, two quick side kick to its leg and head, and then a double swing with both blades that cut through the Ghoul as Eskar dropped low in a low spinning sweep kick, leaving the Ghoul dead on the floor.
Another two Ghouls came Eskar's way, but one was bisected as Siegmyer hit it with a large swing. Eskar parried a sword swing from the other Ghoul and countered with a quick cut to its stomach, he then spun into a back kick and pushed the Ghoul away. Siegmeyer and Eskar killed the Ghoul together, Eskar coming from one side and slashing the Ghoul's leg and side, while Siegmyer went ahead and cleaved the Ghouls mid-section. Eskar hit the Ghoul with an orange glowing elbow and pushed the Ghoul off Siegmeyer's blade, finishing it with an upwards slice to its chin, and a spinning hook kick. The both of them quickly had to sidestep as another Barbarian tried to squash them with its large club. As they both stepped to the side, Eskar thrust his sword into the Barbarian's knee, Siegmeyer swinging his sword and hitting the other leg before swinging in the opposite direction, hitting the monster on the back and forcing it down. Eskar hit the Barbarian's head with knee and lift its head up, holding one of his swords in a reverse grip and stabbing the Barbarian through the back of the neck, lifting its head up as he pulled it out, and giving Siegmyer the perfect angle to decapitate it with one final upwards swing.
Oscar and Beatrice dealt with another Infested Barbarian. Oscar parried a swing of its massive club with his shield while Beatrice engulfed the Barbarian's upper body in flames with a fire orb. She then shifted her attention and fired two consecutive great soul arrows at a Ghoul that tried to attack Oscar from the side, killing it as Oscar finished off the Barbarian with two cuts to its abdomen, and a thrust through the chest. Right beside Oscar, Solaire focused his attention on another Ghoul, this one using a torso as a weapon. Solaire blocked with his shield as the deformed being tried to pummel him, on the third hit, he charged forward and ducked under the attack. Solaire struck at the Ghoul's legs and then flipped him over with his shield, throwing him on the ground and landing a vicious slash across its body.
The Ghoul was still alive, but Solaire did not have time to worry about it as he turned to block the attack of another Ghoul. The injured Ghoul tried to stand up, but instead, it had its skull crushed as Eskar delivered a hammer kick to its head. Solaire in the meanwhile blocked an attack as he made a cut at the other Ghoul's knee, cleaved and embedded his sword to its shoulder, used his shield to punch the Ghoul on the face, and finally killed it by splitting its head with a heavy downwards swing with his blade.
As Solaire finished the Ghoul, Siegmeyer had been battling another Infested Barbarian. Solaire decided to help by pulling out his catalyst and throwing a lightning spear at it. Siegmeyer was blocking the club of the Barbarian with his blade when the lightning spear hit. As the spear hit the Barbarian, Siegmeyer knocked the club aside and half-sword his Zweihander, jabbing it twice into the monster with quick pokes, then sweeping its leg with a swing as he two-handed the sword once again, and killed the beast by cleaving downwards on its shoulder.
The front fighters of the team were able to withstand the assault of the Hollow and corrupted residents of Blighttown, but they weren't the only ones doing work. Beatrice was able to weave spells in between her allies and strike down many of their foes. She used great soul arrows to hit and in some cases kill different Ghouls before they got close, she tossed fire orbs over her allies and managed to hit multiple foes at once, and when she got the opportunity, she cast a powerful soul spear together with a homing soul mass, using them to kill one Infested Barbarian and to hit two other Ghouls right next to it. Finishing them off with quick soul arrows as she aimed for her next target.
It seemed almost like the first time the hay came to Blighttown. The Hollow, Infested and addled residents swarming them to tear them apart. But that party fought together with enough teamwork and skill to tear through them instead.
Siegemeyer cut through two Ghouls and moved on, Oscar ran by and sliced the neck of another before charging with his shield into the last Infested Barbarian. The Ghoul seemed to survive, but it was finished off as Beatrice ran in stabbed in the eye with her dagger, quickly pulling it out and using her catalyst to kill another Ghoul as Solaire killed another right next to it with a downwards swing. Eskar stabbed one of his swords through another Ghoul and killed it with a powerful flying spinning hook kick, just as Oscar stabbed the Infested Barbarian through the heart and Siegmeyer split its upper torso open with a heavy blow to the shoulder. Beatrice used a soul spear to kill a Ghoul and two Giant Mosquitoes that came flying in, and with that only one Ghoul remained at the end of the platform. It seemed to be tempted to run away, but Eskar rushed at it and kicked off the edge with a flying kick. Its body broke as it hit the water wheel at a particularly nasty angle.
"That's all of them." Beatrice said as the party had broken through the back entrance to the swamp.
"For now." Eskar said as he pointed downwards, there were still enemies on the way. And they could already see more Mosquitoes flying towards them.
"There were more things here than last time. It's almost like this place is waiting for us. Or perhaps for anyone to come by." Siegmeyer quietly said as he looked around to the other side of Blighttown, he could spot some figure moving in the distance.
"I don't think they are organized in such a way. But either way. Let's not wait for them." Oscar said, the others nodded and began to quickly descend the water wheel.
Eskar was the first one to go down the ladders, jumping down and plunging Risryn's Sword through the head of a Cragspider that had been waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs, he then turned and began to fire soul arrows to the Mosquitoes that were steadily approaching in the distance. They quickly organized as they made their descent, Eskar and Beatrice keeping an eye and killing the Mosquitoes with soul arrows while Oscar, Solaire, and Siegmeyer moved and took care of the Cragspiders that were inhabiting the scaffolding of the structure. They killed about four of them before they made it to the water wheel itself.
"Are we clear to go down?" Solaire asked as he was about to step into the haphazard elevator.
"The bugs are in the distance for now." Beatrice said to him.
"And what of the ones with the blow darts?" Oscar said as he kept his shield up. Waiting for said blowdarters to appear at any moment.
"They are not there." Eskar relayed.
"Huh?"
"It's true. We checked while you killed the other monsters. There doesn't seem to be a trace of them. Perhaps we dealt with them for good last time." Beatrice suggested. It seemed too good to be true, but the fact was that the blowdarters were no longer there.
"Sounds like a relief honestly. Perhaps things are looking up for us now!" Siegmeyer cheered.
"Perhaps. Let's go down then." Eskar said as he nodded to Solaire.
One by one they descended the wheel's elevator. Solaire went first, then Beatrice, then Siegmeyer, followed by Eskar, and finally came Oscar as the last one. The Giant Mosquitoes were already approaching once again when all of them reached the bottom platform. Beatrice already prepared and cast a homing soul mass to deal with three of them before they got too close.
"By the sun!" Solaire gasped.
"What? What's…" Oscar began, but paused as he looked in the direction that Solaire was staring. Several Ghouls and Infested Barbarians were climbing down the structure on the other side of Blighttown. The same structure they had used originally to descend to the swamp.
"Were they really expecting us? Or are they just eager to kill whoever enters this place?" Eskar wondered.
"Either way we should not give them the satisfaction. We should find a way to take them down quickly before they amass a small army and charge at us all at once." Siegmeyer suggested.
"We are gonna need a good position to defend. Or perhaps a good vantage point to attack them." Oscar tried to figure out a good strategy.
"We should funnel them in one direction. It's easier to take down groups when they all come from one direction." Eskar added.
"It's true. If that's the case we should try and hold down the bonfire and its tunnel. There's only one way in and we can retreat further in." Beatrice suggested.
"It's a good idea. Though we shouldn't get surrounded." Oscar nodded.
"Then… the entrance." Beatrice responded. "They are coming from one direction, and we could even use the pillars for cover."
"We can funnel them and use the terrain. Hah hah hah. Sounds like we are back on the battlefield eh?" Solaire clapped Oscar's shoulder.
"Heh. I doubt we ever left." Oscar nodded as he gripped his sword and shield in anticipation.
"We should move then my comrades, before all of those Infested and Hollows reach us!" Siegmeyer cried out.
"Not only them." Eskar said as he pointed towards the scaffolding. Up there in the distance, he could see a couple of Lost Prospects descending with the inhabitants of Blighttown.
One way or the other, it seemed like Blighttown itself knew when it was being trespassed into, its inhabitants rushing towards the people who dared to enter. But the small army of inhabitants that decided to fight was not enough to hold back a competent and organized force. Mainly due to the Infested, the Hollows, the bugs, and the Lost Prospects all being pretty much mindless. With no strategy other than to try and rush the enemy to the best of their capabilities.
With no order and no real teamwork other than the numbers advantage, they fell one by one as they approached the party. Some were shot down by spells before they could get close, the ones that managed to get in close were decimated by the combined effort and skill of the members of the party.
"Sir Eskar behind you!" Siegmeyer told Eskar.
Eskar turned after finishing off a Lost Prospect and rushed in with a thrust and a horizontal slash against a Ghoul, following up with a roundhouse and spinning hook kick before ending the Ghoul with a low kick to the leg and double slash with both blades, splitting its head open. He then turned as a Ghoul came behind him, attacking it with a spinning elbow to the face, a turning side kick to the abdomen, and then dashed past it with a double slash and killed it with a powerful slash to the back.
"Thank you." Eskar told Siegmyer as they focused back on the battle. All of them were making sure to stay and move between dry land to avoid the Swamp's poisonous fumes. Their work with the Purple Moss Clumps and their armors made their breath easier as well. At least in the current environment.
Eskar observed and noticed that Oscar was having trouble blocking the onslaught of another three Ghouls. Eskar himself was already busy dealing with Giant Mosquitoes and saw as two Lost Prospects came his way, but he was able to quickly assist Oscar by blasting one of them with a great soul arrow, quickly then turning his spell towards the Mosquitoes. The soul arrow stunned and heavily damaged one of the Ghouls, and gave Oscar enough room to cut one of the Ghoul's abdomen, bash the other on the head with his shield, killed the one Eskar stunned with a slash to the throat and a front kick, killed another with a backhand of his shield and two horizontal cuts, and finished the last one off by tripping it with a sweep of his shield and pinning it down with a downwards thrust.
"Huff… Huff…" Oscar wanted to thank Eskar, but he was already fighting more foes, and he could see more enemies were coming for him as well. He took a deep breath and charged ahead.
Oscar moved on to battle another Lost Prospect and one of the last remaining Infested Barbarians while Eskar dealt with the two Prospects that went after him. He parried their attacks one after the other, landing quick gut punches and strikes and feeling the Tension of his Shards grow before making a quick Faejin backstep to get out of their range, and counter-attacking with his own offensive. He caught one of the Prospects with two quick midsection slashes, attacking from opposite directions with his swords, he then landed an upwards swing and a cut to the thigh followed by a front kick. He finished it by cutting the Prospects throat with a quick slash, followed by a spinning hook kick. The other prospect tried to attack Eskar, but he moved out of the way in a subtle sidestep and landed a slash to the Prospects head, followed by a powerful roundhouse to the head, and an under-knee roundhouse to the leg. He killed the prospect with a winged back kick followed by a dashing gut slash and a reverse grip slash to the spine.
Oscar finished his fight by slashing at the Barbarian's legs and then stepping away to throw a lightning spear directly at its head. He had already killed the Prospect, getting better at dealing with their moves. He looked to the side and noticed a Cragspider getting closer to Solaire. With his talisman still in hand, he killed the monster with a lightning spear.
"Oh. May the sun always shine on your aim, Sunlight Warrior! Hah hah hah!" Solaire laughed as he cleaved down another Cragspider without even looking in its direction.
"Heh. On yours as well, Sunlight Warrior!" Oscar returned the sentiment as he moved to the next fight.
On the other side of the battle, Eskar spun to avoid a Ghoul coming his way. He used the spin to slash at its back, did an upwards slash to its chin with the other sword, spun to hit it with the pommel of the other sword, and then turned behind it to stab it on the back with a reverse grip thrust. The Ghoul was still alive, but Eskar didn't have time to focus on it as more Mosquitoes and Ghouls came in his direction, so he back kicked it off his blade as he raised his hand to fire spells towards the Mosquitoes. But much to his surprise the Mosquitoes were killed in a quick barrage of soul energy by Beatrice, and the Ghoul that tried to rush at him was hit and killed by a lightning spear, just as the Ghoul he had kicked was finished off by Solaire, who ended it with a powerful sword strike to the head.
Eskar looked back at Solaire and Beatrice, surprised for a second, but quickly nodding in thanks for their assistance. He immediately found a way to return the favor as a Lost Prospect tried to rush at Solaire. He rushed at it first with a great soul arrow and with a combustion spell. Killing the Prospect and then spinning with a slash towards another Ghoul, cutting its stomach, then its leg, and finishing it with a spinning hammer kick that crushed its skull against the ground.
"Huh. I'll need to start watching my back better. But it's good I have all of you!" Solaire nodded his thanks, both of them quickly turning as two more Ghouls appeared, and killing them quickly with powerful swings of their blades.
Eskar kicked the Ghoul he killed off his blade and rushed off to fight a Cragspider that was going towards Siegmeyer. Solaire turned from the Ghoul he killed and spotted a flaming dog coming for them as well. Solaire kicked it on the snout as it tried to bite at his leg and then raised his guard as another pounced at him. He managed to kill the dog by stabbing his through its mouth as it pounced, and quickly dislodged the body from his sword with his shield. He kicked the previous dog again as it tried to bite him again and then stomped on its neck, getting his sword out in time to strike another dog and kill it with a quick decapitation. While Eskar had gone and killed the Cragspider, Solaire noticed a dog turning toward the Catarinian Knight and trying to breathe flames on his back. Solaire ran in just in time to strike the dog before it could do so, striking his sword down on its back and dividing its spine.
Siegmeyer turned to see Solaire aiding him as he continued to fight an Infested Barbarian. As a sign, Siegmeyer made way for Solaire to attack the Barbarian while he attacked from the front. Together they struck from both directions and ended it by Siegmyer splitting its chest open, Solaire slashing and stabbing it on the back, and Siegmeyer hitting it with one powerful strike of his Zweihander.
"Another one vanquished!" Siegmeyer said as he hefted his sword.
"And their numbers thin!" Solaire excitedly raised his guard.
Both of them focused on their next opponent and rushed to meet them. Siegmeyer quickly turned towards two Cragspiders that were slowly crawling their way towards them while Solaire went ahead and rushed towards a Lost Prospect, blocking with his shield as the Prospect came at him with a flying kick.
He quickly stepped to the side to avoid another kick and then countered with a horizontal swing, a bash of his shield, and then two slashes followed by a thrust.
Beatrice meanwhile focused on helping all of them, firing souls arrows quickly from a piece of elevation next to one of the massive pillars to keep unwanted Ghouls or Prospects to pile on her companions. She switched between the Ghouls and Prospects as she fired her spells, killing one Ghoul with a heavy great soul arrow to the head, hitting another with a great soul arrow and ending it with a fire orb, and then killing a third by using a soul mass and a soul arrow. Prospects were more difficult, even if they were still mindless, they were faster than the average Hollow, and some of them still had very sharp reflexes. So she had to aim more carefully, firing her spells on their path or towards the place they intended to go. She used a soul spear to hit one Lost Prospect before it reached Siegmeyer, luckily killing the Prospect and some Giant Mosquitoes that were behind it. She then used a fire orb and a homing soul mass to stop a Prospect dead on its tracks and kill it before it got close to Oscar, and covered Eskar with two successive great soul arrows, hitting a Lost Prospect right on the head with both and killing it.
Eskar turned towards her and nodded in thanks. He then quickly used his Shard to focus on a Mosquito that was close to Beatrice, slamming it against the ground with the Gravity Tension Art before it could try and attack Beatrice.
"Huh. Nicely done." Beatrice smirked as she used her catalyst to squash the bug. Quickly focusing back on the fight.
While they had been fighting, it appeared a Ghoul managed to sneak past them, gnarling as it began to rush at Beatrice from behind. She turned as it got close, and prepared a spell, but Oscar came to her assistance by doing a sweep kick to the Ghoul's leg and then stabbing it on the back of the head. Beatrice nodded in thanks and quickly turned to use a soul spear against two Ghouls that were trying to get closer to Solaire and Siegmeyer, and then used a great heavy soul arrow to kill a Cragspider attempting to creep on Eskar.
Oscar used his talisman and threw a lightning spear, hitting a Lost Prospect and killing it. He then saw many Cragspiders were crawling towards them, in a line. Knowing what to do, he unsheathed the Drake Sword as two Ghouls approached him, ducking under the strike of one and delivering a powerful slash to its abdomen before turning towards the other and hitting it with a massive downwards strike to the head. He finished one with a swing to the side of the head and the other with an upwards swing to the chin, already in position for the reason he had pulled out the Drake Sword in the first place.
With a massive downward swing, he unleashed a shockwave from the blade that went through all the Cragspiders before they could even come close, killing all of them in a single move. Oscar couldn't help but let out a tiny chuckle as felt a tinge of pride at the maneuver, but he wouldn't focus on it for long, as they were now close to finishing these monsters once and for all.
Beatrice used a fire orb to kill one of the last Ghouls and then turned with a heavy great soul arrow towards a Cragspider, killing it while Oscar rushed forward and struck at the shoulder of another Ghoul, and then turned towards a Cragspider that was close by. Eskar spotted and dealt with several Mosquitoes with soul darts and quickly moved towards an Infested Barbarian, the last one. Solaire blocked the attacks of the last Prospect in the battle with his shield. Once an opportunity arose, he pushed back with his and used his momentum to land a heavy strike with his blade to the Prospect's chin, knocking it on its back before turning towards a Ghoul, killing it with a thrust through the stomach and then swatting a couple of Mosquitoes out of the air with his blade. The Prospect began to get up, but then was cleaved in two as Siegmeyer smashed his blade down upon the Prospect before turning with a war cry as he bisected a Ghoul with his Zweihander, and then smashed his blade against a Cragspider. Most of their enemies had been dealt with, they just needed to make one last push.
Eskar was at the front of the fight against an Infested Barbarian, some Cragspiders, and two remaining Ghouls. Eskar dodged a large downwards swing from the Barbarian, and then got ready as the Cragspiders got near. But right then and there, one of the Cragspiders got hit with a lightning spear, courtesy of Solaire. Siegmyer rushed next to him and took care of the second Cragspider with a heavy downwards swing of his blade, just as Solaire rushed in and finished the other one. Eskar decided to focus on the Barbarian going in by parrying another swing and stabbing one of his blades through its gut, the Ghouls approached as he did so, but one was ambushed by Oscar with a large swing to the back of the neck, and the other was ended by fire orb courtesy of Beatrice. Eskar took care of finishing the Barbarian with a combustion spell, three deft slashes with both blades, a kick to the left and illusion twist kick to the head, a jab thrust to the throat with one blade, and finally smashed its head against the ground with the aid of the Gravity Tension Art.
The fight was over and the party had fought off the monsters of Blighttown once again, and with far more success this time.
"Huff… We have fought a small army once again, and I must say it's exhilarating. Now I would never say I am myself an army of one, or that or our foes were fighting at their best, but truly, to fight as many as we do now and come out victorious is the stuff of legend! Hah hah hah!" Siegmeyer cheered.
"Now, of course, it is all thanks to your brilliant minds, and our own teamwork. I am ashamed to say that if I would have been alone… I don't know if I would have been able to find a solution to this problem." Siegmeyer said right after.
"I'm not sure any of us would be able to face so many alone. But having your strength on our side is reassuring Sir Siegmeyer. I don't think we would be able without you. I don't believe I've seen someone use a sword like yours with such skill. And I've seen a lot of swordsmen in various ages." Beatrice assured him. Siegemyer turned to the others and saw Oscar, Solaire, and Eskar nodding in agreement with Beatrice's words.
"Heh heh. Thank you, Miss Beatrice. Your words are meaningful. And I thank you for them." Siegmeyer nodded his head in thanks.
"Does anyone need any Moss?" Solaire asked the party.
"I'm doing fine. Laurentius' washing seems to be doing his work." Oscar responded.
"It's the same for me. What about everyone else? Do you have enough Estus?" Eskar asked his Undead companions.
"Oh ho ho. I have more than enough left. I may have taken a sip once or twice, but it's almost like it's nearly full still." Siegmeyer said.
"That's good, the guardian may not be as… simple, as this horde." Beatrice said. She wouldn't call the fight easy. But it was certainly straightforward. Any being that could block an area with a fog wall was a bigger threat than some groups of foes. Mostly because some could be smarter.
"What about you? Do you have enough spells to last that fight?" Oscar asked her. She had used a lot of spells on their way down and during the fights.
"I…" Beatrice knew she did not have many spells left. But she also knew that if they decided to rest, they might have to face more opposition.
"I should be able to be of assistance. I have enough spells to put up a fight." Beatrice said.
"If that's the case, you shouldn't waste any more spells until we reach the guardian." Eskar told her.
"Sir Eskar is right. We'll probably need those spells to beat the guardian." Solaire added.
"Perhaps." Beatrice said as she leaned on her catalyst. "Very well. I think we've dealt with most monstrosities down here for now. It should be a straightforward path to the guardian's lair. If that isn't the lair, then we'll just rest up and keep looking."
"Sounds like a good plan indeed. Now to get there… Hmmm. I believe we would still have to deal with-" Siegmeyer stopped talking as they heard a boulder impact on the side of a wall. Nowhere near them, but aimed in their general direction. Perhaps as a warning of some sort.
"Speaking of…" Eskar muttered as they all turned towards the Barbarians with boulders.
"They have no other friends. And we should be able to cross the swamp." Oscar suggested.
"They do seem slow, perhaps we can outpace them if we strike fast enough." Siegmeyer thought out loud.
"I'm sure we have people fast enough for that." Beatrice said as she looked towards Eskar and Oscar.
"You two are the fastest out of all of us. I'm sure you can go ahead and flank them while we cross the swamp as well." Solaire added. Oscar and Eskar seemed to ponder for a second on the idea. But they would agree that they couldn't argue if they could do it. They knew they could.
"What would be the best way to do this?" Eskar asked.
"We should find the best angle to go to. Maybe that pillar over there." Siegmeyer said. He felt he needed to help with smarter thinking, and so he began to think more openly. It wasn't a complicated master plan, but it was enough for now.
"We would all have to run into the open. And probably be a target." Beatrice said.
"I don't think there's a way to avoid that. And besides, getting their attention is gonna be our job." Oscar said as he pointed at himself and Eskar.
"If we are certain. Then I don't see anything to add to it. I say we should go ahead. Finally go on and enter that lair." Solaire proclaimed.
"Yes. I believe so well. And I believe we shall." Beatrice before nodding towards Eskar, Oscar, and Sigmeyer.
"What are these? What happened to these men?" Siegmeyer took a couple of steps back as he saw the men with egg sacs on their backs. All of them in a seemingly kneeling and almost praying position.
"Whatever all of you do, do not touch them, or provoke them in any way." Beatrice warned.
"Do you know what these things are?" Oscar asked her.
"No. But I do remember hearing horrible things from the plague of Blighttown. The ones we fought didn't look like it, but this. This looks more like what I've heard. At the time that was." Beatrice said.
"These people seem to have been here a long time. Are you sure? Shouldn't they have turned into the things outside?" Eskar wondered.
"I don't know. Perhaps. But maybe there's more than one sickness here. Wouldn't put it past this place." Beatrice said as she stared into the egg sacs, and she could clearly see things moving inside them.
"By the gods…" Oscar took a couple of steps back.
"It's fair to say, we shouldn't get near them. They seem afraid of us, let's not poke the nest." Beatrice warned again.
"Nest. Huh." Solaire grimaced as he looked at them. "I… I hope these men will be able to see the sun… one day." He said in sympathy. But he knew that his wish was very unlikely. There was a big chance there was no helping these people, if they were people still. He didn't know which one was better.
The party moved past the men infected with the egg sacs, going down the short tunnel covered with webbing, and found what they were looking for. A Fog Wall. They realized they were in the right place, good thing too, as they were ready as they could possibly be. Minus the number of spells Beatrice and others could use, they had plenty of Estus, and Eskar had his Shards ready, even with Risryn's sword already unfolded.
"Seems like this is it. We beat this thing. And we'll be able to ring the bell." Oscar let out a chuckle. Part of him never hoped to be able to get as far as this.
"We still have to beat it. Let's work together and find the best way to do that." Eska said.
"You are right. Then let's focus." Oscar said as he assumed his guard stance.
"Wait There's a sign here. Should we perhaps use it?" Siegmeyer suggested.
Beatrice got close to the summon sign to try and see who it was, she touched the sign after looking back at the others and they let the person rise from the summoning circle. And they were very surprised when they were met with the Butcher that had invaded them. Mildred. They stared at her in worry and took a step back, she stared at them in response and stood back as well. As she hit the wall behind her, she looked at the wall and back at them, and without a word she pulled out her Black Crystal and vanished, going back to her world.
"I…" Beatrice was uncertain what to think.
"Perhaps… That's for the best." Siegmeyer said.
"It might… I don't think I would fancy working with her. It would be rather awkward." Oscar said.
"I feel it already was." Eskar pointed out.
"Hmm, strange that someone like her would put her sign down. Do you think she's lonely?" Solaire pondered.
"As far as I know, most summons care for knowing what lies ahead of them, some manner of altruism, or care for humanity. But there have been odd people out there. People who would both put their sign at one moment, and invade the next. It's mostly a thirst for humanity. But sometimes it is more. I cannot say what it could be for her." Beatrice said.
"Hmph. Well, it seems like she's not in enough need of humanity to work with us. She's gone now, and it doesn't look like she's going to come back." Oscar said.
"If that's the case. I don't see any other summon signs around." Eskar pointed out.
"Right. There's no point in delaying this further." Beatrice led the way as she walked through the fog wall, the others joining her right away.
Beatrice conjured a homing soul mass while the others walked through, Eskar himself used the magic weapon spell on both his swords to empower them for the fight ahead. Solaire also decided to empower his weapon by using some golden pine resin they still had. With all of them on guard, they walked ahead into the massive room beyond the fog wall. A nest full of webs and eggs, but it looked to be the entrance to some structure they could see. A stone path that led to some sort of stone tower.
"Does anyone see anything?" Siegmeyer asked as they stepped further in.
"Shh…" Eskar suddenly raised his hand. His senses caught something, a faint rumble.
The others quickly felt it as well, coming from the structure, and quickly they saw as an orange light came from the broken down entrance, and out came a large monster. A creature with a large mouth and with fire and flames sprouting from its back. Several legs with sharp ends stabbed into the ground and made the sound they were hearing, the rumble of the flames and the steps of the creature creating this sound. It looked like a spider, with several eyes above its jaws and red of color, matching the flames that seemed to form around it. And finally, on top of it it seemed to form into another creature, or share its body with another. A tall woman with no clothing, spotless and smooth skin, beautiful raven black hair, longs and sharp claw-like nails, a fiery sword, and a wicked smile.
"What is that?" Eskar asked out loud.
"I've never seen something like this. But she… No. It's no simple monster, she's the one that controls that thing. She's clearly alive." Beatrice gasped.
"She's large, tall. Engulfed in this chaotic flame." Siegmeyer said.
"Chaotic… could she be… No." Beatrice began to ponder.
"Is she what?" Eskar asked.
"She could be a daughter of- But I don't think-" Beatrice tried to think clearly and not jump to conclusions.
"Are you perhaps saying she's a Chaos Witch? One of the Daughters of the Witch of Izalith?" Solaire asked.
"I do not know. All of them succumbed to chaos." Beatrice said.
"Do you think that this is what it did to her?" Siegmeyer asked.
"Perhaps… but how is she still alive?"
"Are… Do the Chaos Witches always saunter like this? Without…" Oscar asked, wondering if by any chance he was the only one that noticed the lack of clothing.
"I do not think so." Solaire didn't seem to remember anything in the tales he read and heard that indicated something of the sort.
"Even as an Undead. I'm a married man. Commenting on that would be suicide. Hah hah hah hah!" Siegmeyer gave a hearty laugh.
Oscar stared at the Catarinian Knight and then at the others. Solaire seemed to be pondering something and Beatrice and Eskar seemed unfazed. He guessed he shouldn't ponder on it either. Even if it was mildly distracting, she was probably still dangerous, and he didn't fancy knowing what that spider could do.
"Listen to us! We only want to-" Beatrice began to say, but the creature in front of them did not care for words, it simply rushed at them.
"Oh no." Oscar and the others quickly assumed battle stances as the Witch used her spider body to leap into the air.
All of them reacted in instinct and dodged, rolled, and moved away as quickly as they could scrambling as the Witch used the mouth of the spider to spew out what looked like molten lava. The spider body quickly turned as it landed, the Witch petting it and seemingly ordering it to continue spewing fiery magma, the party running and separating as the Witch and the spider made pools of lava all around them. All the while the Witch looked at them with a predatory grin.
"Good heavens!" Siegmyer barely was able to jump away as a large pool of lava nearly swallowed his feet.
"Stand back! Stand back!" Socar called out as he quickly scrambled up from a roll.
Beatrice was the first to compose herself, getting close enough for her homing soul mass to home in on the Witch. She got pelted by the soul projectiles, and immediately turned with a frown towards Beatrice, raising her sword as the spider walked through the lava pools without issue at an alarming speed. Eskar immediately reacted and used his own sorcery, firing a great soul arrow at the Witch as she approached Beatrice, not only that, he rushed directly at the spider as it walked out of the lava and stuck at its legs with his swords.
Solaire and Oscar seemed to compose themselves, deciding to use their talismans to throw lightning spears from a distance. Siegmeyer recovered his senses as well, and went ahead and rushed towards the Witch and the spider, aiming to swing at the back legs with his Zweihander. All of them together were able to score hits against their adversary, hitting both the legs of the spider and the Witch. But the Witch shrugged off their attacks and focused on her desired foe, but it would be a lie she focused solely on Beatrice.
As she got close to Beatrice, she swung her sword in a wide arc, making a large streak of flames as the range of the sword seemed to extend and cut through the air. Beatrice narrowly dodged the large swing, part of her dress becoming charred as she jumped back, but the Witch and the spider weren't done. The spider spews and spits large pools of lava and forces Beatrice to move further back, to run away lest she dies a horrible fiery death. The Witch continued to swing her sword in wide circles, skidding Siegmeyer on his shoulder and sending a powerful force and flames into him, and them forcing Eskar to duck as the fiery blade went past him. The Witch and the spider continued to fight back as the legs of the spiders tried to stab Eskar and Siegmeyer and as the Witch extended her blade in a surge of flames, thrusting it towards Oscar while the spider spits lava towards Solaire and Beatrice.
"Holy-" Oscar narrowly blocked the attack, feeling the flames bite at his armor as he blocked the flames from the blade. He and Solaire were having trouble not getting trapped against the wall as the lava began to cover the ground close to them. The spider spewed more lava into the ground close to it and Siegmeyer and Eskar were forced to step back before it could do anything to them.
Beatrice began to fire her spells, and so did Eskae and Solaire, but the Witch and the spider seemed tough enough to take those spells head-on while battling them. To top it off, it was covering the arena in so much lava that it was becoming difficult to move around. And yet, it could still get worse.
"Hya!" Siegmeyer charged forward and struck two of the back legs with a massive blow. But the legs responded in kind, recoiling before swatting back at Siegmeyer in an incredibly fast riposte.
"Ow! Ah." Siegmeyer was tossed to the ground flat on his back by the powerful blow. On the other side of the spider, Eskar avoided getting impaled by one of the legs with a sidestep, and then had to react quickly as the Witch swung at him with her sword. Eskar blocked and was sent skidding backwards several meters.
"Nrrrgh. Grrr…" He grunted as he felt the force of the swing and the flames mildly burning him. He had to recover quickly and dodge as the spider spewed more lava in his direction.
The Witch petted the spider she shared a body with as they continued the fight. Her instincts suddenly flared and she quickly leaned back to avoid a great soul arrow from Beatrice. She then used her sword to swat anpther two soul arrows out of the air in quick succession, right before Beatrice sent forth a soul spear. The Witch could not swat away the more powerful spell, and was staggered by it in fact, but in turn, she quickly made the spider spew large projectiles of lava in Beatrice's direction.
Beatrice rolled out of the way before the lava could get her, meanwhile, the Witch got ready to pursue her, up until she and the spider got pelted by lightning spears once again. Solaire and Oscar were still throwing their spears while maneuvering to get away from the lava. But the Witch turned towards them and decided it was time to deal with them. And so she and spider lept towards the while spewing lava.
"Run! Run!" Oscar called out. A little too late as their enemy was soon upon them, landing and spewing lava towards them.
Oscar managed to avoid the lava, but he was still tackled and smashed against a wall by the massive body of the spider. Solaire fared worse. He was caught by the lava and was forced to thrash and roll on the ground as part of his armor was scorched and charred. Most of it was kept intact, however, and thankfully he was able to put the fire out quickly, but the searing pain was torturous.
"Arrgh!... Oh no-!" Solaire panicked as the Witch thrust her sword towards him. He raised his shield while in a sitting position and was able to bear the thrust as he was pushed against the wall. Much to his dismay, the Witch kept pressing the flaming blade against him, flames biting at him while the spider came closer and closer, gurgling hot magma and ready to bury him in it.
"Errgh…" Solaire tried to push the blade back, but the Witch was stronger than most and had him pinned, yet eventually, he was able to be pushed back. Solaire rose to his feet as he pushed back the blade, he didn't know if he would have time to escape the magma however, and he was worried.
That worry turned to relief as he saw a massive blade hit the spider's backside, then soul arrows hit the witch, and then as he saw two glowing blue blades come from the spider's left and slash dice at its legs in quick flurries. The Witch turned towards her other foes, throwing a swat of fire with her hand towards Eskar and ordering the spider in to attack Siegmeyer, but much to the Witch's chagrin, Eskar slipped under her attack and charged towards her while Siegmeyer dodged the legs trying to stab into him, striking them as he repositioned. The Witch then blocked a blade directed at her by Eskar with her arm and ordered the spider to spew its lava, but right then and there, Eskar climbed on the spider's leg and moved to attack her. She was forced to block with her blade, letting Solaire go, and also open as a soul spear and a powerful shockwave hit her.
Beatrice conjured more spells while Oscar ran forward with the Drake Sword, barreling towards Solaire and tackling him out of the way as the spider spewed out the hot magma. Beatrice landed another heavy soul arrow, a great soul arrow, and a homing soul mass while Esakr was battling with the Witch herself. The swings and flames of her sword were wild, but at close range, he was able to parry the sword much better and even land a slash and kick of his own. Siegmeyer also helped as he landed heavy strike after heavy strike to the spider's legs. The Witch had enough and swung her blade several times, eventually with enough force to send Eskar flying back, blocking with both blades as she hit and landing in a crouching position. She swung towards Siegmeyer and chipped at his shoulder and pushed him away as the spider turned and spewed lava towards him, and towards Beatrice.
The Witch managed to hold the middle of the arena once again, but a lot of the lava had now cooled and her enemies were spread out once again. It was bad, because even if she had hurt them, she should have killed or taken one of them out of the fight already. Even if she was powerful, she would not be able to survive long if they kept beating her with such ferocity. With a scowl, she saw as her enemies all seemed to be in it for the long run as well. The Undead used their Estus Flasks, the sorceress was mostly unscathed, or nicked at worst, and the Masked one seemed to be healing himself with some of his own magic.
Every single one of them was dangerous, the question she asked herself was who was the biggest threat, or perhaps who she could take out the quickest. It was difficult to say, and there was no clear answer, not when they all seemed to be working so well together, but eventually, she formulated a simple plan. To divide and conquer.
The witch ordered the spider to spew an entire barrage of lava in a wide arc, forcing the sorceress and the Masked one back, then before anyone could react, she turned around and crossed a large distance quickly, and together, she and the spider leaped once again towards the knights while spewing lava. She decided to focus on the one in blue this time.
"She's doing it again!" Oscar called out.
Solaire managed to get away from the lava this time, and Oscar was leaped to directly, but before he could be tackled to the ground or buried in lava, he instead rolled under the spider, slipping under it and stringing two blows as he scrambled upwards. The Witch and the spider turned, the Witch swinging her blade while the spider created more pools of lava to stop Siegmyer and Solaire from joining the fight. Oscar for his part blocked the attacks and ran, all the while the Witch followed and kept the pressure up while he blocked with his shield. The witch focused and managed to nick Oscar on the shin making him drop to a knee as he continued blocking. She saw her chance here to turn the fight around, she could possibly kill the knight and then focus on the others as she kept splitting them apart. The sorceress was too far away, the other knights were blocked by lava, and… she realized she lost track of the Masked One.
Right then she spotted Eskar as he leaped into one of the spider's legs and then used it as a means to jump towards her with a slash to her back and a powerful flying spinning roundhouse kick, hitting her on the temple and rocking her head to the side as he landed on top of the spider and was now right in front of her.
"Now!" Eskar called out right before he kicked the Witch in the stomach and then landed another cut to her side.
Oscar recovered his posture and quickly attacked the spider, it roared and growled as it tried to help its master, but it was assaulted by all sides as Solaire threw a lightning spear at it before rushing in with a sword slash to the side, Siegmeyer ran in with a powerful cleave, and as Beatrice got close enough to fire spells at it again.
"Hya!" Siegmeyer cried out as he hit one of the leg joints with an overhead swing. Quickly dodging out of the way as the spider tried to stab him with another leg.
Meanwhile, Solaire focused on another leg, landing an overhead slash to one leg, dodging to the side as it recoiled and tried to push him away, and then attacking another with a horizontal swing. He landed a good swing at part of the spider's body while Oscar attacked from the other side, hitting the spider right in the eyes and stabbing it through the mouth as the other continued to attack the legs, and as Beatrice hit it with a soul mass and a great heavy soul arrow on its backside. The four of them put the spider through the wringer as Eskar fought the Witch.
Eskar himself didn't give her a chance to fight back, being so close, he was able to parry the swings of her sword by blocking the path of her arms and then countering with quick stabs, punches, and kicks. He blocked one of her swings before it could get any momentum and countered with a quick jab to the gut, two consecutive slashes, and a side kick to her face. The Witch seemingly snarled at him in some sort of silent sound, she then tried again to hit Eskar with her blade, swinging with furious force. Eskar focused and blocked to strikes, one after the other, but right after, he noticed the Witch shifted and lunged forward, he in reaction stepped to the side and avoided a massive thrust of flames, but was surprised as the Witch grabbed his wrist.
Her grip was vicious, and she was probably strong enough to snap it if she applied enough force, and so, Eskar didn't waste time and twisted his wrist and landed a heavy knee to her chin. He stunned the Witch enough to free his hand, and immediately then blocked another swing from her, their blades clashing and Eskar using his other blade to try and attack her. The result was the Witch catching the blade with her hand in the same vicious grip, both of them now locked in place as they grappled to keep the other's blade at bay.
The Witch moved her mouth, and Eskar was able to hear something, a faint whisper. Something foreign, a faint sound he seemed to discern. It wasn't exactly familiar, but it was recognizable as something, something like the sound of Incantations for Tension Arts. Not the same, but similar in some manner. A special sort of sound, and from the way the Witch was moving her mouth, it wasn't something arcane or an Incantation, no, she was seemingly speaking. And probably cursing them out if he had to bet.
"Értesz komprenas?" (Do you understand me?) Eskar asked as he kept struggling with the Witch.
The Witch herself didn't respond, but she did glare at him in defiance. One way or the other, it seemed she heard him speak.
"Se vi faites, meg kell dedere." (If you do, you should surrender.) Eskar threatened her.
The Witches' response was a snarl and to push Eskar a step back. It was not clear if she understood him or not, but what was clear, was that she planned to keep on fighting until the very end.
"Recte do." (Very well then.) Eskar said as he kicked her abdomen, kneed her on the chin, and then raised his leg for a hammer kick, hitting her head and pinning it against the spider.
Eskar stomped on her head and Oscar cut at the spider's side, Siemeyer landed a devastating blow and Solaire scored a powerful thrust, and all the while Beatrice used some of her last spells to land soul arrows, and soul masses at the spider's body. They all managed to pin the spider down and keep it occupied, same for the Witch. But the Witch had planned to fight until the end, and she wasn't done yet.
As Eskar was about to stab her in the back of the head, he noticed that the Witch seemed to be hugging the spider rather than trying to squirm out from under his boot. It was then he, Oscar, Solaire, and Siegmeyer saw the flash. More than seeing it, they felt it. The spider roared and created a powerful explosion as an aura of flames erupted from it, pushing all the knights far away and tumbling to the ground, while Eskar was pushed and smashed into the ceiling and then proceeded to fall against the ground. It had been a powerful wave, all of them could feel the magical aura hurt them, and the force of the explosion itself wreck their bodies. They could barely move after the fact.
"No!" Beatrice had been the only one far away enough to be unaffected. And she needed to act quickly, before the Witch tried to do anything to her downed companions.
The Witch and the spider moved to try and bury Eskar under a pool of magma, but instead, the Witch was hit on the side of the head by a normal soul arrow. Another one followed and the Witch deflected the spell with her sword. Snarling, she focused on Beatrice while the spider moved towards the downed Absolver, stirring as he did his best to get up. Beatrice took a risk and ran towards the front of the spider, annoying it with another two soul arrows and doing her best to pull its attention from Eskar and unto her. She managed to get it to growl at her as she got closer and used more spells, her last homing soul mass, her last great soul arrow, and s heavy soul arrow, all in quick succession.
Eventually, she was close, and both the Witch and the spider had been harassed enough to the point she had their full attention. And she would admit, it was beyond dangerous for her for that to be the case, especially when she was so close to it. The spider leaped forward and spewed lava, almost getting close enough to bury her in it. Beatrice dodged backwards and then was pressed further back as the spider kept vomiting lava in her direction, and almost cornering her. Beatrice managed to stay far away enough to land another soul arrow, but then the spider got closer again, and she barely was able to get away from more lava as the tip ends of her dress got scorched. She tried to retreat with another soul arrow, but before she could, the Witch stretched forward and hit her with a large slash of her sword, hitting and cutting her right on the shoulder blade, making a cut downwards.
"Aaah!" Beatrice stumbled back to one knee while still keeping her catalyst aimed at the Witch. She took a couple more steps back and steadied herself as she bared through her injury.
The Witch and the spider walked forward, seemingly ready to pounce on Beatrice and end her. The spider roared and gurgled lava while the Witch raised her blade. But that was when the WItch sensed something, a little too late though. Eskar had gotten to his feet and decided to put all his strength into throwing his longsword.
He pierced the Witch's chest from the side, the sword coming from the back and coming out the other way. The Witch and spider staggered together, both of them in shock as the damage was felt by both of them, especially now in their weakened state, but Eskar wasn't the only one that had gotten up. Oscar used the Drake Sword and created a shockwave that hit directly at the spider's right legs, damaging it and making it stumble. Solaire used the chance to attack from the side, throwing a lightning spear at the spider and then slashing at one of its left legs, while Siegmeyer made a powerful running strike with his Zweihander. As the spider crumbled under the attacks, not being able to take the punishment anymore, Beatrice put all her energy into firing her last spell that could hurt the spider and the Witch, her last soul spear.
The soul spear managed to hit both the Witch and the Spider at the same time, and made both of them recoil as the spider's legs crumbled, and as sagged as the injuries became too much for her as well. The Witch tried to recover, to lift her sword, and to try and pry the sword on her back from herself, but the last thing she felt was Eskar jumping on the back of the spider again, and combining a great soul arrow with the Earthquake Tension Art. Driving his palm into the pommel of the longsword, the Witch perished as her insides, and the ones of the spiders were finished off by the force of the Earthquake, the sword, and the soul energy driven through them.
Her body and the spider's dissolved into multiple souls, but they left behind something else- Twin Humanities, and the Witch's soul. Quelaag's soul.
"Huff… She's dead… they are dead." Oscar panted as he recovered his breath.
"Indeed. What a guardian I must say. Goodness gracious." Siegmeyer leaned on his sword.
"It could have been far worse if we had been alone. Didn't expect such a large body to move so fast." Solaire commented.
"Perhaps we are better not judging preemptively, and making that mistake again." Oscar responded to him. Meanwhile, Eskar helped Beatrice.
"Are you okay?" Eskar asked her.
"It was a good cut, but not deep enough. I will be fine. And you?" Beatrice asked him in return.
"I will be." Eskar said as he used what remained of his Shards, folding Risryn's sword to recover even more, and using them to heal Beatrice.
He himself had already healed himself and recovered with the Tension that came from the Witch's and the spider's deaths. Beatrice noticed, and smiled remembering he was able to do that. His healing Incantations were also pleasant, and made her forget the burning pain as her flesh healed.
"I knew you could do this, but I didn't know you could do that." Beatrice said as she nodded towards the longsword on the ground.
"... neither did I. I just tried to finish it, with everything I could." Eskar said as he finished healing her. Part of the wound remained, but it would be less troublesome than the original large gash. He then went ahead and picked up his longsword.
"Hey. Is everyone okay?" Siegmeyer asked them as he took another sip from his Estus Flask.
"I believe we are. How are you fairing?" Beatrice and Eskar turned towards the three knights.
"We are doing well. Being Undead does have its advantages." Oscar said as he raised his own Estus Flask.
"Hah hah ha. It does indeed. It's a shame part of my armor is scorched now. Though I do believe the burnt skin has healed." Solaire commented.
"I really hope it has." Oscar said.
"Hey, I realized, this is it. Isn't all that's left to ring the bell?" Siegmeyer asked.
"... Yeah. Hah… It is. Let's get to it then." Oscar said as he looked towards the structure that the Witch had been guarding.
The five of them went down the structure and found a tower, though instead of going up the tower, it turned out that they were going down. How the tower actually got there, at the bottom of Blighttown, and how it seemed to overlook a fiery landscape that seemed to be the remains of Lost Izalith, was a confusing mystery. But even so, the Bell of Awakening was there.
Oscar went ahead and rang it, pulling the lever the same way as in the bell of the Undead Parish, and made it sound for several moments before the bell eventually stopped ringing. The only sound remaining was that of the hot air and lava outside.
"It seems we did it." Eskar said.
"Yeah. Hah hah hah. I never thought I would reach this far… though…" Oscar wondered for a second. "... What's supposed to happen now?"
"Umm… the prophecy says that ringing the two bells would show the undead their fate, right?" Siegmeyer asked.
"When thou righteth the Bell of Awakening, the fate of the Undead thou shalt know." Oscar recited. "That was when I knew of only one Bell. Don't tell me there's another out there…"
"I don't think that's the case. I've only known of two Bells." Solaire said. "Though I know what our fates as Sunlight Warriors should entail… Our Undead fate. Who would be able to tell someone of something like that?"
"The only ones that would know would be someone that survived the centuries. Aside from me, that is. But someone with a powerful soul, an agent of the gods could. If they are still around." Beatrice thought with her hand on her chin.
"How am I… How are we or anybody supposed to know what to do now?" Oscar wondered out loud, that was when he noticed a magical circle forming on the ground next to the lever. He inspected it and saw a Homeward Bone appear on it.
"A Homeward Bone? Hey… Is this a normal Homeward Bone or…" Oscar extended the bone to Beatrice.
"Let me see…" Beatrice inspected it. "Hmm. It's completely normal. But if it was placed here, it's meant probably as a way for someone to return from whence they came. Their Bonfire, or maybe even further back."
"What about Firelink Shrine? That was the place connected to the Parish as well. Though I don't know. Maybe that Crestfallen man knows something, or someone else there. Perhaps the Pardoner?" Eskar proposed.
"I wouldn't want to speak to him again… but maybe." Beatrice conceded.
"If that's the case, perhaps we should return there. We said we would return to Firelink Shrine at the very least. From there we'll see what is best. I was thinking perhaps exploring some other places as well." Siegmeyer said.
"I also was thinking of stopping by the Altar, perhaps it would do us good. Do not worry Sir Oscar. We will find our answers, I do know it." Solaire tapped OScar's shoulder.
"Answers are never easy to get. But if this fate is how to cure the world's curse, I'm sure you'll find something eventually. The Bells are here after all. We must be on the right path." Eskar also encouraged him.
"True, you two speak the truth. I will not dismay yet. Nor should I. This may be only the beginning. Let's go on ahead then and return to Firelink, with luck, we'll find out what the Bells did soon enough." Oscar lifted his head, ready to trek the journey back to Firelink. He had promised he would return there as well after all.
A/N: So there we go, back in business, and happy to be back. But yeah, Quelaag is dead. And yes, all the implications of that... yes, they are there as well.
I guess this is a good time to say that this story won't necessarily be a story where everyone survives. These characters don't know all the details of the game, they don't know all the connections and lore, and don't even have the information on certain matters. Without that, it's very much impossible to try and even reason with certain enemies or entities. And who knows if some could be reasoned with.
So yeah, not every ending will be happy, or perhaps what one would expect. But the story is far from over, and next chapter things will expand even further.
With that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Follow, favorite, and review if you so desire. And I hope to see you again. Have a good day.