Sorry as usual for the wait, everyone. Classes have been kind of rough, what with some rather ridiculous deadlines for classes that really should be worth more units than what they are.

But other than that, yeah, I've just been getting further engrossed with Punishing Gray Raven, lol. For real, it's just stoking the flames of creativity within me – I can totally see myself doing a crossover between PGR and 86, or PGR and fucking Infinite Stratos of all things as much as I hate the latter for its wasted potential. Hell, a PGR crossover with the Silverio saga visual novels and even other visuals novels are appealing to me!

And I still really want to do a DMC/Lies of P crossover too… man, I really do wish I had the time to dedicate properly to these fic ideas right now. But sadly, such is life. I can only hope I can get around to them sometime, but it likely won't be any time too soon.

But other than that… damn! Tekken 8. Played Tekken 1 through 3 in the arcades back in the day, but primarily stuck to 4 and 5 since I had actually bought those for my PS2 back then, while 6 and 7 I had only kept up with the spoilers but not played.

But with Tekken 8, well, haven't actually played but followed Maximillian Dood's playthrough of the story mode and by God, that final battle with Kazuya was absolutely insane. It legitimately wowed me and even got me to shed a tear at how Jin developed as a character. Goes to show what can happen when there's years worth of build up to such a development, even if the plot beats in and of themselves were generic.

Now that's the sort of feel-good emotional high that I would love to invoke in others through my stories… though chances are, this fic isn't going to be one of those things, lol.

But I'm really digressing.

To those of you who were mildly disappointed with the Tarnished losing to Shabriri in the previous chapter, please keep in mind that in any Soulsborne game, just about any enemy can utterly push in the MC's shit under the right circumstances. Even if lore and whatnot places the Tarnished well above most beings in his setting, he's far from unbeatable and Shabriri himself is a tough enough being to make it to the Mountaintop of the Giants in one piece, so of course under the right circumstances (like with the Tarnished needing to watch out for the knights, bad environment, etc.) Shabriri would be able to win.

It's honestly one of the things that appeals to me the most out of settings like Elden Ring and other similar settings – power levels, so to speak, aren't necessarily the be-all/end-all factor in a battle. It's all about how well you can manage crowds and use your tools and in this case, the Tarnished just got unlucky in addition to a bad tactical decision or two.

Anyways, just thought I should have explained that better in hindsight.

Well now, with all that said, let's not dawdle any longer, shall we?

Onto the chapter. Please enjoy!

P.S. Shadow of the Erdtree hype!

Chapter 30

Within the capital, Ranni stood by herself with both eyes closed and her four hands clasped together. Her staff rested against the wall she stood by and her breathing was slow and rhythmic. If anyone happened to see her, they would not be faulted for thinking she'd somehow fallen asleep whilst standing.

But they would be wrong.

Currently, Ranni was making use of her bond with the Dark Moon, trying to see beyond what her senses could typically take in.

Unfortunately, her status as the Dark Moon's vassal was failing her to a degree.

Though she could only vaguely sense it, it seems that the other gods from her world were experiencing something akin to a second wind and were now pushing back against the Four Cornered World's pantheon. The Frenzied Flame was particularly unrelenting, attempting to not just breach this world but also overwhelm the stabilized law the Dark Moon had put in place back in her home world.

And she could only guess as to why.

Opening her one good eye, Ranni could only grimace. "Tis as I had feared, it'd seem."

Her murmuring echoed off the room she was in, for she was the only occupant at the moment.

Her bond with the Tarnished had alerted her to a change in his situation and not a good one. Though her beloved was not dead, she'd nonetheless sensed him facing trouble quite some time ago and had been essentially taken off the board so to speak.

Temporarily so, thankfully, but removed for the time being nevertheless.

That had been roughly a day or so ago, news that had been vaguely confirmed when the knights that had gone out to reduce the Frenzied Flame's thralls had returned with dire news:

The enemy leader was monstrously strong and dangerous… and he, along with his forces were now heading directly for the capital, emboldened by the previous events.

The knights, particularly the ones that the Tarnished had led directly, had even managed to overhear the enemy leader's name during the fierce battle between him and the Tarnished.

"Shabriri…" Ranni muttered as she took hold of her staff and began to leave the room.

To think that wicked being had made it into this world… while things actually could have been worse, Shabriri's presence was still an immense danger to the Four Cornered World.

In any case, the knights' frantic return had naturally put the whole capital on alert, swiftly killing the thin veneer of normalcy that the populace had managed to keep up throughout the more recent days.

Now the people had been quick in barring themselves within their homes while the King had ordered his forces to mobilize, with archers – both soldiers and adventurers alike – had lined up along the capital's walls, backed up by various sorcerers who had the ability to attack from a far range. As for the remaining soldiers and adventurers, they'd been tasked with establishing a perimeter directly outside the capital walls in addition to several 'layers' of defense within the capital itself.

On paper, all this sounded great but in practice… well, the Lunar Witch couldn't fault the King's efforts, but there was only so many soldiers that the capital could call upon. And the adventurers, while much more cooperative than expected, still chafed at not having a chance to run wild and engage the enemy earlier on. It was only thanks to a series of reminders about what the Frenzied Flame's influence could do that stayed the rowdier ones from just rushing ahead to greet the thralls.

As for Ranni herself…

"There… you are," spoke Witch in her usual slow tone as Ranni all but bumped into the curvaceous spell caster moments later. "Made your… preparations?"

"But of course," Ranni replied with a light smile. "Off to thy battle station, then?"

Witch nodded. "Think we've… a shot at… winning?"

Ranni could only hum, masking her concern well. "I'd like to think we've well-prepared in this short time. But reality is hardly something we can control so easily, even with all our knowledge."

At that, Witch huffed. "All up… to the… dice roll."

"Indeed." Ranni's tone was as dry as could be.

Once more, she couldn't help but be reminded of this world's oddly game-like structure – like something she'd see fellow students at Raya Lucaria envision and play out whenever they weren't studying, only this world was considerably more diverse and obviously larger in scale.

But the odd nature of this world aside, she understood Witch's comment well.

In the end, it would all come down to how well they'd prepared, how well they can adapt to changes in the battlefield and even just pure dumb luck.

Ranni's power is immense, there was no question about this. But as her battle with her own Two Fingers had shown her, she was hardly invincible, no more than her dear consort who'd triumphed against even her father and the beast that embodied the Golden Order itself. And against the all-consuming nature of Shabriri and the others serving the Frenzied Flame, the possibility of even her suffering defeat and death was far from small.

This was not a battle she could just sit back and merely provide support from. Once more, she will have to go out there and take a more active role. The more aggressive her approach, then hopefully the better the odds would be of victory.

First and foremost, taking out Shabriri would be key. Although she lacked the means to permanently kill him – her specialty lied in magic, after all, not in incantations like those associated with Destined Death for example – killing his current body would be a huge boon nonetheless.

"May we meet again in the aftermath," Ranni said as the two had walked out of the palace and towards their respective posts.

Witch shot her a smile that was a mixture of various different emotions – confidence, wariness, anxiety, and more. The woman said nothing but could only incline her head before taking her leave, allowing Ranni to once more be alone with her thoughts as she now hurried her pace somewhat.

As Ranni now swiftly made her way to her intended post upon the very top of the capital's gate, she thought about how much more time they all may have before contact with the enemy.

With the reported size of Shabriri's chaotic army and them not need to stop and rest unlike most, the forces of the Frenzied Flame should be reaching the capital's outskirts very soon.

"…A true pity we didn't get to properly enjoy ourselves more," Ranni commented in a quiet and almost solemn tone as she once more realized just how close the battle was at hand.

She and her beloved had only had mere days of getting to travel together and seeing some new sights before the gods of their world had managed to really stir up trouble. Had said events been the result somehow of her and the Tarnished being in this world? Or would the gods of her world would have eventually found out about the Four Cornered World and make their way here to wreak havoc?

Ranni didn't know for sure, but it was an affirmation that life simply refused to go the way they wanted.

…Well, if nothing else, should they triumph, perhaps she and her dear consort eternal can enjoy some relative peace and quiet for a while longer in this world before returning to their own. A nice little break would certainly be a good reward after all their trials and tribulations thus far.

These were Ranni's thoughts as she finally reached her post, positioning herself directly above the capital's gate, with her power already gathering and coalescing within herself. She merely had to will it and her power would be unleashed in all its terrible fury.

And as it turned out, she wouldn't have to wait too long to do just that.

Some cries from nearby soldiers went out, words of warning being loudly uttered as numerous people came into view in the far distance. Thanks to how many of them were bunched together, the sickly yellowish flames emitting from the thralls' burned out eyes seemed to combine, forming fires that could be visibly seen once out in the open even from this distance.

As alarm bells were literally rung and the thralls, upon seeing all the forces gathered in front of and within the capital, finally began to charge their way, Ranni made her move.

And as she proceeded to unleash her power, she also uttered to herself a short vow.

"Here and now, ye and thy fellows will perish. So says Ranni the Witch."

Among the capital's foremost perimeter, soldiers were gathered alongside a handful of notable adventurers. Among the adventurers, there was Heavy Warrior and his party, Spearman, Amazon Warrior and her all-female party, and more. Known well for their combat capabilities, the idea behind their placement at the very frontline was to thin out the veritable horde as much as possible via their combined might… and if possible, rush down the leader of the attacking army and take him out.

To be more specific, such a role was exclusive to Spearman, the adventurer known as the Frontier's Strongest. His speed and sheer range thanks to his titular spear were what the others were counting on to rush past all the enemies and strike down the leader as soon as the bastard was even identified.

Or so it would seem, at least.

Just as all those crazy looking people, with their burned out eyes and hollow expressions, began to bumrush the frontline's collective position, something crazy happened.

It was so damn fast that not even Spearman, known for being as quick on the uptake as he is quick in general, would have had a chance to react had it been aimed at him.

One second, he was gripping his spear, readying to charge forward and start skewering, then the very next, a massive beam of pure magical energy was shot forward. Said beam impacted against the area tens of meters ahead of him and exploded with such unbelievable force that for a brief instant, Spearman thought a fucking star had come crashing down and exploding.

Thankfully, that wasn't actually the case but the explosion sure as hell ended up blowing away a huge chunk of the area ahead… along with all the thralls they were called too.

Well, no, not all the thralls, but definitely a huge number, with plenty more being knocked off their feet just from the proximity. Even he and the others had been knocked back a bit and that was with the force of the explosion being aimed away from them too!

"H-Holy…" someone nearby muttered and Spearman found himself agreeing with the unfinished statement.

Power like that was definitely abnormal.

"Damn good thing that foreigner is on our side," he mumbled as he got back up.

But shaken as he was, both figuratively and literally, he wasn't about to just sit on his ass and gape like a fool. While calling himself the Frontier's Strongest may feel like a bad joke in light of the many losses he'd swiftly suffered at the hands of the foreign warrior, he wasn't one to ever back down from anything and this was no different.

Taking note of a chilling mist now making itself known up ahead, Spearman watched for but a moment longer as the thralls caught in it began to wheeze, their very breaths freezing in midair before their bodies followed along.

Some of the frozen thralls shattered as their precarious positions caused them to tip over onto the hard ground. However, a plethora of the thralls remained relatively upright while a bulk of the mad army now seemed to slow their pace, seemingly possessing just enough reason to know not to advance futilely into a death trap.

Ha, as if Spearman would give them a chance to catch their breath and change things up.

Girding himself for a split second, Spearman dashed forward. "Come on! Time to get to business!" he cried out to the others, most of whom had still been overwhelmed by the sight before them.

The gathered soldiers and his fellow adventurers let out battle cries, signifying their resolve to continue on. Said sounds emboldened Spearman further as he dashed fearlessly into the deadly frost mist. Whether by design or a lucky roll of the dice, the mist was already clearing up, allowing him to cover the distance without being affected.

Immediately, he twirled his spear and launched a side swing, utterly smashing through two of the frozen thralls. He knew not if they could somehow recover from being frozen solid, but better to not risk it, he reasoned.

He followed up the initial swing with a spin that carried him forward before performing the same attack, moving akin to a human tornado as he slammed his way through all the frozen thralls in his way. Alas, as fast as he is, the army of thralls was already beginning to go on the offensive again. Already, at least a dozen of the thralls, varying in age and build and so many other factors, locked onto him.

As the thralls now began to charge at him with random weapons in hand, Spearman's tense smile fell for just an instant. Though he and all the others had been informed of there being no way to save these poor people from the frenzy, that didn't mean he'd be able to just shrug off having to kill them like this.

But at the end of the day, it was either them or him and his allies.

And he'll always put himself and the others first.

Spearman suddenly paused in his charge and thrust his weapon forward, catching a young woman – no, more like a girl just barely blooming into adulthood – directly in her exposed chest just as she'd raised a small axe high. She barely even let out a gurgle from her puncture lung before Spearman gave his weapon a sharp tug and forced the girl to stumble into another thrall directly next to her. As the two tumbled to the ground, Spearman moved forward and stomped down on the living thrall's neck as hard as he could while simultaneously swiping his spear upwards. This latter action caught another thrall right across the throat, cutting it open nice and wide and causing blood to spew out wildly.

In the span of just two seconds, three thralls were dead just like that, a distance of yards covered. And he was only getting started.

Unfortunately, the same could be said for the thralls as well; the other eight or so thralls were still charging his way and more looked to be ready to run his way as well.

Spearman let out a sharp 'tsk!' at the attention he was getting but was otherwise undeterred. Once more, he thrust his spear forward, catching a fit young man directly through the right thigh before pulling the spear back and spin around, the back of his weapon impacting against the man's jaw hard enough to break it off.

As the man began to fall, Spearman proceeded to use him as an impromptu springboard to jump over the incoming three thralls. Upon landing in a graceful roll, he remained crouched as he swung his spear and swept the legs of the thralls.

By now, the other soldiers and adventurers had begun to catch up with him, with the former group breaking up into smaller and orderly squads with which to better cover a wider area. As for the adventurers, some did the same, but for the most part, they seemed to follow Spearman's example of cutting a bloody path from one end of the army to another.

The thralls he'd knocked down had barely gotten a chance to react when Heavy Warrior closed in and sliced them apart with one downwards swing of his massive blade, which dug even into the ground a fair bit.

"Always so eager to be first, huh?" Heavy Warrior drawled as Female Knight brought up the rear, using her shield to bash an unarmed thrall in the face as the man had tried to lunge for her.

Despite Heavy Warrior's dry candor, there was no mistaking the pain scowl on his face. Like Spearman, he couldn't quite enjoy the fact he would be essentially cutting down once innocent people. Not even a man like him, hardened by plenty of adventures up until now, could just brush the wrongness of the current situation aside.

Nonetheless, Spearman could only reply in kind, the only way to stay sane. "Not my fault the rest of you are so slow," he said with a cheeky smirk.

Heavy Warrior snorted before swinging his blade at Spearman – or so it seemed.

With practiced grace, Spearman lowered himself a bit more and looked up just in time to see the iron sword slice the arms off a thrall that had been about to bring a longsword down on Spearman.

In return, Spearman now sprung up and let loose his spear towards Heavy Warrior's side, the latter sidestepping the thrust and watching with a complicated expression as the weapon stabbed a child of all beings directly in the face.

As the young body, clearly afflicted with telltale signs of the madness, went limp and then fell, both adventurers shot each other a look before redirecting their attention back towards the army of thralls.

By now, the defensive battle was getting into full swing, with a plethora of various spells being flung from the magic users placed upon the capital's walls in direct response to the encroaching horde of frenzied individuals.

Spearman grunted. "…Alright. Let's just get this over with."

Heavy Warrior grimaced. "Couldn't agree with you more."

Female Knight, who'd been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time – no doubt, deeply affected by what they were doing – could only chip in with a growl of righteous anger as their three charges finally caught up, the young adventurers looking understandably ill at ease.

Together, the adventurers took to the field in earnest with Spearman taking point. As the thralls continued to come in droves, the six adventurers barreled their way through with but one hope:

To put an end to this rapidly swelling nightmare as swiftly as possible.

Among the thick trees that lied in the capital's outskirts, Shabriri watched with trained eyes as his siege on the capital went on.

By now, it's been roughly five minutes – a truly paltry amount of time in reality, but when on a battlefield was akin to eternity.

His scorched hands gripped his spear tightly, not in anger or even anticipation in general, but rather out of habit as he took it all in.

From this distance, he could sense the Lunar Princess well, even before she'd fired off Loretta's Greatbow to start the battle. And suffice to say, he couldn't help but be somewhat in awe of her power.

Being an Empyrean, it was all too natural for Ranni to possess power and talent unfathomable to the average person. Now as the proper vassal of her own god, she was even stronger. In some respects, she could be considered as an even greater threat than the Tarnished, for she was now on the same level as Marika herself, with her abundant knowledge of magic allowing her to inflict wide-spread devastation at her leisure.

Indeed, through just two spells alone, she'd made quite the impact…

…But even so, it was far from enough, he thought with a light smirk now.

His presence hidden well among the others here, Ranni didn't seem capable of sensing him, at least not right away.

Good, this would make things a touch easier.

With the majority of his army now engaging the soldiers and so-called adventurers in earnest, he could use this time to find a way into the capital and seek out his hopeful Lord of Chaos.

Should he succeed in this endeavor, the Frenzied Flame would gain a proper foothold in this world and scorch it all to ash, resulting in an undeniable victory for him and his compatriots.

Even if he couldn't locate the one he sought in time, just finding a way into the capital would prove a massive boon for his army since he'd be able to sow disarray among the capital's troops.

"Come here, my good fellows," he called out. "Assist me in our greatest deed."

He spoke, of course, to the remaining adventurers he'd managed to convert to his cause… along with some of the knights that hadn't escaped him and his forces from the other day.

Just as the Tarnished had organized the capital's knights into separate strike forces, he too can do the same.

Originally, he'd intended to save the adventurers as elite warriors of his army, sending them all out at irregular intervals to take out the adventurers on the capital's side when least expected.

Now, however, he shall do things a bit differently.

With several such warriors at his command, he opted to divide his forces. Half of them would randomly aid his army, making use of hit and run tactics to most effectively whittle down the capital's forces. The other half will come with him to enter the capital itself.

Shabriri knew such a task wouldn't be easy – even from here, he could sense the fortifications made to the walls. But it was hardly impossible. It was simply a matter of locating the least fortified spot and making his move at the most opportune time.

"You three, go to the battlefield as you deem fit. Be sure to avoid direct battle for as long as possible," he commanded of the remaining adventurers. He then looked to the several knights with a wicked gleam in his burnt-out eyes.

"And as for you lot… be ready to pay your old home a visit," he declared.

As the knights, unmindful of the beaten and bloodied states they'd been somewhat reduced to when he'd first caught up with them, tapped their spears on the ground to signify their acknowledgement of his order, Shabriri chuckled.

He continued to chuckle as he and the knights finally began to make their move.

The sounds of battle intensified with every passing moment, so much so that the soldiers and adventurers positioned within the capital itself couldn't help but grow antsy in the process.

Not even Goblin Slayer himself was immune to this, the young man gripping his short blade tightly.

Along with his party, he was stationed in the business district, where the building layout was at its densest and perhaps most confusing for first time visitors. Their position in this place was due to how best they worked when it came to more guerilla tactics than outright confrontations.

A fact that some of his friends – High Elf Archer, chief among them – took a bit of issue with.

"Che! We should all be out there where we can make an actual difference, not here where we're pretty much out of sight and out of mind!" she whined from her spot atop the nearest building.

"We get it, long ears! Now enough complainin' already! Bad enough we gotta hear all the fighting going on out there!" Dwarf Shaman yelled in actual frustration, whatever patience the dwarf had for the high elf long since gone.

But the two's fraying tempers were due to more than just being placed in what was essentially the backline, Goblin Slayer silently noted. Really, the source of their stress was that a full-blown siege was occurring, the likes of which none of them had ever before experienced.

And again, it bore repeating that he was not exempt from this.

"G-Goblin Slayer, sir…" Priestess mumbled from beside him. The young girl was practically skittish.

"I know," he said with a heavy sigh. "…We just have to do things as we would any other time."

"Mm, well said, milord Goblin Slayer." Lizard Priest, much like High Elf Archer, was perching his large frame atop a building, albeit at a lower height than their resident high elf. Not even the normally battle-happy lizardman could find a reason to smirk in this situation. "Take his words to heart well, our dear girl. While this is an unprecedented situation, we merely must act as we always do. Everyone else out there, from the soldiers to our fellow adventurers, will be doing the same."

"…Right!" Priestess steeled herself as best as she could in response, a sight that put Goblin Slayer a bit more at ease.

Nonetheless, he was concerned for a variety of reasons.

He'd never once fathomed being caught up in something like this. Not even when he'd still be so young and naïve had he dreamt of being in the capital, taking part in what surely felt like a desperate battle for… well, probably not the fate of the world, but definitely a substantial number of people.

"…"

He patted his pocket, thinking back to his lessons from Burglar. What did he have in his pocket? What could he bring to this situation that could potentially turn things around?

The silver ranked adventurer found himself unable to answer the question, at least not in a satisfactory way. Though he and his friends had done their best to stock up as best they can, none of them had exactly come prepared for a conflict of this scale. That their position was based here in the business district of all places was something of a mixed bag as well.

On the one hand, they were given free rein to do whatever they felt necessary to defend the capital. On the other hand, there were still some hard limits to be found here. For one thing, people had holed up wherever they could – be it in their homes or wherever else they could find shelter, including within some parts of the business district. This meant Goblin Slayer and his party couldn't get too destructive with their tactics lest they put civilians in danger.

But more than that, the environment itself was just not a favorable one.

Sure, they could make use of the rooftops to attack from and even maybe knock down a building or two as a way of cordoning off entire areas from the enemy, but other than that, the business district was bereft of the typical environmental factors that he could normally take advantage of.

And with evidently an army's worth of frenzied individuals trying to fight their way into the capital…

Goblin Slayer shuddered, the awkward young man remembering the horrifying effect he'd been exposed to during the first encounter with the 'frenzy' as it had been referred to. And that had been against a much smaller group of people too.

A series of explosions rang out, disrupting his thoughts.

"That sounded close!" Dwarf Shaman now looked up to High Elf Archer. "Ye see anything, long ears?!"

High Elf Archer let out a very unladylike grunt and even a brief swear. "The mages along the wall are really going all out now. Especially that Ranni lady!"

"Indeed…" muttered Lizard Priest. "I believe even I had just glimpsed her magic from here."

That was no small claim to make considering just how far into the capital their position is. Even Goblin Slayer had glimpsed an explosion of blue colored magical energy from this distance and his position wasn't even favorable for such things.

…It was certainly reassuring to have such a powerful mage, foreign or not, on their side. Even he couldn't help but think that.

However, if whatever long range spells were being slung around at closer ranges now, that meant the army of frenzied individuals was steadily making their way closer to the capital's main gate.

That meant if this kept up, it'd only be a matter of time until they make their way into the capital itself.

Goblin Slayer grunted, now thinking about the strange but reliable foreign warrior he and his party had encountered twice now.

Remembering vividly that strange wave of gold the man had used to take out all those goblins, he pondered how effective such a move would be here and now if the foreign warrior was allowed to go all out.

Alas, it was a moot point to consider since the foreign warrior hadn't been seen for a while now.

If something had happened to even someone as mighty as him of people…

Goblin Slayer shook his head. "…Start preparing your catalysts," he commanded of Dwarf Shaman. "And ready your warriors as well." This time he spoke to Lizard Priest.

Both men nodded, the former digging around in his sack of catalysts to begin placing them around the area as far out as possible so that his spells can be used at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, Lizard Priest drew out several old bones and performed his chant to give them proper form as the skeleton warriors that the party had made liberal use of in their adventures.

"…?" Goblin Slayer, having been watching as Lizard Priest now directed his Dragontooth Warriors to spread out in a small phalanx formation, suddenly felt something… off. It was in the same way one may feel when realizing they'd forgotten something at home but couldn't recall what it was or why it should matter.

By all rights, he had no reason to ever feel such a thing and yet he did… and now he's become aware of it, ignoring it became impossible.

Sheathing his short sword for the time being, he walked up to the corner and peered around it.

Naturally, his behavior didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"Is something wrong?" Priestess, always so sensitive to his mood, asked him this right away.

High Elf Archer grunted. "Come on, Orcbolg, don't tell us you had a change of heart!" Despite her words of complaint, her tone was much more subdued. She'd uttered those words for some measure of comfort to herself rather than anything else.

In any case, Goblin Slayer didn't respond to either of them right away, instead continuing to gaze west of their position for as far as he could possibly see.

Finally, after a moment, he addressed them. "…Send one or two of your Dragontooth Warriors to patrol in this direction – as far as they can possibly go."

"Oh? Something is amiss, you believe?" Lizard Priest asked. When Goblin Slayer nodded, the lizardman hummed in acknowledgement. "Very well then."

The lizardman gazed at two of his crafted warriors in particular and silently communicated what needed to be done. Immediately, the two Dragontooth Warriors did an about face and began to briskly jog down the path.

But it wasn't enough for the party leader. "…Follow after them," he said to High Elf Archer. "No need to be right after them, but at least keep them in your sight for as long as possible."

"E-Eh?!" Taken aback by the sudden order, High Elf Archer's face was just comical. "Are you serious? What about the rest of the district?!"

"Please," Goblin Slayer all but whispered.

The feeling was mildly stronger now though just as vague in its origin. If this kept up, he may very well lose his mind before he and his party even fight.

The high elf's ears went ramrod straight at his tone before finally lowering. "…Alright. But if anything happens, you call me back right away. Holler until your lungs give out if you have to."

Goblin Slayer nodded in thanks and then watched as his friend took off.

As he and the others watched as High Elf Archer nimbly leapt from rooftop to rooftop in pursuit of the Dragontooth Warriors, Dwarf Shaman approached him. "Think somethin' else is going on, Beard-Cutter?"

"…Don't know," Goblin Slayer answered truthfully. "But I can't shake the feeling that not doing at least this much would end badly for us."

His response got the dwarf to grimace, even forcing him to take a deep drink of his fire whiskey. "Well, no offense, but I sure hope yer feeling is damned wrong."

"So do I."

With great reluctance, the King had to remain behind in his palace alongside some of his more essential staff. All other non-military subordinates had been sent home for their own safety in the meantime.

Stuck in a makeshift war room, the King could only listen as reports flooded in.

"These thralls are steadily gaining ground-."

"Another twenty or so casualties-."

"Said casualties aren't even dead – but converted-."

"Eastern side is experiencing the heaviest assault-."

On and on it went, the King doing his level best to not grab his old weapon and gear and rush out there to aid his soldiers and fellow adventurers himself.

It helped that his young and ever so reliable aid all but literally had a death grip on his dominant arm to keep him from rushing off without issue. He almost felt tempted to give her a substantial bonus after this is all over – assuming he doesn't lightly punish her first for interfering like this. Hmm, could it be possible to dock someone's pay and give them a bonus without negating anything?

"Have a squad of the best mages continue to drive back the enemy's main force at the gate," he commanded swiftly. "Meanwhile, start pulling other mages and spell users in general from the less critical areas to focus on the eastern front. Our soldiers are well-trained and well-armed, so we must believe in them to hold the fort down in the meantime."

"What of the soldiers being turned against us? And not to mention the adventurers too?" asked a weary messenger.

At that, the King could only close his eyes. He recalled well how adamant Ranni had been in telling him that once consumed by the frenzy, breaking free of it was impossible. He truly hoped the foreign mage was wrong, but so far, none of the spells and miracles meant specifically to counter such things that some mages had tried had succeeded, painting a dark picture indeed.

"You remember what was said of this frenzy," the King began solemnly. "So have the remaining soldiers and adventurers do what they must."

The messenger's expression grew pained, but he dutifully bowed and left anyways to deliver his order.

With a sigh, the young monarch carried on. "Has there been any sign of the enemy's leader?"

Someone else there at his table shook their head. "So far, none of the reports indicate the presence of such an individual. There are some people of note – adventurers, from the looks of it, that had fallen to the frenzy quite some time ago. They've been popping up here and there along different fronts to strike at our forces when least expected, but no indication of any leader among them."

The King grimaced. "So, it may ultimately come down to a roll of the dice to find the one responsible for all this…"

Because of course it would turn out this way. Bad enough the forces of Chaos were still a very present threat out there, but now they all were faced with something not even the various Chaotic factions out there would have chosen to deal with.

If nothing else, however, at least they had Ranni on their side. Even from here, he could practically see the sorts of explosions and other fantastical spells she was unleashing upon these frenzied thralls. If there was such a thing as a deity of magic, the King would honestly claim Ranni to be that very deity; she's been slinging around spells of such power so frequently that anyone else would have long since been exhausted, yet she still was going strong without any apparent issue. It was only due to the sheer size and spread of the frenzied army that the foreign mage hadn't already ended this conflict by her lonesome.

But for all her strength, it typically came down to Chance to decide the day, yet another lesson he'd learned during his adventuring days.

With that relatively somber thought lingering, his duties continued. Messengers regularly came in to update him and his advisors on the situation and they all in turn deliberated as swiftly as possible to the changes in the battlefield.

Minutes go by, an odd rhythm falling into place as they all bustled about. Before the King knew it, a solid ten more minutes go by, a veritable eternity in a battlefield. He can only imagine how long it must have felt like to those actually fighting out there.

Just when the King began to deliberate further on how best to bolster their offense, however…

A brief series of explosions suddenly rang out. Still so far away as to be barely audible to him, but still closer than what should have been possible.

Such a fact inspired worry in him, worry that then developed in genuine fear when not even half a minute later, one of the guards stationed here in the palace came rushing in, panic evident in his eyes.

"S-Something has occurred within the capital! It might be the enemy!"

Torrent charged with all he had, galloping with all the fury of a storm down through the forest.

The Tarnished held on tight to the reins with both hands, occasionally giving said reins a quick snap to encourage his mount to keep on going.

In a moment of uncharacteristic frustration, the Tarnished swore.

Had the confrontation between him and Shabriri been a one-one-one with literally no one else around and well away from any environmental hazards like a cliff, then he was confident he could have ended the man then and there, especially since he wouldn't have to worry about the usage of Destined Death catching anyone else up in the crossfire.

Alas, he could only suppress the almost childish anger as best as he could; he'd learned long, long ago that life was always full of surprises, with concepts such as fairness being nothing more than constructs developed by people. Losing in battle, be it because the opponent was stronger overall or because of accidentally tripping at the wrong time, was therefore perfectly fine in that regard.

But even so, with the fate of this world hanging in the balance, the Tarnished couldn't help but object to how the battle had turned out.

Further adding to his bad mood was that Shabriri and his army of thralls had gotten quite the lead on him, the time he'd had to waste making his way back up to higher ground and beginning his mad trek back to the capital having easily taken up a few hours.

It was only the thought that he was close now that helped him maintain a fairly level head, aside from his many years of discipline, that is.

Still, he was easily another hour or so away from the capital, with no one else in sight save the occasional thrall he encountered that had straggled far behind their fellows for one reason or another. A quick upwards swing with the modified Knight's Greatsword had allowed him to slay these thralls without having to slow his pace.

These kills were but small boons in the long run, however, for clearly the bulk of Shabriri's army along with the wicked man himself were clearly at the capital by now. And while he didn't doubt the preparations made for the large scale battle to come, he knew casualties would increase in due time, especially if and when the frenzy begins to spread among the capital's inhabitants and army.

Grimacing, the Tarnished considered his options here… which, to be frank, weren't many. All he could do was keep going atop Torrent and cut through every possible shortcut there is, even if it meant having to traverse areas other than the beaten path.

Not like he hasn't done that before. After all, it wasn't as if he could just revive at a Site of Grace, real or merely a… makeshift…

For the first time in a while, the Tarnished felt his mind go blank, his dark mood clearing for the moment.

…

…

…With the release of Destined Death back into the world – his and Ranni's home world, that is – the unending suffering of the Lands Between's inhabitants had finally been relieved, allowed to die normally again. It was only Tarnished such as himself that had still retained the ability to revive even after Destined Death had been released… but even so, said revival ability had been due to the still persistent hold the Golden Order had retained over the world.

But with Radagon's and the godly beast's defeat, the law of the Golden Order had fully crumbled away. With its destruction, the Tarnished in turn should have likely lost the ability to revive after death.

He and Ranni had, albeit briefly, discussed the possibility of the Dark Moon itself providing a similar boon as their patron god, but their discussion had ultimately gone unfinished, their few hypotheses untested.

…Could it be? If he were to kill himself right here and now, would the Dark Moon revive him? And if so, where? It wasn't as if they had anything truly similar to a Site of Grace in this world. Assuming he did resurrect at all, where would he end up spawning at? And how long would the process take?

For all the Tarnished knew, he could end up reviving at the spot he'd first arrived at in this world or at any of the places he'd passed through, up to and including Sword Maiden's temple, where he and Ranni had spent some time at.

But if he could end up back in their room at the palace…

Making a sound, the Tarnished eased up on Torrent's reins. When he did so, the intelligent and stalwart mount began to slow down. Ever so attuned to the Tarnished's mental state at times, Torrent snorted and craned his neck as far as he could, as if to stare at his rider in worry.

"…Yes, it may very well fail," the Tarnished murmured, acting as if Torrent could somehow perceive all the thoughts he'd had just now. "But the same could be said of other things I've tried back home."

At that, the Tarnished allowed himself a quiet chuckle. When he'd first begun his journey to be Elden Lord, he'd tried out numerous types of weapons, equipment, spells, and tactics. Some had worked, some had not and he'd eventually learned how to incorporate what did into his usual fighting style to further supplement his prowess.

As dire as the stakes may be, this was no different.

"Wish me luck, my friend," the Tarnished said before dismissing Torrent, the spirit mount giving an affirming snort as his form dissipated into motes of light.

Upon touching down on the ground, the Tarnished raised the Knight's Greatsword high with both hands before flipping the blade around so that the tip faced him. He then tilted his head up as much as possible, exposing his throat and positioned his blade at it.

Then, releasing a final breath, he thrust the blade down.

If it seems like things are going a little too fast now, don't worry, the final battle isn't about to be finishing up that fast. There's still some more to do before this fic ends. Still can't tell exactly how many chapters are left until the conclusion, but at least another three or four depending on circumstances.

Anyways, what did you all think of the ending here? It was something very vaguely hinted at back when the Tarnished and Ranni had reunited and had a meal together at that inn, so I hope it doesn't seem as if this came out of nowhere, ha ha.

Whelp, up next, things will really start getting into full swing as the battle between the capital's forces and Shabriri's army essentially breaks down into chaos. When that happens, expect others to start getting a moment or two to shine, so please look forward to that.

Until next time, everyone. Take care!