Hey there, everyone! Long time, no see!
Or so I kid, ha ha.
Looks like it hadn't been that much longer than usual since the last update from the looks of it and I can actually chalk that up to my new classes. Well, I'm really only doing the one class at the moment, but thanks to its self-paced nature, I'm able to juggle it plus my other obligations and hobbies better than I thought.
I've no doubt that eventually this will change as my classes get more advanced and difficult, but for the time being, it may very well be the case that I can maintain a fairly consistent 'schedule' without having to burn myself out for it.
That said, again, if it does seem like updates do take longer, just assume that I'm busy with life stuff or something.
Anyways, how have things been, everyone? Hopefully things have been going well or at the very least okay for all of you, especially if you're being affected hard by the rather sporadic weather here in good ol' California. Given that we're still in the early phase of 2023, here's to hoping that the rest of the year passes by smoothly.
Whelp, not going to ramble on much more despite my desire to do so, or else I'd end up bloating the word count by a solid thousand words or so, heh.
Let's just get to it! Enjoy!
P.S. As usual, please consider buying any of my books! Available now on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Apple store, and more! Universal links to them can be found on my profile page, just remove the spaces!
Chapter 15
Within the water town's signature temple resided the woman who effectively ruled over it with a gentle guiding hand – Sword Woman.
The beautiful and scantily-clad woman normally went about her day to day activities with a soft and almost melancholic attitude, only really acting almost uncharacteristically childish whenever she was either fully alone or only when around her most trusted attendant as she tried to rest and dream of her dear Goblin Slayer.
Alas, such a demeanor was nowhere to be seen now.
With a severe aura about her, she coordinated with various subordinates to bolster the defenses of not just the water town but also the areas surrounding the town. And for very good reason-.
-There were dragons on the rise out there.
It had been like a bolt out of the blue, how it had all happened. At first, things had been relatively peaceful like usual, with Sword Maiden carrying out her delegations and other duties like normal save for the occasional meeting with a passing by adventuring party or official. But then word had quickly been received from the capital itself courtesy of a relatively new friend she's made about at least eight dragons going on a rampage, flying through the skies at breakneck speeds and burning down entire sections of land in the process.
It had been around that time that informants from other nearby towns and outposts had started to reach Sword Maiden as well, confirming the message from the capital. Furthermore, the chaotic behavior of said dragons had started to become visible even from this distance, with waves of heat or smoke becoming just barely discernible from the water town. That was to say nothing of the roars and howls that could just vaguely be heard from a distance as well. Said noises were very low indeed, low enough to possibly be mistaken as a trick of wind spirits or the like… but anyone who really bothered paying attention (or had exceptionally excellent hearing such as an elf) could tell that it was the work of dragons.
"How fares things out there?" Sword Maiden asked of her attendant, the older woman in question entering her halls with what was surely another update in hand.
"Preparations for the barrier have been completed," the attendant replied, the older woman who usually was often put-off with Sword Maiden's more unseemly behavior looking every bit as serious as Sword Maiden herself looked. "You're free to cast your Protection miracle at your leisure."
Sword Maiden nodded, the only sign of confirmation she gave to that statement before continuing. "And the dragons?"
"So far, it seems that only two at most are traveling throughout this region," the attendant began as she flipped through the pages of her report. "From what our spotters can tell, one of them is flying much higher than the others, only lashing out when it seems as if something might be approaching it. As for the other, however… it is staying fairly low to the ground. They've determined this second dragon to be the one responsible for the destruction that's been occurring out there so far."
Sword Maiden clutched her staff tightly, the former member of the gold ranked adventuring party mulling over that information. "Can we be sure it is only those two?"
"For now, yes. The first dragon may not seem to be an issue for now as long as it maintains its current altitude – but of course, our spotters will be keeping as close of an eye on it as possible in case of a change in course." Now the attendant looked just a bit more wary. "The second dragon, however… its current predicted path may cause it to either come straight for here or circle around and miss us entirely. It's rather hard to tell which of these two possibilities seems more likely."
"I… see. Should it continue towards the town, please make sure to have as many civilians as possible get within our borders as fast as possible before impact. Then send word to me immediately so that I may activate the barrier."
The attendant lowered both her report and her gaze. A troubled expression flitted across her face. "Would… would that not be a risky action to do? If you take too long to perform the Protection miracle then…"
"I know," Sword Maiden replied rather grimly.
Much like the young Priestess that followed her dear Goblin Slayer around, Sword Maiden was a practitioner of miracles. Naturally, thanks to age and experience, she was far more advanced in her knowledge of such miracles as well as in power. However, for all her skill, there were still some immutable truths.
The Protection miracle can, as was well known by virtually all, bring forth a barrier of pure holy energy to serve as a shield against most attacks, barring ones that are specifically capable of ignoring such a defense. In Sword Maiden's case, she can make the miracle that normally manifested as a wall of holy energy into a fully encompassing barrier that covers the whole body.
However, the miracle was really only meant for more personal usage. While the length and overall size of the wall or barrier can be extended, it was only to a point. Not even Sword Maiden, for all her power, could do much to overcome this limitation. Hence the need for the preparations spoken of just now, holy sigils that she could link up with in order to expand the size and thus range of her Protection miracle so that she could cover the entirety of the water town.
Alas, that was where the second limitation became a genuine hindrance.
Though a construct of holy energy or light, the Protection miracle functioned like a physical wall, meaning that anyone who tried to walk through it would be blocked immediately regardless if they were friend or foe. Thus, if she were to cast the miracle to defend against the dragon, anyone still stuck outside the water town at the time of this happening would be unable to enter at all thanks to the Protection miracle's properties, leaving them at the mercy of the gods' dice rolls for their survival.
And those were Chances that Sword Maiden feared would be… not good.
"Even so, I wish to prioritize saving as many lives as possible should the situation devolve to that point," Sword Maiden declared. "I ask of you and the others to help me accomplish that."
Years of adventuring had taught her many painful truths. Even so, even if saving everyone was a genuine impossibility, that didn't mean she shouldn't try. After all, if her dear Goblin Slayer can consistently slay goblins no matter the odds against him, then she too, as the famous Sword Maiden, should be able to challenge the odds as well in her own way.
The attendant looked at her with a genuine look of surprise. But then she bowed deeply. "I understand. I will relay that to the others and return within the hour for another update."
Sword Maiden nodded in thanks.
As the attendant left, Sword Maiden waited several seconds before taking a deep breath that nearly threatened her barely-there top before letting out a heavy sigh.
Though her resolve had just been made, that didn't make the pressure she felt any less overwhelming in its intensity.
Numerous things have been changing rapidly in these more recent days. Certainly not the work of the forces of Chaos, at least not as far as she could tell, but definitely somehow even greater in scale. The Four Cornered World would certainly have its work cut out for it as a whole to challenge and survive this ever dire odds.
Nonetheless, she had to hold onto hope. For no matter how bad things may be, the world and its denizens had their ways of combatting even the most esoteric and fearsome powers out there. It was simply a matter of holding fast in the face of such Chaos until a proper strategy could be formulated to do something about it.
Until then, all that could be done was to weather the incoming storm.
"…The situation is becoming rather rough, is it not?" commented Ranni suddenly.
"That is one way of putting it," the Tarnished responded in agreement.
From atop Torrent, they looked out into the far distance, witnessing the smoke that was just visible on the horizon.
It's been quite some time now since they'd left the previous town and were now coming upon the water town. At their current pace, what with Torrent trotting along briskly, they could reach the sole large road that led from one end of the water town and out the other within the hour. Should Torrent resume galloping in full, they could easily reduce that time by half.
However, they stopped themselves from picking up the pace in order to observe what was happening from afar.
Even from such a distance, both the Tarnished and Ranni knew the telltale signs of dragons when they saw them. Clearly, even such mighty creatures had been unnerved and sent into a destructive rage by the actions of the gods.
Things truly were getting worse out there in this world… and to think it was all due to the gods effectively trying to follow them.
It was enough to make the Tarnished feel a fair bit of guilt over all this, though the feeling was assuaged by the simple fact that neither he nor Ranni had had any control over how their fates had turned out so far. Nonetheless, it was a point of concern to see the Four Cornered World being steadily decimated by powers that couldn't be so easily contained.
"We should do something," the Tarnished then said, making up his mind about the current situation. "While I don't doubt this world has some way of defending itself against such chaos, any aid we could lend it on occasion would surely help."
Ranni hummed. "A fair point. And it certainly would be troubling if the water town is vanquished before we could even reach it and speak with this Sword Maiden." She then turned around slightly and shot the Tarnished a somewhat chiding look. "But let's not try and pretend otherwise, my dear… I can see ye have an interest in testing thy mettle against the dragons of this world."
Under his Crucible Axe Helm, the Tarnished smiled sheepishly. "…It would be a lie if I said I didn't have some interest in seeing what, if any differences, there were between the dragons of this world and our world have."
Though he'd mainly fought goblins in this world so far, he could say with certainty that in comparison to the ones from the Lands Between, the monsters of this world were noticeably weaker. However, whether that was simply something unique to the goblins of the Four Cornered World or something that applied to all was unknown.
No time like the present to find out, he supposed. And challenge aside, it would be good to know what he and Ranni could likely expect of future obstacles.
This was something the Lunar Princess herself seemed to realize as well.
"Very well," she said with a light sigh, though not without some measure of amusement to it. "If nothing else, it would be good information to know how the dragons of this world fair against us. But do try not to let thyself be distracted too often, my lord consort. We are on a mission, after all."
Nodding in agreement, the Tarnished let out a light 'hyup!' and tugged on Torrent's reins. Immediately, the steed snorted and took off at full speed. Going off the official road that led directly to the water town, the trio opted to cut straight across, heading for the open area that a dragon could now be seen coming from, albeit barely. It was still a fair distance away, far enough that people from the town very likely couldn't even see the dragon yet. It was only the Tarnished and Ranni's significantly sharper senses that allowed them to spot the creature's current location.
Determining the path the dragon seemed like to continue taking, the Tarnished adjust course accordingly. At the rate this was going, they were likely to intercept the dragon within twenty or so minutes, assuming both parties involved continued at their current pace.
The Tarnished frowned beneath his helm – such a length of time was still too long. The dragon would reach the town by then and likely begin razing it to nothing.
"Ranni," he began. "When we draw a little closer, may you lend just a bit of aid?"
She hummed. "A way to draw its attention towards us?"
"Yes."
"…Very well then. Let's see how well it can handle magic." With an almost mischievous smile now, she agreed to the Tarnished's request.
With that decided, he drew out the Darkmoon Greatsword in preparation of what was to come.
From atop the water town's eastern wall, which overlooked the road that led across the huge lake surrounding said town, Female Merchant, once known as Noble Fencer in her adventuring days, looked ahead with a fearful yet still resolved expression.
As one of several aids to the relatively young King, it had been she who had all but literally come running here to warn Sword Maiden in person of the threat that was to come. Following her arrival and message, Female Merchant had then resolved to do her part in aiding Sword Maiden's efforts. If nothing else, the experience she'd been accruing in the capital working as an aid had helped her greatly in learning how to barter and delegate with others from all sorts of backgrounds, skills that had seemingly taken a bit of the burden off the golden ranked adventurer.
Despite this, however, Female Merchant couldn't help but fear she wasn't doing enough somehow. This feeling wasn't something unique to just her, however. Indeed, all along the wall stood numerous guards who looked out to the lands burning far off in the distance , each one's gaze carrying that same feeling of uncertainty and fear her eyes had carried back then. So in that respect, she definitely wasn't alone.
But such a feeling of unity did little to actually calm herself or the others down.
A nearby guard let out a nervous chuckle. "H-Heh, always did dream of fighting a dragon back then… I guess dreams can come true in the weirdest of ways."
Others murmured, some in agreement, some in mild annoyance over the remark. Female Merchant, for her part, just barely held back a snort. She'd once thought the same back then in her foolish youth, having dreamt of having wondrous adventures and exploring all kinds of different things.
Until the goblins had taken her that time, atop the snowy mountain… how things change, yet how other things stay the same. The world truly was a wide place, full of surprises.
"Have all the civilians been brought inside?" she suddenly asked aloud of the people around her. Thanks to her own expertise and partially her friendship with Sword Maiden herself, Female Merchant had been placed in charge of this entire wall, thus all the guards answered to her during this time of crisis.
Her question was ultimately a redundant one, however, for she could clearly peer over the edge of the wall and see that the main road was fully clear. Indeed, as of nearly ten minutes ago, when it'd finally been determined the dragon would not circle around the water town, she'd immediately issued orders to the guards to bring in anyone who may have still been out on the road. This was something that had just been completed a few moments ago.
The purpose of her asking was merely to ensure they were all indeed focusing on the task at hand, ready for anything.
"Yes! We're ready to move out unimpeded," spoke another guard from her side.
"Good." She nodded, trying to look and sound more confident than she actually was. Her well-endowed chest was puffed out with fake bravado.
Though Sword Maiden had ordered holy sigils to be put in place to ensure her Protection miracle can encompass the entire town, there was no guarantee the dragon would see the barrier and then just pass them all over. Given how erratic and spoiling for slaughter it was, there was a possibility it would wait out the duration of the barrier to attack the town. If it came to that, it would be up to all of them to fight the dragon head on.
Female Merchant focused as best as she could. At her side was a fencing blade she'd been given earlier and though she was no longer an adventurer, she'd still kept up her swordplay as best as she could. Additionally, she had her Lightning spell, powerful to kill most creatures around a human's size.
But would these things be enough to do anything against a dragon? While there were those who could combat dragons all on their lonesome, the vast majority of people weren't… and that included herself. So, would she be able to do anything at all to halt the creature?
…Well, it may seem like it would soon be time to find out.
A few mages that had been passing through the water town at the time of all this happening had been requested by Sword Maiden to lend their aid in whatever way they could – for a price, of course, a price that Female Merchant had been in charge of negotiating. Said mages hadn't been battle mages, however, and so the only things they could do was buff others temporarily.
In this particular case, she and a majority of the guards atop the wall, specifically the archers, had been subjected to buffs meant to heighten their senses so that they may aim better with their arrows and in her case, her Lightning spell from afar.
And with these buffs, she could see the dragon perfectly clear now, the normally majestic creatures sporting a wild snarl upon its jagged features, her almost stone-like body tense and ready for battle. It was near, perhaps just another moment or so away from reaching the point where Sword Maiden would have to cast her Protection miracle-.
-Only for something else to occur instead.
Just as the dragon let out a deafening bellow, an action that seemed to turn the lightly cloudy sky into a stormy one, a gigantic amount of magical power in the vague form of three arrows suddenly made themselves known from the right, at least from Female Merchant's point of view.
The three simultaneous attacks struck the side of the mighty existence known as the dragon, detonating with violent force directly against its side and left wing. It was enough to make the dragon howl in surprise and pain, even made it flail about in mid-flight.
But then the mythical beast recovered and glared in the direction of the attack. So did Female Merchant and practically everyone else there, strict combat discipline momentarily forgotten about.
There, off on the mainland and now beginning to near where the road to the water town begins, was some type of… horse? Female Merchant couldn't tell what the creature was, even with her buffed eyesight. In any case, she could see two riders, one fairly small and dressed in white robes while the other was significantly larger in size and wore armor the likes of which Female Merchant had never seen before.
The dragon had certainly taken notice of the two new arrivals as well and altered course. It seemed like it still retained enough pride to not take any attack upon its being lying down. Or perhaps it was simply intending to channel the entirety of its erratic behavior upon them. Either way, its path towards the water town was now averted and it lowered itself rapidly. A claw was raised, intent on crushing the interlopers underneath with all it had.
That was when the larger of the two – clearly a warrior – leapt right off the strange steed with blade in hand. But rather than swing the blade, Female Merchant watched as the warrior reared back his right hand and lobbed what appeared to be a fireball of black and white flames at the incoming dragon.
The fireball moved with surprising speed and when it struck the dragon, the creature let out a screech of pain that put its previous one to shame in volume. Clearly, it had been a special kind of fireball. The dragon retracted its claw and instead now seemed to focus on landing as smoothly as possible, an action that it only partially succeeded in as it slammed its claws and feet into the ground hard in order to remain upright.
The dragon groaned but nonetheless went on the attack swiftly just as the warrior, having now landed, dashed towards it with a speed no one that big should have. Deeming the warrior too close to launch its flame breath, the dragon instead sought to swipe with its left claw – only for the warrior to use that unusually pale blue blade of his to outright parry the strike, batting the claw away and throwing the dragon just somewhat off balance.
Female Merchant became vaguely aware of her jaw slackening as the warrior then performed a mighty leapt that propelled him towards the dragon's neck. The slackening jaw outright dropped as she then saw the warrior stab his sword into the neck with seeming ease, sinking in almost up to the hilt.
But just as it seemed like the dragon would be finished off that quickly, the dragon recovered and shook about, literally throwing the warrior off of it and into the ground like a human comet. The warrior struck the ground hard but used the momentum to perform an amazingly graceful roll that looks as if it had been practiced tens of thousands of times before. Alas, as quick as he was to recover, he hadn't been quick enough to avoid the next attack, which came in the form of the dragon rushing right at him headfirst.
A sound louder than thunder rang out, causing Female Merchant to physically stagger and nearly look away. Same thing went for the guards nearby. But they all regained their composure as best as they as could to continue watching.
Their hearts practically leapt right out of their chests at what had happened to cause such a sound – the warrior had raised his blade at the last possible instant to block the dragon's charge… and had succeeded in doing so, looking to have only been pushed back several yards at most before planting himself firmly enough to not be moved further, not even as the dragon visibly struggled to push harder.
The warrior then switched his grip on his blade – a greatsword now that Female Merchant thought of it – and shifted position before batting at the side of the dragon's face with the flat side of the blade. The dragon recoiled as if struck by a fellow dragon and then tried to actually jump away. Its wings flapped as it turned so that it may fully face the warrior again, rapidly leaving the ground behind.
But just as it began to hover, Female Merchant watched as the warrior suddenly stabbed his blade into the ground and pulled an intricate looking bow seemingly out of nowhere. Then in the span of a split second, he nocked and let fly an arrow that struck the very center of the dragon's right eye. The dragon winced and hissed, only to outright cry when the warrior's companion chose that moment to remind it of their presence as well, firing just a single one of those arrow-shaped magical blasts that drilled right through its left wing.
Said magical attack ended up striking high, tearing not just through the membrane of the wing itself but also striking a joint of some kind, for the dragon immediately fell and slammed into the ground hard, the resulting shake so strong that even from this distance, Female Merchant could feel the vibration travel up her spine.
The enigmatic magic user then appeared to perform some other spell, a chilly looking mist manifesting into existence and coating the entire area and the dragon in particular. It snorted as it rose back up, its stony looking skin now beginning to form a coat of frost all over it though it didn't seem to do much to impede its movements.
However, the warrior, having now taken up his blade again, raised it up in a pose similar to what Female Merchant has seen knights do at times, his blade now glowing and releasing a chilling mist of its own that seemed to surge through the unusual weapon.
But the dragon was having none of it.
It breathed in deep and let out a roar – as well as a veritable tidal wave of flames directly at the warrior. The flames coated the entire area in front of the water town's road, setting the ground alight in addition to the surrounding forest…
…And yet the mist that magic user had created still remained.
The magic user seemed to perform a wave of their hand and the mist suddenly spread out, its very presence putting out the flames as the mist enveloped the affected area. At the same time this happened, Female Merchant also took note of an oddity within the dragon's continuous spewing of flames.
It looked as if there was one spot that was simply refusing to burn at all…
…The spot that the warrior was occupying.
Suddenly, there appeared to be a mighty wind, chilling to the very core even from here, that parted the dragon's fire breath. This finally exposed the warrior, unharmed by what had happened. More than that, he had been calmly approaching the dragon this whole time, having easily reduced the initial distance between them by more than half.
The dragon grunted in what appeared to be shock, the sheer bloodlust it had been exhibiting up until now finally diminishing. This momentary lapse was a mistake on its part for the warrior charged in and swung upwards at an angle. The sheer speed and strength of the swing ended up cutting through a portion of the dragon's right claw, a literal wave of condensed frost blasting up and directly into the side of its face – specifically, the same spot the warrior had struck from before.
The dragon howled and raised its injured claw before slamming it down. The warrior swiftly and gracefully leapt back just enough to avoid the claw, which landed mere inches from his new position. He then flipped his blade around and stabbed it directly into the downed claw, eliciting a shriek as the limb was now solidly pinned to the ground.
Female Merchant then bore witness to the claw's once dark gray skin turning a frosty blue, indicating that something had just happened to it, some kind of debuff. Whatever it was, it was quickly spreading along the rest of its arm, the skin gaining an almost brittle look to it now.
The dragon tugged on its own limb, clearly desperate, only for it to be unable to free its claw; the blade was stuck too deeply into both the claw and the ground. Just what kind of absurd strength did this warrior possess to accomplish such a feat?
The warrior, for his part, merely raised his left fist, the black and white flames from before now surging within his enclosed hand. But rather than lob another fireball like he did before, Female Merchant watched as he appeared to condense within his grasp.
Then before her and the guards' very eyes, he threw himself at the dragon and punched it in that same spot from before with his left fist, the flames within detonating on impact. The dragon's head was nearly snapped a solid ninety degrees from the sheer force of the blow.
The dragon collapsed fully to the ground, still conscious but clearly disoriented and weakened. Female Merchant winced at the sight, for she could now make out the fact that the warrior's three strikes to that particular part of its jaw and neck had resulted in its flesh being completely annihilated. Even without the buffs to her eyesight, she probably still would've been able to see the bone that lied underneath the flesh and blood vessels.
The warrior then leapt atop the dragon's neck and thrust his hands into its flesh. With nary a sound, at least none that she could pick up from here, he craned the dragon's head up, forcing it to look skywards.
Then he suddenly pivoted to his left… an action that caused the dragon's neck, which he'd still been holding, to turn and twist more than a hundred and eighty degrees.
In other words, this unknown warrior had just snapped a dragon's neck. The sickening crack this motion made would stay within her and the guards' memories forever.
Female Merchant could only watch in utter silence as the warrior unceremoniously let go of the now deceased dragon's flesh, its head falling with all the weight of several dozen sacks of stone.
Utter silence permeated the area, neither she nor the guards able to so much as shift from their current spots.
It wasn't until the warrior hopped off the dragon's unmoving body and then looked in their direction – no, he was looking directly at her, she could feel it – and did a little wave in casual greetings that they all let out a breath that none of them had realized they'd been holding for a while now.
"Uh…" a guard began uncertainly, the very same guard who'd commented about once wanting to fight a dragon. "I suppose we should go and greet the newcomers, milady?"
"Y-Yes," she stuttered out, looking away from the warrior to briefly face the guard. "…Spread the word that the danger has passed for now. I'll…" She trailed off, thinking on what to even say or do right now. "…I'll go and greet those two. In the meantime, please send word to the temple… I believe our lady saint would like to speak with them."
The guard nodded numbly and shuffled off alongside a few others to carry out her orders.
She watched, feeling just as numb, as the guards left before then turning back around to look at the warrior. He'd remained in place near the dragon's body, standing tall and calm. Upon noticing her attention back on him, however, he performed another casual wave.
Female Merchant, hesitantly and awkwardly, waved back.
Ranni could say with certainty that what had followed the Tarnished's battle with the dragon had progressed forward with little fanfare – they'd approached the water town's road whereupon a young woman that clearly seemed of an affluent background had come out to greet them. After that had been done, she and her consort had requested a meeting with this town's – more like a city in terms of sheer size, really – leader, the famed Sword Maiden. Much to their good fortune, the young woman – Female Merchant – had accepted such a request, believing it prudent to take them to the leader in light of what had happened.
As she and the Tarnished were led through the water town at a fairly brisk pace, Ranni gazed around lightly, taking in the sights. It was clear that in addition to the slight misnomer of this place, it was very much more advanced than the other places they've come across so far, the architecture mostly comprised of pristine white stone for the most part in comparison to the rougher wood that had mainly compose d structures in the other towns and villages seen.
In some odd way, the Luner Witch found herself reminded of Sella Town back in its glory days. While certainly much smaller than the water town appeared to be in terms of sheer size, it had benefitted greatly from being effectively built right outside of Raya Lucaria, with the lake surrounding it having made it such a pristine sight. Yet another saddening thing, seeing how much it has decayed over the decades and centuries following the Shattering.
Perhaps, once she and her consort have returned home and things calm down, she could work to rebuild the town personally. Though she'd mainly lived in the Carian royal family's castle, she'd still commuted to the academy more than often enough to see the town as a home away from home.
"I know our lady saint will already do so…" suddenly spoke up Female Merchant, rousing Ranni from her thoughts. "But on behalf of the people of this town and myself, thank you for your aid… it really did come at a very opportune time."
"Please think nothing of it," the Tarnished responded. "I merely did what any able-bodied warrior would do when seeing such a thing. If anything, it's good that we made it in time."
Female Merchant chuckled lightly. "What any warrior would do… maybe so but defeating a dragon in the way you did isn't what I'd consider something that could be done often."
"Perhaps," the Tarnished admitted, neither proud of his feat nor mocking, even unintentionally, of others who had perished facing a dragon. "But nonetheless, I believe there are many out there who would have at least made the attempt. Courage in and of itself is plentiful."
Ranni suppressed a slight case of laughter at the brief conversation the two are having.
Having had an up close glimpse at the battle, with just a bit of support thrown her consort's way, she could say that slaying the dragon had ultimately been just another day for the two of them.
Indeed, despite hardly being one at all for the thrills of combat, she couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed – the dragons that had roamed the Lands Between had bee much more powerful and overall dangerous, many having possessed might to rival and in some cases surpass some of the mightiest warriors her world had produced, including even a few of her own demigod siblings. She was certain her consort, follower that he is of lord Godfrey, felt similarly about this.
But she tried to avoid having such a thought permeate her opinion of this world's dangers too much. After all, this had merely been one dragon of presumably many as opposed to back home where they'd been of a rarer sort due to having been hunted extensively over the years.
For all she and the Tarnished knew, the Four Cornered World equivalent of the virtually godlike Placidusax may exist, to say nothing of potential equivalents to the sibling dragons Lanseaxx and Fortissax, both of whom were quite notable existences as well.
Granted, her consort, the ever so thorough traveler and seeker of strength that he is, had defeated all three of these dragons as well as the rest that had claimed certain areas within the Lands Between as their own, but still, if existences equal to them in strength roamed the Four Cornered World, then even the likes of them would face some serious challenge.
But that was neither here nor there for now.
"Pardon me," Ranni spoke, gently interrupting the small talk both her consort and Female Merchant had been engaging in still. "But tell us, young one – what sort of person is your lady saint?"
"Ah…" Female Merchant, looking somewhat taken aback by the sudden question, stumbled a bit. But she recovered and proceeded to reply. "She's… well, she's just about everything that most people would imagine her to be – calm, collected, and gentle… yet with the power and will to use it to make certain the water town stays protected. And…" She trailed off, blushing lightly. "…And she's someone that I can say I have the honor of being friends with."
"Mm, interesting," Ranni said despite feeling somewhat otherwise. Female Merchant had told her and the Tarnished nothing of note about the woman beyond what surely must be a generic description by this point.
She'd been hoping for something a bit more substantive so that she could perhaps formulate a diplomatic strategy to ensure Sword Maiden's cooperation for any future endeavors but now that didn't seem to be likely.
…Oh well, not like things have been going too badly for her and the Tarnished so far. So long as the two of them remained careful of what details they had to give and how they worded their own responses in general, things should be fine.
By now, they had reached the temple where Sword Maiden resided and were greeted by several attendants. Chief among them was an older woman dressed in an immaculate habit. A brief sideways glance shared with her consort confirmed that both of them had immediately identified the woman as someone of considerable authority herself. In all likelihood, an aid to Sword Maiden herself and one who acted in the woman's stead when needed.
This thought proved correct when Female Merchant bowed to the older woman in deference. "As the guards have informed you, these are the two responsible for defeating the dragon. May it be possible for them to see our lady saint?"
The attendants all stared with wide eyes, some murmuring as quietly as possible to one another. However, the oldest one of the bunch, whom Female Merchant had bowed to, silenced the whole lot with just a single glance. Though she too looked somewhat taken aback still despite the guards having told them of the events a while ago, she hid it much better.
"I see. Yes, of course. I believe our beloved Sword Maiden would very much like to meet you two just as much as you'd like to meet her. Please follow me. The rest of you, return to your duties," the older woman, the aid, commanded neutrally.
As the attendants scurried away, the head attendant pivoted gracefully and walked off. Female Merchant followed along and Ranni and her consort did as well.
"Ranni…" spoke the Tarnished just a moment later as they neared what had to be Sword Maiden's meeting chambers.
"Yes, I can feel it," Ranni replied quietly.
Places had a way of carrying about them a certain type of energy. This could be due to the presence of numerous individuals, blessed with either magic or great deals of faith, congregating in a given area for long periods of time or could instead be due to the presence of a single and very notable individual…
…And this was definitely a case of the latter.
From the moment they'd even reached the temple, both Ranni and her consort had felt a certain something, but now that they were so close to the meeting chambers, it was now painfully clear what that 'something' was – that is, Sword Maiden's power.
As the huge twin doors to the chamber opened up, both of them beheld the woman they'd only briefly heard about in their time here in this world so far.
Fairly tall for a woman and with luscious curves shown off a great deal by the revealing white robe-like outfit she wore, pale skin complemented by light blonde hair. Indisputably a great beauty that Ranni couldn't help but vaguely compare to none other than Marika herself, if only due to the surprising number of physical similarities both possessed, though Marika's hair had been a more golden hue, to say nothing of possessing a sterner visage overall and with a black gown to contrast Sword Maiden's white clothing scheme.
Yes, truly a beauty that even she, the Lunar Princess, must admire. Not even the black clothe that covered her eyes did anything to detract from the sight as Sword Maiden turned to face them both with staff in hand.
But her beauty, great as it is, was merely the second or even third thing both Ranni and the Tarnished had noticed about her.
Instead, the very first thing that had drawn their attention was the sheer amount of power that the woman possessed despite only being in her mid-twenties at best. An immense amount of what could only be described as holy energy radiated off Sword Maiden's form, putting all other individuals they've encountered so far to shame in terms of sheer quantity and quality.
Not even the Hero and her allies could compare, Ranni felt, though to be fair the trio possessed skills and other advantages that made them the superior combatants to Sword Maiden or so the Lunar Princess felt.
Still, whatever disadvantages Sword Maiden had when compared to the Hero and the others, that fact didn't detract one bit from her own considerable might. Were she an inhabitant of the Lands Between, she'd easily be one of the strongest Incantation users out there, though still inferior in overall power by a very considerable margin compared to the demigods and other beings of that level.
Well, except for Godrick the Grafted, of course, but he had been the runt of the litter at best.
"Greetings, you two," Sword Maiden called out in a melodic voice. "I've been informed of your aid to the water town. For sparing us what could have potentially been a great disaster, I offer you my most heartfelt thanks."
Then, despite her position as leader, Sword Maiden bowed quite low, an action that actually left Ranni and the Tarnished somewhat stunned. While they had known many leaders of various sorts back in their home world, all of whom having possessed some degree of either great pride or humility alike, they couldn't recall any ever showing such respect to those who were, quite frankly, so far beneath their station. After all, at least from the perspective of everyone in the Four Cornered World, both Ranni and her consort were two unknown foreigners. Powerful, yes, but foreigners of enigmatic backgrounds nonetheless.
"Please, raise your head," spoke the Tarnished softly. "While you honor us with your thanks, it was merely good fortune that we happened to be nearby to be of help in the first place."
"Indeed," Ranni decided to add. "At the risk of being too bold, as leader, ye shouldn't be so quick to bow to another no matter the situation." Her words got the attendant to nod ever so slightly yet so vigorously in agreement. "But if ye wish to show gratitude so fervently… mayhaps we speak plainly?"
"Of course," Sword Maiden began as she slowly rose back up. The sheer size of the black cloth around her eyes did well in hiding quite a bit of her expression, but Ranni could detect just a mild hint of surprise and confusion at how things were progressing so far. "You've done us all a great service, so if what you seek is a reward, please tell me what it is and I shall grant your wish to the best of my ability."
Ranni inclined her head in thanks as did her consort. "Then allow me to explain our situation…"
And so without any additional fanfare, she began to speak.
Sword Maiden listened in silence as the two newcomers said their piece.
To put it summarily, they are foreigners who had been accidentally flung to this land via an unforeseen accident and sought information that could hopefully allow them to find a way back home. To achieve this, they'd been traveling around with only some level of direction in order to find something that may be relevant to their goal. Them coming here, as it turned out, happened to be such a venture and it was truly by Chance that they'd arrived in time to fight and slay that rampant dragon.
"Quite the sordid tale," she commented once the woman in white, possessing oddly blue skin and four arms of all things, finished her tale whilst her companion, the one primarily responsible for slaying the dragon from what the guards had said in their report, had only provided some additional commentary here and there. "You've my empathy."
And that was all she could say for the moment as she tried to collect her thoughts.
But collecting said thoughts proved to be quite difficult considering the situation she was now in.
These two foreigners… Sword Maiden, for all her experience, was ultimately a gentle soul who tried to see the best in others for the most part. However, in the case of these two, she couldn't help but silently perform the Detect Lie miracle as a precaution, a miracle that proved ultimately futile as nothing the blue skinned woman, who'd introduced herself as Ranni, had said had triggered any figurative alarms.
…Though that could be because everything she'd said had been rather undescriptive, just vague enough to avoid true scrutiny.
But more than that… Sword Maiden could sense the aura these two possessed, unlike anything she's ever felt before. It was almost as if she was standing before some sort of esoteric divinity… but that couldn't be right. Gods didn't simply walk the land despite what tales may have said at some point.
In any case, it was an undeniable fact that these two were clearly extremely powerful. If they meant to do harm, then Sword Maiden doubted very little could be done to outright stop them, merely delay them at best.
On an aside, the sheer 'brightness' of their auras allowed the nearly fully blind Sword Maiden to 'see' their physical forms fairly well.
She would have to be careful in how she proceeded from here.
"Then what ye say, fair lady?" Ranni spoke. "Will we receive thy help?"
"Of course," Sword Maiden replied as she descended the steps so that she may be on the same level as them, a way of showing understanding and equality, or at least neutrality. "But first I would need to know how best to help you. Forgive me if I seem too blunt, but your tale left no indication of what direction your homeland lies in, so providing transport to the nearest port would be impossible. The same could be said of any other similar method of help."
Ranni chuckled very lightly. "It is as I said, actually – we simply seek information." She waved her four arms slowly and gently. "As ye may be able to discern, I am a magic user, a sorceress. I've my own ways of scrying and that alone should hopefully allow my companion and I to find a way home. However, in order to make proper use of such a thing, I need knowledge."
"I see. I'm somewhat familiar with magic myself, though not a practitioner myself." Sword Maiden delicately raised a finger to her chin in thought. "…Scrying you say… from what I recall it is made use of through the geography of the surrounding land or what is often referred to as leylines, corrects?"
"Ye are not wrong," Ranni began. "But my spellwork is more reliant on the movement of the stars themselves, a way of peering out into the cosmos itself. And alas, the night sky here is fairly different from where we are from, meaning my scrying has lost considerable effectiveness. If thou can provide any information at all about the field of astrology – the study of stars and celestial bodies – then that would be an immense boon to us."
Ah, yes, she's heard of such a thing before. Sadly it was one of the few fields she could admit to having little knowledge of, but it wasn't some unheard of concept.
"My own knowledge on that field is quite lacking I'm afraid." Sword Maiden, despite her uncharacteristic suspicions of the two, was genuinely apologetic about this. "But the water town does have two libraries I believe you can make use of – both a public one and my own private library, easily the largest ones in the kingdom aside from the one within the capital itself. I'd be more than happy to allow you unfiltered access to them, even lend an aid or two to help you search for the information you seek more quickly."
Her personal attendant, ever so serious and uptight, looked up in alarm at her words. After all, Sword Maiden's private library was private for a reason. Allowing anyone outside of perhaps one or two dedicated librarians to its upkeep to peruse its contents was practically unprecedented. Thankfully, the attendant stood behind the two foreigners and so her expression went unnoticed.
As for Female Merchant, who stood off to the side and well within view of the two foreigners, she merely blinked in surprise at her words but otherwise gave nothing else away about her own thoughts on the matter.
"That would be most appreciated, your grace," now spoke the warrior wearing such unusual armor. His expression was completely impossible to read given the strange axe-shaped helm he wore, but if anything Sword Maiden had to suppress a light smile as she turned her attention to him. Though only in the most superficial ways possible, he reminded her of dear Goblin Slayer. "I believe your private library will suffice for now, however. The public one we can resort to as a last resort, if that is fine with you."
"We would very much appreciate the help ye can provide with thy aids, however." Ranni's comment effectively brought an end to this 'dealing,' if it could even be called that.
Sword Maiden nodded. "Then I believe the matter is settled, at least this particular one is." She paused. "As searching through the library may take a few days depending on the speed at which you two work through it, at the very least allow me to provide you some lodgings for the time being… head attendant? May I ask you to provide a room for them?"
"…It will be done, my lady." Her attendant bowed lowly before rising back up and addressing the two foreigners. "I believe we have one room already prepared for guests. Would you two care to follow me and see it for yourselves?"
Both of them agreed and after bidding Sword Maiden farewell for the moment, they took their leave.
Sword Maiden, after returning their goodbyes, waited patiently for them to leave the meeting chambers. Only once they were fully gone did she allow herself to let out a heavy sigh.
"That had really been something," Female Merchant mumbled from nearby, having remained behind.
Sword Maiden, now with only her friend present, allowed herself to giggle lightly. "That might be putting it a bit too mildly."
"…Uhm, not to question your judgement, but was it really a good idea to provide them help like that so readily?" Female Merchant was speaking just a tad bit more casually as well, an indication of their closeness. "Not that I'm ungrateful to their help, but that felt a little too generous even for you."
Sword Maiden hummed. "You're… not wrong. Their help aside, they feel… different. And powerful… so very, very powerful. Making potential enemies out of them amidst all this Chaos would be bad indeed. But it's not as if I'm letting them roam completely free."
"…Oh! The aids!" Female Merchant's eyes lit up in realization.
Sword Maiden nodded in confirmation.
The aids she will provide them to help search for their desired information will be making reports to her about their activities, just to make sure they aren't seeking out knowledge that could potentially be dangerous in the wrong hands. Additionally, while allowing them to lodge here in her temple was certainly a double-edged sword, it would at least keep them close at hand in case they did try anything in general.
That said…
"…They don't seem the sort to do anything truly bad, but this is ultimately a series of precautions that must be taken, especially in these strange times," Sword Maiden muttered.
Female Merchant looked thoughtful. "I guess so. If nothing else… well, considering he didn't look even remotely winded after killing the dragon, I'd really rather not have the warrior get violent for any reason. Same thing for his companion if her skill with magic rivals his martial prowess." She paused. "…Would it be fine if I help them search?"
Sword Maiden shot her a surprised look. "Are you sure? Do you not have anything to tend to back in the capital?"
Her friend smiled. "I made sure to finish up whatever had to be done before rushing on over here. Plus, I could write off my extended stay as simply doing what I can to help you get the water town running smoothly again. I don't think his majesty would mind it, at least not that much."
Sword Maiden did an unladylike snort. "I don't know; he can be quite unbearably moody like that." She would know considering how long she and the King have known each other. "In any case, your help would be appreciated. Thank you very much."
Female Merchant beamed in response to her thanks. But this lasted for just a few seconds before she got serious again. "With how crazy things have been getting out there… do you think there may be a way we could petition those two to help out?"
The ruler of the water town frowned in thought at that. Being privy to the same information that the King himself received for the most part, she was well aware of the odd changes occurring out in the desert now, with reddening skies and strange growths erupting out of the land itself. This was in addition to the report of the Hero and her two friends having to cut down people and animals that had been afflicted by something out there near the borders.
What had once been an age of adventure and fun travels in general was now slowly yet steadily on its way of becoming an age of Chaos. If strange events kept on occurring this regularly now, they truly would need all the help they could get.
And people on the level of these two foreigners would certainly become valuable assets if things ever got that bad. Even Sword Maiden had to recognize that simple fact.
"Possibly," she said after a moment. "But I pray it never comes to that."
Her hand went to the necklace that hung against her bosom, the marking of the Supreme God.
…Normally, whenever she clenched it, she could feel the Supreme God's blessings at work in the form of a comforting warmth.
…That warmth was feeling terribly lacking right now.
Whew, nearly 10,000 words and 18 pages long! Easily one of the longest chapters for this fic so far and one of the longer chapters I've ever recalled writing in general. Seems like the chapters for my fic just keep getting greater in length every time, ha ha.
Anyways, hope the fight scene from Female Merchant's perspective was a fun one despite its briefness. As for the Tarnished being able to take down the dragon so easily, well, as stated within the chapter itself, the general power level within Goblin Slayer is a significantly lower than what's shown and described in Elden Ring, what with a majority of the GSverse's might coming from super large creatures, special abilities/skills and particularly powerful magic whilst physical stats often tend to be within the low end superhuman range in terms of fiction. Meanwhile in Elden Ring, the Tarnished, regardless of what build the player makes for them, is able to throw down with enormous Stone Golems, creatures that could smash up the environment with just casual attacks as a mere side effect and of course, the demigods and others on that level and above, with Radahn able to halt the stars for who knows how many years on end with plenty of other characters near, at, or even above, that level of ridiculous might.
To say nothing, of course, of the fact that the Elden Beast is a veritable god above the likes of even Radagon and Marika, with the creature being the literal embodiment of the Golden Order, an abstract law. And the Tarnished can kill it, obviously.
But I'm not going to get into a huge rant or anything about the very specifics of power levels or whatever – I'll leave that to other people to do if they want. I'm just here to tell as good of a story as I can while remaining as faithful as possible to the settings/mechanics of both verses.
In any case, hope you all enjoyed the chapter and what else there will be to come.
Stay safe everyone! Until next time!
