Book 2 The Lord of Blood
Petals fall off the tree as Malenia's carcass rest on the ground, and the hunter is standing and covered in blood. The Hunter looks up at the new figure that has arrived and stares. Mohg slowly steps up to Malenia and kneels down.
"To think, Malenia, that this is where your glory meets its end… Your legend deserved a far grander end."
He grasps his trident and raises to his fit. Enraged, he turns to face the Hunter. Slowly taking steps forward, he states
"Was it you? Did you give her such a bitter end? Are you the one I have to ki-"
He pauses mid way as the Hunter wasn't reacting at all. All he did was stare in confusion. "Could he be the one to have done this?" Mohg thought as he began to scan the surrounding area. There he was.. The tarnished. The tarnished on his knees begin to quiver. "Why is Mohg here??? He never leaves Miquella…NEVER!?" The tarnished thought to himself while beholding the appearance of Mohg.
"Perhaps… It was you- Tarnished. You are the one who defiled Malenia in such a way!... But that wouldn't explain the ominous aura I felt…"
Mohg now seeming just as confused as the hunter, the tarnished began to realize. He slowly raises to his feet and stares at the hunter.
"Mohg is here because of an aura he sensed... This man effortlessly killed Malenia, yet before and after their battle, his presence was unremarkable, void of any noticeable aura. He sits there now, bewildered... What drove him to challenge Malenia in the first place? There must be something more..."
Mohg shakes his head and turns toward the tarnished. He raises his trident and points it in his direction. "No matter... Even if you possessed such an aura, your fate was sealed. You were destined to die regardless, having already slain other demigods!"
Twitch* The hunter suddenly stops moving and turns his head to face the two. Still not saying a word. Just staring. The tarnished watched his reaction. He sees the anger. The hatred in The hunter's eyes. But.. this is different from Malenia. Instead of attacking he is just watching. As if he is trying to figure out which of the two to hunt. Before he has any more time to think, Mohg rushes the tarnished and throws a handful of blood at him. The tarnished jumps and rolls out of the way to see Mohg already towering over him. Mohg raises his spear preparing to strike, but the tarnished turns and completely runs away.
"I'm not ready to fight someone like Mohg!" He yells to himself as he continues running. Mohg stares in confusion. Could someone like this really have killed Malenia? No matter. Mohg chases behind The tarnished and begins closing distance fast. The hunter just watched all of this with no emotion. No movement. Just staring. Mohg throwing blood around seemingly at random. The blood he throws burst into flames and begins burning the surrounding area. Tarnished continues to run for his life dodging the blood and sometimes even Mohgs trident. He darts for the exit, but is stopped as the exit now has flaming blood at the entrance. Suddenly the sides both left and right burst into flames as well.
"He got me! He wasn't just randomly throwing this. It was calculated!" The tarnished thought as Mohg slowly approaches from the one way not engulfed in flames. Mohg slowly walked toward the Tarnished states, " I don't know how you managed to kill Malenia... or how you've survived this long at all. But it seems your fate ends here, Tarnished." Mohg now in front of the tarnished. "It seems you were fated to be ended by me…. Lord of Blood… and Demigod, Mohg!" He prepares to swing his trident down but stops and guards behind him immediately. His eyes focused on the hunter with both fear and curiosity. "There it is… The Aura! That ominous thing I felt! And it is oozing from him!" Mohg thought to himself.
The hunter, now facing them directly, grips his weapon and looks directly at Mohg. His head having a slight twitch and his eye veins being clearly visible. He flips his saw-cleaver out so that it has more range and takes a step forward. "So… You're the demigod!" The hunter states while taking another step forward. The Tarnished stares from behind Mohg. "It's just like with Malenia! That dark and ominous aura! And he's showing hostility towards Mohg!"
Mohg rushes the hunter. He doesn't know exactly what he is feeling but it is dangerous. The hunter immediately closes the rest of the distance between the two and rushes Mohg as well. Mohg is astonished by his speed. Even the tarnished watches the two's movements even though he can barely keep up with what is happening. But it isn't just speed that the hunter has. Mohg swings his trident downward and the hunter, instead of rolling, dodges in and gets closer. The hunter swings his saw-cleaver and lands a hit to Mohg's side immediately breaking bones. Mohg lets out a small shriek after the blow lands. He jumps back to regroup. "Thou is a powerful enemy.. I can see how you managed to kill Malenia now." Mohg states while recollecting. Once again the tarnished can do nothing but watch as these two exchange blows back and forth. But the main one getting hit is Mohg. The hunter is too agile for Mohg to properly land an attack. But Mohg was too tanky and fired attacks too rapidly for the hunter to fully be able to rush him. After a few more clashes the hunter stops attacking and stands still. He switches his saw cleaver back to the short version and takes out his pistol. He also takes out a paper and places it over his cleaver. The paper seeps into the weapon and sparks of electricity begin to spark. Mohg watches as his weapon is now sparking with pure electricity. He decides to prepare an attack of his own and thrust his trident into a pool of blood that has formed in the air above him. Just as he tries to take the trident out and attack the hunter is no longer in front of him. Mohg feels a piercing blow to his side as millions of volts rush his body.
"When did thoust move?!" Mohg thought while turning to face the hunter, his movements now slowed because of the shock. But when he turned once again the hunter wasn't there. Behind again? Mohg quickly swings his weapon in a 180 but is interrupted by the hunter once again. *Bang* A bullet pierces him this time and goes clean through his body. Mohg is slowly but surely starting to realize this is not a battle he can win. This…hunter… it's almost as if he is meant to hunt gods. This thing is not something that was meant for him to beat. If he can't kill him… he must warn the others. Mohg sprouts wings and takes to the sky while looking at the hunter.
"You shall not escape unscathed! The others will learn of your presence, and you shall become the hunted... By the name of Mohg, this I swear!" Mohg states while taking for the hole he came from. The hunter, saying nothing, runs full sprint at the decaying tree and starts running up it. He kicks off the tree and meets Mohg at the hole in the roof. Mohg throws blood on the hunter and the hunter fires his pistol once more, both damaging each other one last time. Mohg escapes through the hole and makes his way out of the Elpheal. Injured and bleeding he makes a b-line for Atlus Plateau.
The hunter falls to the ground landing firmly on his feet. He stares up at the hole in anger before shoving a vial into his leg. He puts his pistol away, his cleaver on his back, and he turns to the tarnished. The tarnished ,still processing everything, understood one thing. They needed to leave immediately. For not even the hunter can fight all the remaining demigods at once? The tarnished slowly approached the hunter as if a human approached a rabid dog. "Fear not, for I am no threat to you…" The tarnished states while approaching. " I am but a tarnished, here for a shot at the elden ring." The hunter seems to have understood even without saying anything. He calmly walks up to the tarnished and reaches out his hand as if to shake it. The tarnished anxiously shook his hand and quickly made some distance between them.
"It would seem you don't like the gods, demi or not" The Tarnished states while collecting himself. "It seems we share a common goal, you and I. I, too, must face the demigods and bring them down to claim my rightful place as Lord. Perhaps we can join forces, united by our cause?" The hunter seems pleased with this proposition as he nods his head. They both begin heading out of Elpheal, they both seem to be watching each other. The hunter takes note of the things known as "runes" and how they are used to back the tarnished stronger. He takes note that even if he kills something the tarnished gets runes. He also takes note of the enemies that block their path. They seem more…normal than what he is used to. And didn't the tarnished get here first? So why is there still so many that stand in their way? Lastly he takes note of the tarnished fighting them. He is struggling to combat some of them and some he completely avoids.
The Tarnished takes note that the hunter kills anything in their way. He is fast and efficient about it, but most importantly he is strong. Not even the tarnished can openly fight these ones but he does it so easily. Not only that, he has yet to use the other weapons on him. He seems to have a curved sword..no.. a dagger? As well as a giant blade. How does he carry all of that? Not to mention his clothes. He is dressed so light but styled. How is he taking hits from demigods with no kind of armor? Lastly, what is he staring at? At random moments the hunter seems to be staring at nothing. He has done it numerous times along the way. But what's concerning is that he is staring at the same spots every time.
"So they are here too…" The hunter states to himself while looking off in a direction. "But they seem more..docile. As if all they wish to do is watch. Like humans watching ants." The tarnished over hears this and watches the hunter with curiosity and anxiety. Eventually they exit Elpheal and enter the consecrated snowfield. Where there is an interesting person awaiting them. It is none other than Ranni the witch.
Authors Note
This is a practice story for another story that I intend to upload so if you have any criticism please let me know. Whether it is the format, dialogue, or simply something you didn't understand. Please and thank you!