Gamer Of The Multiverse - Book One: Hope & Despair

by DeathlyJazzHands55

Dying a miserable and loathsome death, Jolyne Brooks is given another chance by Loki, God of Mischief, who grants her The System, and sends her to a world in dire need of repair. A world that was once relegated for despair, finds itself in the hands of madness. Now, the world is in the incapable hands of someone with severe imposter syndrome and the powers of a video game.

26. Chpt 24: And Compassion Brings Hope

Final chapter before the epilogue. I just wanted to thank you all for joining me on this wild ride. I'll be honest, I didn't expect to complete the first book in a single year. I expected it to take me at least two—pretty sure I said this before but whatever. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that we're here now. I don't know how long this chapter will be but it'll definitely be shorter than the last one, that's for sure lol.

Anyway, enough of that outta me. You all know the drill. For the last time, my responses to reviews/comments will be at the end of the chapter. The Epilogue won't have that, just so that you all know in advance. Enjoy!

[-Opening Song: Gambling – By: Syudou-]

"Waking up in that damn hospital all those years ago It makes me wonder, even to this day, whether or not I was ready for what was about to happen to me. I was lost, confused, and unsure of my life going forward. But looking back on That Place…. It was only just the beginning." – Diary Entry 0001 – Lines 1 through 3, Page 1.

[-Chapter 24 – And Compassion Brings With It Hope-]

"So, explain to me why I have to do this now?" Jolyne groaned, her voice barely above a whispering mumble as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes. It was 4:45 in the morning, and even though she didn't need sleep, or even had the capacity to truly feel tired, she had desperately needed it. Mentally, she was drained. Emotionally, she was exhausted. And while physically she was fit as a fiddle, that didn't change the fact that she was still beyond tired.

Currently, Jolyne was standing in an empty, abandoned mall parking lot on the outskirts of Tokyo's southern entrance. Wilderness had mostly taken the building over with moss and grass starting to poke out from the pavement. All of the colour from the paint on the buildings walls had been faded over years and years of disuse and disrepair.

Jolyne was never one for philosophical things, but looking at that building reminded her just how powerful nature was. It didn't matter how tall the buildings that humans made were to stand, nor how culturally significant they were, to nature, everything will return to its natural state.

It had been a day since Jolyne had wiped out The Kuzuryu Clan. News had already spread to Class 77 – B according to Hajime. They… weren't taking it well. None of them were taking it out on him, though. Albeit he had been getting a few odd stares from a couple of his classmates, specifically some guy named Soda and that Nagito guy she had met yesterday. Oh, and that Saionji person that Hajime had told her about.

Aside from that, and the general mourning air that Class 77 – B had, they tried to keep the mood of the class close to the same. That was another thing that bothered Jolyne about Japanese culture. Mourning the dead was supposed to be done in private and not in public—much like how affection was supposed to be handled. They were private affairs, not public ones.

It didn't make a lick of sense to Jolyne. But, that was just the difference between Western and Eastern culture, she supposed. Different societies had different standards. It just so happened that some of those standards were stupid.

As for why she was standing outside of an abandoned mall at the crack of dawn, it had to do with her completion of The Mastery Dungeon. Or, more rather, her entering The Mastery Dungeon. Which had been signified by the 100 foot tall gold-encrusted wooden ethereal door that stood before her. The sides of the door were overflowing with golden energy that looked like flames.

It oozed power—more power than any Dungeon door that she approached. It also didn't help that other Dungeon doors were not nearly as tall as this. All of them were regular door sized entrances. But this? This was different.

[Simply put: I do not want you to drag your feet on this. You already have 20 extra levels waiting for you thanks to your completion of a side-quest, the Legacy Dungeon and the Remembrance you've collected. Not to mention the contract that you've finished, which is another 5 levels. You will already be level 85 once this is finished, and that is a lot of power you cannot ignore, Jolyne. 25 levels is no laughing matter, especially for someone like you. Or need I go on my regularly scheduled diatribe?]

With a grunt of acknowledgement, Jolyne rolled her eyes and walked toward the massive gilded wooden door. She supposed Mono was right. Even when dealing with Higuchi, she was still somewhat struggling. Despite her stats being unusually high for her level, if she hadn't gotten the boost that she did from becoming a Draculina, she would have more than likely died.

For as much as she wanted to try and feign ignorance and continue attempting to live a semi-normal life, there was no more trying to do that. No more ignoring what needed to be done. The Kuzuryu Clan Raid was the wake up call she had needed—in reality it should've been the nonsense with DICE, and while that was the call to action, this was the slap in the face.

Slapping the sides of her head, Jolyne felt a jolt of energy spark through her as all the grogginess from before washed away. "Alright. No more games. It's time to do this." As Jolyne said that, she reached out to touch the door, only to stop when a pop-up appeared before her. It was tutorial pop-up, much like the ones she had experienced when first showing up to this world. She guessed it made sense, given that this was the first time she was encountering one of these. So she made sure to read it carefully.

[Hello! Welcome to your very first Mastery Dungeon! Before you embark on becoming stronger than you already are, let's first go over a few important bits of information so that you're not confused!]

[1: When inside a Mastery Dungeon, there is no need to fear death! Within the confines of a Mastery Dungeon, it is expected that you die more than a couple times before completing it. Mastery Dungeons are programmed to safe guard you from True Death. However, that is not to say that you should get too cocky. Just because you're immune to True Death, that does not mean there are no consequences. Every time you die in a Mastery Dungeon, you will be kicked out and forced to wait 24 hours to make another attempt. The Dungeon will also restart to the very beginning, erasing any progress you make.]

[2: Mastery Dungeons are meant to challenge you. It is best you strategize first before you tackle such a Dungeon. Do not be discouraged from using your head instead of muscling your way through.]

[3: Each Mastery Dungeon will have a certain set of restrictions applied the moment you step into the Dungeon. These restrictions can be as simple as having half the stamina you usually should, to being that you can only use your fists with no spells or weapons. The only time this changes is whether or not your Patron God makes a drastic change to guide you in a different direction than what was already planned out.]

[Now that you are aware of the three main rules of The Mastery Dungeons, you should be good to go. Good luck, (Jolyne Brooks). You are going to need it~!]

That little tid bit at the end made Jolyne falter slightly. None of the tutorials up to this point had ended with that sort of statement. They were usually robotic—like an AI barking out a set of rules. That last part felt as if it was personally directed toward her—which it was.

"When in doubt, blame Loki…" Jolyne thought, unamused as she dismissed the pop-ups and pressed her hand against the center of the double doors. As soon as her hand pressed against the wood, the doors began to creak open, and by the time she opened them enough to step through, she was blinded by a gilded light that made her have to stop and focus.

It took Jolyne a few seconds to register what had happened. By the time that she had, she felt a strong gust of wind race around her. The sound of hawks cawing and the sensation of brickwork under foot filled her senses. She squinted, eyes narrowing as she adjusted to the blinding light. It took several seconds for her to adjust, but when she finally did, she was met with a rather interesting sight.

Before her stood a brick pathway, decorated with weapons jabbed into the ground. The surrounding, elevated land that she stood upon was connected to what appeared to be a brick tunnel behind her that stretched on for a while, though it curved so she couldn't make out what was beyond it.

In front of her, there sat an stone-brick archway , and in the distance there was another, larger stone-brick archway with elegant large towers. Then, as if to frame the rest of the set piece, a massive fortress loomed over head. It had seen better days, evidently recovering from some kind of siege against its walls. There were harsh winds whipping around the castle, and it took Jolyne a second for her adjust to it.

However, the most notable thing that she had noticed, by far, was the fact that now adorned on her hip were two kinds of flasks. One filled with a red liquid, and the other blue. Furthermore, there once again was a pop-up, only now her confusion gave way to befuddlement.

[Welcome, O' Honoured One, To The Lands Between. Healing Does Not Work Normally Here. Passive Regeneration For HP And MP Has Been Disabled. To Replenish Either, You Must Use The Crimson Tear And Cerulean Tear Flasks Attached To Your Hip. They Have Split 14 Charges Each, So Use Them Wisely, As They Will Only Replenish After 24 Hours Have Passed.]

"What the…?"

[No. No you are not supposed to be here. This was supposed to take you to your Mastery Dungeon. I am trying to figure out what has happened. Please hold for just a moment.] That was… not good. Mono sounded frantic. That did not bode well. Had someone—

"Relax, worrywart. Change of plans." Loki's voice annoyingly ruptured her thoughts as Mono's thinking did just about the same.

[Loki. What have you done? Do you not know how furious The Greater Will and The Lesser Mind will be for you messing with their prized creation?!]

"This ain't the base world, you dunder head. It's a copy—A heavily detailed, one-to-one copy mind you, and I might have stolen the real Malenia for… reasons, but that's neither here nor there. Besides, do you really think that I hadn't asked? Yeesh, and here I thought you were smart." As Loki said that, Jolyne, still confused, scratched the back of her head. As she looked around, she couldn't help but feel as if she was being watched. But… by what?

"Anyway, to make a very long-winded explanation short. Due to my recent meeting with the other Watchers, we did something that requires you, Jolyne, to come here for one of the Laws we enacted to take place. So, for the foreseeable future, every time you do a Mastery Dungeon, you'll be hunting one of the 9 Demi-Gods of these lands, and collect all 10 Great Runes—yes, I am aware that it sounds a bit out of sorts but you'll figure it out. Target #1, Godrick The Golden, or, as he is more locally known, Godrick The Grafted. A.k.a. The Spider. Weakest of The Demi-Gods, and only slightly weaker than the last Remembrance Boss you fought. Good luck~!"

As soon as Loki finished talking, before she had the chance to say anything, another pop-up appeared in front of her, replacing the old one.

[Mastery Quest - Repair The Elden Ring – Part 1]

[Difficulty: Master]

[Description: The Lands Between is in dire need of repair. Find all of the Great Runes, repair the shattered Elden Ring, and bring The Lands Between to its former self. Your first goal is to get The Anchor Ring, aka Godrick's Great Rune, formerly Godwyn The Golden's.]

[Godrick/Godwyn's Great Rune: 0/1]

[Overall Progress: 0/10 Great Runes found]

[Rewards: Levels 51 – 100 Unlocked, 2.2 Million Yen, 1 Legendary Talisman]

It was at that point that Jolyne remembered that she had her Mythical Armor Token—To be fair to her, she had been rudely woken up by Mono and had been solely focusing on trying to get this Mastery Dungeon over and done with. Not that she had started it yet, but regardless. The point was that she had forgotten.

Pulling the token out of her inventory, she snapped it in half with little to no fanfare, and as soon as she did, the piece of armor appeared before her. It was a pair of, for some reason, high-heeled boots. Black in colour and vaguely appeared to be some form of armor. They appeared to stop just above the knee, and they radiated with magical energy.

After a moment, a pop-up appeared—something she totally was not getting sick of.

[Artoria Pendragon Greaves (Alter) – Mythic]

[Original Owner: Artoria Pendragon Alter]

[Original Universe: Fate/hollow ataraxia/Universe 0188]

[Description: A copy of the greaves belonging to Artoria Pendragon Alter/Saber Alter/Dark Saber of Universe 0188. These greaves are steeped in Blasphemous Magic, powerful enough to have been part of the process that corrupted Artoria Pendragon, all of which is due to Angra Mainyu, an individual who had been absorbed into The Grail which had mistakenly believed that his wish was to become All The Worlds Evils, resulting in him becoming just that and inadvertently corrupting Saber. Thankfully, Saber has been cured of this, but the armor still remains. Confiscated by The Almighty, and cleansed of its corrupting influence, it now remains a powerful set of armor.]

[Grants Wearer 50% Physical Damage Negation, and 50% Holy Damage Negation. Boosts Blasphemy Damage by 100% At The Start of Any Battle and Lasts for 30 Seconds]

"Jesus, that's insane," Jolyne muttered as she instantly equipped the armor. As she looked down at her legs, she smirked. They matched the dress fairly well, and it also gave her a slight boost in height that she definitely wanted. More protection against the Holy element was also appreciated. Now she had over 100% negation for it—about 125%. Meaning it would do half as much damage as it normally would. Now, if it went over 200% negation then holy damage would be doing a third of its natural damage, and so on and so forth.

After adjusting to the feel of the armor and adjusting to height difference, figuring that it was about time to get this started, Jolyne only had to take a few steps forward for something to happen. A powerful gust of wind kicked up, causing Jolyne to shield her face from the winds. That was typically the sign of something powerful approaching, which didn't exactly fill her with any confidence. After a few moments, a voice erupted out of nowhere.

"Foul Tarnished…"

The voice sounded vaguely English. Not as in the language, but as in the dialect. The direction of where the voice was coming from had been atop one of the lofty pillars on the second archway. In a burst of golden light, a bizarre looking creature—almost like a troll mixed with a ogre sporting a large scorpion-esque tail dotted with horns, much like his head and even parts of his arms—stood.

The creature was dressed in a raggedy old cloak, and his eyes smouldered with a faded golden shine. Those eyes cast a glare down upon Jolyne, as a scowl stole his visage. "In search of The Elden Ring… Emboldened by The Flame of Ambition." With a mighty heft of power, and a huff of air, the creature leapt from his spot on the tower, and landed in a cloud of dust before Jolyne, who once again had to shield her face.

As the dust settled, Jolyne was able to stare up at the massive creature. She couldn't help but feel small underneath its gaze—like a small dog looking up at a wolf. The creature stood at easily 15 feet tall. His cane—which she was now noticing—was easily twice her size.

"Someone must extinguish thy flame. Let it be Margit The Fell," the creature, Margit, raised his cane to his chest in an almost holistic salute, before swinging it outward in a prepared battle stance. Jolyne narrowed her eyes. She had no idea what a Tarnished was, and she had no idea where this jackass got off on calling her one when it so obviously sounded like a slur, but she would make him regret it.

"Alright then, Margit, you wanna be all cocky and think you're king shit?" Jolyne snarled as Margit's eyes narrowed. She summoned forth 3F, as her snarl turned into a upturned sneer. "I've been meaning to test a couple things so I hope you don't mind being my training dummy."

Margit said nothing, and lunged toward Jolyne with his massive cane arching upward in an overhead swing. Jolyne side-stepped the strike, avoiding the attack effortlessly before transforming 3F into its Bardiche form. Briefly, Margit's eyes widened in both curiosity and intrigue, meaning he had never seen a weapon transform like that before—as she swung it toward his mid-section.

Margit was not fast enough to avoid the blow as the blade cleaved into his exceedingly tough skin; it hadn't drawn blood though, which was slightly confusing. That was when a Boss Health bar appeared in her vision, showing that 3F had taken 10% of his HP in a single go, dropping him from 100% to 90%. Jolyne had to remind herself that her greaves were giving her a buff, so that meant that the true damage should've been only 5%. Still, that wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything to scoff at.

Margit countered with a sweeping blow using his cane, which knocked Jolyne back a few inches, only taking off 300 of HP. It probably would've done more—most likely 400 damage—which if that were the case this Margit guy seemed like a massive pushover.

Jolyne leapt backward, avoiding another sweeping strike as wings sprouted from her back. Margit finally seemed taken aback by what he had seen, and took a step back, his eyes gaining an analyzing gleam. "A Tarnished that can sprout wings?" His voice had an air of befuddlement as Jolyne smirked.

"What? Never seen a Vampire before?" Jolyne barked, before snapping her fingers as several blood-red portals appeared behind her. The tips of spears formed at the edge of their entrances as Margit summoned forth what appeared to be a massive light sword that reeked of Holy Magic. Was he planning on deflecting the spears with that? That would've been a spectacle.

"I care not what thoust claimest be, Tarnished. Thy shalt never breach these castle walls," Margit growled as Jolyne scoffed.

"We'll see about that," Jolyne replied as a hail of spears fired rapidly out at Margit. The first few spears were able to be deflected, but as the frequency of them increased, Margit found himself unable to keep up with them, and as a result was skewered by several dozen Blood Spears. Both of his kneecaps were taken out, causing him to fall to the ground, and the rest littered his body like a pin cushion.

In a matter of seconds, his HP dropped from 90% to 0%.

"If that was supposed to be hard, then that was disappointing," Jolyne thought as she levitated back to the ground. As she began to approach Margit to drain him of his blood, his body began to disappear into golden ash. Notably, he was not dead, because when she received the message of having defeated him, it had said Enemy Defeated rather than Enemy Slain. Even further proven by the ethereal words that followed afterward.

"I shall remember thee, Tarnished, smouldering with thy meagre flame. Cower in fear of the Night. The hands of the fell omen shall broke thee no quarter…"

Upon inspecting the spot where Margit fell, there was no blood, which confirmed what she had seen earlier, and in turn confirmed her suspicions. "An illusion. That was an illusion, meaning that the real Margit is elsewhere..." Jolyne muttered to herself. It was smart from a tactical stand-point, but still very much annoying. Jolyne looked over to the castle before her, and scowled. Since it's bodyguard was gone, there was no reason to stick around at what she guessed was the security check-point. With a half-hearted shrug, and after she cracked her knuckles, she sighed. "Well, I suppose I should find Godrick in there." Just before she was able to sprout her wings, yet another pop-up appeared in front of her.

[Notice: Until you have defeated Godrick The Grafted, Vampiric Wings have been disabled]

"Oh that is such bullshit!" Jolyne shouted as the pop-up disappeared. "Mono!"

[Cry about it.]

"Since when did you get sassy!"

She received nothing in response, prompting her to stomp on the brick road like a petulant child not getting her way. It was bad enough he had woken her up early for sake of doing this, and now he was taking away her best traversal ability? Was he trying to piss her off?

Exhaling a calming breath, she passed the first two archways and made her way toward what appeared to be a metal gate. It was massive, made of steel, and didn't seem like it was going to move. Out in the left corner of her eye, she noticed a small doorway that, upon peeking into, looked like a dining room. She could also see a massive opening in the wall…

"That looks like a secret passage. But… no doubt the people who work in the castle already know about it," Jolyne reasoned. This castle seemed ancient, and the damage didn't look new either. It seemed as if it had been there for quite some time. Although, there wasn't exactly any other way to get into the castle. "Unless…"

Jolyne snapped her fingers as two massive bloodied shadows formed behind her. King and Buddy marched out, looking down at her with lulled tongues. Before anything, she petted their snouts as their tails wagged back and forth rapidly, slapping the ground hard enough to crack it. Jolyne found herself giggling, before clearing her throat and turning to the gate.

"Think you guys can get me passed the gate? I need to get in there. If ya do it, anyone ya see that looks like an enemy are yours to eat," Jolyne said as, without hesitation, both King and Buddy walked toward the gate, stopping at about five feet away from it, before opening their massive jaws. Elegant blue flames began to burst from the back of their throats, before being beamed toward the gate.

The flames slammed against the cold steel, and it only took a few seconds for the metal to heat up and start melting. Molten slag began to drip from the gate as a corpse of a man walked out from the side-room. Upon seeing what was going on, his sunken eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"B-By Queen Marika…" The man muttered as Jolyne glanced over at them. She flashed him a polite smile, before turning her attention back to the melting gate. Not but a moment later, the two Hell Hounds had finished doing what they were told, before slamming their bodies into the rest of the gate and forcing it out of the way.

The molten portion of the gate slammed down against the stone floor, and before the man could say anything, Buddy turned around, growled at him, and grabbed him in his jaws and in a single chomp he was gone. King had already charged into the castle as screams and shouts echoed from within. Buddy wasn't too far behind, and when Jolyne entered the castle and passed the two massive walls that were around the entrance, she bore witness to Buddy taking on a massive lion with a blade attached to its right paw.

The lion, as she saw it, was being mauled horribly. Being swatted around like an elephant to a donkey. As for King, he was busy gobbling up strange red cloth adorned individuals with iron armor underneath, leaping up to higher elevations and flattening ballista's as he went. Anyone who wasn't killed and eaten by King or Buddy were drained of their blood and used increase her Physical Strength and Blasphemy stats.

Every checkpoint, every gate, every swarm of enemies was met with the two voracious Hell Hounds chomping and devouring to their hearts content as Jolyne continued to walk at a leisurely pace.

[This is supposed to be challenging…]

"For someone who is level 50 with level 50 stats. You seem to forget, Mono, I have the stats of someone who is level 150. So, of course, this is going to be easy for someone like myself."

Mono remained silent as Jolyne travelled up a spiral pathway undeterred with King and Buddy continuing to scarf up anyone in their paths. They were met with crossbow fire and wind slashes but they all harmlessly bounced off their bodies or harmlessly nicked them. Every attack was only doing a measly 1 damage to them, and given that they had over 300,000 HP each, it was clear that nothing was going to do any lasting harm.

One of the ballista's managed to fire an explosive round at Buddy, and all Buddy did was swat it away and into another ballista. The explosive bolt blew up on contact as King leapt up to where the offender had been and gobbled him up in one gulp. The two Hell Hounds howled in victory as they leapt over the next check-point, continuing their slaughter.

There was a courtyard up ahead. Barricades had been set up, but were easily knocked down by King and Buddy. Once again, everyone was slaughtered. Although this time, there were avian adversaries that could seemingly spew flames from above. Jolyne had Blood Spears take them out before King and Buddy had to intervene.

In the distance, there was another creature that was similar to Margit, just much smaller and missing its horns. Buddy had already gotten to it and tore its head off with frightening ease, and the other dog was left alone as it had backed itself into a corner and had begun to whimper. King had, funnily enough, patted the frail mutts head.

It was an old dog. How old was another question. It also didn't look healthy. Not even in the slightest. It probably had mange and several other diseases—this was seemingly in the middle ages so it was a miracle the dog was alive. Jolyne approached the dog, and held out her hand. The dog cautiously approached, and as soon as it got close enough, Jolyne wordlessly had Mono give her a healing potion.

She trapped the dog in place using Blood Control, made it open its mouth, and forced the potion down the dogs throat. In a matter of seconds the dog was cured of whatever illnesses it had as white fur quickly covered its frail body. It didn't make up for the malnutrition, but Jolyne had planned to cover for that.

Buddy had taken the hint and dragged over one of the dead bodies. The feral dog took it to understand that it was time to eat, and so eat it did. She patted the dog on the head one last time, before heading off in the direction where the black fire-spitting birds had come from. Seeing no enemies ahead—most likely because they retreated into the castle proper to get away from the slaughter, Jolyne moved ahead quicker.

The faster that she was out of this place, the better. The longer she was here, the more annoyed she had become. The castle was in ruins—even before she had laid siege to it with King and Buddy, of whom were now walking behind her alongside the wild dog that had decided to join them.

As they walked down the pathway, King and Buddy flattening any obstacles in their way, just as Jolyne rounded a corner she could hear a voice coming from within a room that was off to the side and down a flight of stairs. Jolyne raised a hand, halting the three dogs that had been following her.

She made her way toward the room, down the flight of stairs, and was met with an interesting sight. There was a woman wearing a head band with a leather drape, a metal pauldron alongside a leather wrap around her chest for modesty, a furred kilt that stopped above the knees, a pair of leather bracelets with intricate carvings, and leather foot wraps that stopped just below the knee.

On her back were two gilded axes with falcon imagery decorating the blade with Mono classifying them as Epic Tier weaponry at the maximum upgrade level of 25. In other words, if she decided to become a threat, it wouldn't be an easy fight. Especially given that she herself was Level 55.

Below her feet was a man dressed in heavy armor with a puddle of blood surrounding him. She looked a little ruffed up, but she also had the same Crimson Tear Flask at her hip. She probably just hadn't gotten the chance to drink it.

"Be proud, you were a fine warrior. Your only mistake was your choice of master. May the finds lift you to a higher plane," the woman said to herself, before finally paying notice to Jolyne. "Well, what do we have here? You're clearly not one of Godrick's lot. Your clothing suggests you're royalty. Are you from this castle, ma'am?"

There was a certain edge to her voice. Testing, almost. Teetering on the preparation of a potential battle. Jolyne raised a placating hand—a sign to relax, though the woman did not heed it. She stayed in her half-ready battle stance. While she had not gone for her axes, it was clear that she would at a moments notice.

"Thank you for the compliment, but I am no royal. This dress was a gift. I'm also not from this castle, let alone the surrounding area. I know it might seem bizarre but I'm actually a warrior," to further prove her claim, Jolyne grabbed 3F off her back, transformed it into its Halberd form mid grab, and planted its end on the ground causing it the brick flooring to crack slightly.

The woman, clearly taken aback, huffed in amusement. "That must weigh at least 20 pounds. For you to carry it so effortlessly proves your words. My apologies for the misconception, fellow Warrior. Your appearance deceived me."

"Bah, there's no need to apologize. That just means my ruse is working," Jolyne quipped before dismissing 3F into thin air. Outstretching her hand in greeting, the woman took her hand into a firm handshake, the makings of a smile taking up her visage.

"You've got a warriors grip. You appearance truly is deceiving. You look like the winds could blow you over, yet we're equal in strength," the woman noted as she let go. "Nepheli Loux. Tarnished and Warrior. Who might you be?"

"Jolyne Brooks. Vampire of a distant land. I'm considered an "Ultimate Tier" Mage from where I'm from. Though, I doubt it means little in The Lands Between," Jolyne said as Nepheli raised an eyebrow.

"Vampire? I've never heard of those before. What exactly does that mean?" Nepheli asked as Jolyne replied with a shrug.

"Creatures of the night. We consume fallen people's blood. It's a sign of respect to those who've met their end at our hands," Jolyne lied though Nepheli didn't pick up on it. Clearly, she was naïve and very trusting. That would bite her in the rear at a later point, Jolyne knew. Even though she was steam rolling through this place, it was clear that it was not for the naïve or weak.

Just looking at Nepheli, she was not weak. Far from it. If she was on the same level as her in physical strength, then she was not to be scoffed at. She could probably have given Chinatsu a run for her money.

"I must say, that is bizarre. But then again, The Badlands often required one to do a whole host of things that one might consider undesirable to survive, so I have no place to judge," Nepheli said as she crossed her arms, before looking down at the corpse at her feet. "I am here at decree of my father to end the lord of this castle, Godrick The Grafted. What about you?"

"Same reason, though I was ordered by the only person who I would consider my better. I doubt you've heard of him, but his name is Loki."

"Is he a Vampire like you?"

"No, he's more similar to the Demi-Gods of these lands. Where I am from, he is seen as one of the many beings who are responsible for the laws. As such, he is respected and hated by many. I happen to be the former, and directly answer to him and anyone under his command that ranks above me," Jolyne answered.

Technically, it was true. Though she believed that he could probably wipe the floor with any and all of the Demi-Gods, no matter how strong they claimed themselves to be. Nepheli hummed, nodding to herself.

"Then, I suppose we are allies," Nepheli said, before her expression shifted into a scowl and her eyebrows furrowed. "Godrick's grafting. It taints the very winds. Seeing as we are both here for the same purpose. I ask to join you in felling the rotten bastard."

"Request granted. How far are we from his chambers?"

"Not far," Nepheli said as she walked past Jolyne, who followed after her. As soon as they exited the room Nepheli stopped dead in her tracks as she looked up at King and Buddy, alongside their new friend who was sitting against one of their legs. "By the winds! What are—"

"My dogs," Jolyne said as she whistled. King and Buddy lowered themselves as the smaller dog walked out of the way. Nepheli was at a loss for words as Jolyne approached them and rubbed behind their ears. "They don't look normal, I know. That's because they are Hell Hounds. Magical creatures from the depths of the Underworld. Though I doubt we'll need them for dealing with Godrick."

King and Buddy barked once, and when they did, they disappeared into black ash. The remaining dog barked as well, seemingly looking for King and Buddy. He started to whine, though as Jolyne approached him, he stopped whining and seemed to look happy. "I don't who this guy is. Maybe you can take him with you?"

"Isn't that one of the Dogs Godrick tamed?"

"And mistreated it seemed," Jolyne bit out as Nepheli frowned.

"Poor creature… I'll see what I can do," Nepheli said as she reached a hand out to the dog. The dog licked her hand as the hint of a smile played at her lips. Nepheli then patted its head, before it evaporated into golden light. Before Jolyne could say anything, Nepheli spoke. "I took him to The Roundtable Hold with my Guidance. Father will know who its from and no doubt understand what I meant by sending it to the hold."

"Ah," as Jolyne said that, she let out a sigh. "Well, let's get rid of Godrick. Shouldn't be too hard."

"You should not underestimate him. He is still a Demi-God. The weakest, but a Demi-God nonetheless," Nepheli warned as Jolyne shrugged. Wordlessly, the two began their way to where Godrick was located with Nepheli leading the way. As they walked, a giant creature with a hallowed out stomach blocked their path, letting out a gut wrenching combative roar.

Nepheli was moments away from charging in, only for Jolyne to reach her hand out, palm open, before balling her hand into a fist. Bloodied spikes shot out all throughout the creatures body as it fell down, dead. Nepheli stopped dead in her tracks, before looking over at Jolyne with an astonished gleam in her eyes.

"What incantation was that?"

"Blood Manipulation. Even the lowest tier of Vampires can use it. No catalyst or staff needed," Jolyne said with a smile. "If blood flows then so to does my power. Though, it doesn't work against those would be stronger than me." Once again, a half truth. Only the Blood Drain aspect of Blood Manipulation didn't work. If she had to guess, it was the same thing for using a bosses Blood to damage them unless it was outside of their body.

"I take it such a trick won't work on Godrick?" Nepheli asked as Jolyne nodded, frustration clear in her eyes.

"Yes. Unfortunately." With that, Jolyne and Nepheli strode into the tunnel that the giant was guarding. A yellow fog gate awaited them, though whether or not Nepheli could see it was entirely irrelevant. Just before entering the clearing, Nepheli looked at Jolyne and Jolyne the same. They nodded to one another, before stepping past the yellow fog.

They were greeted with an open field filled with graves. The amount of dead numbered in the hundreds. Gnarled and twisted dead trees sat amongst the gravestones, and Jolyne could tell just by glancing at Nepheli that she was infuriated with the sight before them.

A stone brick path led from one end of the castle to another. But standing in the way of that entrance in the distance was a large cloaked figure. It was clear that the shape of the figure was grotesque. Their limbs were elongated and if she squinted, she could make out the fact that they were made out of the parts of others.

Jolyne had no doubt about it. That figure was most likely her target. It was Godrick, and according to Mono, he was the same level as Nepheli. Level 55. Though unlike Nepheli, he was a boss, meaning that his stats were definitely higher than Nepheli's. It also didn't help that he was a Demi-God so he had that advantage to.

His attention was away from them, as he stood in front of what appeared to be a feathered lizard. A dead one, but a feathered lizard nonetheless. If she had to guess, that must've been the creature who had been responsible for all the damage. It was massive, easily twice the size of Godrick—who himself stood at a lofty height. Though, she didn't know how tall he was exactly, but seeing as he was about up to the lowest of branches on one of the trees, he must've been easily eight, maybe even nine feet tall.

Then, finally, he spoke.

"Ah… Mightiest of dragons. Thou'rt a trueborn heir…." Godrick rasped. It sounded like he had just finished smoking over thirty packs of cigarettes. Even his voice was repulsive. "Lend me thy strength, o' kindred. Deliver me unto greater heights!" As he said that, he raised his right hand. Even from here, she could count the seven fingers and the mismatched skin colour.

"Repulsive…" Nepheli whispered, which finally caught Godrick's attention. With a sudden jolt, he looked over in their direction. A sneer played on his face, as his golden eyes narrowed.

"Well... A Tarnished, and some overdressed harlot. One playing a lord, and the other too pale and thin to be even a whore," Godrick spat, venom in his words as a chuckle followed suit. The cloak on his back fell off as several more hands that had been stitched to his body rose. Jolyne sneered in disgust. This was not what she had been expecting, though she should've known that someone with the title "The Grafted" must've been some type of vile.

But this? This was not what she had in mind. All of those arms, legs, and pieces of people had belonged to others. She counted in the hundreds if not thousands. So many people died, and for what? To make himself look more imposing? To become stronger?

The arms on his back seemed to be shuffling something down over to his left-most arm, and as he reached back to grab it, she could see a much smaller arm underneath the one made of others—perhaps his true arm buried underneath all that disgusting cobbled together flesh. In the smaller hand, he had a battle axe. In the other, he had an even bigger battle axe, though that one had been a faded gold colour whereas the smaller one was standard silver.

With both oversized stitched together arms, he raised the massive axe into the air hilt first, before slamming the head of the axe down into the ground, blunt top first as the ground shook. A minor earthquake rumbled out, but neither Jolyne or Nepheli were affected.

"I command thee kneel!" Godrick barked, his sneer doubling in width. "I am the Lord of all that is Golden, and I shall have respect within mine own palace!" Godrick snarled as Nepheli scoffed.

"You mean the palace that you stole from its rightful ruler? I knew you were pathetic. But I never expected you to be this sorry," Nepheli spat as she drew out her axes, lightning sparking from the blades. Jolyne hefted 3F out from behind her, transforming it into its Bardiche form as Godrick grunted.

"Fine and well. Thou'rt to defy my laws, then thine shall find thyselves grafted!" Godrick bellowed as he stomped toward them. Nepheli was the first to charge in, the lightning sparking from her axes glowing brighter and brighter and she leapt into the air. Despite his size, Godrick was quick to raise his massive arm up to block the attack as the axes dug into his flesh.

The Demi-God didn't flinch, swatting her away as Nepheli landed on her feet. From Jolyne's perspective, The Boss Fight had begun, and when Nepheli attacked him, 2% of his HP had been depleted. Jolyne proceeded to follow up Nepheli's attack by, according to Nepheli's and Godrick's vision, disappearing and reappearing beside Godrick and slamming her Bardiche into the smaller of the two larger arms.

7% of his HP was dealt in one clean swipe, digging through flesh as Godrick snarled. "Filthy cur!" Godrick raged, attempting to swing his massive axe in her direction, only for Jolyne to jump, land on the sharp end of the axe with her armored boots protecting her feet, before round-house kicking the Demi-God in the jaw, depleting another 6% as Jolyne landed behind him.

The force of the blow made Godrick stagger back as Nepheli dug her axes into his flesh multiple times, cutting and carving mercilessly at his massive right bicep. With each strike, 2% of his HP was removed, and by the time Godrick had rolled out of the way, he had been dropped down from 100% since the beginning of the fight down to 77%.

"Feeble little halflings! Thou shalt know my wrath!" Godrick hollered as he began to whip up a powerful gust of wind around his body, acting like a shield. Then, a split second later, he rolled toward Jolyne, leapt into the air, and slammed his axe down onto her.

"JOLYNE, DODGE!" Nepheli called out as Jolyne narrowly avoided getting cut in two, but the price was losing her right arm, and losing 1,500 HP in a single attack. If she hadn't had her new boots, that would've been a staggering 3,000 damage. Blood spurted from the severed limb as it laid there. Godrick grabbed the limb, and placed it on his back—like a trophy. By doing so, he regained 6% of his HP, bringing him back to 83%.

"Ha! Thou should give up. I might spare ye," Godrick boasted as Nepheli scowled. She looked over to Jolyne, who thrust her shoulder out. Both Godrick and Nepheli's eyes widened as Jolyne's arm regrew in less than a second without even needing to drink from her Crimson Flask. "By the Grace of Gold, what sort of witchcraft is that?!" Godrick bit out in alarm as Jolyne sneered.

"Real power, you pathetic little incel," Jolyne spat as Godrick scowled. Her HP hadn't replenished—that required her to drink from the crimson flask, which she promptly did. Her HP refilled to full, as she two-handed 3F. At the same time, her damage buff ended. It would be annoying, but it wouldn't hinder her. Not when she had Nepheli to make up for her missed damage.

Without a word, both Nepheli and Jolyne charged the Demi-God, who met their charge with equal measure. It took both Jolyne and Nepheli to block his oversized axe, and with both their strength, they deflected it. When they did, Jolyne outstretched her arm, revealed her palm, and fired off six point-blank blood spears into Godrick's stomach. The force of the attack made him stagger backward and lose 15% of his HP, dropping him to 70%—a critical hit.

Godrick crashed into several of the graves, destroying them under his weight as he growled. Due to his cumbersome size, Nepheli capitalized on him being downed by going for his head. Godrick saw the attempt and raised his already wounded arm to block the blow. However, instead of going for a horizontal swing, Nepheli started to spin. Lightning bolts manifested around her being, along with a miniature cyclone of wind.

Her blades tore through his arm like a blender, shredding grafted bits of flesh off and singing it. That finally earned them an audible reaction of fury from Godrick, as his HP was chunked once more down to 63%. He went to swat her away, but Nepheli rolled under the sweeping blow, popped up underneath his guard, and slammed her axe into his right eye.

Godrick roared in pain, before finally rolling backward, using the arms on his back to hold him and fling him over Nepheli and back onto his feet. With his now severely wounded arm, he held his face, cursing profanities as he stumbled toward the dragon corpse.

"Stop him! He's going to graft the dragon onto himself!" Nepheli shouted as Jolyne nodded. She rose her hand into the air and swung it forward. Several blood portals appeared behind her as spears began to fire toward Godrick. He turned to face them, before whipping up yet another storm around his body. The spears were deflected away from him, scattering in front of him as he laughed.

"Thine pathetic blood magic means nothing against mine storms!" Godrick boasted as Jolyne smirked. She stopped firing the spears, and instead took a page out of the ballista's that she saw earlier in the castle. Snapping her fingers, the blood spears exploded into fiery blood, ceasing his miniature protective storm and launching Godrick into the dragon as his HP dropped to 49%. Furthermore, his already carved up smaller grafted limb was blown off his body as blood spewed from the wound.

"Argh! You graceless heathen!" Godrick bellowed, pained gasps of breath rumbling from his haggard form. He glanced over his shoulder, before a wicked smile stole his features. He raised bloodied limb, cackling as he did. "Though perhaps thou hath brought upon thine's own undoing!"

"Stop him!" Nepheli shouted as Jolyne readied another volley of explosive Blood Spears, but it was too late as Godrick dug his wounded arm into the neck of the dragon.

"Truest of dragons! Lend me thy strength!" With a grunt of effort and a powerful tug, the massive dragon head was torn off its rightful body whilst its flesh merged with Godrick's arm as if it had always meant to be that way. Blood spewed from the transition of flesh to flesh as the massive head clambered to the ground. The head twitched, coughing up blood, before a flash of powerful magic thrummed through it. It was a blink and you'd miss it moment, but it happened, and Jolyne saw it.

Nepheli's eyes widened, before her expression steeled. "Damnit!"

Godrick laughed, fury and desperation tainting his voice as he raised the severed dragon head into the air. It let out a mighty roar, before spewing flames into the sky. "Forefathers one and all! Bear witness!"

Nepheli wasted no time, charging toward Godrick with a war cry that matched even the bravest of warriors. She raised her weapons, lightning bolting every which way from her twin axes, but Godrick had other plans. Without much effort at all, he batted away Nepheli like a ragdoll, sending her into one of the shattered graves.

Nepheli grunted in pain, as Jolyne closed the distance between herself and Godrick. In response, he aimed the dragon head toward her as it began to spew flames. Jolyne stomped the ground, creating a blood wall between herself and the flames as the blood solidified. As the flames bore down on the blood wall, Godrick took it upon himself to shatter the brittle substance with his axe.

As soon as the wall fell, Jolyne leapt back and fired the already primed and readied Blood Spears in Godrick's direction. Godrick, however, rolled out of the way of the attack as with each inch he fled the spears blew up, attempting to catch him but ultimately failing.

Once he finished rolling, his back turned to Nepheli, she took the opportunity to bury her twin axes into him. Godrick hissed as 5% of his HP disappeared. "Unworthy Tarnished!" Godrick growled as, despite his large size, he spun around faster than Nepheli could register. The grafted dragon head picked up Nepheli in its jaws, as Nepheli dug her axes into its head. Not that it mattered, as while she was doing damage, it wasn't enough to mean anything. Only 1% for each swing.

"NEPHELI!" Jolyne called out, rushing toward Godrick, although she was far too late. Pools of fire began to spew from the dragon head with Nepheli still locked in its jaws. She screamed in agony, as Godrick laughed like a lunatic. With a snarl on her face, Jolyne summoned Buddy and King as they rushed toward Godrick. Before Godrick could say or do anything, they trampled over him like bulldozers, forcing him to let go of Nepheli as she fell to the ground.

Jolyne rushed to Nepheli's side as a pang of sympathy burst through her chest. Her armor was burned away for the most part, with scraps hanging onto her body. The metal pauldron was seemingly melting into her skin, and as for the rest of her body it was covered in various degrees of burns.

Jolyne looked over her shoulder, and saw that King and Buddy were having a hard time pinning Godrick down. He was actually fending them off rather well, keeping them at a distance with his axe and flames. Buddy had taken 4K damage and King had taken 10K, which told Jolyne that King was the more aggressive of the two.

"They're fine for now," Jolyne thought as she grabbed her Crimson Tear Flask from her hip and popped the cork. "C'mon, Nepheli, open up!" Jolyne said as Nepheli grunted. She could hardly move her body, let alone open her mouth. Both the inside and outside of her mouth had been heavily burned. Some of the skin had melted over her lips and…. It was a nightmare.

[She will be fine. Nepheli Loux is a Tarnished. She will respawn at a later point.]

"I am not leaving her like this!"

Very carefully, Jolyne slipped some of the liquid into Nepheli's mouth through the openings and past the molten flesh, trying not to spill any of the healing liquid. As she poured it down her mouth, the ground began to shake, and when Jolyne looked over to see what was happening, Godrick was slamming the top of his axe into the ground, destroying the ground around him and sending shockwaves through the makeshift arena.

The walls of the castle cracked, and everything around them began to crumble. Buddy was stuck underneath and taking the brunt of the damage, before being kicked out from under the axe. He took a grand total of 50K damage, which was terrifying, because if Jolyne had gotten in the crossfire of that, she would've died instantly.

Jolyne tried to ignore the growls and howls and snarls over where King and Buddy were, doing their best at keeping Godrick distracted—having only done 10% damage to him, which either meant that he was playing more defensively or King and Buddy weren't exactly doing a lot of damage to him. Either way, Godrick was down to 37% HP, which was better than nothing.

Jolyne stopped pouring the Crimson Tear Flask down Nepheli's throat as she sat up, her burns evaporating. It seemed to repair her armor too, which was good. It also explained why Jolyne's sleeve had also replenished alongside her arm. "You didn't have to do that…" Nepheli said as Jolyne smiled.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You are most kind. Now, let's finish this disgusting troll," Nepheli decreed, her tone filled with determination as Jolyne nodded. She recalled King and Buddy, having them vanish. Mono informed her through notification that Buddy would be unsummonable for five hours while he recovered from the damage, and King for a similar time of three hours. "You recalled them?"

"They were distractions, and Godrick was handling them well. I don't want my dogs to die."

"Of course," Nepheli said as she brandished her axes once more. "Godrick!"

"Filthy Tarnished," Godrick breathed out, clearly tired and annoyed. "Thou still live. Perhaps I have misjudged thee. If thou should join mine ranks, I shalt forget this transgression haft ever occurred."

"My name is Nepheli Loux! My foster father is Sir Gideon Ofnir of The Roundtable Hold! My blood father is Hoarah Loux, otherwise known as Godfrey! You put a stain on his name and lineage, and by my blades you shall fall!" Nepheli declared, and with that declaration, a powerful aura exuded around her.

It was some kind of faith-based magic that buffed one's physical capabilities, and judging by Godrick's angered expression, and followed by his roar of rage, he wasn't exactly amused by her words. "Thou claimest be related to Godfrey, yet thou'rt weak! Thine's words mock his lineage! Die!"

The two charged at one another, and as their blades clashed, Jolyne watched as Nepheli was more than capable of deflecting the tyrannical Demi-God's weapon. She batted away his strikes with ease, and when his dragon head tried to grab her again, she deflected that as well, hitting it in its weak point between the merged flesh, and severed it from his person in a single strike.

Godrick stumbled back at the loss of his newly grafted arm, his HP dropping by 20% and down to a measly 17%. He shouted in shock, as Nepheli raised her axes above her head, with lightning and wind whipping around her body as she channelled the very winds with her body being the catalyst. With a beast-like roar masked by what sounded like the cry of an eagle, she slammed her axes down in an X shape, splitting his head in two pieces, as his wretched body came crashing down before Nepheli.

Blood belonging to Godrick covered her body as she let out a victorious roar. Jolyne simply stared, her eyes wide in pure amazement. A part of Jolyne was angry that Nepheli had stolen her kill, but the more rational part of her cared very little. To see the vindication and pride on Nepheli's face was more than worth it—despite only meeting her within only the last ten minutes.

The multiple bodies that been grafted upon Godrick's own vanished into thin air, leaving only Godrick's true form, which had been but a puny, scrawny, frail old man who's arms and legs have been shrivelled so small that they were smaller than even an infants. Jolyne approached Nepheli before standing beside her, as Nepheli cast a glance over at her.

"That was… very brutal. But very deserved," Jolyne said as Nepheli smiled.

"If it wasn't for you, I would've been made to wait to fight a potentially stronger Godrick. This fight would not have been won without you," Nepheli replied as faint outline of what Jolyne could only assume was Godrick's Great Rune hovered above his corpse. It appeared to be made of several arcs all swooping into one another, encircled by a perfect circle.

"Take it," Nepheli said as Jolyne raised an eyebrow.

"But, it's yours. You killed Godrick."

"And I have no use for his Great Rune. I have no intention of becoming Elden Lord. My foster father has laid claim to that goal, so I have no right to pursue what is his. He already has Two Great Runes, and is simply biding his time," Nepheli countered as Jolyne nodded.

"Very well," Jolyne said, before walking up to the dull-looking Great Rune. As her hand washed over it, it seemingly shattered, before rushing into her very being. She felt a warmness within her chest that thrummed with unawakened power. For a brief second, her eyes flashed with a golden hue, before disappearing, as a pop-up appeared before her.

[Godrick The Golden's Great Rune Has Now Merged With Your Soul. To Fully Awaken Its Latent Power, Head To The Divine Tower Located South East Of Your Current Location.]

[Great Rune of Godrick The Golden, The First Shard bearer. His Great Rune Is Considered The Anchor Ring, Used To Keep The Rest Of The Elden Ring Together. First Entrusted To Godfrey Before His Banishment, Then Given to Godwyn The Golden Before His Soul Death. Finally, It Was Stolen By Godrick, Who Was Deemed The Weakest Demi-God In Mind, Body, And Soul.]

"Uh…." Jolyne was left confused as the pop-up vanished. Soul Death? Anchor Ring? She was too mentally exhausted to care. All she cared about was getting this over and done with. "Wow…"

"How does it feel?" Nepheli questioned, an innocent tone to her voice, mixed with curiosity. "To have a shard of The Elden Ring within you, I mean?"

"Um… I don't know," Jolyne replied, scratching the back of her neck. "I mean… It feels…" How would she even describe the feeling? It felt… heavy. Like a weight was put on her soul. Not that it would slow her down, but there was an emotional feeling. There was also something else lurking within her. She just couldn't tell what that something was. "I guess, heavy is the best way to describe it. But, I have the sense to go to the Divine Tower South East of the castle. I think there, it's true power will show itself."

"Well, I should leave you to it then. Father is no doubt wondering what is taking me, and I also have no doubt he's confused about the dog I brought to his roundtable. I should go before he starts to think I was turned into a dog. Should the fates deign it, I hope to cross paths with you, Jolyne."

"Likewise," Jolyne said as, in a flash of golden light, Nepheli vanished. When she disappeared, Jolyne cast a glare down at Godrick's corpse, before kicking it in the ribs. "Disgusting, vile, pathetic excuse of a man." Black leathery wings sprout from her back as she flew toward the massive tower in the distance. She was assuming it was The Divine Tower that the pop-up spoke of.

As she flew, she couldn't help but look out at the world around her. She wouldn't lie, from the skies above, where ever it was that Godrick's castle was attached too looked peaceful. Although she had no doubt it was dangerous. Definitely not a place for the weak if Nepheli was anything to go by.

Upon reaching the top of the tower, when she landed, she was greeted by what appeared to be a dead pair of Two Fingers much like the ones that existed in The Roundtable. Except, well, dead. Huddled between the two dead fingers, there was what appeared to be Godrick's Great Rune—at least, the power of it, anyway.

Approaching the dead fingers, she reached out to touch it, only for the energy to simply absorb itself into her body the same way the Great Rune had. And when that happened, power burst throughout her very being as that golden glow re-appeared in the back of her eyes, and stayed there. A similar golden glow surrounded her body, as she fell to her knees, her breathing becoming heavy.

She didn't know why, but she felt a great weight on her shoulders, as her body adjusted to the new power within her. Once again, another pop-up appeared, giving her the explanation that she had been silently asking for.

[Anchor Rune's Power Restored. You Have Gained A Permanent 10% Boost To Your Stats.]

Health Points: 13,800 – 15,180 [SS-]

Mana Points: 13,550 – 14,905 [S]

Stamina: 14,050 – 15,455 [SS-]

Endurance: 6,910 – 7,601 [A]

Attack: 863 – 949 [C]

Defence: 863 – 949 [C]

Magical Attack: 1,430 – 1,573 [B-]

Magical Defence: 1,430 – 1,573 [B-]

Physical Strength: 1,303 [C]

Arcane Wisdom: 585 – 643 [C-]

Faith: Not-Applicable

Blasphemy: 1,195 – 1,314 [C]

.

[Mastery Dungeon Completed]

[Level 51 – 100 now unlocked!]

.

[Level Up! X15 (Level 50 – 80)]

Health Points: 15,180 – 17,180 [SS-]

Mana Points: 14,905 – 16,905 [SS-]

Stamina: 15,455 – 17,455 [SS-]

Endurance: 7,601 – 8,601 [S-]

Attack: 949 – 1,149 [C+]

Defence: 949 – 1,149 [C+]

Magic Attack: 1,573 – 1,848 [B-]

Magic Defence: 1,573 – 1,848 [B-]

Critical Chance: 5% - 7%

Critical Damage: 55% - 57%

Exp Till Next Level: 50,732 [Master Level 1]

Money [Yen: 2.2 Million

.

[Gladiator's Might (Legendary)]

[Description: A chunk of metal sculpted into the visage of a great gladiator wielding a battle hammer. Given to the strongest of gladiators across the lands after achieving a monumental victory. Only 20 were ever created, and most of them were cast aside by those who held them, viewing them as little more than paper weights.

Grants those who carry increased physical damage by 35% and increases physical damage negation by 35%.]

Jolyne dismissed the stat screens and equipped the talisman. She knew that she still had five more levels to add to that by going to Enia, so she knew those weren't going to be her final stats. Still, if those were her final stats after unlocking another 50 levels, she wasn't going to complain.

As for the Talisman, it wasn't half bad. In fact, it was actually quite useful, all things considered. It was about time that she got a boost to physical damage and damage negation outside of upgrading her attack and defence.

She was then presented with the option to unlock another Spell, Trait, or Perk slot and she chose to unlock a second perk slot just so that Vampiric Seduction could be put to use. Although, for the time being, she set it to off. It wasn't as if she saw a need to use it at The Roundtable, seeing as that was her next destination.

However, before she was able to teleport, a voice—young, tired, and feminine in nature—echoed throughout her mind, causing her a headache that rivalled even the most painful of migraines.

"O, hear me, warrior from beyond the stars. I beg of ye, destroy the wretched tree that keeps me captive, and free me from mine shackles. End mine eternal suffering. Snuff out mine other half. Please… All I desire is to return to mine village… To mine home, in The Hindterlands…"

And then, the voice faded, freeing Jolyne of the pulsating headache. She looked out toward The Erdtree, and scowled. The voice originated from there. Whoever that voice might have belonged to, they were clearly suffering. The last thing she wanted was to hear someone suffer. It made her blood chill and her anger spike.

Whoever lurked within that tree… Jolyne already knew exactly what she was going to do.

[Side Quest: Free The Captured God]

[Difficulty: Impossible]

[Queen Marika as requested your aid. She has waited for over a millennium, and she can wait for however long it takes. Free her from her shackles, and she shall reward you handsomely.]

[Rewards: 100 Levels, 50 Million Currency, 1 Godly Cosmic Weapon Of Your Choice]

"And by God if that reward ain't a reason in and of itself—Jesus Christ!" Jolyne thought as the quest vanished from sight. A Godly Cosmic Weapon? Of her choice? That wasn't including the 100 levels and the boatloads of money! Granted, it would be a long time before she gets there, and she'd have to work her arse off, but that was definitely worth it.

Queen Marika would have her wish. Jolyne would see to it. No matter how long it took, Marika would have what she wanted. If it was freedom she desired, then so be it.

However, it would have to wait. Jolyne had many more urgent things to attend to, and the longer she was away, the worse they were going to get. She still had one more thing that she needed to do, and that one more thing regarded turning in the Remembrance of The Herald. Teleporting back to The Roundtable Hold, she appeared in front of the titular Roundtable as Nepheli was sat next to it, petting the dog from earlier with a bright and full smile on her face.

"I am assuming you are the one that gave her that dog?" Sir Gideon's voice greeted her, his tone cold. Jolyne glanced in his direction, as he recoiled. "Your eyes. They hold grace. But… you are not Tarnished. How?"

"Godrick's Great Rune rests within me. Nepheli told me to take it, so I did," Jolyne said as Gideon huffed.

"I see. Good. That means she truly is not seeking Lordship. Very good…" Gideon rumbled to himself. Jolyne raised an eyebrow, earning a dismissive wave from him. "Pay me no mind. Return to whatever business you're up to. If Queen Marika has decided that you are a worthy candidate to chase the title of Elden Lord, then who am I to question it. All that makes us is potential allies or rivals."

With that, Sir Gideon walked off elsewhere, as Jolyne turned around to face the two open wooden doors. She stared up at The Two Fingers, before entering the room. As she entered, she couldn't help but wonder what Gideon meant by that. The only thing Queen Marika asked of her was to free her from the Erdtree. A different voice—one that she hadn't recognized before—had been guiding her.

At first, she thought that the voice had been Mono putting on an impression. But, now that she put some real thought into it, the voice sounded… more forceful. There was less of a sarcastic edge to it. That, and when Mono spoke—the whole two times during her walkthrough of the castle—she could sense the emotion.

But that other voice… there was none. It was truly like a computer talking to a living person. It was definitely something that she would look into.

Upon fully entering the room with the fingers and Enia, Enia looked over in her direction, and gasped covering her mouth with one of her frail hands. "My, is that a Great Rune I sense? I must say, of all people, I did not expect it to be you, Interloper. But, fine and well." She paused, as The Two Fingers began to twitch. "Ah. It would mee that The Two Fingers have something to say to you. Would you care to listen?"

"Sure."

Enia turned to The Two Fingers, as they wriggled about. Clearing her throat, Enia spoke for them. "Interloper. You have over-reached your limits. Do not trespass into a quest not given to you. Hand over The Great Rune this instant, so as The Greater Will Demands."

Jolyne was about to say something, a scowl on her face, when the voice that she had recognized from within the castle spoke. This time, there was emotion, but it was pure annoyance not aimed at her but rather The Fingers.

"Do Not Listen To Them, Bastion Of The Multiverse. We Have Long Since Abandoned This Realm For The Transactions Marika Has Committed. It Would Appear That Metyr Has Now Decided To Pretend To Be Us. How Disappointing. We Cannot Tell If It Is Delusion Or Madness, But Either Way, We Shall Allow The Brat To Believe What She May. However, Do Not Bother With Their Demands. We Have Asked You To Gather The Great Runes. Our Rule Is Supreme."

Jolyne held the side of her head. Like when Queen Marika spoke to her, a migraine worse than any other migraine assaulted her head. When the voice stopped speaking, Mono spoke. Only, his words carried with them a sense of whimsy and awe—something that she believed not possible for him.

[The… The Greater Will spoke to you. Jolyne. I suggest you heed their words. It is rare—if ever—that The Greater Will speaks to anyone outside of The Almighty. I do not know what Loki did to earn their favour, but it must have been something drastic. Unless, of course, there is something that I am missing here.]

Jolyne didn't know what to think, but if what Mono was saying was true, and given that what she assumed was The Greater Will was in fact talking to her, then she really had no choice but to believe what it was it had said.

"Interloper. Hand over the Great Rune. It does not belong to you. We shall find someone more worthy of it than you," Enia spoke for The Two Fingers, though it was clear she was not pleased with what they were saying. Jolyne was of the same opinion, as a scowl took up her visage.

"Forget it. I claimed this fair and square. Throw a tantrum about it all you want, but you hold no power over me. Only Loki, The Almighty, and The Greater Will get to boss me around. Not a pair of decaying fingers that have long since been abandoned."

Enia balked, her expression twisting into several emotions before landing on neutral. Afterward, she turned to The Two Fingers, and began to translate their frantic twitches and movements. "Interloper. You know not of what you speak of. Do as you are told."

"Mind your business, you decrepit half-hand," Jolyne spat, flipping The Two Fingers off before turning her attention to Enia, lowering her hand and crossing her arms. "I've heard enough. I'm choosing to ignore them."

Enia cleared her throat, before chuckling to herself. "As it appears, The Two Fingers are not pleased. However, it is as you say. They hold no power over you. Do you require anything?"

"If you can, please turn this Remembrance into levels for me, I would greatly appreciate it," Jolyne said, handing her The Remembrance of The Herald. Enia hummed with acknowledgment before tapping the orb of light with her special cane like she had the last time with Kokichi's Remembrance, as the power from it was siphoned and spat back at her, adding another ten levels to her total.

[Level Up! X10 (80 – 85)]

View Stats?

[Y/N]

Jolyne pressed N. She had already seen her stats enough to know that the increase, while decent, wasn't worth looking at right now. She would wait until she was level 100 to look at them again. Which, now that she thought about it, wasn't that far behind. In fact, it wouldn't even be that hard for her to get to that point. A week, at most, seeing as her EXP reset after getting to level 50.

Although, while she liked the idea of getting stronger even faster, right now, she needed to unwind. Godrick tired her, and while she hadn't done most of the fighting, she was still tired. She knew very well that she had several things that needed to be done that trumped going for the extra levels.

"Thank you, Enia," Jolyne said as Enia bowed her head.

"You are most welcome, Interloper. May the Guidance of The Greater Will guide you." With that, Jolyne stepped out of the chamber, grabbed the chalk from her inventory, and drew a door into thin air to return to her Dorm Apartment. As she crossed the barrier, the Crimson and Cerulean flasks vanished from her person, and her Mana began to replenish naturally, as well as her armor began to be replaced by what she had wore to bed, that being a loose fitting tank-top and a pair of black shorts.

As the chalk door vanished behind her, and she stepped into her apartment true, she was caught entirely off guard by Kotoko talking to, of all people, Lucifer. He was dressed in a white button-up short, a pair of red and black pants held up by black suspenders, and his pale golden blond hair was slicked back, and in his right hand was a cup of tea.

Sitting next to him was Kotoko, and her hair had been braided into a short ponytail with a black and red flower stuck in it. She was also dressed in what appeared to be the finest of purple silk dresses, along with a golden necklace that had a depiction of a golden apple with a bite in it.

"Don't you worry, Miss Utsugi, I'm taking special care to torture that fiendish mother of yours. She's been scheduled for a dip in the magma pools later this afternoon. I don't typically torture sinners often, but those with exceedingly horrendous crimes get sent to a lower layer of Hell," Lucifer said as Kotoko smiled, giggling to herself as she sipped tea alongside The King of Hell.

"Oooh! Can I watch? Please?" Kotoko asked as Lucifer laughed.

"Tell ya what, I'll record it for you and have your "big sister" show it to you. If I took you to Hell, some… unpleasant things… would happen. It's really hot there. Like, stupid hot," Lucifer replied as his eyes darted over to Jolyne. When they made eye contact, a massive grin took up his visage. "Speak of me and I shall appear! Hello, Jolyne. Gotta say, love the new house. A lot bigger, if only by a tad, but still better than before. I don't smell mold anywhere unlike the last place, which is definitely a step up!" Lucifer said, as he put down his cup of tea on the coffee table.

As he stood up, he cast one more glance around the apartment. "Although, I noticed a distinct lack of a kitchen. I take it that you have a lot more money for take out or am I missing something?"

"Sir," Jolyne bowed, before promptly standing up straight. "This is a Dorm Building, so we have a joint cafeteria that everyone uses for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Ah! That explains it. I was wondering why I smelt teenage angst," Lucifer quipped as he chuckled to himself. "Anyhow. That System of yours gave you the levels I owed you, yes?"

"Yes, he did. I was told to come to you about my Mythic Spell," Jolyne said as Lucifer nodded.

"Yes, yes. About that. I changed my mind. You'll be getting a Mythic Weapon instead," Lucifer said as Jolyne blinked.

"A mythic… weapon?" Jolyne muttered as Lucifer smirked.

"Yup! I figured that since you've recently acquired well over three Mythic Spells giving you another would cheapen the reward. So, instead, I've decided to give you a mythic weapon! But not just any Mythic Weapon. I'm giving you a weapon that is pulled from another Universe all together. That way you can keep your brand of uniqueness that I'm sure you cherish," Lucifer explained as Jolyne's eyes widened.

"W-Wait a second!" Jolyne exclaimed, as she tried to calm herself. This was a bigger deal than she had expected. A mythic weapon? Something that could put her on par with Makaria? Or, at the very least, bridge the gap just a little bit more?

Don't get her wrong, she had nothing against Makaria—not even remotely. But, in the same breath, having a mythic tier weapon would definitely make things easier than before. And one from another universe? Makaria had said that weapons from another universe essentially had a buffed rarity compared to others that shared its same rarity.

So while she would be getting a Mythic Tier Weapon, due to it being from another universe, it might as well have been a Cosmic Tier Weapon.

"Are you complaining?" Lucifer asked as Jolyne shook her head.

"N-No! I'm just trying to, ya know, prepare myself, that's all," Jolyne said as Lucifer snickered.

"Right. I keep forgetting you're still a kid," as he said that, he pulled out something from behind his back. It was a complete, matte black sword that had a haunting dark purple glow ebbing and flowing from the weapon. It had a thin cross guard and hilt, with an intricately designed pummel. "Now, I will warn you, this sword is both powerful and dangerous. But, I'll allow Mono to explain that for me."

As Jolyne carefully took the weapon from Lucifer, yet another pop up appeared, detailing what her newly gifted sword was.

[Slime Sword – Rapier Longsword (Mythic)]

[Original Universe: Eminence In Shadow]

[Original Wielder: Cid Kagenou/Shadow/Mundane Man/Mr. John Smith]

[Description: The Rapier Longsword incarnation of Cid Kagenou's Slime Sword. Does Blunt and Pierce Damage. While this is a copy of Cid's sword, it is still just as powerful if not slightly moreso than the original. Imbued with Cid's Nuclear Magic, this weapon, when used, leaves a trace amount of atomic radiation behind when it comes into contact with a target. If need-be, you can also fling powerful arcs of Nuclear Magic at your foes for a long-ranged option, though it does less damage than a direct strike. Note: The sword itself does not leak radiation, so it is safe to have out.]

[Weapon Art: I Am Atomic – By holding the sword into the air and chanting the words "I Am Atomic" it will unleash a powerful blast of magic in a five square mile radius that will evaporate anything and everything regardless of level, excluding the caster. Ignores all magical barriers, defences both physical and magical. Costs 100% of Mana to use, and has a 30 minute cooldown between casts.]

[For each strike, 50 Radiation Poisoning Build-Up (Unique to this weapon alone)]

[Stat Requirements: 550 Physical Strength (B), 550 Arcane Wisdom (B), 550 Blasphemy (B)]

"I made sure that it would be a weapon that would best fit your stats. Originally I was going to give you The Staff of All's Nine Goal, or Ainz Ooal Gown—tomato tomoto—but since you're not a pure magic caster and are a split duelist/caster class, I figured this would be better," Lucifer said as Jolyne gripped the handle of the weapon, and gave it a few test swings.

With each swing, a faint purple light followed each movement, and it looked beautiful. It didn't help that it was super light-weight, meaning that she could attack multiple times before her enemy could attack once.

"This… This is amazing!" Jolyne muttered as Lucifer smiled devilishly.

"I'm glad you like it. After all, it is your reward for besting Mukuro and delivering me her soul. And you did it in record time! I gave you three months and you only took one!" As he said that, he muttered something under his breath that Jolyne couldn't quite make out, before he continued. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to. They don't like it when people are late. In two months, though, you should have a lot of work to do. I suggest you get a little stronger and upgrade that weapon! Tata~!"

A massive pillar of flames erupted from where Lucifer stood, as he vanished back to Hell. Jolyne promptly put the sword back into her inventory, before looking at the time. It was 6:45 AM. How she had been gone for two hours when it had only felt like ten minutes was beyond her, but that was neither here nor there.

"Aw… Mr. Lucifer didn't finish his tea…" Kotoko grumbled as Jolyne sighed.

"I can finish it with you if you want," Jolyne proposed as Kotoko smiled, nodding fervently. So, that was exactly what she did. She took the cup, sat down next to Kotoko, and for the next twenty minutes before she had to go to school, Jolyne talked with Kotoko about a whole host of things, ranging from what Kotoko thought was "adorbs", to all the imaginative ways that Kotoko would torture her mother.

And as Jolyne sat and listened, laughing while sipping at her tea, she took that time to reflect on the past. It had only been a month. Just a month. But in that time, a lot had happened. Some good, some bad—but mostly good. While it sucked that she had essentially stolen the life of someone else, she was making due with it.

A part of her wondered what her "original" her was thinking right now. Was she watching this? What did she think? Or, perhaps, was she simply gone. That thought bothered her slightly, but not nearly as much as she would've been bothered if this were a month ago.

But… would Jolyne trade it for something else? A normal life without all the hectic, potential world-ending threats that she knew she'd have to deal with sooner or later? All the stress of fighting for those she loved and cared about?

No.

No, she would not.

Because, if she was normal, then Kotoko would still be stuck in that horrible situation. If she was normal, then she would've been killed by Natsumi back in the gym, and Hajime might've ended up dead, too. The Kuzuryu Clan would be overtaken by Madness, and Mukuro would've still run rampant.

Not that she doubted Makaria or Chinatsu. They probably would've gotten to that before it became too much—she wasn't queen shit. She didn't think that she was some sort of God. She knew full well that she wasn't stronger than Makaria. That would've been a fools mistake, and she'd like to think that she wasn't a fool.

As she finished her last sips of tea, she put the cup down, and sighed. "Well, let's get ya to school, kiddo."

"Alright," Kotoko said as she hopped off the couch and walked toward Jolyne bedroom, where she kept her school uniform. Not but a few moments later, she came out from the bedroom dressed for school. They both walked toward the front door of their apartment, with Kotoko's hand in Jolyne's.

Jolyne reached out to the door, grabbed the handle, and opened it. Kotoko smiled, Jolyne smirked, and when the door opened and as they stepped out into a new day, there was only one thing racing through Jolyne's mind.

"This is just the beginning. Enoshima Junko… You're next!"

[To Be Concluded In The Epilogue]

[Outro Song: Paradisus Paradoxum – By: Myth & Roid]

Response to Reviews/Comments:

(Qoutev) Sunky Addict: Oh, she'll certainly have a reaction, all right. Also, to clarify, Mukuro was level 50. Junko was hiding Mukuro's power. Not both of them. Junko is an actual threat. Mukuro was not. That, and Jolyne is going into Class 78, not 77 – B. 78 has Makoto in it. Fuyuhiko bit the bullet because he was only ever meant to be an antagonist. Not a villain, but an antagonist.

(Ao3) WilburDrake: Gimme a break, dude. I'm not gonna torture her like that. Thank you for the kind words regarding the fight scene. Also, I doubt the Frenzy is going to be expanded upon in Nightreign, since it's non-canon to Elden Ring's timeline. Oh, and no, that was not Dresden. Same world, but not Dresden.

(Ao3) Shine375: Hajime's Gun-based talent is based on another character named Hajime who's whole thing is gun-related. Arifuretia. Great show, if you get past all the horny crap. Also, I wouldn't call what Nagito was doing simping. It was more like obsessive admiration. Besides, I'm fairly certain Nagito was soft-confirmed to be gay in SDR2, at least, that's my interpretation of his character.

(Ao3) void_boi1: Book Two will show off more what's going on with Class 77 – B, since Hajime is going to have more prominence. Class 78… well, that's going to be fun. That's all I'm going to say.

(Ao3) Kolt: Like I said to void_boi1, Hajime is going to have more focus in Book Two. There will be a lot more development with his character, and a lot more introspection with what is going on in his head. That's all I'll say regarding the deep-dive into Hajime's mentality. I'm glad you picked up on that, because no one else, aside from Wilbur, did. As for why Mukuro was bitched the way she was, I mean, did you really expect a peak-human tier character to do anything to someone who just finished beating something with the power to level a compound that was three-football fields long and wide? Just saying lol. And no, the dogs will not die. I do not like killing dogs. Not even in Elden Ring (despite how annoying they are to deal with). Anyway, have a wonderful day, Kolt!

Anyway, that'll be all from me until Book Two! See you all then! Have a wonderful day/afternoon/night!