Elden Ring: Atai vows to have a perfect ending

Chapter 504: Time, Stagnation

No, not at all.

Just like Vic said, we who are in the sealed prison are completely exiled outside the border area. No matter which direction I go, I will eventually return to the campfire where Vic is.

I even took out the rope from my blessing backpack, asked Vic, to straighten it and then walked into the fog, but like an endless Möbius strip, even if I pulled the rope straight, I still ended up back where I started.

Speaking of which, it is true that weapons can still be summoned from the blessed backpack, but all that is left are a few shields, the Holy Seal of the Finger, and the Holy Seal of the Golden Law... Even the clothes I am wearing now are just a set of Rodel residents' suit. All other weapons and costumes have been taken away by Monggot.

hateful!

If I stay here any longer, I don't know when I can get out. By the time I get out, Melina may have already... No, the result may be worse - the insanity fire will burn the world, and Vic and I will be burned to death in this prison.

"Damn it!"

At the beginning, I still had the energy to be angry, complain, and even curse, but over time, time has worn away all my temper.

The heavy feeling of powerlessness completely crushes people.

Of course, I also thought about asking for help, but this is a remote and vast snowfield. Besides, the location of this prison is probably only known to Nepheli and Laya. When they returned with the expedition team, they naturally didn't expect that I would be imprisoned here now.

So even if Blaze and I screamed our throats out, it’s not certain that anyone would come looking for us.

The communication was also completely blocked. He tried to secretly use petite Lani to find Lani, but his efforts fell on deaf ears and not even a ripple was created.

It's like trying every possible way to get to Fam Azra, but in the end, there's still nothing you can do.

The bonfire was burning and flickering before my eyes.

My thoughts and my eyes seemed dead, and my body became like an empty shell, gradually becoming stiff and numb.

——It’s over. It’s completely over.

Think about it carefully, even if I get out of the sealed prison now, what can I do?

I have no weapons at all. Even if I return to Rodel and go underground, how can I fight Monget? Going to the Holy Snowfield first, looking for Michaela's sacred tree, and getting Marennia's golden needles, this is probably even more ridiculous.

The only way is to go back to Rhea Lukalia and ask Iggy and the others to help me reforge my weapons, but... Can I really defeat Mongot next time? Can I survive the Water Bird Dance after meeting Marennia? Moreover, Melina was captured, so do I have so much free time to run around?

...There's no point in thinking so much. Now, I don't even have any way to get out of this sealed prison.

My thoughts kept piling up, like sticky spider silk, entangled me tighter and tighter, until I was completely wrapped up into a ball, waiting for the spider to suck me dry.

Perhaps the monkey five hundred years ago was like this too, and under the ravages of time, it no longer became eccentric and ostentatious.

everything is over.

Vic just sat there quietly, like a stone.

Here, you can't even feel the flow of time. You won't feel hungry and you will just stare at the campfire until you get tired and close your eyes and fall asleep.

In the dark and endless dream, gradually, even Melina’s cries for help in my mind died down.

When I opened my eyes, the scene was unchanged.

“······Come to think of it, I’m sorry, senior.” I really couldn’t stand such deathly silence, so I opened my mouth and made some noise.

Vic responded: "Hmm?"

"I lost the spear you gave me. And Lance Shanks..."

"It doesn't matter. The spear is completely useless to me... As for Lance Shanks, there's no need for you to apologize to me. Besides, didn't you save my old friend?" Vic said, pausing for a moment. He reached out and lit a fire. "Besides, think about it carefully. Losing the gun may not be a bad thing."

"Ok?"

"As an ancient dragon, Lance Shanks will surely wake up. You have done her a favor, so the ancient dragon will naturally look for you all over the world. The spear is in the hands of the King of Blessing, and she will also understand where you are imprisoned... So, maybe after some time, Lance Shanks will come here and rescue you, junior." Vic actually comforted me.

Although his logic is not wrong, but...

"By that time, it might be too late." I sighed.

"... Come to think of it, junior, what you said before made me a little suspicious." Vic changed the subject. "In the Giant's Cauldron, you said that Bernal killed the Fire Maniac first, and then kidnapped your witch... But why did he do that? According to what you said, wasn't he in the same faction as the Fire Maniac before?"

"I've been thinking about this for a long time, but I can't figure out the situation at all."

"I've thought about it carefully. Perhaps the reason lies with your witch... She may have the power that Mad Fire fears, so she was kidnapped by Bernard."

I immediately retorted, "But there is also a possibility that Melina can lead me to Fam Azra, so Bernal wanted to prevent me from hindering him, so..."

"But are you willing? In that situation." Vic raised his head. Although his eyes under the helmet had been dug out, I could feel that there were a pair of eyes looking directly into my heart.

"Of course not." I responded in a daze.

"I think Bernal is also aware of this. After all... the situation of the Faded Ones is probably similar, especially for people like us who have fellow witches." Vic said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

When he said this, I suddenly remembered the ending of Mad Fire, where the furious Melina opened her night-blue eyes that had been hidden all along, intending to bestow the destined death on the King of Mad Fire.

Let's not talk about whether Meimei has a chance of success. Maybe Bernard knew this through Dianhuo A Ling, who has the same knowledge of the magic ring from another world as I do... Then at that time, he should have killed Melina first. There was no reason to kill Dianhuo A Ling.

...Could it be that he had already sensed that the power of the devilish fire in his body would be detrimental to him, so he took Melina away as his trump card?

——"Zero, let me see what choice you, who is a role model of the Faded, will make next."

His words after he kidnapped Melina echoed in my mind.

Bernard, what exactly does he mean? What happened between him and Dianhuo? What does he want to do?

The mysteries come one after another, just like dry dough thrown into water. The more it is stirred, the more it absorbs water and expands to the point where it is difficult to cut or sort out.

At this moment, Vic suddenly said, "It seems that the person who can answer all your questions has arrived, junior."

"Ok?"

In the chaotic fog, it seemed that we could actually hear people talking above our heads.

"Teacher, the people imprisoned in these cells are all extremely vicious criminals who intend to rebel against the Golden Dynasty and are detrimental to the Golden Law... Is the person you are looking for really in such a place?"

"..."

"teacher!"

Then, a faint golden light floated out of the fog, just like the butterfly that led me to the border, flapping its wings and landing in front of me.