PinkSnake - Elden Ring First Flame - 443/444

Chapter 443: The God Who Holds Divine Authority

“You don’t like it? But this body should clearly be more perfect than that Demigod named Malenia.”

The Goddess of Rot’s brows drew together, as if Nolan’s answer had left her deeply puzzled and displeased.

But Nolan did not bother hiding anything. “It has nothing to do with the body. I just don’t like you.” His voice was calm and indifferent, without the slightest hesitation.

Of course, the one Nolan disliked could never be Malenia. It was the Goddess standing before him, the one whose appearance had made crimson flowers bloom across the ground.

If Nolan had not had some ability of his own, then the instant the sea of flowers at his feet blossomed, even a being as powerful as a Demigod would likely have been corroded by the Scarlet Rot.

Nolan’s answer was clear and direct, without the slightest hesitation.

He had no need to explain to this Goddess why he disliked her, nor did he need to compare her with Malenia.

For him, knowing that he did not like her was enough.

Faced with such a blunt response, the Goddess of Rot did not seem especially angry.

She merely said flatly, “Very well,” as if she had expected Nolan’s attitude from the start.

Then the corners of the Goddess of Rot’s mouth lifted slightly, forming an unreadable smile.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t like me. I don’t like you either, actually. What I want is only your body.”

At those words, a faint smile appeared on Nolan’s face as well, though there was something difficult to read in it.

“I think I have a rough idea of what you’ve done, and what you’re trying to do.” He smiled without quite smiling as he asked, “But my body is right here. Can you take it?”

“Rest assured, I absolutely won’t disappoint you. I have every confidence in my current Lord.”

The Goddess of Rot’s lips curled, revealing a radiant smile as vivid and alluring as a blooming flower.

Nolan only found that smile fake, like some monster from a myth wearing human skin to deceive people.

The Goddess of Rot did not explain further. She simply stood there quietly, as if waiting for someone.

Suddenly, from behind the bronze gate that had opened a crack, heavy footsteps sounded. They came closer and closer, echoing through the air like muffled thunder.

Nolan stared at the gate, curious to see who the unlucky fool was that the Goddess of Rot had refined into a corpse.

As the footsteps drew nearer, the huge bronze gate was finally pushed open with a low, heavy sound.

A towering figure appeared before Nolan. His body was as imposing as a mountain, giving off an unshakable pressure.

It was Radahn.

When Nolan saw the figure’s face clearly, realization dawned on him.

No wonder it sounded familiar. It was his brother-in-law.

This powerful enemy, once defeated by Nolan, had now appeared before him again in a completely unexpected way.

After defeating Radahn, Nolan had taken his corpse to the battlefield between the Firelink Army and the Redmanes.

Aside from intimidating the Redmanes, he had also left him with an intact corpse for Ranni’s sake.

But after Nolan made a trip to Stormhill, the corpse was gone when he returned.

He had thought the remnants of the Redmanes had hidden the body, but he had not expected it to fall into the hands of this Goddess.

At this moment, aside from his lifeless eyes, Radahn did not look very different from before. He was still tall, heroic, and imposing.

Though if one looked closely, there were a few subtle changes.

A pair of huge red wings had grown from his back, and he had also apparently stopped liking clothes.

Who knew where the Goddess had thrown Radahn’s signature golden lion armor?

All Nolan could see now was Radahn’s entire body covered in bulging muscle, huge to an almost frightening degree, every line sharply defined like the masterpiece of a master sculptor.

His brother-in-law’s build was rugged to the extreme. If he crossed into modern society, he could probably win a bodybuilding championship.

Nolan now had to suspect that this Goddess of Rot had some kind of strange preference.

It was one thing for Malenia not to wear clothes in her second phase. After all, only Nolan had seen it, and when the two of them had fought in the North Sea until they lost all sense of heaven and earth, there had still been plenty of time left over.

But why was Radahn being so bold too, standing there completely naked?

Nolan really could not work up any interest in a burly man like that.

What obsession did this Goddess have with nudity and giant wings?

While Nolan’s thoughts wandered, the Goddess of Rot noticed his reaction.

Seeing him standing there in a daze, she thought he had been frightened by her hidden trump card, and a smug smile rose at the corners of her mouth.

Malenia had indeed been someone she had chosen with great care. From the very beginning, that Demigod had possessed the purest, most untainted Order.

Yet it was precisely that extreme purity that made her unusually fragile, like a blank sheet of paper, easily stained by the outside world.

And Scarlet Rot was the deadly virus capable of eroding and contaminating the entire world.

As an Empyrean bearing Order, Malenia’s body was undoubtedly the perfect vessel.

As long as she could make Malenia fall into corruption, she would not need to waste effort breaking the Waterflow Swordsman’s seal. She could return directly to the world as a deity.

That was how things should have been, until she met the man before her, and all her plans were thrown into chaos.

Forget making Malenia bloom. Even corroding Malenia’s body had become difficult.

Fortunately, the current situation was gradually shifting in her favor.

Although she had tormented Malenia since childhood, once the pure Order became corrupted, it also became a restraint on her in turn. Malenia had been suppressing her as well.

Now, she had finally gained release. The Waterflow Swordsman’s seal still had not been completely broken, but at the very least, she could do far more than before.

The Goddess of Rot naturally knew that Radahn had been defeated by Nolan, but she believed that after receiving her power, the strongest Demigod would surely have the strength to fight the Lord of Cinder.

As long as she defeated Nolan, she could obtain an even better body.

No matter how much Nolan hated her, in the end, he could only be reshaped by the power of the Scarlet Rot into her desired form.

When that time came, she would have a Lord who was even more perfect and far more to her liking.

What was mere fire? She would use beautiful flowers of corruption to turn Nolan into a true Lord comparable to Godfrey.

Unfortunately, Nolan had no idea what beautiful future the Goddess of Rot was imagining.

All he saw was the silky, graceful Goddess drifting over and lightly settling onto Radahn’s back.

So Radahn had ended up being ridden after all. Was this what they called fate?

In the game, it had been Miquella piloting Radahn. In reality, it was the Goddess of Rot using Radahn’s form to strike.

Fortunately, the Goddess of Rot was indeed a female deity. For Radahn, perhaps that counted as some small consolation.

Nolan secretly felt relieved for his brother-in-law. At least he had finally preserved his dignity.

Only after the Goddess of Rot became the spirit behind Radahn did a trace of awareness finally appear in Radahn’s eyes, though it was only a trace, and not much at that.

Even Melina, who was in spirit form, could easily sense that the master of that body was definitely not Radahn.

Melina could not help feeling worried. She spoke up to warn him, “Be careful!”

She did not leave spirit form, but her voice still reached Nolan clearly.

“Don’t have confidence in me?” Nolan raised an eyebrow.

In any case, he was a man who had even managed to kill Placidusax. Surely this Goddess could not be stronger than Placidusax.

Melina shook her head and said earnestly, “That is still a god who holds divine authority.”

Placidusax was certainly powerful, but gods were powerful not only because of the strength they possessed. More importantly, it was because of the authority they held.

Against a weakling god like Trina, Melina could easily beat her down without using the power of Order.

But if Trina used the power of Order, things would become extremely troublesome.

...

Chapter 444: Vicious Cycle

Radahn said nothing. He could not speak anyway.

In that silence, he suddenly stretched out a hand. Two massive black-iron Claymores flew out from behind the gate as if drawn by magic, landing steadily in his grasp.

Nolan glanced at him, then drew the Dark Moon Greatsword and the Promised Claymore from his spirit ring.

In an instant, a thunderous boom rang out. One tall figure and one shorter figure vanished from where they stood at the same time, moving like bolts of lightning.

Two pale circular shock rings exploded on either side of their original positions, as though marking the traces left behind by their departure.

The next moment, with an earth-shaking clang, the two appeared in the center like ghosts.

The flaming Claymore and the Claymore wreathed in dark red aura slammed violently together, erupting with a deafening crash.

The red flowers that had just bloomed across the dried lakebed were swept flat by the shockwave.

Petals scattered through the air like snow, making the movements of the two sword-wielders seem almost poetic, even if one of them was a half-naked mountain of muscle.

Yet that poetry was filled with boundless killing intent.

Sword light flashed, and the roars never ceased. Four Claymores clashed and scraped against one another again and again, throwing off brilliant sparks.

Those sparks streaked through the darkness like meteors, lighting up both their faces.

The ground kept sinking, and the rock layer overhead cracked apart and fell.

The Lake of Rot was simply too small. Even ordinary collisions were enough to make the entire space tremble.

Perhaps because he was so close to the divine essence of the Goddess of Rot, and because this Goddess was personally controlling his body, Radahn’s resistance to the Scarlet Rot was far greater than Malenia’s.

At the very least, the Scarlet Rot he released did not die the moment it met fire. It managed to resist for a short while before dying.

“How can he be this strong?” the Goddess of Rot cried out despite herself. Radahn’s face had already turned red with strain.

She felt as though she and Radahn were sinking into a swamp, the Claymores in his hands becoming unbearably heavy.

Although Radahn’s body was larger than Nolan’s, and although he had been strengthened by her Divine Power, he was still being driven back again and again in their clash.

The Goddess of Rot was utterly shocked. The power of god and Lord joined as one, yet they were still falling behind in a direct confrontation against a Tarnished, and the other party had not even used that terrifying dragon body.

A monster among monsters. Was this fellow some dragon-man transformed from Placidusax?

The Goddess of Rot immediately began to panic when she saw Nolan bring down another slash.

She hurriedly controlled Radahn, pulling his feet out of the ground before stomping down hard.

Earthshaker!

The ground, already sunken into a pit, began collapsing even farther.

The earth shook violently, and the shockwave it produced blasted Nolan away.

What champions needed weapons to accomplish, Radahn could do with his body alone. And a Demigod strengthened by Divine Power could achieve something even more terrifying.

But Radahn did not stop his attack there.

His legs continued to drive forward, and the huge red wings on his back beat the air at the same time, producing a powerful recoil that pushed him toward Nolan like a burning meteor.

Nolan crossed the Promised Claymore and the Dark Moon Greatsword before his chest, blocking the force of Radahn’s charge, but the distance he was sent flying backward through the air lengthened all at once.

Nolan and Radahn collided hard, skidding rapidly across the ground together.

The force of that impact was like a violent storm, carving a thick, savage scar across the earth.

Radahn slammed Nolan straight into the dam blocking the Ainsel River. Purple light shone from the two black-iron Claymores, and the power of the strike became overwhelmingly heavy in an instant.

Cragblade!

Powerful gravity wrapped around the black-iron Claymores. Radahn’s own strength and the weight of Gravity Sorcery pressed down on Nolan at the same time, and that enormous force smashed him into the ground.

The power was so great that even the ground could not withstand it. The entire dam seemed to lose its support, and countless jagged cracks spread across it in an instant.

The cracks raced outward. In the blink of an eye, the whole dam shattered like a broken mirror, collapsing into a pile of rubble.

“Did he win?”

Doubt rose in the Goddess of Rot’s heart. Her eyes fixed tightly on the ruins shrouded in dust and smoke, trying to confirm whether Nolan had truly been defeated.

But in the brief instant she hesitated, a figure suddenly appeared above her and Radahn.

Did this fellow just cross through space? But how could he be so fast?

The Goddess of Rot stared in astonishment at Nolan, who had appeared without warning.

Nolan gripped his sword hilt tightly, flames burning across his body as if they had erupted from hell itself, scorching and violent.

The flames roared. A colossal fiery slash appeared in the sky, stretching a thousand meters long, melting even the rock layer overhead.

Scorching currents whipped up a fierce gale that swept forward like a raging sandstorm.

The flowers on the ground withered instantly in the searing wind, while the hair of the two Lords and the Goddess streamed wildly.

That flaming slash was terrifyingly fast. From the moment the flames ignited to the moment the strike fell, it took less than a single breath.

The flame slashed down, carrying unbearable heat as it smashed toward Radahn.

Melina watched as Radahn was swallowed by the enormous flaming slash, then slowly sank into the lava.

Just as she thought the battle was over, two massive Claymores suddenly shot out from beneath the ground, rushing straight toward Nolan.

Clang! Clang!

With two explosive impacts, Nolan knocked both Claymores away.

He saw Radahn’s entire body covered in gray-black flowers. They lasted only an instant before turning to ash, revealing that charred, completely exposed body beneath.

The Scarlet Rot had saved his life.

Under Nolan’s gaze, the wounds burned into Radahn’s body began healing in a way that made one’s skin crawl.

Flesh that should have been restored instead sprouted lumps of rotten meat. Those clumps writhed constantly, as if they possessed lives of their own.

The Scarlet Rot symbolized the vicious cycle of life decaying and all things rotting. It brought death, yet also gave birth to new life. But that vitality was twisted.

Clearly, after being repaired in such a way, Radahn could never return to his former appearance.

He would only become a corrupted monster, stripped of his former glory and dignity.

What desecration.

For once, Nolan felt anger.

If this mutation continued, Radahn’s fate would be worse than following Miquella.

Nolan was no Redmane, but he knew that true champions and Lords should not suffer such humiliation.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment. When the Goddess of Rot saw the flames on Nolan’s body gradually rise, draping over him like a robe of fire, a chill crept into her heart.

Countless fireballs poured down from overhead like rain. She did not dare take them head-on now, so she controlled Radahn to twist the earth with gravity.

Hundreds of enormous stone pillars surged up from underground, crashing toward the fireballs hurtling down at them.

Boom, boom, boom!

The stone pillars collided with the fireballs, producing a string of deafening explosions.

The fireballs burst apart on impact, turning into countless dazzling spheres of light that bloomed across the underground world like fireworks during a grand festival.

This place truly was unsuitable for battle. If the commotion grew even slightly too great, there was a real risk of being buried alive.

That was why Radahn, under the Goddess of Rot’s control, had not been using large-scale attacks.

Nolan had spatial abilities and could escape, but in her view, no matter how strong Radahn was, he could not possibly hold up an entire continent.

If the Lord she had gone to so much trouble to create ended up buried alive here, breaking the seal would only become even harder for her.