"Ah... I didn't expect it to go this smoothly. Should I say my luck is actually quite good?"
Mohg slowly stepped out of the tunnel and looked around, letting out a small sigh of appreciation. He was now standing within a vast canyon, the river flowing gently beneath his feet. On either side of the riverbanks, he could see the crumbling remains of structures characterized by the distinct architecture of the Uhl Dynasty.
Mohg walked over to inspect them, but the ruins bore no unique inscriptions or designs—only the common motifs typical of the ancient ancient civilization. Even if they were common, however, Mohg didn't actually know what they meant...
Fortunately, that wasn't his primary objective for the moment. He would find time to study these things later, especially since they involved the culture of horns and the power of ancestral spirits. Once he reached the Eternal City on the other side, he would definitely find someone to specialize in researching this field.
Hmm... I remember Old Man Ansbach was quite the expert in this area? Er, though it might be a bit early to call him 'Old Man' just yet...
Mohg rubbed his chin, lost in idle thoughts for a moment before shaking his head vigorously to clear his mind.
"Ruins of the Uhl Dynasty are appearing here. Does that mean I'm close to the heart of the palace ruins?"
His mood became a bit complicated. While his main goal wasn't this specific area, the paths underground were interconnected in a sense; he could use the Uhl Palace Ruins as a waypoint to reach the Eternal City.
Thump!
After surveying the paths on both sides, Mohg unfurled his black wings once more and took flight toward the side where the passage was significantly wider.
Soon, utilizing his "aerial" perspective from mid-air, he spotted a cluster of buildings up ahead. His expression grew even more peculiar. He really had stumbled right into the heart of the Uhl Palace Ruins.
Mohg gradually slowed his flight. Just as he was about to fly out of the canyon's bottleneck, he hovered in place, peering toward the ruins to observe.
A complex of buildings—different from his memories yet strikingly similar—slowly came into view. One could see the remnants of a once-glorious civilization through these ruins, though they were now little more than shattered walls and broken pillars.
But rather than waxing poetic about history, Mohg was more concerned with another thing: whether a certain "strange creature" was lurking here...
He could see the silhouettes of Claymen below, but he saw no sign of a juvenile Astel—the Malformed Star.
Has it not arrived yet? That seems unlikely... unless this isn't the specific ruin I remember...
The thought made his head throb with a phantom toothache. He had no desire to wander aimlessly through this winding, cursed subterranean maze. He wanted to find the Eternal City as quickly as possible and achieve his goal. If possible, he also wanted to head back up to witness the full course of the Liurnia War. It was a historic campaign, after all; since he never got to see it in its true glory in the game, he certainly had to find a way to stick his hand in now that he had the chance!
Besides, war was the best time for the Mohgwyn Dynasty to expand. There might be some unexpected harvests waiting for him.
After confirming that there was no sign of the Malformed Star ahead, Mohg's worries faded. His wings beat rhythmically, carrying him toward the forward area. Without that big guy around, there was nothing in this Clayman-infested region that could threaten him. The Claymen were far too slow and lacked any anti-air capabilities; they were essentially powerless against him.
"Perhaps the only virtue of this race is their durability..."
Landing atop a tall stone pillar, Mohg looked down at the Claymen and couldn't help but wonder. He then shifted his gaze toward the temple-like structure in the center.
"Maybe there's something to be found in there..."
On either side of the temple were waterfall-like terrains. Once he finished exploring the interior, he could simply fly up from there to check the situation.
When Mohg landed on the ground, he immediately felt several gazes from the surroundings. The Claymen had noticed him, but then something surprising happened: they turned a blind eye to his presence, acting as if he didn't exist at all.
When he had come here as a "Tarnished" in his past life, they certainly hadn't acted this way. That scene had been more like a violent "fan meet-and-greet"...
Mohg didn't notice that one particularly elderly-looking Clayman Priest was staring fixedly at him, his normally cloudy eyes flashing with an unprecedented light.
"Is this the ancient temple of the Uhl Dynasty? It looks remarkably well-preserved..."
Entering the temple, Mohg saw a tall statue situated in the center. This figure appeared frequently in the ruins of ancient dynasties, but records of its identity had long since vanished. No one knew which deity it represented. It looked like an old god forgotten by history—much like the Formless Mother.
Hmm... why do I feel like that's an insult to the Formless Mother?
The moment the thought surfaced, Mohg felt a wave of inexplicable emotion ripple through the void. He realized instantly that the Formless Mother was expressing her dissatisfaction. To put it simply, she had sensed her proxy "badmouthing" her behind her back.
Mohg remained expressionless, keeping his head up to observe the statue, feigning total ignorance of the Formless Mother's mood.
Crack!
"Hmm?"
Mohg's brow furrowed at the sound of fine rock splintering and falling. Normally, such a thing was common in ruins, but when paired with his spiritual intuition, it became an omen!
Boom!
Mohg's eyes narrowed as the spot where he had been standing a second ago shattered. He looked toward the culprit.
As the dust settled, a long, slender creature draped in what looked like a white veil slowly revealed itself. Its body resembled a series of spheres linked together, topped with a ghastly skull-like head and two massive, glinting mandibles. Two gossamer-thin, transparent wings rested on its back—a creature that looked both like an insect and a humanoid. The thing that had attacked him was the scorpion-like stinger at the end of its tail.
In the Lands Between, only one creature possessed such a visage... a Malformed Star! And the one before him was clearly a juvenile specimen!
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Elden Ring: As the Consort, I Reject Miquella (340 Chapters – Ongoing)
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