Chapter 160: Black Knife Catacombs

Rogier was alive and well.

Previously, he had fought alongside Bai Shi to besiege 'Fell Omen' Margit, and they had only gone their separate ways after entering Stormveil.

Within Stormveil, what Rogier sought most were things related to 'Death'.

Dark thorns and black spots had appeared on Stormveil's walls, and the places where Those Who Live in Death emerged shared the same characteristics.

That was why he had gone to Stormveil, wanting to get to the bottom of it.

In the game, Rogier is cursed after coming into contact with the face of the Prince of Death.

The terrifying death curse caused black thorns to pierce through his body.

Perhaps due to luck, or perhaps because the contact was brief, Rogier survived.

But the price was paralysis in both his legs, forcing him to constantly endure the encroachment of 'Death' and watch himself die little by little.

Therefore, he wasn't pierced by the death thorns and is now alive and kicking.

And although he didn't find Godwyn's corpse, Rogier was not without his gains.

In the place where the Prince of Death once resided, he collected a small pustule.

After realizing it was related to 'Death,' he carefully preserved it for research.

Now, Rogier sought out D, hoping D would let bygones be bygones and continue to work with him.

The place he planned to go next was likely not somewhere he could handle alone.

When D saw Rogier, he frowned beneath his helmet.

Then, before Rogier could speak, D forcefully tried to shut the door.

Rogier quickly squeezed his body into the doorway.

"Hey, hey, wait a minute! Don't be in such a hurry."

"Can't you just hear me out first?"

But D coldly refused Rogier:

"No. I have nothing more to say to you."

Once, D and Rogier had been the closest of friends.

The two of them had once journeyed together to seek the origin of 'Death'.

But ever since Rogier had been seduced by that woman named Fia, he had developed unnecessary feelings for Those Who Live in Death.

Rogier actually tried to save Those Who Live in Death—it was preposterous.

Those Who Live in Death are beings excluded from the principles of the Golden Order, born from death.

Those Who Live in Death do not exist within the principles of the Golden Order.

The very existence of Those Who Live in Death is a blasphemy against the Golden Order; they are defilers by birth.

As long as they remain in the world, they defile guidance and cast a shadow upon its legitimacy.

Therefore, they must be eliminated, not a single one left behind. It is wrong to develop any sort of sentiment for Those Who Live in Death.

This conflict in ideology was destined to make them part ways.

D shoved Rogier out of the room and slammed the door shut.

Seeing this, Rogier gave a helpless, bitter smile.

But he wasn't about to give up. For the exploration ahead, D was indispensable.

From what Rogier knew of D, he was certain D was still standing on the other side of the door.

So, ignoring the stares of the other Tarnished in the Roundtable Hold, Rogier shouted at the door:

"D, come with me. I've found a lead pointing to the source."

"The mark definitely exists, and it holds the truth of the ritual!"

D listened silently from behind the door.

Rogier spoke cryptically so that the others in the Roundtable Hold wouldn't learn the news.

He didn't want others to know what the two of them had been investigating all this time—the Night of the Black Knives.

In the past, a fragment of the Rune of Death, held by Maliketh, the Black Blade, was stolen.

With that fragment, Godwyn the Golden was slain, marking the first recorded demigod death in history.

This, in turn, led to the shattering of the Elden Ring and the outbreak of the Shattering.

The assassins at the time were said to be descendants of the Eternal City—

a group of all-female assassins who wore garments with a concealing effect and donned silver armor.

The weapons they used, the Black Knives, were imbued with the power of the Rune of Death through a ritual.

Thus, they were known as the Black Knife Assassins.

Imbuing something with the power of the Rune of Death, even just a fragment, required a ritual of considerable scale.

And the mark of the ritual would surely leave traces of its mastermind...

In other words, if they could find one of their Black Knives, they would have a chance to follow the trail to the mastermind.

D and Rogier had long known this, and their journey was also for the sake of uncovering the truth.

It had simply ended without any results.

But Rogier brought new information:

"I think I've found it."

'A place where a Black Knife Assassin might be hiding.'

Rogier's cryptic remark left the onlooking Tarnished utterly confused.

The Roundtable Hold was full of eyes and ears, so Rogier didn't shout this information out loud.

He was confident that, given how well D knew him, he would understand the unspoken latter half of his sentence.

"So please, help me."

"You'd be helping yourself, too..."

"*Creak.*"

The door opened.

D was willing to give him a chance, which should have been a happy occasion, but Rogier could only give a bitter smile.

D didn't know how to analyze the ritual, which meant the results would depend entirely on what he said.

Rogier felt hopeless about his silver-tongued self.

Taking a deep breath, Rogier pushed the door open and walked inside.

In another nearby room, Fia opened her door a crack, having been observing the scene the entire time.

Only after Rogier entered D's room did she close her door.

—

When Bai Shi returned to the Church of Vows, he immediately sought out Miriel.

At this moment, Miriel's eyes were closed and his head was trembling slightly; it was unclear whether he was thinking or sleeping.

Bai Shi walked over but didn't see the Godskin Prayerbook on the ground.

Bai Shi didn't find it strange.

He had given the prayerbook to his teacher, so it was naturally his now; there was no need to take it back.

Hearing footsteps, Miriel opened his eyes and looked at Bai Shi.

"Ah, Bai Shi, you have returned."

"Mm, the aura of death about you has been cleansed. That's good."

"Well then, since you're better now, let us begin our studies."

Bai Shi sat cross-legged on the grass in front of Miriel, waiting for his explanation.

"The incantations recorded in this prayerbook are truly extraordinary. They made even an old fellow like me uncontrollably excited."

"Ah... knowledge has no end. The feeling of learning is truly wonderful."

With that, Miriel condensed a strange, black-and-white flame from his mouth. Bai Shi watched in amazement. It was clearly the Black Flame incantation from the prayerbook.

He hadn't expected Miriel to have actually researched it to the point of being able to use it in such a short time.

A prayerbook is like a coded text; the difficulty of deciphering its doctrines and learning from them is worlds apart from simply learning an incantation.

Besides, how did Miriel use it?

Bai Shi had done it by allocating points into Faith.

But Miriel couldn't possibly allocate points like that, nor would he believe in the Godskins.

"Teacher Miriel, have you encountered this faith before?"

Miriel smiled and explained to Bai Shi:

"So-called incantations, although they originate from faith, actually stem from imagination."

"If you can imagine yourself firmly believing in that faith, then you can use them."

"Although some incantations might be a display of certain deities' power, they don't actually draw power from those deities."

"So, one doesn't need to truly believe in them to use their powers."

"This is a skill I have grasped after living for so many years."

Bai Shi nodded. As expected of an elder who had lived for so long, he truly had his own unique insights.

Speaking of which, incantations in the world of Elden Ring were indeed different from those in traditional fantasy.

In traditional fantasy, one had to offer sincere faith before the gods would bestow their power.

But in Elden Ring, the power of incantations had nothing to do with the deities themselves; it merely replicated their power.

Just like the miracles in Dark Souls, it was quite metaphysical.

However, if one could wholeheartedly believe they could unleash the power, it was functionally no different from true faith, and it would be easy to become a fanatic through such self-deception.

And in fact, there were very few like Miriel.

If one didn't genuinely believe, it would be very difficult to imagine the scenario of using it.

However, Bai Shi, who leveled up with Runes, didn't have such troubles.

Bai Shi only needed to allocate the points; the Runes would take care of the faith aspect.

In short, there were absolutely no restrictions on Bai Shi learning incantations.

And so, Bai Shi began learning the Black Flame incantations from Miriel.

There weren't many incantations recorded in the Godskin Prayerbook.

The vast majority of its contents detailed the doctrines of the Godskin Apostles, with only a small portion dedicated to incantations.

As for the incantations, it recorded two: Black Flame and Black Flame Blade.

Among them, the Black Flame incantation was the means to conjure the black flame, the most fundamental part of the Black Flame faith.

Black Flame Blade, on the other hand, represented a deeper faith and application of its power.

Black Flame Blade allows one to imbue their weapon's blade with black flame, thereby dealing additional damage.

—

Boosted by his Faith points, Bai Shi quickly learned them.

While he was at it, Bai Shi also learned the incantation 'Blessing's Boon' from Miriel.

Blessing's Boon was an incantation from the age of the ancient Erdtree.

This incantation could apply a buff to all allies within range that provided slow, continuous healing.

It might prove useful in the future, and since his stats were sufficient anyway, there was no need to be frugal with time. He decided to learn it now.

Originally, Miriel had also offered to teach Bai Shi sorceries.

But after Bai Shi demonstrated his Glintstone Cometshard, Miriel praised his skill in sorcery and remarked that he must have an excellent teacher.

Looking at Bai Shi, Miriel couldn't help but exclaim:

"Bai Shi, your talent for learning truly astonishes me."

"I have rarely seen anyone with such talent, able to master both sorcery and incantations."

"Many of the devoutly faithful are unwilling to use sorcery because of their doctrines, while those sorcerers have no faith to speak of."

"However, if these two powers are combined, they provide a significant advantage in battle, as they can compensate for each other's shortcomings."

Sorcery and incantations were indeed quite practical; their only drawback was that the user themselves was rather fragile.

But Bai Shi didn't need to worry about that at all.

Even without increasing his size to strengthen his body, he had more than enough physical defense.

For instance, during his previous battle against the Night's Cavalry, even at his normal size, they were barely able to pierce his defenses.

"Thank you for your teachings, Teacher Miriel."

"I have other places to go, so I will take my leave for now."

"I will return to see you in the future."

Miriel nodded at Bai Shi.

"That is thoughtful of you. A safe journey to you."

Bai Shi left the Church of Vows and glanced into the distance.

After checking his map, he finally located a Minor Erdtree to use as a landmark.

Next, he was headed to the Black Knife Catacombs to retrieve the Black Knife Imprint within.

This way, he could establish a deeper connection with Ranni.

Possessing the Black Knife Imprint would mean Bai Shi knew the ins and outs of what Ranni had done.

Of course, Bai Shi didn't intend to use this to threaten Ranni—he wouldn't do such a thing, and besides, Ranni wouldn't fall for it.

Ranni would only admit it frankly, that yes, she did it.

Obtaining the Black Knife Imprint, knowing her past actions, and still choosing to cooperate—this was also a show of sincerity.

Moreover, Bai Shi had something in his possession that would definitely interest Ranni.

Bai Shi wanted to become Ranni's ally, or perhaps, her accomplice.

Ranni wanted to kill the Two Fingers that had chosen her as an Empyrean.

And Bai Shi happened to possess the Starfall Shadow, a katana with an ambiguous connection to the Fingerslayer Blade.

With these two prerequisites, a deeper cooperation wouldn't be a problem.

The matter of winning over Ranni could now be put on the agenda.

After leaving the Church of Vows, Bai Shi followed a small path forward and entered a region of towering rock formations.

Here, the ground was covered with the ruins of buildings and enormous statues of elders.

These were the ruins of the Uld Dynasty.

Bai Shi also saw a group of strange-looking creatures.

Both males and females were incredibly sturdy, with impressively large physiques, dark skin, and adornments of deer or bull horns on their heads.

These were the Ancestral Followers, a people who embraced, revered, and had even forsaken civilization for nature.

Unlike their irritable counterparts in the game, they didn't greet Bai Shi with ridiculously accurate arrows.

They merely watched warily as Bai Shi passed through their territory, the males gripping their axes and hammers tightly while the females held their young close.

Bai Shi quickly passed through their territory. After watching him disappear into the distance, they returned to their own business.

After another trek, Bai Shi first exited the forest and arrived in a canyon.

There, a sturdy Runebear attacked him, only to be swatted into a gummy bear by Bai Shi's dragon claw.

After felling the headless knight at the entrance, Bai Shi entered the long-awaited Black Knife Catacombs.

After lighting the Site of Grace, Bai Shi took out his staff and cast the sorcery 'Starlight' above his head.

Under the illumination of the starlight, the gloomy interior of the catacombs became clearly visible.

Next, Bai Shi would advance like a master tomb raider.