Hakan was astonished by the sight of so many strange creatures.
He had heard Bai Shi mention that mounts were on their way, but he never expected them to look so peculiar.
Honestly, if they were just ordinary lizards, that would be one thing—not entirely unacceptable.
But these lizards had no scales; they were completely smooth...
Bai Shi gestured for Hakan to come closer.
"Hakan, from now on, these will be the standard mounts for the Dragonblood Knights."
"Oh, right, let me introduce you."
"This is Stella, the current administrator of the Town of Sellia."
"All of these mounts were provided by Sellia."
Bai Shi then turned to Stella and said:"This is Hakan, the captain of the Dragonblood Knights."
"Once we've taken care of the matters around Sellia, the Dragonblood Knights will escort your mages out of town and head for Stormveil."
The two nodded at each other.
Bai Shi spoke again:
"Hakan, the method for commanding these dragon beasts is rather special. Take the next couple of days to learn it."
"First, you need to learn from Stella how to command all the dragon beasts as a group."
"Once you've mastered that, you can then teach the method for commanding individual beasts to your knights, one by one. It is imperative that they all become proficient."
"When you've all finished learning, prepare to set out for the Town of Sellia."
"Besides relocating the mages, we also have a battle to fight in Sellia."
Hakan nodded.
"Alright, I will ensure they all master it as soon as possible."
"What kind of enemy will we be facing when we arrive in Sellia?"
Bai Shi let out a small laugh.
"I want you to retake the Sellia Crystal Tunnel, which has been occupied by the Kindred of Rot."
"Sellia is our territory now."
"We can't just let those creatures occupy it forever. The smithing stones inside still need to be mined."
Although Hakan had never actually seen the Kindred of Rot, he had heard a thing or two about the various creatures of Scarlet Rot in Caelid.
It seemed the Kindred of Rot weren't individually strong, but they were numerous and had a strong hive-mind consciousness.
This would be a good drill for large-scale combat.
If they were to fight other armies in the future, this was an indispensable exercise.
"Understood. In that case, let's treat this as the Dragonblood Knights' first real battle."
The Dragonkin Soldier they had fought before could hardly be called a strong opponent.
A single Dragonkin Soldier was merely at the level of a hero.
Moreover, the Dragonblood Knights had specifically brought ropes and restraining nets to limit its movement.
Once it was slightly immobilized, the knights swarmed it and easily defeated it.
Aside from the ice lightning conducting through the water and injuring a few knights, there were almost no casualties.
And fighting the Kindred of Rot in a confined environment like a tunnel would be a bit of a challenge.
Bai Shi nodded.
"Good. I'll leave it to you all. Do your best."
"Right, remember to arrange lodging for Stella."
"Master the commands quickly over the next couple of days."
"I'm heading back to my tent."
With that, Bai Shi walked toward his tent, leaving Hakan and Stella to communicate on their own.
When Bai Shi pushed open the flap of his tent, he found it was quite lively inside.
Hakan's old companion, the white wolf, was also in the tent, with Shivr leaning against him.
Meanwhile, Torrent held a branch laden with a large cluster of Rowa Fruit in his mouth, trying to stuff them toward Shivr's mouth.
It looked like Torrent was trying to teach Shivr to eat Rowa Fruit.
Clearly, Shivr was not very willing, turning his head back and forth to avoid the fruit Torrent was offering.
Bai Shi could even sense the look of disdain on his face.
Bai Shi snatched the branch from Torrent's mouth, picked off a few fruits, and tossed them into Torrent's mouth.
After sending the chewing Torrent on his way, Bai Shi gently rubbed Shivr's little head.
It was so fluffy, a wonderful feeling, though the spiral horn on his head was a bit prickly to the touch.
Shivr yelped happily, extending his two front paws to try and grab Bai Shi's hand.
When his little paws managed to catch Bai Shi's hand, Shivr opened his mouth and gently gnawed on Bai Shi's hand, inviting him to play.
Bai Shi felt that Shivr had seemed to grow a little.
So he picked him up and weighed him in his hands.
It turned out not to be an illusion; Shivr was indeed much heavier than when he was first born.
His growth rate was truly staggering.
Bai Shi sat cross-legged on the ground, rolling Shivr onto his back. Then, after Shivr righted himself, he rolled him over again.
As he played with Shivr, Bai Shi contemplated his next move.
He didn't plan to waste the time while Hakan and the Dragonblood Knights were learning to control the dragon beasts.
He intended to set out in the next two days and use this time to make a trip to Liurnia.
There was a catacomb in Liurnia that held an important treasure left by the Nox: the Nox Mirrorhelm.
Once Ranni made her move, the Two Fingers would activate their contingency plan and forcibly take control of Blaidd.
Bai Shi hadn't given the Fingerslayer Blade to Ranni yet, but to be safe, it was better to get the mirrorhelm sooner rather than later.
After all, the meteorite had caused such a huge commotion. It would be bad if the Two Fingers realized something ahead of time.
Besides, the Fingerslayer Blade had a history of success, so the Two Fingers would surely be on high alert.
—
At this moment, in the distant land of Stormveil.
A resident with tattered clothes and a gaunt, deathly face, resembling a living corpse, slowly approached the towers of Stormveil.
He glanced at the long-unseen castle before walking into the passage leading to Stormveil under the watchful eyes of the Silver Knights.
This living corpse-like resident was, in fact, one of the doubles created by Morgott.
Ever since the Night's Cavalry forces in Limgrave had been wiped out by Bai Shi, Morgott had halted all other plans for Limgrave.
The ranks of the Night's Cavalry could be replenished, but continuing such meaningless, low-yield endeavors was no longer necessary.
Most of the Tarnished who wanted to go to Stormveil had already passed through. There wouldn't be another large force of Tarnished like when Bai Shi first claimed his kingship.
What remained were small groups of a few individuals.
Therefore, sending more Night's Cavalry wouldn't achieve the same results as before.
For these small bands of Tarnished, dispatching the Night's Cavalry would be a waste of resources.
The Night's Cavalry were, after all, legitimate hero-class units.
If he could, Morgott would love to send a large army to crush the hidden threat of Stormveil.
However, the Royal Capital of Leyndell was simply too far away.
The terrain of Liurnia was also troublesome. With the main road destroyed, sending a large army was not a wise move.
Moreover, Leyndell's army could not be deployed so easily.
Their primary duty was to defend Leyndell.
But this did not mean Morgott would simply sit back and watch Bai Shi develop his power.
As the saying goes, to defeat an enemy, one must first understand them.
Morgott was unfamiliar with this Tarnished who had appeared out of nowhere.
He had plenty of information on the other demigods who ruled as shardbearers, and most of them no longer posed a threat.
Only Bai Shi had seized a Great Rune as a Tarnished and become a regional shardbearer.
There were no clues to Bai Shi's life before becoming Tarnished, something even Bai Shi himself didn't know.
And this part of his history was unimportant to Morgott anyway.
What he truly cared about was the present Bai Shi and the present Stormveil.
And what kind of power Stormveil could amass after taking in all these Tarnished.
The various administrative and strategic moves Bai Shi had made since becoming king were all things that could be traced.
By gathering all this information, Morgott could come to understand Bai Shi.
This intelligence-gathering phase was indispensable.
Especially after he had recently seen the meteor in the sky.
That meant the stars had begun to move again.
From this, Morgott was certain that someone had defeated General Radahn and obtained his Great Rune.
Without a doubt, if Morgott had to say who could defeat General Radahn right now, it would be Bai Shi.
Not only was he geographically close, but he was also free to move about.
Unlike the other shardbearers, who were constrained for various reasons.
In other words, Bai Shi now possessed two Great Runes.
So Morgott acted swiftly—
First, he used runes to create a double, sending it all the way from the Royal Capital of Leyndell to Limgrave.
Then, he had the double use magic to alter its appearance, disguising it as an ordinary living corpse.
In the Lands Between, the identity of a living corpse was very useful, as almost no one paid them any mind.
Thus, Morgott's double smoothly entered the tower and walked toward the passage to Stormveil.
Inside the passage, he was met with an inspection by the Silver Knights.
A Silver Knight looked at the unremarkable living corpse before him and conducted a routine identity check.
"Name?"
"..."
"Sex?"
"..."
"..."
"A... ah..."
"Turn around, take two steps forward, and jump."
Morgott followed the instructions, taking two steps forward, but he did not jump.
There were different levels of being a living corpse; there was no need to perform too well.
This was the skill of a veteran actor, capable of handling any situation.
The Silver Knight in charge of registration sighed. Another living corpse that could only gurgle.
After recording the living corpse's facial features, he waved to his comrades behind him.
"Sigh, let him in."
"He's lost his mind." The other Silver Knights nearby nodded and let him pass.
The Silver Knights were used to seeing such nearly mindless living corpses.
The number of living corpses was small compared to the Tarnished who came to Stormveil, but these living corpses were the norm in the Lands Between.
Fortunately, even though the living corpses had almost no intellect left, they could still follow simple verbal commands for basic communication.
Sometimes they could be assigned simple, uncomplicated tasks.
While not much was expected of them, they were still a small source of manpower and could handle easy jobs.
Shortly after, a resident of Stormveil arrived to lead Morgott.
Morgott remained perfectly calm inside.
Playing the fool was indeed a bit awkward, but he was used to it.
Morgott had once relied on this strategy to achieve great success when the allied forces attacked Leyndell.
During the assault of the allied lords, he often disguised himself as a common soldier to infiltrate their ranks.
He once even found an opportunity to run his blade through General Radahn's chest.
Unfortunately, the effect of General Radahn's Great Rune exceeded his expectations; Radahn stood up as if nothing had happened.
In the end, the two fought a long duel to a standstill, and that battle had no conclusion.
It could be said that Morgott was already quite skilled in infiltration and espionage.
And after the Shattering ended, he would occasionally move about as a living corpse, an appearance that rarely aroused suspicion.
The number of wandering living corpses in the Lands Between was still quite large.
The impact of the Shattering was still profoundly heavy to this day, with the population of the Lands Between reduced to less than a tenth of its former size.
And after so many long years, many people had become living corpses.
Wandering living corpses could often be seen everywhere, including nobles, residents, and sometimes even bandits and deserters.
Like before, Patches had scraped together a band of deserters-turned-bandits who were living corpses.
—
After passing through the tunnel, Morgott, led by the resident, crossed the bridge where he had once fought Bai Shi.
The bridge had been rebuilt, with the flagstones replaced and renovated.
Wooden railings had even been added on both sides to prevent anyone from accidentally falling off.
As Morgott continued to feign mindlessness, following the person ahead, he thought back to the Silver Knights he had just seen.
He had spent so much time in Stormveil before and had never seen such knights.
Clearly, these Silver Knights were trained and selected from among the Tarnished after Bai Shi took control, and their armor was brand new.
Morgott assessed the strength of these Silver Knights.
Their skill level was not particularly high.
Basically, they were somewhere between a soldier and a regular knight of a king's army.
He didn't know their role under Bai Shi, but they were more than sufficient for guarding a gate.
This was because of the military duties Bai Shi had established.
The Silver Knights were responsible for city defense and public security, while the Dragonblood Knights were the main combat force, and their strength had to be superior.
This led to the Dragonblood Knights being significantly stronger than the Silver Knights.
Morgott felt that this silver armor was ultimately inferior to their Leyndell's gold.
That gold was a symbol of the Erdtree's grace, a meaning these people would probably never understand.
Soon, Morgott followed the guide into the inner city of Stormveil.
Once they passed through the gate, Morgott felt a peculiar "gaze."
It was not a physical gaze, but a powerful soul constantly patrolling with the wind.
Morgott showed no signs of abnormality, continuing his pretense as he followed the guide forward.
'His reconnaissance is quite impressive.'
In Limgrave, Morgott had constantly felt the patrolling gaze of the Stormhawks.
And here in Stormveil, the Stormhawks crisscrossed the sky ceaselessly, in even greater numbers.
It seemed there was another mysterious figure here, monitoring the entire situation within Stormveil.
Mere surveillance was not a problem for Morgott.
It just meant that his plan of action would need to be more cautious from now on.
Morgott saw that the open ground in the outer bailey was filled with numerous defensive siege engines.
However, these siege engines had been moved aside, and in their place were large piles of wood and stone.
Trolls were carrying huge rocks and logs, transporting them into the city.
Meanwhile, Misbegotten and Demi-Humans were processing the smaller stones on the ground, breaking them into fine gravel.
Morgott looked at the Misbegotten and Demi-Humans with some surprise.
There were quite a few of them. Were they slaves?
No, they didn't seem to be slaves.
Morgott looked closer and noticed that the Demi-Humans and Misbegotten were wearing intact clothing, every single one of them.
Their clothes were a bit disheveled, but it was clear they had received some degree of civilizing education.
Morgott couldn't help but take a second look.
In the Royal Capital of Leyndell, only the people of the golden lineage, the Oracle Envoys, and the ancient dragons were granted high status.
All others were shunned by the self-important golden folk.
Especially the Omen, who were practically sentenced to death at birth.
Morgott was well aware of this situation but could do nothing to change it, nor had he ever thought of trying.
Because even he himself despised his Omen identity.
To rule Leyndell as an Omen was undoubtedly a defilement, yet he had no other choice.
Morgott then looked beside the Demi-Humans and Misbegotten.
There, Tarnished were gathering the gravel on the ground and mixing it with some kind of binder, getting along very harmoniously with the other creatures.
They did not look like warriors.
That made sense. Even among the Tarnished, not everyone would choose to be a warrior.
The situation in Stormveil was much better than Morgott had imagined.
Far better than when Godrick was in charge.
Morgott's disguised living corpse followed the resident all the way into the inner city.
After winding through the streets, they finally arrived before a five-story building.
The guide called out the building's administrator.
Under his arrangement, Morgott was quickly assigned a room.
The guide recited the procedure to the administrator as a matter of routine:
"Same as usual."
"First, assign a room, then..."
The administrator cut him off.
"Alright, alright, I know. You've said it a dozen times."
"Take them to the room, then check if they have any missing limbs."
"Finally, see what kind of work they can be assigned..."
The guide shrugged and turned to leave.
Morgott was taken to a room on the fourth floor.
It was a 4-person room, or rather, a dormitory.
Besides four beds, there was only a single wooden table.
In any case, the occupants were mindless living corpses who acted on instinct, so substandard living conditions didn't matter.
And yet, even such conditions were considered quite good in the Lands Between.
The administrator inspected Morgott's body from top to bottom, confirming there were no disabilities.
This was the first time Morgott had undergone such an inspection, and he felt a little uncomfortable.
However, he remained perfectly calm and waited it out.
The administrator nodded. It was a healthy corpse.
Apart from being severely zombified, there were no other drawbacks. Such a living corpse could be assigned to many tasks.
He then left, leaving Morgott in the room.
Morgott let out a slight sigh of relief.
The most critical stage of the infiltration was over. All that remained was to lie low and gather intelligence.
Morgott paid no mind to his foolish roommates and walked alone to the window, looking out at Stormveil.
From the fourth floor, the view was decent.
Before long, Morgott located the places he planned to investigate next.
It was where large numbers of Tarnished gathered: the training grounds and the commercial street that provided them with various services.
It was extremely prosperous, arguably the most active area in all of Stormveil. From time to time, winged Misbegotten could be seen flying through the city carrying packages.
All sorts of shops were open almost day and night.
The once-spacious area now seemed crowded with the activity of so many Tarnished.
This was a sight Morgott had never seen before.
Stormveil was so bustling... perhaps this is what a city should look like.
Since birth, Morgott and his brother had been imprisoned in the sewers of Leyndell.
He knew nothing of Leyndell's former golden age.
The silent sewers only occasionally received honeyed whispers of laughter and joy trickling down from the surface during festivals.
Morgott could only listen to the occasional sounds of celebration from the deep, dark sewers and long for that beautiful, prosperous era.
It was only when he escaped the sewers that he truly saw what Leyndell looked like.
By then, Leyndell was in crisis. Its former glory was gone, with only the dregs of a bountiful age remaining.
But whether it was the magnificent architecture or the radiant Erdtree, everything spoke of that once-glorious era.
These remnants of bounty were more than enough to satisfy the Omen who had never seen such a golden age.
In the end, Morgott made up his mind.
He had to protect the Royal Capital of Leyndell and the Erdtree.
So he imagined, again and again, that prosperous era under the Erdtree's rule, hoping that one day it could be revived in his hands.
But he never expected that Stormveil, more so than the Royal Capital, would align with his vision of a golden age.
There was a vitality here that had not been seen in the Lands Between since the Shattering, a vitality he had never witnessed in his entire life.
In terms of infrastructure, Stormveil was inferior to Leyndell in every way, yet it somehow made one feel that this city was alive.
Stormveil, the home of the storm, had been resurrected under Bai Shi's rule.
Morgott took a deep breath, shaking himself from his brief trance, and began to plan how he could obtain intelligence within Stormveil.
Morgott now had to admit that Bai Shi was indeed a respectable opponent.
That being the case, he had to be treated with the utmost seriousness.