Unfortunately, the results of the subsequent experiments were still unsatisfactory. One by one, the giant dogs collapsed.
After these last few died, Bai Shi did not continue to expose their bodies to sunlight.
The moment a giant dog collapsed, he had Hilbert perform an autopsy to study the cause of death.
Bai Shi shook his head as he looked at the completely vegetalized internal organs of the giant dogs.
Although these dogs were already severely injured and in poor condition, making them unlikely to survive the experiment, it was still clear that the success rate was far too low.
For life bound to the rot, surviving in such a state was an exceedingly difficult matter.
It wasn't yet certain if it was completely impossible to succeed.
In any case, if sunlight were to be used for cleansing, personnel would have to be evacuated beforehand.
Among the Redmane Knights, it wasn't particularly rare for individuals to contract the rot while fighting against its corruption.
However, despite the lack of successful cases, Bai Shi was not without his gains.If the intensity of the sunlight was high enough, the Scarlet Rot seemed to immediately sense that the conditions for 'bountifulness' had been met.
At that point, instead of spreading, it would begin to transform directly.
If this could be properly utilized, perhaps some progress could be made.
Unfortunately, this discovery was only made when the last giant dog remained, so he would have to wait for the next batch of test subjects to try again.
——
At night, Bai Shi gazed up at the flowing starry sky, contemplating the matter of the Scarlet Rot.
After two more days of research, progress on the plants transformed by the Scarlet Rot had stalled.
He hadn't done many experiments on living rot-infected creatures either.
The Scarlet Rot was, after all, the power of a god. Although he had long known it would be difficult to deal with, he hadn't expected it to be this tenacious.
However, with the power of the sun in his hands, he at least had a means to break the stalemate.
If worse came to worst, he would just burn it all and let the flames purify everything.
After some thought, Bai Shi decided to leave Redmane Castle the next day.
Since there was no progress in the short term, he might as well head to Nokron, Eternal City first.
When morning came, he would use a Site of Grace to teleport to the edge of the Mistwood in Limgrave and head to Nokron from there.
Getting the Fingerslayer Blade in hand would give him some peace of mind for the future.
The Fingerslayer Blade was now a true divine weapon, specifically effective against the Fingers, and it was certain to be powerful.
Once Ranni took a blade to the Finger that chose her, he could take the Fingerslayer Blade for his own safekeeping.
Hmm, he could also start planning how to save Iji and Blaidd.
Iji was killed by the Black Knives, while Blaidd would be driven mad by the Two Fingers' control.
It was certain that the Two Fingers had Black Knife Assassins at their command.
If Iji stayed in Stormveil, there shouldn't be a major problem.
The Stormhawk King had been standing guard in Stormveil all this time. Surrounded by the storm, even as a spirit, its detection abilities were beyond anything Bai Shi could compare to.
With the King's senses, Black Knife Assassins would basically have no way of sneaking in.
The Black Knife Assassins themselves weren't exceptionally strong.
The only thing to be wary of was the Destined Death imbued in their black knives—that was a real killer.
Considering Destined Death, Bai Shi felt it would be best for him to deal with the Black Knives personally when they appeared.
As for Blaidd, his problem was actually quite simple to solve.
The mirrorhelm Iji wore could deflect all interference, including that of the Greater Will and its envoys, the Fingers.
If there was a second mirrorhelm, giving it to Blaidd would solve the problem.
However, it likely wasn't forged by Iji but rather found among the relics of the Nox civilization.
Since there was only one, naturally only one person could wear it.
But Bai Shi knew of a place where another mirrorhelm could be found.
It was called the Nox Mirrorhelm, and its design was different from Iji's.
Bai Shi remembered its location was somewhere in a catacomb in Liurnia; he would just have to look for it later.
However...
Bai Shi recalled the helmet's design and couldn't help but wonder if Blaidd's wolf face could even fit inside it.
Slightly modifying the shape shouldn't affect its function, right...?
"Bai Shi, what are you thinking about?"
Melina's voice rang out, pulling Bai Shi's wandering thoughts back.
Bai Shi looked down at Melina beside him.
"I was thinking about how to handle the Scarlet Rot in Caelid."
"You saw the experiments. The power of the sun isn't a panacea."
"There are many things to consider, but fortunately, I'm not completely without a clue."
Melina nodded.
"Still, remember not to push yourself too hard..."
——
The next day, Bai Shi teleported to the edge of the Mistwood via a Site of Grace.
This was where he had first fought the Night's Cavalry.
It was also where he later met Blaidd and Ranni, reaching an initial agreement of cooperation with the latter.
However, Bai Shi had never explored this area further, leaving it to the Tarnished under his command.
After all, exploring the subterranean world beneath the Mistwood was more convenient with more people.
Bai Shi also had them liberate Fort Haight.
In addition, he had his men collect the Crimson Crystal Tear and the Greenburst Crystal Tear from nearby.
Following the main road, Bai Shi passed through a natural archway formed by colossal ruins and arrived at the Third Church of Marika.
Bai Shi recalled that there was a saying from Marika left here as well.
He couldn't quite remember the specific content of the saying, though.
Besides, Melina was very interested in these sayings, and Bai Shi felt he should bring her to see it.
Soon, the two arrived at the Third Church of Marika.
The Third Church of Marika was an unprecedentedly large church. Though dilapidated, one could still discern its former glory from its sheer scale.
This church was much larger than the Church of Pilgrimage, the Fourth Church of Marika, and the Callu Baptismal Church he had seen before.
Here too stood a giant statue of Marika, and on the ground beside it was a large stone basin.
This was a vessel for holding sacred tears, which the priests of the Erdtree once used to bestow blessings upon the people.
Bai Shi had already had someone retrieve the Sacred Tear and Flask of Wondrous Physick from this church, so it was now empty.
Upon entering the church, Melina sensed that a saying had been left in this place as well.
Melina had always been interested in the words left behind by the elusive Queen Marika.
Perhaps she could find clues about what had happened in the Lands Between, and it would be even better if she could discern Queen Marika's purpose.
"Bai Shi, it seems Queen Marika left a saying here."
Bai Shi smiled. As expected, Melina was drawn in by the saying.
"Is that so? What does it say?"
Bai Shi watched Melina's blurry figure stand before Marika's statue. She brought her hands together at her chest, as if listening to something.
After a moment, Melina turned and trotted over to Bai Shi. Sometimes, Melina still hadn't registered that Bai Shi could now see her and would occasionally make some rather adorable gestures.
Of course, the way she acted after realizing it was quite adorable too.
Bai Shi couldn't help but give a silent nod of approval to those two great gods.
It was thanks to them that his Arcane had skyrocketed, granting him the ability to see spirits.
After that day, Bai Shi had confirmed that his Arcane attribute had indeed increased significantly.
At 65 points, Arcane instantly became his highest normal attribute.
Furthermore, Arcane also seemed to function like Insight, increasing one's perception and ability to interact with other beings.
The power of some incantations would also be enhanced by it.
Melina stopped in front of Bai Shi before she began to speak:
"Well then, I'll recite the words for you."
"My Lord..."
Melina glanced up at Bai Shi, using Marika's words to also secretly express her own feelings.
"And thy warriors. I divest you of your grace."
"With thine eyes dimmed, ye will be driven from the Lands Between."
"Ye will wage war in a land afar, where ye will live, and die."
Melina propped her head with her hand, savoring the words.
"This saying doesn't have any useful information this time..."
"It seems to be the sentence preceding the one we found last time."
"But... it's still so strange."
"From her words, it's clear Queen Marika had long planned for the dimming of grace and the banishment of Lord Godfrey's army, but we don't know why she did it."
Bai Shi copied Melina's posture and began to think as well.
"Yes, what could have happened?"
Melina winked her right eye at Bai Shi.
"You're a Tarnished, you know. Don't you know anything?"
"I'm not one of the old-timers who experienced the banishment. How would I know anything...?"
"That's true... By the way, are you copying my posture?"
"No, I'm not. You're obviously copying me."
——
After leaving the dilapidated Third Church of Marika, Bai Shi didn't immediately head for the crater. Instead, he went around to the back of the church.
Behind the church was a sending gate that led to the Bestial Sanctum, but that wasn't what Bai Shi was here for this time.
Bai Shi stood at the base of a cliff, looking up.
On the cliff face, there was a protruding rock formation, from which the arm of a corpse could be faintly seen.
Bai Shi pinpointed the spot and, aided by the power of the storm, leaped nimbly up the rock face.
Stepping on one protruding rock after another, Bai Shi vaulted onto the rock formation.
Embedded in the corpse was a golden-red sword.
Bai Shi pulled it from the body, and a swirl of stormwind cleaned it instantly.
This weapon was the Sword of Eochaid.
It was a sword from the fallen minor nation of Eochaid, said to never rust.
Bai Shi planned to take it with him to study its skill—Eochaid's Dancing Blade.
Eochaid's Dancing Blade was a technique that used 'spirit' to drive and brandish the sword, and Bai Shi was very interested in such a power.
Leaping down from the cliff, Bai Shi mounted Torrent and rode along the path through the Mistwood.
This road had now been cleared.
Due to the previous cooperation with Ranni, Stormveil was responsible for exploring the Siofra River region beneath this area.
This required a large number of personnel, and the logistics of supply had to be maintained.
Thus, Trolls were needed to pull carts back and forth, and they couldn't have Runebears causing trouble nearby.
The Trolls no longer needed to be pierced with iron spikes to pull carts and could be freed to fight if danger arose.
But Runebears were formidable beasts, and even Trolls pulling carts could be attacked by them; they weren't afraid at all.
Not to mention the countless Runebears in the Mistwood.
So, at the time, Bai Shi had sent a large number of Tarnished over, and even brought some Storm Knights.
The wild animals, like the Runebears, had been cleared out or driven away by organized hunts.
They had also cleared and repaired the roads in the Mistwood area.
Now, Bai Shi arrived smoothly next to the Mistwood Ruins, at the huge pit created by the fallen meteor.
That meteor was terrifying. Not only had it pierced through the ground, but it had also destroyed much of the surrounding area.
The Mistwood Ruins and a large swath of the nearby forest had now been completely obliterated.
The people in the nearby Fort Haight must have been scared out of their wits at the time.
Now, soldiers from Fort Haight were stationed near the crater, and they all saluted upon seeing Bai Shi.
Bai Shi stopped before the massive area carved out by the meteor.
A terrifying gravitational energy filled the pit.
This horrifying force had directly disrupted the original gravity of the area.
Here, an anomalous phenomenon of countless giant rocks floating in the air had even appeared.
Bai Shi stood on the edge of the crater and looked down, but he couldn't see how deep it was.
So, he leaped toward one of the giant rocks.
Upon entering the space suffused with gravitational energy, Bai Shi's body instantly became weightless and began to float.
Bai Shi was slightly surprised. This force made him feel like an astronaut.
After experiencing the sensation of flight, Bai Shi began to use the wind to propel himself toward the floating rocks.
However, he was also cautious, making sure there was always a rock beneath him in case the gravitational field returned to normal somewhere, causing him to plummet into the bottomless abyss.
As he ventured deeper into this vast, weightless region, Bai Shi saw the buildings of the Eternal City.
At the edge of the pit created by the meteor, a massive cavern had appeared.
Many of the underground buildings of the Eternal City had collapsed, revealing the false night sky behind them.
Those buildings of the Eternal City, already toppled by Astel's destructive meteor, were now completely crushed by that even larger meteorite.
Bai Shi couldn't find the small opening from the game to enter the Eternal City, but now, there were entry points everywhere.
Bai Shi chose a direction that seemed agreeable and entered the ruins of Nokron, Eternal City through the destroyed buildings.
As his body entered the ruins, gravity began to feel normal again.
His feet touched the ground once more, bringing with them a solid, reassuring feeling.
Bai Shi looked out from a window on the other side of the building—
Below him lay a vast expanse of buildings belonging to the Eternal City, their outlines stretching into the distant darkness.
Under the shroud of darkness, the ruins of the building complex appeared exceptionally grand, their broken silhouettes faintly discernible against the backdrop of the false night sky.
No one was here anymore. Only the magnificent ruins remained, silently speaking of a dynasty that had once been powerful beyond measure.