Bai Shi galloped along the direction of the Smouldering Wall.
The map of Caelid that Jerren had given him did not include Dragonbarrow.
The map only offered a simple description of how to reach Dragonbarrow.
Unlike in the game, there was no need to jump across a chasm; the two areas were connected.
However, for Jerren and his men, Dragonbarrow was an area they rarely visited.
Many dragons lived here. Sending even a few men over was practically a suicide mission.
Furthermore, perhaps due to the terrain, the encroachment of the Scarlet Rot was not very severe here.
As far as Bai Shi could see, he could still spot many normal trees and plants growing.
The task of cleansing the rot was not as pressing, so Jerren and Redmane Castle did not often send people here.
As a result, they had not explored Dragonbarrow much.Thus, Bai Shi now found himself without a map to consult.
Fortunately, though he had no map to guide him, Bai Shi still had a general idea of the direction.
In any case, with Fort Faroth as the center, the Bestial Sanctum was to the east, and the Divine Tower was to the west.
It was simple and clear; he couldn't be wrong about the general direction.
Bai Shi decisively chose what he believed was the western direction and rode Torrent that way.
The Dragonbarrow Site of Grace should be over there. He would head there first and activate it.
This path happened to follow the direction of the Smouldering Wall, so he decided to follow it for now.
However, as he rode on, Bai Shi discovered that he had underestimated the trouble of not having a map.
Although he followed the direction from his memory, he had somehow ended up near a very remote evergaol.
Bai Shi circled the evergaol.
He looked at the Swamp of Aeonia below the nearby cliff and fell into thought.
"This isn't right. How did I end up here?"
"It can't be helped. We don't have a map, after all."
Melina sat sideways behind Bai Shi.
She observed their surroundings while trying to recall the map.
"Our current position should be in the area directly north of the center of the Swamp of Aeonia."
"We should be very close to the path to Dragonbarrow marked on the map."
Bai Shi nodded. In any case, they were in the vicinity.
If he headed toward the Divine Tower later, there shouldn't be any problems.
But this was fine, too. He could take care of this evergaol while he was here.
Bai Shi turned to look at the evergaol.
Melina also seemed to have figured out what Bai Shi was thinking.
"Are you going to let the person in this gaol out as well?"
Bai Shi nodded.
"Since we're already here, I can't just leave empty-handed."
Melina was a bit exasperated and silently glanced at Bai Shi.
For some reason, Bai Shi had a peculiar fondness for freeing the people locked away in evergaols.
It was as if he had some sort of collector's compulsion.
Logically speaking, the individuals inside these evergaols should have all committed grave crimes.
There were all sorts of reasons they were locked away, and normally, one should avoid contact with such people.
After all, no one knew what serious crimes they had actually committed.
It would be bad if he found some lunatic.
And yet, the two people Bai Shi had fished out of evergaols so far were quite normal.
Erlisa was a leader among the ancient heroes of Zamor, and Red was an equally powerful member of the Crucible Knights.
Not only were the two of them powerful, but they were also fiercely loyal to Bai Shi.
He had even leveraged his relationship with Red to bring another Crucible Knight, Andre, under his command.
This left Melina utterly unable to criticize Bai Shi's habit of pulling people out of evergaols.
He would inexplicably stumble upon an evergaol, only to find powerful allies inside.
Now, he was planning to enter an evergaol the moment he saw one.
It felt less like he was recruiting combat strength and more like he was satisfying his own amusement.
To use a term Bai Shi had mentioned to her before, it was called ‘opening a blind box,’ was it?
After a moment's thought, Melina still offered Bai Shi a reminder:
"Although you've been quite successful in getting people out of evergaols so far,"
"you must be careful. If a lunatic were to feign loyalty and join Stormveil, it could cause some trouble."
"Madmen in the Lands Between don't follow reason or logic. They might agree to something one second and betray you the next."
"Your forces have only just been assembled. It's not as though you have no internal or external threats, so it's best to be cautious."
Melina didn't know that Bai Shi was familiar with everyone in the evergaols; she was just worried about him.
Bai Shi smiled. He was fairly confident.
"Yes, don't worry."
"I once learned a truth from a certain teacher: ‘If someone is insubordinate, just beat them until they submit.’”
Putting aside the matter of using force to make them submit.
The origins of the people in these evergaols could be understood from the items they drop.
So, Bai Shi had some understanding of each of their personalities, backgrounds, and so on.
Based on this, he already had the upper hand in negotiations and other matters.
For instance, the one sealed here should be Battlemage Hugues.
Hugues was originally from the Town of Sellia and studied in the Haima Conspectus at the Academy.
He was supposed to be a ‘peacemaker’ who followed the Haima philosophy, wielding cannon and sanction.
But he became addicted to war, transforming into someone who craved conflict.
Coincidentally, there would be no shortage of opportunities for war under Bai Shi's command in the future.
He wanted war, and Bai Shi would bring it to him.
The Stormveil that Bai Shi had rebuilt was a city burning with the flames of ambition, eager for expansion, constantly gathering warriors, training its army, and preparing to help Bai Shi become Elden Lord.
In terms of ambition and desire for expansion, Bai Shi's Stormveil was undoubtedly stronger than any other faction in the Lands Between.
The Redmane army in Caelid was troubled by the Scarlet Rot, and they remained there to cleanse it.
Their leader, General Radahn, had lost his mind to the Scarlet Rot, and the army was struggling just to maintain its current state.
The Academy of Raya Lucaria had sealed itself off from the world and had even imprisoned its true leader, Rennala, the ‘Queen of the Full Moon.’
As for the Carian Royal Family, it had declined, with only Ranni, the ‘Lunar Princess,’ remaining.
But Ranni and her forces were currently only interested in achieving her goal and had no interest in war.
To say nothing of Rykard at the distant Volcano Manor, who didn't even have proper soldiers anymore.
And the Haligtree was too distant and unreachable. Moreover, of Miquella and Malenia, one had been kidnapped and the other was slumbering.
All these factions had lost the ability and desire to start another war.
Leyndell, the Royal Capital, was quite powerful, but Morgott was unwilling to take the offensive, not even to harvest the other demigods.
In contrast to the Royal Capital, Mohg's Mohgwyn Dynasty was brimming with ambition.
But in terms of strength, they had barely enough men for guerrilla warfare.
The only enemies currently before Bai Shi were the two brothers, Morgott and Mohg.
Bai Shi would gradually absorb all the factions aside from these two brothers.
It was foreseeable that Stormveil would face many wars in the future.
Against the Kindred of Rot, the Academy sorcerers, the Mohgwyn Dynasty, and the Royal Capital of Leyndell...
This was only what Bai Shi could think of for now; the number of battles that might actually occur would likely be much higher.
At this thought, Bai Shi suddenly blinked.
Although the Hugues sealed in this evergaol was a named individual, upon reflection, he was just an Academy sorcerer.
In terms of strength, he probably couldn't compare to Erlisa and Red.
If he was just a war hound, then perhaps he wasn't really necessary.
Whatever. He would go in and see first. If he could coax him into joining, he would. Having more hands was always good.
Bai Shi entered the evergaol.
Unlike the previous inhabitants of the evergaols, Hugues was very aggressive.
The moment Bai Shi entered, the Cannon of Haima was fired at him.
Bai Shi summoned a storm to block it, then looked toward the caster.
He was a sorcerer wearing a glintstone crown with a red cloth covering his eyes, and a pointed blue hat on top of the crown. Hugues's sorcerer attire was extremely tattered, not only full of holes, but the fabric was also worn shiny.
The ground in the evergaol was riddled with craters, not a single spot intact. It seemed this was his usual form of entertainment.
Unlike other mages, Hugues held a glintstone staff in one hand, and in the other, a thick stone club.
Seeing Bai Shi dodge the attack, Hugues followed up with a continuous barrage of Glintstone Comets.
Seeing the comets flying at him one after another, Bai Shi was pleased rather than angered.
This was a spell that only a true sorcerer of the Lands Between could master. In terms of the Academy, he was an outstanding graduate.
His locking-on speed was also quite fast. The Cannon of Haima had a rather long casting time.
In other words, he had locked onto Bai Shi the instant he entered.
Moreover, those of the Haima Conspectus were not only adept at sorcery but also highly skilled in melee combat.
The stone club he wielded was proof of that; no one would think it was just for decoration.
Bai Shi felt that he could look forward to Hugues's combat prowess.
While swinging his sword-lance to shatter the incoming comets one by one, Bai Shi shouted to Hugues:
"Sorcerer of the Haima Conspectus, do you want to come outside with me?"
"Do you crave war?"
But for some reason, Bai Shi's words were met with no response, like a stone sinking into the sea.
Hugues just kept waving his staff, throwing all sorts of Academy sorceries at Bai Shi, occasionally mixed with Night sorceries from Sellia.
Seeing that Hugues wasn't speaking, Bai Shi didn't know why.
But it seemed Hugues had no intention of stopping.
"What? Have you been locked in an evergaol so long that your desire for war has driven you mad?"
"Or is it that your hands are itching for a fight right now?"
"If that's the case, then let us begin."
Bai Shi excitedly raised his sword-lance and charged toward Hugues.
Since talking wasn't working, he'd find out what was going on after he yanked that crown off his head.
The charging Bai Shi was unstoppable. A storm enveloped his body, and he completely ignored the magic projectiles flying at him from a distance.
By the time Bai Shi reached Hugues, the sorcerer had already conjured a blue Haima Gavel and brought it crashing down on him.
Bai Shi thrust his sword-lance to meet it.
Instantly, the immense force transmitted through the sword-lance sent Hugues staggering backward.
Lightning burst from the sword-lance, clashing with and dissipating the magic, quickly shattering the magically constructed gavel.
Hugues retreated several steps to steady himself.
The moment he was steady, he swung the stone club in his left hand at Bai Shi.
The stone club was quite crude, with the light of glintstone shining from within the rock.
It was a rough weapon made by directly cutting a raw glintstone.
So as not to lose sight of the essence of battle, Haima sorcerers would sometimes defeat their enemies with their own hands, using a stone club.
Bai Shi deflected the stone club with his sword-lance, then kicked Hugues hard, causing his body to curl up like a shrimp.
Bai Shi grabbed the glintstone staff in Hugues's hand and pulled him closer.
Seeing this, Hugues took a step forward and tried to headbutt Bai Shi.
Bai Shi had no desire to test whose head was harder.
After all, the other guy was wearing a glintstone crown, while he was wearing a mere decorative crown.
Bai Shi dropped his Dragonslayer Sword-Lance and swung his right fist, colliding with Hugues's crown.
Hugues was dazed by the punch and collapsed limply to his knees.
Bai Shi shook his right hand, which had just collided with the crown.
Even with the protection of his gauntlet, the punch still left his hand a little numb.
Then, Bai Shi grabbed the glintstone crown on Hugues's head.
"Let me take off your crown."
Bai Shi lifted Hugues's glintstone crown to see his current state.
As Bai Shi removed the glintstone crown from Hugues's head, a face that was already severely Hollowed appeared before him.
"It seems you really do love war."
"To be this Hollowed and still have such a strong desire for battle."
Bai Shi shook his head. This guy was a lost cause. Even if he took him out, he would be useless.
It couldn't be helped. After all, he wasn't from a long-lived race like the Zamor or the Crucible. It was something he should have realized earlier.
Still affected by the heavy blow, Hugues gradually recovered his motor functions, stood up, and prepared to attack Bai Shi again.
But this time, Bai Shi did not hold back. He pierced his chest with the sword-lance.
The sword-lance took Hugues's life. As he lay dying, his lips trembled slightly, as if he were muttering to himself.
But Bai Shi somehow clearly understood the meaning he wanted to convey.
"Send me to battle."
Then, a blue magical flame began to burn on Hugues's body.
Before long, his body was completely incinerated, leaving only ashes.
These were the Spirit Ashes of Battlemage Hugues.
Bai Shi collected all the ashes in his glintstone crown.
As for this sorcerer whose mind was filled with "Battle, awesome!", he would summon him again in the future when he obtained an item that could summon multiple spirits over a large area.
"It's a shame he can no longer communicate properly. Otherwise, even though he wasn't particularly powerful, he would have been a great help."
"But he actually burned himself to ashes."
Melina was a little surprised.
Because Spirit Ashes weren't something that were guaranteed to be created.
Before Hugues burned himself, he couldn't have known he would turn into Spirit Ashes.
It was very likely that he would have simply burned away, leaving nothing behind.
"Yes, but it's not a huge loss. After all, he's just a sorcerer."
"Compared to the Crucible Knights and Erlisa, his strength is still lacking."
Bai Shi left the evergaol and set off again on Torrent.
This time, Bai Shi kept his eyes on the Divine Tower and didn't lose his way again.
Soon, Bai Shi followed the path to a small pool of water collected in a hollow.
Two or three small dragons were playing in the pool.
As Bai Shi passed by the water, the small dragons trembled in fear, not daring to move.
After Bai Shi passed, they all scurried away.
Bai Shi paid them no mind and went to the stele that served as a landmark.
Then Bai Shi dismounted from Torrent and began to dig in the ground in front of the stele with his sword-lance.
Although he didn't know if there would be a map left by someone before, like at Gatefront, Bai Shi still wanted to try. After all, having a map would make things much more convenient.
"Are you trying to dig up a map here again?"
"The time at Gatefront was one thing, but it's unlikely there would be one in a remote place like Dragonbarrow."
"We should try to find a merchant or someone..."
Before Melina could finish, Bai Shi's sword-lance shoveled a small stone box out of the ground.
"Ah, found it."
Melina blinked, speechless.
Bai Shi picked up the stone box, gently brushed off the dust, and carried it all the way to the Dragonbarrow Site of Grace.
In the light of the Grace, Bai Shi and Melina sat side by side.
They opened the stone box, ready to see what was inside.
Inside the stone box was a very old, hand-drawn map and a piece of parchment with writing on it.
The handwriting on the parchment was different from that on the map Bai Shi had dug up at Gatefront; it had been left by someone else.
As Bai Shi read the first few lines on the parchment, his eyes gradually widened.
The items here must have been left by Vyke.
‘Roundtable Knight,’ ‘Dragonspear,’ or in other words—‘Lord-aspirant’ Vyke.