Elden Ring, but with Wind Spirit Moon Shadow

Chapter 478 Before, I had no choice; now, I just want to be a good person…

Bai Shi looked at Fiya, making plans in his mind and silently thinking about how to deal with this guy.

The girl in the dead sleep... she's truly a very special kind of person.

Having received warmth and the strength to survive from countless heroes, to then share a bed with the corpse of a great man can bring back a noble life—
It is said that they are here for this purpose.

In Fia's homeland, this was a sacred ritual, but she was expelled because of her awakening to the blessing.

Bai Shi did not doubt whether the ritual of death sleep could revive the dead.

At his current level of understanding, without needing to delve into it himself, the boundary between life and death is no longer something completely incomprehensible or inaccessible.

If one delves into this area, even if one's strength is somewhat weak, someone will naturally be able to find ways to exploit loopholes.

You don't even need to analyze or understand it; you just stumble upon a method by accident and know how to do it.

Based on the rules of existence on the borderlands, souls are almost immortal; at most, they simply haven't reached their proper cycle of reincarnation.

To share a bed with heroes, to draw life from them, and to return that strength to the bodies of great men.

The dead body is reborn, and the soul can naturally be resurrected after returning.

Unfortunately, Godwin's death was not a death in the conventional sense; his physical body was not dead at all.
-
Darwin held his sword, and seeing his enemy about to die before his eyes, he felt an immense sense of satisfaction.

Overwhelmed by his intense emotions, he momentarily lost his grip on the sword, as if his hand had been raised for an eternity...

But compared to revenge, these trivial matters are nothing.

He was determined to avenge his brother against this person who had defiled the Golden Law!
'Die! Die! Die!'

'That damned witch! That filthy whore! How dare she dare to defile that pathetic, dead prince…'

The ceremonial straight sword in Davin's hand was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting Fia's pale face.

Seemingly sensing the murderous intent in Daven's eyes, Fia tightened her shawl, sadly preparing to face her fate.

The borderlands are a world where if you intend to kill someone, you must be prepared for revenge.

It doesn't matter what the intention is or who the target is; only power is the sole truth.

If you are powerful enough, even the enemy's revenge will seem laughable.

However, she didn't possess such immense power, and therefore couldn't control her own life and death...

The border region has too many people who can't die, making it a sea of ​​suffering where thoughts of revenge abound.

Fiya sighed softly, looking at Bai Shi who remained silent, her eyes filled with sorrow and regret.

Various thoughts swirled in her mind, yet she had no desire to merely survive.

She was simply lamenting that the esteemed lord had not been successfully resurrected, and regretting that their era could not arrive.
-
Just as everyone on the field was silently waiting for Bai Shi's order, Da Wen, who was ready to carry out the execution at any moment, suddenly collapsed and lay unconscious on the ground.

Fia's expression changed slightly, first with confusion, then her eyes widened in surprise.

However, after glancing at Bai Shi, who remained silent and expressionless, all her unrealistic ideas vanished instantly.

The Sun King is still here, only he's missing an executioner to spare his noble body from being tainted.

Bai Shi noticed it the instant Da Wen's consciousness faded away.

However, he realized that this was not due to external forces, so he did not take action.

Bai Shi turned his head and saw a person with a pointed hat popping out from some corner.

Under his arm was a figure clad in gold and silver armor, whose fingertips twitched slightly as if he were about to wake from a dream.

These two were Bai Shi's old acquaintances, Roger and Darian, the elder brother of D.

Bai Shi had just discovered that Roger wasn't among Fia's heroes, and now he's finally seen him.
-
Roger breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Fia rescued.

Bai Shi and his companions had no intention of concealing their whereabouts; with such a commotion, it would be difficult for him not to notice.

After Bai Shi and the others arrived at Shengen, Roger left Fia's group of heroes and went to the hiding place he had prepared for D.

Roger disobeyed Fia's wishes and did not kill D.

D was simply drugged by him and then secretly hidden away by Roger until now.

Upon returning, Roger saw D's brother preparing to make a move. Before he could even observe, Roger reacted instinctively, waking D up again.

Logically speaking, since Roger has chosen to abandon the darkness and embrace the light, he should completely sever ties to show his determination.

However, having been one of Fia's heroes in the past, he instinctively tried to stop her when he saw her about to become a victim of the sword.

After all, Fia was once his 'opponent' with whom he had slept together; perhaps it was just a man's instinct.

When Fia saw Roger, who had disappeared at the very beginning, a look of surprise appeared on her face.

However, she noticed that Darian, whom Roger had brought, was not dead, and her face immediately darkened, realizing his betrayal.

The intention was clearly to have the other party take the holy sword corrupted by death, with the purpose of killing Darion...

After all, as a staunch supporter of the Golden Law and a hunter who hunts the Deadborn, Darion is an absolute enemy to them.

Making such a cover-up, even if Roger brought back half of the curse mark, would still be a betrayal of the Deadborn.

If you make even the slightest mistake, you'll forget all the good things from the past; that's just how humans are.

When faced with the sudden appearance of Roger and Darian, Bai Shi raised an eyebrow but did not react to his act of saving Fia.

Upon seeing Roger arrive, he even nodded slightly to him.

At least he didn't go down a dead end. If he were to be executed when they were truly enemies, Bai Shi would feel a little regretful.
-
At that moment, thanks to Roger's awakening, Darian's dormant consciousness gradually awoke and began to take control of his soul.

Upon opening his eyes, Darian already knew most of what had happened here, based on what he had seen from Davin.

He quickly regained his footing and swung his elbow mercilessly at Roger's face.

The elbow, encased in refined armor, slammed upwards with tremendous force, striking Roger's chin.

Roger was immediately sent flying backward, crashing into the dead man's eye that was growing on the tree root, shattering it and releasing large amounts of putrid juice and maggots.

"hiss--!"

"Well, it hurts..."

Roger wasn't a pure magician; he was also a well-trained swordsman, so his body had some strength, and his jaw wasn't shattered on the spot.

Even so, he couldn't escape being struck by an elbow and ending up with a bloody face.

Roger, his hands stained with blood, coughed awkwardly twice and sheepishly raised his hands in surrender.

Darian stretched, glared fiercely at Roger, and snorted coldly.

However, after that elbow strike, Darian didn't do anything more to Roger, but immediately bowed to Bai Shi. Although Roger's previous actions were quite underhanded, judging from Fia's reaction, what he said back then was indeed the truth:
Fia did indeed intend to use this opportunity to kill herself.

Although Roger tricked him once, finding half of the curse mark and taking it away after drugging him, at least he didn't actually use the power of the curse to kill.

In a way, we managed to save his life and fulfill our last bit of brotherly affection.

Roger looked at Darian, casually wiped the blood off his face with his clothes, and also bowed to Bai Shi.

Bai Shi had been watching their every move. Seeing that Dalian was still so energetic, he smiled and focused on Roger.

He used the powers that had gradually emerged since he became a god to observe Roger's mind, intending to understand his thoughts in this most direct and efficient way.

Roger's strongest emotion at that moment was utter embarrassment.
-
Although being a double agent is embarrassing, Roger had no choice.

He had no choice before, but now he just wants to be a good person...

Roger simply wanted to do what was right, but he unexpectedly got caught up in such a conflict that it was something he, as a scholar who initially wanted to explore the truth, could never have imagined.

At first, Roger thought that the Deadborn were indeed, as Fia had said, vulnerable and discriminated against 'life'.

However, after obtaining half of the curse mark and thus learning about Fia's entire plan, Roger realized that it was impossible.

I originally thought that the law that Fia wanted to create from the cursed mark was a law that would allow the dead to live peacefully with the living, simply granting the dead human rights and the ability to live openly in the world...

The truth, however, was quite the opposite: it was a law that completely disregarded the living and existed solely for the dead and the boundary between the living and death.

The Golden Law of the past was very lenient, even accommodating completely opposing laws.

But now that the Golden Law is broken, distorted, and must be repaired... doing so would have deadly and destructive consequences.

Such a world will eventually become a world ruled by lurkers, devoid of any vitality, filled with the stench of corpses and death.

If that time comes, the situation on the border might not even be as good as the half-crippled spirit realm.

At least in the spirit world, there is still order maintained by the dead birds, who act as recyclers to manage and clean up.

Roger originally thought he could only get half of the curse mark, which would probably prevent him from completing the plan, and Fia and the others might give up...

After all, the other half had completely disappeared without a trace.

But Fia, of course, wouldn't give up so easily; instead, she made a second, more persistent choice:

—Later, unable to obtain the other half of the curse mark, and under pressure from Bai Shi, Fiya set her sights on the spirit world.

Originally partners, the Death Prince's followers already had a considerable understanding of the spirit world.

If all goes well, the spirit world will become the home of the dead.

However, this plan was even less likely to be supported by Roger.

Under Bai Shi's governance, everything is getting back on track, and the power of the living is gradually recovering and growing stronger.

But if the entire spirit world is to be emptied and taken away, then the situation will be completely different.

Faced with such a crucial question of right and wrong, Roger pondered for a long time before finally realizing the truth.

He had spent too much time with Fiya before, which had skewed his thinking.

He was originally just a curious explorer and scholar, who only became aware of the Deadborn Ones born from the Night of the Black Knife while investigating the truth behind it.

Later, through in-depth conversations with Fia, he began to care for the dead.

Therefore, Roger abandoned thinking about the problem from the perspective and standpoint of the Deadborn and instead started thinking about it from the perspective of the 'Faded Magician of the Borderlands'.

As the saying goes, where you sit determines where you look, and Roger now thinks that's absolutely right.

When he started thinking again from the perspective of the faded one, or from any other angle, he found his thoughts flowing freely, and his past actions and thoughts began to appear ugly.

After slapping himself hard, Roger finally questioned himself:

Damn it, what was I doing before?
So after thinking it through, Roger decided to continue doing what he believed was right.

In fact, Roger himself had a strong will, so even though he was covered in physical injuries, he still managed to carry out his beliefs.

Whether as a scholar, a magician, or a faded warrior, he wanted to make the Borderlands a better place.

—Even if it means being a double agent again.

Fortunately, he didn't make the wrong choice this time.
-
Bai Shi, having been constantly trying to understand Roger's inner thoughts, already knew what he was thinking at the moment, and nodded slightly.

To outsiders, it seemed like only a moment had passed.

Bai Shi spoke calmly, giving Roger a way out:
"Roger, you did a great job. You accomplished my task."

"Then return to Stoneville and prepare to collect your reward."

Upon hearing this, both Fia and Darian turned around in surprise to look at Roger, who was staring blankly.

Fia had long considered Roger's actions as betrayal, and now that she had found 'evidence', her heart was completely dead.

It's truly pathetic that you can't even trust the person next to you in bed.

After some thought, Darian accepted the information.

So that's how it is... So everything was within Lord Bai Shi's expectations all along?

Knowing that Fia and her group were plotting to perpetuate the Deathborn, they turned Roger to their side, making him a spy within a spy...

Lord Bai Shi truly had foresight; in order not to expose Roger, he had not revealed a single detail to him.

Darian's gaze towards Roger became more affectionate, and the slight estrangement he had felt when he had drugged Roger completely dissipated.

Only Roger looked completely bewildered.

Is this, is this right?
When did he become Bai Shi's subordinate?

However, Roger quickly understood and respectfully lowered his head to Bai Shi.

Roger realized that Bai Shi had given him a chance to avoid being infamous.

It was something that resonated with his inner thoughts, a chance to start anew.

Roger was incredibly grateful to Bai Shi, having truly felt the sun's light and warmth.
-
Just as everyone was surprised by this 'truth', a dark vortex exuding death energy suddenly appeared beside the Death Prince.

The enormous Fulsanx suddenly flew out of it, bewildered and helpless, as if it had been rejected by something.

Then the enormous body of the dead prince began to move, making a tremendous sound.

The distorted face opened its mouth, uttering incoherent words:
"...Bai...Shi—"

"Kill me!"

(End of this chapter)