Elden Ring, but with Wind Spirit Moon Shadow

Chapter 481 Target: Fated Death

Bai Shi's gaze fell upon the Death Prince's enormous body, and a decision gradually formed in his heart.

If the problem is caused by the physical body...

Would killing one of their bodies solve the problem?

Perfect timing, since the main body's power is still constantly increasing, it would save us the trouble of dealing with this in the future.

Bai Shi reached out and touched the body of the Death Prince, probing it with his divine sense.

Although they had decided to take action to eliminate this body, they could not act rashly.

Now that Koyater's soul has merged with his body, he naturally cannot arbitrarily harm the body of the dead prince.

Only by determining the degree of their fusion beforehand and devising a plan on how to separate them can Koyater be transferred into another new body.

As Bai Shi's mind explored, the aura of death that permeated his body instantly surged toward his soul, launching an attack with the purest malice toward the living.

But in just a moment, the aura of death was instantly melted away, disappearing like ice and snow.

Bai Shi's soul had long since ascended to godhood, transforming into a pure, blazing sun. How could these malicious death energies possibly shake it?

Bai Shi's mind continued to delve deeper into this physical body, but this body was like a bottomless pit, and he could never fully explore it.

Gradually, Bai Shi's expression darkened, and he couldn't help but think to himself, "This is troublesome."

The body of the dead prince is not just an alien body as it appears on the surface.

Bai Shi followed the flesh and blood connections of the dead prince to explore, and the complete body that appeared before him resembled a huge plant root system.

Veins spread continuously from the body of the dead prince, like tree roots, scattered throughout the boundary from top to bottom.

It was as if what was presented to Bai Shi's mind was not the marked and explored physical body of the dead prince, but a fragmented map of the border region.

What was spread to various parts of the border region through the Golden Tree was not merely the residual power of 'death'.

Just like Stoneville's enormous face, the Dead Prince grew new flesh in other places.

Besides these, there are the dead roots that are everywhere, and the thorns of death and the eyes of the dead that are born from them...

Those things could all be considered part of the dead prince's physical body.

Besides these fixed lines of energy, there are also moving targets that are slowly shifting in Bai Shi's perception.

Bai Shi quickly realized what these things were.

In the outskirts of the royal city and other areas, there are creatures such as crabs with the face of a dead prince on their backs and covered in malignant sores.

Through the path of returning to the tree via the roots of the golden tree, the bodies of those creatures also became tainted with the aura of death.

Although they are not true flesh and blood, they have all grown the face of the dead prince and have similar characteristics.

Bai Shi frowned slightly, having fully grasped the situation.

Following the roots of the golden tree, death permeated every corner of the border region.

The borderlands are filled with 'death' beings that are equivalent to the physical body of the dead prince.

In an ordinary world without a tree system, there would be no scenario where death cannot be digested and runs rampant everywhere.

However, the Golden Tree's era was an 'eternal' era that excluded death, and therefore it failed to resolve the effects of death on its own.

The dying prince, on the verge of death, caused the Reincarnation Reincarnation System of the Tree to completely collapse, blocking the tree roots, and death spread along with the root system.

To minimize the impact, even the 'Black Sword' Maricus had to organize a team to have the 'programmers' of the Golden Law manually remove the virus using swords and holy laws.

The efficiency of doing so is naturally so low that it is unbelievable, which is why when Bai Shi looks down now, the entire boundary is still filled with the power of 'death'.

Once this physical body is destroyed, Koyater's soul will likely teleport to some other location.

If you want to completely kill this physical body, then you must completely annihilate all related entities on the border, leaving only Koyater's new body.

For Bai Shi, this method, though somewhat laborious, was not entirely impossible.

All it takes is to use the power of one's own body to unleash devastating flames.

So no matter where it's hidden in the border area, it can be completely destroyed.

However, a new problem has arisen, prompting Bai Shi to consider whether to take action.

The golden tree, which aims for eternity, is as strong as iron, yet it may still develop cracks.

If we were to use bronze artifacts as a metaphor for the existence of the golden tree...

Before Godwin's death caused all the problems to erupt, even though there were hidden cracks, the surface still looked perfectly fine.

But when death began to spread across the border, things started to change.

Like parasitic roots, death seeped in and grew along the cracks in those bronze artifacts, widening these previously undetectable fissures.

Even the container of the Golden Tree itself was on the verge of collapse due to these widening cracks.

So much so that if the dead were to be burned now, the exposed cracks would cause the already cracked golden tree to collapse.

Death originated from the deep roots, parasitizing the towering Golden Tree, and the Golden Tree was powerless to stop it.

The roots of the trees used for returning the trees have all been blocked up; to erase the death, they must be burned along with the trees.

This is the reason why Bai Shi was unable to completely incinerate the dead prince's body.

If you manage to do that, it will be like burning a tree in a game.

Bai Shi originally had no intention of burning the trees, but rather planned to seamlessly connect with the laws of the sun to maintain world stability.

After releasing the Predestined Death and burning the Golden Tree completely, those lives blessed by the Golden Tree will be instantly affected.

Many of Bai Shi's acquaintances will die immediately or lose themselves in this catastrophe of losing blessings.

For example, there's Eun-ah, the "unbound finger" from Dae-blessing, and Old Master Xiu Gu, among others.

However, if the law is replaced by the law of the White Consciousness, and the new law is seamlessly connected, then there will be no gap in the law.

In the game, it was because there was nothing that could be done about the 'thorns of refusal' on the golden tree that the Destiny of Death had to be released to get rid of the 'thorns of refusal' on the tree.

But for Bai Shi now, the 'thorn of rejection' simply cannot reject him.

They're just a few thorns on the tree; they can be easily broken off and brushed aside. There's no need to burn the tree at all.

Although the Golden Tree is a symbol of the former dynasty, it is not entirely useless, nor does it necessarily have to be completely destroyed.

Is the goal to save Koyatl, but at the expense of harming others who could be saved?

Should we abandon this pitiful, empty soul for the sake of more people?
If Koyatl were to remain in this body, it would be an excellent choice for the border region.

Because once the Golden Tree realizes that the body it once healed has been resurrected, the endless stream of power trying to revive it will stop.

All that's needed is to clear the blockages caused by 'death' to restore the tree system to its normal function.

Even without using this tree system, it is still very beneficial to the border areas.

But in that case, Koyatl would become a victim, forced to remain inside the alien's body.

Bai Shi would never sacrifice anyone to accomplish anything. Bai Shi shook his head slightly, not making a decision immediately.

No... there must be an even better way, he will find it.

What he wanted was not a decadent era of ambiguity and complacency.

What he wanted was an era of vibrant life, filled with warmth and sunshine.

Bai Shi strives for perfection and insists on doing everything within his power.

So he won't give up on either side.
-
Looking at Bai Shi, Koyater already had some guesses in his mind.

Although Bai Shi's face still showed that calm and composed demeanor, which made people feel extremely at ease.

But... if everything had gone completely smoothly, that unexpected situation wouldn't have happened just now.

An unexpected situation has arisen, and Bai Shi has stopped moving, clearly indicating that...

Koyater suppressed his unease and, forcing himself to remain calm, asked Bai Shi:
“I’m glad you can help me, so…”

Even if there's no way to solve it, I don't care.

"After all, at the very beginning, I hoped to be free from death."

Bai Shi shook his head, then truthfully told him the situation they were currently facing:

"Sorry, you may have to wait a little longer."

"But don't worry, there will be a way."

"All we need to do is completely separate you from this physical body, and then we can give you a new physical body, just like before."

"But I'm thinking about how to completely separate your soul from this body."

Seeing that Koyater had expected this but was still somewhat disappointed, Bai Shi comforted him again:
"Trust me, I won't let you stay in this inhuman body."

"I guarantee, as the Sun King, that I will definitely rescue you."

"You will live in this world as a true human being, just like your soul and your heart."

Koyatl nodded, let out a long breath, and felt less flustered.

"Is that so? I understand."

"Like you said, I will wait and hope, and I will face this reality."

"The hope you gave me is enough to sustain me and stop me from trying to end my life with death."

After finishing speaking, Koyater looked down at the dead prince's body beneath him with a hint of fear, and asked Bai Shi:
"And... could you... let me remain asleep for now?"

"If I were constantly aware that I was about to transform into that monster, I..."

"I might not be able to hold on until that moment."

Bai Shi gazed at Koyater, who was shrouded in the aura of death, and nodded slightly in response to his request.

Then Bai Shi reached out his hand and gently touched the center of his forehead with his fingertips.

A purple mist gradually spread as Bai Shi used Torina's power of eternal sleep.

Enveloped in this deep purple mist, even a soul can enter into an undisturbed slumber.

While exerting his power, Bai Shi said in a low voice:

"I understand you. It's certainly better to be asleep for now than to be awake and suffer."

"But I hope you remember that I will not abandon anyone, and you will certainly be no exception."

"I haven't given up on saving you—let me bear the time."

Before he could finish speaking, he noticed that Koyater's consciousness was beginning to fade.

Koyater let the deep purple mist entwine around him without struggling, simply watching Bai Shi's figure.

Before falling into a deep sleep, Koyater's lingering obsession whispered intermittently:

"Please don't keep me waiting too long..."

"Hope, if left for too long, will rot."

After saying that, Koyatl closed his eyes completely and fell into a deep sleep.

"It won't be long..."

Bai Shi pressed his palm completely onto the surging mist, and the light completely enveloped Koyater's spirit.

While protecting him from any harm, it also halted the fusion of body and soul.

He solemnly promised to his already sleeping soul:

"Believe me, it won't be long."

"Until I find a solution that satisfies both sides, at least I can prevent death from eroding your dreams."

As the last wisp of purple mist disappeared into his brow, the soul embedded in the dead prince's body finally returned to peace.

Gazing at the sleeping Koyater, Bai Shi remained silent, focusing solely on finding a solution.

A series of possibilities surged rapidly in his mind.

In the blink of an eye, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in Bai Shi's mind, which he instantly grasped.

It seems there is a way to solve the current problem.

There is another way to stop the Golden Tree from channeling power into this body, besides making it believe that Godwin has been resurrected.

That is to make the Golden Tree realize that Godwin is completely dead.

Once the Golden Tree deems this physical body dead, it will stop supplying power.

To achieve this, one thing is essential.

—Predestined death is the power that allows life to face its inevitable demise.

Since Godwin was killed by the power of preordained death in the past, resulting in the complete demise of his soul...

Now, Bai Shi can also use his destined death to completely kill this physical body.

In that case, this body would probably be able to meet its 'correct death'.

As the saying goes, the one who tied the knot must untie it.

Those 'deaths' that spread across the borderlands because of the dead prince and could not be resolved by the Golden Tree will also dissipate due to the power of the destined death, and the dead will be eliminated.

After all, the Dead Ones were merely byproducts of Godwin's corpses blocking the Tree Return System.

Bai Shi has made his decision; he will go to 'Black Sword' Maricus to retrieve 'Destined Death'.

This time, Bai Shi will use 'Destined Death' to kill the body of this dead prince, bringing this death that has spanned the Broken War to a complete end.

(End of this chapter)