Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 74 Yeah!
Melina's figure seemed to slowly emerge from an ancient mural, standing quietly. She was still wearing that simple travel dress, with a wide hood hanging down, covering most of her face, revealing only her beautifully contoured features and slightly pale lips.

Lu Mingfei blinked, momentarily dazed. The prolonged life-or-death struggle and the torment of countless death replays had dulled his mind. He stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure, his mind a jumbled mess.

This girl... aside from the initial few times she guided him and her brief appearances at the blessing points, she was almost like a dragon whose head is seen but not its tail. She wasn't a companion he could communicate with at any time, so much so that when Lu Mingfei faced death alone countless times and struggled in despair and numbness, he almost forgot that he was "bound" to such a spirit.

Why...did she come out at this time?

“All the way up to this point,” Melina’s voice was steady, ethereal, yet each word was clear, “I have never been able to give you my complete trust.”

Lu Mingfei was stunned; his cross-legged posture on the ground looked somewhat comical.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something polite like "It's okay" or "I'm used to it," but his mind just couldn't process it for a moment.

He had indeed sensed Melina's businesslike, even scrutinizing, attitude before, but he never expected her to say it so bluntly.

“As a substitute for the Finger Witch, I should have been your guide and helper. However, faced with your confusion, I chose to observe and hold back.”

Her gaze slowly swept across the courtyard, over Grek's still-writhing head, the rocks that had melted and cooled after being scorched by dragonfire, the scattered pieces of Grek's rotting flesh, and Lu Mingfei's face, which was covered in dust, blood, and exhaustion.

Melina's voice finally showed a hint of emotion, perhaps self-reproach, or something else, but Lu Mingfei couldn't tell; she was too calm.

"But you did it. You endured suffering and successfully defeated the demigod of 'Leg Extension,' which is undoubtedly a heroic act. For this... I apologize to you."

"hero?"

Lu Mingfei repeated it subconsciously.

This wasn't the first time he'd heard the term. The last time someone called him a hero was when the old man yelled at and kicked him, telling him to prove himself.
He didn't mean anything by it; it was just that the idea of ​​"Lu Mingfei being a hero" was too absurd for Lu Mingfei himself.

Lu Mingfei forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, and pointed to himself:
"Are you talking about me?"

Melina seemed to ignore his habitual self-deprecation and simply nodded slightly.

Lu Mingfei was a little flustered, and could only scratch the back of his head and say dryly:
"Uh... it's nothing, you're here now. By the way, you're just in time!"

He grasped at a straw, and quickly pointed to his chest:
"Help me take a look at this thing! Grik's 'Great Rune' is burning my chest like a hot iron, and it's so heavy! I've tried it several times, and I've not only failed to use it, but I've also vomited several times, and I almost cracked myself open! What's going on? Do I really need that golden bloodline to work?"

Melina's gaze fell on the chest he was pointing to, as if piercing through his armor and body to see the restless fragment of rune.

“Your feeling is correct, Lu Mingfei.”

She gently shook her head:
"'Great Runes' are fragments of the Ring of Law, containing the laws and power of the gods. Grik is a descendant of the Golden Dynasty, and although his bloodline is thin, he is still able to use Great Runes."

“You do not have the bloodline of the Golden Tree, nor have you received permission from the Two Fingers. Moreover, the power flowing within you is incompatible with the Golden Law... and even strongly repelles it. Forcing it will only bring backlash and harm yourself.”

"What should we do then? We can't just fight for nothing, can we?"

Lu Mingfei was anxious. This was something he had risked his life for. Although he wouldn't die, the process was extremely painful.

“You cannot fully utilize the power of the Great Rune,” Melina explained. “You are not walking the path of a demigod. They merely used the Great Rune as a ‘key’ to awaken their pre-existing essence, bestowed upon them by the rules of the Golden Tree, in a different way than you.” She watched as Lu Mingfei's face instantly crumbled, and continued:

"However, there is a solution. The rules of the borderlands are not limited to bloodlines as the only passport."

"Is there any other way?"

Lu Mingfei's eyes lit up instantly, as if a person dying of thirst in the desert had seen the reflection of an oasis.

"Yes."

Melina affirmed:
"The manifestation and execution of the Golden Law cannot be separated from the endorsement of the 'Supreme Will' and the permission of Two Fingers. For those who are not of the Golden Bloodline but have faded, in order to truly activate and control the power of the 'Great Rune', they need to obtain the permission of Lord Two Fingers."

"Two fingers?"

A giant "V" sign-shaped hand flashed through Lu Mingfei's mind, but that was too absurd. Surely the supreme finger couldn't look like that?
He had never seen or knew what a two-finger device was.

"You need to go to the Tower of Nymgford."

She raised one hand, her slender fingers pointing gently in a direction:
"There, you can get two fingers' approval."

Just as Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he finally had a clear goal, Melina's voice rang out again, as calm as ever, adding:

"...In addition, after activating the Great Rune in the Divine Tower, you will need a crucial medium—the Rune Curve."

"A curve...?"

Lu Mingfei repeated it subconsciously, feeling that the name sounded familiar but was also vague.

The series of deaths had dulled his mind.

He painstakingly searched his memory and that simple "space" for similar words or objects.

Melina nodded slightly:
"Runic Curve. It can temporarily bridge the gap between you and the 'Great Rune,' simulating an effect similar to 'permission,' allowing you to initially communicate with and borrow a portion of its power. Although you cannot fully utilize it, like the Golden Descendant who can do whatever he wants, it is enough to give you an advantage in your journey ahead."

"The lower half of the Elden Ring has a curved section at the bottom, which symbolizes the vessel that receives the ring's blessings. It is said that the rune curve is a fragment of that section."

"I rely on!"

Lu Mingfei slapped his forehead, remembering where he had seen this thing before. In the corner of the round table hall, at the place where those two terrifying twin old women were, there seemed to be an item called "Runic Curve" for sale, but the price was extremely high and the quantity was very limited.

"We need to explore, and we need to buy... a round table..."

Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, feeling that the road to becoming king was truly long and arduous.

(End of this chapter)