Elden Ring, my witch is a talkative beautiful girl

"From what I've heard, the Red Lions did make efforts to improve the environment in Gaylide," Melina replied from the back seat. "But the impact of the blooming of the Scarlet Corruption Flower was too severe. This thing, which spreads like a plague and can infect and corrode all living things, still has no effective way to deal with it. The Red Lions built countless walls of fire in the center of the battlefield back then, and it was a remarkable achievement that they were able to contain the spread of corruption in Gaylide."

In other words, it's not that the Red Lion Knights don't want to get rid of the swarms of wild beasts that are roaming and growing on Gayleid, but they really can't spare the manpower. Just building a wall of fire and stopping the spread of scarlet corruption is already exhausting them.

A strong wind blew, sweeping up hundreds of crimson fallen leaves. Melina reached out and grabbed a golden maple leaf mixed in with the fallen leaves. She looked up and saw the blessing guidance flowing in two directions at the fork in the road ahead.

"What a rarity," Melina muttered to herself, "The seeds we planted here during the expedition haven't withered yet?"

"Seeds?" A'ti stopped his spirit horse in front of the fork in the road.

"Yes, the scent of the small golden tree's seeds is coming from this direction. Let's go this way." Melina pointed to the road on the left. Atai turned his horse around as she said. "When King Gefulei went on his expedition, Queen Malika would plant a seed of the golden tree's offspring every time he conquered a new land. A small golden tree grows in almost every place on the border."

The witch gestured to A'tai to look at the large bronze sword monument standing on the red soil on the right.

An ancient inscription was written on the weathered sword stele:

The final scene of King Gefulei's campaign, where the golden army was unstoppable and victorious, but its color faded and its blessing faded.

"Galeed was the final battle site of the King of the Beginning. After that, the Faded Ones were exiled from the borderland." The witch continued, "I thought the small golden tree here would have withered long ago, but the scent carried by the wind tells me that the seed planted in this land has grown into a towering tree."

"So...we should take a detour to see how that tree is doing?" Ah Tu understood his partner's meaning, but with such a tight schedule, he still didn't quite understand the point of taking a detour. Wouldn't it be just as good to wait until we return to see it?

"The seeds of the little golden tree can strengthen the Dew Elemental Bottle. They're a rare and valuable item." Seeing Ah Ti's confusion, Melina raised her index finger and explained, "Before I gave you the bottle, I had already strengthened it with seeds from the Nimgufu region. We're all family, so there's no need to be so polite and thank me."

There's no need to thank me, but look at the witch's smug expression, it's as if she's saying, "Praise me quickly, praise me quickly!"

It's a pity that the guy sitting in the front row was so focused on driving safely that her cute and lovely performance was wasted.

Following the guidance of the blessing, within half a day the two arrived at the land where Queen Malika had planted the little golden tree.

Scattered golden light comes into view, and the scarlet and rotten color stops in front of the golden canopy that covers the sky like an umbrella. The rough bark tells of the years of history, and the swaying and spreading long branches extend to all sides.

The so-called "small" of the small golden tree is only relative to the "big" golden tree, whose roots are spread all over the border area and whose height can reach more than 5,000 meters. Compared with other plants, it itself is a towering tree that is hundreds of meters high.

What appeared in the eyes of Atai and Melina was the miracle spread to the human world by the gods who ruled the border area.

Ah Tui looked up and said, "Is this the little golden tree planted by Queen Malika herself?"

Although I can see the golden tree as tall as the sky standing in the center of the border area as soon as I wake up and open my eyes every day, I am still shocked by the size of the small golden tree when I look at it up close.

"Save your surprise for now. It won't be too late to express your feelings once we reach the royal city of Rodel." Melina walked past A'er and placed her right hand on the thick trunk. After feeling it for a moment, she said, "As I expected, this little golden tree has entered adulthood, and the seeds have also..."

Suddenly, the wind blew and the trees moved, and the dazzling golden light condensed into an extremely huge monster above their heads.

Ah Tui didn't bother to remind him, hugged Melina, rolled over with his cloak, and quickly avoided being crushed into two meat patties.

The huge object fell to the ground with a loud bang, and a big hole suddenly appeared under the small golden tree. The attacker also revealed his true identity at the same time.

The bark is armor, the old branches are hammers, the ancient tree man drags the hammer along, and his dull footsteps step on the ground.

Ah Tui asked, "Amei, does this tree have a mechanism to summon guards to protect itself?"

"Pfft, pfft, pfft, it's not a guard, it's the spirit of the little golden tree, its incarnation." Melina spat out the dust in her mouth and continued, "We probably accidentally irritated it. Tree spirit incarnations are usually very gentle."

"Very... gentle? Are you sure you remember correctly?" Seeing the incarnation of the little golden tree swinging its sledgehammer, ready to smash the two into a pulp to fertilize the tree, Ah Tui lost his composure. "It looks like it's going to attack us soon."

"How could I be wrong? Normally, the incarnation of the little golden tree should be very docile!" Melina objected. "The incarnation's personality is based on the original body. Plants are not brutal beasts. Could it be..." Her face suddenly changed, and she thought of a terrible possibility. "Could it be that even the little golden tree rooted in this land has been corroded by the scarlet corruption?"

The witch lowered her gaze to the roots of the trees underground.

The more a plant grows, the more it yearns for sunlight, and its branches and leaves become denser and more luxuriant.

On the contrary, the roots of trees will go deeper into the ground to obtain more nutrients.

Although the existence of the small golden tree purified the scarlet corruption near its growth area, it was unable to eliminate the growth of corruption. The pollution absorbed into its body gradually changed the essence bestowed upon it by Queen Marika.

Today it is no longer the original little golden tree, but... a corrupted golden tree!

Volume 2: The Flowing Stars: Chapter 42: Destined at Birth

The incarnation of corruption slowly approached the two of them. Every step it took on the ground was like a drumstick hitting a drum, making a loud and dull sound. If they didn't find a solution quickly, it would swing its sledgehammer and hit A'tai and Melina like golf balls.

Ah Tu turned around and asked, "Amei, is there any way to eliminate its hostility? We won't be able to get the seeds of the little golden tree if we keep going like this."

Not to mention that they couldn't get the seeds, the tree man incarnation had no intention of letting the two of them go.

Melina smiled bitterly and said, "There's no way. The Crimson Corruption will corrode both the body and the soul. The long-standing symbiosis has completely blended with the essence of the Little Golden Tree. I am powerless to stop it."

If Queen Marika herself were to come, she might be able to use the power of the Elden Ring to purify the scarlet corruption rooted in the little golden tree and eliminate the root cause of its madness.

But Melina is just a witch. Even for the most outstanding witch in history, purifying the scarlet corruption is far beyond her ability.

"In that case..." Ah Tui, with his famous sword in hand, knew the world was his own, "It's my turn as the 'pruner' to come in. The rotten tree roots must be removed. Is that okay, Ah Mei?"

If the writing is not good enough, we can only see the real result with our own hands.

"Alas, this is the only solution." Melina sighed, clenched her fist and waved it vigorously, "Let's do it, partner!"

As soon as the words fell, the two men separated in tacit understanding, one in front and the other behind, and A Tui faced the huge body of the incarnation of corruption, which was as tall as a mountain.

The man and the tree quickly approached each other. When they were about five meters apart, the incarnation of corruption stopped, raised the stick, and struck the ground hard. A golden circle of light suddenly spread out in a circular shape, centered on the point of the stick's impact.

As soon as the aperture appeared, before it even touched A'tai, he recognized from its familiar appearance that it was a variation of the Golden Rule prayer - the prayer of "rejection", and it was a more powerful version infused with ten times the energy.

In terms of the piety of faith, a normal human being cannot catch up with the little golden tree planted and cultivated by the gods themselves unless he lives a life of asceticism for a hundred or eighty years.

"I can't take it head-on, otherwise even if the shield can offset the damage, I will be broken." Ah Dai's mind moved, and he made a judgment in an instant.

At the moment before the Fader was about to touch the aperture, he lowered his center of gravity and his body disappeared in the air for a few tenths of a second. When he reappeared, he had already reached the inner ring of the aperture, achieving a perfect dodge.

Combat skills, small steps!

A difficult combat technique that uses delicate movements to dodge enemy attacks. Its performance is superior to ordinary rolls, but its disadvantage is that it cannot be used to dodge with others.

After the large-scale skill, the second move of the incarnation of corruption followed. The behemoth stomped its feet on the ground, and the next second, a dark shadow covered the sunlight and jumped over A'tai's head.

The air-borne blow was as heavy as Mount Tai and as powerful as a meteorite falling to the ground. The fatal blow was followed by "rejection".

A hundred meters away, Melina muttered, "His aggressive and ferocious nature has increased exponentially, but his combat wisdom shows no sign of diminishing." She wasn't worried about her partner's life. "It's all because of those old guys fighting around the city all day long. They've affected the basic ideological templates instilled in the tree spirit."

Queen Malika originally designed the little golden tree incarnation as a security measure to prevent any accidents. After all, in the heyday of the Golden Law, no one was so foolish as to destroy the golden greenery.

However, due to the indirect influence of some belligerent elements, the original tree spirit girl evolved into the later burly ancient war tree with arms thicker than human torsos. Two trees were planted in the royal city of Rodel to stand guard.

The tree man fell to the ground, and amidst the rising dust, azure blade light pierced the fog. If we were to talk about combat experience, how could Ah Tai lose to a tree that relied on input templates for fixed actions? Defeat to an attack method he had seen once before?

Yue Yin returned to the sheath and drew out the sword. Two consecutive sword lights formed a lightning-fast cross slash. The small steps were seamlessly connected to each other. After two consecutive dodges, a sharp counterattack came in an instant, cutting through the armor-like bark shell on the outside of the incarnation of corruption and injuring its inner core.

Under the heavy blow, the tree man took two steps back, supported himself with his stick, and knelt on one knee, showing signs of exhaustion.

"That blow from your partner was really fierce. If it were an ordinary human, he would have been torn into pieces, right?" Melina breathed a sigh of relief. But just when she thought the battle was nearing its end, the tree man's golden bark actually began to peel off and hit the ground like raindrops.

The witch paused mid-step. "Huh? Something seems amiss. I don't remember planning a second transformation for the tree spirit."

"howl--"

The dull roar of the embodiment of corruption echoed across the wilderness. As the bark of the trees peeled off, the scarlet luster hidden beneath the intact golden shell was revealed. The red mist corroded the earth, assimilating the clean soil into a filthy red swamp.

Yue Yin's sharp blade stripped off the tree man's external disguise, revealing its corrupt nature from the inside out. This small golden tree planted on the land of Galid was completely rotten to the core.

The battle entered its second phase, with scarlet mist gushing out from the corrupted body.

Although A'ti quickly retreated when he realized something was wrong, he was caught off guard and still inhaled a breath of red mist.

Scarlet, sticky, and suffocating, after just one breath of the breath released by the incarnation of corruption, all the organs in Ah Tui's body began to sound the alarm.

The armor's defense was useless as the scarlet corruption, the natural enemy of all living things, was eroding the Faded One's body tissues at an extremely fast rate. Until he contracted the corruption disease and fell into madness, the gorgeous flowers of death would never stop blooming.

Even with the strong vitality and immunity of the Faded, they can only struggle to hold on in the face of this unreasonable erosion, delaying the rapidly decreasing countdown of their lives.

Only after experiencing the pain that the scarlet corruption brought to life did A'tai understand what terrible natural disasters the Red Lions had been dealing with for many years while guarding Gayleid.

"No wonder Amei was so cautious before entering Gaileed and prepared such sufficient supplies. The scarlet corruption is really terrible." Atai swallowed two balls of corrupt moss. The bitter smell of the medicine spread, and the spreading coolness drove away the corrupt mist that had not yet penetrated into his lungs. He was in awe of what the Red Lion Legion had done.

The red fog spread and close combat was tantamount to suicide. Forcing one's way close to the incarnation of corruption would only result in mutual destruction. The current distance was just right for a change of tactics.

Determined not to hold back any longer, A'tu raised the pyroxene staff, and the blue meteor responded to the caster's call and broke through the sky covered by the red fog.

Pyroxene magic, broom star!

The burning fireworks burned away the fog of corruption, sweeping out a bright and clear world. One after another, broom stars bombarded the body of the incarnation of corruption. The fall of each magic star was accompanied by the heavy steps of the tree man retreating.

Finally, A'tai's concentration was exhausted, and along with the stars, the things that disappeared and the tree man's body returned to the light. The scarlet mist collapsed and shrank towards the position of the small golden tree's body, and the pollution that spread outward was absorbed and bound again.

And it would take at least another thousand years for this little golden tree to give birth to its own tree spirit again.

A golden seed fell at the place where the tree man disappeared. Melina squatted down and picked up the proof of its existence.

The seeds were intact, showing no signs of being corroded by scarlet corruption, as if the little golden tree itself had voluntarily endured all the pollution just to protect its offspring.

Ah Tui walked to the side of the witch: "This seed can still, uh..."

"Golden trees can produce young golden trees, but their seeds can't produce new offspring." Melina stuffed two more moss balls into her partner's mouth to ensure no sequelae. With the other hand, she tossed the seeds into the bottle of red dew and shook it a few times. "Let's go, partner. We have things we need to complete. We don't have time to waste here."

Melina knew what A-Tu wanted to ask, but she didn't want to talk about it.

Just like this seed that can never grow up, there are too many things in this world that are destined from birth.

If the magic ring cannot be recast to fundamentally eliminate the impact of the Shattered War, the tree spirit born a thousand years later will still be the embodiment of corruption.

What they can change is not the past, but... the future under their feet.

Volume 2: The Flowing Stars: Chapter 43: Meteorite Staff (3k)

The Crimson Swamp was the final scene of the fierce conflict between the two demigods, and it was also the place where Gaileyd suffered the most.

The former plains have been transformed into a life-devouring swampy forbidden area by the constant erosion of scarlet corruption. Almost all species that can survive the extremely harsh environment of the swamp have undergone terrible mutations.

There are gorgeous flowers spewing purple poison and flies and insects as big as humans everywhere. People with poor mental quality will feel physically unwell at the sight of them.

The swamp, the poisonous flower, and the scarlet corruption, each one more powerful than the other, when all three appear together in the same place, it is a terrifying scene that is ten times more evil than a cesspool.

For ordinary living beings, just by getting close to the Crimson Swamp and breathing the air floating on the muddy ground will cause a dull sore throat. Walking above the swamp will gradually erode the spreading scarlet corruption and cause them to suffer from an incurable corruption disease.

Once you are infected with corruption, it is basically equivalent to a suspended death sentence, and you can start arranging your funeral arrangements directly.

"The Scarlet Swamp, a forbidden zone for life. I really don't want to go down this road at all." Melina raised the beast-repelling torch in one hand and muttered to herself boredly.

She rode on the back of a spirit horse, waiting outside the ruins to ensure a retreat, while A'ti entered the ruins to search for legendary weapons that might exist there.

Such personnel configuration ensures safety to the greatest extent. In case an ancient evil god is sealed under the ruins, or the ruins suddenly come alive and transform into a Titan to attack, A'tai can also evacuate in the first time, and the two of them can ride on spirit horses and escape at high speed.

Hearing the witch's complaints on his back, Torret turned around and rolled his eyes, thinking, "Sister, you all rode me across the swamp. These past few days, I've been the one bearing the strange injuries I shouldn't have endured, okay? Don't think that just because a spirit horse isn't affected by abnormal conditions, you can treat me like an ordinary animal. I'm different from those wild horses with no ideals."

I don't know what kind of aspirational ideal it is to eat all-you-can-eat high-quality dried fruit every day. Anyway, Torrett didn't dare confess this to Melina. If he did, he'd probably just have to gnaw on roadside hay for the next few days.

Torret has been in a bad mood recently. To put it simply, it has been being hunted for the past two days by all kinds of strange creatures, sometimes even those that are not human.

The land and water shape the people. The customs and habits of Gayleid are a perfect example of what is meant by "poor mountains and bad waters produce bad people", and these are high-level bad people who can be imprisoned in Arkham Asylum. People of lower level can't make a name for themselves here.

When passing by the ruins of the church, he met a crazy woman named Dianpo who was holding a meat saw and machete. She chased the spirit horse for several kilometers on her own two feet.

Not long after getting rid of the dick, he encountered the same fire-breathing chariot he had encountered at the entrance of the magic academy, accompanied by a dozen charcoal fire suicide men, setting off fireworks in the street in broad daylight, and almost burned Torret's tail.

Then they went deeper into the Crimson Swamp. The corruption under their feet had no effect on spiritual creatures, but those messy indigenous creatures dealt a heavy blow to the spirit horse.

From time to time, a "Zhao Zilong of Changshan" with a mushroom head and a rotten and mutated body would suddenly jump out from the roadside, shouting "Ah" and charging with a spear. After repeating this several times, Torrett was so scared that he suffered a nervous breakdown and his whole horse was not in good condition.

The local native plants are even more dangerous. A large flower carries more than a dozen small flowers, and the small flowers spray poisonous mist to further enrich the environment; the large flowers are more powerful, spreading pollen is like a strike freedom deploying a dragoon system, and the floating cannon "biubiubiu" shoots in all directions without blind spots.

If plants could walk, if we had more flowers and formed a group, we would probably be able to dominate the Crimson Swamp.

You ask why not just go on a killing spree, killing all those who block the road, those who are crazy, and those who rob?

Even if the entire Red Lion Legion were mobilized, they couldn't finish the job. They were there to participate in the battle festival, not to maintain local law and order. Even Superman couldn't save the world.

"咴咴."

The past few days are hard to describe in words. When Torret thinks back on them now, he can't help but shudder. He misses the days in Ningfumu and Lienia so much.

In the past, when it was just it and the witch on a horse, Melina always walked around Galid. Now it finally understood the reason.

"So slow! Why hasn't my partner come out yet?" The wait was too long, especially for the chatty Melina. She changed her position from lying on the horse's back to lying flat, and made a call to find someone to chat with. "Who should I talk to? My mother-in-law loves to nag. I'm afraid we won't be able to finish talking to her until dark. The blue-skinned woman is too thin-skinned and likes to hide everything in her heart. It's even more boring because she won't get anything out of me if I talk to her with a stick. It seems that the only suitable candidate is..."

The communication was connected, and Melina waved and said hello: "Teacher Seren, good afternoon~"

"Isn't this little Melina? What brings you here, teacher?"

In the projection, Se Lian was using a pyroxene staff instead of a hammer to crack walnuts.

Just like some people like to use chopsticks as bamboo sticks, and some people like to use pens to poke people's eyeballs as weapons, Se Lian's way of using magic equipment is still as unique as usual.

"Hehe, it's nothing, I just miss you, teacher." Melina said cutely.

"Don't come on, don't I know you're the type who won't stop for anything and can't sit still for more than three minutes?" Se Lian scolded with a smile, "Look, since Ah Tu is not here, and you look listless and lazy, you must be looking for someone to chat with and relieve your boredom."

The great witch was so clever that she could see through her apprentice's little thoughts in one sentence.