Elden Lord of Cinders

Go find Ranni.

That was the only way Renna could think of to get into the academy.

She'd been there before and knew there were entrances besides the main gate—like a crystal tunnel beneath the academy that led straight inside via elevator. But the real problem, according to her observations, wasn't the layers of seals at the front gate. It was the academy itself.

To put it more plainly—

"The academy's interior and its surroundings are experiencing a space-time distortion. Unless we go in through the sealed main entrance, any other method will lead us into a version of the academy that isn't the one we're trying to reach."

After Renna finished, Alice agreed with her and took it a step further, explaining to Lloyd that if he took the wrong path, he could end up on the other side of the distortion—and getting back would be a nightmare.

Not that either of them expected Lloyd to grasp the concept. As long as he understood they had to enter through the sealed front gate, that was enough.

After all, his brain was... well...

However—

"It's just a space-time distortion. What's so hard to understand?"

Lloyd spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You have to follow the path exactly. Any crack or gap could lead you into another time or dimension. You can use different items to gauge which point in the timeline you're on, and watch out for objects that might be sealing time itself..."

Renna stared at him, stunned. He spoke with such clarity and structure, he actually sounded more professional than she did.

And she was sure—this wasn't some random nonsense. Only someone with deep experience could casually drop practical advice like that.

So where the hell did Lloyd learn all this?

That was the real mystery.

The timeline in the Dark Souls world wasn't just messy—it was a disaster. A tangled ball of yarn would've been an upgrade.

At least with yarn, you can pull on a single strand.

But the timeline there? Imagine taking that ball of yarn, chopping every thread into pieces, mashing it all into a paste, and then slapping it together into something barely resembling the original. That's the level we're talking about.

The guy you killed yesterday might draw a summon sign to help you at a boss gate tomorrow.

You're strolling down a street, when suddenly a hand yanks you into a pit—and the next thing you know, you're in the distant past.

You're just messing around, see a beautiful woman holding an egg, give it a poke, and when you come back to your senses, the world's been obliterated for tens of thousands of years.

Add to that the First Flame burning across all timelines, Incantations born from manipulating time, and the Ringed City—a convergence of chaotic time fragments...

Maybe in most areas, Lloyd couldn't say he was any better than the people of the Lands Between.

But when it came to dealing with timelines so broken they felt like a cosmic joke?

He could confidently say, "No one understands space-time distortion better than me."

That was the confidence born of surviving the absolute insanity of the Dark Souls world.

"What kind of place did you live in...?"

Even Melina looked at him differently after hearing all that.

And Lloyd's reply was simple.

"I don't know."

Because honestly, he didn't know how to describe that place. After thinking hard about it, all he could say was—

"It definitely wasn't somewhere a normal person should be."

Still, while the time-space distortion inside the academy made access difficult, it wasn't without benefits.

Put simply, the distortion had created a barrier between the academy and the outside world, causing time within its walls to fall into a near-stasis.

As long as no one keeps provoking it by repeatedly taking that dragon's severed tail or scales, and they stay out of the temporal distortion zone, then even if someone wandered outside for three or five years and came back, everything here would still look exactly the same.

In fact, once you move a certain distance away and turn back to look at the academy, you'll find that the crystals that once covered the entire structure have vanished without a trace—as if none of it ever happened and everything before was just a hallucination.

That's also why no one on the outside has noticed anything unusual about the academy.

To anyone who hasn't gotten too close, the academy appears completely normal.

But once someone gets too close and steps into the area affected by the space-time distortion, it becomes difficult to leave on their own. On top of that, the scaleless white dragon doesn't want its plans exposed.

So in the end, even the rare few who noticed something wrong after approaching couldn't get the word out.

Either they became lost in time and couldn't escape, or they made it out only to end up as corpses.

Under normal circumstances, something like this might have triggered the academy's alert systems.

But unfortunately, the whole of Liurnia of the Lakes is a battlefield right now, and people disappearing or dying is practically routine.

"So, where are we going to find Ranni?" Lloyd blew the Spectral Steed Whistle.

Renna was just about to answer when her eyes fell on the Moonlight Greatsword in his hand. Her expression grew subtly complicated.

"I mean, I do know where Ranni might be... but shouldn't you know better than I do?"

Lloyd: "...?"

Renna wasn't like Lloyd. As a mage, she was basically his opposite—highly skilled at gathering information.

Even though she hadn't been out of the mine for long, her intel work over the past few days and the conversations she'd had during their rest stops had helped her piece together a decent picture.

She wouldn't claim to fully understand what was going on in the Lands Between, but she'd at least gotten a rough idea of the situation in Liurnia—and from that, she could make an educated guess about Ranni's whereabouts.

The Night of Black Knives, the vanished Lunar Princess, and the so-called "Shattering"...

She couldn't say for sure, but it all really did feel like something that girl would be involved in.

But that wasn't the most pressing issue right now.

The real issue was this—despite all the gaps in her memory, if Renna recalled correctly, the Moonlight Greatsword Lloyd was holding was supposed to be a token of affection from the Caria family...

And unless something had changed, its current holder should be Ranni.

He claimed they'd only met once and hadn't shown any signs of anything odd before—but now, out of nowhere, he pulls out Ranni's love token...

Well, uh...

Renna honestly didn't know what to say.

If Lloyd were the smooth-talking type, she might've suspected he was lying.

But after spending the past few days with him, forget lying—she wasn't even sure the man was capable of it.

Could it be love at first sight?

But no, that didn't quite add up either. Sure, the traditional Caria type was red-haired, and this guy definitely wasn't. Besides, Ranni herself had red hair and a rebellious streak. That shouldn't line up at all...

Maybe she was just overthinking things?

Renna considered for a moment, then decided to probe a bit more—just to be safe.

"You really don't have any way to contact Ranni? Not even a little?"

Lloyd thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered Blaidd.

"If I had to say, I could probably reach Blaidd. He's supposed to be Ranni's... what, her shadow or something like that…"

Renna nodded.

Perfect. He even knows about the Shadow-bound Beast and can get in touch with him. If all of this still turned out to be a misunderstanding, she'd eat over two pounds of Glintstone crystals right then and there.

As for why Ranni didn't give Lloyd her contact info? Renna knew that girl's awkward personality way too well.

If Ranni had just handed it over plainly, that would've been the real surprise.

"Forget it, I'll take you to her myself."

Renna didn't know what kind of game Ranni was playing with this idiot, but the way Ranni kept everything secret made it clear—this wasn't something she should get involved in.

As for where to find Ranni, it might be a tough question for others, but for Renna, it just took a bit of deduction.

As the Lunar Princess, if she wanted to move around in secret in today's world, she'd need people helping her from the shadows. So, who had the capability, the resources, and Ranni's trust?

It had to be the Carian faction.

According to the intel Renna had gathered earlier, even though Raya Lucaria had been completely taken over by the Academy faction, with Rennala imprisoned alone in the Grand Library, things were different over in Caria Manor.

The outer walls there had been breached, yes—but the inner section remained untouched, still firmly under Carian control.

And just beyond the manor was the trio of sorcerers' towers where the three sisters had once lived. A place few people knew about, hidden well enough, and well-stocked with supplies. Even if someone managed to attack, the mages inside would be on a whole different level than those outside.

As for whether telling Lloyd about such a secret hideout was a bad idea...

If he hadn't pulled out the Moonlight Greatsword, Renna might've hesitated—she might have even considered going to find Ranni on her own once they got close, just to prevent anything from going wrong.

But now? He had her token of affection in hand, and even had a way to contact the Shadow-bound Beast. At that point, there wasn't much reason to leave him out.

Besides, Renna was dying to know how Ranni would react when she brought this guy in front of her.

It seemed like it would be pretty entertaining.

With that in mind, she pointed out the direction of Caria Manor to Lloyd.

"But no need to rush. The place is caught in a space-time rift right now, so taking it slow won't hurt."

"Got it."

Lloyd didn't care much either way. He was just heading over. Worst case, he could come back later and loot everything along the road at his own pace.

So off they went again.

This time, maybe because the whole situation had gotten a little too bizarre, even "Madoka Higuchi"—normally silent and practically allergic to involvement—finally spoke up and offered a suggestion.

"You could try passing this information to others. Whether it's the Roundtable Hold or Morgott, neither of them would ignore something like souls being frozen. They might even be able to lend a hand."

A branching side quest, huh?

Lloyd nodded. After finding a new Site of Grace, he dropped by the Roundtable Hold to speak with the All-Knowing, then swung by Stormveil Castle to brief Morgott on the situation.

As for how the two reacted...

One gave him a complicated look.

The other just covered his face.

But the message from both was clear:

They were used to it. Whenever this guy showed up, their heads started to hurt.

Naturally, after letting those two know, Lloyd didn't forget about Sellen. He gave her a heads-up as well. She didn't react, so he turned around and left without another word.

"Hey, wait a sec!"

Sellen, who had been dragged out of her rest in broad daylight, finally snapped out of it and ran barefoot out the door—only to find Lloyd was already gone. Staring at the spot where he vanished, her expression slowly spiraled into panic.

"Are you for real?"

Dropping news that big and then just leaving? How was she supposed to go back to sleep? She'd barely close her eyes before bolting upright again.

And just like that, Lloyd went down the list, got everyone fired up, then returned to Liurnia of the Lakes and set off for Caria Manor.

As for what happened next...

That part was easy.

"Kill!"

With a single shout, Torrent reared up and charged ahead.

Behind them, corpses blanketed the ground. Blood soaked the earth.