The next day, on the streets of Britain.

Fleur had anticipated that Arthur wouldn't be shopping alone with her.

But she never imagined it would be this lively.

At the moment, Arthur was being held on the left and right by Hermione and Ranni, with Ifrit and Leyna perched on his shoulders. Behind him trailed a large procession of spirits.

If Huang Xi and Dong Huang hadn't been far too eye-catching, Fleur suspected they'd probably be surrounding Arthur as well.

As for why ghosts appearing in the Muggle world caused no problems—

that was simple. Muggles couldn't see them.

Arthur wasn't sure how things worked for the ghosts of the wizarding world.

But the ones in his care were different.

As long as they didn't wish to be seen, Muggles simply couldn't perceive them.

So they could walk openly down the streets.

At most, if a Muggle passed through a spirit's body, they might feel a sudden chill.

Fleur stared at the massive group of spirits behind Arthur.

Malenia was holding her sister Trina's hand, curiously observing the architecture—so different in style from anything in the Lands Between.

Radahn, surprisingly, got along quite well with Latenna.

So now he was carrying the mobility-impaired Latenna on his broad shoulders.

But what Fleur truly could not comprehend—

Why were there two jellyfish spirits?!

This was the first time she'd ever heard of jellyfish becoming ghosts—

and such large ones at that!

Were they some kind of magical creature?

Fleur didn't understand.

She was thoroughly shaken.

So much so that she completely forgot about creating an opportunity to be alone with Arthur.

In the end, Fleur abandoned the idea entirely.

There were simply too many people around him.

She didn't believe she had the ability to distract—or get rid of—so many at once.

Thus, what was meant to be a simple outing turned into a full-fledged family excursion for Arthur and his entourage.

Fleur, mixed in among them, instead felt like a complete outsider.

Fortunately, Arthur still remembered that he'd come out specifically to help Fleur purchase learning materials for fashion design.

He took her through several bookstores and even made a trip to the city library.

At the very least, Fleur's main objective for the day was accomplished.

...

The Lands Between, eastern Snowfield, atop the Mountaintops of the Giants.

As the Fire Giant crumbled into ash, the extinction of the high-ranking giants was officially sealed.

A race that, during the ancient Erdtree era, had once been powerful enough to rival Queen Marika's Golden Order—

Now reduced to nothing more than lowly giants.

Enslaved by humans.

Barely even three stories tall.

And the one who ended the last Fire Giant's life was none other than Arthur.

As for the battle itself, it wasn't worth describing in detail.

Despite the Fire Giant's massive body—

despite its roars that could shatter nature, trigger avalanches, or summon storms of flame—

That very size condemned it to clumsiness.

Arthur dealt with it effortlessly.

He didn't even allow the Fire Giant to enter its second phase—

The phase where it would sacrifice part of its body to the Fell God of Flame in exchange for greater power.

Arthur destroyed the channel of sacrifice outright.

The giant eye embedded in its chest.

As the Fire Giant died, it gazed unwillingly toward the east—

Toward the Giant's Forge.

The sacred totem of the giants.

Arthur followed that gaze.

That was also the final destination of his journey across the Snowfield.

Even from this distance, with blizzards obscuring his vision, he could still faintly make out the outline of the Giant's Forge.

For a moment, Arthur's thoughts grew tangled.

Come to think of it, the reason this Fire Giant had survived the war against the Erdtree in the first place was because of Marika herself.

After defeating the giants, Marika discovered that the "fell god's flame" they worshipped could never truly be extinguished.

So she cursed the last surviving Fire Giant, transforming it into the eternal warden of the flame.

The very one Arthur had just slain.

As for why Marika had moved against the giants in the first place—

First, because the power of the Fell God's Flame posed a threat to the Erdtree.

She had to eliminate that danger.

Second, because only then could a new age begin.

Arthur suspected that the Giant's Forge was once the Crucible of Life.

The Age of the Erdtree didn't begin with the defeat of the ancient dragons, nor with the fall of the Dragonlord.

It didn't even begin when Destined Death was sealed and the laws of Golden Fundamentalism were established.

It began when fire was defeated.

Because the Crucible of Life was born of the Lands Between, while the Erdtree came from beyond them.

They represented two different eras.

Only when one era ended could the next truly begin.

And because the Crucible of Life was deeply bound to the Lands Between, its flame could never be extinguished so long as the land itself endured.

Furthermore, the nature of the Crucible meant it could only be guarded by giants.

If ordinary beings tried to approach it, they would be punished by the Crucible—

transformed into Misbegotten, beings born inherently lesser.

Arthur owned a spirit ash titled Winged Misbegotten.

The system's description read:

"A soul with wings of a hundred forms, firing arrows while flying.

The birth of the Misbegotten is said to be a punishment for contact with the Crucible.

Thus they are born slaves, known as the defiled."

The many demi-human races scattered across the Lands Between might very well be connected to the ancient war with the giants.

There were also indirect signs that the Erdtree and the Crucible were fundamentally opposed.

For example, the Crucible Knights.

They were followers of Godfrey, the First Elden Lord—

figures who should have enjoyed immense status and honor.

Yet everywhere Arthur encountered Crucible Knights, they were stationed in forgotten corners of the world.

Some were even sealed away in evergaols.

It was clear that the Erdtree's forces and the Crucible were natural enemies.

And yet, in spite of this hostility—

To become Elden Lord and stand before the Elden Ring, one had to reignite the Giant's Forge.

Only by using its flame to burn away the Erdtree's impenetrable thorns could one enter its interior.

Even more ironically, the one chosen to act as kindling—Melina—

Was selected by Marika herself.

The very woman who had once sought to extinguish that flame.

Fate truly had a twisted sense of humor.

But none of that concerned Arthur.

He had never intended to become Elden Lord in the first place.

All he wanted was a way to preserve Melina's soul.

That blockhead still refused to believe that Arthur could strip her of her role as kindling.

Advance Chapters Available on Patreon

patreon.com/WhiteDevil7554