Godrick climbed to his feet, his face contorted with rage.
To have to climb up from the ground—what a humiliating act. He had always remembered this humiliation.
He never thought he would have to endure it again today.
Red’s words had struck a nerve. Godrick roared,
“The glory of the Golden Lineage! I have never forgotten it!”
“Red! What right do you have to accuse me! In your eyes, is cowering in Stormveil how we uphold our glory?!”
With hatred etched on his face, Godrick glared at Red.
“I will return! I will return to the Royal Capital! That is where the glory of the Golden Lineage lies!”
“That is my home! Why must I be forced to leave? I am a true heir of the golden royalty! I, too, possess a Great Rune!”
“You have merely been blinded by the quick power grafting provides, causing you to pursue strength blindly.”
“Abandon grafting, Godrick. Let everything return to how it was.”
“As one of the Golden Lineage, you can grow stronger through other means. Trust me.”
Godrick burst into a crazed laugh, tears streaming from his eyes.
By the end, it was impossible to tell if he was laughing or crying.
“Stop lying to me! I know! I know everything!”
“I have no talent—not in sorcery, not in incantations, not in combat.”
“I can’t even fully wield the power of my Great Rune.”
“But I want to go home...”
Godrick said no more, simply and silently raising the dragon head on his left arm.
It was too late for words now. He had never regretted walking the path of grafting.
Seeing that persuasion was futile, Red landed beside Bai Shi, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
Erlisa had already dealt with the Grafted Scion and the Fell Omen, and she, too, came to stand with them.
The other Crucible Knight silently moved to stand before Godrick, shielding him with his body.
“You watched him graft himself into this state, step by step, yet you would stand by his side?”
The Crucible Knight across from them nodded.
“This is his resolve. You simply never truly cared.”
“Perhaps it is you who should awaken from this phantom of glory, Red.”
A massive Tree Sentinel, led by several Godrick Knights, charged onto the battlefield.
Behind them were hordes of Godrick’s soldiers.
All the remaining soldiers in the city had gathered to fight alongside their lord.
Although Bai Shi had already slain many, their numbers were still not to be underestimated.
Godrick looked at the generals and soldiers by his side, took a deep breath, and raised his left arm. The dragon head spat fire toward the sky.
“One day, we shall return to our home at the foot of the Erdtree!”
“Soldiers, fight with me!”
The soldiers raised their weapons, their roars a response to Godrick.
But Godrick was not the only one with reinforcements.
“The time to restore the Storm Dynasty is now! Come, aid the Tarnished chosen by the Stormhawk King!”
A young man, with a staff in one hand and a longsword in the other, led dozens of Banished Knights to stand behind Bai Shi.
This was not all the Banished Knights in Stormveil, but it was most of them.
“Phew, we made it just in time.”
Though Bai Shi didn’t know where these men had come from, they were a great help.
Bai Shi pointed his sword at Godrick. A storm enveloped his allies, the long-absent enhancement returning to the Banished Knights.
“Banished... no, Storm Knights!”
“Defeat Godrick and retake Stormveil!”
As Godrick’s fire collided with Bai Shi’s storm, the curtain of war was officially raised. The Tree Sentinel led the charge, knocking back a Storm Knight, but Erlisa seized the opportunity to leap onto its steed’s back and stab it viciously.
The Tree Sentinel immediately threw her off, ignoring the other knights to focus its full attention on battling Erlisa.
Red and the other Crucible Knight clashed, buildings crumbling in their wake as they fought. No one could get near them.
The Storm Knights engaged the Godrick Knights in one-on-one combat.
The remaining Storm Knights, Nepheli, and the unnamed fellow held back the rest of the soldiers.
The very center of the battlefield was left for the two commanders.
The area was vast, large enough for Bai Shi and Godrick to unleash their full power.
Without another word, Bai Shi and Godrick began their fierce battle.
As Godrick activated his skills, masterful martial arts not his own were displayed one after another.
Spinning Slash, Ground Slam, and even Lion’s Claw were all executed with his great axe.
Not only that, Godrick had somehow mastered the incantations of Dragon Communion. Fınd the newest release on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥
In concert with the dragon head's flames, two sacred seals took turns summoning a dragon claw to slam down from above.
Yet even under such an onslaught, Bai Shi did not fall behind.
He unleashed the full power of the storm, and the flames could not harm him in the slightest.
Instead, the clasps on Godrick’s armor were shattered, revealing the flesh beneath.
And at last, Bai Shi discovered the secret to Godrick’s use of incantations and magic:
Several dead heads with closed eyes were grafted into his abdominal cavity.
Bai Shi moved nimbly between Godrick’s attacks, parrying with his sword anything he couldn’t dodge.
He constantly sought opportunities to strike out with his blades, hacking off the small hands Godrick used to release his skills.
As his skills failed one by one, Godrick’s assault grew weaker and weaker.
Bai Shi was not without injury, but thanks to his evasiveness, he had avoided any fatal wounds.
Godrick’s soldiers were the first to be crushed.
Even though they fought to the death, they could not hold out against such overwhelming strength.
The freed Storm Knights turned to aid their comrades battling the Godrick Knights.
The Godrick Knights were already at a disadvantage, and with the balance broken, they too were defeated one after another.
The battle between the Crucible Knights was too intense to intervene in, so the Storm Knights surrounded the Tree Sentinel instead.
Seeing his forces fall, Godrick’s heart burned with anxiety, but he was powerless against Bai Shi.
As Godrick’s dragon head bit down in a panic, Bai Shi seized the opportunity and used a technique he had not yet revealed to Godrick.
A great blade of air extended from his sword, slicing the dragon head clean off Godrick’s arm.
This technique was an imitation of the Serpent-Hunter’s attack, created specifically to deal with enormous enemies.
Bai Shi swung the air blade again, inflicting a massive wound.
With those two strikes, Godrick’s fate was essentially sealed.
The Crucible Knight fighting Red disregarded the injuries Red inflicted upon him and flew over instantly to block one of Bai Shi’s strikes.
Godrick took the chance to get up and run.
Red knocked the Crucible Knight away, and Bai Shi immediately gave chase.
Godrick had now reached the edge of a bottomless abyss.
Bai Shi poured all his magic into his twin swords and unleashed his most powerful strike.
The attack cut Godrick in two at the waist, and both halves of his body tumbled into the abyss.
Godrick’s ruined body fell into the dark depths beneath Stormveil.
He struggled, crawling with all his remaining strength, his blood leaving a long trail behind him.
From the depths, a massive monster with a wooden body emerged, covered in signs of decay.
The Ulcerated Tree Spirit sensed Godrick’s golden blood and did not stop him, allowing Godrick to crawl toward a massive, twisted face.
Godrick looked at the deathly visage before him and slowly extended a severed limb.
“Ancestor, great ‘Golden’ Godwyn.”
“Please, permit my blasphemous act.”