Elden Ring: Atai vows to have a perfect ending

"Huh? So, Lord Zero is not planning to go to Gaileed?" Lenia was shocked.

I nodded and explained the reason briefly: "In order to try to save General 'Star Shatter', I have to find a way to go to the Atan Plateau first, or enter the Magic Academy to find the 'Full Moon Queen' and try to get her to come out to help... So, I'm sorry, Laya!"

I bowed to Laya and apologized.

"Eh? Ah~" Laya's reaction was as slow as an old woman's, but she didn't seem angry. She continued to ask, "Zero, are you going to the Atan Plateau?"

"Ah."

"Great! Zero~" Laya was actually quite happy, and even her back seemed to straighten a little. "You are indeed the warrior I favor, a real hero! Unlike those ordinary people who can only wander around the border and look at the golden tree in the distance... Lady Tanis will definitely like you very much, Zero. We at the Volcano Mansion welcome heroes like you the most!"

"······Thank you for your compliment, Laya. But, aren't you angry? I clearly promised you to take you to Gaileyd, but now you regret it." I asked cautiously.

Laya was quite open-minded: "Huh? Why are you angry? As long as Ling can reach the Yatan Plateau, he can become a member of the Volcano Residence... Let's just say, I hope you can go there now, hehe."

Lenia interrupted and said, "But I heard that the Dekedas elevator leading to the Attan Plateau has been out of service for a long time, and those cuckoos are also heavily guarding the main road, so it's not easy to get through."

"It's okay~" Laya was so happy that she seemed to accidentally expose her little snake habit. "Next to the big elevator is an ancient ruins cliff. It was originally an ancient tunnel mined from both Lienia and the Atan Plateau. If you are a true hero, you will have no problem passing through there and reaching the Atan Plateau."

——Haha, after all, there is a magma earth dragon there.

I sighed.

However, Patch sat aside, looking at me, as if he had something to say.

"What's wrong, Patch?" I spoke to him curiously.

Patch swallowed his saliva and expressed his doubts: "But, is it really possible to save General Starbreaker in time? When I was in Nimgefu, I heard that he was almost dead, wasn't he?"

"Well... as long as we stop the battle festival, General Ratan won't die for a while." I always feel that there is something behind Patch's words.

"Hey, old man, you misunderstood." Patch pointed out the flaw in my logic. "The battle festival was not held to kill the general, but because he himself was about to be completely corroded by corruption and die, so he held the battle festival for his so-called warrior's glory? Or something about reputation?"

"Huh? Is... is that so?" I was a little surprised, but what Patch said made sense.

——After all, due to the blooming of the Goddess of Corruption, Gaileid is now full of death.

——And Latan was hit by a nuclear explosion in the face by Marlennia, which can be said to be the heaviest corruption attack. In addition, the battle lasted for an unknown amount of time, so even as a demigod, there is a possibility that he was completely corroded.

Diaros also provided further confirmation: "No wonder I met a few Faded Ones before, saying they were going to Gaileed to pick up a big bargain. According to Patch, they wanted to seize General Latan's Great Rune while his power was declining as he was dying."

I was a little speechless. All I wanted now was to call Wolf Brother Blaze and ask him to confirm the news.

——If it's really like what Patch said, isn't the plan that Ranie and I have planned too tight?! Even if everything goes as I expected, it will still take at least a month to complete the preparations!

So how much time does General Starbreaker have left?

The originally scheduled battle festival was supposed to be in about four days, so he could only live for a week? Half a month? Or...

However, even if Blaze knew all this, he might not be able to contact me now... In Lani's magician tower, the magic used to communicate with Wolf Brother and the others should have been led by Lani. After all, Iggy also said that he could not contact Lani on his own initiative, and the same should be true for Wolf Brother Blaze.

So, should I go to Gaileed myself and find out what's going on?

But even if you know it’s too late, what’s the use?

I rubbed my forehead in distress.

"There's no need for you to be so upset, old friend." Patch smiled and comforted me, "Latarn has so many people under his command, and they haven't figured out a way to cure the corruption and save their general until now. You are the only one with an idea, but what can you change?"

“······That’s true.” I sighed, and the idea of ​​giving up began to occur in my mind.

—Hmm? Wait, cure corruption?

Patch’s words suddenly reminded me of something I had just acquired recently - praying "Healing of Fire"!

Would anything change if the corruption in Ratan could be mitigated or even eliminated?

Of course, after being corrupted for so long, I don't hold out hope of being completely cured of the corruption. Otherwise, as a retainer of "Star-Breaking" General Latan and a former knight of the Kalia royal family, the Lord of Red Lion City, Jerryen, should have solved this problem long ago, and there would be no need for me to take action.

All I need now is time. As long as I can delay long enough, there is still hope of saving Latan!

By the way, there is another tool to cure corruption - corruption moss medicine.

Although I haven't collected the craftsman's notes on making moss medicine, if I remember correctly, the materials needed for making it are: Night Dew Hepa, crystals of cave moss, and holy blood wood buds.

The place where Night Dew Hepa is collected is underground, under the fog forest of Nimgefu and near the Shivla River basin, where a lot of it can be found.

The crystals of cave moss are naturally in the caves with crystals. And, if I remember correctly, there is a crystal cave nearby, you can go and take a look, and by the way, you can continue the branch quest of Platinum Village.

The best place to collect the remaining Holy Blood Wood Buds in the first round is the corrupt church behind the magic town of Ceria.

When the time comes, I will make a huge corruption moss medicine and stuff it into the stomach of "Star Shattering" General Ratan, and then use the healing power of fire to do a double decoration of the inside and outside... This should be able to reduce the corruption effect on the opponent to some extent and buy me some time.

I made up my mind and turned to look at my old friend.

"What, what are you doing?" Patch seemed to be frightened by my gaze, and his left eyelid trembled noticeably.

"Old buddy, please help me~"

Patch immediately shouted, "Quack! I knew it! Every time you look at me, something bad is going to happen!"

"Hey~ How can you say that? Am I not a loyal old customer of Patch Store?" I smiled and put my arm around his shoulder.

"Are you talking about blackmailing Market's prison instruments? Or using your rotten fingers to pay off your debts? Let me tell you, I haven't sold a single one yet!" Patch immediately pushed me away angrily.

——Alas, to deal with people like this, you really have to use money to talk.

Fortunately, after defeating Loretta, I still had a lot of runes saved up, but I didn't have time to use them, so I reluctantly condensed a thousand runes: "Is this going to work?"

"... Hehe, my old friend is the best." Patch's expression changed immediately. "Tell me, what can I do for you?"

"I want you to go to Stonewell and find an old man named Hyde Edson. Ask him to send people to help me go to the underground river Sifra in the fog forest to collect as much Night Dew Hepa grass as possible. When the time comes, send it directly to Red Lion City."

"Okay~" Patch paused, his eyes turned, and then said, "If you still need help with the delivery, just add another 500, that's a 50% discount!"

"Hey...if there's one leaf missing, I'll rob your wild store!" I handed over another five hundred to the other party.

Lenia asked curiously, "Master Ling, have you decided to go to Gaileed first?"

I smiled bitterly and nodded: "Yeah, I guess so. But from now on, I have to race against time."