Elden Ring: Atai vows to have a perfect ending

At night, there was darkness between the mountains.

Only at the foot of the mountain hall on the hillside of the ancient ruins, there was a bonfire burning, like a candle in the darkness.

Perhaps tonight is the most lively night here in recent years.

"Wow~ I didn't expect that there is such a way to eat terrestrial octopus! Zero, how did you come up with this idea?" Blaze was amazed at the grilled octopus skewers I cooked.

Brother Shrimp, like a gourmet, bit off a baked octopus roe, chewed it slowly, and couldn't help but exclaim: "This texture and flavor are indeed better than shrimp balls! I wonder if this method can also be used for shrimp."

I smiled and said, "Grilled prawns? That should be possible, but I've never grilled prawns this way before, and I'm a little worried that the meat will be burnt. Brother Shrimp, if you want to learn, I'll tell you the secret of grilling. When you find the trick to grilling prawns, grill them for me to try."

"Interesting, it's a deal."

On Laya's side, the greedy little snake was eating with relish, which made the muscular man, Tragus, beside him look surprised.

After all, this guy didn't chew much. He just took two bites, raised his little head, and swallowed the whole mouthful of meat.

The astonishing speed made Tragus unconsciously hand the piece of octopus in his hand to Laya.

——Brother Da Jiao, you are such a nice person.

I couldn't help but remind her, "Laya, eat slowly. There are still a lot of terrestrial octopuses, and no one will snatch them from you."

"Ooooooo~"

“...Swallow it first.”

Laya swallowed the meat in her mouth obediently. Under the light of the fire, her eyes sparkled as she reflected the skewers in her hand: "Zero made it so delicious. My hands, my hands can't stop."

"I agree~" Blaze even reached out his hand to high-five Laya.

With these big eaters here, I simply can’t keep up with the production speed alone.

"Zero, do you need help?"

Mibao is still the best. He came over and offered to help me.

I said bluntly, "Well, then Millicent, please help me peel off the shell of the octopus tentacles and pick out the meat inside, please."

"it is good."

"······I want to come too, and I can definitely do better than Millicent!" Pollyanna suddenly squeezed between Millicent and me.

—You're going to compete, Pollyanna?

——But it’s good too, more people means more strength.

Speaking of...

"How did you guys get together? It's really unexpected." I asked curiously.

Well, although in the game, except for Pollyanna, Mibao, Xia Ge, and Telages are indeed the assisting NPCs for challenging the lava earth dragon at the ancient ruins cliff, but in reality, I find it hard to imagine that these guys would just happen to get together.

"After Pollyanna and I left Red Lion City, we planned to look for Marennia's whereabouts. We happened to meet Brother Telages on the way. After he knew that we were planning to go to Yatan Plateau, he took the initiative to lead us the way..." Millicent explained.

Telages crossed his arms over his chest and nodded to confirm her statement.

But Pollyanna was still being arrogant and making trouble: "I didn't plan to go with you to find Marennia. I just happened to travel the same route as you."

Millicent smiled and responded: "Well, thanks to you being by our side along the way, Pollyanna, you helped us a lot."

"Hmph! It's good to know."

——······Although according to what Pollyanna said before, Millicent was the last flower that the sage Gwe brought back from the Ionian swamp.

——But why do I always feel that Millicent is more like the older sister, and Pollyanna is still the youngest?

"...Recently, a war broke out in Lienia. Dujuan, Kalia, and it seems that there are people from Stonewell. It's really chaotic." Brother Xia followed the topic and explained, "In order to avoid the war, I ran here for a few days. I happened to meet them. They are quite skilled. They said they wanted to go through this ruins to the Yatan Plateau, so I came to help them."

"Speaking of those stinky blue birds, next time I see them, I'm going to pluck all their feathers," Pollyanna said viciously.

"Uh, what did they do to you?"

"We had already taken the initiative to avoid their troops on the east coast, but they still wanted to come over here. They said they didn't know the situation here, but they insisted on taking us to the Ansel River."

I see... So, what is Dujuan going to do in the underground Ansel River?

If you can't figure it out, tell Iggy and let them interrogate you.

However, I still reminded Pollyanna first: "The Cuckoo Army has been defeated and returned to the royal family of Kalia... Perhaps it will also be counted under Stonewell's command. Pollyanna, don't cause trouble again, otherwise you may offend the lords of these two lands."

"Huh? Did the Cuckoo Army lose?" Brother Xia raised his eyes in surprise and looked at me.

Blaze laughed and said, "It's okay, it's okay. Those stinky birds with wolfish ambitions should be taught a lesson. If they come to trouble you again in the future, just beat them up. I, Blaze, can help you plead with old man Iggy."

I sighed and briefly talked about Stonewell's alliance with the Calia royal family and the Rhea Lukalia Academy, which thwarted Dujuan's ambition to usurp the throne and rule Lienia.

Blaze and Laya praised me so much that when Tragus came to take the meat from me, he patted my shoulder and nodded vigorously in approval.

Pollyanna couldn't help but sneer at me: "Hey, so you're already a famous person in Lienia, Nimgefor, and Galide! Doesn't that mean you have to be the King of Elden?"

"······Please, don't give me bad news. I still have to deal with the lava earth dragon tomorrow. I'm afraid I'll be in trouble if you flatter me like this." I made a sad face and quickly broke the flag for myself.

"A great hero like you is afraid of a lizard?"

——Of course I’m afraid. This guy can spit out magma and drive a dump truck around!

——In the game, I can’t count how many times I fell in the scene full of magma, but in reality, the temperature of real magma will only be higher, and the difficulty is definitely more difficult than I know.

but······

"I remember that the Lava Earth Dragon has a weakness. It's too big, and it's hard to notice its back. Attacking its two legs at the back might be a good idea. Also, that position can also guard against the Earth Dragon's various actions and prepare for its attacks in advance." I told him my strategy in the game.

"...But as long as we launch an attack, the Earth Dragon will still pay attention. Besides, it's not so easy to get around its back." Diaros, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up and expressed his understanding.

His considerations do make sense.

"So, at this time, someone needs to attract the attention of the magma earth dragon to attract his hatred."

"Oh! Oh!" Terragus patted his chest.

Brother Shrimp also said: "Then add me in as well. I don't have any good weapons, but if it comes to attracting the earth dragon's attention, maybe there is a way."

"Then I will also..."

"Brother Wolf, I hope you can come with us to attack the earth dragon's feet from the side and rear." I interrupted Blaze's idea of ​​voluntarily attracting hatred. After all, Brother Wolf has high attack power and fast movement speed, and it is better for him to cooperate with me, Pollyanna and the others.

"Also, Diaros." I turned to look at Xiao Di, "Can you help Brother Telagos and Brother Xia? After all, on our side, perhaps only your big shield can block the attack of the earth dragon."

Diaros was silent for a moment, and finally nodded: "... Well, I'll try."

"Thank you. Let's have a good rest tonight and try to reach the Yatan Plateau tomorrow." I grilled another piece of octopus meat. "Come on, don't be polite. This is a terrestrial octopus buffet. Only when you are full will you have the strength to challenge strong enemies!"

"Zero, can I have it?" Laya drooled from the corners of her mouth.

——You’re such a glutton, little snake!

——Suddenly it reminded me of a certain blonde girl, Altria, who was also a shrew.

——You didn't inherit the king's stomach, did you? !

Of course, there was no need to be stingy. Under Laya's shining eyes, everyone involuntarily gave her the roasted meat.

It was a peaceful night before the storm came.