Elden Ring: Atai vows to have a perfect ending

drip-drip-drip-

The sound of a chime woke me up.

In the hazy world, I seemed to see myself lying on a big white bed.

An IV drip was hung high above the bed, and the electrocardiogram was constantly beeping.

Drop, drop, drop...

——What am I doing?

The memory is a little fuzzy, just like waking up from a dream. I can't remember what happened in the dream at all. When I try hard to think, it seems that something is stirring in the dark world in my mind, like an insect or a ghost snake, crawling and growing.

I felt a little confused. Apart from this bed, the only thing around me was a white world.

After removing the IV drip, I wanted to get out of bed and look around.

【Ahhhh——】

Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew towards them, making it impossible for people to open their eyes.

When I was able to look forward again, in the white world, gusts of black wind seemed to blow away the fog, and a huge black door suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

On it, there are countless statues of people, all of them are scrambling to climb up, or stretching out their arms, as if they want to escape from purgatory.

——Where have I seen this door before?

With this thought in mind, I walked forward curiously and put my hand on the crack in the middle of the door.

Suddenly, the door actually opened slowly to the left and right.

As if they were trying to tear the statue on the door apart, they let out piercing and sharp roars, and from the inside of the door, they continuously exhaled those black and gloomy winds, even dyeing my original white and vast world into a charcoal red after being burned by a raging fire.

【die】

These two words suddenly popped into my mind.

I don’t know why, but even though there was a gust of cold wind in front of me, I felt the chill from the god of death behind me.

The countless statues on the door seemed to come alive. They were standing on both sides of the door, waving their hands as if trying to close the door again.

And in the world behind me that was burning with flames, it seemed that black figures appeared one after another, their eyes were bloodshot, and they chased after me with their fangs and claws bared.

[The door is open! The door is open! ]

[This way, we can leave here, this way we can leave this purgatory! ]

······

I was a little frightened by them, so I quickly pulled away the hands of the statues on the door and ran to the other side.

Just as I passed through the door, the narrow crack closed again, and I could hear the desperate voices of the guys behind me and the usual roars of the statues on the door.

【No--】

【Ahhhhh——】

He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and as he walked through the door, his chaotic mind also became clear.

I remember that before, I was still under the ground of the Royal City of Rodel, in the deepest part of the ground where the Prince of Death was to be met.

Roger said there was a way to save the ancient dragon Lanceshanks, or even Furshanks, who was haunted by death. Of course, this also had to be explored in Fia's dream of death, so we walked forward carefully and touched Fia's hand together.

Then, I felt sleepy and lost consciousness.

······But what the hell happened just now?! In the game, after A-Tai entered Fia's dream, didn't he fight the "dead dragon" Fulshanks directly?

——What about me?

That bed, is it a hospital bed? How did I end up in a hospital? What's with the door at the back?

And now, I also remember exactly that door. It was indeed the strange door that I dreamed of after I obtained the death curse on Lani.

——What is going on?

"Zero!" Roger's voice interrupted my thoughts.

I looked up and saw that guy running towards me from the end of the street... Street?!

I quickly looked around, and once again, my jaw almost dropped to the ground in surprise.

This, this, this modern city street, this asphalt road, and even on both sides there are tall buildings whose tops can be seen only by looking up... However, there is no one here, and the few cars parked on the side of the road are also motionless, as if it is a dead city.

The tall buildings were covered with black thorns that could cause sudden death, and even the asphalt roads were covered with the same things.

The sky was filled with dark smoke, as if sunset was met with dark clouds with thunder. Between the clouds, one could vaguely see a black and gold substance like oil flowing across the sky.

Looking into the distance of the city, you can vaguely see the thick roots of the trees, like the pillars of heaven in mythology, supporting the sky.

——Is this a fusion of the modern city and the audience place of the deep-rooted dead prince?

——What’s going on?

I was so surprised that I was speechless.

After Roger ran over, he also stared in surprise and asked: "Zero, you, did you come from behind this door?"

"Door······?"

Oh, the door behind me that seemed to seal off purgatory did not disappear after closing. It was like an ancient building in the city, standing abruptly in the middle of the street.

"Ah...no, that's right." I responded somewhat stupidly.

Roger's eyes sparkled with excitement, but he frowned and said in confusion: "Incredible, really incredible... By the way, do you know what's going on around here? Could it be that, Zero, you have seen a place like this before?"

"I guess so." I answered vaguely.

After all, let alone having seen it, I have always lived in a place like that in the past... Of course, that was after I went to college and started working after graduation.

"It is true! I heard from Sister Siluria that the other half of the Death Centipede Mark was brought to Fia by you. Sure enough, this dreamland combines the common image of you and her! It is incredible!" Roger looked around at the modern city scene excitedly and talked about it.

I was still a little confused: "So, this place wasn't like this before I came here?"

"Of course!" Roger turned around and spoke so loudly that he might not even notice it. "When I first entered this dreamland, it was no different from the audience place outside. There was only a strange, oily black-gold color in the sky. At that time, I also saw the two ancient dragons. Fulshanks and Lanceshanks seemed to be still fighting... However, it seemed that Fulshanks had the upper hand. He soared in the air, and with lightning and thunder, he suppressed Lanceshanks to the ground."

I frowned. “Really?”

——Is this so merciless? Ancient dragon Fulshanks.

Roger nodded and continued, "They didn't seem to notice me, but I couldn't find you either. However, if there is one difference from the outside, the dead prince's position under the tree roots has been replaced by the door behind you, so I decided to come and take a look... The door suddenly opened, and the entire land began to tremble. Weird tall buildings rose up one after another, and in the blink of an eye it became what it is now... And coincidentally, you came from the other side of the door..."

Roger paused as he spoke. He stared at me, looking at me with eyes that were like he was sizing up a creature he had never seen before, and asked, "Zero, who are you?"

“······” I haven’t figured out what to say yet.

At this moment, thunder and a dragon's roar were heard in the sky.

Red lightning exploded.

I saw a dark ancient dragon suddenly falling onto a tall building, breaking the glass and causing debris to fall everywhere.

The ancient dragon Fulshanks, his whole body was still emitting a black and golden aura of death. His pair of golden eyes stared at Roger and me fiercely, and then he roared: "Roar——"

Suddenly, red thunders kept falling from the clouds, causing all kinds of black smoke to rise on the land.

He comes with great momentum and ill intentions.