Elden Ring: Atai vows to have a perfect ending

Chapter 468: The Lost Man

Seeing "White Wolf Warrior Ghost" Bagram quietly walk out of the gate of the Watcher Fortress, I hurriedly followed him out of curiosity.

——Oh, right!

Speaking of which, I remember that the sealed prison of Quasi-King Vic was on the hill opposite the fortress. It was very likely that he was imprisoned there by the Flame Watchers because of the power of the Mad Fire in his body.

Bagram and he are both partners of the Round Table Hall. Could it be that they want to rescue Vic now?

······However, surprisingly, Bagram did not go too far.

After he left the fortress, he headed towards the cliff.

The wind was cold and the afterglow of the golden tree was like the light of a full moon, making the snowy field bright at night.

Bagram stood at the edge of the cliff facing the wind and looked towards the southeast.

There, out of the giant's flaming cauldron, there seemed to be some faint butterflies of Mars floating, so close that one could reach them with one's hand.

"Who is it?" Bagram suddenly asked, like a lion roaring when someone stepped on its territory.

——Were you discovered so soon?

I didn't plan to hide it any longer, so I walked out openly: "Hey, Senior Bagram."

"General Zero...it's you."

My arrival obviously caught Bagram off guard, and he seemed a little uncomfortable with addressing me.

After all, our first meeting was at the Golden Tree Cathedral. At that time, the phantom of the Blessed King was shattered by Bernard, and he, Bagram, as the Round Table agent under the Blessed King, came to appease everyone and inform everyone that the offender and the Round Table Hall would arrest Bernard.

In other words, I was just an ordinary fader at that time, while he was the boss of the round table.

In terms of status, Bagram is naturally in a higher position.

But right now, the change in height may make Bagram uncomfortable for a while.

"There's no need to give me the title of general. If you'd like, just call me Zero." I said with a smile. "By the way, are you looking at the cauldron of fire?"

Bagram watched me walk up to him silently, then nodded.

"As long as we can light the cauldron and direct the flames to the golden tree, our mission will be complete." I continued, "But before that, we still have to deal with groups of mountain giants, some giant snow crows, and giant hand monsters. Each of them is quite troublesome... So, if you don't have anything important to do, you should go back early and have a good rest. Tomorrow, we have to travel again."

“······”Bagram was indeed quite taciturn. I didn’t know if he ignored my words.

After a pause, I changed the subject: "By the way, Senior Bagram, you went to capture Bernal... that guy before, right? What happened?"

"Ok?"

I also got straight to the point: "Senior Weihele told me that after you came back, you seemed to be worried and in a bad state. Although he said that his ideas were somewhat contradictory to yours, which made your relationship a little awkward, he still cared about you."

"... I'm really sorry to have troubled you." Bagram smiled helplessly. "To be honest, I did see him, Bernal."

"Oh?"

“But... I’m sorry, not only did I fail to catch him, but I was also defeated by him.” Bagram sighed and turned into a puff of white smoke and dissipated in the wind.

I looked into his eyes beneath the mask.

It looks calm as autumn water, but underneath there seems to be raging waves.

——I didn’t expect that Bagram had fought with Bernal before?! He was defeated by the other party and spared his life... No wonder the senior looked so sad.

After all, Bernal, who has the setting of a master of combat skills, is already very strong. After obtaining the Devourer's Scepter in the Volcano Mansion, he is even more comparable to Adi as a hero.

So I wasn’t too surprised by this result.

"Well, victory and defeat are common in the military. As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. We can get back at them next time, senior." This was the only way he could comfort the other party.

Bagram fell silent again, listening only to the whistling of the wind in the valley.

I've been feeling a little sleepy since a while ago. Now that the effect of the wine has worn off, the wind is making me shiver with cold.

Now that I understand the reason for Bagram's change in personality, I plan to find an excuse to go back to bed: "Then..."

"Zero, what would you do if it were you?" he suddenly asked.

I turned my head curiously: "Huh?"

Bagram continued slowly, "That girl has always longed for you to become the real king, and was even willing to sacrifice herself for it. But when she followed the guidance, she finally found out that it was all just a lie, an illusory dream, and you could only watch everything happen beside her and be helpless... If it was you at that time, what would you do, Zero?"

"Hmm...this, is this what Bernard told you?" I couldn't help but tilt my head.

After all, in the game, Bernal is also one of the Faded Ones who came closest to becoming the King of Elden.

But in the end, when the burning tree led to the city in the sky, Bernal's finger witch ignited the fire in the giant's cauldron, but could not lead it to the golden tree, nor could she send Bernal to the next destination.

As a result, the flames simply took the girl's life right before Bernal's eyes, nothing happened, nothing could be changed.

Bagram nodded and replied: "...I guess so."

He looked at me, seemingly expecting my answer.

“…Even if we don’t let the girl serve the fire, there are other ways. For example, we brought Crazy Fire Ling with us this time. He should be able to make the giant flames rise.”

"But what if he can't? Or, under some special circumstances, you must sacrifice your witch in order to become the King of Elden, to fulfill your law, and to save the so-called people." Bagram interrupted me and quickly added a series of conditions. "What will you choose then?"

"I······"

【······Chaos·····! 】

I seemed to hear the sound of a fire burning.

"Or will you make the same choice as that man, Zero? The man named Vic?" Bagram continued to question.

In a trance, I seemed to see the same red and yellow fire in his eyes.

“No, I will never give up on anyone!” I was a little annoyed and wanted to wave away the troublesome flame. “Even if I can’t ignite the Giant’s Fire, I will think of other ways to board Fam Azra and deal with the golden thorn! I will never let Merlin...let that girl serve the fire, nor will I get involved with the world-destroying flame that she hates. After all..."

——That’s right. After all, I have already thought of many strategies to go to Fam Azra. All we need to do is let the Fire Madman ignite the Giant’s fire!

"... After all, she said that there can be no king in a world without life." I looked up at the giant pot of fire and said softly, "But if I can't even save that girl, what's the point of being a king to me? So, no matter what, I will do my best to find a way to save her, and then, with her company, become the king of Elden."

“...Hehehe.” Amidst the sound of the wind, Bagram’s chuckle came to my ears. He lowered his head and spoke in a low voice, seeming to have mixed feelings, “As expected of you, Zero. Your ambition to save everything is a model for the Faders.”

"But." Suddenly, Bagram reached out and grabbed the hunting god sword on his back. "Before you can realize your ambition, you will have to encounter a lot of troubles."

The coldness he exuded was not directed at me.

Turning around, I saw a man wearing a silver mask and holding a fire staff, leading two fire monks and six or seven red-robed old women, striding towards us from the Watcher Fortress.