Bai Shi was terrified on the swaying suspension bridge.
With every step Torrent took, the bridge not only swayed but also let out intermittent creaks.
Bai Shi couldn't shake the feeling that as they crossed, a giant white serpent would emerge from the canyon and snap the bridge in two.
He was mixing up his games. The Lands Between weren't Ashina.
Bai Shi peered over the edge. It was a long way down, but not a bottomless abyss.
Below, a large cluster of Miranda Flowers, big and small, were constantly spewing poisonous pollen, making the gas at the bottom of the valley as thick as fog.
Tearing his gaze away from the Miranda Flowers, Bai Shi looked ahead.
The church, his destination, stood at the end of the road beyond the bridge, just a short walk up the slope.
But something else, even more eye-catching, came into view at the same time as the church.
It was a massive, towering tree with a thick, straight trunk. Branches, covered in golden leaves, spread out only near its crown.
It was a Minor Erdtree.
Minor Erdtrees were usually guarded by an Erdtree Avatar, and killing one yielded various Crystal Tears with special effects.
Bai Shi tried to recall which Crystal Tears this particular avatar dropped, but after racking his brain for a while, he came up empty.
An Erdtree Avatar should be weaker than the demigods, but it was definitely a notch or two stronger than the Grafted Scion and the Leonine Misbegotten.
It seemed like a good idea to test his strength against the avatar before facing Godrick.
After all, he couldn't treat Godrick like a mere game character with stats. Even if he was weaker than the other demigods, he was a demigod nonetheless.
Still, he would do that after completing the purpose of his current trip.
Crossing the suspension bridge, he hurried up the slope toward the church.
A group of strange figures appeared along the path. They wore golden masks carved with intricate patterns, donned golden tunics, and patrolled slowly, almost aimlessly.
Strangely, a tree branch sprouted from each of their backs.
These were the guardians of the Minor Erdtree. They had once been renowned martial artists who made an ancient pact with the Erdtree.
It was said that because of this ancient pact, they would not perish even in death, serving as the Erdtree's eternal guardians.
In other words, they were all dead.
Bai Shi gathered the storm on his blade and flung it forcefully at the nearest guardian.
The spiral blade of wind tore through the guardian's body, pulverizing nearly half of its torso.
But not a drop of blood spilled—only wood splinters.
Bai Shi peered at the wound. The body beneath the clothes had almost completely turned to wood.
The guardian fell to the ground, but it continued to twitch. Bai Shi fired another Storm Blade, completely destroying its upper body.
The other guardians swarmed in.
Without dismounting, Bai Shi unleashed storm after storm from Torrent's back, occasionally finishing one off with his greatsword.
In just a few moments, he had eliminated all the guardians.
"They're a bit weak. How are they supposed to guard a Minor Erdtree?"
Bai Shi rode past the guardians' corpses, continuing up the slope straight toward the church.
After Bai Shi had gone, a faint stirring came from the corpses of the guardians.
"Rustle..."
Something moved through the soil before bursting out: thick tree roots.
The roots connected to the guardians' remains, and in moments, their bodies were restored. As the roots retracted back into the earth, the guardians rose once more to continue their eternal watch as decreed by their pact.
——
On the way, Bai Shi saw a group of Wandering Nobles carrying banners. Their bodies were shriveled and almost fleshless, and a few had even begun to rot.
Yet even in this state, they could still walk, endlessly searching for a way to finally die.
Bai Shi paid them no mind. With the Elden Ring shattered, the part of the Golden Order that governed death and the return to the Erdtree had ceased to function.
These once-prominent nobles were now completely unable to die. Even if beheaded or torn to shreds, their bodies would simply become chunks of squirming flesh.
What was once the Erdtree's blessing had become a terrible curse.
Bai Shi arrived at the entrance of the church. Melina had just whispered its name in his ear—the Church of Pilgrimage.
In front of the church, the translucent spirit of a local sat on a chair, facing a single direction and muttering to itself:
"The Walking Mausoleum wanders, cradling a soulless demigod."
"Oh, Queen Marika, Eternal One, the one slumbering within is your loathsome castaway..."
Bai Shi looked in the direction the spirit was facing. A colossal, four-legged mausoleum, covered in moss that spoke of ages past, was striding across the open fields.
"The Walking Mausoleum wanders..."
The spirit repeated the phrase endlessly, its obsession profound for reasons unknown.
Bai Shi entered the dilapidated church. It enshrined a massive statue of Radagon, and beneath it, a golden Sacred Tear had been left behind.
Bai Shi picked up the Sacred Tear and lit the Site of Grace. He sat down to rest, recovering some of his focus, and then prepared to set off again.
But then, Melina spoke.
"Wait. It seems someone has left words here. I want to stop and interpret them. They might contain important information."
Bai Shi suddenly remembered that some churches contained words left by Queen Marika. He figured he might as well listen and see if they were any different from the game.
"What do the words say?"
Bai Shi asked curiously. He'd forgotten the specific content of the words, only remembering the gist about Marika banishing Godfrey and the Tarnished.
As Melina interpreted the words, a look of shock crossed her face.
"These are the words of Queen Marika, who vanished long ago."
"I will recite them to you."
"After you have faced death, that which was taken shall be returned. Return to the Lands Between, wage war, and brandish the Elden Ring as you see fit."
"Live alongside death and grow strong—warriors of my king, my lord, Godfrey."
As Melina spoke, Bai Shi's own memories of the words returned. He compared them, and it seemed the content was unchanged.
Melina fell silent for a moment, pondering.
"These seem to be the words Queen Marika spoke after she banished Godfrey and his warriors. But they're incomplete. It feels as if there should be more, both before and after."
"No wonder so many Tarnished have received the guidance of grace and returned to the Lands Between. It seems Queen Marika planned it all from the beginning."
"But what could she have been plotting?"
Bai Shi could hear a hint of excitement in Melina's voice. He hadn't expected her to be so interested in historical archaeology.
Then again, Bai Shi himself was quite interested in the history of the Lands Between.
"Bai Shi, I feel we're on the trail of a great secret of the Lands Between. We should search for more of these words."
"Yes," Bai Shi agreed. "One day, we'll figure it all out."