Chapter 82 : Revealed Witch's True Identity (2)

Revealed Witch's True Identity (2)Vague Witch, Princess Alicia.

As her true identity was revealed, the chat window scrolled up rapidly.

― No wonder she seemed kind of posh, lol"

― Posh? Are you saying she looks cute?"

― Lmao, mini nuna is definitely cute"

― A witch and a princess, what a mismatched combo, hahaha"

― That twist stings a little, lol"

Viewers experiencing Elden Soul for the first time expressed their surprise at the revelation. Even those who already knew couldn't help but be startled.

― They're revealing this already?"

― Feels a bit soon, don't you think..."

― Haha, at least I'm free from spoilers now!"

― Nope, not finished yet"

― For real, don't let your guard down or you'll get banned, lol"

The identity was revealed much earlier than in the original route. Soon, the focus of the chat window narrowed to one topic.

― But why was the princess exiled?"

― Why did our cute nuna have to be kicked out!"

― She's a witch, maybe she did some shady stuff?"

― Would Mini nuna ever do something like that!"

― Nah, 100% the people who exiled her are just bad! Just bad, period!"

Why was Alicia exiled?

The answer came unexpectedly fast.

"When I heard Your Highness had been exiled, I couldn't understand what was happening at all. But now I know."

"You know?"

At Sophia's words, the protagonist and Alicia turned their eyes to her.

"The Decider forsook their duty. But it's clear the Decider didn't intend to pass that duty to anyone else."

"So, if Alicia had stayed, she would have become the Decider in your place."

The protagonist nodded with a stiff face.

"Your Highness, did you know of the Decider's intent? Did you leave the royal castle in shared purpose?"

"No, no, I had no idea...! Really!"

Alicia protested, clearly feeling wronged by Sophia's question.

"I still don't know what the Decider's intention was. Why was I exiled? Why abandon the duty... That's why I'm headed to the royal castle."

"Your Highness, you're returning to the royal castle?"

"Yes. I'll regain my body and go to meet him. The exile's stigma can be hidden with a new soul..."

Alicia glanced carefully at the protagonist. However, the protagonist simply stood there calmly.

― Ah, so that's why nuna needed a soul"

― Yeah, in the original route, you met up again with nuna after entering the royal castle"

― This route with Mini nuna is better!"

― For real, the minimie version is even cuter"

Then Alicia questioned Sophia, almost accusingly.

"Sophia, it's your turn to answer now. What on earth is going on? Why is something like this beneath the Cathedral? What's with the fake holy orb?!"

Despite her tone, sophia didn't lose her gentle smile.

"Your Highness, do you remember the story I told you by your side? Don't you recall the sacred myth of the Elden Knights?"

"Sophia?"

"The ancient knight, an immortal who sacrificed himself for mankind. In the end, he even shared his immortal soul... I dedicated my entire life to him."

Sophia placed her hands together devoutly. Yet soon, even deeper wrinkles formed on her elderly face.

"But unlike him, humans are imperfect. After the Decider's silence, humans easily fell apart. Ironically, it was because of the gift of an immortal soul he shared."

"Sophia...?"

"The number of immortals increased, but the resources available to them were limited. Unfulfilled desire and endless suffering... The souls of immortals became worn, and the faithless lost in greed became the dead."

Sophia closed her eyes, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

― Is she talking about those ghouls?"

― There's way more than just that"

― Yeah, there were Corrupted Knights too"

― A world overflowing with the dead!"

― Honestly, not dying isn't always a good thing"

Viewers recalled the dead they encountered during play. The atmosphere suggested some sympathy for Sophia.

But the mood quickly shifted as events unfolded.

Sophia snapped her eyes open and beamed.

"But the Elden Knights did not abandon us. His word, his revelation was delivered!"

"A revelation?"

"A revelation...?"

The protagonist and Alicia furrowed their glabellas. The smile spreading on Sophia's face was no ordinary one.

Her pupils were hugely dilated, her mouth stretched open unnaturally wide.

― Whoa... that's freaking scary"

― Cultist mode ON!"

― Knew she wasn't normal, damn"

― Literally gave me chills, lol"

Sophia cackled madly.

"How did the Order Church come to possess his holy relic? Why is the precious orb, the gift of immortal soul from the Elden Knights, now in my hands...!"

"You mean the holy orb?"

"That is correct, Your Highness. The holy orb is the very key to saving lost souls. Just as the Elden Knights did, the holy orb can store souls."

Sophia slowly ascended the altar.

"The root of corruption is desire, and desire arises from the flesh. To preserve a soul, one must be freed from the body."

Devoutly, she began unwrapping the cloth covering the sphere atop the altar.

"If there is a body that needs no desire, the soul remains pure. Even those who are already lost can have their souls harvested and given a new body. Then salvation will come."

Hearing this, Lee Gyeongbok grasped the situation.

"So that's what those pale ones were—artificial bodies."

― That's right"

― They pretended to cremate them, but smuggled the corpses"

― Maybe used the holy orb or some power to reshape their bodies?"

― It all makes kind of twisted sense"

The viewers agreed. Lee Gyeongbok understood why the fake saint had felt so lifeless.

'It was basically a kind of puppet.'

Soon, the cloth was fully removed and slipped onto the ground. In the flickering candlelight, the sphere was revealed.

An unrealistically pure white ellipse.

― What's this now?"

― An egg? Is it an egg?"

― Wow! Friends! Bald guy time!"

― Lmao, is this a Muscle Gallery crossover?"

― The Purple channel collab theory came true, haha!"

― Cameo appearance, what's going on!"

― Is the chat window losing its mind?"

Lee Gyeongbok suppressed a laugh. In contrast to the chat, the cutscene's mood was dead serious.

Sophia, face enraptured, reached toward it. The surface bubbled and slowly began swallowing her body.

"Sophia?!"

As Alicia leapt in shock, the protagonist caught her. Looking Alicia in the eyes, he said,

"That's probably not the Sophia you knew."

"What do you..."

Before Alicia could finish, sophia completely disappeared and the sphere started to bubble violently.

"""Your Highness."""

A powerful vibration rattled the chamber. From within, a mixture of voices rang out simultaneously—men, women, old, young, even children. It was as if they were all speaking together.

Proving it, faces began to emerge all over the surface.

― Uh, this is getting creepier and creepier"

― Suddenly turning to horror"

― It's the boss, lol"

― How could someone even design something like this!"

― Ha, the devs are definitely freaks!"

Viewers sent a kind of twisted praise at the scene.

"I was Sophia."

"I was Emily."

"I was Sheldon."

"I was Robert."

Countless distinct voices rang out at once, and laughter filled the chamber.

"""But now, united inside the holy orb, we are the 'pure humans' he sought to protect!"""

On the surface, the faces twisted into smiles, then their features blurred like muddy paint.

"""Salvation is at hand!"""

With an ear-splitting shriek, a huge spike burst from the bubbling sphere. The protagonist dodged swiftly and set his jaw.

With it, control returned to him. The boss fight had begun.

― Cultist OUT!"

― Cultist trait: champion of crackpot philosophy"

― Time for a lesson!"

― Tsk tsk, they don't recognize a real god when he's in front of them"

― For real, lol, godple is right here, where are you looking for a god?"

Viewers were excited for Lee Gyeongbok to shine, though some voiced concerns.

― I've never seen this guy before, what the heck"

― Can you beat this on your first try?"

― Except for the spike earlier, we don't even know its patterns, lol"

― Looks tough"

― But if it's Godple, he'll find a way, right?"

With a boss never publicly shown before, nobody knew the strategy or its patterns.

Lee Gyeongbok was aware, and didn't rush in recklessly.

'The spike attack isn't that hard, though.'

Watching another spike fly, he gripped his sword. Though the boss closed the gap quickly, evading wasn't hard.

He kept his momentum and countered before the spike could return—slicing neatly through the white mass, which fell limply to the ground.

― Nice, haha, as expected of Godple!"

― Insane reaction speed"

― Look at him dodge by a hair's breadth, lol"

― Seems easier to cut than expected?"

― Does that really look easy to you?"

― Of course, unique grade weapon"

― Maybe just slice him up directly?"

Viewers were reassured by his performance. But Lee Gyeongbok stayed cautious.

'What's this?'

His sixth sense and spiritual energy picked up lingering danger from the severed mass. Sure enough, the severed part condensed and changed into a grotesque upper body.

― What the—?"

― Uh-oh!"

― Hyung! Behind you! Behind you!"

― Ughhh!"

Viewers who noticed quickly flooded the chat window. Of course, Lee Gyeongbok had already anticipated this.

"I see, it reproduces quite well."

Casually, he shredded the grotesque upper body completely.

― Reproduction, oh my"

― Cutting it up in a kawaii way?"

― How did he even know, haha"

― The Elden's Top Sword has no blind spot!"

― Never worry about Godple the way you do for celebs"

― Focus on your own future, viewers!"

Viewers were pleased by his clean response, but the mood didn't last.

― Wait?"

― Why is it returning?"

― You can recover them? Oh crap"

― So, theoretically, infinite regeneration?"

― Seriously, the devs are masochists!"

The chopped pieces returned to the main body, just like iron filings pulled by a magnet. As the core churned more violently, it fired masses in all directions.

"So, it looks like this is going to be all about numbers now."

Lee Gyeongbok narrowed his glabella. The flying masses transformed into grotesque forms and targeted him, while sharp spikes shot in between.

Viewers were stunned by the sudden, relentless swarm.

― Dude, seriously, this is too much!"

― How are you supposed to dodge this?"

― Haha, I'm sure I'd die in one second"

― There's no way to roll out of that, instant kill!"

Not a single gap seemed possible—but that was only the perspective of an average player.

Lee Gyeongbok calmly took a brief breath and raised his sword.

'No need to dodge.'

It looked like a mass onslaught, but in truth, the actual threat to him was limited.

'If I take them out one by one, I'll be fine.'

Literally a matter of fractions of a second.

His heightened sixth sense divided the sequence of attacks and mapped the counters in his mind.

He drew the optimal path with his sword.

As a result—

A series of wet slaps echoed as the masses thudded to the ground, like a sudden rainstorm.

"Phew."

Having finished, Lee Gyeongbok let out a short breath. With that, the motionless chat window exploded again.

-??????

― What the hell, did you not move an inch?"

― For real, I thought my screen lagged"

― Yet another legend, hahaha"

― If you're Elden's Top Sword, sword blocking is a joke!"

― Sword barrier, my goodness"

― All you can do is gasp in awe"

Against everyone's expectations, Lee Gyeongbok held his ground. He responded to everything with just his sword.

As viewers gushed, Lee Gyeongbok's focus shifted elsewhere.

"Tsk, even these return again. Must be a type with infinite regeneration and body morphing."

The pieces he worked so hard to cut off all returned to the main body. At this rate, no matter how many times he attacked, it was all for nothing.

― The devs are brutal!"

― Did they even intend for this to be beaten?"

― They said immortality, and this really is an unbeatable boss!"

― Still, no way they'd make an unconquerable boss, right?"

― Maybe there's a specific strategy item?"

― Ah! Maybe you have to fight with the knight order?"

― That actually could work"

― No way, you have to beat the boss to unlock the shield! Focus up!"

― Lol, instant rebuttal, haha"

Worries and theories filled the chat window. Lee Gyeongbok checked the chat and let out a half-laugh.

He found the viewers' efforts to help and their concern for his safety genuinely endearing.

"Well, for now, let's try everything we can."

He watched the boss, now absorbing masses and bubbling furiously.

A wave of question marks filled the chat. Was there really anything left he could try?

Without explaining, he adjusted his grip on the sword. Soon, flames flickered along the blade.

― Ah!"

― Lmao, he forgot to use his sounds right sorcery"

― The impact of the Dragon Scale sword was so strong we forgot, haha"

― He cut everything with his sword and forgot magic existed"

― Doesn't the Dragon Scale sword boost fire attribute?"

― Yeah, that's right!"

― Wait? The color looks different?"

With Lee Gyeongbok's sorcery, flames began to envelop the sword blank. But these flames weren't the usual red, instead burning blue.

― Each grade has a different color, haha"

― Lowest grade is red, advanced rank was probably white"

― So unique grade is blue?"

― Wow, that's so cool"

― Since Dragon Scale is black, the flame color pops"

― Oh, I get it! That's true to real-life temperatures—the higher the heat, the more blue the flame!"

― Haha, true! Blue is hottest in real life too, lol"

― Those tiny details, man. Only in this game!"

The viewers' input solved the mystery. Meanwhile, the boss targeted Lee Gyeongbok again.

He bisected an incoming spike with a single swift stroke.

"It works."

With a wet sound, the severed piece now reacted differently. Bubbles formed at the cut and the movement stopped.

The danger sensed through his sixth sense also faded.

― Oooooooh！"

― 555555"

― As expected, unique grade!"

― Haha, when physical doesn't work, go magic!"

― Attribute attacks were the answer all along!"

― You're done now, boss!"

― Receive the baptism of fire!"

― Sir Kingranos?"

― That's next-level stone penetration!"

The viewers were overjoyed.

Lee Gyeongbok smiled at their delight.

"Just the lesson you wanted."

Those words caught the viewers' attention. Blue flames like wings erupted behind Lee Gyeongbok.

"Let me show you properly."

The flame he commanded was not the only one at his disposal.

With the sorcery 'Dragon Ascent's Stem,' the altar was soon awash with blue.

***

List of new names, locations, skills, and techniques (