Chapter 46
TN: Missed a whole week, here are a few chapters to make up for it
Both Zorayas and Sellen could only speculate about what the Praetor looked like. But while the sorceress remained largely indifferent, Rya was drowning in doubt.
The hidden city of the serpentmen had opened her eyes, nearly driving her to despair, but it had not consumed her. Not only because she was too preoccupied with watching the Tarnished farming with his club—like an unstoppable force of nature tearing through the city, leaving behind only those few who had the sense not to attack him and instead hid among the ruins—but also because of an unexpected gift. A gift that had come so suddenly, it had left her momentarily stunned.
To some, it was vile, repulsive. But to Rya, it was something warm and familiar: a Serpent's Amnion(1). It seemed as if Konstantin had known from the very beginning exactly what to look for to help her, and so they had turned the entire hidden section of the manor upside down.
It seemed the man wanted to complete her quest as quickly as possible.
But as it turned out, all of her worries—and even Konstantin's terrifying farming spree—were just a prelude to the true horror.
They knew he was searching for the Lord. He had been looking under every rock, trying to find the path to some hidden place that only he seemed to know about. A secret passage.
And in the end, he found it.
Or rather, he found Patches—but Konstantin wasn't one to turn down help.
Casualization wasn't a sin, after all.
"This is… the Lord of Volcano Manor?"
Sellen knew firsthand what experiments with magic could lead to. She had conducted plenty herself on other astrologers, which was largely why she had earned her reputation. She did not believe in restrictions, refused to accept limitations, and had tried every possible path to climb higher and further.
That in itself wasn't necessarily a bad thing. What was bad was that she had forgotten the boundaries that didn't restrict her, but supported her.
Sellen glanced at the Tarnished, wondering if he had intended to show her the Praetor from the start. After all, if he knew how dangerous it was, he could have simply told them to wait above, couldn't he? Or did he believe that as long as they were by his side, they were safer—even if they were up against the Outer Gods themselves? Or perhaps, there were other reasons?
Or maybe… he simply didn't give it much thought?
'Interesting,' the sorceress mused, narrowing her eyes with a smile.
There was still something she wanted to test, but for now, the opportunity had not presented itself.
Rya was far less composed. She stared in horror at the monstrous, towering beast before her—just as powerful as it was grotesque.
"L-Lord…?" she trembled, her legs weakening beneath her.
Her mother's barrier wouldn't protect her. Nothing would. If that thing lunged at her, she had little hope of escape. She couldn't believe she had been living right above something like this all this time.
And even more than that, she couldn't believe that her mother—the one she called mother—had been sending the manor's servants, her most loyal ones, to this thing.
It was madness.
It was too much.
"Buddy!!!" Patches screamed, dashing behind the ever-unfazed Konstantin and hiding behind his back.
The Praetor, not yet making any move to attack, regarded his guests with curiosity.
"He's not quite him yet(2)," Kosta said calmly, staring at the massive serpent's face. "I doubt we'll be able to have a proper conversation."
Not that he seemed particularly disappointed by that.
The man glanced around.
"Step back—he's got AoE attacks."
The experience of a father's belt phasing through textures must have had a profound impact on the vision of the genius game designers.
Rya and Sellen exchanged glances.
"Did you not hear him?!" Patches screeched, grabbing the women and pulling them back. "Run, run, run, before I change my mind about protecting you, run!!!"
Konstantin, watching in mild surprise as the suspiciously motivated rogue dragged the waifus away at record speed, felt something unusual.
For the first time, he didn't feel like kicking Patches off something.
Who knew how long that feeling would last, but right now—it was real.
Of course, Ranni couldn't ignore something like this. The demigoddess had her regrets, but most of them she had let go of long ago.
But what her own brother had turned himself into, in his pursuit of power—that, she couldn't ignore.
"He deserves to be freed," she said coolly. "…What's with the jar?"
Melina, who had just arrived in time for the show, clutched the vessel more tightly, nearly dropping it.
The thought of how her Tarnished would react if she dropped it terrified her.
"Please… don't ask," she exhaled, turning her gaze to Rykard.
The expression on the Daughter of the Goddess's face was strangely indifferent—she was growing less and less concerned for Konstantin. It wasn't out of apathy or arrogance, but rather…
Simple, natural trust.
"So this is the path Carian royalty chose to oppose the Golden Order?"
It wasn't often that Melina managed to get a rise out of Ranni. In fact, it was almost unheard of—partly because they rarely interacted, and partly because the demigoddess was simply better with words and able to control her emotions with ease.
But right now, the words of the false Finger Maiden hit home.
Seeing the slight pout forming on the normally composed demigoddess's spectral face, Melina felt an immense sense of satisfaction.
'Suck on that, witch!'
Of course, outwardly, Melina remained just as calm and indifferent.
"The path my brother chose to walk, in pursuit of freedom," Ranni narrowed her eyes. "You are not the one to judge him, maiden."
The demigoddess turned away with an air of finality. And yet, she had seen the slight smile hidden beneath Melina's hood.
And that irked her.
Ranni huffed, puffing up her spectral cheeks even more. She shot the insufferably smug false Finger Maiden a glare, mentally promising to get back at her for this one.
After all, how could she argue against the words of the Goddess's daughter, when she had been thinking the same thing?
Radahn had been a victim, transformed into a monster against his will.
But Rykard had consciously twisted his own essence, ceasing to be himself.
To any sorcerer, the mind was the most important thing they had. Losing a limb, or even an entire body, meant nothing as long as their consciousness remained.
But her brother—the son of Queen Rennala, the greatest astrologer—had thrown that away, willingly sharing his will with some pathetic snake.
Was that not even worse than submitting to an Outer God that couldn't even fully influence this world?
Ranni frowned.
Fortunately, neither of the Queen's daughters needed to continue this conversation, because now, the real spectacle was about to begin.
Both the Tarnished and the Blasphemous Lord had grown tired of staring at each other.
Konstantin stepped forward, heading straight for the weapon waiting for him—the tool made for slaying this serpent. A hybrid of a greatsword and spear, embedded in the ground, as if it had been waiting all this time for someone who could finally slay the beast.
To be honest, Kosta still couldn't quite believe he was seeing it just sitting there, but…
The Tarnished grasped the weapon, feeling its energy resonate with him, merging with his own.
He had already held "upgraded" weapons before, so this was nothing new to him.
"Soulslikes were always anime," Kosta muttered to himself, leveling the greatsword-spear at the serpent. "And this kind of fight brings that out the most."
The snake hesitated for a moment, then—
"Lunge."
A maw, large enough to swallow him whole, snapped forward.
To be fair, Rya thought this was the end.
But she had simply forgotten that she had already witnessed one strange duel with the Tarnished before.
Luckily, Konstantin reminded her quickly.
There was no normal way to dodge the serpent's lunge. It was too big, too fast—there was nowhere to go.
Unfortunately for the Lands Between, roll mechanics worked exactly as intended.
Because in Soulslikes…
The engine doesn't decide the rules.
The player does.
Roll.
To say the serpent was surprised would be an understatement.
Until now, Rykard had been in a dormant state.
But now, he opened his eyes—staring directly at Konstantin.
At first, the gaze was barely interested, but after frowning and taking a closer look…
"Hmm… You are unworthy to be sacrificed to the Serpent King…"
Kosta blinked, surprised by yet another inconsistency(3), but he didn't argue.
Instead, he swung his weapon, unhesitatingly tapping into the power slumbering within him, reinforced by his own casual energy.
After all, this was a cinematic battle. It needed to be spectacular above all else, not grueling—and the man saw nothing wrong with that.
You had to diversify the gameplay somehow, didn't you?
A strike.
For a moment, a beam of light illuminated the entire battlefield, forcing the spectators to shield their eyes. A painful roar of a hundred voices erupted as the monster's maw gaped wide.
And this was only the beginning.
"Grab."
Roll.
Konstantin rolled to the side, and seeing that the shockingly intelligent serpent was already trying to intercept his dodge…
He simply and effortlessly leaped backward—not by a step or two, but by dozens of meters, nearly launching himself into the sky. Was there even a ceiling here?
Mid-air, the man swung his mighty weapon again, pouring even more power into it.
Strike!
The serpent howled even more desperately, its massive body, bathed in magma, convulsing uncontrollably, sending fiery splashes everywhere. More and more.
Some of the splashes, whether Konstantin wanted it or not, landed on his clothing. What little could still be called "clothing" began melting against his skin, exposing him.
The serpent had no idea that all it was doing was unleashing the true power of a Soulslike player.
Melina sighed in exasperation.
Konstantin, unfazed by his attire being burned away, swung his weapon again, feeling it overflowing with power, on the verge of cracking apart.
It turned out that Meli-Meli's gift was far superior to some pre-made piece of iron designed for a single fight.
Kosta squinted with satisfaction, feeling the warmth of one of the best waifus enveloping him at the thought.
Strike!
Of course, intellectually, Rya understood how powerful the Tarnished was. Someone who had collected three Great Runes in such a short time was more terrifying than even the mightiest of the demigods.
And yet, it was one thing to hear about it. It was entirely different to witness the ground shaking from every swing of that bizarre weapon, the entire cavern engulfed in golden light, burning their Lord alive with every blow—while the beast couldn't even land a hit on what seemed to be just an irritating little fly.
Rya's serpentine tail twitched with intrigue, her pupil narrowing.
Well, except for the clothing situation…
"How are you so calm?" Rya whispered to Sellen, turning her head.
Patches was nowhere to be seen—he had bolted back the way they came.
The sorceress, observing the battle with interest, ignored the half-serpent, fully engrossed in the spectacle. After all, she rarely had the opportunity to personally witness the Tarnished's strength rather than just seeing it through an illusion.
"Going to spit venom?"
Roll.
"Magma."
Roll.
"Bite."
Roll.
To Konstantin, the serpent was an open book. It was as if he had fought it dozens, even hundreds of times before. And unlike Radahn, whom he had honored as a warrior, the Praetor, who had willingly fed himself to the serpent, did not inspire the same respect.
The lord of Volcano Manor, merged with the Devouring Serpent, felt it. He felt how the insanely powerful Tarnished was pressuring him, how his gigantic body was being scorched with every single swing of that bizarre but merciless weapon—one that had been lovingly left behind by a predecessor.
In the Lands Between, there was no true death. But that didn't mean one couldn't lose their body. And, fortunately, very few beings could persist as untethered spirits. Praetor Rykard was no exception.
Konstantin, covered head-to-toe in magma, didn't even flinch. It simply couldn't harm his skin, sliding off his body as if obeying some unknown will.
And, strangest of all, the modest strip of cloth covering his decency—having already survived more battles than any demigod—remained completely intact!
The disparity in power was obvious, and soon the wounded serpent realized it. And so, it changed tactics.
If it couldn't harm Konstantin, it had to target someone it could.
The serpent suddenly lunged, its massive body stretching toward the startled Sellen and Rya.
The last thing they had expected was for the Tarnished's opponent to suddenly change strategy and cowardly attack them instead of Konstantin.
Unfortunately for the Praetor… it didn't help.
The gaping maw, poised to consume the women whole, was slammed away—along with the rest of the beast.
Boom!
A thunderous crash rang out, so powerful that it felt like the entire cavern might collapse, burying them all alive. The burst of golden light was so intense that, for a moment, the entire cave was drowned in Konstantin's energy. So concentrated—so filled with unrestrained rage, raw fury, that for an instant, it felt as if reality itself trembled.
Sellen blinked rapidly, trying to clear the blinding afterimage, turning her gaze to Konstantin in fascination.
"How intriguing…"
The veins across the man's body shone with golden radiance, his once-grey eyes now blazing with gold. His entire form was wrapped in a golden shroud, permeating every fiber of his being, creating an utterly unique aura.
An otherworldly aura.
In the man's grip remained only the hilt of his greatsword-spear hybrid—the blade itself shattered by the force it had absorbed.
"T-terrifying… y-you're not scared at all?" Rya stammered, her voice trembling.
It was as if she had just watched her entire life flash before her eyes.
Sellen stared thoughtfully at her own shaking hand, then back at the Tarnished, in whose eyes—for perhaps the first time—she saw something akin to fear.
'What a peculiar weirdo…'
The sorceress smiled, waving at him to show she was unharmed.
Konstantin gave a curt nod, casting a brief glance at his broken weapon before casually tossing it aside. Then, his gaze shifted to the struggling serpent—wounded, burned, its body decaying before their eyes.
The Praetor had never looked so pitiful.
Now, not the serpent, but Rykard's own face stared at them. And in those wide, bloodshot eyes, for the first time in an eternity—
There was fear.
"Heretic," Konstantin spat, like an inquisitor laying eyes on the manifestation of filth.
A filthy heretic had dared to threaten the few things that made Soulslikes beautiful!
Rage.
For perhaps the first time since arriving in the Lands Between, the Tarnished felt pure, unfiltered rage toward an opponent.
If both of his waifus had been devoured alive by this giant snake, it would have been an instant loss for him.
All his efforts to reach his ending—one he had never gotten to see in the game—would have been meaningless.
But most importantly—
He had brought them here himself.
It had been his mistake.
The serpent had gotten too close.
This was a lesson Kosta wouldn't soon forget.
"You tried to casualize me," he said, his voice outwardly calm as he slowly approached the Praetor. "By itself, that's not a bad thing. What's bad is… how you chose to do it."
The last words came out as a growl.
Rykard, now fully awakened, sensed the impending doom. He had no idea what the Tarnished meant—
He only knew his end was near.
"Very well…"
The abomination reached into its own serpentine maw—
And pulled out a massive sword, forged from writhing, interwoven bodies.
A world without death could create things far worse than simple monsters.
Too bad for this world—Soulslike players thrived in it.
"You want to see what real cheesing(4) looks like?" Konstantin's voice turned to ice. "I'll show you what real cheesing is."
Melina's phantom heart skipped a beat.
In one hand, the man now held the club she had gifted him.
In the other…
It was Ranni's turn to be surprised.
A Summoning Bell.
The Tarnished rang it several times.
A strange mass emerged, blinking curiously.
But its task became clear immediately.
It began to tremble—and took the shape of Konstantin.
The Mimic Tear's hand formed an exact replica of the club wielded by the Tarnished. Not just an imitation, but a perfect copy, temporarily mirroring the full power of the original.
For better or worse, the world would never witness two Serpent-Hunters(5) at once, but it would witness something else.
Without a word exchanged, the two half-naked men—practically twins—sprang into action simultaneously. Rykard let out a thunderous roar, swinging his massive sword.
Roll.
The wind pressure from the swing was so intense that it would have blown an ordinary person away. But neither Konstantin nor the Mimic Tear fell under the definition of "ordinary." If anything, the Tarnished dodged without even feeling the force, while his copy…
For just a moment, it melted into a puddle of goo before instantly reforming back into Konstantin's shape.
A Mimic Tear upgraded by Roderika, as befitted a true embodiment of absolute casuality, had far too much HP.
SMASH!
Melina's gift, brimming with the full power of the Tarnished, proved to be a much more fearsome weapon than the Serpent-Hunter, enduring far more of his strength.
The impact was so powerful that the ground beneath the serpent cracked, and the cavern trembled with a dreadful, echoing wail.
Unfortunately, that was just the prelude.
The Mimic Tear, raising its replica, mimicked Konstantin's movement.
SMASH!
Right behind it, Konstantin followed up with another crushing blow, unwilling to forgive the serpent for daring to threaten his waifu.
SMASH!
The Mimic Tear required no additional commands.
SMASH!
SMASH!
SMASH!
SMASH!
SMASH!
SMASH!…
Anyone who witnessed what Konstantin was doing with this strange imitation of ash felt an involuntary shiver run down their spine.
What had previously resembled a battle, at least outwardly, had now devolved into a full-fledged beating. The enraged Tarnished and his duplicate had gotten right up in the boss's face and were pummeling it, like some rabid beast, each strike reducing the cavern further to rubble.
A creature dozens of meters tall had been reduced to nothing more than a punching bag, thrown around the cavern, desperately trying to crawl away from the two monsters. But its greatest flaw—its sheer bulk—had now become its doom.
Rykard had a blind spot beneath his own massive body(6), a weakness he could do nothing about. And the two relentless beings exploited it ruthlessly, preventing him from so much as touching them.
Konstantin alone would have been enough to defeat Rykard.
But together with the Mimic Tear? This wasn't even a victory.
This was the annihilation of a heretic who dared open his mouth against a waifu.
The God-Devouring Serpent. The Blasphemous Lord. The Lord of Volcano Manor. Once-revered Praetor Rykard, a monster who had devoured the bodies and souls of countless warriors, was reduced to a bloody pulp.
(1) In the questline, for Rya to accept the truth about her birth, she needs to be given the Serpent's Amnion, which can be found in the Temple of Eiglay, past the boss.
(2) There are several theories regarding what exactly happened to Rykard: the serpent completely devoured him, leaving only a fragment of his consciousness; the serpent consumed him, but his mind remained dominant; or Rykard and the serpent now coexist within the same body. Personally, considering the connection between the Praetor and the creeping beast, the last theory seems the most plausible.
(3) In the game, Rykard actually wants to make the Tarnished a part of the Lord of Blasphemy. Within the constraints of this fanfic, this line has been altered.
(4) "Cheesing" in gaming refers to using strategies that, while technically within the game's rules, trivialize difficulty—often breaking game balance or bypassing intended challenges.
(5) The Mimic Tear can replicate weapon properties, including special attacks granted when using the Serpent-Hunter against Rykard, making the fight look like a complete beatdown.
(6) Rykard does, in fact, have a blind spot directly beneath him. While the magma around him deals damage, it is relatively low, allowing the player to stay in that position and wail on him with minimal interference. He has a few attacks that can reach this area, but they are easy to dodge, making it possible to completely annihilate the boss while he struggles helplessly.