I want to be a faded person for life

The old knight was warming his hands over the campfire, and something was bubbling in the iron kettle above the fire.

"As long as you don't harm the soldiers in this camp, we have no reason to fight."

"Lord Greg has promised to take us back to our home at the foot of the Golden Tree. I can't lose these guys before that day comes."

Xiangzi frowned when he heard this.

"Then what about capturing faded and living people and transporting them to Stonewell for limb replacement?"

She felt that the Lord Greg described by the old knight was not the same person as the creepy limb-attaching pervert she knew.

The old knight fell into a long silence.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally spoke again and told an unknown story.

"Many years ago..."

Chapter 11: The Changes in Stonewell

The old knight told a very ancient story.

Before gaining the notoriety of [Limb Graft], Greg was more widely known as the Golden Crown Prince. As the third-generation descendant of the first king - the son of [Gold] Godwin, Greg should have been the most honorable and legitimate heir to the Golden Dynasty.

But overnight, all that changed.

In that dark night of conspiracy and death, the demigod Godwin [Gold], who was considered the most qualified to inherit the throne, was assassinated.

The Elden Ring was shattered by the grieving Queen Marika, and a long war ensued among the demigods for the fragments of the special ring known as the Great Rune.

Greg, who failed to inherit the bravery of his father and ancestors, was the first to be expelled. He and his followers fled the royal city and settled in Stonewell.

In a flash, decades have passed.

"Lord Greg never gave up. He vowed to lead us followers back to our homeland at the foot of the Golden Tree, even committing the heinous act of limb grafting..."

"Lord Greg's body is weak, and only by resorting to unscrupulous means can he possibly rival other demigods."

The old knight spoke leisurely.

"I'm not trying to excuse you, sir, but the original limb-replacement ceremony was indeed different from what it is now."

"The sacrifices that can be used in the ritual are all valiant warriors of the renowned Shard Wars, and some are also personal knights like us who have volunteered to sacrifice our lives."

If that were all, although Greg's behavior was still disgusting and perverted, it was at least much better than Nimgefu's current search for living limb-removing kings.

Xiangzi felt complicated after hearing this.

It's not that she can't understand why someone would do anything to protect the glory of their hometown and past. She even feels a little bit of empathy, but this abnormal behavior still makes her feel sick.

"What then?"

Anyone can tell that there will be some twist in this matter.

"later..."

The old knight's pupils shrank slightly. Recalling this incident actually made this knight, who could remain calm when talking about the evil act of limb reattachment, show fear.

"Something strange happened in Stonewell City..."

"It is said that someone found a huge deformed face at the bottom of the city."

"Face?"

Xiangzi was stunned and couldn't imagine what kind of monster it was.

The old knight shook his head.

"I haven't seen it myself...but I heard that a huge, strange face suddenly grew out of the ground."

"The one hundred and fifty soldiers and two knights stationed on the lower floor have all fallen ill with a strange illness... At first, it was just weakness and drowsiness."

"But after just a few days, tree roots and swarms of flies emerged from under their skin, between their fingers, in their eye sockets and in their throats...Neither medicine nor prayers had any effect. No one was spared."

Xiangzi felt a chill down her spine. Although she had personally experienced several different ways of dying, the thought of a foreign object coming out of her body still made her feel uncomfortable.

"Since that day, Lord Greg has driven all of his trusted followers from the Royal City out of Stonewell, sending them on meaningless patrol missions... No matter what happens, we are not allowed to return to the city."

The knight sighed and reached the end of the story.

"Later, my lord recruited many wandering knights and exiled soldiers... You know, after the Shard War, Nimgefu was full of such people."

"Capturing large numbers of people alive for limb grafting—that's what happened after that."

Xiangzi held his head and felt a headache.

This story contained too much information, involving the Night of the Black Blade and the Fragment War, which she had no knowledge of, as well as the information about [Limb Reattachment] Greg, which she was most concerned about.

According to the knight, the current king with abnormal behavior could once be considered a wise ruler who was compassionate to his subordinates.

Initially, he only collected the remains of the strong to make up for his own deficiencies. It was not until a strange change occurred in Stonewell where he lived that he became the infamous King of Limb Reattachment.

Now we have to enter Stonewell to look for Gao Songdeng's whereabouts. In addition to being careful of Greg, we must also be alert to the strange changes happening in the city.

"My...very important friend may have been captured and taken to Stonewell. I must go there to find her."

Only then did Xiangzi explain his purpose.

The old knight slowly tightened the straps on his gauntlets and put them on again.

"Is that friend important to you?"

"More than my life."

The old knight laughed and shook his head.

"That's not very convincing, Faded One. You were trying to kill yourself with my sword just half an hour ago."

After seeing the girl's firm and serious expression, the knight stopped smiling.

"That's not an easy task. Stonewell may have become a den of evil by now. If it were a few years ago, I might have been able to help you find friends."

"As for now... maybe we can make a deal."

This was the third time Xiangzi heard this word after entering the border area.

"I can help you by allowing you to enter and exit this camp freely and use it as a temporary supply point. Besides that, I can also help you pass the pass in the rear."

The old knight pointed to the tall city gate behind him.

"The city walls are strong, and there are crossbowmen and mountain goblin slaves guarding it. It would be difficult to pass through the pass without my help."

This was an offer that Shoko Toyokawa couldn't refuse, so she nodded.

“Speak up for what you want.”

"Remember that jungle you visited before?"

The old knight was very satisfied with Xiangzi's straightforwardness.

"Deep in the jungle, there are caves inhabited by beast demons. Lord Greg originally sent me here to defeat the beast demons stationed in the caves near the forest, but you can see the current situation."

"My people suffered heavy losses. Everyone except me turned into zombies after repeated deaths."

"The beast ghosts suffered heavy losses as well, but remnants still exist deep in the caves."

The old knight seemed a little embarrassed.

"I must now guard my subordinates' bodies and cannot leave the base for too long. You can withstand two of my sword strikes, so you are not too weak."

"I hope you can enter the cave to defeat the remaining beast demons and help me bring the remains of the soldiers lost deep in the cave back to the camp."

"You can rest assured... Beast Ghosts will not enter the Return Tree Cycle without receiving the Blessing. Their corpses will not be resurrected, and there won't be too many Beast Ghosts left in the cave."

Xiangzi did not hesitate and immediately agreed to the other party's conditions.

Not because she completely trusted the Knight, but because she couldn't refuse the deal.

"very good."

The old man stretched out his right hand, and the enemies who had been fighting each other not long ago reached a reconciliation.

"The third pillar of the Stonewell Knights, Storm Knight Eric."

Xiangzi smiled and held the old man's right hand.

"Sounds like some big shot... My name is Toyokawa Shoko, I don't have any impressive titles."

"Then the deal is done."

Chapter 12: Caves near the Forest

"Melina, do you think Eric is telling the truth?"

Xiangzi sat by the bonfire in the church. She used this place as a temporary base and would return here to rest every night through the blessing.

"I do not know either."

Melina sat against the wall and stared at the night sky.

"But... since he's a knight and gave you such a generous gift on our first meeting, he must be a trustworthy person who keeps his promises."

Before parting, Eric gave Xiangzi two items.

They are the whetstone knife that can add attributes to weapons, and the special spirit ash that records battle memories.

According to Kale, the so-called spirit ashes are a magical medium that can record memories. The ashes that record the experience and skills of warriors are called war ashes.

With weapons covered in war ash, users can skip lengthy training sessions and easily use or even perfectly replicate the combat techniques recorded therein.

This kind of thing is a hot commodity in the entire border area. Even merchants like Kale are willing to pay a considerable amount of runes to purchase any one of them.

The bottle of war ash in front of you is a valuable item that records the famous skill of Storm Knight Eric [Storm Blade].

Xiangzi thought of the two invisible blows that had knocked him off his horse, and he was very much looking forward to this ability.

In her opinion, this was simply cheating, like giving a warrior a magic scroll in an RPG game.

"finished."

Kale put down the whetstone, knife and hammer, and the merchant got a piece of iron felt from somewhere and placed it at the feet of the goddess statue, transforming the Ailei Church into a simple blacksmith shop.

Xiangzi took the witch's dagger from Kale's hand. The curved edge of the sword reflected a cold light.

"It has the sharp attribute added. As for the battle ash effect, I haven't used it yet. You can try it yourself."

Kale seemed a little tired. He supported his waist and sat back against the stone pillar near the campfire to rest.

Xiangzi walked out of the church and raised her dagger with some curiosity. The next second, the image of the old knight standing in a bow stance with his sword raised above his shoulder suddenly appeared in her mind.

With a strange feeling, her movements began to change naturally, eventually overlapping with the old knight in her memory.

“—Drink!”

The girl cried out softly, twisting her body and swinging her sword forward.

The sword blade caused a storm, spinning across the grass and leaving several circles of cuts of varying depths on a tree trunk.

The girl exhaled and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

It is quite powerful, but it consumes a lot of physical strength. Xiangzi judged that he would be completely exhausted after using it three times at most.

It cannot be used frequently, but it can be used as a trump card to decide the outcome.

Xiangzi sold the shields and several weapons she had collected before. She did not return these things to Eric's camp. Even though they had reached a cooperation, she still had no good feelings towards Greg's soldiers.

What's more, returning these spoils is not a condition of cooperation.

After spending some runes, Xiangzi bought torches, some throwing knives and an old map of the Nimgufu area from Kale.

As for the remaining runes, Xiangzi asked Melina to transform them all into her own power.

"I hope your operation goes well."

Melina gave Xiangzi her blessings before he left.

-

"How to deal with the zombie soldiers in the jungle and caves."

Xiangzi asked as he checked the items on his body.

The old knight Eric understood the other party's hint. Xiangzi was saying that he could not take care of the zombies during the mission and not attack them.

"It doesn't matter. As long as it's not complete destruction... whether it's being cut in half or beheaded, at least it's better than being chewed up and eaten by a beast demon."

"You can just let go."

After getting this answer, Xiangzi felt relieved. She didn't want to end up being besieged by beast ghosts and zombie soldiers in the cave.