Elden Ring: Atai vows to have a perfect ending

Chapter 467: Flame Watcher Fortress

No matter whether it is a Hongmen Banquet or I am judging others by my own standards, no matter what, if I want to get to the Giant Flame Cauldron, I have to break into the Watcher Fortress.

So, everyone on my expedition had a brief discussion.

Accompanied by Paris and a Canopy Furnace as guards, and with the White Wolf King, I will go with you to the appointment first.

The others followed us for a while, but did not enter the fortress. They stayed outside the gate and waited at a slightly further distance.

In this way, even if we really encounter 500 swordsmen hiding behind the screen, those of us inside can delay long enough to wait for support from outside.

The Fire Brothers also understood our caution and apologized again for the offense previously committed by their companions.

The journey here is not far, and the monsters unique to the snowfield are very strong, but the area is vast and sparsely populated, so we basically didn't encounter anything along the way and arrived at the Flame Watcher Fortress safely.

As we had agreed before, Paris and I went to the fortress first.

At the gate, a man wearing a golden mask and a purple-gold robe was leading a group of old women in red robes, standing on both sides, waiting for our arrival.

As soon as he saw me riding on the wolf king, the man opened his arms respectfully, smiled excitedly and said, "Oh, you are finally here, your Excellency the great general who has fought in the snowfields since the Golden Dynasty. I, Argonti, have been waiting here for a long time."

"You are too polite, Lord." I also rolled off the wolf king and responded while looking around the entire fortress.

Not much different from the game, there are many wooden barriers in front of the Flame Watcher Fortress.

Among them were quite a few fire monks, who, upon seeing me and Agonti coming together, saluted us.

Near the city gate, we saw two familiar round figures. One of them was tied to a bare tree that looked like a white candlestick with several crimson thorns. There was a raging red fire underneath, roasting him fiercely.

"Ah-ah-ah-"

That person must be the Bishop of Thorn Flame whom we met earlier on the journey to heaven.

His screams were incessant, making people frown.

"Speaking of this, General Zero, we must apologize to you all." Agonti looked at the Flame Bishop and shook his head helplessly. "We served Queen Marica and guarded here. We finally welcomed Rodel's golden army. That man actually led his army to mess with you all and had the nerve to run back to the fortress. He must be severely punished."

"...But, but there is no need to go so far." I swallowed my saliva. After all, not everyone likes to hear the screams of a pig being slaughtered. "To be honest, Lord Arganti, we came here this time indeed on the orders of the current King of Blessing, to seek the power of the giant's flame. So, there is quite a misunderstanding with the bishop..."

As I spoke, I looked at the other person's eyes under the mask.

Arganti couldn't help but reveal a trace of doubt: "Oh? But as far as I know, the giant flames will threaten the power of the Golden Sacred Tree. It is precisely because of this that even though the Golden Army almost wiped out the giants, they could not rest assured that the giant cauldron still retained the fire, so they built a fortress and asked us to guard it."

"The situation at the border has changed. I won't hide it from the city lord. Now we need the power of fire to burn the extra golden thorns on the trees." I briefly explained the chaotic situation at the border after Queen Marika smashed the magic ring, and the helpless dilemma of the King of Blessing who wanted to correct the golden order.

At this moment, Argonti was probably struck by lightning. He stood there in a daze. After a long time, he slowly uttered a few words from under the mask: "So, that's how it is... I didn't expect that such a big thing would happen outside the Snow Region."

"It is precisely because of this that the King of Blessing sent our expeditionary corps to seek the power of fire."

Arganti did not respond immediately. He raised his head and looked at the flaming pot that stood at the highest point of the snowy mountains on the other side of the high cliff of the fortress.

It was dark, but vaguely, one could still see a faint red light coming out of the cauldron.

“······Since this is the order of the Blessed King, there is nothing we can do about it.” Agonti sighed, with a hint of helpless complaint.

But if I put myself in their shoes, I might also find it difficult to accept this.

They obeyed the Queen's orders, endured the extreme cold of the icy plain, and guarded the most dangerous force in the dynasty. But now the situation has reversed, and Golden Rodel is craving for fire, as if everything the watchers had done before was in vain.

I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them, so I said, "Lord Arganti, after this is over, perhaps you can lead the guys in the fortress and return to Rodel with the expeditionary army. As long as you explain the situation to the current King of Blessing, he will definitely give you the rewards you deserve."

"That... doesn't matter." Arganti just finished speaking, but still shook his head, "No, thank you General Zero for waiting for me. Ah... Look at me, I was so busy talking to the general that I forgot to invite everyone to the fortress banquet hall first. This snowy place must be uncomfortable, please follow me."

Having said that, Arganti generously led us into the Watcher Fortress.

The brightly lit banquet hall was on the first floor. When we pushed open the door, we saw that although the room was not very large and could only accommodate seven or eight tables, it was still large enough to accommodate everyone in our expedition team if we squeezed together.

Just as Aragonti said, the food and delicacies had already been prepared, and the bottles and jars of wine looked even more delicious under the warm candlelight.

——It doesn’t look like there’s any ambush possible.

Paris and I looked at each other and decided that there was no threat to the Watcher Fortress for the time being, so we sent someone to call the team outside the city.

As soon as we entered the door, the hot meals in front of us made my old friends drool. After all, compared with the dry rations and meat slices in the team, these meals can certainly be called delicacies from land and sea.

Coupled with the reflection of light from the fine wine, the flow is so intoxicating that just one glance at it is enough.

A group of carefree warriors immediately turned into starving ghosts and feasted at the banquet.

It was so lively with people drinking and drinking.

...Forget it, after all, there will be a big battle later, so let them have a good rest today.

Even I myself, because of Yabiti's hospitality, couldn't refuse two or three cups of fine wine brewed from the precious Loya fruit from the Snowland and frozen in the cold cellar for several years.

It is cool, sweet, fragrant and delicious. It feels slightly spicy in the throat, but once it enters the stomach, the wine turns into a lingering warmth that comes slowly and endlessly.

After three rounds, Aragonti arranged a room for us.

But even those drunk guys still dragged a lot of fire monks to have fun in the banquet hall.

I felt that I was a little drunk, so I left the scene and planned to take a rest.

As soon as I went out, I felt warm all over. Even the cold wind from the snowy area blowing on my face felt as gentle as the spring breeze.

——Good wine!

As I staggered towards the room, I suddenly noticed a figure who had unknowingly left the banquet hall and was quietly walking out of the Watcher's Fortress.

It’s “White Wolf Warrior Ghost” Bagram.

——What is he going to do outside at this time?

I couldn't help but think of the topic that the "Rogue Magician" Wehler had talked to me about before. Ever since Mungott reorganized the people of the Round Table and joined the expeditionary army, Bagram seemed to be different from before. He was particularly taciturn and unsociable.

With this in mind, I secretly followed Bagram's footsteps.