Elden Ring, building a legion of ashes

Chapter 75 "Madness" Patch

Xia Tong casually unleashed a radiant arc of light, sending them all flying.

Then, they used a few more Radiant Stones to take down the bandits one by one.

Continuing deeper, Xia Tong discovered that it was a huge natural cave filled with wooden crates, sacks, dilapidated camping tents, and several burning campfires.

The stolen weapons and armor were piled up haphazardly in the corner.

Deep inside the cave, there is a relatively clean wooden box that seems out of place.

Xia Tong walked over, opened it, and took a look.

Inside were a few pieces of cloth clothing; although the fabric was ordinary, they were fairly clean.

Suddenly, a furtive figure jumped down from the rocky platform above.

He had secretly hidden up there to observe the situation when the bell rang.

"Oh, oh, oh! Trying to sneak away and take someone else's things, huh?"

"Shameless thieves deserve divine retribution!"

Then, the bald guy with the large shield and the long spear charged towards Xia Tong with a strange cry.

Seeing this, Xia Tong put the staff back on her back and took out the Lion Greatsword.

"You'd better be smart! Leave everything of value on you!"

"I, Patch, will consider sparing your life!" Patch was still Patch, his tone as arrogant as ever.

The Lion Greatsword in Xia Tong's hand gleamed with a cold, sharp light in the firelight.

Patch shouted and ducked behind his shield, then thrust his spear out with a rather unorthodox shield stab.

Xia Tong did not block.

He merely turned slightly to the side, and the spear grazed along the hem of his clothes.

"Sizzle!"

Patch missed his attack and suddenly saw Xia Tong flash before his eyes.

Without anyone noticing, the man had somehow gotten behind him.

Then, a sharp pain shot through my leg, and blood began to gush out.

"Ugh!"

Patch cried out in pain.

Then, Xia Tong kicked him squarely in the shield.

The immense force caused Patch to fall backward and flip over.

He fell to the ground, and the heavy shield landed on him instead, leaving him upside down like a tortoise, looking quite comical.

"Damn it! You bastard! You can't kill me!"

Seeing Xia Tong approaching with a knife, showing no intention of holding back.

Patch screamed again, his voice distorted:

"Wait! Hold on a minute!"

"Wait for what? I'm asking you now, do you have any local specialties from other worlds?" Xia Tong stomped hard on his large shield, pinning him to the ground, unable to move.

"Special products from other worlds? What are you talking about? I don't understand at all!" Patch looked horrified and confused!

Xia Tong chuckled inwardly; this was an old trope of soul wandering.

Souls come and go, but Patch remains a constant!

"I surrender! I surrender!"

Hearing him beg for mercy once again, Xia Tong slowly sheathed the Lion Greatsword and looked at him with a half-smile.

Patch seemed worried that Xia Tong would continue her attack.

He shakily pulled two shiny objects from his pocket and tossed them out.

Those were two golden runes [1].

He wanted to use this to bribe Xia Tong and buy his own life.

Xia Tong casually took it and weighed it in her hand.

Patch was relieved and hurriedly crawled out from under the shield.

He dusted himself off and immediately changed his expression:

"Phew... finally they're listening to me, thank goodness."

"I actually knew from the beginning that you are a reasonable person."

Hehehe!

Patch stood up and gave Xia Tong a good look with his signature shifty eyes.

"So you're a Faded One too. I thought you were one of those savage demi-humans."

"This is a misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!"

"It's okay, I forgive you!"

Xia Tong replied casually.

But in Patch's eyes, it was like being granted a pardon.

"My name is Patch, but everyone calls me 'Madman' Patch."

Patch rubbed his hands together, looking ingratiating:

"Like you, I am a faded soul, a free wanderer traveling everywhere."

"You're also one of the Faded Ones?" Xia Tong chuckled inwardly, but asked back casually.

Regarding the fact that Patch is also a Faded One... Xia Tong joked about it, but she didn't actually doubt it.

He was indeed a faded one who was blessed and guided, and summoned back to the borderlands.

Even during the grand celebration in the game to defeat "Shattered Star" Rataen, he was a hero who was summoned.

Of course, Patch, who possesses an extraordinary philosophy of survival, only glanced at the ghost-like Rataen before decisively choosing to "return to the original world."

He was the only "hero" on the field who was summoned but deserted at the last minute.

Do you have anything good to sell me?

Xia Tong didn't waste any words and got straight to the point.

Patch is a relatively important merchant to Xia Tong in the border area; he has a lot of good goods.

What Xia Tong wants most right now is actually that truancy device designed to target "ominous spirits"—Markit's prison.

"Oh, you mean the products."

Patch's eyes darted around, and he pointed to the depths of the cave:

"I have plenty of good stuff! There's a treasure chest over there specifically for storing valuables. Open it and take a look; pick whatever you like!"

"Oh? Those are your personal belongings. How could I dare to open them without permission? I'm not a robber."

Xia Tong looked at him with a half-smile, secretly amused.

That was clearly a teleportation trap chest; opening it would teleport you deep into the Misty Forest Ruins, directly into the den of that giant Rune Bear.

"Hehe, don't you think I trust my brothers?!"

Patch rubbed his hands together, his face full of sincerity:

"We've become friends through a misunderstanding! What's mine is yours!"

"Come on, come on! Since you're so generous, let's go take a look together!"

Xia Tong stopped pretending and grabbed Patch by the back of his collar, lifting him up like a chick.

Then he strode up to the treasure chest and slammed Patch onto the lid.

"Open it."

"Huh? This..."

Patch's face turned green instantly.

"Dude, there's really nothing in this treasure chest...really! It's all junk!"

"Let me show you my other stuff! Really!"

Patch laughed awkwardly, cold sweat pouring down his face.

Clearly, he knew better than anyone what kind of hell lay on the other side of the treasure chest.

"It's alright, it's alright, it's just a Rune Bear!"

Xia Tong held Patch down with one hand to prevent him from moving, and with the other hand, she roughly lifted the lid of the treasure chest.

"call--"

Just as Patch was surprised at how Xia Tong knew, a thick plume of white smoke rose from the treasure chest, enveloping the two of them.

Xia Tong and Patch suddenly felt dizzy, as if the space itself was being distorted.

When consciousness returned.

They were no longer in that damp cave, but had arrived in a dense jungle with towering trees.

Fog forest.

"Crunch... Crunch..."

A sickening grinding sound came from nearby.

Xia Tong looked up.

Just a dozen meters ahead, a huge brown bear, standing four or five meters tall, was facing away from them.

It was rubbing its back against a thick, ancient tree, as if it were scratching an itch.

The hard bark had been rubbed raw, leaving a pale white mark, with sawdust falling everywhere.

Even more terrifying is that on the chest of this upright runic bear is a huge, naturally formed, shimmering golden runic pattern.

"Heh...heh!"

Rune Bear clearly smelled the scent of a stranger.

It stopped rubbing against the tree bark.

He slowly turned around.