Lloyd had dealt with large enemies before, especially beings like giants.
As a staple of the Souls-like world, whether it was the Grenade-throwing Giant of Sen's Fortress, the Sin Giants of the Boreal Valley, or the Giant Kings used as cash cows in both obscure and well-known places, Lloyd had fought them many times—and lost just as many.
So, what defines these kinds of foes?
Massive size? Heavy steps? Crushing presence?
Those are certainly true.
But beyond those obvious traits, there's one more important characteristic that often gets overlooked when fighting giants: numbers.
Their immense bodies and slow movements come with a tradeoff—far greater health than any foe of similar rank, massive attack ranges, and damage far surpassing anything else in the same area.
All of this was perfectly embodied by the Flame Giant now standing before him.
The Flame Giant—that was the name of the colossal being before Lloyd, and also the last surviving native giant in the entire Lands Between.
The Giant War was one of the most famous conflicts of the Golden Order Dynasty. As the name suggests, it was fought against the giants.
Unlike the Ancient Dragon War—though also called a war, that one was small in scale and short-lived.
The dragons had already been pushed to the brink of extinction by events like meteor showers and Bayle's rebellion long before battle was even joined. The Golden Order Dynasty merely faced the fading remnants of their former might.
But the giants were a different story.
One of the great races that had once stood shoulder to shoulder with the dragons in their prime, the giants might have been lacking in intelligence and their culture may have been abstract, but no one ever doubted their power.
Whether by sheer luck or because they never developed a fragile high civilization, the giants avoided the near-extinction events that destroyed the dragons. Even up until the dawn of the Golden Order Dynasty, their civilization remained nearly untouched.
Their strength intact, they ruled as the true masters of the Lands Between. It was under their dominance that the "size supremacy" culture emerged and spread, a belief that still lingers today.
In simple terms: big meant noble, superior, and good. Small meant inferior, lowly, and expendable—even if trampled to death.
The Vulgar Militia were a product of this culture. Born small, they were despised by the people of the Lands Between, forced into dirty and backbreaking labor no one else would do.
Towering, fierce, unmatched.
A stomp shook the earth and mountains. A single slap killed dozens. And then there was the Giants' Flame, capable of burning all living things.
After the fall of dragon civilization but before the rise of the Golden Order, the giants were the absolute rulers of the Lands Between—and the nightmare of all life.
Why a nightmare?
That comes down to the core of their culture: sacrifice.
Compared to the giants' primitive sacrificial rites, even the Hornsent could be considered progress.
And when paired with their "size supremacy" belief, it wasn't just outsiders who suffered. Even the "short ones" among the giants were despised and persecuted. In the end, they were branded as "trolls," cut off from their kin, and pushed into deeper discrimination.
This was why, during the Giant War, the trolls—giants' supposed kin and subordinates—didn't side with them. Instead, they joined the Golden Order and delivered a vicious betrayal.
Even so, with trolls betraying them and many races and factions either quietly supporting the Golden Order or staying neutral, the giants were still too strong.
Even at its peak, the Golden Order struggled against them. After cutting down scattered giants and clashing in open battle, they even showed signs of being pushed back.
It wasn't until Marika ascended to godhood, aided by the trolls' betrayal, that the tide shifted. With the Fell God of the giants' faith sealed away and the Golden Order granting "immortality," they finally gained the upper hand. They marched to the mountaintops of the giants and slaughtered every last one along the way.
And this wasn't because Marika couldn't tolerate their existence. Even now, trolls bearing giant blood roam places like the Altus Plateau beyond the Royal Capital. As long as they don't stir up trouble, no one hunts them.
The problem was the giants' cultural core: sacrifice. Even with their dying breath, they would gladly offer themselves up to summon the Fell God's gaze.
What else could be done? Only slaughter.
So why, after wiping them out, did Marika leave behind the Flame Giant?
The answer is simple.
The Fell God, as abstract as it may seem, is still a true god with an essence of its own—something that cannot be destroyed.
Killing the Flame Giant might bring satisfaction, and it might silence the Fell God for a time, but its essence would inevitably resurface somewhere unnoticed, taking root again.
That's why Marika left the Flame Giant alive—both as a vessel for that essence and its flames, and as its jailer and prison.
But the strength of this guard was no joke.
When choosing the "cage," Marika had deliberately picked one of the weaker giants to lower the threat. In truth, her judgment was accurate. The problem was that in a world like the Lands Between, the very concept of being the "last remnant of an entire race" carried its own weight, a kind of blessing in itself.
On top of that, this giant had inherited the Flame of the Fell God. Though it struggled at first, after many long years it gradually mastered it, turning that flame into its own power.
Even so, it still couldn't compare to Marika and the Golden Order of that age. But in the aftermath of the Shattering, with the Lands Between in their current state, if it were released now… perhaps not to the extent of unchecked slaughter, but it would certainly be strong enough to wrestle with Demigods.
And when it obtained that shard, it gained more than just the arm behind it.
Because of the temporal distortion carried by the Black Soul Fragment, it reached beyond time and space, forging a link to the snowfields of the Giant War era.
If it had been another race, this might have been impressive but hardly world-shaking—drawing a little strength from the past, nothing more.
But the Flame Giant, or rather the giant civilization, was different.
As has been emphasized again and again, the core of giant culture was sacrifice.
So, what if the entire Giant War itself was treated as one grand sacrificial ritual, meant to call forth the Fell God?
What then?
No one knew the answer to that. Few had even dared to imagine it.
Now, after battling those three insignificant foes for so long—empowered by its own strength and the shard's blessing—yet still failing, its body broken and bloodied, the Flame Giant collapsed, on the verge of death.
It knelt upon the ground, trembling hands reaching toward its own flesh.
Snap—
With a sickening crack and a flood of blood, the Flame Giant tore off both its feet. Raising them high, it set them ablaze. The eye on its chest slowly opened, gazing once more upon the world.
But it was not enough.
Clenching its teeth, the giant endured another burst of agony as both thighs were ripped away.
Shaking, it reached for its arms. After tearing one off, with the last hand remaining, it seized its own head.
And then—
Snap.
The Flame Giant died.
But the eye on its chest did not close. Instead, its light grew brighter.
Crimson fire began to burn. First a flicker, then a blaze, spreading quickly. It surged past the shard behind it, devouring what was left of the Flame Giant's body.
Then the massive eye rose into the air, carrying the shard with it. Drawing upon the strength of the sacrifice, it reached out to other times and other realms.
And its call was answered.
Answered by itself. Answered by countless giants. Answered by the war itself.
The Fell God's eye blazed like a sun, staining the sky blood-red.
Heat spread. Snow melted. Across the whole mountain range, across the Lands Between, all beheld the crimson sun rising, all felt the terror and malice pouring from it.
It was the "Evil" of a civilization, borne by a god as vessel, paid for with the extinction of an entire race.
As the crimson sun rose, countless beings turned their gaze toward it. Elizabeth and Chaos appeared at Lloyd's side, their expressions uneasy as they looked up at the Fell God sun.
"Seriously, what the hell did you conjure up this time?"
"If that thing crashes down, the entire Lands Between is screwed, right?"
Lloyd gave no answer. He simply stood there, staring up at the sun that was growing larger, hotter, and heavier in the sky.
After a moment, he shook his head.
"I don't think this is going to work."
The arm that had withdrawn into the shard during the giants' sacrifice extended once more at those words. Behind the blazing sun, it gave a small "thumbs up" gesture before pulling back again.
And then, the sun began to fall.
At first slowly, then faster, and faster still—until it plummeted like a meteor, carrying destruction as it hurtled down toward Lloyd.
Snap.
Alice snapped her fingers. In an instant, everyone near Lloyd was whisked far away. From a safe distance, they watched the Fell God sun—formed of everything the giants had once been—descend with a force that threatened to wipe out all.
And then—
Thud.
No explosion. No collapse. Not even much of a sound.
Lloyd simply raised his hand, and caught the sun.
"I told you, you're hopeless."
Staring at the Fell God sun before him, Lloyd let out a sigh.
"If you were anything else, I might have had to think harder about it. But fire, evil, and sacrifice—especially with burning as the method—come on..."
The embers in his palm glowed faintly, scattering sparks that fell onto the crimson, flame-wreathed sun.
In the blink of an eye, those tiny sparks set the entire sun ablaze!
Whoosh—
The sun of the Fell God burned once more, but this was not the same corrupt flame as before. It was something more fundamental, closer to its primal form—a fire that looked almost ordinary.
And yet, this seemingly ordinary flame, born of a handful of sparks, devoured the whole sun. The 'evil' within it was so overwhelming that even the Fell God itself, a being defined by cruelty and malice, felt shock and fear.
As the sparks spread and the sun was consumed, a long-hidden figure emerged from the snow.
It was a man dressed in the garb of the Land of Reeds, plain and unremarkable at first glance.
He carried a simple-looking katana, and the instant he appeared, he was already at Lloyd's back, thrusting the blade straight toward his chest without hesitation.
Execution—
Bang!
Just before the strike landed, the man was hurled away.
Not by Lloyd, but by the massive arm that shot out from the fragment the moment he appeared. Wielding a cleaver fit for a giant, the arm swung down with a shriek of air, smashing into the man and sending him flying.
Had he not raised his sword to block in time, he would have been more than just knocked back—he would have been pulp.
But since the fragment could not move, the arm did not pursue. Instead, it bent and positioned itself protectively before Lloyd.
Lloyd, unfazed by the sudden ambush, spoke casually.
"Good timing. But your concealment was sloppy, and your strike lacked strength."
"...You knew all along?"
"No. I just saw you slip into the snowdrift when the axe swing kicked up the storm."
"So you did know from the start?"
The man's eye twitched.
Meanwhile, Lloyd kept refining the sun in his hand as he continued.
"So, you're the 'Shura' they've been talking about?"
"That's me..."
"Then why do you look more like some remote-controlled puppet?"
At that, the man's expression shifted. He moved quickly, but not quickly enough—the swarm crashed down on him, engulfing his body.
Dorhys' Gnawing, a dark incantation, summoned hordes of insects to gnaw away at an enemy's flesh.
The sound of tearing followed as Shura's body split apart, revealing its inner structure.
No insects inside.
Instead, white scales shone within, the source of its undying body. As they were exposed, the scales flared with light, and the body's flesh rapidly reformed.
"You—"
"Me? What, you thought using an alt would fool everyone? Give me a break..."
Curling his fingers, Lloyd condensed the devoured sun into a thumb-sized golden orb, then turned his gaze to the flesh puppet.
"Forget it. Talking to a puppet is pointless. When I've got the time, I'll head to the Land of Reeds and have a proper talk with you face-to-face."
"But until then, for the sake of peace in the Lands Between, you'd best stay away."
"I'll leave the insects for later... but as for the rest—"
Whoosh—
A spark drifted unseen onto the flesh puppet. The moment it touched, flames roared to life, consuming the body in an instant until nothing but ash remained.
"Don't come back."
[Obtained Item: 'Cherry Dragon Scale']
A consumable. When used, it consumes FP to steadily restore HP over time.
With the puppet reduced to ash, Lloyd tossed the golden orb into his inventory, bringing the battle with the giant to an end.
[Obtained Talisman: 'Sun Talisman']
[A talisman crafted in the image of the sun]
[When equipped, greatly increases all attributes (+10 to all stats)]
[It is said that long ago, day and night in the Lands Between were governed by an entity known as the "Sun."]
[But when the colossal tree spread its branches across the sky,]
[Everything turned to gold.]
[And the sun lost its brilliance.]
The Lands Between once had a sun, and even a faith devoted to it.
But now, only a faded image lingers in the sky. That faith, buried with the fall of Sun City, has long since been forgotten.
Not that it mattered to Lloyd.
After dispersing the Fell God Sun, he walked forward and picked up the fragment lying on the ground. Shrunken to the size of a fingertip, it was now completely still.
He opened the system and fed it the materials gathered from the insect swarms. The fragment drifted away, slowly unfurling.
As it reached a certain threshold, the ground shook—and from it, a towering giant emerged.
"Been a while, Yhorm."
"It's King Yhorm..."
The giant's voice rumbled deep.
"Alright then, King Yhorm."
After a brief chuckle, Lloyd pulled out two wooden barrels of liquor, tossing one over.
It was Jack's brew, a rare drink whose flavor even the Undead could taste—a precious treasure.
But Yhorm did not drink. He stared at the barrel in his hands, lost in thought, before slowly turning his gaze back toward Lloyd.
"He..."
The giant didn't finish, but Lloyd already knew who he meant.
Jack Baldo—Dark Souls III's Onion Knight, Yhorm's dearest friend, and his own companion.
Back when they had free time, the three of them would often drink together, chat, and crack jokes.
But now...
"I'll find a way."
Hearing Lloyd's words, the towering giant fell silent for a long time. He glanced at Lloyd, then finally raised his hand and tipped the entire barrel of liquor into his mouth.
The sound of something being chewed to pieces followed. The embers on his skin flared once before he let out a long sigh.
"It's lonely and dull here. That giant talked to me a lot, so I know the situation more or less. I just didn't expect to run into you..."
"My position makes it inconvenient to go outside. And there are wild trolls here—no leaders, no civilization, and their lives are miserable..."
"Let me stay and watch over them."
Yhorm wasn't a giant of the Lands Between, but the misery of giants in both worlds resonated with him.
On top of that, he'd always had a bit of a kind streak. He became the Giant King only because others asked it of him. Even after, when scorn and hatred were cast his way, he didn't care much—he was still willing to protect.
So now, he wanted to help the trolls here, to see if he could make their lives a little better.
Of course, that was only his wish. If Lloyd needed something else, he would follow his command first. Even his idea of uniting the trolls was a way of offering Lloyd more strength.
And naturally, Lloyd had no reason to refuse him.
"Alright. Do it if you want. If you need anything, use this to contact me."
He handed Yhorm a golden branch, then added,
"Oh, and keep an eye on the little Fingers too. They're obedient kids, and they should be able to help you."
Since Yhorm's old home also had those bloated hand monsters—ones even more grotesque than these little Fingercreepers—he didn't hesitate. He nodded right away and even waved to greet the creatures that, to him, seemed like tiny handlings.
But even though their earlier exchange had proved the giant meant no harm, the sight of that terrifying figure waving made the Fingercreepers instinctively shrink closer to Lloyd.
Yhorm froze at the sight, then spoke in a tone heavy with nostalgia.
"Even in another world, you're still the same as ever..."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Just marveling at your... tolerance."
As the ruler of the Profaned Capital, Yhorm prided himself on having seen countless bizarre beings. With the Dark Souls world being as abstract as it was, he thought he'd already seen it all, that nothing could surprise him anymore.
But Lloyd's arrival showed him how shallow his experience really was.
Some said that when Lloyd was first burned, his brain was fried along with certain emotions, which explained his strange behavior.
Even so, his abstract way of acting—and his absolute lack of pickiness—far exceeded Yhorm's understanding. It had even made him and Jack Baldo once wonder if Lloyd had a thing for flies...
To borrow Seath's words: "Bro, are you trying to complete the whole bestiary?"
But Yhorm didn't dwell on it.
After all, in the Dark Souls world, killing and eating people was normal. Lloyd's habits, while strange, were nothing more than that—strange. Some might even call them refreshing.
And especially after later events confirmed his preferences, there was no reason to worry at all.
"Alright. Things just got chaotic, and the trolls in the mountains must be restless. I'll go check on them.
"And by the look of you, you've got work to do as well. I won't keep you."
He bent down, touched fists with Lloyd, and strode away.
...
After he left, Melina and Millicent were teleported back by Alice. They watched the giant's departing figure in silence, not asking Lloyd a single question.
Was it trust?
No. It was fear.
...
After sending off Yhorm, Lloyd continued on with the two women.
They crossed a wide plain, climbed the chains, and reached the Flame Cauldron at the mountain's peak.
Here burned a phantom flame, capable of igniting the Erdtree and burning away the thorns of Rejection.
Only...
It required a sacrifice.
Lloyd turned to Melina, and Melina turned to him.
A moment of silence passed. Before Melina could speak, Lloyd pulled something from his robes.
It was a palm-sized doll, crafted in her likeness.
Melina froze at the sight.
"This is..."
"Your new body."
Lloyd blinked, speaking with utter honesty.
"It's the solution I came up with."