After some time.
Having bid farewell to the smoke-headed All-Knowing, Lloyd continued his leisurely walk through the Royal Capital.
In truth, appointing the All-Knowing to oversee education was something Lloyd had been planning for quite a while.
And the reason—besides his judgment of the man's character—was simple, yet decisive.
"He managed to teach Nepheli, didn't he? If that doesn't earn him a position in education, it's a waste of talent."
Battle reports can deceive, but the front lines never lie.
The fact that he'd managed to teach someone like Nepheli enough to read, and even give a barbarian a touch of refinement during her free time—Lloyd found that level of instruction impressive. From the bottom of his heart, he felt that leaving the man to endlessly research and speculate was a waste. Gideon's true talent was clearly in education.
And with that air of authority and intellect, the role of "headmaster" suited him perfectly. Hence their earlier conversation.
But...
The All-Knowing, still standing there with smoke practically curling from his ears, remained oblivious to what awaited him.
Spreading education across the Lands Between—a place barely out of its spiritual infancy—would be nothing short of a living nightmare.
He would come to know many sleepless nights, tossing and turning, cursing the day he ever agreed to Lloyd's invitation.
"I'd be better off dead."
"Even if you died, I'd just bring you back."
But that was a story for another time.
...
After parting ways with the All-Knowing, Lloyd continued walking with Godfrey at his side.
"Comprehensive education isn't everything," Lloyd explained. "It's just the foundation—to give people a grasp of basic knowledge and understanding..."
"After that, we'll establish specialized academies for higher learning, based on individual talents. For instance, once a student completes basic education, if they show aptitude for magic, they can advance to the Academy of Raya Lucaria for further study..."
"Beyond that, there'll be other institutions—Incantation Academies, Warrior Academies, even Culinary, Medical, and Civil Engineering Academies..."
He turned to Godfrey. "Would you be interested in overseeing one of them? Say, the Warrior Academy?"
Godfrey was about to decline. Though a master of battle, he had never taught before and wasn't exactly cut out for teaching.
But Lloyd continued.
"You could personally discover and train opponents strong enough to challenge you. During the process, you'd get to spar with your students under the guise of instruction. And when war calls, you could lead them into battle yourself..."
That gave Godfrey pause.
Then Lloyd added the final push.
"I know you're not fond of management, but the one on your shoulder probably isn't too keen on fighting all the time either. You could handle the public side of things, while it manages the details. What do you say, Lord Godfrey—and Lord Serosh?"
At that, Serosh raised both paws in eager agreement.
After all, every time a fight broke out, that reckless brute used him as a sacrifice. If he could have a proper job, at least he wouldn't have to worry about being used as a ritual offering again.
Seeing that his "brain" already agreed—and that the offer actually sounded appealing—Godfrey thought for a moment before accepting the position of Dean of the Warrior Academy. He then departed with Serosh to discuss plans in detail.
Left alone, Lloyd wandered the Royal Capital for a while longer. When he returned to check on Melina, he found that the mother and daughter were still deep in conversation—and judging by the looks of it, would be for quite some time.
After a moment's thought, he opened his map and Fast Traveled to Hamlet Town. Entering the castle, he slipped through a hidden door and arrived in Alice's library.
Compared to before, the place was far livelier now that more people were working inside.
Ranni was reading quietly, Chaos was organizing and cataloguing, and Elizabeth was on her tiptoes inspecting a row of bookshelves. The moment she saw Lloyd enter, she bounced over with a grin and blinked up at him.
"My turn?"
"Not yet."
He promptly punched her in the gut, making her double over and cough up a mouthful of blood mixed with bits of viscera. Then, after healing her, he sent her back to work.
The others barely reacted—they'd long since grown used to this kind of absurd scene.
Aside from Ranni, who only sighed, everyone else simply carried on with their tasks.
As for Ranni...
"You really won't try it? It's a pretty unique feeling. How can you know you won't like it if you've never tried it...?"
Elizabeth was still trying to tempt the Lunar Princess.
But Ranni only shook her head and replied coolly, "No. I have no such inclinations."
After that brief exchange, Ranni looked up at Lloyd.
"So, you came all this way just to punch her?"
"No. I came to clear a dungeon."
The Land of Shadow was nearly fully explored, and the other regions had no pressing business left.
And it had been quite some time since he obtained "Golden Death" (Immunity to Death Blight). Lloyd had been eyeing the "City of Pus of Man" dungeon for a while now, and with some free time at last, he decided it was time to take a look.
Upon hearing that, Ranni closed her book, slid it back onto the shelf, and rose gracefully from her chair.
"Then I'll come with you. I've been reading for too long—it's time I stretched my legs."
If it had been anyone else, Lloyd might have reconsidered bringing them along.
After all, unlike other dungeons, the City of Pus was shrouded in Death Blight mist. Ordinary people wouldn't even survive entry—just a few breaths of the fumes would kill them instantly.
But Ranni was different.
Though not yet a true god, she was still an Empyrean who wielded the power of Law. Even without Lloyd's protection, she could easily deal with the blight through her own control over it.
And so, things were simple enough.
With the Lunar Princess by his side, Lloyd cast "Golden Death" on himself and pushed open the door.
As the familiar haze took hold, his vision blurred. When he came to, he found himself once again standing before the main gate of Stormveil Castle.
Unlike the previous versions of Stormveil or the City of Pus, this incarnation of Stormveil was engulfed in thick Death Blight mist. The halls were no longer patrolled by soldiers or the Pus of Man, but instead swarmed with withered, twisted creatures—Those Who Live in Death.
[City of Death Pus • Stormveil (Middle Layer)]
[World State: Total Disorder]
[Special Domain: City of Dead Pus]
[City of Dead Pus: Death Blight efficiency greatly increased. Those Who Live in Death resurrect much faster. Their attacks now inflict Death Blight.]
A brutal map buff—without specific countermeasures, even Lloyd would have found progress difficult. But thanks to Golden Death, which granted full immunity to Death Blight, the place was easier than a standard dungeon.
Those Who Live in Death were weak—slow movements, fragile bodies, pitiful stats, and atrocious combat skills. Their only redeeming trait was their persistence. Otherwise, they wouldn't have earned the title of "the weak."
While their ability to revive was troublesome, a single finishing strike after each kill took care of it. Better yet, Sacred Order-type weapons and incantations could erase them entirely without the need for a finisher. With Ranni providing cover fire beside him, Lloyd easily swept through the first phase.
But starting from the second phase, things began to change.
[Special Domain: City of Dead Pus (Phase 2)]
[City of Dead Pus (Phase 2): Death Blight efficiency greatly increased. Resurrection speed greatly increased.
Attacks inflict Death Blight. Sacred Order nullified.]
Compared to before, the death energy here was so dense that Sacred Order effects—previously capable of purging the undead outright—had been sealed. Now, the only way to kill them was with a proper finishing blow.
That alone wasn't an issue. Those Who Live in Death were still weak, and delivering finishing strikes wasn't difficult.
The real problem was numbers.
While their strength hadn't improved, their population skyrocketed—exponentially. In other words, mob spam. And of the purest kind.
A narrow hallway could be packed with twenty or thirty of them. Any elevated platform had at least three Deathborn archers aiming down. And in larger spaces—rooms or courtyards—the floor and walls were carpeted with undead. The instant Lloyd stepped into their range, they rained down arrows and spells like a storm—hundreds of them at once.
Terrifying? Absolutely.
After all, in the laws of souls, even three dogs working together can kill a Lord of Cinder. Now imagine hundreds of undead swarming in at once.
Combined with the subtle but deadly map enhancement, even if Lloyd cut them down, killing too slowly meant the next wave would clamber over the corpses of the fallen, buying time for them to resurrect and snowball into an endless, surging tide.
And then...
[Amulet: Ancestral Spirit's Horn (Restores FP upon defeating enemies)]
[Equipment: Main Hand – Golden Dragon Thunder Greatsword (High-Damage AoE). Off Hand – Blasphemous Blade (Restores HP upon killing enemies)]
[Great Runes: Rykard's Great Rune (Restores HP on kill), Malenia's Great Rune (Restores HP on hit)]
That was all it took.
With Lloyd's build—stronger the more enemies he faced—the endless hordes became nothing more than nourishment.
As he carved through waves of the dead with his Golden Dragon Thunder Greatsword, Ranni supported him from afar, sniping any stragglers and casting wide-area spells during his pauses to prevent further resurrection.
So, while the numbers made progress slower, Phase Two still failed to challenge him. Eventually, they reached a new area, activated a Site of Grace, and moved on to the third phase.
That's when the next modifier appeared.
[World Lord Exclusive: Healing effectiveness drastically reduced. New special state added—'Approaching Death'.]
[Approaching Death: No visible status bar, but while within the Death Blight's mist, maximum HP will continuously decrease.]
[Additional Info: Ugh, typing is such a pain.]
[Anyway, to avoid misunderstanding—this is your own stored death. I just helped draw it out.]
[If there's nothing else, I'm going back to sleep.]
The message cut off.
Lloyd didn't need to think twice. The laziness practically oozing from the text box told him exactly which being was behind this dungeon.
"Nito, huh? Living up to your name, I see..."
The Gravelord Nito—the First of the Dead, lord of all that lives and dies. Even the very concept of death itself was born from him.
It sounded grand and awe-inspiring, but in truth... he really was impressive. Just also, unbelievably lazy.
A hermit. A slacker. A corpse that gave up on caring.
He'd spend eternity lying in his tomb, refusing to budge even if the world ended. Ask him why, and he'd just grumble, "I'm already dead. What do you expect me to do?"
A true connoisseur of apathy—an even purer embodiment of sloth than Placidusax herself.
But that wasn't the problem at hand.
The problem now was how to handle the third phase.
With healing drastically weakened, Lloyd's endurance in prolonged combat was severely restricted. Even with full recovery gear and the [Little Golden Tree] (Melina's Covenant, enhancing all healing effects), he could no longer fight with reckless abandon.
Worse still, the new domain effect continuously eroded his maximum health as long as he remained within the deathly mist.
Although the reduction rate wasn't particularly fast—it took considerable time for even a small amount to drop—this effect functioned like a countdown timer. As long as it continued, it would steadily erode his combat effectiveness, forcing him to finish the dungeon as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, the longer he delayed, the worse his condition would become—and the higher the likelihood of failure.
But the problem was speed-clearing...
"You want me to speedrun this?"
Upon entering Phase Three, Lloyd was momentarily speechless. The entire field was now covered in a sea of skeletons—their numbers nearly doubled, their quality improved—stretching endlessly across the horizon.
Facing this overwhelming quantity and strength, a speedrun would require relentless AoE bombardment. And to sustain AoE bombardment, he'd need enormous mana reserves—regeneration had to keep up.
"I need more Focus."
"You'll get it once you clear the stage."
"Then how am I supposed to clear it?"
"Just blast through with AoE."
"But where do I get the mana for AoE?"
"You'll have it once you clear it."
A perfect logical loop.
Glancing at the endless skeleton horde before him and the steadily shrinking health bar above, Lloyd made a decisive choice.
He'd call for reinforcements.
But who should he call?
In this environment, most people would be useless—if not outright liabilities. At the very least, whoever joined him needed either mastery over the Law or some means to counter the death mist.
And since he was already deep within the mid-tier dungeon, he couldn't summon anyone casually as before. It had to be someone bound to him by Covenant—someone whose bond had reached a sufficient level.
"It's decided—you're it, Asimi."
After a moment's thought, Lloyd summoned Asimi, the one he had recently brought back.
Though she looked human, Asimi's true form was that of a Silver Tear, making her completely immune to Death Blight. Here, she could fight without any restriction.
But...
"Do you all count as one unit now?"
When the summoning completed and ten identical "Asimis" appeared before him, Lloyd fell silent.
To summarize: the nine Lily spirits, having been dead for some time, had suffered varying degrees of soul damage. Thus, after being revived, they couldn't reincarnate right away. Instead, they were temporarily housed within Asimi's body, their souls nourished and stabilized there.
Thanks to the Silver Tear's remarkable mimicry ability—and Asimi's steady growth—she'd now learned to divide control of her body among the nine souls. By compressing her core to the same size as the Lilies, she allowed each spirit to manage a part of her form.
And now...
"Well, the more, the better. The enemy's got plenty, too."
After confirming the plan—Asimi would attach herself to Lloyd, mimicking armor and weaponry, while the other nine Lilies would provide ranged incantation support—Lloyd turned his attention to a different golden effigy.
It was one he'd never seen before.
At least, not since arriving in the Lands Between.
Despite its unfamiliar appearance, he felt a strange pull—an urge to touch it, to call it forth.
So he reached out.
His fingertips brushed against it, and light flared.
Countless golden motes gathered from all around, flowing into the glowing symbol on the ground, slowly coalescing into a spirit form both foreign and familiar.
Moments later, the light stabilized.
The spirit rose, lifting her head to meet Lloyd's gaze.
She stood there gracefully, hands folded across her abdomen. After a moment of silent study, a faint smile curved her lips.
"Long time no see, Ashen One."
The woman wearing an eyepatch looked at him calmly. Her demeanor, her movements, even her appearance—none of it had changed.
Her voice was as soft and composed as ever.
"What might you require of me this time?"