Because it wasn't like three months since the last update, I don't feel like I have much to actually speak about. 

I don't want to make any outlandish comments about how many more chapters there are, but this story definitely is coming to a close. Hopefully, the ending is a lot better and more satisfying than the first time around.

I can't believe what was supposed to essentially be a throwaway story has gained so much traction, and has taken over a year to finish. That second part is... rough, when I really think about it.

But enough of my yapping. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

I think it'll be one more chapter of preparation and then we'll get into the really juicy stuff. Aka, the DLC!

Oh, I still haven't beaten the final boss of the DLC, either. They just got nerfed, so maybe I'll try it some more soon.

Enjoy the chapter!

-----

Torrent didn't really have much to do after (Y/n)'s second life began. Torrent was a truly helpful companion when travelling the Lands Between.

Torrent's ability to leap a second time within the air had saved (Y/n) from falling to his demise, and it had also led (Y/n) to falling to his demise. Torrent's speed helped (Y/n) kill Agheel, many other dragons, and even the Elden Beast.

But since (Y/n) became the Shadow Sovereign, it was far more efficient to just run where he needed instead of riding on Torrent. So, Torrent remained with Melina, sitting on her wrist, watching her journey instead of joining (Y/n)'s.

And now, for the first time since their lives restarted, Torrent was let out of the ring, as Melina rode his back.

"Torrent," Melina called to the spectral steed. He let out a little huff. She said, "Why did you choose to come with me?"

Melina gave Torrent a choice, to stick with her, or to go with (Y/n). Instead of going with (Y/n), Torrent stuck with her.

Torrent obviously wasn't going to respond to Melina, but she continued speaking to him. "I feel like I've forgotten something, Torrent. Something big... something important."

The two were climbing the Mountaintop of the Giants, leading to the Giant's Flame. The frozen forms of the fallen giants were juxtaposed by the melted forms of the finger creepers. The battle was one for the Erdtree, but it had been completely forgotten to history.

The Fire Giant was standing in the distance, the eye of the Outer God of Flames sealed within him. The Fire Giant was cursed to tend to the flame forever, Queen Marika's spell of Eternity restricting him.

Melina could feel the passion of the giants reaching out to her, like fire. She didn't respond to the calls, continuing her journey.

"My mother, Queen Marika, is still trapped within the Erdtree. The Greater Will's power is incredible, but she must still be fighting it, to restrict it this much. When I was young, my mother warned me that to beware of flames," she laughed dryly. "And yet, here I am, approaching them."

The Fire Giant didn't attack Melina. The Fire Giant merely knelt to her, allowing her and Torrent to stroll past him.

Melina's eyes shined as she approached the Forge of the Giants. "Perhaps, I'll remember something when I finish this journey. Right, Outer God of Flame?"

The Outer God that watched over Melina's every step was silent. His presence had muted itself after he defended her from the Outer God of Rot, but she hadn't forgotten about him.

The Outer God's voice was smooth, flowing over her like the heat of a hearth. "Yes, my vassal. All of the memories that Marika has denied you with the power of the Greater Will shall be returned when you are cleansed."

Melina wasn't a fool. To approach the Forge of the Giants, the same place where her life ended before, this time, willingly, was scary. She'd died there before, and yet, she was here yet again.

"I simply must trust your word, Flame?" Melina sighed, dismounting Torrent.

The Outer God of Flame sighed, "Yes, my vassal. Although I understand that we Outer Gods are often dubious at best, but... well, your lover is certainly the type to kill me if you perish here."

Melina laughed, "Yes, you may just be right. Well, then I suppose it's time."

Melina looked into the Forge, swallowing back her fears.

It was full of insanely powerful flames, as the true power of the Fell God began to emerge within the Lands Between. These flames were supposed to burn down the Erdtree, but... why was there another tree she felt like it was her job to burn down?

Perhaps these cleansing flames would cleanse her memory, too, just like the Flame promised.

Melina scratched behind Torrent's ears, "I'll be back, Torrent. And I hope, you'll follow me into the future, too."

She leapt.

Melina expected to experience some pain in the flames of the Forge, but instead there was nothing. Instead, Melina felt like she was finally home. The Destined Death that brought her back to life was burned away from her spirit, disconnecting her from (Y/n).

But in doing so, something she never expected was also burned away. Deep within her, just like within (Y/n), the Greater Will's power restricted her memories. The Forge, empowered by the presence of the Outer God of Flames, burned away the golden power.

Just minutes after Melina entered the Forge, the flames began to coalesce into one form.

A humanoid form the size of a Lesser Giant appeared. It was made of pure flames, with a body of white flames, eyes of blue flames, and a flowing mane of crimson flames, showing just where the Giants had earned their signature red locks from.

The being sighed, sounding less exhilarated, and more exhausted. "So, this is what it feels like to have a form of my own. Even now, I understand less and less why we Outer Gods have fought so hard for this."

Melina stared, confused. "Wait... I thought... Outer Gods need a vessel to appear in the Lands Between. You... how did you...?"

The being's gaze fell on her, and he bowed his head to Melina. "While that certainly is true, my vassal, there are ways to circumvent those restrictions. For a being like me, creating a form of flames is not too hard, especially not in the core of my physical power. Thank you, Melina, for bringing me here."

Melina nervously swallowed. She didn't fully trust her ability to use the power of an Outer God against it. If the Fell God decided to turn on her, what could she even do?

So, she was thoroughly surprised when the Fell God knelt to Melina. She was, in all ways, his lesser. Even as a demigod, her presence shouldn't have been comparable to his.

"W-Why are you bowing?"

The Fell God chuckled. "My vassal, without your assistance, I wouldn't be able to exist here. I will follow you until your demise, and even then, I will follow your will after. If you want me to perish, I shall perish. I only ask that we live our lives as we wish, with passion."

Melina's eyes shined. "Yes, Flame, we shall live as we wish!"

Melina climbed out the Forge with the Outer God of Flame by her side. Torrent was thoroughly surprised by the addition, but when the Outer God of Flame held a gentle hand out and warmed Torrent's fur, the spectral steed let out a little huff and relaxed.

Melina smiled, glancing to the Flame. "I see, you're quite hard to hate."

The Flame guffawed. "Perhaps, but I only wish to admire life. Those who wish to destroy life find themselves hating me quite easily."

Melina bobbed her head, understanding what the Flame meant. She took a long breath in through her nose, and let it out of her mouth, "It's time to go save my brother from the curse our mother put him under."

The Outer God of Flame smiled. It was pretty hard to tell if he was smiling at all, but the feeling that radiated from him was of satisfaction. "So, you remembered?"

Melina nodded. "Yes, I did. And it's time to end this tale, back where it all began."

The Outer God of Flame bobbed his head. "Yes, indeed."

Melina turned her attention to Torrent. "Torrent, dear friend, would you like to be my closest ally?"

Torrent huffed excitedly, and Melina laughed. "Yes, I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else."

Torrent was enveloped in a blazing inferno, and after a moment passed, the spectral steed had grown into the Flame Beast. He could have easily fought toe-to-toe with the same Elden Beast he could only run away within his last life.

Melina smiled, "Well, I think this has been a properly eventful trip."

-----

When (Y/n) was disconnected from Melina, he expected fear to well up in his heart. Instead, he felt happy for her.

Melina was always trapped between differing Outer Gods. The Greater Will had blessed Marika, but the Flame was Melina's closest Outer God. And even Destined Death brought her back.

From another angle, it seemed that Melina was the person most blessed in the Lands Between. Even her connection with Ranni, who was... at one time, vassal for the Outer God of the Moon, was clear.

But now, Melina was allowing her passion to completely guide her. She'd chosen the Outer God of Flames, and now, she was her own person. Surely there was a way for her and (Y/n) to reconnect, but (Y/n) didn't rush to find it.

Instead, he was rushing to finish up the Lands Between. Or well, to be more specific, his Shadows were rushing.

The militaristic might of the Shadow Army was something to fear, but the Lands Between had gotten lucky that (Y/n) didn't just want to raze everything to the ground. Instead, (Y/n) was doing everything in his power to get his two strongest Shadows to the next level.

Yes, only Beru and Salem were taking down all the major enemies that (Y/n) once needed to battle.

Beru cleared out all the Altus Plateau and Leyndell, destroying anyone who was either allies with the Golden Order, or just decided today was their day to kill him. Obviously, that didn't work too well for them.

After slaying the God-Skin Apostle who just didn't realize that Beru was, in fact, the dedicated follower of the Sovereign of Shadows, Beru had leveled up, just like (Y/n) expected. However, what was beyond his expectations, was what was in store for Beru after surpassing his limits.

[This current Shadow cannot break through these limits without the help of a Transcendental Spirit Tuner, and a Domain to Rule Over. The Shadow must have an affinity for the chosen Domain.]

Nothing. Nothing happened even though Beru was so close to hitting the next level.

Gladly for Beru, the former was already handled. Roderika would gladly push him through the wall he'd faced, but the latter was a much bigger issue.

As soon as the notification appeared for (Y/n), Beru appeared by his side. His mandibles anxiously quivered. "M-My Liege, what would you like me to rule over? Anything you want, and I shall be its master!"

(Y/n) scratched the side of his head. When he thought about it, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that he could imagine Beru of all his Shadows being the master of. Beru was just too unruly.

At the same time as Beru was cleaning up the Altus Plateau, Salem was essentially on clean-up duty. Her job was to scour everything and summon every single Shadow she could. She went across Limgrave, down into Nokron, across Caelid, into the Siofra River, across the Ainsel River, down the Deeproot Depths, through Volcano Manor, even through the Consecrated Snowfield, the Haligtree (or at least, what was left of it), and even Crumbling Farum Azula.

Her extensive journey and extremely harm work left her exactly where Beru was, but instead of hitting the wall Beru had—

[Shadow Outer God of Necromancy]
[Salem]
[Rank: ???]

—she just slipped right by it.

Salem appeared by (Y/n)'s side just minutes after her notification and growth appeared. He gave her a look, and she giggled, "I'm sorry, my Liege, I only wanted to surprise you. I've always been a gifted in Necromancy, even if I never really thought to use it when I was alive."

Beru stared at Salem slack jawed. Or slack mandibled.

"H-How could you find your domain so easily?!"

Salem stuck her tongue out. "I've been around for a long time compared to you, kiddo! You're younger than even an infant!"

And suddenly, Beru realized that he had a lot more work to do before he could properly compare to Salem. Instead of demotivating him, Beru only became more excited, quickly getting back to work and hoping to make a breakthrough regarding his domain.

(Y/n) sighed, shaking his head.

Salem laughed, bowing to (Y/n). "My Liege, do you think we'll be ready after this? After Beru becomes a lesser Outer God, will we be ready to finish our fight?"

(Y/n) stared off into the distance, frowning. "I don't know. There'll be many challenges there. Even in my past life, although I'd somehow forgotten about it, I faced the most difficulty there. It's incredible how Queen Marika's power still restricted my memories, even up until recently."

(Y/n) shook his head. "But yes, this'll be it. We'll need to thoroughly prepare. Bayle will certainly be one tough son-of-a-bitch, and Midra will probably be with Kale, and... ugh, Metyr, the creepy bastard, will probably be with the Golden Army."

Key figures had been gone for (Y/n)'s entire journey, and he hadn't known why, until now.

He realized that the two unseen Outer Gods, the Greater Will, and the Frenzied Flame, both were there, in the Land of Shadows. Even figures like Fia, Maliketh, and Alexander, were there. Even now, it was staring at him in the face this whole time, but he had never noticed. He couldn't notice, because the Greater Will stopped him from noticing!

The place where Alexander had gone was where the practice of putting people into jars began, Fia went to where Destined Death coalesced, and even Maliketh went to where it all began.

But (Y/n) couldn't get too excited.

That place... the Land of Shadows, was tough.

So, he tried to gather all his power here, before he had to enter the final war ground.

(Y/n) sighed. "We just need to try our damndest. Maybe... maybe St. Trina will be our ally, when we get there. She was... nice-ish."

Salem grimaced at the Shadow Sovereign's hesitance. Still, she made no mention of it, returning to her duties.

When Salem left, (Y/n) summoned Legacy, extending his power into the blade. He'd never crossed paths with the Frenzied Flame, but he had the feeling that his current set of skills would be insufficient in taking down someone of his caliber.

He had no idea what the Frenzied Beast was, and despite all his Shadows, (Y/n) didn't have a Beast of his own.

All he could do was sharpen his skills as best he could.

And so, he had to wait, and wait, and wait.

Until a presence he was waiting for had appeared before him. He felt her presence approaching him, her weapon drawn. She stood several feet away from him, her mind a mess.

"Have you come to kill me?" (Y/n) asked. He stood, his eyes glowing with the power of Destined Death. "Or at least, have you come to try?"

Malenia, the Blade of Miquella, was lost and confused. She could only do what she had always done, fight for her brother. "(Y/n), I appreciate what you've done for me. You've spared me from the Outer God of Rot, and you've spared my life when you could've easily taken it. But now... you may be an enemy for Miquella, and I cannot allow you to stand in his way of becoming the next Elden Lord."

(Y/n) sighed, scratching the side of his head.

"I don't even want to become Elden Lord."

"But you wish to demolish the system of Elden Lord entirely. That is reason enough to be our enemy."

"Do you think you'll beat me?"

"No, but I can maim you enough to put a stop to your journey."

"Sweet fucking Marika, can you relax?"

Malenia didn't respond, and (Y/n) sighed. "How do you know I'm not Miquella's number one fan? What if I plan on getting rid of all of Miquella's enemies, and then plan on giving him everything?"

"You don't."

"My God, Malenia."

"Pick up your blade, (Y/n)."

"No."

Malenia brandished her weapon, pointing it at her opponent. "Why are you so opposed to fighting me?"

(Y/n) hesitated. He couldn't just say that the Outer God of Rot showed him a vision of her sleeping with him in bed and it completely altered his perception of her. That was true, but it wasn't the only reason why he'd been doing his best to keep Malenia around.

"I... want to see your expression when you finally have everything you've wanted."

Malenia frowned. "Is that it?"

(Y/n) look off, feeling a bit awkward. "Yes, that's it."

Malenia sighed, her blade-arm falling. "When I find Miquella, you know that I'll side with him, don't you?"

(Y/n) shrugged. "Yeah, probably. But hey, there's not much I can do about that. But if you don't want to follow him, then I'll be around."

Malenia hesitated for a long moment. Her mouth bobbed open, before she finally managed to put the words she needed together. "All my life, following Miquella has been the only option for me. I don't know at what point I was Charmed, but I... I doubt it was on purpose. He... he only wanted to lead the world to a more compassionate age, where everything would be allowed to flourish. Is that such a bad thing?"

(Y/n) stared at Malenia. "Forcing people to love you is the problem. Perhaps differing groups can come together under Miquella, but those people are only doing so because they must, not because they wanted to. It's no different than mind control."

Malenia's following words weren't sharp, but they cut (Y/n) all the same.

"Then what's so different about your followers and Miquella's? Don't your abilities as the Sovereign of Shadows force those you summon to admire and respect you? Is that no different than Miquella's Charm?"

(Y/n) fell silent.

What made his abilities different?

Was he not just doing the exact same thing he had denounced?

Suddenly, (Y/n) knew.

If he didn't find an answer to this, he'd lose to Miquella. Perhaps not in a battle, but if Miquella's innate abilities to Charm people were of the same origin as his, then it was undeniable that (Y/n)'s Shadows could be swayed by the demigod.

When (Y/n) looked at Malenia, he could see her anger and anxiety that would be directed at Miquella being directed at him. In a way, he felt it may've been deserved.

His abilities to bring back the dead could be seen as disrespectful, but he knew that. But making those same dead people work with their former enemies and making them all respect and revere him. Well, what made them any different from mind-controlled slaves?

(Y/n) opened his mouth.