Elden Ring Foreign Soul Chapter 56: Margit the Fell (Patreon)

Slow deep breaths.

It’d been for a moment. No, just an instant, but Marika’s rage had consumed him entirely, thoughts and intentions warped to align with hers. His innate desire for battle, the anticipation that powerful presence awoke, the faint disappointment from that last battle with the knights. Any part of everything he felt that could be aligned with the white hot anger that distant figure, the so called abomination in Marika’s eyes, ripped out of her was made to fuel her desire.

A restless tremble racked his arms, some parts of him, the bits that cared for nothing aside from battle, still ready to do exactly as Marika wished.

“You’re something else.” Onyx said. Marika, now floating beside him, said nothing, just looking straight up. Unblinking stare. Thinned lips that gave away nothing. Perfectly still like a statue. She looked every bit like Melina. Calm. Even serene.

It was as unnerving as it was impressive.

The horned man lowered his stance then leaped.

Soaring towards them, he crashed into the ground, wind and dirt whipping past. Gusts of wind swept away the lingering dust created by the landing, the man bringing his cane across his chest once more as he rose to his full height, looking down upon all of them with dull eyes.

“Someone must extinguish thine’s meager flames.” He stated, cane brandished aside like a sword. “Let it be Margit the Fell.”

For all the power this thing had, without Marika’s rage getting in the way, it was obvious that it was just a solid projection of some kind, not remotely close to whoever it traced back to. If Marika herself realized that it didn’t matter, her headache inducing rage only bubbling over to him again now that the figure was so close.

The horns alone were enough to connect the man to those who terrorized her people early in her life but was that mere relation the only thing fueling such rage?

Whether or not she was aware of how much power the projection wielded, Nepheli had brandished both her axes, already rushing forward, that aggression they were being faced with, however measured it might’ve been, more than enough reason to fight. And he was in full agreement, syncing up with her as he followed, The Grafted Blade readied.

Margit reacted quickly, back stepping before Nepheli’s axes could reach, a wide swing of that cane sent at them. Nepheli only added more speed into her rush, not recklessly meeting it head on, but ducking low to the ground, her axes digging into fragmented stone as the swing passed harmlessly over her, yellow sparks gathering along the edges of her blades. Onyx didn’t avoid it like her, instead meeting it with a quick slash from his blade.

Cane completely forced aside and balance thrown off Margit could do nothing about the electricity covered axes that cut through the old cloth wrapped around his body, blood filling the air. As she prepared more slashes, the man attempted to backpedal once more. Cane brought back for another swing, Nepheli jumped over it, Onyx once again intercepting and throwing off the attack.

Heavy downward slashes cut across Margit’s chest, the sparking electricity racing its way across his form.

This time, grunting in pain, he brought his cane back much faster. Matching the increased tempo, Onyx rushed forward, passing Nepheli, The Grafted Blade and the cane meeting once more. Nepheli slipped past the clash, stepping in with a spin that filled the air with more of Margit’s blood.

Without a word they settled into the effective strategy, Nepheli, in a show of trust that most wouldn’t put in a stranger, recklessly preparing attack after attack with no thought for defense, that left entirely to him as they rushed down Margit, constantly slipping in front of the other as they fulfilled the roles they fell into.

Thoroughly overwhelmed, as another slash from Nepheli dug into him, Margit took a massive jump back, many of the countless rusted blades embedded into the worn down battlefield crushed beneath his form as he settled on the ground.

“Warrior blood truly flows through thine veins.” He said, free hand raised and power gathering. Familiar golden light began to gather into his hand. “Ugh!”

Melina, who’d been silently skirting the edge of the battlefield, lying in wait for her opportunity, didn’t waste it, having leaped forward the moment Margit began to gather that power, her dagger sinking deep into his neck. He wasn’t so fragile that that would be enough to kill however, tail coming up. Kicking off of him, she avoided a swing from that appendage and swung her blade, the golden dagger sent flying up at her redirected.

As they moved forward, Margit had already turned back to them and leaped high into the sky, a giant hammer taking shape from that golden energy.

Now that was going to take a bit more effort.

Onyx took hold of The Grafted Blade with both hands holding it flat out as Margit plummeted from the apex of his jump. Hammer slammed into sword, the impact sending stone and weaponry flying. Nepheli who’d been moving to dodge that blow, lost her balance, but was just as quick to recover it, rushing forth again. His resistance and strength used as leverage, Margit shifted his weight, the hammer pressing further down before, with a grunt, he flipped himself away, the blunt weapon fading away.

Tail swinging, he fended off another sneak attack from Melina as he formed a longsword of gold. Cane, sword, tail. All of it was put to work, Margit choosing to face all three of them at once. His swings were quick and steps just as fast, able to remain intimately aware of all three of them despite never managing to secure any kind of advantage.

But he couldn’t keep it up. As more of his blood was spilled and that golden weaponry used, the limited power at his disposal was burned through far more quickly.

Meeting one last blow from that cane, Onyx redirected it but allowed the force behind it to push him back, feet dug in as he skidding away. Margit’s eyes were faster than his body, able to track and predict their movements, yet that restricted form too slow to ever hope to keep up with his perception.

This Margit would make for an entertaining fight were he actually here but this echo of him had already run its course.

As Onyx stabbed The Grafted Blade into the ground and held his arm out to his side, Torrent willingly took shape, Onyx freeing the golden halberd from his saddlebags. He took aim, focusing on the new power fueling his body.

Crimson electricity sparked out from hand, crawling across and gathering at the weapon’s tip.

Nepheli ducked beneath a sweeping slash from a golden sword, axes, no longer coated in that yellow electricity, used to block the cane that followed. The force sent her skidding past old weaponry and through dirt until she stopped beside him.

Onyx took a heavy step forward as Margit’s eyes turned upon him.

Deep breath taken, he chucked the halberd.

As it cut through the air, a trail of red electricity left in its wake, all that projection could manage was a widening of the eyes, one skewered entirely. It didn’t spot there, the throw packed with so much force that the halberd punched clean through his flesh and horns, stabbing into a wall beside the stairway leading further up into the castle.

A bloodless sparking hole left in his face Margit collapsed to a knee, golden weapon fading away.

“I shall remember thee, Tarnished.” Margit said, remaining eye focused specifically on him as his body began to fade away too. “Smoldering with thy meagre flame. Cower in fear. Of the night.” As most of his body vanished from view, that remaining eye narrowed into a glare. “The hands of the Fell Omen shall brook thee no quarter.”

Warning left, that stubborn will keeping up the projection relented, and the rest of Margit’s body faded away.

Walking forward, Melina falling in beside him, Onyx flexed his arm, reveling in the sensation of that power coursing through him. The crimson electricity didn’t conflict with his mana at all, the two working in tandem to strengthened him.

He was enjoying testing it out firsthand, but he was hoping that dragon returned soon. He had some questions. More importantly, another fight with someone like her would be something to look forward to.

Onyx took hold of the halberd and ripped it out of the wall, stone crumbling aside. The weapon was intact. It didn’t conduct the electricity as well as his body, but it could handle it well enough to make imbuing it a viable strategy in future battles as well.

While he examined the weapon, Marika floated beside him, silently staring beyond what was ahead. That Margit was gone but her anger wasn’t, still present and refusing to subside. Focusing more on their connection, he took a slow deep breath.

Marika glanced his way. Then nodded and vanished.

“A good fight.” Nepheli remarked as she joined them. The respect she regarded him with as a fighter was mingled with obvious curiosity as she looked to the halberd and its point of impact, but she didn’t ask any questions, only nodding to him as they moved on.

That faintly entertaining distraction dealt with, the actual heart of Stormveil, this Godrick, and great rune all laid directly before them in the form of towering castle walls.

XOXO

(A/N: Its not yet a part of my schedule but one of my readers on WN has kept asking about it and I kept chipping away at it until I was finally able to finish and edit a chapter. Still not my main focus at the moment so I doubt there will be any kind of consistency but with how steady I've been when it comes to writing in general recently, I'll be making a careful attempt.

Got to avoid burn out and all that.

Anyone who reads this despite how long its been, I hope you enjoy it.)