- Previously:Not everything in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is death and despair: its world is poetry and exudes a very special beauty
It’s time for another episode of Adventure Time in the Shadowlands of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. I returned to the foot of the Shadow Fortress like a beaten dog after Bayle the Dread made it clear to me that the days of boss abuse were over.
There was still an alternative route to the terror of the fortress: the Ruins of Moorth. As guides go, I knew this path was a good way to delay the inevitable encounter with Messmer the Impaleralthough no one told me it was a descent full of enemies, traps and hardships.
Trouble found me before I started to descend into the ruins. I dueled with Hojasec Danea martial artist who put me on the ropes with his punches and kicks. We exchanged blows. His were no match for the slashes of my blood katana. His life dropped very fast and he bit the dust in less than a minute.
The underground path of the Moorth Ruins was difficult, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I don’t remember any notable moments. While I liked the Bone Village because it’s full of jars, nothing noteworthy happened there either. On the other hand, the Whip Shack was a particularly traumatic stop. There I encountered a rather hostile spirit and a whip with a poison effect.
Going down La Fisura and blowing fingers for a Count
A little further on from the Whiplash Hut, on the Grace Bridge leading to the Village, the famous DLC message popped up: “Somewhere, a Great Rune has been broken. And an enchantment has been dispelled.” It was time to take a break and get back on the path of The Rift. I descended through the epic purple and grey cave until I came across a very strange scene: a huge group of animals lying in front of a path that ended in a fall.
I fought against him Rotten Knight And I admit that it was one of the most difficult fights in the entire DLC. My bleed build was useless against this boss, so I had to beat him without relying on all the extra damage from the status ailment. I abandoned my katana and went back to my trusty companion: the Wheel of Giza, pure brute force. It only took me four or five more attempts along with my Mimic Tear to defeat him.
I took a while to advance the plot of Holy Trinity y Thiollier and then I resumed my way to the Cathedral of Manus Metyr. There I met the Conde Ymir already your protector Jolan. They never gave me much confidence and I knew that our relationship would end in confrontation. I agreed to their request for help as a means to violence.
Ymir had me scour the map for three large finger-shaped structures, where I was to blow on which horns. I never understood her intentions, but I knew it was a way to reveal her ultimate goal. I first went to the Ruins of Rhia’s Finger, located south of the Shadowlands. I already had Grace active from my previous foray into the south, so all I had to do was fast travel and blow on the finger.
Accessing the second objective, the Ruins of Dheo’s Finger, was a bit more complicated. I was forced to enter the Shadow Fortress through the back door. I lowered the water that was flooding part of the fortress and explored until I found an elevator that took me to the grace “Shadow Fortress, back part.” There I faced the disgusting Commander Gaitus
This fight was just a stop along the way. My objective was in a chapel located before the fighting arena, behind a statue of Marika that moves if you do the “Oh, mother” gesture. How did I know this? Let’s call it guide-making superpowers. I made it to a beautiful area called The Interior and then to the Ruins of Dheo’s Finger. The place was full of nasty enemies, so I used all my stealth skills to get there without being seen.
I returned to the Cathedral of Conde Ymir. There was only one point left for me to visit: the Ruins of Miyr Finger, located just below the structure. I waited in the grace for him to rise from the throne to open a passage and descend the eternal staircase that FromSoftware likes so much. I was fed up with the mission, but the scene left no doubt that the end was near.
FromSoftware’s bosses don’t usually catch me by surprise, their combat arenas usually give them away, but Metyr, Mother of Fingers caught me off guard. Marika’s effigy must have been a clue. Elden Ring teleported me after blowing on my finger to a dreamlike combat arena, similar to one in Remnant 2. I faced the finger spawn. The finger spawn is not a particularly difficult boss, so it fell quickly to the power of my katana. The real surprise was yet to be revealed.
The Cathedral was empty and an echo sounded as I approached the throne: “What have you done? You have caused practically irreparable damage to Count Ymir,” said the Swordswoman of the Night Jolan
The surprise drum roll came with the Conde Ymirnow as Mother of Fingers. Another pathetic little man flaunting a power that is too great for him. I did not mince words. I opened the fight with several stabs of my katana. The bleeding started alarmingly soon and in a few seconds I had taken half of his life.
He took advantage of one of my breaks to launch his attacks. He kept casting magic, summoning Caria hands and teleporting around the room. Few things make me feel more disgusted than this type of combat. I landed a few more stabs. He was very heavy and had less than a quarter of his life left, so I put some distance between me and the hands. Fed up with the magic game, I took the blow of a spell to kill him with the coup de grace.
The Cathedral was left dark, silent, and lonely. I felt a little ridiculous going through all the twists and turns to get this ending, but at the same time it was something I wanted from the moment I crossed its threshold. This plot completely changed my perspective of the DLC: I wanted to kill or make all the NPCs in the Shadow Realm disappear. And although I was convinced at the time, I ended up growing fond of a couple. I’ll get to that part of the story later…
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