But her heart kept pounding.
It wasn’t because she was nervous about the consequences of the plan failing; Mia’s heart raced simply because of the act of “deception.” The Tree Sentinel must have seen them.
The distance had closed; there was no reason for the giant knight guarding the Erdtree not to have noticed their approach at this range.
However, he didn’t speed up his patrol.
With his Halberd resting on his shoulder, he walked toward them at a leisurely pace.
He gave off a relaxed attitude.
That horse could hardly be called a horse anymore; it was as tall as a single-story building, draped in heavy barding and carrying an equally massive knight.
He was like a mountain.
Every step the Tree Sentinel’s horse took was accompanied by the tremors of the earth.
This sensation grew stronger as the Tree Sentinel approached.
With her head lowered, Mia felt like a Soldier seeing a tank for the first time on a World War battlefield.
The knight still hadn’t broken into a gallop.
Keeping her head down, Mia saw a shadow appear on the ground in front of her.
Don’t stop, don’t stop…
if I stop, my legs will probably start shaking, right?
“Halt.” A deep, resonant voice like a war drum came from overhead.
Mia came to a stiff halt.
Behind Mia, Wilden knelt on one knee before the Tree Sentinel.
“This is a Grafting sacrifice for King Godrick.” ‘I can’t win…’ Such pressure—just standing there, just appearing as a shadow in her line of sight…
that kind of intimidation was not something she could withstand right now.
She was too weak, lacking power.
She couldn’t even raise her head in front of such a Soldier…
The deep voice spoke again.
“Raise your head.” “…” You mother****er, don’t push it too far!
Wilden poked Mia gently from behind.
Even though she had cursed the Tree Sentinel over and over in her heart, the girl still raised her head.
Ah, so radiant.
At such close range, the Tree Sentinel’s figure was even more majestic than the Erdtree…
Please just let us go, I’m really not a problem at all…
‘Marika!
If you have any conscience left and want me to repair the elden ring, then help me deal with this Tree Sentinel!’ The girl prayed (?) silently in her heart.
As a simple-minded materialist, Mia believed that if gods truly existed, they were material facts belonging to the realm of materialism rather than idealistic fantasies.
Thus, the relationship between a god and a believer should be one of exchange.
After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
It was impossible for a believer to give nothing and receive divine protection just by muttering a few words; it had to be a win-win exchange.
Since it was an exchange, maintaining appropriate politeness was enough.
There was no need to have the gods constantly on one’s lips.
Therefore, Mia felt there was no need to worship Marika excessively.
Since the other party needed something from her—Marika provided grace, and she worked to become the Elden Lord—her status was equal to Marika’s.
So, Mia felt that her current demand of Marika counted as a prayer.
After all, the definition of prayer is “a religious believer silently telling their wishes to a god.” Mia’s wish was very clear, wasn’t it?
She didn’t know if such a creative method of “praying” had worked.
In Mia’s own eyes, her full-of-holes disguise with Wilden was actually ignored by the Tree Sentinel.
“Go on then, to Stormveil.” The Tree Sentinel nodded.
Then, ignoring the two, he walked slowly toward the back.
Mia and Wilden both quickened their pace in unison.
Feeling guilty, Mia stole a glance back.
The golden-armored knight hadn’t noticed anything unusual and was moving away from them.
She breathed a small sigh of relief.
“We need to get away from him quickly.” Before they had gone far, Wilden whispered from behind, “He stopped.” “What?” Mia instinctively looked back.
The massive golden knight was turning his head to stare at them.
He looked back first, then turned his horse around.
Something’s wrong!
Mia felt as if the character for “danger” had appeared above her head.
If he was just turning around because he’d reached the end of his patrol path…
why look back at her first?
Like an ordinary Soldier taking a stroll, if they know the path by heart, they don’t need extra observation to determine their next direction.
If they suddenly look back halfway, something must have caught their attention.
“Run!” Mia shouted.
The Tree Sentinel spurred his horse, trotting toward their position.
With every step the horse took, the pebbles on the ground trembled.
However, not far from Mia, the Tree Sentinel slowed down again.
The horse snorted, and the knight’s helmet turned from side to side.
Holding her breath, Mia pressed herself tightly against the shoulder of the road, hiding behind the roots of a tree.
Wilden was hiding on the other side of the road.
By splitting up, perhaps at least one of them could escape.
She saw the massive, armored horse head sniffing to the left and right of the road.
The girl didn’t dare to breathe; she could even hear the horse’s heavy breathing.
Breathing…
Is it sniffing?
As quietly as possible, Mia reached for the soil beneath her and slowly grabbed a large clump of dirt with grass roots.
The sound of her movements remained hidden by the breeze rustling through the treetops.
Mia rubbed the soil in her hands.
Looking up slightly, she could see the chin of the knight’s black steed.
The smell of dirt and grass roots wafted out as she rubbed them.
The horse sneezed and pulled its head back.
The horse paced continuously on the road, each step treading on Mia’s heartstrings.
The knight’s gaze scanned the trees and shrubs on both sides through his heavy helmet.
After a while, the girl heard a cold snort.
“Just a Tarnished.” The sound of hooves rang out again, this time gradually fading into the distance.
“Phew—” Finally, she could let her tense body relax.
Mia tried to turn around to see how far the knight had gone down the road, but…
With a slip, she stepped on a pile of branches, lost her footing, and tumbled down the shoulder of the road!
Whoosh— The golden Halberd pierced into the swaying bushes with the sound of tearing air!
With a squelch, the knight raised his weapon.
Hanging from the tip of the Halberd was a dead Wild sheep!
Wilden poked his head out and watched as the knight nearby threw the Goat from his Halberd onto the ground.
The Tree Sentinel gradually moved away.
The Soldier lowered his body as he darted onto the road, then saw Mia on the other side, sprawled on the ground and not daring to move.
Only when she saw Wilden appear in her sight did Mia breathe a sigh of relief.