While Aoko was busy with some trivial matters near Liurnia of the Lakes, Messmer and Rellana had already led a large army to the gates of the Royal Capital. This was undoubtedly the greatest crisis Leyndell had faced since the Shattering War. As the First Son of the Gods, Messmer's claim to the throne far surpassed that of the elusive Blessed King.
Messmer's greatest advantage lay in his military achievements and his legitimacy among the Royal Capital's forces.
Although he had been missing for years due to Marika's sealing of the Shadowlands, Marika had told the people of the capital that the prince fought valiantly until his disappearance. In the eyes of the people, he was the most loyal among the loyal. With two Great Runes in hand, his return to the capital was a perfect script for the return of the king. Even at the outer garrison of the city, Messmer encountered no resistance.
Essentially, all he had to do was raise his arm before the Leyndell guards patrolling the Altus Plateau, and the knights and soldiers joined his holy war army with tears in their eyes, shouting,
"The great prince has returned! Leyndell is saved!"
More than half of the army immediately switched allegiance. However, since the Blessed King Morgott had effectively ruled Leyndell for many years, some troops remained loyal to him. These individuals didn't confront Messmer but instead hurried back to the capital upon sensing the power shift.
Messmer did not stop them—what he sought was moral high ground. Last time, when he fought that strange horned man, the man kept shouting things like "flame of ambition," "disloyalty," and "traitor." This time, Messmer would use the same logic against him: he would wield his greatest weapon—legitimacy—to crush the Blessed King hiding behind Leyndell.
In Messmer's eyes, ever since Godwyn's death, no one had the right to inherit the Golden Throne, not even the original king Godfrey, who had been stripped of grace by Queen Marika. After all, if Godfrey was worthy, why was he dethroned?
Among the unworthy, Messmer also included himself.
As the vessel of the Flame of the Godslayer and the Abyssal Serpent, he knew he couldn't lead the people of the Golden Order into a bright future. His best fate was to become the spear and blade of his mother, clearing all obstacles for her.
With no resistance from troops along the way, Messmer's advance was swift. The only obstacles were various automatons and gargoyles encountered en route. These defense mechanisms had long since been reprogrammed by the Blessed King to attack Messmer on sight. But puppets were still puppets—facing the elite forces of the Golden Order's golden age, they were easily destroyed.
Moreover, since the crusader army already included several Erdtree Knights, when they reached the outer gates, the two knights guarding the walls conferred and chose not to resist. They instead opened the gates and welcomed the entire army, including the Furnace Golems, into the capital.
Unlike other knights, Erdtree Knights were loyal only to the Erdtree and Queen Marika. Their understanding of the demigods differed from ordinary citizens—they were more mechanical in their thinking.
However, once the army entered the outer walls, many soldiers were stunned by the desolate sight before them.
Was this their homeland, the royal capital Leyndell?
Broken buildings, rampant weeds, siege weapon debris—was this what the Shattering War had left behind? It looked worse than the cities they had conquered!
Yet strict military discipline kept these returning warriors from reacting too strongly. In silence, they followed their leader, walking through this strange yet familiar land.
But the journey wasn't entirely smooth. That strange and arrogant horned man appeared before Messmer once again.
This time, Messmer saw it clearly—he had infused his power into a pitiful Golden Order citizen who had lost their mind due to the shattered Elden Ring, creating a temporary clone to block Messmer.
"You skulking rat," Messmer said, gripping his spear as it emerged from the flames, pointing it at the enemy.
"Your days of hiding in the sewers are over. I'll kill every horned scum hiding in Leyndell, just as my mother once ordered me to!"
"Heretic!" the Omen Demon Morgott roared, "You, bearer of blasphemous fire, dare to call yourself legitimate? I will extinguish your burning ambition like I did all the other usurpers!"
This horned man—who called himself the Omen Demon—saw himself as the rightful guardian of Leyndell and deemed Messmer and his army heretics, grouping him with the other demigods who had attacked the capital.
Also, the two didn't recognize each other, so the battle began immediately.
There's little to say about the fight—Morgott's clone, created by injecting a sliver of power into a mindless Golden Order citizen, was no match for the veteran warrior Messmer. With a few swift strikes, he was impaled by the spear and hung from a flagpole.
Messmer recalled the horned man's expression and behavior. When he mentioned the sewers, the man flew into a rage.
Hmm… did I hit a nerve? Messmer rubbed his chin in thought.
The presence of a horned man in the capital was already puzzling. His mother, Marika, hated horned folk far more than he did—there was no way she would allow one to remain in the capital.
So, this guy was likely a sewer rat the Blessed King had dug up when he had no one else to rely on.
When Messmer shared his theory with Rellana, she too fell into deep thought.
"I think that's a very reasonable guess," Rellana nodded. "Otherwise, even the outer walls wouldn't be this poorly defended. All of this must be the result of the Blessed King's perverse rule after Queen Marika's imprisonment."