Surprisingly little

"How'd you know we're after Tristiana?" Citrinas asked cautiously, finally able to speak now that Belsach wasn't using his fear aura to mess with her. He looked at her, shocked before sighing while shaking his head, as though he was waiting for her to treat the question as a joke.

"Varrick, the hero of the hunt, and her sister are sitting in my bar while she's in the city. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together." Belsach answered as Verdi looked at the hobgoblin with a hopeful expression, praying that he would pull the same trick he did with the others and speak about his past. Upon seeing him, Belsach's previous arrogance died down as he avoided Verdi's hopeful gaze.

"So, uh, you also gonna call me out?" Verdi asked as Belsach let out a weak cough into his grubby little hand to ease the tension.

"... Sorry champ. I honestly have no fucking idea who you are." He said sheepishly, genuine guilt in his eyes as he saw Verdi slump forward.

"Worth a try." He grumbled, realizing that finding his past wasn't going to be that easy.

"Tell us where Tristiana is." Varrick demanded succinctly as Belsach sighed, dreading his next words.

"I don't know. Fucking monster core's made her as cunning as those stupid foxes up north." He said before spitting on the floor, the phlegm almost bouncing like a ball as it rolled across the fine ceramic tile floor. One goblin muttered a complaint as it appeared with a rag, wiping the phlegm away with a clean rag.

"You can't track her in the city?" Varrick asked in disbelief, his shock only worsening Belsach's mood.

"She's spread her scent everywhere, uses illusions to alter her appearance, and she's hired Pelrin along with the rest of the Company of Roses to help conceal her. We aren't tracking her in this city." Belsach said in a vain attempt to justify his ignorance. Though Varrick seemed content by the answer, Belsach seemed to be disgusted with it, grabbing his drink and downing it to hide the disappointment he had in himself.

"Sorry, uh, who the fuck is Pelrin?" Verdi asked, unable to keep up as Varrick and Belsach stared at him before looking to Fenri and Citrinas, the two girls just as puzzled as him. Varrick sighed, scolding himself mentally as he kept the rest of his party caught up.

"He's the current leader of the Company of Roses and our former tactician." Varrick answered, his tone akin to someone describing a rat or a weasel. "He's the most cunning person I've met. Even the Nine Tailed Fox up north was outwitted by him the few times we were up there."

"Bastard's got the biggest spy network in the world that spans both human and monster territories." Belsach added while sighing. "Guy knows everything that's happening in the continent. You might want to tread carefully." He warned to the party as Varrick nodded.

"So what do you know about Tristiana's plans?" He asked as Belsach shrugged.

"Far less than you think. I didn't realize she was alive up until Kolderia. Still trying to piece things together." Belsach said, surprising everyone at just how up to date he was.

"You heard about that already?" Fenri asked, shocked that word had reached the city so quickly. They had ran a straight line to Olskroya cutting through the wild dungeons rather than take the roads, so word shouldn't have reached the city yet.

"Harvin sent a messenger bird to me a few months ago. Been investigating since." Belsach answered, causing Fenri to groan at the mere mention of the strange butler.

"Did that old fuck know we were coming here from the start?" She asked, equal parts anger and fear tinged in her voice.

"Can't say, but if I were a betting man, I'd say he's warned all of his old acquaintances to keep an eye out." Belsach answered with a shrug, just as unsure of the butler's knowledge.

"Belsach, who the fuck is that creepy bastard?" Verdi asked, now more interested in the butler than the task at hand.

"... Don't know, don't wanna know, next question." Belsach said flatly, outright shutting down the line of questioning in seconds. Judging by how he was trembling, he was just as scared of the old man as the rest of them despite his loud proclamations of how powerful he was.

"What have you learned since Harvin told you what happened?" Varrick asked, returning to the important matter at hand. Belsach raised two grubby fingers, his yellow stained fingernails laden with grime.

"Two things." The hobgoblin answered as he lowered one of the two fingers. "One. Eren is NOT the person running around causing and stealing artifacts. Two, too many things don't make sense about Harvin's theory that he went rogue." Belsach answered, his tone now pure venom as he ground his teeth from fury. Blinking several times, Verdi leaned over and whispered into Citrinas' ear, unwilling to interrupt the conversation like earlier.

"Who the fuck is Eren?" He asked quietly as Fenri leaned over to listen, also unable to keep up with the conversation.

"Eren Elwood is the hero of the hearth's name." Citrinas answered as they listened to Varrick interrogate Belsach.

"How do you know the person stealing artifacts isn't him?" He asked as the hobgoblin spat on the ground once more, summoning another goblin to clean up his hacked up slime.

"Cause that faker is too fucking weak." Belsach snarled, outright repulsed at the mention of the supposed fake hero. "Eren was a monster at heart. He wasn't gonna hide and steal stuff in the dead of night if he wanted something. He'd kick the door down, kill everyone, and take what he wanted by **** like a REAL monster would!" He said, somehow insulting and complimenting the hero at the same time.

"He could just be holding back to avoid wiping out the region." Varrick countered as Belsach shook his head.

"That bastard is a fake using an artifact with humanity on it. No doubt about it." He sneered with disgust. "If I find who's ruining my friend's good reputation, I'm crucifying them and flaying their skin off." He vowed, downing his glass yet again. Slamming the glass on the table, he began muttering his plans of slowly torturing a man to ****, cutting off his tongue, and how he'd kill them only after they begged Eren for forgiveness.

"You said there was more to the story earlier. What did you learn?" Varrick asked, halting the hobgoblin's ramblings as he snapped back to reality.

"Right. First thing I learned was a bit of history on hybridization." He explained before clearing his throat. "Lot of people through the ages have tried to make hybrids, but the only people who successfully created them were the ancients. There's a few researchers who might have made them, but the records are spotty. Whoever did this to Tristiana must have a lot of technical knowledge." He began as Verdi perked up at the mention of the ancients.

"Ancients?" Verdi asked, thinking about the supposed ancients. From what he could remember, they were an ancient civilization wiped out roughly 40,000 years ago after their machines turned on them due to the machinations of the forces of darkness. That said, he was also cognizant that his memories were spotty on the subject, and that he was probably incorrect about a lot of things. Varrick took in a deep breath and began speaking, his voice one of a patient teacher teaching a younger student.

"A long time ago, there was a civilization of hyper advanced people that came here from another world known as the Ancients." He began as Verdi committed his words to memory to cross reference to his own innate knowledge. "They were best described as demigods. Eternally young, powerful, and beautiful. Their civilians were on par with our heroes while their royalty were comparable to true gods given flesh. Their country was known as Helvia, which is why those with high amounts of their blood coursing through their veins are known as Helvians or Elves as we say today." Varrick said as Fenri almost fell out of her chair as she looked at the paladin.

"Wait, you have those here too!?" She asked with a shocked voice as Varrick nodded.

"Yes. The ancients spread throughout the infinite multiverse. Almost every world we've summoned heroes from had a history of them." He answered, his tone one of pure reverence towards these mysterious people.

"Wow, if they were eternally young, are they still around?" Verdi asked, realizing the top suspect in just who hybridized him. If there was an ancient running around, they'd be the most obvious culprit to who changed him.

"No, they're all dead." Citrinas answered flatly.

"What wiped them out?" Verdi asked.

"They had issues with fertility, and couldn't interbreed with one another. Over time they slowly died out from suicide or conflict with each other for some reason or another." She answered, killing off the top suspects in Verdi's search.

"Their fertility was that bad?" Verdi asked with a surprised voice, puzzled that such an advanced civilization could spread if they couldn't properly conceive.

"They supposedly modified their bodies to be sterile to avoid overpopulation. When they entered our world, they couldn't undo it, so they made the erosarkics to help them conceive children before they realized they could breed with the locals of our world." She added, the minor remark only adding more questions. Wouldn't breeding with an Erosarkic just make another erosarkic?

Admittedly, Verdi's knowledge on reproductive biology of a monster was lacking, so perhaps the child would retain the mother's characteristics. Though there was an easy way to test out just what would happen if an erosarkic impregnated a woman and there was a willing participant who would happily be seeded by him, he decided to file this experiment away for later when they weren't traveling across the world trying to find his past.

"I thought Carnachias made erosarkics." Verdi said, still remembering the long speech of his rebirth and trying to identify just what was incorrect.

"Carnachias and Melanoche were Ancients who were powerful enough to be known as goddesses. The fact that followers of them don't have priests is just further proof that they weren't true gods." Citrinas said as Belsach joined in the conversation.

"Interestingly enough, those two are supposedly the first people to ever create a hybrid and were the leading experts in hybrid research. Since hero corpses aren't exactly common, most research into the subject is done by translating their research notes from the ancient tongue to modern tongues." Belsach said, relaying the intel he'd gathered from his underlings. At that moment, several things clicked into place as Verdi realized the story his damaged psyche had spun. If the person who hybridized him was reading her texts as reference, it would make sense his warped psyche would assume Carnachias and Melanoche were talking to him.

"I see." Verdi mumbled, deep in thought as Belsach continued talking.

"Hybridization has a few major components. A corpse of a human strong enough to withstand the process, a divine artifact, and immense amounts of magic power to infuse into the corpse to kick start the revival process. I assume you all can see where I'm going with this." He said as Varrick spoke up.

"Eren isn't the one hybridizing people. He can't use magic because he uses a barbarian class to fight." He said, the barbarian class' berserk ability outright banning the use of magic.

"That's not all. A person's magic and spirit power naturally resist outside spells, which is why mages can't just freeze my blood unless they're significantly stronger than me." Belsach said, talking about the disruption effect Citrinas talked about earlier. If you wanted to overcome another person's magic power, you had to be exponentially stronger than them. Even Citrinas would have trouble freezing Verdi alive despite their level disparity due to the disruption effect. The fact that hybridization required somebody overcome this boundary to revive someone could only mean one thing.

"Are you saying there's a mage out there stronger than my sister that we don't even know about?" Citrinas asked, the mood growing heavy as Verdi slowly realized just how terrifying the implications were.

In Kolderia, he was functioning at a fraction of his power due to the city's debuff against monsters. His human form decreased the debuff, but it was still severe. The fact that a fellow hybrid like Tristiana was able to walk around in her monster form, cast a spell capable of wiping out the city, and overwhelm Citrinas in sheer power despite functioning at a fraction of her usual power showed just how dominating she was. If she was at full power, she could wipe out the entire country with a single equation.

And there was something out there that made a monster like her seem like a child in comparison.

"Any idea on just what revived her?" Varrick asked, realizing the severity of the situation.

"No. A mage of that level is beyond the mortal plane and into the realm of gods." Belsach answered as he downed his drink. Verdi could sense his right leg was trembling ever so slightly, his heightened sense of touch telling him just how nervous the boisterous hobgoblin was talking about such a matter.

"If this thing is so powerful, why is it hiding?" Fenri asked as Belsach traced his finger along the rim of his cup, staring deeply into it.

"I don't know." He said with a sigh, their attempts at gaining answers only leaving the party with more questions.

"And that's all you know?" Varrick asked as Belsach shook his head.

"There is one thing that struck me as odd." He began as one of his goblin minions walked forward carrying a tray of cookies. He grabbed one and stared at it, deep in thought. "The entire operation to kill the demon king was crafted by the current demon king Rael and her personal spymaster as a coup to seize the throne. The plan was given the go ahead by the hero of deceit. That day, 18 heroes showed up alongside 2 of the demon world's Lords. Bonds was exempt since she was too weak to help while Deceit kept to the shadows." Belsach said, giving greater context into the day the previous demon king was defeated.

"After that day the previous demon king was sealed in a box, two of our Lords died, and every hero from that day said Eren was the one who attacked them before they died of their injuries or fell into comas." He said as Verdi took in the new information. Mathias had said that outside of Tomoko, two heroes disappeared while two were left crippled. If Eren, the hero of the hearth, was one of the disappeared heroes, then it was only logical that the hero of deceit was the other who disappeared.

"You don't believe the testimony from the other heroes?" Citrinas asked.

"They probably weren't lying, but that doesn't mean they were right. They could have been tricked." Varrick explained as Belsach nibbled at one of the cookies that were brought to the table.

"Or deceived." He growled, choosing his words very precisely as every eye in the room fell on him, crumbs spilling from his lip as he took another swig from his glass. Silence fell over the room, broken only by the loud gulping from Belsach's throat.

"You think deceit betrayed everyone to work with whatever the fuck's been reviving heroes from the dead as monsters?" Verdi asked, now interested in the topic as he found a new suspect for just who revived him.

"Deceit and Bonds are the only survivors of that war that are still around. Bonds was a brat who didn't have the ability to betray him, and Deceit's a coward who won't even show his face to the world." Belsach sneered, clenching his fist as he spoke. "Fucking bastard probably is the one pretending to be him robbing divine artifacts for all we know." He theorized as Fenri leaned over to Citrinas.

"Do we even have a hero of deceit? I don't remember fighting one at the summit." She whispered, unwilling to intrude on Varrick's conversation and spoil the mood with her question.

"The heroes of deceit are covert heroes specialized in gathering intel that never give up their identities. For the most part, they're usually working in the shadows to help support the other heroes." Citrinas explained.

"A hero wouldn't betray another hero. Besides, why would he let 18 heroes get killed over nothing?" Varrick asked firmly as the hobgoblin shook his head.

"Heroes serve humanity and the forces of light above all else in the name of the greater good. Monsters don't get to be a part of the greater good." He spat in disgust, likely speaking from experience. "Eren and Rael were close to each other while the remaining 18 heroes respected Eren." He said as Varrick looked away, unable to make a rebuttal to the hobgoblin's statement.

"What's your point?" He asked as Belsach continued his rant.

"If things went according to plan, Eren would be married to her by now, no hero would dare attack her while no monster would question her authority with him by her side. Instead, Rael's stuck in a civil war with 7 other wannabe demon kings out for her head, she has no trump card to deal with them, and the forces of light are doing so well that they're sending fucking expeditions out east to ruin her credibility. Coincidences like that don't just "happen" out of the blue." He spat, pure malice tinged into his voice as Verdi thought back to the day he met Citrinas. Was the army that marched east a show of goodwill, a show of power, or a scouting **** for an expedition? Judging by how Varrick was clenching his fist, it seemed he didn't know either. He could hear the paladin's breathing get uneven as he wondered whether the hero he once served was betrayed not for peace, but for conquest. The giant trembled as Belsach's words echoed in his mind. It almost looked like Varrick was having the same mental breakdown Verdi suffered months ago.

"Those soldiers were sent east to help Rael deal with the civil war, not cause trouble." Varrick said indignantly, still clinging to the belief that the forces of light were doing nothing wrong.

"Her critics are saying she's a pawn of the forces of light considering she conspired with them to remove her predecessor. If those troopers entered our territory to fight in the war on her behalf, she'd have been denounced as a mere puppet ruler and her men would have turned on her." Belsach countered, his argument wholly rational. "Only reason they've been silenced was because her spymaster sent Leraje out to blow up the canyon and halt the advance in a show of power and to rebuke her critics." He answered coldly as Varrick stared down at the table, his helmet concealing his current expression. He looked like somebody had just killed him as he questioned his reality. Was it truly altruism that sent those troops out east, or was it greed?

"... Belsach, did we really betray you that day?" He asked softly, realizing just how bad of a hand the demon king was dealt for her attempts to end the war. Verdi could see him breathing deeply, trying to calm himself down from the stress as he realized he'd been serving the same people that betrayed the hero he respected and admired. Rather than answer, Belsach reached forward and patted Varrick on the shoulder, as though he were a father reassuring to his son.

"You didn't do fucking shit to me, stupid. You're a good lad." He reassured while grabbing the armored giant's shoulder firmly. "It's everyone else in this world that's fucked up." He said as Varrick stood up from the table.

"Thanks for the intel. I'll... Try and stop by when I have time." He said as Verdi, Fenri, and Citrinas stood up with him. Judging by the look on Belsach's face, there wasn't much more he could offer in terms of information as he waved them goodbye.

"Run along. If any of you fools need help, give me a holler." Belsach said, dismissing them as they left the seedy bar in single file, unable to speak and break the awkward atmosphere in the air. Eventually, they left the bar and Varrick spoke up, regaining his composure relatively quickly.

"Belsach might pretend to be a fool, but he's usually right about these sort of things. We should be careful about what we say." Varrick said abruptly, breaking the awkward silence as Citrinas spoke up, giving the worst possible time to ask the worst possible question to him.

"So what if Belsach's right about everything? Are you going to leave?" She asked innocently as Verdi and Fenri threw her **** glares. It was something they both had on their minds, but they also knew better than to ask him this right now considering the timing. Before they could smooth over Citrinas' thoughtless question, they felt a wave of fury emanate from Varrick, yet they could sense it wasn't directed at any of them.

"If it turns out deceit really did do all this, I'll kill him myself and defect to the demon king." Varrick declared, his voice a mix of pure conviction and righteous fury. Rather than being afraid, Verdi felt the urge to applaud him despite Varrick outright admitting that he was on the verge of betraying humanity to rectify a sin he didn't commit.

Author's note: Beat Elden Ring without using a single walkthrough or online tutorial. Now we return to our usual publishing rate. Sorry this chapter was so long and dumped so much lore at once. I wanted to feed the mystery and toss out a few suspects for who made Verdi a hybrid and give some context to the world.

P.S. If anyone ever spots a plot hole in the story, please tell me. I write the chapters one by one, so I do tend to make mistakes.