After completing the second task, what secret would be revealed to Aoko and Touko? Ymir remained tight-lipped. He only said that if the second task was not completed, even if the secret was told to them, it would be of no use.
"There is more than one Finger Ruins," Ymir said as he handed another map to Aoko. "Originally, reaching the Finger Ruins was a treacherous journey, but after learning that you two can fly, I decided to have you visit the Rhia Finger Ruins first. That way, the remaining work will be much simpler."
The location of the Rhia Finger Ruins was south of the Cathedral of Manus Metyr, a place that could be considered quite distant.
This location was closer to the southern coastline of the Shadow Lands. From the map, the normal way to reach the Rhia Finger Ruins was to start from a place called the Cerelean Coast, travel westward, and finally enter the ruins from the seaside.
Of course, Aoko and Touko didn't have to traverse such difficult terrain. Using flight magic, they soared through the air for over two hours before arriving above the Rhia Finger Ruins.
The environment here was very different from that of the Dheo Finger Ruins. This difference was not in the architectural structures, but in what could be described as ambient light.
These ruins seemed to be eternally shrouded in darkness. No matter how strong the light in the sky was, it couldn't penetrate this place. Aoko had a feeling that the giant fingers rising from the ground were rejecting the light from the heavens.
"Over there," Touko pointed in a direction. "I see the bell of these ruins."
Aoko maneuvered to descend, but along the way, they were attacked by numerous Lamprey. Unlike the Dheo Finger Ruins, these strange creatures seemed to have sharper senses in this eerie darkness. Even though they used invisibility magic, they were still detected.
Aoko simply dispelled the invisibility spell and unleashed a barrage of magic bullets on the Lamprey below. In no time, the area around the bell returned to silence.
"I'll hold off the enemies, you move quickly," Touko released her fat cat, Cheshire, and then drew a few runes around them. "The Rhia Finger Ruins are more dangerous than before."
Having been sisters for so many years, Aoko and Touko had developed a deep understanding of each other. Without hesitation, Aoko left the surrounding Lamprey and Fingercreepers to Touko while she took out a perforated whistle, placed it into the hole beneath the bell, and began to play.
A mysterious and melodious sound echoed once again. This time, the tune was deeper, more penetrating. Aoko wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but after she finished playing, it felt as if the surroundings grew even darker—even the stars in the sky became difficult to see.
"After the bell rang, the Lampreys and Fingercreepers froze," Touko walked back to Aoko's side, looking at the remaining creatures in the distance. "They don't seem to care that I killed their companions. They're just staring blankly northward… Also, look over there."
Following Touko's direction, Aoko saw the biggest difference between this place and the Dheo Ruins—there were artificial structures here.
Dozens of eerie stone monoliths, each over a hundred meters tall, stood to the north of the bell, forming an impenetrable wall, as if guarding the Rhia Finger Ruins from something.
The surface of these monoliths was covered in strange fingerprint patterns. Aoko found them oddly familiar. After thinking for a moment, she realized—they were the same patterns found on the Fingerprint Stone Shield, the most powerful shield in Elden Ring.
The Fingerprint Stone Shield bore the words of the Three Fingers who rejected the Greater Will. Could the patterns on these monoliths also be messages left by the Two Fingers?
The Fingerprint Stone Shield could resist the Frenzied Flame's corruption. Were these monoliths erected to resist something as well?
Frowning, Aoko recalled the scenery she had seen when they flew over the northern part of the ruins. She remembered a valley shrouded in mist, filled with an ancient, dense forest.
She wasn't particularly interested in jungle exploration, but she strongly suspected that something lurked within that forest—something that these fingerprint monoliths were meant to keep out.
However, Aoko didn't dwell too long on the mystery. She simply took out a Polaroid camera, snapped a few pictures of the monoliths, and then, along with Touko, activated flight magic once more, soaring toward the Cathedral of Manus Metyr.
...
By the time the Aozaki sisters returned to the cathedral, it was already deep into the night.
Standing at the cathedral's entrance, Aoko noticed that while the place was usually deserted, tonight, Manus Met Cathedral was eerily silent.
Something was off. Both Aoko and Touko instinctively heightened their vigilance as they stepped inside. As Magicians, they still had their greatest magical assets at their disposal, giving them confidence in handling any danger.
However, once they reached the inner courtyard, they encountered no threats. Even the person who was supposed to be waiting for their report was missing.
Ymir was gone.
"Lord Ymir left a letter for you," a voice emerged from the darkness.
The Nightblade, Anna, stepped forward and handed Aoko a sealed letter with a wax stamp. "Jolan and I have completed our mission here and will be leaving. As for what you two should do next, and the knowledge you should receive—it's all in the letter."
With that, Anna slowly faded into the cathedral's shadows, disappearing completely—even Aoko's detection magic couldn't trace her.
"These Knox descendants are impressive," Touko muttered, clicking her tongue. "Using the power of the night to move?"
Aoko didn't reply. Instead, she tore open the letter and carefully read its contents.
The letter was long, so much so that it couldn't fit on a single page—several extra sheets were included.
Aside from congratulating them on completing the task of ringing the second Finger Bell, Ymir also revealed an important secret:
A third Finger Ruins existed in the Shadow Lands, and it was the most important one—located directly beneath the Cathedral of Manus Metyr.
Ymir also included the final spell of his unique Glintstone Magic in the letter—a spell that summoned a Finger to protect the caster.
["My students, divine beings from afar,"] Ymir wrote near the end of the letter, ["the greatest and deepest secret of the Lands Between lies within the depths of Cathedral of Manus Metyr."]
["...It was not the Two Fingers who guided Queen Marika and the demigods that truly brought ruin and disorder—
but rather, the Mother of Fingers herself."]
["The Fingers you have encountered are merely the abandoned children of the Mother of Fingers—pitiful victims. Because of their mother's sins, they have wandered in confusion, spreading distortion throughout the Lands Between."]
"By the time you read this letter, I will have already left," Aoko carefully read through Ymir's final words. "Ring the last Finger Bell—the Bell of Metyr. Then, confront the Mother of Fingers and put an end to her corruption."
"One day in the future, fate will guide us to meet again—
as Mother and God."