From the name of this blade, it's clear that its purpose is quite simple: to kill the Fingers.
These Fingers include the Fingercreepers, the Twin Fingers, and the Three Fingers. Naturally, this also includes the Mother of Fingers, Metyer, who is revered as the daughter of the supreme will.
However, the Nox people did not anticipate that while they gravely wounded the Mother of Fingers, they failed to kill her. Instead, they provoked her into a frenzy of retaliation, which led to their destruction and brought millennia of distortion and madness to the Lands Between.
After reviewing numerous documents from the Shadowlands and the Royal Academy of Caria, Aoko developed a bold hypothesis about the materials used to create this dagger: the Nox people may have used the body of the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
There are several reasons for this conclusion. First, in the Lands Between, the Mother of Fingers is undoubtedly classified as a divine being. Therefore, this dagger can be considered a divine-slaying weapon.
Throughout the Lands Between, including the Shadowlands, there seems to be only one power capable of slaying gods: the black flame derived from the Rune of Death.
The Rune of Death is undoubtedly tied to the laws and powers of the Gloam-Eyed Queen. After her death and subsequent sealing, the Rune of Death was utilized by various factions, invariably resulting in the deaths of gods and demigods.
Considering the ancient origins of this dagger, the only divine body qualified to serve as the material for a god-slaying weapon would be that of the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
Upon discovering this secret, Aoko was amazed. She placed the dagger into a special black leather pouch produced by Blaidd. The pouch was adorned with silver mirror-like metal plates, and the two of them immediately prepared to leave for Ranni's magic tower to report back.
...
After several teleportations, Aoko and Blaidd, carrying the God-Slaying Dagger, managed to reach Ranni's magic tower before night fell in the Lands Between and handed the divine-slaying weapon to Ranni.
"...Although I'm curious why an outsider like you would work for someone like me, branded as a traitorous witch, I must thank you," Ranni said seriously, gazing into Aoko's eyes. "Perhaps this is what they call strange fated encounters?"
"It wasn't a big deal for me," Aoko replied, shrugging. "I understand why you made that choice. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't let my fate be decided by puppets like the Twin Fingers, controlled by madmen. Besides, both Professor Ymir and Queen Rennala have helped my sister and me greatly."
"...I'm glad to hear someone say that," Ranni replied with a faint smile. "I made that choice because I saw the distortion within it all. And to think that someone in Caria had already realized the truth... Professor Ymir, huh? He was undoubtedly a genius."
"Professor Ymir left the Cathedral of Manus Celes before my sister and I visited the Fingers' final ruins," Aoko said. "Unfortunately, we don't know where the professor and the Nightblade sisters went."
"Smart people always yearn for freedom," Ranni mused. "Let Professor Ymir pursue the truth in his heart. As for your reward, I'll give you this."
Ranni made a gesture, and with a click, a nearby chest opened on its own. A statue resembling an hourglass floated toward Aoko—the Inverted Statue of the Carian Study Hall.
"That corpse bears traces of Death Rune curses," Ranni said. "If you want it, take it. I no longer need them."
"Are you planning to kill the Twin Fingers?" Aoko asked. "Do you need my help?"
"...The path I'm about to walk is one only I can tread—a path deep into the darkness," Ranni replied calmly. "Our meeting truly feels like the strings of fate at work."
Aoko stared at Ranni's face for a moment without speaking. She wanted to see what kind of reaction this little princess of Caria might have.
"...What is it?" Ranni asked, confused. "You can leave now. Didn't I say? The path ahead is too dark, not one for someone like you, unburdened by heavy fate, to follow."
...
"Sigh," Aoko sighed. "Don't tell me you think Blaidd and I retrieved the God-Slaying Dagger so quickly by walking step by step?"
Perched on Aoko's shoulder was a cute doll known as Mini Ranni. The doll was exquisitely crafted—no, it was essentially one of Ranni's bodies. Only now, her expression seemed to be a mix of shame and awkwardness.
It was beyond doubt that the Twin Fingers—the entity she had long parted ways with—was hiding in the deep pit beneath the Cathedral of Manus Celes. Normally (or so Ranni thought), the way to reach the Moonlight Altar was to overcome numerous trials, defeat the Twin Fingers' shadowy calamities in the depths of Nokstella, the Eternal City, and then take a secret passage to the Moonlight Altar in the northwestern highlands of Liurnia.
"But Ranni, doesn't your knight Glintstone Dragon Adula exist?" Aoko asked curiously. "Why not ride it to the Moonlight Altar?"
"Hmph, have you ever seen a dragon-knight in the Lands Between?" Mini Ranni replied with a slight tsundere tone. "Of course not. That's because neither ancient dragons nor flying dragons would allow anyone to ride on their backs, even if they were defeated and made to serve as subordinates."
"Oh? That's the first time I've heard that," Aoko said, stroking her chin. "But it makes sense—dragons are proud creatures, after all."
The two conversed casually in midair, chatting about topics ranging from foolish Tarnished to the secrets of the Carian royal family. It almost felt like the gossiping atmosphere of a girls' dormitory. Aoko thought Ranni seemed more talkative, perhaps because she had borne the weight of her heavy fate alone for too long, with no one to confide in.
Before Aoko and Blaidd set out for Nokron, Ranni had taken the initiative to decisively kill Pidia, who was hiding in a secret room within the Carian Manor. Meanwhile, her attendant, the sorcerer Seluvis, collapsed lifelessly in his magic tower, reduced to a broken puppet in an instant.
Before they decided to fly directly to the Moonlight Altar, Blaidd had obtained a mirrored helmet identical to the one worn by War Counselor Iji, to resist the control of the Twin Fingers.
Additionally, Aoko set up anti-invisibility magical wards and enchanted sentries at the top of Ranni's magic tower. She also had War Counselor Iji retreat from the smithy behind the noble ruins to Ranni's tower. This way, even if the Twin Fingers, in a desperate last stand, sent Black Knife Assassins, it would be extremely difficult for them to kill Iji and Blaidd together.