Chapter 845: The Elden Ring, Broken to Play

Why are deities deities?

Because deities are ruthless. If they harbored emotions, self-awareness, and thought, then deities would no longer be gods.

And Queen Marika, she was clearly unable to be ruthless.

Initially, Queen Marika was the staunchest proponent of the Golden Order. However, even though she forged a seemingly glorious Golden Dynasty, Queen Marika knew deep down that the current Golden Order was not flawless.

But how to make the Golden Order, to make the Elden Ring more perfect, Queen Marika was unsure how to proceed.

Just as Queen Marika, the Lands Between's fiercest individual, directly created a doppelgänger, Radagon, to deal with internal and external strife, Marika did not let things go or leave them to her successors. Instead, she decided to attempt to mend the Elden Ring.

One decision she made was to go on an overseas expedition.

At that time, the Lands Between's Golden Dynasty was flourishing. However, due to the calamity of Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, the geography of the Lands Between had changed.

Outside the Golden Dynasty lay un-conquered badlands. Thus, Marika tasked Godfrey, First Elden Lord, and the first generation of the Golden Dynasty to expand their territory.

Later, Stormveil Castle, Limgrave, and Weeping Peninsula were the fruits of this territorial expansion. In this vast expedition, Godfrey even conveniently crushed Uhl, the Minotaur Dynasty, who tragically worshipped nature.

For Godfrey and his kin, this was an expedition, but for Marika, they were all pawns. Because Marika's goal was not to expand territory, but to perfect the Elden Ring, to perfect the Golden Order.

So, after Godfrey and his kin conquered these lands, Queen Marika immediately stripped them of their golden grace. Due to the nature of the Golden Dynasty, those who lost their grace could no longer return home. Thus, the first Tarnished were born.

For Marika, all she wanted was for these Tarnished to die, and then for their souls and bodies to return to the Erdtree. Based on what they had seen and heard, she could then attempt to perfect the Golden Order.

It seemed reckless, but in reality, for Marika, it was a carefully thought-out plan.

Even though she intended to eliminate her husband, and it appeared the Golden Dynasty would be without a king, did that matter?

She had a son, Godwyn the Golden, who was a born king.

Her idea was excellent, but she never expected the biggest problem to arise from her, or rather, from the Golden Order itself.

That is, the Golden Order had developed its own consciousness. The characteristic of the Golden Order was its singularity; devouring the Crucible of Life and sealing Destined Death were all to make itself unique.

But Marika wanted to perfect the Elden Ring and pave the way for Godwyn the Golden to become Elden Lord, which, to some extent, violated the Golden Order's singularity.

So, as the human incarnation of the Golden Order, Marika's other half, Radagon, swiftly abandoned his wife and children, returned to the Royal Capital, kicked Prince Godwyn the Golden aside, and became the Elden Lord himself.

Meanwhile, Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, who had offered everything due to a honey trap, suffered such a blow that she went mad and was isolated in the Grand Archives.

Their mother went mad because of Radagon; how could Radahn and the other two demigods, who had been close to their mother since childhood, stand for this?

The Lunar Princess, influenced by her mother from a young age, was half a follower of the moon. She had no interest in the Golden Order's deities, constantly pondering how to escape fate and the destiny of a god-child.

As for Rykard, he resided in Volcano Manor. However, with the ancient serpent, a master of deception, by his side, he had been manipulated for years and was filled with hostility towards the Golden Dynasty. This incident with his mother only fueled his resentment.

Starscourge Radahn, on the other hand, was relatively straightforward; he simply wanted to avenge his mother.

But Queen Marika, sensing that something was amiss, naturally wouldn't sit idly by.

Having sealed Destined Death, she possessed a powerful weapon: a blade forged from the power of death, capable of killing a god.

In Marika's箴言, it is written: 'My beloved son... if you are unworthy, then become a sacrifice.'

In short, it meant: My son, Godwyn the Golden, if you cannot defeat my other self, then offer your own life to make a move.

So, Marika secretly tricked Ranni into stealing Destined Death, which can be inferred from the Remembrance of the Black Blade, guarded by Maliketh.

'Queen Marika's only demand of her shadow beast was to guard Destined Death; however, she betrayed him.'

Maliketh, unaware of Queen Marika's underlying plan, simply believed he had lost Destined Death. Feeling he had failed his duty, he begged Queen Marika's forgiveness in torment for centuries.

However, Ranni, Marika's tool, was clearly no naive maiden. She had her own agenda.

For Ranni, her plan was to abandon the Greater Will, shedding her physical body to escape the fate of a god-child.

As for Rykard, who was with Ranni, he was nearly consumed by madness from the serpent's manipulation, single-mindedly desiring to overthrow the Erdtree. This god-slaying blade was naturally a divine weapon to him. Everyone had their own objectives.

Thus, the Night of the Black Knives was born. On that night, black knives pierced Godwyn the Golden's body, drinking his golden blood.

In the chaos, Ranni, acting as the oriole behind the mantis, acquired a black knife and used its power to commit suicide, sending her physical body to a Divine Tower for preservation. She then possessed a doll, transforming into the Snow Witch and regaining her freedom.

And the black knives, having killed two demigods consecutively, shattered due to their immense power. Fragments of them fell into Rykard's hands.

Everything seemed to follow the plan initiated on the Night of the Black Knives, but plans always encounter unexpected changes.

The black knives themselves were forged from Destined Death. Their shattering after unexpectedly killing two demigods caused Destined Death to disperse, giving the Golden Dynasty the definition of 'death.' This is the origin of Deathroot.

Maliketh transformed into the Beast Clergyman, attempting to reclaim the scattered Destined Death.

With this incident, Queen Marika realized she had been outmaneuvered by Ranni, leading to the Black Knife Assassins pursuing the Snow Witch. War Counselor Iji and Blaidd, among others, were contingencies set in motion because of this.

But more importantly, Marika's plan was complete.

Destined Death made Godwyn the Golden the first god to die, severely violating the Golden Order's principle of 'immortality.'

Consequently, the Golden Order attempted to resurrect Godwyn the Golden, but Destined Death decreed that Godwyn the Golden must die.

This back-and-forth caused a bug in the Elden Ring. Not only Godwyn the Golden, but also countless people across the Golden Dynasty's lands began to resurrect unendingly.

It's like a common person browsing for videos online, and a pop-up appears saying, 'This website will severely damage your computer.' At the time, with a specific goal in mind, you ignored the warning and went ahead. After enjoying yourself, your computer crashed with a blue screen. Now you regret it.

Marika was in roughly this situation. So, she summoned the first Tarnished back to attempt to mend the Elden Ring, but they clearly failed.

For Marika, her sole demand was to make the Elden Ring perfect.

So, how to make it perfect?

Through relentless refinement.

If mending wasn't perfect, then she would break it again and mend it repeatedly, making the Elden Ring continuously approach perfection.

Radagon, as the incarnation of the Golden Order, naturally could not agree, so their tug-of-war began.

Marika shattered, Radagon mended.

As for whether Marika cared about the Elden Ring being repeatedly broken and played with like this?

Of course not. Just as humans feel no guilt for killing ants, Marika and her kin would feel no guilt for the Elden Ring being repeatedly broken and played with, leading to the deaths of countless ordinary people.

Afterward, the Elden Ring finally shattered, and the Shattering War erupted.

Marika's ultimate plan involving the Tarnished and Melina also came to light.

Melina was born, shaped by the divine essence of Destined Death from the Gloam-Eyed Queen, and the Golden Order aspect of Ranni.

As one aspect of the Erdtree, she was to facilitate the mending of the Elden Ring. As the aspect of Destined Death, she was a contingency, ensuring that if anyone threatened the Elden Ring, Destined Death would be delivered.

(End of Chapter) <>