I had a goal. No, I should say I had a comrade who would help me reach that goal. After leaving the tent, I climbed the snowy mountains in the north, killing giants and gathering runes. Then my repetitive routine of returning began once more.
It was tedious.
In the middle of that routine, a faint golden thread flew through the air toward me and delivered a command directly into my mind: "Bring me the king." Marika, you bitch.
"Bad language."
Wait, she could hear that too?
At the center of Farum, where I went to carry out the message, there was exactly what I had been told to expect: an ancient dragon with four heads. That was Placidusax, king of the dragons and the current ruler of this world. It was the beginning of a long relationship with him.
How the hell was I supposed to beat that thing?
My bloody battle with him consumed an absurd amount of time. By the latter half, I had fought in a complete trance. My longtime beloved longsword was shattered to pieces in that battle as well.
But in return, I had carved up his entire body and severed two of his heads. In the end, it was my victory. A win was a win, and after carrying out every order, I went to Marika in the city people had built around her.
It was obvious that Marika was delighted to see me return victorious. Well, it was good news, after all.
"I knew my eye for talent was not wrong. At last, all my efforts have borne fruit. I will never do something like this again. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to fill that empty head of yours?"
Yes, yes. She had really drilled it into me, but it had come in handy this time.
Using [Golden Lightning Fortification] had made the fight at least somewhat survivable.
Without it, I would have had to give up on getting close while taking hits.
"To commemorate your survival, I am thinking of giving you some new armor. What would you like? Gold would suit you best, wouldn't it?"
Why gold?
It would not suit me.
"But I want to wear it."
No, thanks.
Instead, read my thoughts and have something like this made for me.
"...So you looked ordinary too. I will tell the blacksmiths."
I thought it was a memory from the last time I died. By then, though, I could not even tell what kind of memory it was, or whether it had been mine to begin with. I must have been here far too long.
My life of gathering runes and returning whenever I had enough continued, until my growth through runes finally reached its limit. By then, I had no equals left. Even Maliketh, whom I fought whenever we met, could no longer stand against me.
And at last, the kingdom Marika had spoken of had risen in Leyndell. Maliketh had supposedly sealed Destined Death, but what was that supposed to mean?
He had sharpened his blade properly.
"Prepare yourself, damn knight."
As soon as Leyndell was founded, it began with a wedding. Marika became both god and queen, while Hoarah Loux, the man I had once brought back, became king. He changed his name to Godfrey, and on his back clung the beast Serosh, burdened with the weight of his crown.
Marika said that thing suppressed his desire for battle. Come to think of it, he had not charged at me lately. Hoarah Loux had an obnoxiously strong competitive streak, so I supposed it worked out well. Then, on the day of the wedding...
Marika. This is the first step toward what you have always wanted.
"Yes."
Are you wearing the same clothes?
"Yes. You said this outfit was beautiful."
Did I?
For a while, grand festivities continued throughout the kingdom. After the wedding was over, Marika introduced me to her family, saying I was not her slave but her knight.
The looks I was getting were painful. What did I do? Still, becoming a knight instead of a slave had not changed what I actually did. It just sounded better on the surface.
"Isn't that obvious? You have always been at my side, so I should introduce you as my knight. There is nothing for you to do right now, so protect me like a knight should. Yes, Knight of Eternity would be a fitting title."
...Did that mean she intended to work me all day long?
Even without that, I would work hard if she would just let me go home.
When are you going to put in the rest of my [Elden Ring]?
"...I will put that in later. First, I filled your head with prayers of the Golden Law, so try filling it with some knowledge now. Knowledge simply refuses to stay in your head. Calling you slow would be giving you too much credit. You can wield any weapon as you please, so why can't you use your head?"
I did not know either.
All she ever did was nag me.
Time passed once more. But after I became an official knight, all that passing time brought was war, war, and more war. The Ancient Dragon War, when the lizards invaded. The Liurnian War, which that bastard Radagon had started. And the war against the giants in the north.
And countless Outer Gods creeping in from the shadows.
No matter how many of them I killed, there was no end to them.
While I was away fighting those wars, Radagon had apparently made peace with the Queen of Liurnia. Then he ruined it and crawled back to Leyndell. So I carved him up. He only stopped when he changed into Marika at the end.
"We are almost there. Once this is over, most of my enemies will be gone. I am nearly done preparing your return, so wait a little longer."
By then, the only enemies Marika had left were the giants, who had yet to be defeated. Godfrey led an expedition and defeated the Storm Lord, but afterward Marika took away his grace.
Godfrey was reduced to one of the Pale Ones and was exiled from the Lands Between alongside his kin, who had also lost their grace.
With no king left, the time came to choose a new one. Radagon, who had married Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, abandoned his consort and married Marika, becoming the second Elden Lord.
But when was I going home?
Whenever Marika told someone to wait, she meant at least several hundred years.
I wanted to go home and rest.
After countless wars, the Golden Law became the ruling order of the age, and the era Marika wanted had arrived.
Later, I did not know how, but Marika gave birth to twins on her own. Both of them were strange. One bore Scarlet Rot, the Outer God I had sealed long ago, while the other would not grow. Were gods not supposed to make their creations properly? Was it because she had done it alone?
Why did it feel like everything was on the verge of going wrong?
As if to prove my unease right, Godwyn suddenly died. But something was wrong with him. Why did it seem like he was still moving even though he was dead?
...
As it turned out, Marika's dog had had part of the Rune of Death stolen from him. The Black Knives, Marika's own kin, assassinated countless demigods, beginning with Godwyn. Naturally, Marika had known about it. Had her goal not been to make the Golden Law the ruling order?
After Godwyn died, Marika summoned me separately and explained her plan, as well as the way I could return home.
So this really is the end, right?
If I do this, I can go home?
Is that why you sent Godfrey away?
What are you going to do after destroying that thing called the [Elden Ring]?
I still do not want to send you away like this, my friend.
"From now on, I will use the guidance of grace to show the Pale Ones their path. And I should put the last remaining one into you."
This?
It would not be strange in this situation, would it?
So this is the last time we will see each other?
That is a little disappointing.
"No. There is nothing to be disappointed about."
Huh? What are you ta—?
She suddenly pulled me close by the neck, and Marika's lips met mine. She had not done this during our first kiss, but this time, she teased every corner of my mouth.
As though she were coating my entire mouth with her saliva. At the same time, pain began to radiate from my [Elden Ring] again. Come to think of it, she had said I was empty, which made me good for experiments. What was she trying to do in secret from that bastard now?
When the long process involving the [Elden Ring] finally ended, our lips separated, joined by a thin silver thread. It stretched as though neither of us wanted to let go, before finally snapping. Marika spoke first.
"...I am going into the Erdtree now to destroy the [Elden Ring]. Radagon, the Golden Law's dog, will keep trying to stop me, but it does not matter. Once the [Elden Ring] is destroyed, I will meet death. Or perhaps sleep would be more accurate. And Radagon will take possession of this body."
...
"I put an [Elden Ring] into you that will remember my memories. As long as my body remains alive, I will probably be bound to it forever. Even if I want to destroy it, the Erdtree and Radagon will do everything they can to prevent me.
Ah, but your [Elden Ring] will not fade. It is your rule, and our promise. So... see you later? This time, save me, my one and only knight."
...Of course.
You are my queen.
Just wait a little longer. I will come save you soon.
This is both a promise and my oath.
With that, I went down on one knee, kissed the back of Marika's hand, and rose again. Then she took away my grace, the golden shimmer in my eyes vanished, and I faded.
Marika embraced me briefly, and I gently stroked the back of her head. They say even resentment can grow into affection. We shared a short yet long embrace, and she entered the Erdtree.
Afterward, I became one of the Pale Ones, and the [Elden Ring] was shattered. Time passed, and the War of the Shattering began.
After that, all that remained was a war of wounds, with no victor.
After that, the Pale Ones entered the Lands Between.
After that, the selection of the king who would slay a god began.
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