To the Greater Will, the Lands Between were nothing less than its heart's treasure—
a cherished junction of worlds, lovingly curated and endlessly admired.
Therefore, the Supreme Will bestowed upon the Lands Between a perfect order known as the Golden Order.
Within this order, the Rune of Death—Destined Death—was forcibly removed, severing the concept of true death from the world itself.
Under this distorted law, gods and demigods could no longer truly die. What the Supreme Will regarded as perfection and eternity was, in truth, a world trapped in a false immortality, where life could continue endlessly—but never truly end.
But eternity, as it turns out, is not a blessing for all.
What the Greater Will deemed beautiful was never what the mortals of the Lands Between desired.
In a world where class had long since solidified and fate was immutable, the common folk did not yearn for endless life. What they longed for was eternal rest.
For those at the bottom, survival itself was already purgatory.
To live forever under such conditions was nothing short of endless torture.
Only nobles—those who adored immortality and worshiped the Golden Law—flocked toward eternity. And naturally, such people were never among the oppressed.
The Night of the Black Knives became the turning point of the entire world.
Though no blade could truly kill a god under the Golden Order, the assassins wielding fragments of Destined Death succeeded in erasing Godwyn the Golden's soul, leaving behind only a cursed, undying corpse.
Long before that night, Queen Marika had extracted the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring and entrusted it to her shadow, Maliketh, sealing it away so that death itself would never again touch the Lands Between.
Yet even this absolute safeguard was breached. Through conspiracy and betrayal, fragments of the Rune of Death were stolen and forged into god-slaying black blades—tools capable of killing even those blessed by the Golden Order.
And Godwyn, as the Golden Law's favored heir, had been granted immortality itself.
Godwyn's soul was completely annihilated by the god-killing Black Knife—but his body, sustained by the warped remnants of the Golden Law, continued to live.
Life and death clashed violently within him, intertwining in contradiction until he became something utterly unrecognizable—
The first of the Those Who Live in Death.
Godwyn's fall exposed the fatal flaw within the Golden Law of Eternity and unleashed undeath upon the world.
Unable to bear the agony of losing her son, Queen Marika committed the ultimate act of betrayal.
She shattered the Elden Ring itself.
With that single act, the authority of the Greater Will over the Lands Between collapsed.
Fragments of the Elden Ring—Great Runes—scattered across the world, and a flawless land began to rot from within. Order crumbled. Beauty faded. Perfection unraveled.
Enraged, the Greater Will imprisoned Marika.
Her divine offspring—demigods by blood—each claimed a Great Rune, seeking greater power. Each believed themselves worthy of replacing their mother and ascending as the new God-King.
Thus began the long and brutal conflict known as the Shattering War.
The Shattering War that followed proved a bitter disappointment to the Supreme Will.
The demigods, entrusted with Great Runes, did not restore order or beauty to the Lands Between. Instead, their endless wars reduced the world to ruin.
Displeased, the Supreme Will withdrew its direct intervention, no longer guiding the world with clear intent. Though traces of its influence remained, its gaze turned away, leaving the Lands Between to decay beneath a broken order.
Yet absence breeds opportunity.
With the Greater Will's gaze withdrawn, ancient Outer Gods—long suppressed beneath the Golden Tree—began to stir. Each selected their own champions, their own vessels, and entered the Shattering, plunging the world into even deeper chaos.
In desperation, Marika's last lingering will called back her discarded warriors—
The Tarnished.
And thus, the events of Elden Ring began.
Even through the game's narrative alone, Xiao could glimpse only the faintest outline of the Greater Will—
yet it was enough to inspire profound dread.
At his current level, opposing such an existence was nothing more than delusion.
One glance at the disparity between them made the conclusion obvious:
he was in no way its equal.
If Xiao were in the Greater Will's position, he would never abandon such a junction of worlds. Even total destruction would be preferable—breaking it down into pure energy and reclaiming its value—rather than discarding it outright.
Just imagining the treasures, laws, and extraordinary powers within the Lands Between made Xiao's mouth go dry.
And yet, the Greater Will cast it aside without hesitation.
Calling it "wealthy" was no longer sufficient. Only a true god could squander power so freely.
For Xiao, however, this abandonment was an opportunity beyond price.
Once the Greater Will's attention fully withdrew, the Lands Between would become an ownerless treasure.
A perfect target.
The Greater Will might be rich enough to discard worlds like refuse—
But Xiao was poor.
And poor people cherish scraps.
If a god threw away a miracle, Xiao would gladly pick it up.
Still, before acting, one crucial question remained:
Where in the timeline was the Lands Between?
He would not move until the Greater Will's disappointment was absolute—until its gaze was fully turned away.
After all, even discarded things inspire possessiveness.
A thing may be worthless to you—
until someone else reaches for it.
And if Xiao moved too early, what awaited him would not be opportunity, but annihilation.
A single golden meteor, cast casually from beyond the heavens, could seal him forever.
Xiao wasn't afraid of impact—
he feared sealing.
After all, the Greater Will had imprisoned countless gods.
And Xiao had no certainty that even the Da Luo Dao Fruit could escape such authority.
Against an existence that could grant eternity to all life at will…
A handful of fragments meant nothing.
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