The golden gate slowly opened.
Xiao did not rush forward.
He knew very well that the Junction before him was not some unclaimed wilderness, but a world once cherished by a being whose authority surpassed imagination. Greed without caution would only invite destruction.
Instead, Xiao calmly condensed a dimensional key, wrapping it in his unique cyber aura, and cast it forward into the Junction.
The moment the key crossed the threshold, it took root within the world's coordinates.
Invisible data lines unfolded, spreading like neural pathways through space and causality. The cyber aura began to analyze the Junction's laws, attempting to establish a foothold from the outside.
A translucent light curtain rose before Xiao's eyes, gradually projecting the internal structure of the world.
But before the image could fully stabilize—
The world itself reacted.
Golden radiance surged violently from the depths of the Junction. Not as a creature, not as a voice, but as law enforcing its own supremacy.
Causality twisted.
Space hardened.
A vast and indescribable pressure descended, crushing down upon the invading cyber aura.
There was no incarnation, no divine figure descending from the sky. Instead, the very order of the world rewrote itself, rejecting the intrusion as a foreign error.
A burst of golden brilliance erupted.
The dimensional key shattered instantly—its structure erased at the level of law.
The cyber aura was torn apart, dispersed before it could even retreat, and the light curtain before Xiao collapsed with a sharp crack, fragments of data scattering like broken glass.
Silence returned.
Xiao stood still, his expression grave.
This was not an attack born of hostility.
It was a system-level rejection.
The Supreme Will had not personally intervened. It had not even "noticed" Xiao in the conventional sense. Rather, the Golden Order itself had responded, automatically eliminating an incompatible framework that attempted to overwrite its authority.
Yet even so, Xiao could clearly feel it—
A warning.
Not spoken in words, but engraved directly into reality.
Do not overestimate yourself.
This is not something you are allowed to touch.
"…So that's how it is."
Xiao let out a slow breath.
In the Junction, the world functioned like a sieve—countless alien forces, gods, and concepts had fallen into it throughout its long history. The Supreme Will no longer bothered to hunt down every intruder.
If something could be erased, it would be erased.
If it could not, it would be buried, sealed, or slowly ground down by the roots of Order itself.
That was the fate of most invaders.
Only beings of truly equivalent authority were worth direct attention.
Compared to that level, Xiao was still far from qualified.
After a long silence, Xiao closed the golden gate once more.
For now, this world was untouchable.
He had no intention of forcing the issue.
The gap between them was too vast—like mud gazing at the clouds. Merely brushing against that pressure had already made him keenly aware of the chasm between his current self and the Supreme Will.
However…
The Supreme Will's continued dominance within the Junction also revealed something crucial.
This world was still in the Golden Order era.
Queen Marika had not yet shattered the Elden Ring. The Golden Law still permeated everything, flawlessly covering heaven and earth.
In such an era, an existence like Xiao—foreign, incompatible, carrying an alien framework—would naturally be treated as heresy.
It was no wonder that the "other Xiao" of this world had died so quietly.
Under a complete Golden Order, even a fragment of Da Luo authority could be suppressed, erased, or assimilated before it ever had the chance to grow.
Xiao's gaze darkened.
His lost Dao Fruit fragments were likely no longer wandering freely.
They were either embedded within a warrior favored by grace…
or had already been absorbed into the structure of Order itself, becoming a dormant component of the Elden Ring's system.
The power system of the Supreme Will was not raw strength.
It was Law.
A unique framework that governed existence itself.
The Golden Order possessed three terrifying characteristics:
Extension.
Through blessings, it could spread its influence endlessly.
Overwrite.
Through runes, it could force incompatible powers to conform.
Stabilization.
Through Order, it could lock the world into a fixed, absolute structure.
Those blessed by the Erdtree did not plunder power from others.
Instead, they converted conquered existence into runes—a form of power fully compatible with the Golden Order.
This was not theft.
It was transformation.
Everything was reduced into fuel for Order.
Countless warriors fought beneath the Erdtree's light, driven by promises of grace and purpose, forging an unparalleled golden age.
To consolidate this dominance, Marika chose the strongest among them—the peerless warrior Godfrey—and crowned him Elden Lord.
Under his banner, the blessed armies waged war across the Lands Between, defeating ancient dragons, giants, demi-humans, serpents, and rival gods alike.
Not by erasing them entirely, but by stripping their authority, suppressing them beneath the earth, and reshaping their remnants into runes.
The Elden Ring itself was not forged from stolen laws.
It was the embodiment of Order—a supreme framework rearranged and governed by Marika under the authority of the Supreme Will.
The Great Runes were merely its fragments.
Later, when the age of conquest ended, Marika withdrew grace from Godfrey and his warriors.
Not as punishment.
But because their role had been fulfilled.
Stripped of guidance, they were exiled beyond the Lands Between, becoming the first Tarnished—seeds cast into darkness, waiting for a future era when Order would need to be reclaimed.
Standing outside the Junction, Xiao finally understood the danger.
Within a world governed entirely by Order, even a Da Luo fragment could be overwritten—its expression sealed, its power reduced to a dormant rune.
Yet its true nature would remain hidden.
Invisible to all except Xiao himself.
Even if seized by the Supreme Will, it would be nothing more than an inert component.
And when Xiao touched it again…
It would awaken.
And perhaps—
Bring back something extra along with it.
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