"The Valkyrie? And she appeared alongside me?"
Gawain was momentarily stunned, but he knew for a fact that the 'Valkyrie' she spoke of was Millicent, not Malenia. He had absolutely no desire to get involved with that particular demigod.
To put it another way, he could get along just fine with Melina, but if it were that lunatic Queen Marika—who would smash the world to pieces the moment things didn't go her way—he'd rather pass.
"I see. Is that why the mural outside only depicts me?"
Avina nodded, a look of nostalgic longing surfacing in her eyes as she gazed at the scene on the wall.
"Since the title of Valkyrie is destined to appear at a specific point in the future, we naturally couldn't let the Golden Order learn of her visage ahead of time. Honestly, these murals shouldn't have been left behind. My duty all this time should have been to stand guard over everything and wait quietly for your return. But... I was afraid. Afraid that I would forget your face, and forget the promise we made that day."
Gawain found himself at a loss for words. After all, the current him hadn't experienced any of the deeds she mentioned; he didn't even know how he was supposed to have traveled back to such a distant past.
"I'm sorry. I haven't experienced any of the things you're talking about yet. But... thank you for holding on for so long."
"There is no need for apologies. You already saved me in the past. To me, at least, that history is real. Moreover, this was not merely for the sake of our promise; it was so that the Nox civilization, which fell apart long ago, could rise once more in the Lands Between. Those great sacrifices should never be forgotten."
"Then, could you tell me what happened back then? As someone who lived through it, I'd like to hear your perspective."
"Of course. Though, at the time, I was merely a nobody. I was saved by you during that great calamity and only later rose to the position I hold now. Therefore, I can only tell you the fragments of the truth that I know."
"That's enough for me."
Inside the Dark Ring, the Fire Keeper silently watched everything unfolding outside. It was indeed a grand, sweeping tale, but her attention was elsewhere.
Traveling to the distant past? She knew the Ashen One was not yet capable of such a feat on his own. If that were the case, he must have relied on some form of external assistance.
Turning around, she gave a light wave of her hand, distancing herself from the other souls and moving toward a secluded corner. Before her stood an ancient tree flickering with embers. So, he was hiding here after all.
"Does this have something to do with you?" she asked softly. "The First Scholar of Lothric? Or should I call you the stowaway?"
Realizing he could no longer remain hidden, the branches of the ancient tree trembled violently. Amidst a burst of flame, they coalesced into the silhouette of a head and half a shoulder.
"Ah, so I've been found out. As expected of the Fire Keeper who extinguished the First Flame alongside the Ash. Truly impressive."
"However, you need not worry. I am merely a witness, waiting for the true King to make his choice in the future."
The Fire Keeper recalled the last thing she had seen before leaving the Kiln of the First Flame. At the very moment her soul was about to follow the Ashen One to this strange new world, countless branches had surged from the earth, shielding her from the encroaching Sea of Humanity. It was in that moment that he had come here with her.
She knew his identity well enough, but she simply hadn't cared to acknowledge a stranger with whom she had no prior connection. She commanded everything within this space, but today's events were clearly linked to him.
"The true King? The Ashen One has already made the correct choice. The beautiful lies of the world can no longer be sustained; it is time for the world to return to its true form."
Aldia did not argue. Whether it was the Undead he had once set his sights on or the final King of the Age of Fire, in his eyes, they had all made appropriate choices while struggling against a twisted world. But it seemed that was not the end.
"Look at this beautiful place. Unlike other Undead, the Ash has brought a world of warmth and brilliance before your eyes. But that does not mean you can rest easy."
Images of the corners of this world he had observed flashed through Aldia's mind. As a stowaway without permission, he—who could even inhabit a Bonfire—had his own ways of watching the outside world. He had concluded that this seemingly perfect world was also rife with lies and cruelty.
"I once sought to break the shackles of reality, but I failed. Now, I am still waiting for the final answer. The Ash will face another choice in the future. Beyond light and dark, what is it that awaits us? I am still waiting."
"So, I take it you intend to help him in the future?"
"At the very least, I will assist him until the moment he makes the right choice."
"On the condition that he consents," the Fire Keeper replied, turning to leave. "I do not wish for you to bring your twisted techniques into this world. He will not accept them, and neither will I."
She only needed that guarantee. As for what choice the Ashen One would make in the future, she would support him as she always had.
"It all began with our Nox 'Godhood Ceremony.'"
"Your own Godhood Ceremony?"
Avina's opening sentence left Gawain a bit bewildered. This was the first time he'd heard of a path to godhood outside the system of the Golden Order.
In his memory, Marika only became a god after winning the War against the Giants alongside the First Elden Lord.
The system of the Lands Between seemed capable of supporting multiple Empyreans at once. Much like the Shattering, it was a race where only the final victor earned the right to godhood, as each Empyrean corresponded to a different Order.
But now it seemed that becoming a god might not be as difficult as he'd imagined. After all, a god was just a vessel for the Ring, and the game never explicitly showed how Marika herself ascended.
In all the game's endings, becoming Lord meant either Marika remained as one's consort, or someone like Ranni directly seized the Elden Ring from within Marika to establish her own Order. (The Frenzied Flame was the exception—it was an Outer God of chaos that just wanted to burn everything, so there was no 'Order' to speak of.)
After a brief pause, Avina continued her story.
"Indeed. From the moment humanity began to look up at the stars, the primal glintstone sorcerers realized the connection between the Elden Ring and the heavens.
In the distant past, the Greater Will sent a golden star and a beast to the Lands Between, which is said to have later become the Elden Ring.
That beast, however, was a hideous, misshapen creature. She is the Mother of many Fingers, the one who controls all. We call her Metyr, the Mother of Fingers."
"Metyr, Mother of Fingers? What on earth is that!?"
Gawain was getting dizzy from the rapid-fire lore drops. How much did he actually not know about the Lands Between? Now even the mother of the Fingers was involved? Wait... those Fingercreepers he saw on the mural earlier... were they her offspring too?
"Are you saying the Two Fingers don't take orders directly from the Greater Will, but from this so-called Mother of Fingers? But then why is there no trace of her in the Lands Between now?"
He'd had his suspicions after seeing the behavior of the Fingercreepers—that the Two Fingers might operate on a similar biological logic—but having it confirmed that there was a 'Mother' was chaotic.
Logically, even if such a being died, it shouldn't have vanished so completely. After all, the Golden Order functioned under the guidance of the Two Fingers. Unless someone deliberately hid her existence... but why would the Fingers allow that?
"Indeed. In my memory, she claimed to be the 'radiant daughter' of the Greater Will. At first, we believed her. Most believed she was an envoy sent by that Great Presence to guide us.
We relied on our observations and understanding of her to create an unprecedentedly brilliant civilization. Before her arrival, we could only rely on the naked eye to observe the distant stars and fallen glintstone remnants to understand the essence of the world's workings."
Gawain conceded that point. Whether it was glintstone sorcery or incantations, almost everything was a gift from the stars. For the people of the Lands Between, the deeper their understanding of the cosmos, the greater the power they wielded.
"Then she sounds like she was actually quite good for you. So what happened later to make you rebel against her?"
Gawain found it strange. To be honest, even now, he couldn't quite understand Marika's actions. On the surface, both the Two Fingers and the Mother of Fingers provided tangible benefits to those below.
The Mother of Fingers helped the Nox build a glorious civilization; the Two Fingers helped Marika become a god. Comparatively speaking, the civilizations they built were somewhat 'human.'
Looking at the ruins on the Mountaintops of the Giants, the primitive era of the Lands Between under the sway of various bizarre Outer Gods—like the Fell God of Flame or the Outer God of Rot—seemed far more monstrous.
And yet, the Nox created the Fingerslayer Blade to commit high treason, and Marika chose to shatter the Ring and upend the table. Both chose self-destruction at the very peak of their power.
Avina sighed. She hadn't understood why the leaders of that time made such a choice either, but after finding some remnant scrolls later, she began to grasp the truth behind it.
"Everything has a price. We still do not truly understand what kind of existence the Greater Will is, nor do we know if it possesses free will or any love for its creations.
But of one thing we are certain: the Mother of Fingers lost her connection to the Greater Will from the very beginning. Perhaps she suffered some unknown damage when she fell to the Lands Between. The Elden Ring itself was never within her grasp.
Guiding our development was merely a means to complete a Godhood Ceremony—to manifest her own will through the Elden Ring.
You should know that when the Two Fingers choose Empyreans, without exception, those candidates must first possess their own Order."
Gawain thought back to the known Empyreans. Malenia had been haunted by rot since childhood. Ranni, under her mother's guidance, encountered her Dark Moon in her youth.
As for the most mysterious one, Miquella—while his specific Order remained unclear—the stories of St. Trina suggested he likely possessed his own representative Order from a young age (perhaps the legendary 'Unalloyed' or 'Gentle' Order).
"I know that after becoming the vessel for the Elden Ring, one can manifest their own Order. But what does that have to do with the Mother of Fingers?"
"Think a little deeper and you will understand. The Empyreans rely on the Great Runes in their hands to manifest their Order. By combining a Great Rune infused with their own Law with the Elden Ring—the world's physical logic—the Order of the Lands Between is changed.
But have you ever wondered... why did the Elden Ring, which was originally a single entity, shatter into so many Great Runes in the first place?"
Hearing the question, it suddenly clicked for Gawain. This must be the "Zeroth Shattering" that existed only in theories. In the subsequent 'battle royale' of history, whether it was the Gloam-Eyed Queen or Marika, they—just like the demigods of the later Shattering War—held pieces of the Great Runes.
"I see. You said the Mother of Fingers was 'broken' from the start and couldn't control the Elden Ring. So, she needed to nurture a suitable vessel to carry out her will.
But back then, the Ring was a perfect, whole entity. Once your people realized this, you created the Fingerslayer Blade and other means capable of harming her. In the process, you smashed the complete Ring. That was the 'treason' you committed, wasn't it?"
A spark of pride lit up Avina's eyes. Only the Nox could have conceived such a mad plan. Though they met with a terrible calamity, looking back through history, their victory was unparalleled.
Leaning down, she picked a silver leaf of Dewkissed Herba.
"A very accurate deduction. Much like the plants growing in this Eternal City, life is shaped by its environment.
We do not know how the Greater Will created something as magnificent as the Ring, but in its essence, it is a product of the stars—not fundamentally different from the glintstone that falls from the sky.
Our original plan was simple: to escape the shackles of that twisted existence and return the Lands Between to the lives that inhabit it. Even if the Greater Will brought life to this land, we refused to accept the control of its so-called 'radiant daughter.'
The massive amount of Runes resulting from the shattered Ring dispersed everywhere. Under the influence and assimilation of long ages, they have long since become one with the life of the Lands Between. Even a mere mortal can create their own Great Rune through their own wisdom. In this way, even if we ultimately failed, hope remains."
Gawain finally understood why the Nox had bet their entire race's future on this.
It was the best opportunity they ever had. As long as they could shatter the Ring and thwart the Mother of Fingers' plan, then regardless of the outcome, someone would eventually create their own Great Rune to repair the Ring and manifest their own Order.
The downside was obvious: it could easily lead to a 'bug' in the rules like the Golden Order, affecting every lifeform within the Law. But at least that was better than being a puppet for the incomprehensible Mother of Fingers forever.
The ancient history of the Lands Between was finally unfolding before Gawain, but it only brought more questions. For now, he picked the one he was most concerned about.
"What about the Two Fingers? After you did all that, and while they were still around, why is there no trace of the Mother of Fingers left in the Lands Between?"
Avina turned back to the mural and pointed to several hidden details. In those obscured corners, the silhouettes of the Two Fingers appeared. They seemed entirely indifferent to their mother's fate.
"Protecting one's mother sounds like something a child should do... but I fear that was merely a one-sided wishful belief held by the Mother herself."
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Elden Ring: In the Name of Ash (201 chapter - Ongoing)
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