Chapter 701: The Lands Between
Happy 700th Chapter
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Edward exhaled. This world could be described as a Lovecraftian Horror Hell. Everything started when the Greater Will divided the One Great, which was a state of the universe before the Big Bang. The One Great is an amalgamation of everything: space, time, matter, soul, stars, life, causality, death, and everything in between. Such a feat alone places the Greater Will at least Tier 10, and possibly Tier 11, since this world does have numerous possibilities, hence a multiverse.
This action created life, and the planet that became the center of this world, The Lands Between. The second major act of the Greater Will was to send a star bearing his daughter, Metyr, who would serve as a kind of his pope or representative in the world. The third major act was to send the Elden Beast riding a star, which would bring a Golden Order to the world as designed by the Greater Will.
Besides the Greater Will, which could be considered the highest god, this world also has these Lovecraftian creatures known as the Outer Gods, with unimaginable power. They have been influencing and messing with the Lands Between since its inception, and all of them can wipe out Edward at a glance in his current state.
Edward took a deep breath. ’It’s not that bad. It’s obvious the Greater Will or the Outer Gods are stuck in the Lightless Void and cannot directly interfere.’
’As far as you know,’ Morgan rebutted. ’If you want to achieve the Perfect Mission, you must eliminate all their influences in the world. Who knows if they won’t get angry and suddenly attack you?’
’That’s possible, but it’s obvious certain rules bind the Greater Will and the Outer Gods. As long as I don’t break them, they cannot directly interfere with what I do.’
’But you don’t know these rules.’
’We can find them,’ Edward replied.
’Why are you so adamant about this perfect mission? I’m sure you could find another way to quickly rise to Tier 6, and you’re usually way more cautious in doing things. I understand that you are starting to take more risks, but there is no obvious benefit to be gained here. Just do the normal mission and return home. Then, you continue your task of infiltrating the Samsara Hall and get the Lord God Artifact.’
’Remember when I theorized the war Odin was fighting was against Eldritch Gods like Cthulhu?’
’You want to use this world’s Outer Gods to better understand the Eldritch Gods?’
’Yes,’ Edward nodded. ’The study of the Eldritch Abomination that the Magus Race left under the ocean hasn’t been going well, and the data from this world might be exactly what we need.’
’That’s a good reason, but I should warn you. Entities like the Greater Will are not like the passive mode of the Samsara Hall. It can probably trace the causality of this clone to your real body.’
’I know, and it’s fine,’ Edward replied. His true body was Tier 10, which was the basic level for dealing with entities of that level. Additionally, the Greater Will would have to bypass the defense of the Marvel Universe to get to him. The fact that his body was in the MCU instead of home was better in case something occurred.
Edward had a brief idea of how he would go about his mission in this world. So, he finally had an opportunity to observe his surroundings. He glanced at the bloody woman next to him and frowned. She was probably his Finger Maiden, which is a guide that allowed him to use runes to increase his strength.
So, why was she dead? The same situation appeared to the Tarnished, who eventually acquired the title of Elden Lord and tried to keep this world from plunging into destruction. There is no explanation, even in the information Edward received, since they were equally vague. However, there were clues.
’Melina probably did it,’ Edward thought. ’Has she chosen me in this timeline?’ He pondered the implications and whether he should accept. The Lands Between can be divided into ages, and Edward was currently in the Erdtree Age.
After Metyr arrived in this world, she created something called the Two Fingers, who became the guided chosen heroes of the Greater Will. Before this era, the Two Fingers chose Merika as an Empyrean, or someone who can ascend to Godhood. Queen Merika conquered the world with her first husband, Godfrey, and established the Golden Order, which was the Greater Will that the Greater Will wanted for this world to look like. Merika created Melina for a purpose, and she seemed to have chosen Edward to help her.
’For the plan to work, I will need to burn the Erdtree and plant my own version, so I don’t see why not.’ Melina can be of great use, so Edward accepted her help. Finally, he focused on the golden light that he could only see, guiding him outside this church.
’The Grace of Gold,’ Edward thought. This was a blessing received from the Elden Ring and the Erdtree to the people of the Lands Between. People who do not have this blessing or guidance in their lives are known as Tarnished. His identity was one of the many Tarnished who had recently been regranted this blessing and returned to the Lands Between to do the bidding of the Two Fingers; to be specific, the bidding of the Greater Will in continuing the Golden Order, which was on the verge of collapsing.
Edward slowly walked out of the church, and the first thing that caught his attention was a towering golden tree that rose deep into the sky. It could be seen anywhere on this planet — that’s how big the tree was.
’The Erdtree is quite beautiful,’ Edward thought. The center of the tree is his destination if he wants to become the Elden Lord and pass the basic mission.
’You might want to plant your own Erdtree and create something like the Arcane Order,’ Morgana suggested.
’I was just thinking this,’ Edward replied. The roots of the Erdtree spread throughout the Lands Between, allowing God Queen Merika to spread the power of the Elden Ring and control the world. That’s how she can determine who receives her grace or not. The key to everything, though, is the Eldin Ring, which is basically this powerful rune that allows Queen God Merika to control certain laws and concepts of the world.
The idea of the Erdtree was a good one at its inception. Through its blessing, the people received gifts and blessings, which Edward plans to do to accelerate the Empire’s growth. However, where Merika went wrong was that she separated a rune from the Elden Ring called Destined Death.
Without Destined Death, the people of the Lands Between do not die — at least not of old age. And when they died, it was permanent. However, such an act turned the world — or the Golden Order — stale and started its decay. Then, the Golden Order started to truly crumble when Queen Merika — in an act of "grief" — shattered the Elden Ring.
It’s not hard to imagine the fuckery that happened to this planet after an artifact that controls its laws was shattered. Edward’s main mission is to reach the center of the Erdtree and try to fix the Elden Ring and continue the Greater Will’s Golden Order. The Perfect Mission is to allow the Golden Order to crumble and create his own.
After admiring the tree for a moment, Edward followed the golden light to a specific area, where a small stump of roots enshrined a luminous gold light. He sat down in front of it and waited for something to happen.
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[AN: I hope I did a good enough job at explaining the lore to readers not familiar with Elden Ring Lore.]