Reincarnation's Ruin

"Will this be the last time?..."

A man clad in silver armor murmured, the greatsword in his hand still stained with golden blood.

Before him, a colossal beast of black and gold dissolved into particles of gray, gradually vanishing into the air as a golden light flowed into the man's body.

Golden pillars of light in the sky slowly dissipated, and the entire world gradually returned to its original state, leaving behind only a desolate stone ground.

The ground was covered in countless cracks, the only adornment being numerous golden leaves.

In the center of the platform stood a statue, the statue of the goddess Marika. The statue was on the verge of shattering, and beneath it lay a skull about to break.

The man frowned, and the seductive voice echoed in his mind once more.

"Repair it, repair the Golden Law, and you shall become the Elden Lord. You shall gain eternal life!"

"Shut up!"

The man snorted coldly. His Intelligence and Faith, both at a staggering 99, directly silenced the voice in his mind.

"Become the Elden Lord?"

The man let out a cold laugh.

"I have experienced thousands upon thousands of cycles in the Lands Between. You strengthen their power time and time again, all to control me, aren't you?" The man smiled faintly. "If I'm not mistaken... this is already the limit of what you can do."

"Before the first dozen cycles, their power had already stopped increasing."

"Every cycle, all items are preserved, except... their Great Runes!"

"Their Great Runes have reached their limit for enhancement. This is the only chance I have to break free from you!"

"Even if I die, I, Lin Luo, will never yield to you!"

Lin Luo burst into laughter. For him, death was a luxury he craved, and now, breaking free from the cycle was something he hadn't even dared to dream of. Oh, no, ever since entering the cycle, he didn't even remember what dreaming felt like.

"Whoosh..."

A gust of wind blew from somewhere, carrying countless wails and roars.

Lin Luo inhaled the scent of the wind. He had never found this rusty, bloody smell so wonderful. In this scent, he smelled freedom, and he smelled the rage of the Greater Will.

"You get angry too, don't you? You bind countless souls with the Erdtree, shamelessly speaking of eternal life, yet you never imagined your plan would be shattered by an ant you yourself cultivated!"

Lin Luo raised the greatsword in his hand. It was a weapon forged by the Elden Beast, its divine body turned into a sword.

Weapons materialized from his back: Malenia's Prosthetic Blade, the Starscourage Greatsword, Morgott's Cursed Sword, Godrick's Great Axe...

Countless weapons circled Lin Luo, and runes seeped out from them, slowly merging into his body.

"Crack..."

A faint cracking sound echoed, the sound of shackles being broken.

"Boom!"

A clap of thunder roared, the golden sky turned blood-red, and a ferocious face appeared in the sky.

A massive, blood-red lightning bolt suddenly struck towards Lin Luo.

"Heh..."

Lin Luo looked at the incoming lightning with disdain. He lightly swung the small shield in his left hand, activating the Ash of War—Golden Vow.

Lin Luo's body glowed with golden light. The lightning raged upon him but caused not a ripple.

Lin Luo flickered, instantly appearing before Marika's statue, gripping its shoulder with one hand.

"Disappear, Two Fingers. Your Golden Law is about to shatter!"

"Two Fingers, Greater Will, you cannot control me!"

The aura of the Frenzied Flame erupted behind Lin Luo. After thousands upon thousands of cycles, he could now suppress the Frenzied Flame without Miquella's Needle. Lin Luo embraced the Frenzied Flame with the Mimic Tear. His main body and the Mimic Tear merged, and he could now fully control the Frenzied Flame.

However, this was just the beginning.

Radagon's Great Rune, Godrick's Great Rune, Mohg's Great Rune, Morgott's Great Rune, Starscourage Great Rune, Malenia's Great Rune, Great Rune of the Unborn, Great Rune of Cursed Blight, Regretful Prince's Rune.

Nine different Great Runes appeared in the air.

Streams of blood-red lightning, expressing the rage of the Greater Will, were unable to tear through the immense power of the nine Great Runes. Perhaps it never imagined that the power it created would become its greatest obstacle.

"Damn you, lowly Tarnished! You, like that accursed Marika, dare to try and destroy my Golden Law!"

The Greater Will roared in fury.

"You cannot break the cycle, ant! These are far from enough! Far from enough!"

"Your power is quite impressive..."

Lin Luo sneered, "Unfortunately, I possess a power you have never had."

Lin Luo raised his right hand slightly, and a blood-red ancient fang appeared, exuding an aura of death.

"Blasphemous Claw?"

The Regretful Prince's Rune, the portion of the Death Rune that was once stolen, transformed into a dark red stream of energy and flowed into a black greatsword.

That ancient, dark red fang fit perfectly into the missing part of the greatsword.

An aura of death enveloped Lin Luo as the dark runes merged into his body.

After a moment, his eyes opened. His left eye glowed with what seemed like overflowing golden Frenzied Flame, while his right eye was as still and lifeless as the night sky.

Frenzied Flame, the Death Rune—these were powers that did not belong to the Greater Will.

The Greater Will had sought to create a perfect, unyielding cycle, even going so far as to take pieces of the complete Death Rune and Frenzied Flame to supplement its power. It never imagined that this insignificant ant would obtain these powers time and time again.

To think of defeating it with the very power it had lost was clearly impossible.

And to attempt to break free using only one external power was also clearly futile. Thus, Lin Luo chose a more desperate path. He had no retreat left. Compared to an endless cycle, even death after failure would be a better fate.

"Destined Death!"

A voice of shock echoed through the air. In that moment, it finally panicked. It hadn't expected Lin Luo to be so unpredictable. A Tarnished wielding both Destined Death and Frenzied Flame? This person was truly mad, to a terrifying degree. It finally looked directly at Lin Luo, regarding him as an equal.

The phantom images of the God-Slaying Queen and the Three Fingers appeared behind Lin Luo.

The immense pressure even overshadowed the Greater Will in the air.

"You! You cannot possibly survive!"

The Greater Will's roar reverberated through the air. Countless golden meteors filled the sky, a corner of the world now covered in a sea of stars.

It was beautiful, yet it was filled with deadly peril.

"The Golden Law shall not be defiled! Humble Tarnished, you will pay the price for your foolish actions!"

"Elden Stars!"

Lin Luo let out a great laugh, his eyes becoming incredibly resolute.

"Destined Death!"

He swung his sword fiercely at the Marika Statue.

Black and red sword energy slashed wildly through the air, striking the Marika Statue again and again.

At the same time, the meteors released by the Greater Will reached Lin Luo. The golden meteors exploded around him.

Even with several Great Runes blocking his path, they couldn't completely stop the meteor's explosions.

In contrast, the Marika Statue, seemingly on the verge of shattering, was surprisingly resilient.

"Crack..."

Godrick's Great Rune shattered first. Several meteors seized the opportunity, piercing through and striking Lin Luo's back with force.

Suffering a heavy blow to his back, Lin Luo couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. What spilled out was black and gold.

"Damn, that's weak. I could be tougher than you with a giant lobster."

Lin Luo glanced at Godrick's Rune shattering first and couldn't help but scoff.

Wiping the blood from his lips, Lin Luo took a swig from his flask, feeling his qi and blood stabilize, and continued to raise the Black Sword.

"This is where it ends."

Lin Luo, holding the Black Sword, slowly thrust it into the abdomen of the Marika Statue. The statue was already nearing its breaking point.

Lin Luo dodged a meteor with a tilt of his head and pulled out another weapon with his right hand.

"Eclipse Shotel."

The Greater Will was terrified. Normally, it wouldn't have cared, as Tarnished couldn't use the instant-death effect of Death Blight. However, Lin Luo now possessed nearly the entirety of the Death Rune's power.

"No!"

Lin Luo's lips moved slightly. His fingers indicated he was saying "goodbye."

"Destined Death."

"Death Blight!"

"Ding!..."

The Marika Statue completely shattered. The barren stone ground instantly turned to nothingness. A murky black sphere fell from the Marika Statue, and a vast black hole swallowed everything in an instant...

"Did it work..."

Lin Luo's consciousness slowly faded. He didn't realize that all his stats, at level 99, were beginning to break through...

Thus, the supreme cycle was broken.

(Frenzied Flame does not originate from the Greater Will. Someone told me that the Three Fingers and Two Fingers are both parts of the Greater Will. Yes, but the Frenzied Flame on the Three Fingers does not belong to the Greater Will. The Three Fingers are like the Tarnished and the nomadic peoples, all infected by the Frenzied Flame. It's described in Miquella's Needle: crafted to expel the interference of external deities, and it can suppress the Frenzied Flame. (Information checked, if there are any discrepancies, please comment.))