Lin An exhaled. This world can simply be said to be the mythical hell of Cthulhu. The origin of everything is that the Supreme Will split Taiyi, which represents the state of the universe before the Big Bang.
Taiyi is the Fusion of all things: space, time, matter, soul, stars, life, cause and effect, death, and everything in between. This feat alone is enough to make Greater Will at least the first Tier 10, maybe even the first Tier 11, because there are indeed countless possibilities in this world, thus forming a Multiverse.
This act created life, and the planet that later became the center of this world - Lands Between. Greater Will's second major act was to send a meteor carrying his daughter Mother of Fingers, who would serve as a kind of pope or spokesperson for him on earth. The third major step is to send Elden Beast on a meteor, which will bring Golden Order designed by Greater Will to the world.
In addition to Greater Will, who can be regarded as the highest god, there are also Cthulhu-style monsters called Outer Gods in this world. They have unimaginable power. Since the birth of Lands Between, they have been exerting influence and interference, and any one of them can instantly kill Ian in its current state.
Ian took a deep breath. 'The situation is not too bad. It is obvious that either Greater Will or Outer Gods is trapped in Lightless Void and cannot intervene directly.'
'That's just what you think,' Morgana retorted. 'If you want to complete the task perfectly, you must eliminate all their influence in this world. Who knows if they will suddenly attack you in a rage?'
'It's possible, but it's obvious that there are certain rules that govern Greater Will and Outer Gods. As long as I don't break these rules, they can't directly interfere with my actions.'
'But you don't know the rules.'
'We can find them,' Ian replied.
'Why are you so obsessed with this perfect mission? I'm sure you can find other ways to quickly get to Tier 6, and you are usually much more cautious. I know you are starting to take more risks, but it is obviously not good. Just complete the normal mission and go home. Then, you can continue to lurk in the Samsara Hall and find a way to get that Main God Artifact.'
'Remember when I speculated that the enemy Odin was fighting was a Ancient Gods like Cthulhu?'
'You want to use the Outer Gods of this world to better understand Ancient Gods?'
'That's right,' Ian nodded. 'The research on the ancient aberrations left by Magekind on the seabed has not been going smoothly, and the data from this world may be exactly what we need.'
'This is a good reason, but I have to remind you. An entity like Greater Will is not in passive mode like Samsara Hall. It is likely that it can trace your body through the cause and effect of this clone.'
'I know, it doesn't matter,' Ian replied. His body is Tier 10, which is the basic threshold for dealing with entities of that level. In addition, Greater Will must bypass Marvel Universe's defenses to find him. His body is in Marvel Cinematic Universe instead of his hometown. If anything happens, the situation will be better.
Ian had a preliminary idea of how to carry out tasks in this world. So, he finally had a chance to observe the surrounding environment. He glanced at the bloody woman next to him and frowned. She might be his Finger Maiden, a kind of guide that allows him to use Rune to increase his strength.
So, why did she die? The same thing happened to Tarnished, who eventually took the title of Elden Lord and tried to prevent the world from going to destruction. Even in the messages Ian received, there was no explanation for this, because those messages were also vague. However, there are clues.
'Maybe Melina did it,' Ian thought to himself. 'In this timeline, did she choose me?' He thought about the implications and whether he should accept it. Lands Between's history can be divided into several eras, and Ian is currently in Age of the Erdtree.
After Mother of Fingers came to this world, he created beings named Two Fingers, who became the chosen heroes guided by Greater Will. Before this era, Two Fingers chose Marika as Empyrean, who was the person qualified to become a god. Queen Marika and her first husband Godfrey conquered the world and established Golden Order, which is exactly what Greater Will wanted the world to look like. Marika created Melina for a certain purpose, and she seemed to have chosen Ian to help her.
'In order for the plan to succeed, I need to burn Erdtree and plant my own version, so I have no reason to refuse.' Melina would come in handy, so Ian accepted her help. Finally, he focused on the golden light that only he could see, guiding him out of this church.
'Golden Grace,' Ian thought to himself. This is the Blessing that Elden Ring+ and Erdtree have given to the people of Lands Between. People who have lost this kind of Blessing or guidance in their lives are called Tarnished. His identity is one of the many Tarnished who recently regained Grace and returned to Lands Between to carry out the will of Two Fingers; to be precise, to carry out the will of Greater Will in order to continue the Golden Order that was on the verge of collapse.
Ian slowly walked out of the church, and the first thing that caught his eye was a towering golden tree. You can see it anywhere on the planet - this tree is so huge.
'Erdtree is indeed beautiful,' Ian thought to himself. If he wanted to become Elden Lord and complete the basic tasks, the center of this tree would be his destination.
'You might be able to plant your own Erdtree and create something similar to arcane law,' Morgana suggested.
'That's what I meant,' Lin An replied. The roots of the Golden Tree spread across the Junction, allowing Queen Malika the Goddess to spread the power of the Circle of Elden and control the world. This is why she can decide who receives the blessings and who does not. The key to it all, however, is the Circle of Eldon, which is essentially this powerful rune that allows Queen Malika the Goddess to control certain laws and concepts of the world.
The original idea of Erdtree was good. Through its Grace, people gained talent and Blessing, and Ian also planned to do the same to accelerate the development of the Empire. However, Marika was wrong in that she separated a Rune named Destined Death from Elden Ring+.
Without Destined Death, the people of Lands Between would not die - at least not of old age. And once they died, it would be permanent death. However, this act ossified the world, or Golden Order, and began its decay. Later, when Queen Marika shattered Elden Ring+ in "grief", Golden Order began to truly collapse.
It is not difficult to imagine what kind of mess this planet will encounter after a Divine Artifact that controls the laws of the world is crushed. The main mission of Ian is to reach the center of Erdtree, try to repair Elden Ring+, and continue the Golden Order of Greater Will. The perfect task is to let Golden Order collapse and create his own law.
After admiring the giant tree for a while, Ian followed the golden light to a specific area, where there was a small tree root enshrining a ball of Blink's golden light. He sat down in front of it and waited for something to happen.