A strange visual filter made the scene before him seem like an elusive, insubstantial dream. He could not make any sense of what was happening. Hadn't he fallen asleep?
"Am I... dreaming? Or is this an enemy ambush?" The Tarnished kept a wary eye on his surroundings.
"Please don't be nervous, Tarnished. I mean you no harm..." A young girl's voice, exquisitely sweet and almost heavenly, drifted toward him from all around.
"Hmm?" Unable to pinpoint its source, the Tarnished simply looked straight ahead. "Why not come out and meet me?"
"Yes, that was rude of me." There was a hint of apology in the girl's voice.
"You're the only Tarnished I've been able to contact lately. I've been watching you for a long time... ever since the Chapel of Anticipation..." The gray mist ahead gradually solidified into what looked like a doorway shining with golden light. A girl stepped out. Though she still looked young, that did nothing to diminish her astonishing, otherworldly beauty. In all his years, the Tarnished had never seen anyone with such a face. Even Marika seemed somewhat inferior to the girl before him.
She wore a long white dress, with her pale golden hair woven into braids. Her bright eyes reflected a brilliant golden radiance, pure and lively.
"Are you from the Golden Dynasty?" The Tarnished folded his arms and studied the girl before him. Judging by her height, she was only a little girl, but her aura was anything but ordinary. Having met plenty of golden nobles, he understood that the aura of golden runes surrounding them and those of pure royal blood was completely different from that of other beings.
That was because they held immense quantities of golden runes within them, enjoying the Erdtree's blessings at close range. Yet the power of the runes this girl possessed surpassed that of many nobles and even members of the royal family. If he had to describe her, she had the makings of a Demigod.
"..." The girl's small mouth fell slightly open. She seemed surprised that her identity had been exposed, astonished by the Tarnished's perceptiveness.
"You could think of me that way." The girl did not deny it, merely smiling serenely.
"How did you pull me into this dream? Was it through the flowers around me?" The Tarnished quickly sorted through the clues he had and reached a conclusion. The girl before him must have possessed some ability to control dreams, with those Tranquilizing Flowers serving as the medium.
"As expected of a battle-hardened... Tarnished. You guessed everything right!" The girl beamed and clapped her hands playfully, looking utterly adorable.
"Hmm? What's this?" Seeing the girl behave that way, he felt an inexplicable power creep into his mind. His awareness grew hazy, but the Tarnished caught it almost immediately.
"Ah, a charm. Now that's an interesting ability." The Tarnished struck his own temple with his palm. The violent impact left him dizzy, but at least that sense of wrongness had vanished.
"I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." The girl, who had been so cheerful a moment ago, now looked deeply dejected.
"..." The Tarnished said nothing, simply staring at the girl before him. He truly sensed no malice from her-unless she could control even his thoughts.
"You can't control that power of yours, can you?" The Tarnished soon figured out the reason. Some people carried troublesome powers they themselves could not control.
"No... I'm sorry, Tarnished." The girl lowered her head in guilt.
"Forget it. I don't sense any malice from you anyway. Why don't you tell me what you pulled me into this dream for?" The Tarnished waved it off indifferently.
"Ah, well, I have something I'd like to ask a Tarnished returning to the Lands Between to help me with."
"Oh? Aren't you all hostile toward the Tarnished? Especially the royal family." A faint smile curled the Tarnished's lips.
"I think... discrimination is wrong. Whether they're Misbegotten, Demi-Humans, Tarnished, or anyone else, everyone is part of this vast web of life. Hostility toward one another only brings more sorrow... And for some reason, I really like your aura... It makes me feel very safe."
"Let me make this clear first: I'm not interested in little girls." There were no laws in the Lands Between, but he still had to stick to his own principles.
"Huh?" The girl tilted her head in confusion.
"..."
"P-please don't think anything strange." A blush flashed across the girl's face. "A-and I'm not a little girl..." Her cheeks puffed up a little.
"Huh? What are you saying... Don't tell me you can't grow up." The Tarnished's mouth twitched, though he was not surprised. Anything could happen in the Lands Between. He had to learn to accept it.
"Ugh..." At the words "can't grow up," the girl deflated like a punctured balloon. "I-I want to grow up too... but..."
The Tarnished was at a loss for words as he watched the dejected girl. He could not help snapping his fingers a few times to get her attention. "You still haven't told me what you want help with. Don't just stand there sulking on your own."
"S-sorry, I lost my composure." The girl collected herself. "I have a dream..."
That was sudden. We're talking about dreams already?
"I want to create a world where all living beings are equal, and an entirely new Order." The girl revealed her thoughts without reservation. The man before her was peculiar. For some reason, she felt no need to guard herself against him. Perhaps this was the guidance of fate.
"What did you say? An entirely new Order?" Her words succeeded in shocking the Tarnished. An Order was the foundation of an age, not something a mere mortal could create. Yet this girl wanted to create a new one.
"I know it's hard to believe, but please trust me... I swear upon this unalloyed gold." The girl clasped her hands, and a flawless Erdtree Rune appeared behind her.
"You..." That gold was so pure, so flawless, even holier than the Erdtree of the past. There was not the slightest impurity in it, not the slightest taint.
"I forgot to introduce myself... My name is Trina, the... Saintess of the Haligtree."
Pure light illuminated the entire dream, and a towering tree emerged within its radiance.
"Haha... the Haligtree... That's really something." The Tarnished was stunned by the immense tree before him. It differed from the Erdtree in many ways. For example... countless living beings made their homes upon it, something the Erdtree did not permit.
"Now you can believe me, can't you, Tarnished?" Trina withdrew the radiance and continued looking at him with a gentle, graceful smile.
"You want to follow Marika's example and usher in a new age?"
"Yes... This age has already rotted. War... and discrimination are eating away at those innocent lives. I can't tolerate these things happening, so... please take me into the Erdtree... and become my..."
"Lord."
"Hold on, little girl. That's awfully sudden. Do you know what being a lord means?"
"I... of course I know." The girl's pretty face flushed slightly, but her resolve never wavered.
"But... for all the living beings in the Lands Between... and for my younger sister, my own sacrifice would be worth it. So..."
"..." The Tarnished stared at Trina, utterly speechless.
"And I feel that if it's you... that would be all right... I'll try to accept it. I don't think you're a bad person. For some reason, there's something about your aura that makes me want to get close... something that feels nostalgic." Trina fidgeted shyly.
"You're just throwing yourself at me! We've only been talking for a few minutes, and you're already pulling this? Even Marika and Godfrey went through the proper steps." The Tarnished felt that the girl before him was far too innocent. Still, someone capable of accomplishing all this could not possibly be entirely naïve. Perhaps she truly had been driven into a corner.
"Huh? Is... is that so?" Trina's wide eyes filled with confusion, as though she had heard something quite novel.
"I can feel your resolve, and I respect you as someone truly great. But what I want to say is that simply creating a new Order isn't enough."
"You mean..."
"If you want to create an age that embraces all things, the one up there is a mountain you can't get past. That fellow won't allow something like that to happen." The Tarnished gestured upward.
"You mean the Greater Will..." Trina lowered her head in thought.
"There's something else you've gotten wrong. I'm not like the other Tarnished who want to become lords."
"What I intend to do is get rid of the Greater Will and give the Lands Between true freedom. There will be no gods on my path, only a king. And that one and only king will be me." The Tarnished abandoned his usual flippant grin. At that moment, an invisible, domineering aura radiated from him, fierce and oppressive, filled with disdain and resentment toward the Greater Will.
"I didn't become the Elden Lord in the past because I sought freedom. But I was wrong-though not entirely. I wasn't entirely wrong because the Elden Lord is nothing but a puppet. Where I did go wrong was in failing to put my kingly path into practice sooner."
"If I hadn't refused, that old brute Godfrey would never have had his turn at being the damned Elden Lord."
"The Overlord's... Way." Trina stared at the imposing Tarnished, so shocked that her mouth hung open.
"I can take you to the Erdtree, but it won't be to make you a god. When the time comes, you'll only be a spectator witnessing me liberate the Lands Between-or you'll become my representative." The Tarnished smiled at the petite, adorable girl before him.
"..." The girl was silent, unsure what to say.
"If that's the only reason you came to me, you can give up now. The existing Order only treats the symptoms, not the cause. Only by destroying the Greater Will and the other Outer Gods coveting the Lands Between can we achieve true harmony. Then the Lands Between will have its own system of balance. It already has beliefs of its own."
"I... understand." The girl tightened her clasped hands. "I believe in you... Tarnished." Trina answered him with a sweet smile, without the slightest dejection at being refused. Perhaps she had already expected this outcome, but still wanted to try.
"I don't know why you trust me so much, but my intentions have been settled since I woke up... No, since the moment I was banished. They will never waver."
"Yes... please do your best." Trina offered her heartfelt encouragement. The man before her was far from ordinary. Just as she had said earlier, this Tarnished possessed a natural warmth that drew people to him, something completely different from her charm.
Perhaps, in the near future, he really would achieve his domineering ambition through those qualities...
Whether she became a god did not matter. From beginning to end, all Trina cared about was the lives of those in the Lands Between. If the Tarnished before her truly could restore their freedom, what reason would she have not to accept it?
But she would not abandon her own ideals. If he became the king who liberated the Lands Between, she would support him. If he failed... then she would take up her own path again...
"Then may I ask for something else?"
"Let's hear it."
"If possible, please visit the Haligtree in the Consecrated Snowfield. There should be things you need there, and I... am there as well. Please take me out of the Haligtree. I want to witness your journey."
"All right. I'll accept that request."
"Thank you, Tarnished... I think it's time for me to leave. I enjoyed talking with you... I'll look forward to our next meeting." Trina waved.
"Oh, and... please be very careful of Mohg, the monarch of the Mohgwyn Dynasty... He's extremely dangerous," Trina warned before leaving.
Mohg again? That dear nephew of mine doesn't seem to have much of a reputation either. I'll have to teach him a proper lesson. I wonder what his older brother looks like now. If he's anything like Mohg, I'll just have to beat them both up. The old brute left early, and with those brothers' unusual circumstances, nobody kept them in line. I suppose it's only natural that they turned out this way.
After that inward grumbling, the Tarnished was enveloped in pure white, and his consciousness gradually returned to reality.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the flowers beside him, murmuring, "Saintess... Trina... Haligtree... unalloyed gold..."
"Could that girl be Godwyn's descendant? Thinking about the timing, Godwyn was already in his prime when I left. It would be perfectly normal for him to have children afterward. And her gold is even purer and more flawless than Godwyn's."
"She actually wants me to be her lord. How would that work with the family hierarchy?" He was Godfrey's sworn brother, so Godwyn had to call him uncle. Wouldn't that make him Trina's great-uncle?
"What a mess. What an absolute mess. I never should've become sworn brothers with that old brute. Now one of his descendants has her sights set on me." If he really became her lord, wouldn't he drop a generation? Would he actually have to call Godfrey his grandfather-in-law?
"Unbelievable..."
Before you continue