"Why?"
"Because there is something wrong with the Golden Order."
Her voice was soft, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly. "It's like a normal person. When young, it's inclusive and open, able to accept new things; the older it gets, the more stubborn it becomes, wanting everything to remain at its finest moment."
Marika continued, "I don't want to wait until it grows old beyond saving."
The Golden Order was aging. The order Marika had established with her own hands was becoming rigid, closed off, and self-destructive.
She had seen this, so before it became utterly irredeemable, she intended to replace it.
"Goldmask and I discussed it at length."
Marika said, "That great scholar... he understands Law better than I do. Perhaps having him establish the Law would have been the right choice... sigh, you were right. There are far too many people in the Lands Between better suited to being a god than I am... anyway, we finally arrived at a solution."
She looked at Radagon. "Give him the Divinity."
Then she pointed to herself. "Leave the Godhood to me."
She explained, "Radagon will become the god of the Golden Order, while I become an Outer God representing 'immutability.'"
Horace gave a quiet chuckle whose meaning was unclear. "Nice. You found another bug to exploit."
What made a god a god was their "divine essence." It was the foundation of every god's existence, the core of what made them who they were.
Marika's move was to break off part of the Golden Order and use it as her own "divine essence."
Since she was already a god and possessed the requisite godhead, this essence, though somewhat weak, could still establish her as a god.
And what remained after Marika broke off her share, including the Elden Ring itself, would