Chapter Summaries

As Caria’s regent, Horace struggled to manage Caria and Limgrave until young clerks eased his workload, giving him time to inspect the children. He found Morgott pursuing older noblewomen, Mohg proposing questionable policies, Malenia devoted to pumpkin research, and Miquella writing scandalous relationship fiction.

• Horace struggled with governing Caria and overseeing Limgrave until newly trained clerks took over much of the basic paperwork.
• Horace secretly visited Morgott and found him surrounded by mature noblewomen.
• Horace saw Mohg studying governance with Uriel and proposing more nighttime entertainment venues at Lilith’s suggestion.
• Horace found Malenia researching pumpkins and emphasizing her hatred of pests.
• Horace discovered Miquella writing detailed, scandalous stories about the relationships of people around him.

Horace tried to set the demigods on better paths by assigning them mentors and responsibilities. He sent Godwyn to supervise Miquella, whose charm let others do his work for him, and the unofficial aftermath revealed that Miquella turned ancient dragon secrets into melodramatic writing about Bayle and the Dragon Lord.

• Horace planned for Rennala's children, leaving Ranni's upbringing to Rennala, assigning Radahn to Godfrey, and deciding Rykard should learn administration from Messmer in Limgrave.
• Horace decided to send Mohg to help rebuild Stormveil Castle, while Uriel tried to volunteer the young prince for practical work before Horace could issue an order.
• Horace concluded Miquella needed a supervisor immune to his charm and chose Godwyn, whom he found searching the Grand Library for ancient funeral rites.
• Horace dragged Godwyn to Miquella's Prayer Room and shut him inside with Miquella, telling him to take care of his younger sibling.
• Godwyn later enlisted Lansseax to help look after Miquella, who used what he learned about ancient dragons to write a sensational account of Bayle's rebellion against the Dragon Lord.

Horace accompanied Messmer back to Leyndell after Marika urgently summoned him, but Marika and Messmer refused to explain why. Horace discovered that Messmer was secretly preparing the Black Knights for a campaign against the Hornsent in the Land of Shadow.

• Horace insisted on accompanying Messmer to Leyndell, and Messmer strongly objected when Horace suggested bringing Melina along.
• Horace delegated Caria's affairs and traveled to Leyndell with Messmer, where Marika claimed she had summoned her son for dinner and private family business.
• Horace investigated Leyndell and noticed that the Black Knights had increased security and supplies.
• Horace discovered that the Black Knights' commander was secretly reporting to Messmer and realized Marika intended to send him against the Hornsent in the Land of Shadow.

Horace confronted Marika about why Messmer had to lead the war against the Hornsent, and Marika explained her plan to make Horace a god through the Divine Gate. Lilith dismissed the plan, claiming the gate would not help him.

• Horace questioned Marika about why she had chosen Messmer to lead the campaign against the Hornsent.
• Marika revealed that she wanted Horace to become a god and inherit the Elden Ring, but she could not remove it from herself.
• Marika explained that burning the Erdtree was blocked by Radagon, so she planned to use the Divine Gate to elevate Horace instead.
• Marika said the Divine Gate required vast sacrifices and named Messmer as the officiant because his fire could carry out the slaughter quickly.
• Lilith mocked Marika’s plan and told Horace that the Divine Gate would do nothing for him.

The player explored Blood Moon Manor, fought its hidden assassins, met Seluvis, and defeated the invader Alberich. The Duchess tried to stop the Tarnished from entering a lord’s office, but the player’s growing curiosity left him intent on opening the doors.

• The Tarnished encountered masked Black Knife Assassins who drained health during their attacks, then defeated them with the player’s cheats and found a Site of Grace.
• The player spoke with Seluvis, who accused him of breaking his Mechanical Shrimp and ordered him to retrieve it from a lake below a cliff; Seluvis also gave him a Magic Scorpion Charm.
• Alberich invaded the Tarnished on a staircase, but the player defeated him and collected Alberich’s Blood Glintstone, whose description mentioned gaining an audience with Him and becoming kin.
• The Duchess repeatedly warned the player not to enter the lord’s office, but he kept trying to open its doors, amused by her anger and intrigued by the secret beyond them.

Horace learned that he already had a god’s level of Godhead but needed vast quantities of spiritual power to grow, so he redirected the holy war toward gathering the Hornsent’s souls. He left Godfrey to lead the campaign, spared Messmer from its infamy, and revealed that Metyr—not the Greater Will—was the real power to watch as preparations began.

• Lilith explained that Horace’s Godhead was already high enough for divinity, but that he lacked the spiritual energy to fill it.
• Horace decided to continue the holy war against the Hornsent to claim their souls, while changing its purpose and methods.
• Horace assigned Godfrey to lead the slaughter and told Messmer he would bear responsibility for the war himself.
• Marika accepted Horace’s proposal and raised the danger of the Fingers and the Greater Will.
• Horace said the Greater Will had abandoned the region and identified Metyr, the Mother of Fingers, as the true overseer.
• Horace called for preparations rather than a rushed campaign, delighting Godfrey and alarming Serosh.

Horace planned how to confront Metyr and considered seeking the Fingerslayer Blade, Placidusax’s help, and power from the Outer Gods. Rellana gave him a Moonlight Greatsword she had made as a symbol of their bond, and Horace learned Rennala had commissioned another for their future daughter.

• Horace planned to retrieve the Fingerslayer Blade from Nokron and recruit Placidusax and the Outer Gods to help oppose Metyr.
• Rellana presented Horace with a Moonlight Greatsword she had secretly bought with her savings as a Carian royal tradition.
• Horace embraced Rellana, thanked her, and infused the sword with the powers of their three moons and the Law of Restraint.
• Horace asked about the Moonlight Greatsword Rennala had commissioned, and Rellana explained that one was being made for Ranni and another for their future child.

After sparing the Duchess, the player entered Horace Loux’s study and provoked him into a battle that ended with the Tarnished’s death and the save file’s apparent deletion. A hidden option returned the Tarnished to the Cave of Knowledge with a changed Alberich’s Blood Glintstone and a concealed mark, leaving the player with a new invitation and an unexplained missing requirement.

• The player spared the defeated Duchess, who warned that Horace Loux would be harder to talk to.
• The player disturbed Horace Loux in his study, triggering an abnormal combat state and a battle against the Blood Moon Grand Duke.
• Horace Loux disabled the Tarnished’s controls, declared judgment, and used Final Purge to kill him.
• The player returned to the title screen and found the save file had been deleted.
• The player selected a tiny red point on the title screen and reappeared in the Cave of Knowledge with a changed Alberich’s Blood Glintstone and a hidden Marked status.

Horace reassured Rellana about their prospects of having children, then remembered the Four Belfries and used a waygate to travel with Borealis to Nokron. The Nox welcomed him and led him into their quiet city, while Asimi remained an undeveloped Silver Tear in the Eternal City.

• Rellana worried that she and Horace had not had children, and Horace comforted her before teasing her about her duties as acting queen.
• Horace remembered the Four Belfries and decided to use their waygate to reach Nokron.
• Horace forced Borealis to travel with him, and they passed through the waygate leading to the Eternal City.
• Horace and Borealis arrived atop a pillar beneath Nokron's false starry sky, then flew across the abyss to the city.
• A Nox swordfighter welcomed Horace, saying the moon had foretold his arrival, and led him through Nokron.
• The narrator noted that Asimi had not yet awakened or escaped the Eternal City.

Horace obtained the Fingerslayer Blade and a Mimic Tear from Nokron before entering the Worshippers' Woods to learn about the Ancestor Spirits. After meeting the Regal Ancestor Spirit, he heard its view that life and death formed an endless cycle, with death nourishing new life.

• Horace opened a chest in Nokron and took the Fingerslayer Blade.
• Horace asked the Nox Swordstress for a Mimic Tear and carried the silver substance away in a vessel.
• Horace entered the Worshippers' Woods after giving the Mimic Tear his metal belongings.
• The Ancestral Followers led Horace to horned remains, allowing him to glimpse the spiritual world and see the Regal Ancestor Spirit.
• Horace asked the Regal Ancestor Spirit how it viewed death, and it described death as the mother of life and life as the child that sustained death.

Horace witnessed the Regal Ancestor Spirit dissolve and chose to absorb its spiritual power himself before returning to Leyndell. There, he obtained a sealed blank edict from Marika and took Godwyn with him for an undisclosed purpose.

• Horace watched the Regal Ancestor Spirit dissolve naturally, and its spiritual lights flowed into him as he chose not to feed them to the door.
• Horace returned to the real world, saw new shoots growing from the Spirit's remains, and left the Woods of the Horned Remains with Borealis.
• Horace briefly returned to Caria, gave Uriel instructions, and immediately flew to Leyndell on Borealis.
• Horace asked Marika for a blank edict bearing the Golden Seal and refused her attempt to make it an abdication edict.
• Horace summoned Godwyn and took him away, leaving the prince's bread behind.

Horace took Godwyn and his companions to Crumbling Farum Azula to seek help, while Marika was left with her lessons and paperwork. There, Horace urged Godwyn to seek answers from the Ancestor Spirits about death, then learned that reaching Dragon Lord Placidusax meant charging into the storm.

• Horace escaped Marika’s study with Godwyn, leaving Marika and Serosh lamenting that he had not taken the throne and its paperwork.
• Horace brought Froesanks, Borealis, Godwyn, and Fortissax through the Four Belfries portal to Crumbling Farum Azula.
• Sensing Destined Death in the storm, Horace told Godwyn to visit the Ancestor Spirits at the Siofra River when they returned.
• Godwyn agreed that Fortissax should accompany him, while Borealis fretted about being surrounded by Ancient Dragons.
• Horace asked Froesanks and Fortissax how to find Dragon Lord Placidusax, and Fortissax said the group only had to charge into the storm.

Horace brought his companions to Crumbling Farum Azula to seek Placidusax’s strength and secure Maliketh’s help. Maliketh refused until Horace showed him a blank edict bearing Marika’s seal and wrote an order commanding him to accompany Horace.

• Godwyn explained that his earlier attempts to reach Placidusax had ended with him being thrown out while Maliketh and the Draconic Tree Sentinel watched.
• Horace decided to explore the ruins before seeking Placidusax and led the group to the great bridge, where Maliketh and the Draconic Tree Sentinel awaited them.
• Horace asked Maliketh to accompany him as a safeguard, but Maliketh refused, saying he obeyed only Marika and guarded Destined Death.
• Horace showed Maliketh a blank edict bearing Marika’s seal and wrote an order commanding Maliketh to follow him until the matter was concluded.
• Maliketh accepted the edict as Marika’s direct command and agreed to accompany Horace, promising to return afterward to guard Destined Death.

Horace and his companions entered the storm surrounding Placidusax, who revealed how frail and confused he had become. Horace asked for the Dragon Lord’s power, and Placidusax ended by asking whether Marika was Horace’s lord.

• Horace slowed and reversed time within the storm, then led the group into its center on the ice dragon.
• The Draconic Tree Sentinel hurled Maliketh into the storm, and he landed headfirst as Godwyn witnessed his humiliation.
• The group found Placidusax asleep and saw that the Dragon Lord had lost much of his strength, scales, wings, tail, and heads.
• Placidusax mistook Froesanks for someone familiar, then accepted her admission that she had chosen a new master.
• Horace told Placidusax that he needed his power, and Maliketh said he served Queen Marika.
• Placidusax said he had never heard Marika’s name and asked Horace whether she was his lord.

Horace challenged the wounded Dragon Lord for his power to fight the Mother of Fingers, but the Dragon Lord agreed only to be replaced in battle as a king. Horace defeated him without killing him, and the Dragon Lord asked him to make it quick.

• The Dragon Lord refused to help Horace fight the Mother of Fingers because he was gravely wounded and still waited for his vanished god.
• Horace told the Dragon Lord that Bayle the Dread had been slain, and the Dragon Lord recognized Horace as the new god chosen by his people.
• The Dragon Lord invited Horace to take his power by defeating him, and they began fighting while Froesanks, Fortissax, Maliketh, the Dragon Girl, and Godwyn moved clear.
• Horace restrained the Dragon Lord and held back, landing only a shallow wound; the Dragon Lord objected to being pitied.
• The Dragon Lord entered a state of enlightenment and fired golden beams, but Horace restrained time and evaded them.
• The Dragon Lord admitted defeat and asked Horace to make it quick, while Horace decided to keep him alive for his usefulness.

Horace offered to heal the Dragon Lord instead of killing it, but discovered he could not contact Lilith from within the space-time rift. To keep his promise, he drew a small amount of energy from the Gate of Myriad Laws, leaving the gate distressed.

• Horace told the Dragon Lord he could heal its injuries and let it continue as Dragon Lord.
• Froesanks stopped mourning, while Godwyn and Fortissax discussed Fortissax's visibly damaged wing.
• Horace called for Lilith and the Formless Mother but received no response because the space-time rift blocked his connection to her.
• Horace turned to the Gate of Myriad Laws and forced it to release some of the energy he had previously stored inside.
• The gate released energy through a crack, then closed as Horace promised to make it up to the grieving gate later.

Horace healed the Dragon Lord and revealed a plan to leave it in the Spacetime Rift as Maliketh’s prison. After the Dragon Lord sent the others out of the rift, Maliketh accepted his confinement and settled down to slack off.

• Horace used a Great Rune to heal the Dragon Lord, which promised that the Ancient Dragons would never betray him.
• Horace shared his secret plan with Froesanks and the Dragon Lord while Godwyn and the other dragons stayed nearby.
• The Dragon Lord understood that Horace intended to leave Maliketh trapped in the Spacetime Rift and sent Fortissax, Godwyn, and Borealis out of it.
• Horace confirmed that he had brought Maliketh there to imprison him, while Dragon Girl hid behind Horace and the Dragon Lord.
• Maliketh suspected that Marika had approved his confinement, then gave up resisting and lay down to rest.

Maliketh fell asleep while guarding Destined Death as Godwyn and Fortissax crashed into the Beast Clergyman's Sanctum. After the Dragon Lord stabilized Crumbling Farum Azula and promised to join Horace's war, Horace found Borealis gnawing on bones and left with him and Froesanks for Liurnia.

• Maliketh settled down and fell asleep in wolf form while guarding Destined Death.
• Godwyn and Fortissax crashed into the Beast Clergyman's Sanctum, destroying its ruins, and the Draconic Tree Sentinel watched helplessly.
• The Dragon Lord emerged from the storm, used his power to steady Crumbling Farum Azula, and told Horace he would lead the Ancient Dragons into Horace's war once he recovered.
• Horace searched for Borealis and found him chewing on bones; Borealis spat one out when Horace caught him.
• Horace and Froesanks climbed onto Borealis, and the ice dragon flew toward Liurnia.

Horace left Godwyn and Fortissax behind in the ruins of Crumbling Farum Azula, then returned to Caria and learned that Lilith had helped the moon bring down an avatar. Lilith revealed that several Outer Gods had their eyes on the body she had made, so Horace imposed Great Runes on it before she disappeared.

• Horace left Godwyn and Fortissax behind in the ruins, and the pair decided to wait until he remembered them.
• Lilith contacted Horace in Caria and told him that the moon had arrived and that they had worked together to bring down an avatar.
• Horace realized Lilith had made the avatar's body using her existing sample and that she was carrying it.
• Lilith warned Horace that more than one Outer God wanted the body and urged him to impose Great Runes before it was born.
• Horace cursed Lilith and imposed the Great Runes, and Lilith left delighted by his new insults.

Horace was summoned to Leyndell and pressured by Marika and Godfrey to become Chancellor while they left to lead reinforcements to the Land of Shadow. He refused, but discovered Radagon had put his name on the Edict, leaving him in charge of Leyndell’s government affairs.

• A messenger delivered Marika’s urgent summons, and Horace rode Borealis to Leyndell.
• Marika and Godfrey asked Horace to become Chancellor, explaining that Serosh was recovering, Messmer had gone to the Land of Shadow, and Malenia was farming.
• Godfrey and Marika announced they would lead reinforcements to the Land of Shadow and left Horace behind with the Edict.
• The Scribes showed Horace the Edict bearing his name, written in Radagon’s handwriting, and treated him as Chancellor.