"...Finally," Miquella's genderless voice echoed within the hollow interior of the Erdtree, "this is the proof of dominion granted to the Lands Between by the Greater Will. The moment to reveal the Elden Ring has arrived."
Marika's body, once grasped by an arm that materialized from the ground, gradually transformed into a golden greatsword. Of all those present, only Aoko, who knew the plot, and the observant Ranni noticed something — the sword bore a striking resemblance to the Finger Slayer Blade.
As the besieging forces watched in stunned silence, a dragon-like being — its body seemingly harboring both trees and cosmos — emerged from beneath the water's surface. Using unspeakable means, it forged the corpse of a god — Marika — into a weapon.
While everyone was still wondering why there was water beneath them, they suddenly realized they had been transported to an entirely unfamiliar realm — a strange space where a starry sky stretched overhead, and their feet stood upon an endless watery expanse, from which countless golden trees grew.
The dragon-like beast let out a silent roar, and multicolored nebulae spread from its head like ripples.
The battle entered a new phase: on one side was Messmer leading the crusade against Miquella; on the other, Miquella and Radahn seeking to seize the Elden Ring; and finally, the third — the mysterious being suspected to be the incarnation of the Elden Ring itself: the Elden Beast.
The Elden Beast regarded both sides as enemies. Wielding the divine-sword-forged-from-a-god's-body, it launched wave after wave of attacks at both Miquella and Messmer, forcing them into defensive positions.
In Aoko's past life memories, the Elden Beast had been a final boss whose power didn't quite match its status. But in this real world, the colossal, enigmatic being struck both Aoko and Touko with awe. It was the first time since becoming a full-fledged Magician that they had felt pressure.
Unlike Aoko, who housed fragments of the Weave within her, Touko felt an oppressive illusion when facing the Elden Beast — an illusion of being suppressed in terms of Mystery. She called it an illusion because her magic circuits weren't truly hindered.
So she speculated that the Elden Beast's level of mystery was possibly close to the Origin of the Lands Between's universe — that is, the Greater Will.
This wasn't an exact analogy. Touko hadn't observed a clear rule here like in the Nasuverse, where lower mysteries fail before higher ones. Still, it was a close enough comparison.
Aoko, meanwhile, was growing frustrated. She found herself even more at a disadvantage than she had been against the Mother of Fingers. Her strongest magical artillery and arcane magic that manipulated the rules themselves were suddenly... unreliable.
Her signature spell, the Incineration Type: Blue, which hurled massive bricks of force, was being scattered and weakened before it could strike the Elden Beast — its power diffused by the creature's surrounding nebula. A spell once capable of shattering muscle and bone now felt like a scorching summer sunbeam.
Switching tactics to use meteors and Comet Azur helped somewhat, but even those failed to deal decisive damage.
Worse still, the defensive forcefields that had never failed her before now showed signs of cracking under the Elden Beast's golden slashes — implying that its attacks dealt forcefield damage, or perhaps wielded actual divine power.
This supported a theory: while the Mother of Fingers was called the daughter of the Greater Will and possessed great mystic powers, the Elden Beast — also born of the Greater Will — actually carried a portion of this universe's true divinity.
For the first time since becoming a fully realized Magician, Aoko found herself holding back. She couldn't be sure her defenses would withstand an attack empowered by the Greater Will.
Still, with Messmer and their allies present, she was content to take a backseat, shifting to a more supportive role.
Interestingly, while casters and miracle-users struggled to deal damage, the melee-focused proved surprisingly effective. Whether it was Messmer's spear, the swords of the Tarnished and Rellana all landed significant hits on the Elden Beast.
However, less powerful melee fighters like Pureblood Knight Ansbach and the half-wolf Blaidd couldn't get close enough to contribute, so overall, the melee and magic teams were about equally effective.
On top of that, Radahn and Miquella occasionally disrupted Messmer's assault on the Elden Beast — and vice versa — leading to a chaotic three-sided battle on a battlefield that felt as if it were outside the world itself.
"Awaken, my sister, my blade..." Miquella raised a golden-glowing arm and softly called out, "Come to my side, and fight for me once more..."
Hearing this, everyone on Messmer's side — including Aoko — immediately tensed up. Miquella had only one sister known as the Blade: Malenia, the one honored with the title of Valkyrie.
Her tale through the Lands Between was one of hardship, missing limbs, unyielding will, and unmatched swordsmanship — her flowing, wing-like combat style was the eternal creed of the Rotten Knights.
Yet despite her indomitable spirit, Malenia's fate had been cruel. From birth, she had hosted the Scarlet Rot, a disease from an outer god. Miquella had made countless efforts to cure her but never succeeded.
What happened next stunned everyone.
Miquella killed the half-dead Mohg, using the powers of a newborn god to reshape the body of the Omen spawn into a completely new vessel — transforming an old, dying man into a tall, elegant woman with flowing red hair.
Her body was perfect and whole — pale, smooth skin, a beautiful face — the divine form Malenia had always deserved. Most importantly: it showed no trace of the Scarlet Rot.
"...I dreamed for so long—" Malenia's voice echoed across the battlefield. "My body faded like tarnished gold, my blood rotted..."
"But that dream is over now. I heard my brother's call — now feel it for yourself. Know the blade of Miquella!"
She still held her iconic prosthetic blade — one without a hilt, just a blade — and though blood dripped into the water, the Valkyrie with the winged helm showed not a trace of confusion.