Why are gods gods?
Because gods are unfeeling. If they had feelings, if they had self-awareness and thought, they would no longer be gods.
And Queen Marika, clearly, couldn't manage to be unfeeling.
At first, Queen Marika was the most steadfast supporter of the Golden Order. But even though she forged what seemed like a glorious Golden Dynasty, Marika knew deep down that the current Golden Order wasn't perfect.
But how to make the Golden Order, how to make the Elden Ring more perfect, Marika didn't know how to do it.
Just as she, the most ruthless figure in the Lands Between, had created a split personality, Radagon, to deal with internal and external threats, Marika didn't leave it to those who came after or ignore it. She decided to try to fix the Elden Ring herself.
She made one decision: to go abroad and study.
At that time, the Golden Dynasty was in its prime in the Lands Between. But due to the disaster of the meteor of Esté, the geography of the Lands Between had changed.
Outside the Golden Dynasty lay untamed wildernesss yet to be conquered. So Marika sent Godfrey and the first generation of the Golden Dynasty to expand their territory.
Later places like Stormveil Castle, Limgrave, and the Weeping Peninsula were the results of this expansion. Even during this grand expedition, the pitiful, nature-worshipping Bull-Goat Dynasty of Ourlu was casually destroyed by Godfrey.
To Godfrey and his people, it was an expedition. But to Marika, they were all pawns. Marika's goal wasn't to expand territory, but to perfect the Elden Ring and the Golden Order.
So, after Godfrey and his followers conquered these lands, Queen Marika immediately stripped them of their Golden Runes. And because of the nature of the Erdtree Dynasty, those who lost their runes could never return home. Thus, the first Tarnished were born.
Marika's plan was to wait for these Tarnished to die. Then, their souls and bodies would return to the Erdtree. Based on what they had seen and heard, she could attempt to perfect the Golden Order.
It seemed chaotic, but for Marika, it was all carefully considered.
Even though she had to kill her own husband, and the Golden Dynasty lost its king, did that matter?
She still had a son with the talent of a born king: Godwyn.
It was a good idea, but she never expected that the biggest problem would arise from herself, or from the Golden Order.
That was the Golden Order gaining its own consciousness. The nature of the Golden Order was uniqueness. Taming the Crucible, sealing the Rune of Death – all of these were about making itself unique.
But Marika wanted to perfect the Ring and have the future Godwyn become king. This, to some extent, violated the uniqueness of the Golden Order.
So Radagon, the human embodiment of the Golden Order and Marika's other half, swiftly abandoned his wife and daughter, returned to the capital, kicked Prince Godwyn aside, and became Elden Lord himself.
Meanwhile, Rennala, who had given everything for a scheme involving a handsome man, was driven mad by this blow and was confined to the Grand Library.
Her own mother had gone mad because of Radagon. How could her sons, on particularly good terms with their mother, like Radahn and the other demigods, accept this?
The Princess of the Moon, influenced by her mother since childhood, was half a follower of the Moon. She had no interest in the gods of the Erdtree, only thinking about how to escape fate and be free from the destiny of a demigod.
As for Rykard, he lived in the Volcano Manor. But next to him was a wise old serpent, who had been tricking him for years and filled him with hostility towards the Golden Dynasty. This, combined with his mother's situation, made him even more displeased.
As for Starscourage Radahn, he was much simpler. He purely wanted to avenge his mother.
But Queen Marika, sensing that something was wrong, naturally wouldn't just wait and do nothing.
As the one who sealed the Rune of Death, she had one more powerful weapon: a blade forged from death itself, capable of killing gods.
In Marika's prophecy, it was written: "My beloved child… if you are not worthy, you shall become a sacrifice."
In simple terms, it meant: "My son Godwyn, if you can't defeat the other me, then use your own life to make a move!"
So Marika secretly tricked Ranni into stealing the Rune of Death. This can be known from the remembrance of the Black Knife, which guarded the Rune of Death.
"Queen Marika's only request to her shadow beast was to guard the Rune of Death. Yet, she betrayed him."
The Black Knife, unaware of Queen Marika's manipulation behind the scenes, simply thought it had lost the Rune of Death. Believing itself to be negligent, it begged Marika for forgiveness for hundreds of years.
But Ranni, a tool of Marika, was clearly not a simpleton. She had her own plans.
Ranni's plan was to abandon the Great Runes, shed her physical body, and thus escape the fate of being a demigod.
And Rykard, who was with Ranni, had been so deceived by the serpent that he was almost mad. He was determined to defeat the Erdtree. This blade capable of killing gods was naturally a divine artifact for him. Everyone had their own goals.
Thus, the Night of the Black Knives was born. On that night, the Black Knives plunged into Godwyn's body, drinking his golden blood.
In the chaos, Ranni, playing the role of the mantis, obtained the Black Knife. Using its power, she committed suicide, sending her body to the Divine Tower for safekeeping. She then possessed a puppet, transforming into the Snow Witch and regaining her freedom.
The Black Knife, having killed two demigods, had its blade shattered by its immense power. Fragments of it fell into Rykard's hands.
Everything seemed to be going according to the plan set in motion on the Night of the Black Knives, but plans always fall short of reality.
The Black Knife itself was forged from the Rune of Death. The Black Knife, which broke after exceeding expectations and killing two demigods, caused the Rune of Death within it to scatter, giving the Golden Dynasty the concept of "death." This is the origin of the Death Blight.
The Black Knife transformed into a Beast Clergyman, attempting to gather the scattered Rune of Death.
Marika also realized that Ranni had outsmarted her in this action. She ordered the Black Knife assassins to hunt down the Snow Witch. Such figures as the craftsman Iji and the wolf-man were consequences of this.
But more importantly, Marika's plan had succeeded.
The Rune of Death made Prince Godwyn the first god to die, gravely violating the principle of "immortality" in the Golden Order.
So the Golden Order tried to revive Godwyn, but the Rune of Death decreed that Godwyn must die.
In this back-and-forth, the Elden Ring got a bug. Not only Godwyn, but also those who had died in the Golden Dynasty's reign began to be resurrected endlessly.
It's like an ordinary person watching videos online, and a message pops up: "This website may severely damage your computer." At that moment, you, with your intentions, ignored the warning and proceeded. After enjoying yourself, your computer blue-screened and crashed. Now you regret it.
Marika's great bell is in this situation now. So she summoned the first Tarnished back to try and fix the Ring, but they clearly failed.
For Marika, her only desire was to make the Elden Ring perfect.
So how to make it perfect?
It was through repeated trials and tribulations.
Repairing it. If it's not perfect, then break it again and repair it, making the Elden Ring constantly approach perfection.
Radagon, as the embodiment of the Golden Order, naturally couldn't agree. So their tug-of-war began.
Marika breaks, Radagon repairs.
As for the Elden Ring being repeatedly broken and repaired, did Marika care?
Of course not. Just as humans don't feel guilty for killing ants, Marika and others didn't feel guilty for the countless ordinary people who died because the Elden Ring was repeatedly broken and repaired.
Later, the Elden Ring finally shattered, and the Shattering War broke out.
Marika's final Tarnished and Melina's plan came to light.
Melina was born from the concept of death by the Scarlet Rot Goddess, and from the aspect of the Golden Order by Ranni.
As one side of the Erdtree, she promotes the repair of the Ring. As the other side of the Rune of Death, she serves as a failsafe, delivering the Rune of Death when someone threatens the Ring.
(End of this chapter)