"You actually obtained the Order?" Ranni stared at the man before her in astonishment, her hands unconsciously folding over her chest. The surprise on her face quickly turned grim.
Just moments ago, when she learned that Miquella had lost the Order, Ranni had secretly rejoiced, thinking she had lost a powerful competitor.
Without an Order, becoming a god was impossible. Yet the Lord still needed a god, and that position required someone who possessed an Order.
But now her expression could only be described as miserable. If Nolan had an Order, that meant he had become a candidate for godhood. Did that not mean the positions of both god and Lord were now his to choose from?
The moment she thought of that, Ranni's mood sank to the bottom. Her earlier joy vanished without a trace, replaced by worry and frustration.
If Nolan wanted to become a god, then when choosing a partner, he would not need to consider whether the other person also bore an Order. He only needed to find a Lord willing to accompany him.
And with Nolan's own formidable strength, he did not actually have high requirements for his other half's combat ability. Even a weakling like Miquella would do.
Damn it. She had thought she could easily eliminate this younger brother and sister from the competition, only for them to scrape by in the end.
Could all of this have been within Miquella's expectations?
The more Ranni thought about it, the angrier she became. At the same time, she had to admit that this younger brother of hers truly was the most terrifying Empyrean.
The sharp drop from great joy to crushing disappointment was enough to drive Ranni mad.
The way things had developed was at least normal. She had never expected good fortune to fall from the sky just because she had slept for a day, but it still felt awful.
Not far ahead, the Empyrean and the Saintess were absorbed in their conversation, completely unaware that the Lunar Princess had already awakened.
And not far behind them stood the enormous stone gate.
"Are you saying Nolan should realize the Order in our place?"
Beneath the vast shadow cast by the stone gate, the elf-like girl sitting cross-legged on the ground gently raised her delicate hand and stroked her smooth chin.
Her curved brows furrowed slightly on their own, as though she were wrestling with some difficult choice.
"It seems we have no other option. I don't know whether you will bear the new Lord's child, but one thing is certain. If we cannot take the Order back, then even obtaining the Elden Ring will be useless."
Miquella, standing nearby, turned his head. His gaze swept over the vast sea of purple flowers and corpses before finally settling on the "young" Saintess in her snow-white dress, whose bearing now carried a faint trace of mature allure.
"We have already lost Nolan once. We cannot make the same mistake a second time."
"The only ones capable of interfering with the Erdtree return process and recalling the Tarnished are the Two Fingers and Mother, who hold the Golden Order."
"But no matter which side it is, we cannot let Nolan fall into their hands again. The risk is too great."
Trina, who had been standing quietly among the flowers with her chin in her hand, suddenly raised her head and gave Miquella a thoughtful look.
After an entire day of long, intense discussion, they could basically conclude that their carefully planned path to godhood had completely collapsed.
But they had not given up.
By now, there had been so many failed plans that they had grown numb to them. For Miquella, this almost seemed to have become the usual outcome.
Faced with yet another situation full of unexpected problems, Miquella instinctively began planning deeply for the future.
For the moment, his foremost goal was to realize the ideal world in his heart. Becoming a god came second.
The Order had not disappeared. It had only changed form and location, and by coincidence, it had ended up in the person they had chosen.
Though this result could hardly be called perfect, it was at least barely acceptable.
As long as Nolan remained one of them, there was nothing to worry about. And the heavy responsibility of keeping Nolan as "one of them" naturally fell onto Trina's shoulders.
In the past, Trina would have worried that she might not do well. But now... hmph, she no longer saw vixens like that female Sorcerer or the Lunar Princess as a threat at all.
If they could not seize an opportunity placed right in front of them, they had no one to blame but themselves when others moved faster.
"I know what you are thinking," Miquella said calmly, his face still as water and his tone indifferent. "What worries me has never been Ranni. It is that the Order has now fused into Nolan's fire."
"That Order has very likely transformed beyond its embryonic form. As Nolan said, he absorbed two Great Runes, and even with the Order added to that, he still failed to become a god."
"He also came to the Gate of Divinity." Miquella glanced at the Hornsent corpses beneath his feet. The most important medium for drawing in the Aspects of the Crucible was the horns on their bodies.
"It is not only that there were not enough sacrifices. The ritual of godhood seems to have had no effect on him at all."
"Could it be that the Gate of Divinity cannot make someone with a physical body into a god?" Trina asked with a frown.
"That should not be the reason. We abandoned our bodies because of the Impenetrable Thorns outside, not because only souls can become gods." Miquella shook his head.
"Then why?" Trina asked.
"Because fire is noble by nature. It does not need the status of a false god to prove itself," Miquella said.
"The Order has already become part of the fire. The Law Ring is like the brazier for that fire, and a perfect fire cannot be borne by one or two Great Runes. We need the complete Law Ring."
Hearing this, Trina immediately understood what Miquella meant, and her expression froze.
"That is right. Mending the Golden Order only requires two Great Runes, but that is nowhere near enough for us. The weight of the world must be borne by the world itself."
After Miquella let out a long breath, Trina's face showed displeasure, and she gave a dissatisfied little snort.
"Oh, this is all your fault. Why did you have to throw away the Great Rune when everything was perfectly fine? Now look how much trouble you've caused Nolan."
"That was to cast away our sinful past."
Faced with Trina's complaints and blame, Miquella did feel a little regret. He realized that what he had done back then had indeed been somewhat reckless.
But he still refused to back down, stubbornly arguing, "Besides, what right do you have to accuse me? You agreed to it at the time."
"Hmph... I don't care. I'm a gentle Saintess. How could I possibly use forceful methods to stop you? Now this is awful. Nolan has to face those terrifying dangers again."
As Trina complained in a spoiled tone, she simply lay down in the fragrant flowers and began rolling around without the slightest restraint.
The garden fell silent. Faced with Trina, who had suddenly started acting like a mischievous little brat, Miquella could not help feeling deeply helpless.