After Xiao adjusted his strength back to its optimal state, he returned to the Great Firmament Arena once more, standing before the mysterious golden gate.
This time, his target was the Elden Ring world, and after years of accumulation, he was fully prepared.
Xiao knew that whether he could become the Elden Lord and seize the power of this world or not, he must first retrieve his Da Luo Dao Fruit.
"Supreme Will, I want to enter the Lands Between!"
Before stepping through the gate, Xiao cautiously greeted the Supreme Will.
To his surprise, the Supreme Will immediately responded, "Hmm, you've come at just the right time. I need you to enter the Lands Between to check on My Emissaries for Me. Recently, I've felt that they are a bit off."
The Supreme Will quickly replied and explained the situation to Xiao.
For some time now, the Supreme Will had noticed that Its words seemed to always be misinterpreted by Its Emissaries, causing them to act in ways completely contrary to Its original intent.
This situation left the Supreme Will feeling confused and uneasy, as these Emissaries were supposed to be Its representatives in the Lands Between, but now they had become a source of chaos and decay.
Not only did they fail to achieve the intended goals, but they also had the opposite effect, directly leading to increasing chaos and decay in the Lands Between.
"Alright!"
Xiao smiled slightly, unsure how to offer comfort. He often encountered such situations himself.
Sometimes, subordinates would take a leader's unintentional joke seriously, even leading to good intentions resulting in bad outcomes.
Therefore, after a few lessons, Xiao rarely joked with his subordinates. In fact, every word he spoke needed to be carefully considered before being uttered, to minimize misunderstandings among those below him.
Only people of equal standing can become friends; this saying is clearly not baseless, nor is it the disdain of nobles for the lower classes, but rather a bloody admonition.
Those who violate this admonition will ultimately harm themselves and others.
In Xiao's view, the Supreme Will was clearly one of the victims of this admonition.
The more frequently It communicated with the lower realm, attempting various forms of micromanagement, the more chaos It would only bring to the world.
In a void, Xiao's figure gradually materialized.
He carried the mission bestowed by the Supreme Will, passing through the dimensional gate, and arrived at the outskirts of the Elden Ring world.
However, when he stepped into this world, he was greeted not by the beauty and splendor of the Lands Between, but by pervasive smoke and the fires of war.
Countless factions and races clashed on this land, and the entire world was shrouded in war and chaos.
The common people fled in all directions, repeatedly trampled by powerful forces during the war.
But due to the existence of the Erdtree, they became undead monsters, wailing in agony day after day.
At the same time, a golden fallen leaf drifted down from the sky, slowly landing in Xiao's hand.
The leaf brought a message:
At the end of the fog lies the convergence of all worlds.
The great Elden Ring has been shattered—"Eternal Queen" Marika has vanished without a trace.
On the Night of the Black Knives, "Golden" Godwyn was the first to lose his life.
Marika's children—the demigods—obtained fragments of the Elden Ring.
O God-Devouring Serpent of the past law…
Advance beyond the fog, reach the Lands Between,
Behold the Elden Ring—become the Elden Lord.
"God-Devouring Serpent of the past law!"
Pondering the message from the Erdtree's fallen leaf, Xiao narrowed his eyes, a surge of doubt rising in his heart.
The Erdtree and the Elden Beast actually recognized him and referred to him as the [God-Devouring Serpent of the past law].
Did this mean that his Other Self in this world was once Marika's competitor?
A God-Devouring Serpent is a candidate for godhood chosen by the Two Fingers, who can choose to become a king or a god.
Just like the several demigods currently fighting in the Shattering War:
The Omen Twins, Morgott the Omen King and Mohg, Lord of Blood;
The Twins Blessed by Heaven, Miquella the Unalloyed and Malenia, the Goddess of Rot;
The Three Siblings of the Carian Line, Starscourge General Radahn, Praetor Rykard, and Lunar Princess Ranni.
Although these demigods were all children born to the goddess Marika,
in fact, only Ranni, Miquella, and Malenia were marked with the identity of a God-Devouring Serpent.
The three God-Devouring Serpents were chosen by the Two Fingers and the Elden Beast after Marika shattered the Elden Ring.
The other demigods could only be kings, not gods.
Of course, if the other demigods killed the three God-Devouring Serpents, they would naturally have the opportunity to become new God-Devouring Serpents.
Leaving these later matters aside, the mere fact of having three God-Devouring Serpents in the same era—does this also indicate that God-Devouring Serpents are not unique,
but rather that numerous God-Devouring Serpents compete for the qualification to become a god?
After all, in the game's main body, there is indeed a large amount of information and item props left behind by other God-Devouring Serpents.
However, there can only be one God and one King in the Lands Between.
The previous generation's Marika should have also defeated her other competitors, becoming the God of the Lands Between and establishing the eternal Golden Order.
And Hoarah Loux, as the King Consort, became the first Elden Lord Godfrey under the Golden Order.
Therefore, during Marika's conquest of the world, she evidently eliminated all other God-Devouring Serpents. Those she couldn't eliminate were buried beneath the roots of the Erdtree, sealed away permanently.
According to the power of the Elden Ring, as a God-Devouring Serpent of the old law, his power would be siphoned away by Marika the moment he was defeated, subsumed into her Golden Order.
"So, the question is, which son of a bitch took my Elden Ring fragment?"
Xiao asked the Erdtree leaf somewhat angrily, in reality speaking to the Elden Beast.
A golden fallen leaf drifted over.
The leaf brought a message: The law of the past is already shattered; the God-Devouring Serpent needs to embark on His journey.
"Fuck…"
Xiao couldn't help but curse; the situation was even more troublesome.
Marika, that treacherous woman, not only took his power but also didn't integrate it into the Golden Order. Instead, she further fragmented it multiple times, causing his power to shatter even more and reducing his influence.
Was Marika really that afraid of his power?
This made Xiao even more curious about what his counterpart in this world had done to make Marika treat him with such caution.
Xiao tried to sense his own power; his Dao Fruit power immediately responded to Xiao, calling him to seek it out.
"In the far west… Liurnia of the Lakes?!"
Xiao's gaze turned toward that marshland in the west, created by a supreme comet.
That's where the most powerful group of sorcerers in all of the Lands Between resided—the Glintstone Sorcerers.
They could also be called Glintstone Sorcerers, a type of battle mage who could fight both up close and at range.
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