The Tarnished.
Shortened: the Ashen One. The Eternal Queen's contingency. The three-raid war deity that everyone hates.
In the original Elden Ring, the Tarnished — as the player-controlled character — returned to the Lands Between after the Shattering had already ended, then proceeded alone, on horseback, to turn the entire realm upside down.
Unlike the Dark Souls franchise, a Tarnished who dies doesn't revive like a hollow. They stay dead.
So the Tarnished had genuinely cleared everything in a single life — from Limgrave all the way to Leyndell — making them, in a certain sense, a genuine legend.
But now, faced with this Tarnished who had appeared at entirely the wrong moment and was currently blocking his path, the curiosity Shin had felt a moment ago was largely replaced by bafflement.
"Miquella… dangerous. Evil!"
The Tarnished said her cryptic words, her whole body swathed in armor that made it impossible to read her face. Haltingly, she continued:
"Controls the Lands Between… everyone will…"
The Tarnished's broken, trailing speech made it obvious something was off. She'd taken out a shortbow and what appeared to be a Black Bow she'd obtained from a Crucible Guardian, training both arms on Miquella's cocoon and moving them around as though attempting something.
Shin: ?
You absolute menace. Please stop doing that. I'm scared.
"The Great Rune… the only way to… stop him…"
She fumbled inside her armor next and produced what looked like the base of a shattered Great Rune.
Shin recognized it. That was Miquella's Broken Great Rune — an item that should only be obtainable after Miquella had left for the Realm of Shadow and shattered his own Great Rune in the process. Its documented ability was resistance to Charm.
But how had the Tarnished gotten it? Miquella was nowhere near shattering his Great Rune at this point in the timeline.
"Watch — Ran— ah, honored guest from afar!"
Just then, Radahn came flying in on his gravity magic. He had been outside helping to organize the Cleanrot Knights' forces.
With him, floating beside him on his magic, was Malenia — still unconscious and bound.
And Malenia's situation had taken a turn for the worse. The Scarlet Rot that had been held in check by Miquella's golden needle — a needle that had not been removed, and from which Malenia had not abandoned her Valkyrie's pride — was erupting across her body like swarming maggots, the red mist rolling off her in waves.
That was the Scarlet Rot — a law handed down from an Outer God.
In theory, so long as Malenia did not relinquish her pride as a Valkyrie, Miquella's golden needle should have been enough to keep the Scarlet Rot at bay. Yet here she was, losing that battle even without the needle being pulled or her honor being cast aside.
"This woman can't hold back the Scarlet Rot! We need to—"
"Ha!"
Radahn hadn't even finished speaking before the Tarnished beside Shin burst into action.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, several enormous arrows — each the height of a full-grown person — shot from the Black Bow and flew straight at Radahn's face.
"?!"
Radahn, a seasoned veteran, reacted on instinct — both swords snapping up to cover his face, gravity magic erupting to deflect the volley of arrows.
Shin stared.
He examined the bow in the Tarnished's hands. Confirmed it was the Black Bow, not some kind of Rapid-Fire Crossbow.
"Enemy?"
"Someone daring enough to challenge the General — interesting!" Radahn had already drawn both blades and was moving to retaliate.
As a demigod, he could sense it immediately — this tiny, unassuming figure carried an enormous threat. He assumed she was one of Mohg's subordinates.
The Tarnished didn't flinch. Despite appearing to carry nothing but a completely plain suit of armor and a straight sword, she threw herself straight at Radahn.
No one saw it — but in the depths of her eyes, the image of a god surfaced: a lean, long-haired young deity wielding twin blades. And it was that image which compelled her to —
"Stop!"
At the precise moment Radahn's greatsword and the Tarnished's straight sword were about to collide, a tremendous force arrested both weapons.
Shin had appeared between them — and with nothing but his bare hands, caught both blades simultaneously, then muscled them apart by force.
"She's not an enemy, General Radahn. Don't misunderstand."
"Not an enemy?"
"Since you vouch for her, I'll overlook the insolence."
Radahn felt the monstrous strength that lingered in his palm where Shin had caught the blade. He thought to himself that if this person really was Ranni, Leyndell would probably have been a lot easier.
"At any rate, she should count as an ally… I think."
Shin suddenly wasn't sure how to put it. The Tarnished was Marika's contingency — technically on the same side.
But even so —
[Aspiring to Be the Perfect Human Being]: @Lord of Lands Between — Lady Marika, have you ever heard of a man named Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight?
[Lord of Lands Between]: Hm?
[Aspiring to Be the Perfect Human Being]: Never mind. Forget I said anything.
Shin decided he was overthinking it. The Lands Between were a mess, but still infinitely more hospitable than that other place next door.
He'd keep his mouth shut. No need to go calling down those kinds of things.
As for the Scarlet Rot threatening to break loose from Malenia…
Shin raised his gaze toward the great cocoon on the temple's altar. He had already consulted Marika about methods for suppressing the Scarlet Rot before arriving.
Her response had been a thoroughly unhelpful "I don't know."
The Scarlet Rot was a conceptual corruption from a god of the ancient era — an Outer God's power, once sealed in the underground Lake of Rot by the nameless Flowing Bladesman of old. It had chosen Malenia at the moment of her birth, just as the Formless Mother had chosen Mohg.
Radagon had done everything in his power to cure Malenia, and Marika had witnessed every attempt. If there were a way to cure her child, Marika would want it no less than anyone.
"Miquella. I know you can hear me."
"If all of this was for the sake of curing your sister's Scarlet Rot — then come out and show yourself. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee your sister's safety."
You don't want something to happen to her, do you, Miquella?
"…" The cocoon answered with silence. Odd — at this point in the timeline, Miquella should not yet have split off his soul to journey to the Realm of Shadow.
Fair enough, Shin supposed. A boy who could abandon his own little sister to suffer alone at the base of the Haligtree — what kind of good faith did you really expect from him?
But that was fine. He had a second plan. For instance —
"General Radahn, I need your cooperation for something."
"What do you need from me?"
"Relax your mind. Don't resist. This may leave you temporarily unable to fight, but please trust me —"
This was the first time Shin had used the ability of the [Defiled Shrine]. The moment the [Spirit Palace] skill activated, seven faint, phantom-city silhouettes materialized in his vision alone.
Six of the seven were gray.
Each appeared to be labeled, but the text on all the gray ones was blurred — either the [Defiled Shrine]'s level wasn't high enough yet, or no one occupied those seats. Only one of the seven was clear and usable.
Shin directed that one phantom city toward the relaxed Radahn and opened its gates.
The spiritual resonance released without reservation — as though reaching out to capture Radahn's soul. But that was precisely the point: because of it, Shin's true target was unmistakable —
Miquella himself. The boy so lost in his fantasy of a "Promised King" that he had betrayed his own kin and the demigods who shared his blood alike.
And just as Shin had anticipated — the cocoon that had been utterly motionless finally stirred.
The moment Radahn's soul was drawn outward and extended, a voice rang through the air, luminous and clear:
[Unknown demigod — I make you a promise. A promise that I will bring all of you a better future.]
[So lay down your thoughts. And serve me?]
To be continued…