Aozaki Aoko Case File [326]

The chaotic battle in the royal capital came to an abrupt end with Miquella's unexpected death. However, his death wasn't the most surprising event—rather, it was the appearance of the Eternal Queen Marika, who is present everywhere and nowhere in the original timeline, that proved to be the biggest anomaly.

It should be said that this goddess queen, who ruled the Lands Between for countless millennia and masterminded the rebellion against the Greater Will, suddenly returned to life in a completely unforeseen way, leaving everyone present utterly stunned.

Under her divine healing, everyone who had participated in the battle and survived was fully restored—regardless of how severe their injuries were, or how many debuffs they had accumulated, they were all returned to perfect condition by Marika's power.

However, there was one detail that kept Aoko deep in thought: she saw Marika's hair momentarily turn red before switching back to gold. Aoko was 100% sure this wasn't a hallucination because Touko noticed it too.

This suggests that Radagon—the aspect of Marika embodying the Golden Order—was likely trying to seize control of the body, but failed for some reason. Aoko suspected this had something to do with both of them being decapitated by Radahn early on.

Radahn left, taking Mohg's Pureblood Knights with him back to Caelid, which still required governance and cleansing from the Scarlet Rot.

He told Ansbach plainly that he would not return the body to the Pureblood Knights—because he was never the kind of person to commit suicide over anything. Even though he had been unexpectedly resurrected and given a second life, he still wouldn't do such a thing.

However, he welcomed the Pureblood Knights to challenge him at any time, no matter how many came. He would face them alone on the battlefield.

Ansback's decision surprised Radahn—after internal discussion, the Pureblood Knights decided to guard Lord Mohg's body, which meant following Radahn to Caelid.

They would work for Radahn but would not swear loyalty to him. Their reasoning was: they needed to ensure Lord Mohg's body was not used for any improper purposes.

In short, reborn and freed from the Scarlet Rot and the Law of Allure, Radahn returned to his beloved home of Redmane Castle to resume his role as Lord of Caelid. Apart from the devastated land and the loss of his Great Rune, not much had changed.

Radahn left without saying a word to his Carian relatives. Perhaps he knew that when he once chose to side with the Erdtree and sealed the stars, he had already severed ties with the Kingdom of Caria.

The Full Moon Queen stayed in the capital, as she still had many questions for the woman who stole her husband. Ranni, however, had no interest and returned directly to Raya Lucaria via a teleportation gate.

Aoko didn't know exactly what Rennala and Marika discussed—most likely Marika confessed the truth about Radagon to her.

Whatever was said, it left the Full Moon Queen in a dazed state, as if her old emotional wounds were about to relapse—much to the concern of Rellana beside her.

As for Rellana... she decided to propose to Messmer. She had made up her mind to marry into Messmer's family, and gaining Marika's approval was her first hurdle.

This wasn't simply a matter of two people in love. Messmer was about to ascend as the new Elden Lord. According to tradition, the consort of the Elden Lord must be a god bearing the Elden Ring.

However, the current god was Marika—who also happened to be Messmer's biological mother. This raised potential issues with the unification of god and king through marriage.

"No problem," Queen Marika said casually. "I approve of this marriage."

Messmer was still stunned, and Rellana was dumbfounded, but Marika had easily agreed and explained her reasoning:

"The union between god and king was only necessary for the past when there was no god to begin with—as a way to guide the return of divinity," said Marika. "But now that we do have a god, the Elden Lord no longer needs to marry one."

And so, just like that, the new Elden Lord ascended the throne. Messmer, who had been possessed by the abyssal serpent since birth, now sat upon the Elden Throne. It was ironically fitting—a kind of compensation from Marika to the long-abandoned son.

Rellana got her wish and became Messmer's wife—the new Elden Queen. This rekindled the long-estranged relationship between the Carian royal family and the Golden Lineage.

As for the former Chosen Tarnished, he also received a special reward from Marika—together with Melina.

Originally, Melina was intended by Marika to be the kindling, but in this timeline, she did not sacrifice herself to burn the Erdtree. Still, she had always walked the path of fulfilling her mission.

To reward this loyal and selfless daughter, Marika granted the long-vacant Northern Haligtree—left empty after Malenia and Miquella's departure—to Melina and the Tarnished. Marika even reshaped Melina's body anew.

But the land was not granted freely. The Golden Order was in disarray, and Leyndell's military was severely weakened. To the capital, the Northern Haligtree was still considered rebel territory. So, to claim it, the Tarnished would have to do the work himself—being the golden son-in-law wasn't going to be easy.

Marika did lend some knights from Leyndell to assist, but they were far from enough to cleanse the lingering corruption and resistance. The Tarnished would still need to raise his banner and form a new force.

Melina remained somewhat unsure about her relationship with the Tarnished. It had been a long time since their first meeting. He had fulfilled his promise to her and even risked everything to save her life.

But Melina didn't know if what they had was love. She had been born solely to fulfill the mission Marika had given her. Now that the mission was over, she felt lost.

But the Tarnished seemed quite proactive. He took Melina's hand, looked seriously into her one open eye, and said:

"Let's make another promise.

I know forever sounds irresponsible,

but this time, let's make it ten thousand years."

...

Aoko happened to be eavesdropping nearby when he said that. She couldn't help but cringe at the cheesiness of his line, wondering if that guy had been some kind of time traveler before he lost his memory.