From my perch high above Liurnia, I watched the lakes boil. I lay low to the ground to let the maddening smoke pass overhead. Before long, I was nearly buried in the ash. Not just the lakes but the sea itself boiled away. The heat and vapor rose as the last waves these lands would see. They rushed past with such violence that the Divine Tower trembled and then at last fell.
It was as the mad prophets had proclaimed: all things were returned to dust.
With the collapse of the Divine Tower, the last echoes of the Golden Order set by the Elden Ring faded. I felt it in my aching body, like a great weight had fallen upon me. All men were truly mortal again.
Somehow, that was not the end.
I dug myself free hours later to find a world of grey. Smoke hung low over the ruptured land, and all that stood were the mountains and the petrified children of the Erdtree. Below, beautiful Liurnia had become a bowl of ash. I looked to the east and saw the cracked remains of the Erdtree now hollow.
When I told my family goodbye, I had no plan but to face this ruination, defiance of giantsflame in my veins. I had thought to die with my old enemy, the world I had sought only to destroy. Some act of duty or penance. Now, I alone survived, duties and sins burnt to ash. The bitter humor of the cruel gods above Marika.
As I descended from the ancient belfries where I had sheltered, I soon saw I was not alone. In spite of the perpetual cloud, I could see further for all the trees had gone. Small groups were emerging from the mines and chasms. The Erdtree's roots were shallow in this land of the Moon and Stars.
I hoped then that I would see my family soon. Little did I know, they had journeyed much too deep in their fear of the Flame.