In a flooded plain beneath a star-filled sky, two figures faced each other—vastly different in size yet both exuding an unyielding will to fight.
The larger figure, a colossal being of cosmic stars, raised its gargantuan sword and brought it down with a force that seemed to tear the very air apart. Water erupted around the impact, sending tidal waves across the flooded terrain.
But the smaller figure had anticipated the attack and rolled to safety just in time.
"Damn it," the smaller figure muttered through ragged breaths, struggling to stay upright. "Still got the energy to swing that gigantic sword around…"
He was Bernard, a Tarnished—a man chosen to challenge the divine, whisked away from his home on Earth and thrust into the vicious Lands Between.
Tasked with a seemingly impossible quest, he now found himself facing his final challenge.
Bernard gripped his weapon tightly, the Sword of Night and Flame, its blade glinting with otherworldly energy.
This legendary armament, crafted in the Carian Manor, was imbued with the power of both sorcery and incantation.
His gaze narrowed as he looked upon the being before him, the Elden Beast. The godly entity stood tall, its form shimmering with cosmic brilliance, as if made from the very fabric of the stars.
This was the cosmic beast that served the Greater Will, the eldritch god who imposed its 'order' upon the world.
The Elden Beast was no mere creature; it was a god—a being of such immense power that it could have razed the entire world to dust if the Greater Will had decreed it.
For a brief moment, Bernard's weary eyes met the faceless void of the Elden Beast. He sensed that it was still recovering, regaining its bearings after the failed strike. This was his chance!
Drawing upon the last of his strength, he raised his Staff of the Great Beyond, a relic from the Mother of Fingers, its crux adorned with a microcosm—a swirling miniature universe filled with boundless mana.
He could feel the magic thrumming through the staff, desperate to be unleashed.
"Star Shower!"
He roared, channeling his magic.
From the staff, a multitude of shooting stars shot forth, raining down upon the Elden Beast with unrelenting fury. The onslaught made the god recoil, its cosmic form shuddering from the impact.
But Bernard wasn't done. As the final star crashed into the beast, he gathered more mana, preparing his next attack. The previous attack was just a time-gaining diversion to cast his actual spell.
"Loretta's Mastery!"
Four colossal magic arrows materialized above him, each radiating a blue light that threatened to consume the night. The arrows shot forward, streaking across the flooded plain like comets.
They struck the Elden Beast in rapid succession, and the resulting explosion was so massive that it almost knocked Bernard off his feet.
Huff, huff…
His breath came in labored gasps, his limbs trembling with exhaustion. He had expended most of his mana; only enough remained for one final assault. If this last gambit didn't work, it would be the end.
As the smoke and magic cleared, Bernard squinted through the haze, his heart pounding in his ears.
"Please stay down, please stay down…"
The Elden Beast lay amidst the receding water, its form twitching and struggling to rise. The god glared at Bernard, its rage palpable, as if insulted by the defiance of a mere mortal.
Yet, despite its fury, the truth was plain: the once-mighty god was faltering. The battle had taken its toll, and it no longer possessed the strength to dodge even a straightforward attack. Bernard's resilience had worn the divine being down; his tenacity outlasting the god's wrath.
The god that could shatter mountains, raze cities, and end entire civilizations was now humbled before a simple Tarnished. But Bernard knew better than to underestimate it, even now.
Gritting his teeth, Bernard swapped his weapon for the Bolt of Gransax, an ancient spear brimming with the primordial power of the dragons.
He drew upon the last drops of his mana, summoning bolts of red lightning from the heavens. The primordial red lightning struck the spear in his hand, causing it to glow bright red.
The spear began to crackle with raw energy as the ancient dragon power fused with it.
"Ancient Dragon Lightning Spear!"
With a grunt of exertion, Bernard hurled the spear with all his might. It streaked across the flooded plain like a bolt of red lightning, its roar echoing through the night.
The spear struck the Elden Beast with devastating force, releasing a blinding explosion of red lightning upon impact.
Bernard shielded his eyes from the brilliant display, waiting for the light to fade. As the mist and smoke began to dissipate, he stumbled forward, hoping that it was over.
"Please just stay down…" he murmured, almost as if praying. It was ironic—praying for victory while slaying a god.
The god shuddered, and Bernard's face paled as he fell to his knees.
"Fuck, it's over…" Despair began to take hold of his heart.
But then something happened—something that made Bernard's blood boil with excitement. When the smoke fully cleared, the Elden Beast's form slowly began crumbling into a mass of white ash.
A massive sigh of relief escaped Bernard as the god disintegrated, its remnants scattering with the wind. The final challenge was conquered.
Bernard collapsed onto the water-soaked ground, his body aching from the strain. But even as he lay there, the environment around him began to change. Black mist spread across the flooded plain, swallowing the scene and transporting him back to where it all began: inside the Erdtree.
"Fucking finally!"
He shouted with all of his meager strength, the words echoing through the hollowed space inside the gigantic tree. He nearly wept with relief; the burden of his quest was finally lifted.
The place was quiet now, save for the crackling of the burning Erdtree. Bernard's eyes drifted to the body of Queen Marika, still suspended in her shattered state.
He hesitated, gathering the last of his strength before staggering to his feet and making his way over.
Once he was close enough, the Elden Ring came into view. The Elden Ring glowed with a golden radiance, beckoning him closer.
He had fought so hard for this moment, sacrificed so much. It was more beautiful than he had imagined.
He reached out to touch it, but before his fingers could make contact—
ZAP!
A spark of golden energy repelled his hand, sending a jolt of pain up his arm. He cursed under his breath, shaking his smoking hand. It seemed the Elden Ring would not be so easily claimed.
So it was true: only an Empyrean can become a god.
Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself. It was truly over.
Years of trials and tribulations flashed before his eyes—friends gained and lost, moments of hope and despair, and the constant struggle to survive in a world determined to break him. He had persevered through it all.
Now, the weight of his journey seemed to fall away, leaving only exhaustion.
Bernard gently lifted Marika's head, feeling the ancient power of the runes coursing through her broken form. The Elden Ring pulsed with golden light, almost blinding in its intensity.
"I have to give away two of my Great Runes…"
He sighed heavily as he mumbled to himself. The thought of parting with even one was painful, considering the bloodshed it had taken to obtain them.
After much deliberation, he finally decided on which runes to use: Mogh and Malenia. He took them out with a heavy heart, feeling a significant portion of his strength leave him. Quickly, before he could second-guess himself, he placed the runes inside Marika's head.
Immediately, golden light surged from the Elden Ring, wrapping around him in a radiant embrace. His surroundings seemed to blur, his body growing lighter as the magic enveloped him.
"There's no hidden boss fight, right?" he joked, a tinge of nervousness in his voice as the process began.
For what felt like hours, Bernard was bathed in the golden glow, his body being reshaped and transformed. He could feel the Great Runes fusing with his very being, becoming a part of him.
The power coursing through him was unlike anything he had ever felt before—divine, potent, and boundless.
When the light finally dimmed, he found himself seated on a throne at the base of the Erdtree. He glanced down at his hands, flexing his fingers as he took in his new form.
He felt an overwhelming surge of mana flowing through him, far beyond his previous capacity. He guessed that he could unleash devastating magic to raze a kingdom and still have enough left to continue fighting at full power for days.
He realized he had transcended humanity. Though only a demigod, he could now perceive the vast difference between a divine being and a mere mortal.
His body pulsed with the essence of one part of the Elden Ring that was absorbed into him, its power integrated into his very soul. As the Great Runes were originally part of the Elden Ring, they regained their original powers after coming into contact with it.
All his Great Runes were fused together and absorbed into his very essence, granting him new divine powers that he would have to study and master later.
The journey was over, but as Bernard looked around the empty throne room, he felt a hollow emptiness inside him. He had never truly wanted to rule, and now that he had achieved what others had fought and died for, he wasn't sure what to do next.
Bernard felt that he had lost his purpose, his singular goal.
Reaching into his bottomless pouch to divert his mind from the current bleak situation, he absently rummaged through its contents until his fingers brushed against something unusual—a parchment, old and worn, that he didn't remember acquiring.
"Hmm?"
Bernard took the parchment from inside his pouch and began examining it, curiosity piqued.
"What's this?"
A spell?
He murmured as he unrolled it. The ancient script detailed a spell—one unlike any he had ever seen.
"Multiverse Travel Spell?"
He whispered, arching an eyebrow at the ludicrous name of the spell.
Bernard continued to read its content, his eyebrows raising the further down he went.
The concept seemed ridiculous, even laughable. The spell claimed to transcend universal laws, opening a gateway to different realities and dimensions.
Curiosity sparked, Bernard began memorizing the spell, committing every arcane word to memory. As he completed the process, the parchment dissolved into black mist and disappeared.
If the parchment had been given to an average sorcerer, it would likely have been dismissed as nonsense. But Bernard was no ordinary sorcerer—he was a transmigrator.
A spell that defied universal law and punched a hole through the multiverse, allowing one to travel between worlds? It seemed preposterous.
But, as someone who had come from another world, he couldn't dismiss the possibility. No, the spell even excited him.
"If I master this spell, could I travel the infinite multiverse?"
His anticipation grew as he memorized the spell.
It took him about half an hour to commit the contents to memory. As soon as he finished, the old parchment burst into black mist and vanished.
"..."
Bernard stared at his empty hands in disbelief and excitement. How powerful and mysterious must the creator have been for the parchment to detect when the spell had been memorized and then destroy itself?
"This means that the spell is highly authentic!"
With newfound excitement tinged with caution, he began casting the spell. The intricacies of the spell were unlike anything he had experienced, demanding all of his focus and mana.
"Multiverse Travel Spell!" he bellowed, but nothing happened.
He looked around. Nothing seemed different.
Hmm?
Had there been an error in the casting process?
Before he could voice his frustration, a mass of black mist began to emerge beneath him.
!
Instinctively, Bernard tried to leap from the throne, but a powerful suction force pulled him in. He struggled, but no matter how much strength he mustered, he couldn't escape.
The air around him began to shimmer, distorting as an oval-shaped portal formed under him. A black misty portal opened beneath him, and the black mist engulfed him completely.
"Fuck."
The chaos lasted for a few breaths before peace and tranquility graced the world again. When the mist cleared, the throne was empty, with its new lord nowhere in sight.
Author: Hey 1dose here, thank for reading my fanfic!
This is my second time writing and as English isn't my first language, please do forgive any error. Any feedback, tips and ideas are welcomed.
This will be a multi-cross, world-travel fanfic, so except focus to shift from world to world. This will also be harem fanfic hehe.