Since they had received guidance from Ranni, who was also a godlike being, everyone present unanimously decided that they must return to the royal capital immediately. Among those capable of teleportation, only Aoko, holding the Scarlet Staff, could perform large-scale teleportation.
Just as Aoko agreed to the request and was about to open a teleportation black hole to the royal capital, the sky above the Tower of the Gods was suddenly illuminated by a blinding golden-yellow blaze.
...It was a massive dragon, its body covered in wounds and even missing a leg.
No, this dragon had even lost both of its original wings. The wings it now used to fly were some kind of simulated appendages created by mysterious energy, attached to where its original wing joints used to be. Its entire body crackled with blazing golden lightning, setting the sky itself ablaze.
"...The ones riding it—could they be Radahn and Miquella?" Touko adjusted her glasses and spoke. "What's up with that dragon? Are there flying dragons that big?"
"...Its flight path is headed toward the royal capital," Messemer suddenly said. "That's Bayle The Dread. I can't believe even he has been brought under control... We need to open the teleportation gate immediately."
Aoko didn't know where this Bayle The Dread had come from, but from the look of his battered yet determined body, she knew this was no ordinary foe.
Touko nudged Aoko, and Aoko immediately understood her sister's meaning—it was a silent question about whether it was time to run away.
Aoko hesitated briefly but decided to help Messemer return to the capital first. The final outcome would depend on whether Miquella could be stopped.
She said nothing more, instead retrieving the Scarlet Staff. Using the small cosmos at the staff's tip and its authority over the Lands Between, she located the coordinates of the royal capital and opened a pitch-black, spherical teleportation black hole, pouring in an immense amount of magic to maintain it.
Messemer entered first without hesitation. The fully healed Rellana followed, then Melina and the Tarnished, and finally the rest of the group.
Aoko, who had to maintain the portal, was the last to enter. Moments later, the black-purple teleportation black hole gradually shrank and vanished from the top of Enir-Ilim.
-Scene Transition-
Returning to the royal capital, the first thing Messemer saw was Godfrey—covered in blood, gravely wounded, lying in a large spread-eagle posture and barely clinging to life. Atop the tower was the Bayle The Dread, impaled and completely dead, his blood flowing down several streets.
The flame knights left behind to guard the capital had all died in battle, their corpses littering the ground.
Even the chief among them had been cleaved in half, his body lying at the entrance to the Erdtree.
"...Strength is what made him king," Godfrey said calmly, despite being on the verge of death. "That was quite the battle to end my journey…"
Messemer knelt quietly beside him. Judging from the state of the first Elden Lord's body, not even the most powerful prayers could bring him back—only the divine power of the Elden Ring might be able to resurrect him. Without it, death was inevitable.
"...He took Morgott's body," Godfrey murmured, staring into Messemer's eyes. "He killed him, transformed his corpse, and placed another soul into it. Be careful…"
With those words, the massive, battle-scarred old man exhaled his final breath and died.
Messemer stood up without hesitation and walked toward the now-unsealed entrance to the Erdtree. The thorns that once blocked the gate were gone—the Erdtree itself was nearly dead, its life consumed by the raging black flame of god-slaying fire.
Rellana followed immediately. The Tarnished, bearing two Great Runes, hesitated briefly before following as well. Melina once again merged with the Tarnished.
Aside from the annihilated flame knights, Messemer's soldiers did not hesitate to follow their general into battle inside the Erdtree. However, the group from Caria, along with the Aozaki sisters, found themselves in an awkward situation.
But that awkwardness didn't last long. Except for outsiders like Aoko and Touko, everyone else had to continue living in the Lands Between. That meant they could not escape Miquella's new law. Even if Caria could temporarily resist with Queen Rennala and her daughter, it would not last. The combined power of Radahn and Miquella was simply too great. If Messemer failed, Caria would fall too.
Just as they braced themselves to enter the Erdtree, Rennala arrived with Carian knights. Also arriving were strategist Iji, the half-wolf Blaidd, and the sorceress Sellen—who seemed to be there just for the spectacle.
"Sigh... What is this?" Aoko said, sighing. "The final battle of this world?"
Considering that she and her sister could leave this world at any time, Aoko figured there was no harm in witnessing what lay inside the Erdtree. Bracing herself, she followed the crowd inside.
Bathed in dazzling golden light, Aoko instinctively shielded her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw the shattered, beheaded corpse of Marika—and Messemer, already wounded and roaring, continuing to fight.
This sudden turn for the worse was exactly what Aoko and the others had hoped to avoid. Everyone immediately entered combat mode. But aside from those of a certain strength, most—including many of Messemer's soldiers—couldn't survive even a single exchange against the now God-King Unified Radahn+Miquella. Even the genius sorceress Sellen barely managed to survive by using the protective field of Thops.
The arrival of reinforcements eased the pressure on Messemer. Aoko and the others' magic forced Radahn back several times—but they couldn't defeat the now godlike Miquella, who wielded god-slaying flame, pure gold, the law of enchantment, bloodflame, and gravity magic.
Just as Miquella was about to speak again, trying to persuade the attackers to surrender, an anomaly occurred—a translucent arm appeared beside Marika's corpse, grasped it tightly, and slowly sank into the ground as if dissolving into water.