The Tarnished in LOTR with Elden Ring

Despite Tarnes harboring doubts about the Golden Tree's current state, he still tried to calm his somewhat restless mood and led the Misbegotten, carrying their fallen comrades' bodies, into Moen City's castle.

Tarnes understood the significance of returning to the tree for those who believed in the Golden Tree, especially since this was the Misbegotten's first return to the tree in many years. He didn't want to ruin their mood by rushing them.

Look—when passing through the Golden People's residential area outside Moen City, the Misbegotten, without exception, straightened their chests, following behind Tarnes into Moen City's castle under the surprised gazes of the Golden People.

"Let it be here. Let these gloriously fallen Misbegotten return to the Golden Tree's embrace."

Upon reaching the large courtyard where the Golden Tree stood alone, Tarnes said.

Then he approached a Misbegotten and lifted a frozen Misbegotten corpse from the cart the other was pushing.

"Your Majesty Tarnes? How... how can we let you..." The Misbegotten's eyes widened as he hurriedly tried to extend his hands to help.

Tarnes stepped aside and said calmly to him and the Misbegotten behind, "Let us see them off together. Though I know that in your hearts, dying for me in battle is an honor, if possible, I would still prefer them to be alive."

The Misbegotten withdrew his hands. Looking at the other Misbegotten gradually entering around them, he nodded silently.

Tarnes' words made the originally somewhat emotionally stirred Misbegotten's expressions become solemn.

The Misbegotten also realized that even if returning to the tree was the greatest honor, their departed comrades could never again stand up and shake hands with them in joy.

They pushed their carts into the courtyard one by one and, like Tarnes, carried their comrades' bodies to the Golden Tree.

Tarnes gently placed the cold, Scale-skinned Misbegotten corpse in his arms on the golden grass swaying in the wind, dispelling the ice magic's freezing effect.

The Golden Tree, resplendent with golden radiance, swayed gently in the wind. Its branches moved in rhythm with the wind, creating a "rustling" sound, as if singing a sorrowful dirge for those Misbegotten who had died in battle.

Golden leaves slowly fell, accompanying the branches' trembling like tears shed by the Golden Tree.

Under the Golden Tree, the Misbegotten's bodies were arranged neatly. Their expressions were now serene and peaceful, as if they were merely sleeping.

Golden leaves drifted down lightly, quietly covering these fallen Misbegotten forms.

Suddenly, the bodies began to emit a faint golden glow. This gentle radiance gradually spread, accompanied by subtle flickering, and the Misbegotten's bodies began to become transparent until they transformed into clusters of brilliant light particles.

They danced and spun in the air, circling around Tarnes and the Misbegotten, as if making their final farewell.

After several circles, they began to slowly ascend, finally merging back into the Golden Tree.

The surroundings fell into deathly silence, with only the rustling of swaying branches and wind through fallen leaves.

Tarnes stood there, closing his eyes to pray for the Misbegotten who had returned to the tree.

Behind him, all the living Misbegotten prostrated themselves on the golden grass, bowing three times, then raising their hands high while softly chanting their remembrance of departed comrades.

Tarnes waited quietly until the last Misbegotten also rose and bowed to him before saying, "Go find Nepheli Loux and have her arrange for people to prepare what you need to return to Lond Daer—weapons, dry rations, bedding, and such. Have her prepare for about 300 people first. Moen City's warehouses still have some old supply reserves, enough for your use in Lond Daer."

The Misbegotten nodded and departed one by one, not forgetting to take the carts away from the Golden Tree's courtyard as they left.

After only Tarnes remained in the courtyard, he walked to the Golden Tree's trunk, closed his eyes, and communed with the Elden Ring within the tree.

The Golden Tree had no problems whatsoever.

On the contrary, due to the Shadow Tree's existence, the Golden Tree could better guide departed souls while avoiding being corrupted by death's power from absorbing too many dead souls.

Moreover, the Shadow Tree's appearance had caused new images to appear within the Elden Ring.

Tarnes recognized them immediately—these images showed everything from the Shadow Realm.

He looked at scene after scene from the Shadow Realm, then shook his head and turned his attention to Stormveil Castle.

None of the Golden People knew of the Shadow Realm's existence. If he summoned things from there and let the Golden People learn of these buried sins, who knew how much panic it would cause.

Furthermore, Tarnes discovered that summoning things from the Shadow Realm required not Golden Grace, but Shadow Grace.

That is, the grace stored within the Shadow Tree—and obviously, the Shadow Tree that had only recently appeared hadn't stored enough Shadow Grace.

However, while the Shadow Realm's cities couldn't be summoned for now, some old friends he knew from there could be summoned later to help.

In any case, he would first summon Stormveil Castle. Afterward, if there was remaining grace, he would need to summon more soldiers and residents, and the Misbegotten far away in Lond Daer also needed more comrades.

The Golden Tree's grace accumulated over nearly a month, plus the Orc souls he had absorbed from Lond Daer, should be sufficient.

Once Stormveil Castle was summoned, Storm Hawks, Exile Soldiers, and Banished Knights could all be summoned too. Nepheli Loux would finally be a true Storm Lord, no longer having to command Godrick's Royal Army.

More importantly, there was a Lands Between demigod who could be summoned.

Though the grace required to summon this demigod wasn't even half of what was needed to summon Stormveil Castle.

While fantasizing in his mind, Tarnes took out the Soul Collector crafted by Teacher Sellen.

The Soul Collector, made of deep blue glintstone, began releasing large quantities of Orc and Warg souls the moment it appeared before the Golden Tree.

As the Golden Tree absorbed these souls, the Shadow Tree, growing as one with it gradually transformed toward a black-gold color.

After releasing all souls, the Soul Collector lost its glow and fell back into Tarnes' hands.

Tarnes carefully tucked it away, then eagerly placed his hand on the Golden Tree's trunk again.

In the quiet courtyard, sunlight filtered through sparse clouds, falling on these two trees growing as one.

The Golden Tree and Shadow Tree, after Tarnes confirmed the summoning, simultaneously burst forth with radiance of different colors.

The Golden Tree's golden radiance was like flowing molten gold, both warm and full of vitality.

Its leaves, caressed by the gentle breeze, rippled with golden waves like a golden river flowing quietly through the silent courtyard.

The Shadow Tree beside it displayed its dignity and solemnity in a completely different manner.

Its leaves also swayed gently in the wind, but they gleamed with black-gold light, like gems hidden in the depths of a profound ocean—unassuming yet impossible to ignore.

The radiance of both trees intertwined, enveloping the entire Golden Tree territory. Accompanied by brief earth tremors, the magnificent castle of Stormveil appeared around the Golden Tree.

Moen City shifted to where Haight Fortress had originally been, while Haight Fortress moved to a more northern position from its original location.

As for the Gatefront Outpost, its position remained unchanged, as it was originally established as an outpost before Stormveil Castle.

The Dwarf and Elf residential areas also remained unchanged, so the fields and farms were unaffected.

Stormveil Castle's appearance also meant the Golden Tree territory's range had expanded considerably once again.

Now, walking from Stormveil Castle to Moen City would take a full day, while from Moen City to Haight Fortress would only take half a day.

It was time to build roads suitable for wagon travel between Stormveil Castle, Moen City, and Haight Fortress.

While thinking this, Tarnes continued to immerse his consciousness in the Elden Ring.

The Golden Tree's grace still had surplus—he wanted to summon more things.

In Moen City's lord's hall, Rogier looked at the fading radiance outside the window and Stormveil Castle's magnificent silhouette in the distance, smiling as he said to D and Nepheli Loux behind him, "Shall we guess what else Tarnes summoned this time?"

D, who had been praying when the radiance enveloped them, heard Rogier's words and tossed out, "Boring."

Seeing his friend reject him, Rogier deliberately pouted, then looked toward Nepheli Loux.

Nepheli Loux looked at the small black dots rising from distant Stormveil Castle, closed her eyes to sense for a moment, then opened them with excitement: "I sense a familiar presence in the wind—it's the flock! The Storm Hawks have returned!"

(End of Chapter)

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