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Chapter 676 - 209: Stonewell! The God-level Map Design That Silenced Designers Globally!_10

Chapter 676: Chapter 209: Stonewell! The God-level Map Design That Silenced Designers Globally!_10

By conversing, one could also learn some fragments of the plot.

These dialogues, linked with the "Grand Rune" and "Recollection" items obtained after killing Gerrick, could piece together another part of the story.

In the era when the Golden Order was at its zenith,

the first Elden king, Gefrei, united with the goddess Marika to bear a son, Gedwin.

He is the "Initial Dead," Gedwin, mentioned in the game’s opening CG.

He is also the owner of the dead man’s face found beneath the cliffs of Stonewell.

After Gedwin’s father, Gefrei, was exiled to become a Fading One, and his mother, Marika, also disappeared without a trace,

The Golden Order was on the brink of collapse, and the ancient Dragon Tribe seized the opportunity to attack King City Rodel.

The grand prince Gedwin stepped forward, single-handedly reinstated stability to the Order, and reconciled with the ancient dragons, forming an alliance.

Thus, he became the Golden king.

But the good times were short-lived, as the hidden Black Dagger Assassin faction used the power of Death Determined by Destiny to murder Gedwin,

reducing him to a soulless Death Burster.

With that, the Lands Between lost its unifying king.

The last vestige of stability in the Golden Rule was also shattered.

Factional movements were astir, causing unrest in all corners of the Lands Between.

The demigods, bearing the blood of the Golden Family, also began attacking the King City, vying for the shattered Elden Ring. (This can be understood as a struggle for political power)

And the famous General of The Broken Star, Ratan, was the first to strike, his forces reaching the gates of King City.

It was then that Gedwin’s offspring—Gerrick—took over the great responsibility of ruling the King City.

However, perhaps intimidated by General of The Broken Star’s unrivaled valor,

Gerrick, despite bearing the blood of the Golden Family and being the most legitimate heir to the Elden Ring, was frightened out of his wits.

Disguised as a woman, he fled in the night, abandoning the King City.

After fleeing to Stonewell,

he had just claimed the place as his own when he encountered Valkyrie Malenia, who was also preparing to attack the King City.

Facing the Valkyrie, also of demigod lineage, Gerrick’s initial decision was to fight her.

However, the clash could only be described as a one-sided rout.

Gerrick could not even touch the Valkyrie.

The soldiers he commanded were overwhelmingly defeated by the Valkyrie’s Honourable Rotten Knights.

Fearing death, Gerrick once again showed his cowardice.

In exchange for his pathetic life, he was willing to forfeit any dignity associated with his noble Golden bloodline, groveling and licking the Valkyrie’s boots.

After the Valkyrie passed through Stonewell and led her troops toward the King City,

Gerrick’s reputation for cowardice spread throughout the Lands Between.

Ashamed of the disgrace he brought upon his ancestors, Gerrick could not bear the humiliation.

He resolved to increase his strength,

and, lacking the natural talent, took a sinister path—Limb grafting.

He cut off the limbs of strong warriors and grafted them onto his body, to infuse their strength into himself.

With this method, he recruited a group of nobles who, like himself, were born with privilege but were inherently cowardly.

He taught them the method of Limb Grafting and brought them under his command.

Until the Fading One found them,

Gerrick was preparing for another ritual to graft the limbs of the Dragon Tribe, to further augment his strength.

Having understood this part of the story,

Czcu looked again at the guard who kept stepping on Gerrick’s dead head, and suddenly found him extremely distasteful.

Especially after hearing him whisper curses, calling Gerrick a filthy slug, a useless coward, and more,

Czcu couldn’t hold it back any longer and drew his sword, swiftly cutting down Geto Ke.

Blood splattered on the spot.

"Regardless, Gerrick was a king after all, and even in death, it’s not your place to tread on and insult him," Czcu said with disdain.

Czcu remembered clearly.

When Gerrick entered the second phase, fervently tearing off the dragon’s head for his own and shouting ’Ancestors, please bear witness!’, it showed that this cowardly, sycophantic descendant of the Golden bloodline still felt ashamed for disgracing his ancestors.

And what was this Geto Ke?

Following the player in secret to steal the Rune.

He even locked the player in a dark room, framing the player.

While he verbally denounced Gerrick’s practice of Limb Grafting,

this cowardly guard seemed to be engaged in the same deeds.

Czcu vaguely remembered encountering old Deng earlier in the city, who was frantically collecting the fingers of dead soldiers.

For this servant of Gerrick, a fair-weather friend, wall-sitter, and after death, a lowlife who defiled the bodies of others, Czcu felt nothing but disgust.

However, after killing Geto Ke,

Czcu realized.

Somehow... he had become immersed in the world depicted in this game.

He even felt his emotions stirred by some of the actions of the game’s NPCs.

At that moment, he was no longer just a player, but truly seemed like a Fading One who had braved countless dangers and was poised to ascend the throne.

Realizing this, Czcu sighed deeply.

"Though I’ve said it many times throughout the game, I want to say it once more,"

"Elden Ring is the best game I have ever played to date," Czcu exclaimed.

"Every aspect of its details is just too well crafted!"

"Gerrick may seem weak enough at first to make one wonder if there was a design flaw,"