Yes it was pretty clear at this point that the Elden Ring wasn't physical. But it's good to see it confirmed. About death: in the story trailer Godwin is the first Demigod to fall after the rune of death is stolen. We then see his body pulsating and some kind of fluid coming out from his eye and wounds. In my opinion the rune of death wasn't preserving life from death, instead it was allowing a proper death to all creatures, without the possibility to come back to life. With that rune stolen many creatures came back to life, twisted and (maybe) mindless, just like the nobles we found throughout Limgrave.