Crystal Palace from Infinite Anime

Lin Zhiyu suddenly understood.

It turned out that the two Red Lion soldiers had stepped forward to fight against the corrupt wild dog in order to protect him who was unconscious and Theresa in his arms, and they lost their lives for it.

Chapter 4: Latarn and the Horse

In the game of Elden Ring, the space where players can move, the so-called junction area, is extremely large, which is the largest in the Souls series of games.

The real border area is more than a hundred times wider than what is shown in the game.

Lin Zhiyu used his "Arsonist" fire control ability to cremate the two dead Red Lion soldiers. He then wrapped the ashes with fabric cut from the soldiers' tunics and armor.

However, the road ahead is long, and sending the two sets of ashes to Red Lion City is indeed a long and arduous task.

The devastated Galid region was now filled with a foul, fishy smell. This dire environment filled the young Theresa with constant fear and anxiety.

Watching Lin Zhiyu cremate the two corpses, although Theresa knew that Lin Zhiyu was just following the wishes of the deceased, witnessing death at such a close distance still had a great impact on her young mind.

The sky was gloomy, and along with it, Theresa's mood was gloomy.

At night in the border area, visibility is high in most outdoor areas even at night, because although the sky will turn from light to dark as time passes, the light of the golden tree will never diminish.

But this does not mean that the nights at the border are not dangerous.

Especially in the land of Galid.

This place was once green and full of vitality, with all kinds of animals everywhere.

Now that the scarlet corruption has eroded this place, many animals have become ferocious beasts driven mad by the corruption. Most of these beasts are nocturnal animals and become even more violent after nightfall.

Lin Zhiyu was hoping to find a suitable place to stay overnight as soon as possible, so after completing the cremation, he took Theresa on the road.

Due to the huge height difference, even holding hands was not convenient, so Lin Zhiyu simply carried Theresa on his back, supporting Theresa's little butt with both hands. Theresa put her arms around Lin Zhiyu's shoulders, with her little face pressed tightly against the back of Lin Zhiyu's neck. It seemed that the tighter they were, the safer she felt.

In Lin Zhiyu's memory, his parents had carried him on their backs like this when he was a child. He didn't remember how old he was at that time, probably before he went to kindergarten. Anyway, when he was very young, he always seemed to feel that his parents' backs were the warmest and safest place in the world.

But I don’t know since when, the road has become something I need to walk step by step by myself.

Theresa was still young, an orphan without a father or mother. Lin Zhiyu had never considered himself a very loving, very kind person. But now that he had met Theresa, he wouldn't just ignore her—perhaps it was because of her identity as Bayonetta that he initially cared so much about her.

However, when a cute and pitiful little loli always sticks close to you and regards you as her only support.

It really doesn't matter who she will be in the future.

What's important is that she is worth protecting now, not because of her own value, but because choosing to do so will make Lin Zhiyu feel satisfied, that's all.

After the outbreak of the Crimson Corruption, the evening breeze in Gayleid was eerie and fishy, ​​chilling people to the bone. Seresa clung to Lin Zhiyu the entire way, whispering repeatedly in his ear, "Brother, I'm so cold."

Lin Zhiyu wanted to use his fire control ability to make Theresa feel warmer, but he had just gained the ability of "arsonist" and was not yet proficient in controlling flames.

Currently, he can easily spray flames from his palms and even shoot flaming arrows.

But instead of setting fire, he should just use the power of the flame to raise his own body temperature so that Theresa could keep warm?

To be honest, he really can't do such a more subtle operation.

"I must play with fire more often when I get a chance, and improve my proficiency in controlling it."

Thinking of this, Lin Zhiyu softly comforted Theresa, telling her that he would soon find a place to rest and then make a fire to keep her warm.

Maybe Lin Zhiyu is just luckier.

Or maybe it was Theresa's special ability of "Lucky Guy" that worked.

In the end, Lin Zhiyu still found a dilapidated wooden house on the side of the road with Theresa on his back.

I didn't encounter any danger along the way, unlike in the game where you would encounter all kinds of wild monsters after just a few steps.

"Great! Theresa! I'll light a fire for you right away."

Arriving at the dilapidated wooden house, Lin Zhiyu put Theresa down, then took out his sword and used local materials to chop off a few wooden boards and pile them on the ground in the house, and then used the ability of an arsonist to start a bonfire.

Theresa sat by the campfire holding her beloved doll, looking at Lin Zhiyu with admiration, and asked Lin Zhiyu if he could still fly.

After Lin Zhiyu finished making the fire, he sat down next to Seresa. Unaware of why Seresa felt she could fly, Lin Zhiyu picked her up and placed her in his arms. Looking down at Seresa's face, he asked curiously, "Why do you think I can fly? I don't have wings on my back."

Theresa blinked and said as a matter of course:

"Brother can release flames out of thin air, so he must be able to fly! It would be great if brother could take Theresa flying, so we can go and see the stars up close together!"

Children's minds are always so strange. Setting fires and flying are two completely different things, and Lin Zhiyu doesn't have wings on his back. But Theresa thought Lin Zhiyu was amazing because he could set fires. Wasn't it natural for such a capable brother like Lin to be able to fly?

Facing Theresa's eyes full of expectation and longing, Lin Zhiyu shook his head and denied Theresa's opinion, even pouring cold water on her, "It's a pity, Theresa, my brother can't fly. And the stars in the sky, they are only beautiful when you look at them from afar, but if you get too close, they will turn into monsters and eat you!"

At the end of his words, Lin Zhiyu deliberately emphasized his tone.

Theresa was held in Lin Zhiyu's arms. She didn't feel scared at all and even said with a smile that Lin Zhiyu was lying to her.

How could the stars in the sky turn into monsters?

This kind of nonsense is useless even if you use it to scare children!

But Lin Zhiyu was not really trying to scare Theresa.

Looking at Theresa curled up in his arms and thighs, seeing that she didn't seem to want to sleep yet, Lin Zhiyu thought for a moment, then said to Theresa:

"How about this, I'll tell you a story."

As soon as Lin Zhiyu made the suggestion, Theresa nodded repeatedly and said "Okay, okay", looking very excited.

So Lin Zhiyu slowed down his tone and said:

"It all started with a great hero named Latarn. It's worth mentioning that this great hero, just like Theresa dreamed of, can fly!"

"Really? Who is this Latan? How does he fly? Does he have wings on his back like the birds in the sky?" As soon as the word "flying" was mentioned, Theresa started asking questions continuously, chirping like a bird.

It seems that every child longs to fly up to the sky like a bird and soar freely in the sky. However, it turns out that most of the time, the only thing they have in common with birds is their chirping.

Lin Zhiyu didn't think Theresa was noisy. After cremating two Red Lion soldiers, he carried two sets of ashes, braving the cold wind and breathing in the fishy air. He felt very heavy at this point.

Being able to talk more with Theresa and discuss some interesting topics like now is actually a good thing for both of them, big and small.

Closer to home.

Lin Zhiyu did not answer all of Theresa's questions immediately. Instead, he told Theresa that the answers were all in the following story, and then he told the story of Latarn:

"Long, long ago, there lived a great hero named Latan. He was the son of the red-haired hero Radagon and the full-moon queen, Reinara. His father was a brave warrior, handsome and powerful; his mother was wise and virtuous, with profound magical powers. As a son, Latan inherited both his father's prowess in combat and his mother's proficiency in magic. Because of his extraordinary birth, he became a lord at a young age, ruling over a place called Galid."

……

Starting from Latan’s birthplace, Lin Zhiyu slowly tells the story of Latan.

Speaking of Latarn, because he was too strong and his body became taller and taller, the horse that had accompanied him since childhood could no longer support him. So Latarn specially learned gravity magic, showing his talent in magic inherited from his mother, Lena. He eventually practiced gravity magic to perfection and was able to change gravity so that the horse could successfully support him again.

"Hmm...what is gravity? Theresa doesn't quite understand what my brother is talking about."

"As for this gravity, to put it simply, Theresa, you can think of it as weight. Latarn used gravity magic to greatly reduce the weight the horse had to bear when he rode it. So from then on, Latarn could fight side by side with his beloved horse again!"

"Does gravity magic have other uses? For example, making something very heavy?"

"Of course that's no problem! Not only that, through gravity magic, Latarn can easily make a very heavy object float in the air, or even float himself into the air, which is what we call flying into the sky~!"

"Wow! Gravity magic is so powerful! Theresa also wants to learn gravity magic!"

"Well, gravity magic is indeed very powerful. But then again, the reason why Latarn learned gravity magic was definitely not because he was attracted by its power, but because of his beloved horse. He hopes to continue fighting alongside his little friend."

At this point, Theresa's longing for flying through gravity magic paused. She still couldn't quite grasp the core of the story of "Latan and the Horse," but she could vaguely sense that there was something more important and precious in it than just flying.

Lin Zhiyu then recounted the story of Latarn's "Shattered Stars." Those stars in the sky truly were monsters. And whenever these monsters transformed into meteors and fell to the borderlands, they inevitably caused devastation.

By this time, the young Latan had already possessed great power. Due to his good governance, he was also the object of everyone's respect in Galid. However, Latan's aspirations went far beyond being a wise lord. He wanted to become a hero known throughout the borderland.

Just then, a meteor fell from the sky, bringing disaster to the world.

So Latan made an extremely bold and risky decision - to challenge the stars!

"...Finally, Latan successfully defeated the star bugs in the sky, banishing them to outer space. He then used gravity magic to construct a barrier, preventing the star bugs from ever falling into the borderland. From then on, the borderland became much more peaceful, and Latan, having accomplished the great feat of star shattering, finally became a true hero, honored by the people as 'Star Shattering General.'"

The story ends here for now.

Through the story of Star-Breaking General Latan, Lin Zhiyu made Theresa understand that the stars in the sky might really be monsters.

At this time, Lin Zhiyu lowered his head and looked at Theresa in his arms.

Ok!

The little girl's eyes were blurry and she looked like she was about to fall asleep at any moment.

Sure enough, telling stories is the best way to coax children to sleep?

"Go to sleep, Theresa, go to sleep." Lin Zhiyu began to speak softly to Theresa.

Just like that, in Lin Zhiyu's warm embrace, Theresa finally closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The first night in the borderland of the Elden Ring World.

A quiet night.

Chapter 5: The Dual Mission to Red Lion City

The next day, Lin Zhiyu woke up Theresa early in the morning.

Because we don’t know how long it will take to reach Red Lion City, we naturally have to set off as early as possible at daybreak.

Theresa definitely didn't get enough sleep, but she didn't complain at all. After waking up in Lin Zhiyu's arms, she muttered to herself, "Well, should we continue on our journey?"

Then he consciously shrank away from Lin Zhiyu's arms, stood on the ground and rubbed his dry eyes.

Lin Zhiyu stood up from the ground and brushed off the dust on his butt.

Hearing the clapping sounds, Theresa raised her head and looked at Lin Zhiyu, asking him if he had been sitting cross-legged on the ground and holding her in his arms all night.

Lin Zhiyu smiled and reached out to rub Theresa's head. "I can't ask you to sleep on the dirty floor, can I?"

Theresa pursed her lips and walked to Lin Zhiyu's legs. She raised her hand and grabbed one of Lin Zhiyu's hands, saying rather self-reproachfully, "It's all Theresa's fault. Brother must not have slept well last night..."

"Silly girl, how could your brother blame you? Besides, your brother is very energetic now. He can go without sleep for three days and three nights without any problem!" Lin Zhiyu squatted down, pinched Theresa's pink and tender face, and then picked up Theresa without saying anything.

"Okay, let's continue on our way!"

"Hmm... But, brother, where are we going?"

"Of course we're going to Red Lion City! Don't forget, we have a mission now!"

Holding Theresa in one hand, Lin Zhiyu gently patted the two packages tied to his trouser belt with his other hand. The packages contained the ashes of two Red Lion soldiers.

However, the mission that Lin Zhiyu mentioned was definitely not as simple as delivering the ashes of two Red Lion soldiers to Red Lion City.

Perhaps the young Theresa did not understand what the concept of "infinite space" was, nor did she know the importance of completing the task.

But Lin Zhiyu is always thinking about the mission!

Let’s not talk about the main mission of this world - "Repair or destroy the Elden Ring" for now.

Lin Zhiyu considered the secondary quest, "Collecting Great Runes," to be just as important as the primary quest. This was because it was itself a component of the primary quest. Great Runes were fragments of the Elden Ring, so collecting Great Runes was essential to repairing it.

Not to mention, the reward for this mission is quite generous!

As long as you collect a Big Rune, you can get a ten-pull combo!

Ten random rewards from the "Elden Ring" - even if the probability of drawing garbage is relatively high, as long as one out of ten draws a jackpot, it will make people take off on the spot!

After all, there are so many powerful skills, equipment, props, etc. in the Elden Ring!

The god-killing "Fated Death", the crazy and cool "Dragon Thunder", the "Evil God Flame" that is said to be able to burn everything, and so on.

Lin Zhiyu can think of many big prizes just by thinking about it!

So even for these big prizes, even for ten consecutive draws, where can we find the Great Runes that must be collected as a prerequisite?

That's not right!

Is there one over in Red Lion City?

"Star-Breaking General" Ratan's Great Rune!

In the battle between his Red Lion Legion and Marenia's Sacred Tree Legion, Latan managed to secure a narrow victory over Marenia in the final showdown. Frustrated, Marenia chose to "blossom" against Latan in the face—unleashing the power of scarlet corruption.

It's funny to say that scarlet corruption is so ugly, but it appears as a beautiful, blooming flower.

When Marennia transformed into the so-called "Flower of Ionia", the scarlet power of corruption erupted on Latan's huge body in the form of a blooming flower.

Latan was the first victim and the one who suffered the most damage.

Although Latan did not die from the blooming of the flower due to his strong demigod body, he fell into complete madness from then on.