We Are All Heretics

The blessing of the Night's Domain shimmered quietly with golden light.

Jia Paer lay quietly on the ground, staring unblinkingly at the starry night sky.

The air was filled with the rustling of grass in the wind, the footsteps of animals running, and the melodious singing of the Ancestral Spirit People.

But there was no sound coming from Jia Paer.

He stared motionless at the night sky, and if it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, passersby would probably have mistaken him for a corpse.

In fact, he now feels that the biggest difference between himself and a corpse is that he still has breath and cannot stop thinking.

The stars in the night sky gradually transformed into Mimic Tear shapes, and the round Dango slowly changed shape again.

He transformed into the Tarnished, a being with three heads and six arms, wielding a spear and Greatshield, a curved sword and a curved sword, a magic wand and another magic wand.

Jia Paer's already lifeless gaze became even more deathly still, turning almost entirely gray.

When was the last time he looked like that? It was probably when his beloved weapon was ruined by the Rust Monster.

Ugh, thinking about that incident makes me even more depressed!

Jia Paer pursed his lips, his eyes clearly showing his unwillingness to accept defeat.

"I still have so much energy left to use, I'm not willing to give up!"

The thought of Comet Azur, which had annihilated his physical form, made him feel extremely uncomfortable. Being killed by that thing was one thing, but what bothered him most was...

"At least let me unleash that final strike!"

His inner resentment manifested as a raging anger, which he shouted out to the sky.

"This isn't the all-out battle I imagined!"

What does his all-out battle envision look like?

"Of course, it should be a battle where both sides are covered in blood, exhausting all their potential, fighting each other under the setting sun or in the pouring rain until only one person remains or both fall down. Both the loser and the winner should deliver poetic and philosophical remarks, and it would be best if a bard played the accordion at the end of the battle!"

This is the decisive battle that the older generation has always dreamed of!

What about the battle just now?

It was when the Mimic Tear wielded the Twin Little Melodies and slashed at him that Jia Paer experienced the passion he had always dreamed of. The high-speed slashing was so exhilarating that he didn't think about anything but killing his opponent!

However, this enjoyable exchange of blows didn't last long. The climax is a climax precisely because it doesn't last long, which makes it all the more precious.

What about the other two encounters besides the two-sword duel?

A Shield Poke, a magical bombardment.

The former is as thick as the mental wall of a depressed person piloting a mecha, impossible to break through no matter how hard they try; the latter is even more of a disaster area for wheelchair users, where choosing the right magic combo to instantly kill is a no-brainer.

If he had known he would be blasted to death by Comet Azur in the end, he would have preferred to die at the hands of the Twin Little Melodies. At least he would have died a bloody death and it would have seemed more heroic!

"Damn it!"

Jia Paer slammed his hand on the ground in anger, but the mud that splashed up fell into his throat, causing him to cough incessantly.

After the coughing stopped, the old man fell silent, only gazing at the sky with a wronged expression.

I don't know how much power the Tarnished, imitated by the Mimic Tear, possessed, but in any case, dying at the hands of the Elden Lord isn't a complete loss.

Well, maybe I can even brag about it when I get out there, since I've been playing against them for quite a while.

Thinking of this, Jia Paer smiled again.

"Since no one can see, I can say whatever I want. I'll go back and quickly read a few chivalric novels to organize my thoughts."

When no one is around, Jia Paer is always this free and unrestrained.

"By the way, I still don't know its name. Could it be called Mimic Tear?"

He remained lying on his back and pulled out a small booklet from his pocket that he felt hadn't opened in a long time. It was a convenient tool that could display the names of the monsters he had fought in the Zane Dungeon and a series of information.

However, more detailed information will only be displayed after defeating the monster; if you fail to defeat it, at most only its name will be displayed.

Jia Paer wanted to see if the guy he had just fought was called the Eternal King or the Mimic Tear.

He felt his heart filled with passion, and he had to do something.

Before he even opened the manual, he rolled over on the floor and lay on his side.

Okay, now it's much easier to flip through the book.

However, as he turned to the side, he suddenly sensed something was amiss and looked up sharply.

Four pairs of large eyes were staring at him.

It was Leon, dressed in rags and looking like a wild man, staring at him with wide eyes, not moving.

Malu, Te Er, and Delu —the entire Strategy Team was all eyeing him.

"."

Jia Paer's body froze as if he were staring into Medusa's eyes.

"Ah, he's finally noticed us." Malu blurted out a line that, upon closer inspection, was quite remarkable.

"The situation just now was indeed not suitable for greeting," Leon said with an apologetic smile to his teacher.

To Jia Paer, the scene looked like something out of a horror movie.

"Um, if I may ask a question," Jia Paer took a deep breath and asked in a slightly trembling voice, "When did you get here?"

Malu took out an Image Stone, from which came his heart-wrenching roar.

"I still have strength left to use, I'm not willing to give up!"

Malu scratched her head. "Sorry, teacher, I forgot to turn off the recording."

"Wait, teacher, why are you sitting up? You should be resting."

"Don't draw your sword, teacher!"

"I'll delete it right now!"

A commotion erupted near the place of blessing; someone's overwhelming resentment had frightened away all the small animals in the vicinity.

Soon after, the overwhelming resentment subsided.

Leon and the others knelt obediently in front of Jia Paer, with the Image Stone, split in two, placed in front of them.

"So, you took a different route than me and went to explore the forest?"

Jia Paer asked with his hands behind his back and a serious expression, like a rigid old teacher, which actually showed that he was still angry because of Leon and the others watching earlier.

But he was even angrier at himself for being so engrossed in venting his emotions that he didn't notice the people around him.

"Yes, we discovered a hidden paradise inside the forest." Delu nodded.

"There's a huge, deer-like monster corpse deep in the forest, and those horned guys are worshipping it like a god!" Malu said excitedly.

Leon pulled out a photo he had taken of "Giant Deer" and said:

"Just as we suspected, the beliefs of these underground monsters are completely different from those of the Erdtree on the surface. According to us, these underground races are..."

"Heretical," Jia Paer said.

"And we also found this, a stone tablet with inscriptions, and a brazier on top of it that can be lit."

Leon continued playing the video, saying, "Based on my intuition, there might be other stone tablets that we haven't found yet. If we set them all on fire, something strange should happen."

"But the focus now is not on finding the stone tablet, but on what is recorded on it, teacher. Please take a look."

Jia Paer took it and began to read it. Each stone tablet had inscriptions on it. Although there weren't many, the condensed information sparked the imagination.

Our prosperous Eternal City has incurred the envy of Greater Will, and dark meteors have fallen from the sky.

If Japar could find all the stone tablets, and with some of his own imagination, Jia Paer would probably be able to understand what had happened here.

"These things would be of interest to scholars outside the field."

He returned the Image Stone to Leon and said, "Do you have any clues about the remaining stone tablets? I'll go with you."

His tone and expression were very serious, in order to numb himself and prevent himself from thinking about what happened at the Mimic Tear.

"Let's go, I'll go with you to look for it."