Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 190 Ashes

Seven large doors.

Inside each of the six large doors on the left and right sides is a statue, corresponding to one of the six principal deities:

The two doors on the left correspond to the Goddess of Night and the Mother of Earth, while the four doors on the right correspond to the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Sun, the God of War, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

Apart from the god of steam and machinery, all six orthodox deities are here. The reason why the god of steam and machinery is not here is simple: this god is too young, and he may not have been a god for as long as this underground ruin has existed.

tie!!

Amidst the harsh, heavy scraping sounds, the stone door in the middle was slowly pushed open.

Behind the door was a passageway wide enough for four people to walk side by side; ahead lay a dark, deep, mysterious, and eerie space.

But as Ember entered, the dark and gloomy environment was immediately dispelled by the radiance of the Sunbug helmet. Before the light, no shadow could hide. And so, Ember could easily see the entire passageway:

The passageway ended in a blockage of boulders and mud, but on either side of the passageway stood stone doors of the same design as the main hall. The right door was half-open, its interior also filled with mud and stones. The left door was similarly not fully closed, leaving a narrow gap large enough for one person to pass through.

tread!tread!tread!

rustle!

Heavy footsteps and a dense, rustling sound rang out simultaneously.

The Silver Knight, along with the summoned swarm of insects, surged into the room, instantly taking over the entire space.

Ember followed closely behind and entered. The light of the sun beetle dispelled the darkness, illuminating the black stone slabs in the room covered with the corpses of countless beetles, and on the stone slabs were piles of white bones covered with decaying clothing.

Clearly, this was left by people who previously explored this underground ruin.

At the far end of the room stood the previous blood-stained double door!

Most importantly, the door has been opened.

It was the same case where only one gap was opened, and only one person could pass through at a time.

A terrifying aura emanated from it, and it was this aura that instantly killed the surging swarm of insects—

Although they are numerous, each individual is extremely small.

But the Silver Knights completely ignored these auras.

Although the aura was terrifying, only a lingering residual power remained.

This also means that the "evil spirit" inside this door has probably already escaped!

tread!tread!

A silver knight suddenly rushed toward the half-open, blood-stained door and, in the blink of an eye, passed through it and entered.

However, the moment the Silver Knight passed through the gate, a shadow flashed from the darkness behind the blood-stained gate.

when!

Silver light and shadow intertwined, sparks flying from the collision and friction amidst the resounding clang of metal.

Taking this opportunity, Ember also saw clearly who had attacked the Silver Knight—

It was a knight whose entire body was covered in armor, and whose helmet also had two horns.

His armor style is clearly identical to that of the Silver Knight, the only difference being that his armor is black.

boom!

Suddenly, the silver knight, clad in bright silver armor, was sent flying backward and crashed heavily against the wall.

The knight, clad in jet-black armor, slowly emerged from the blood-soaked gate, staring intently at the intruder outside.

"The Black Knight," Ember murmured as he looked at the tall figure that appeared before him.

The Black Knights were once Silver Knights; they were the elite of the Silver Knights, serving the Sun King Gwyn.

When Gwyn chose to link the First Flame, most of the Silver Knights remained in Anor Londo, but the elite followed the King who linked the First Flame into the First Forge. Gwyn completed his mission of linking the First Flame, and the knights who followed him were burned to ashes, and have since wandered the world indefinitely.

In Ember's memory, he seemed to have never met Gwyn and had no idea what kind of person he was.

But to the Protoss, Gwyn was undoubtedly a worthy "God-King," and it was his sacrifice that ensured the continuation of their rule. Furthermore, before setting out to link the First Flame, Gwyn distributed a large portion of his power to the Protoss, further solidifying their dominance.

But for the undead who were forced to embark on the path of fire-lighting and accept a mission that was not theirs to fulfill, this was undoubtedly a curse.

The Embers never collected the ashes of the Black Knights, because they were merely empty shells.

Just like the embers themselves, these Black Knights are also "embers," the remnants left behind when they are burned to ashes.

Essentially, they are already ashes. Therefore, they cannot be turned back into ashes.

And what controls the ashes is not the embers, but 'fire'.

But the question is, why is the Black Knight here?

The Silver Knight was granted "immortality" because his body was turned into ashes by the Embers, and was summoned to this world by the Embers.

What about the Black Knight?

Besides fire, who else can summon the Black Knight?

when!when!when!

The remaining two silver knights were already locked in battle with the black knight. The silver light flashed and the clanging of metal echoed continuously in the empty room.

The Silver Knight and the Black Knight, once sworn brothers, are now locked in a life-or-death struggle here—

Perhaps "fighting to the death" is inappropriate, since they are already dead, and what is fighting here is only their ashes.

Ding ding ding ding!

Sharp silver glints flashed in different places as the longsword was swung, relentlessly cutting through the black knight's hard armor. Despite it being a righteous two-on-one fight, the silver knight was subtly losing ground.

This is not surprising.

Even though the Black Knights had been burned to ashes by the First Flame, they were still the most elite knights in the Protoss army in life!

The three Silver Knights in Ember's possession had never even fought alongside Gwyn in the war against the Elder Dragons. They were born at the end of the Protoss's reign, a time when the Protoss were already on the verge of collapse, and even Gwyndolin had gradually been sidelined by the Pope.

Therefore, don't expect these Silver Knights to have the same strength as the Silver Knights who fought the ancient dragons; they don't even have half of that strength.

In terms of both strength and skill, he was far inferior to the Black Knight who followed Gwyn in linking the fire and was burned to ashes!

If we consider the world's classification of extraordinary individuals by their strength, then the Silver Knights under Ember's command are somewhere between Sequence 5 and Sequence 4—stronger than Sequence 5 but not quite at the Sequence 4 level. The Black Knight before them, however, is somewhere between Sequence 4 and Sequence 3.

Among all the Black Knights, his strength was only the weakest, but dealing with these Silver Knights was more than enough. Without external interference, even if a Black Knight faced three Silver Knights simultaneously, he would still achieve a complete victory!

Clang!

Amidst the intense collision of metal, the silver light flashed continuously.

The silver knights, clad in magnificent, gleaming silver armor, seemed to have the upper hand.

However, at some point, one of the silver knights suddenly stopped attacking and stood motionless as if in a daze.

Sometime later, a dark crack appeared on his forehead.

The crack shot up and down rapidly, instantly splitting him in two.

No blood gushed from the crack, because the Silver Knights were also ashes; they had no flesh and therefore did not bleed.

Even after suffering such a fatal wound, the Silver Knight is still 'alive'.

Having turned to ashes, they have no concept of 'fatal wounds'; as long as their 'health bar' hasn't dropped to zero, they won't die.

But soon, even more black light burst out from the Silver Knight's body, shattering his body into countless pieces like broken porcelain.

Snapped!

The Silver Knight's body vanished silently, turning to ashes in the blink of an eye, utterly annihilated.

As if sensing something, Ember stretched out his palm, and a square urn silently appeared in his hand, containing the ashes of the Silver Knight.

Normally, the Silver Knights do not die.

Because what appears in the real world are only their souls, and their souls reside in their ashes.

Even if the soul is killed, for the Silver Knights, it is simply the soul returning to ashes.

As long as the ashes are still in your possession, you can summon them repeatedly.

In theory, this process is irreversible; even angels cannot truly kill the summoned soul.

Cremated remains act as an anchor, capable of summoning the souls residing within, and also guiding fragments of a soul back to the ashes when it is killed. After a period of nurturing, once the soul has sufficiently recovered within the ashes, it can be summoned again.

Of course, without external help, this usually takes a very long time. And the stronger the individual, the longer the recovery time will be.

But this time is different—

The slain Silver Knight did not return to the urn; his soul vanished without a trace.

In other words, the silver knight has been completely killed!

The Black Knight harbors a certain power that can sever the connection between the soul and the ashes.

When the soul dies completely, the Silver Knight's ashes become nothing more than a pile of real ashes, devoid of any value.

The power that killed the Silver Knight was all too familiar to Ember; it was the power known as the First Flame!

The Black Knights are the remnants burned to ashes by the First Flame, but they are also the agents of the First Flame's will!

Ding ding!

Even though one Silver Knight had already died, the remaining two Silver Knights continued to attack the Black Knight fearlessly.

Almost simultaneously, a powerful light emanated from them, forming an invisible barrier that covered their already gleaming silver armor, making it appear even more dazzling. This also granted them enhanced defensive capabilities, allowing them to withstand the attacks of the black knight's broadsword.

The silver knight swords in their hands were simultaneously enveloped in light, rapidly growing longer and wider as the light converged! From a standard straight sword, they transformed into a two-handed greatsword almost identical to the black knight sword!

Golden lightning crackled around the giant sword, a miracle originating from the oldest and most powerful divine race!

Clang!

The Silver Knight took a step forward, and with a heavy thud, his two-handed greatsword slashed down at the Black Knight with the force of cleaving through a building.

The Black Knight was tall and imposing, yet incredibly agile. He almost brushed past the greatsword, seemingly in danger but easily dodging the Silver Knight's slash!

boom!

The greatsword slammed into the ground, shattering the stone slab and leaving a deep crater several meters deep in the black stone that had withstood the test of time. Numerous cracks spread rapidly in all directions, creating a depression that nearly caused the Silver Knight to fall in as well.

If he hadn't pulled away in time and leaped up from the pit,

However, as he returned to the ground, the Black Knight had already been waiting for him for a long time.

He dragged the heavy black knight's greatsword, scraping it against the ground and leaving a terrifying scratch on the hard stone slab that wiped away any sparks, before sweeping it horizontally towards the silver knight's waist and abdomen with an upward thrust!

This move is specifically designed for opponents who like to roll around.

The shield in the Silver Knight's hands reappeared, the light of the greatsword faded in the blink of an eye, and the two-handed greatsword transformed back into the Silver Knight's sword. But the light did not dissipate; instead, it instantly converged on the small yet exquisite shield in his hands!

Endless light gathered from this, giving the shield terrifying defensive power.

And at the same time, another Silver Knight finally made his move!

He gripped the sword hilt with both hands, bent over, and plunged the greatsword straight up and down into the stone slab in front of him!

With a snapping sound, bursts of brilliant light, like the first rays of dawn, surged from the sword's blade, transforming into a hurricane that swept across the surroundings.

boom!

A dazzling storm of light swept through the entire room almost in the blink of an eye.

The entire floor of the room was flattened by the storm, and the originally hard black stone slabs disappeared completely, revealing the soil that had been swept up by the storm!

The Black Knight's figure stiffened as he knelt on the ground, his greatsword falling to the side.

He seemed to have fallen into some kind of rigidity.

Taking advantage of this gap, the Silver Knight, wielding a sword and shield, silently appeared behind the Black Knight.

boom!

The silver knight's sword pierced through the black knight's hard armor and penetrated his body.

But just like the Silver Knight, not a single drop of blood flowed from the Black Knight's body.

They are all long dead, and everything they are experiencing now means nothing to them.

boom!

The Black Knight's corpse fell heavily to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust that obscured the view.

But he was unable to get up again, and silently turned to ashes and disappeared.

[The Blasphemy Card (Red Priest)]

……

The two silver knights simultaneously withdrew their gaze and stepped towards the blood-stained door.

Ember calmly watched the spot where the Black Knight finally fell. He simply watched from beginning to end, never attempting to intervene.

He didn't know why the Black Knight was here, or why he was involved with that evil spirit.

If the Black Knight released the evil spirit, why did he remain in the same place after the evil spirit escaped?

The black knight was left all alone in this underground ruin, as if it had been deliberately waiting for him there.

From the moment he awoke, Ember knew very well that he had a mission—

Passing on the fire.

This belief drove his actions in the initial period, constantly bringing him closer to the finish line with the Black Emperor as his goal.

However, this goal was extremely vague from the very beginning—

The Black Emperor is undoubtedly an excellent source of firewood.

But where is the stove that ignites the firewood? Where is the first fire?

If there is no stove, how do you add firewood even if you have it?

What's the point of adding more firewood if there's no initial fire?

Ember has been unable to find any trace of the First Flame.

But now, in this underground ruin, he has encountered the Black Knight, a Black Knight who possesses the power of the Primordial Flame and is clearly controlled by it.

(End of this chapter)