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

Chapter 248 is all?

"what!"

Emlyn woke up with a scream, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

But when he woke up, he found himself lying on a bed made of grass, with a vibrant tomb in front of him.

"I'm not dead?"

Emlyn touched his body with some surprise, and breathed a sigh of relief after finding himself unharmed. At the same time, he felt a little self-mockery; it was just a dream, how could he have thought he was really dead?

A deep, resonant voice came from the grave:

"You are the last one."

"Your Majesty the Duke."

Emlyn hurriedly got out of bed and bowed respectfully.

Emlyn glanced around and realized that all the vampires who should have been lying in bed dreaming like him had left, leaving him all alone. This made Emlyn even more nervous. Had he overslept?

"Don't be nervous."

Duke Olmer said in a gentle voice:

"Being the last one to wake up is precisely a testament to your potential."

"What potential?"

Emlyn stood there, bewildered and confused, when he heard a deep voice coming from inside the tomb ask:

What did you experience in your dream?

Emlyn immediately realized what was happening, quickly organized his thoughts, and recounted his experience in the dream:

"I saw some strange images, about the Lord of Cinder and the Linking of the Flame..."

"Then, I found myself waking up in a coffin, surrounded by strangely dressed zombies."

"At a fork in the road, I saw a huge, ice-blue lizard at the end of one path. But since it was a dead end, I didn't choose to go any further..."

"I found a campfire with a spiral sword stuck in it..."

"In the plaza not far from the campfire, there stands a giant clad in silver armor, his chest pierced by a spiraling sword..."

"I bypassed him and arrived at a circular building with four people inside: an old woman, a blacksmith, a disheartened man, and a gaunt old man with crippled legs..."

"The gaunt old man with crippled legs claimed to be Rudauth, a King of Cinder..."

"The old woman claimed to be a servant of the Firelink Shrine. She told me that this was the Firelink Shrine, and if I wanted to continue my mission, I had to retrieve the spiral sword from the knight in the plaza..."

"In the end, I drew my spiral sword, but I still died at the hands of that knight named Gundyr..."

Emlyn recounted everything in detail to Duke Olmer about his dream. At the end, Emlyn couldn't help but shudder. Although it was a dream, it felt incredibly real, especially the image of his body being smashed to pieces inch by inch by the halberd!

Even now, Emlyn's body still aches faintly, as if every bone in his body has been shattered...

He felt that Gundyr possessed at least Sequence 4 strength, otherwise he wouldn't have been so troubled by Gundyr, who was only Sequence 6.

This is definitely not because he's bad at the game, but because the enemy is too strong!

Olmer listened and then hummed in agreement.

"You did a great job; you've gone the furthest out of everyone."

"Everyone?"

Emlyn couldn't help but ask:

"Your Grace, are we having the same dream?"

"certainly."

Olmer chuckled and said, "You've all been in the same dream all along."

Emlyn asked in confusion:

"Then why have I never seen them?"

You'll find out later.

Seeing that Duke Olmer did not answer his question directly, Emlyn was somewhat disappointed, but quickly asked with some curiosity:

"Your Grace, you're saying I'm the one who went the furthest? What about them? How did they die?"

He died at the hands of that knight, yet he was still the one who went the furthest, which meant that no one else had successfully killed that knight and retrieved the Spiral Sword. This gave Emlyn a little comfort.

Sure enough, even someone like him, on whom the progenitor placed great hopes, couldn't kill Gundyr, so no one else could do it!

When Emlyn asked him, Olmer did not hide anything and answered:

"Three died from the Crystal Lizards, five died at the hands of the experts, and two others, like you, were killed by Gundyr the Ashen One, but they didn't make it to Firelink Shrine."

Emlyn asked with some curiosity:

"Your Grace, is there one more?"

Duke Olmer remained silent for a moment, then said in a complex tone:

"Another one fell off a cliff and died."

"..."

Emlyn's expression turned strange, as if he wanted to laugh but had to force himself to hold it in.

Honestly, he really wanted to know who this unlucky guy who fell off the cliff was.

"Go back first, and come to my place tonight."

"If you are unable to get away, you can have someone inform Kasimi in advance."

Duke Olmer, the vampire known as "Full Moon," said no more, ending the conversation and letting Emlyn leave the hall.

"Yes, Your Grace."

Emlyn bowed respectfully, took a few steps back, and then turned and left the hall.

-

Inside the Earl Hall's luxurious villa in Queens.

"This is way too difficult..."

Audrey sat with her legs together in front of the dressing table and sighed softly.

Although she experienced death in her dream, fully embracing the fear and pain of dying, as a Sequence 5 of the 'Spectator' pathway, Audrey had long since adjusted her mindset and wouldn't be traumatized by the experience.

But I am still extremely distressed by this, because this dream is just too difficult!

She was already a Sequence 5 Dreamwalker, but the Ash Judge Gundyr was at least a Sequence 4 or higher demigod! Moreover, Beyonders of the Spectator pathway were never known for their combat prowess.

Although she, at Sequence 5, has mastered many combat techniques, most of them lean towards mental attacks. Mental attacks often prove surprisingly effective against Beyonders of the same or even higher sequences through other pathways, because Beyonders through other pathways generally lack experience in this area and have no means of countering it, thus making them surprisingly effective.

However, in her dream, she faced either mindless zombies or Gundyr, the Ashen Judge, rendering her 'mental attacks' ineffective. Unfortunately, the 'spectator' pathway lacked physical attack methods. Although Audrey attempted to use psychological invisibility to slip away, this usually foolproof method suddenly failed against the zombies. With all her illegal abilities nearly ineffective, Audrey could only watch helplessly as her own Gundyr's halberd crushed her…

Although she knew it was just a dream, Audrey still felt a deep sense of frustration.

Because if she encountered a similar enemy in reality, she would likely only face a gruesome death. Even with a sacrifice ring, resurrection would simply mean being killed again...

Is it difficult?

Karula sat on the edge of the bed, gently swinging her fair legs, and asked with a hint of schadenfreude, "Gundam is just the first enemy you've encountered~"

"..."

It's not difficult for you to say that Audrey can't speak, since you created the whole dream.

But she's just an ordinary Sequence 5!

A sly glint flashed in Carula's eyes as she teased:

"Do you need my help?"

"How can I help?"

Audrey asked somewhat warily.

Carula said with a smile:

"I can't directly kill Gundyr for you, but I can make you stronger."

"Sequence 4?" Audrey asked hesitantly.

She knew that Karula possessed a royal soul, which could allow her to advance directly without going through the processes of digestion, potion preparation, and ritual preparation. So when Karula said she would make her stronger, she subconsciously thought of this method as well.

Although it is indeed convenient and does not leave any side effects, Audrey does not actually want to become stronger in this way.

"No."

Karula shook her head and explained:

"If you advance to Sequence 4 now, you will no longer be able to enter the dream world."

If she could have promoted Audrey to Sequence 4 in one go, she would have done so long ago, instead of leaving her stuck in the awkward Sequence 5.

"Then how will you make me stronger?" Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, but asked with some confusion.

"It's very simple."

Carla opened her palm, and a flame rose from her fair, delicate hand. She gazed at Audrey, a slight smile playing on her lips, and whispered:

"Even though you don't want to be my apprentice, I can still teach you some things, like magic..."

"magic?"

Audrey blinked, but she quickly realized what Karula's "teaching" meant.

A tiny flame split off and disappeared into the girl's body in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, Audrey suddenly discovered that she had learned two extraordinary abilities—

【Soul Arrow】 and 【Soul Giant Arrow】.

This is neither a mental attack nor a physical attack, but a genuine magical attack!

Audrey opened her eyes, her emotions a mix of emotions, and looked at the girl in the black dress sitting on the edge of the bed. Just as she was about to thank her, she saw Karula say in a serious tone:

"Given your relatively low intelligence, I can only teach you these two types of magic for now."

"..."

Audrey puffed up her cheeks immediately.

Is she intellectually disabled?

-

Landenheim, at the top of the Toddbringer family castle.

Luzius, who had not personally taken action for a long time, rose from his blood-red throne.

From his appearance, he was a towering figure, five meters tall, clad in full silver armor that exuded an unusually heavy aura. Every detail adhered to an ancient style, like a unique and ornate decoration. Crimson moonlight streamed through the latticed windows, illuminating the silver armor as if draping it in a crimson veil, making him appear as if he were wearing a suit of blood-red armor.

Judging from his appearance alone, he looks more like a giant than a vampire.

But Ember had no time to carefully determine whether Luzius's enormous body was due to the extraordinary characteristics of having fused too many 'Warrior' pathways, or was a deliberate manifestation of majesty.

Because the moment Lyzius stood up, everything around him came to life!

The grass covering the ground and walls went wild at that moment, waving its fibers as if greedily absorbing nutrients and growing frantically. Soon, the blades of grass, barely half a meter tall, grew into towering, blood-red trees!

The enormous, blood-red, almost black trees swung their branches, pulled out their roots one after another, and then, like humans, moved step by step toward the embers.

Looking around, the surroundings were already densely packed with trees, almost blotting out the sky. Even the walls seemed to have come alive, with scarlet eyes and gaping maws cracking open on the once intact walls, surging towards the embers like a tide!

Faced with this apocalyptic scene, Ember was stunned, as if he had been terrified.

But in reality, Ember was simply caught in deep confusion.

He had seen a similar scene before on another 'angel'—

Queen of Giants, Goddess of Harvest, Omibella.

Omibella is the Barren Mistress of Sequence 2 of the 'Cultivator' pathway, thus possessing omnipotence in life. But now it seems that Lyzius is the same. The similarity between the two pathways may be the reason why Lilith will switch to the 'Cultivator' pathway in the future.

On this point, Ember felt he might need to remind Lilith…

Just as he was thinking, a tree branch suddenly lunged at Ember's head!

At the end of that 'branch', countless long, thin, and slippery fibers extend out like tentacles, enclosing a huge mouth like that of a lamprey, covered with countless sharp teeth!

At this moment, the giant mouth was wide open, as if it was about to bite off the embers' head completely.

Only then did Ember seem to finally realize what was happening.

But he still didn't make any move, only calmly ringing the Ferrenor bell in his hand.

Ring ring!

Amidst the crisp sound of bells, a ray of white light emerged from the seemingly impenetrable blood-red forest.

The white light was fleeting, like a flash in the pan, quickly obscured by more trees.

But the next second, the white light suddenly converged into a terrifying shockwave, sweeping outwards!

The blood-red forest, the tree branches that resembled a combination of a lamprey and an octopus, and the walls with thousands of scarlet eyes and gaping maws were all pierced, crushed, and completely swallowed up by the white light in an instant, disappearing without a trace.

It was as if the world had fallen silent at that moment, with only that pure white light remaining.

The Wrath of the Gods

The ancient prototype of "The Force".

It can release powerful shockwaves.

"Wrath of the Gods" is a very long story.

"The Force" is a simplified version of it.

This is a story describing extreme anger.

It can inflict massive damage along with the shockwave.

boom!

Finally, the sound returned belatedly, as if the network connection had been interrupted, amidst a loud bang.

The white light seemed to expand to its maximum size, then suddenly contracted back towards the center.

Ultimately, it returned to nothingness and disappeared.

The world returned to peace once more, and the crimson moonlight shone down from the sky, as if nothing had happened.

The magnificent domed hall has vanished, leaving only two figures standing atop the dilapidated yet orderly ruins of the building.

One was embers, but the other was no longer the five-meter-tall, blood-red giant. Instead, it was a blond youth who had been knocked to the ground and was struggling to get up. He wasn't short, but compared to the blood-red giant from before, there was a significant difference in height.

This also confirms Ember's guess—

The blood-red giant was merely a disguise created by the other party.

(End of this chapter)