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

Before the Age of Fire, everything was shrouded in gray fog. There were no concepts of space or time; the gray fog transcended time. Everywhere were gray rocks, towering ancient trees, and immortal dragons. This era was known as the Age of Gray Fog.

Ancient dragons were born before the void, residing atop the primordial trees, supreme beings above all things. They possess invincible immortal abilities and unparalleled primordial power, the ancient overlords of the original chaos!

Until one day, the First Fire ignited in the gray fog, and several species born from the darkness found the King's soul around the fire.

This ushered in an era where flames banished chaos and gods clashed with ancient dragons.

Lord Gwyn, the Sun King, led the Silver Knights and, together with the witch of Izalith, the Gravelord Nitot, launched a war against dragons.

The scaleless white dragon Seath betrayed the ancient dragons, selling them the secret of their immortality to the gods.

Ultimately, the immortal ancient dragons met their end.

Gwyn and his knights conjured a lightning spear, which pierced the ancient dragon's scales.

Nit stirred up a deathly miasma, causing the ancient dragons' naked bodies to decay and giving them true death.

The old witch and her daughters unleashed a fiery storm that swept across the world, wantonly burning the ancient trees where the dragons dwelled.

Ultimately, the war against the dragons ended in victory for the gods, with almost all the immortal ancient dragons wiped out.

Only the black dragon Karamit, who wielded the power of calamity, and the traitor, and the scaleless white dragon Hiss, were spared.

The end of the Dragon Hunt also heralded the beginning of the Age of Fire.

The gods reside in Anor Londo, and the witches rule Izalith... Represented by these two, the power and radiance of fire spread to every corner of the world. Their deeds became legends, and faith forged miracles, thus creating a glorious and splendid civilization!

But the fire will eventually go out!

If light cannot illuminate the world, and the night continues endlessly, the world will be left with only darkness.

The cursed ring of darkness began to spread among the people.

The Tomb King remained unmoved; He did not yearn for the light, but instead dedicated all His power to death, awaiting the arrival of darkness.

The old witch's desire to recreate the primordial flame from chaos is like a mortal attempting to wield the power of a god—arrogant and ignorant.

The rampant chaos devoured the Old Witch, and the world was no more; only the breeding ground of chaos remained. Countless demons were born from the chaos, and Izalith, once on par with Anor Londo, was transformed into a paradise ravaged by chaos and demons.

The flames continued to die out, and darkness was about to descend.

Ultimately, the first god Gwyn created His own way of salvation—the linking of the fire.

He led the knights to the furnace of the First Flame, using his own royal soul as a catalyst to keep the First Flame burning!

From then on, there was no more Sun King Gwyn, only the "First Lord of Cinder" Gwyn.

however.

Gwyn's linking of the First Flame allowed light to continue for a thousand years, but it could not keep the First Flame burning indefinitely. The gods who received a share of His power did not inherit His will; they left Anor Londo and went to rule the worlds on Earth.

They indulged in revelry, yet none of them embarked on the path of the torch relay; it was merely a final celebration.

The cursed undead took on the responsibility of linking the fire; they began hunting the gods, hunting their souls, and ultimately embarking on the path of linking the fire.

They are known as the Lords of Cinder, kings who use souls as fuel to continue the Age of Fire!

However, as more and more souls are thrown into the First Flame, there are fewer and fewer souls available to burn.

Over the long years, the initial flame grew weaker and weaker, and the world was plunged into darkness several times.

The Undead can no longer shoulder the responsibility of linking the First Flame, and the lingering souls of time are no longer sufficient to sustain it. Therefore, the bells of the Firelink Shrine must awaken the Lords of Cinder who once linked the First Flame, and they must once again take on the responsibility of rekindling it.

However, the Lords of Cinder abandoned their duties, driven by their obsession to complete the mission they had left unfinished.

King Yhorm the Giant returned to the City of Sin, but all he saw was the City of Sin, baptized by the fires of sin.

The Farron Undead returned to Farron Keep, attempting to suppress the rising Abyss once more, only to discover, tragically, that they themselves had been corrupted by the Abyss.

The infamous devourer, Eldridge, was lured by Pope Sulyvan and devoured Gwyn, the youngest son of King Gwyn, the Shadow Sun.

The fire has gradually died down, but the king is nowhere to be seen, and the ashes of the dead fire will soon arrive in droves!

The former Lords of Cinder were each obsessed with their own desires, and they disregarded the mission of linking the fire. But they will eventually be brought back to the throne by the embers, and that is the meaning of the embers' existence—no matter when, the ashes without fire yearn for flame.

However, all of this is meaningless.

The flames will eventually die out, and the Age of Fire will eventually come to an end.

Chaos and darkness will once again engulf the world.

All that the embers did was a futile struggle.

Therefore, He also abandoned the mission of passing on the fire, and He denied the significance of passing on the fire.

Darkness and light are twins; the world cannot remain in light forever, nor can it remain in darkness forever.

The extinguishing of the first fire is merely the gathering of fuel; it will eventually reignite and spread light throughout the world.

Therefore, the embers chose to extinguish the fire (usurp the fire).

The flames were extinguished, and the world thus entered into its predetermined fate.

Darkness and chaos swept in; this was the Age of the Deep Sea, and also the Era of Chaos.

Living beings struggle to survive in the darkness, where chaos and madness reign supreme.

But amidst the chaos, the seeds of hope were quietly being conceived.

At this moment, darkness and light are no longer opposites; they are two sides of the same coin in the world.

Light and darkness alternate, day and night alternate, and the world is about to enter a new era.

When the first ray of light pierced the darkness, the First Flame blazed, and the seeds of fire were scattered.

But the dawn did not completely dispel the chaos; it needed to coexist with the night, and chaos remained the dominant theme of the world.

In the darkness, some creatures obtained these scattered sparks, just like Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, who obtained the Soul of Kings in the darkness!

But the era of chaos has ended, and the world has entered a new era of darkness—

During this period, civilization re-emerged and thrived under the nourishment of life and fire, but it was not humankind that ruled this era.

Vampires, giants, dragons, phoenixes, wolves, elves, alien species, and demons who have survived since ancient times—these eight extraordinary races rule the sky, the sea, and the land respectively under the protection of their ancient gods.

They wage war against each other, with war breaking out every moment. Humans, on the other hand, are merely appendages of this extraordinary race, struggling to survive amidst suffering.

But even humans have their own gods.

The goddess of night loved humankind, and from then on, darkness was no longer humankind's great enemy; the gods protected humankind in the night.

The god of knowledge and wisdom bestowed enlightenment upon humankind, enabling them to develop civilization and escape the enslavement of a superior race.

The Earth Mother Goddess bestowed upon humankind the land to multiply, enabling the human race to rapidly grow.

The Lord of Storms banishes demons with lightning, protecting human civilization.

……

But humans are ultimately too weak; they can never truly contend with those naturally powerful superhuman races.

Until the first blasphemous tablet was born from the First Flame, granting mankind the path to transcendence.

Under the protection of the gods and guided by the profane tablets, the human race flourished. They defeated one by one the extraordinary races that had once ruled the world. More and more gods began to protect humanity, and humanity truly became the master of the world, ushering in the "Glorious Age" at the beginning of the Third Age.

After a long period of time, humanity finally stepped onto the stage of history for the first time.

Human civilization was not without its challenges, as the forces of chaos lurked in the shadows. Even with the protection of numerous gods, humanity still faced a great cataclysm in the Third Age. It was not until the appearance of the second Profane Tablet that all this chaos came to an end, thus ushering in a new era—the Age of the Gods.

The gods often descend to earth to provide protection and enlightenment to humankind.

But Chaos still lurked, and some beings born from it coveted reality and the power of the First Flame. They would eventually return. To better protect humanity, the gods had to move their divine realm to the Astral Plane to fight against the evil forces that coveted the world, and the world entered the Iron Age.

And now, it is the year 1351 of the Fifth Age.

The gods still protect humanity, but they are not all one family; instead, they are embroiled in various conflicts. These conflicts drive their followers to wage war after war, even leading to the fall of some gods!

The most warlike god of war, the most arrogant eternal sun, they all perished because of this.

But for the gods, the fall of a god does not mean the end.

Humans will not stop fighting each other because of this; they will continue to fight for their respective gods and for their beliefs.

This is the only lesson history teaches humanity—humanity never learns anything.

-

Inside the luxurious villa of the Earl of Deer in Backlund, Queens.

Early in the morning, Fors woke up and came to the living room, muttering to himself:

"This dream felt so real."

She had been having these dreams for a month straight, which almost convinced her that they were true history—even though some of these stories were fabricated by her, Fors still firmly believed in these legends.

Of course, Fors remained skeptical.

But what she doubted was not the authenticity of history, but rather that this was the true history, only concealed by the gods of the past, and that Mr. Fool or the Ember were the truly ancient gods who survived from that bygone era.

They are not rewriting history, but simply restoring what has happened in this world!

What she did was not blasphemy against the gods, but rather enlightenment for humanity under their guidance.

Thinking about it this way, Fors' mood immediately improved a lot.

Hearing Fors's mutterings, a middle-aged woman in the restaurant, dressed in elegant attire, straightened her expression and solemnly said:

"Miss Fors, that wasn't a dream; it was a revelation from the divine!"

Her expression was incredibly devout, and her chest was adorned with countless stars.

This lady is Hugh's mother. Since Hugh successfully exonerated her father, the Dill family has been able to return to the noble circles of Belgrade. Hugh himself was recently awarded a knighthood by the King and is now a legitimate earl with his own fiefdom!

Hugh didn't need to return home in glory; he simply brought his mother and younger brother to the capital and bought this villa—incidentally, this villa had once belonged to a viscount who was caught by MI9 for colluding with the enemy during the war.

In fact, he wasn't the only nobleman colluding with the enemy at the time; even Earl Hall was secretly contacting relatives in the Republic of Intis, hoping to save his life after the war. But this viscount's actions were too obvious and too crude, which is why he was caught by Hugh.

King George IV was furious and did not hesitate to make an example of the unfortunate viscount, ordering his public execution. Hugh was the one who carried out the order—she handled everything from the arrest to the confiscation of his property and the execution.

That's why she bought this villa at a very low price, making it Count Deer's new residence.

Of course, the viscount's suburban estate was also bought, and even his original fiefdom now belonged to Hugh, and had been expanded considerably. Hugh knew, of course, that this was the king's little scheme; he didn't want Hugh, who was in charge of MI9, to have too good a relationship with other nobles, and this method would clearly alienate a large number of the old-guard nobles.

Fors explained earnestly:

"In fact, I also believe these are divine revelations."

However, the gods she believed in were not the goddess of night, but the Fool and the Ember.

These were things that Ember first proposed. The Fool was His first partner, while beings like the Goddess of Night could only be considered the second tier.

In the eyes of ordinary people, beings like the Goddess of Night are clearly more worthy of awe than the unknown Fool. But in Fors's eyes, the Goddess of Night is clearly not as important as the Fool and the Ember—both of whom are genuine gods, or even beings of a higher level than gods!

This conclusion was drawn from her observations and summaries at the Tarot Club.

She wasn't the only one who thought this way; others thought the same.

Of course, this does not mean that Forshuid is disrespectful to the gods. The power of the gods is still worthy of awe, but it is not as sacred and inviolable as before.

For example, the Lord of Storms.

Of all the gods, this one currently holds the lowest position. This can be seen from the way the dream portrays these deities; the others are all indispensable, but the Storm Lord's evaluation is relatively low. What He can do, other gods can also do, and the roles of the other gods, whether it's enlightening humanity or protecting them in the darkness, are irreplaceable by the Storm Lord.

This doesn't mean the Lord of Storms is useless; it just means the Lord of Storms' stance isn't firm, which is why His evaluation in the dream is only slightly better than the Lord of Steam.

"What are you talking about?" Hugh asked, coming out of the room with a puzzled look.

"Last night's dream," Fors said succinctly.

Hugh seemed lost in thought as her gaze fell on the dining table, where her brother, Lo Deer, was reciting Old Fussac words while eating breakfast—a necessary prerequisite for studying law and becoming a lawyer.

Her mother was instructing two servants to remember to sweep the garden. (End of Chapter)