Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

"I have no reason to lie to you. After all, you are Zhi's senior. If I had known beforehand that Zhi had invited you, I wouldn't have wasted so much time coming here."

She took out the broken katana and waved it in front of Denise's eyes.

"Oh, not bad. You know, even Zhi suffered a lot at his hands in order to get this handy weapon. So it seems that you deserve Zhi's high praise."

Having confirmed Xiaoyan's condition, the woman stopped dwelling on the matter. She sat back down in her previous spot and patted the steps beside her, gesturing for Xiaoyan to sit down and talk.

"First, let me introduce myself. My name is Denise, and I come from a terrible era overrun by demons. As you can see, I am considered a senior figure in the world of the Flame."

Xiaoyan walked two seats to the side of her, sat down with her knees together, and turned to face her.

"Hello, Teresa-senpai, my name is Homura Akemi, and I come from Earth in 2011 AD... If nothing unexpected happens, I am the newcomer introduced by Ori."

"Well then, since you're so late, let's get straight to the point. The sooner I finish talking to you, the sooner I can get on with my own business."

"No problem, please enlighten me, senior."

"Hmm~ Your expressionless face really reminds me of quite a few old acquaintances. Okay, let me confirm one thing with you first: do you have a reason that you have to return to your original world?"

"That's right!"

“Very good. As someone who also has reasons to return, I’m glad to see the ambitious Ashes community grow stronger again…”

"Hey, we can't pretend we didn't hear that. What do you mean by a group of Ash with aspirations? We Ash have always been a complete group, haven't we?"

Just as the conversation was about to get on track, a third party suddenly barged in and steered the conversation off course.

The wolf-eared woman in the Abyss Watcher suit who was arguing with Teresa before has returned.

"As a representative of those who lack ambition, Granny Wolf, you have absolutely no right to say that."

"Don't mislead newcomers. Everyone who comes to the World of the Flame is the same kind of person. It has nothing to do with whether or not they have a mission."

She carried the old wolf's great curved knife and casually found a place to sit down.

"Okay, let's not delve into that issue. Let's talk about how to return to our own world."

Fortunately, Teresa seemed to have the awareness of an intelligence sharer and promptly brought the topic back on track.

"First of all, the way back should have been mentioned to you by Zhi; it involves going to the only one sitting on the throne, the King of Cin..."

She paused, then pointed to one of the thrones in the sacrificial ground. There sat a gaunt old man wearing a crown. He had no legs, and his hands were on the throne, his chin resting on his hand. When he saw Xiaoyan looking over, he nodded to her.

"...Offer your powerful soul to the exiled Rudauth, and he will use his abilities to briefly return us to our own world."

"However, this doesn't count as a real return."

Suddenly, the wolf-eared woman spoke up.

"Holo! Can you please not interrupt?"

Then she was immediately met with strong condemnation from Denise, who smiled and looked at her coldly.

"Alright, alright, Granny Wolf, you can continue."

"Um, Teresa-senpai, may I ask you a few questions?"

"Ah—okay, go ahead and say it."

Although she was very hostile towards the wolf girl, Denise was quite patient with newcomers.

"First, what exactly is the soul?"

"This, you'll understand once I show it to you... Here it is."

Denise reached into a small pouch at her waist and pulled out something that burned with a golden flame, like the wick of a candle.

“I just got it recently. You’re lucky to be able to see the real thing. These things are usually not kept on your person for very long.”

Xiao Yan was stunned. She never expected to see this key that could unlock the door to returning to her own world so soon.

Suppressing the urge to snatch it away, she looked away and met the gaze of Denise, who was staring at her.

“A good self-control, or rather, this is the mindset that an ashes should have.”

Denise narrowed her eyes slightly, which added a touch of sincerity to her unchanging smile.

She put away the powerful soul, but kept talking and continued explaining to Xiaoyan.

"The way to obtain these souls is to kill some powerful beings. If nothing unexpected happens, you will soon be able to get the first one at the Lothric Walls; oh, the Lothric Walls are the next place you need to go."

This time, Xiaoyan was truly excited. Even though she didn't know what the Lothric Walls were, she could obviously get there directly. This made her feel that the opportunity to fulfill her wish was just around the corner, beckoning to her.

"Don't be too happy yet. Although in my world, Ludos can directly refine souls, as a newcomer, you still need to obtain the Soul Forge before Ludos can help you complete this task."

As expected, it wasn't that simple. Xiao Yan calmed down instantly and waited for Teresa to continue.

"The Soul Forge requires the destruction of the Cursed Tree, whose distorted soul contains this wondrous thing. But to find the Cursed Tree, you need to go directly to the peaceful and unspoiled Undead Street after passing through the Lothric Walls."

Denise continued, but when she used a seemingly positive adjective, her words carried a hint of mockery.

————————————————————————————————————————

Homura Akemi's Intelligence Compilation Manual

Information about the world itself:

Although I met many seniors today and seemed to hear a lot of information, apart from the information about returning to my own world, the seniors spoke of other things in a very vague way. Why couldn't they explain things more clearly? So I recorded the guesses I got from their conversation.

Speculation 1: The relationship between the ashes may not be harmonious, and may even lead to direct conflict.

Speculation 2: The Ashes with wishes and those without wishes may be divided into two factions. Senior Teresa has wishes like me, while the senior with wolf ears should be Ashes who died after their wishes were fulfilled, just like Ori.

The plan to return to the original world: Go to the Undead Settlement, find the Soul Forge, collect a powerful soul along the way at the Lothric Walls, and then return to your own world through Rudolf the Exile, Lord of Cinder.

PS: Yunxi: 744486102 The next few chapters will involve some of the book's settings. I wonder if you readers can digest my wild ideas~(～￣▽￣)～

Chapter Ten: When Reincarnation Becomes a Daily Routine, Who Suffers the Most?

PS: Yunxi: The latter half of this chapter (744486102) is the product of the author's overactive imagination. As I wrote, I started giving the author cues, so if you feel uncomfortable, you can skip the second half. -_-|||

"The Soul Forge requires you to kill the Cursed Tree and obtain it from it. To find the Cursed Tree, you need to go directly to the peaceful Undead Street after passing through the Lothric Walls."

Denise continued speaking, but when she uttered a word that sounded like a compliment, her words carried a hint of mockery.

“I understand what I need to do to return to my own world, but I still have a question about souls. The old woman selling things mentioned exchanging souls for items. Does that mean that besides powerful souls, there are also ordinary souls?”

On his smiling face, his golden eyes narrowed.

"Heh, interesting. Did you visit this sacrificial site before planting the spiral sword?"

"Yes, is there a problem...?"

"There's nothing seriously wrong, it's just that you discovered something insignificant ahead of time. Since it's insignificant, it means it has nothing to do with the information we're currently exchanging—the method to return to our own world—do you understand?"

"So, senior, you're not going to tell me the specifics?"

"Actually, you just need to go back to the current sacrificial site and ask that old woman. I can only tell you that, apart from powerful souls that are somewhat useful, other souls are worthless to us. In fact, we have no way to collect them."

Xiao Yan keenly sensed that something was off about Teresa's current state. She was emphasizing the worthless aspect of the soul too much, making it seem as if she was avoiding something.

"Well then, I have a second question."

"Go ahead."

"You keep mentioning 'returning to our own world temporarily,' but what does 'temporarily' mean? Does it mean we can only stay there for a while?"

"...What a perceptive child. Indeed, based on the information remaining in our respective ashes, we can use the power of the Lord of Cinder to open a passage back to our own world. However, the strength of this passage depends on the amount of information we retain. In other words, how long I can stay in my own world is entirely determined by our current physical condition."

"Beneath the name of ashes...so many things were hidden?"

"Yes... As for what exactly is ashes, everyone still has their own understanding. — But I digress. In any case, there are quite a few powerful souls in this world, so there will always be a chance to fulfill your unfinished wishes."

Xiao Yan suddenly realized that the woman in front of her also had an unfulfilled wish, and she now possessed a powerful soul. Could it be? She thought for a moment, then swallowed the question that was on the tip of her tongue. It was a big taboo to speak too intimately with someone you didn't know well, and besides, she didn't have the time to care about other people's situations right now.

"One last question. What did that senior over there mean when he said... it doesn't really count as going back?"

"Tsk..."

When Xiaoyan saw the smile disappear from Teresa's face for the first time, her heart skipped a beat. She realized that this question might have touched a nerve with Teresa, and that she might very well suffer the same pain in the future. So she had no choice but to shamelessly continue this act of reopening old wounds.

"Senior, could you... explain this to me?"

"Little girl, it's best to experience this yourself before making a judgment. I can only give you one hint now: in your understanding, does your world refer to 'the world you once existed in' or 'the world you currently exist in'? That's all I have to say. Think about it carefully... what kind of world do you really want?"

Xiaoyan froze. This problem seemed familiar; she had encountered similar situations before. A nameless panic gripped her, and memories of endless cycles of reincarnation flooded back. In those cyclical points in time, countless encounters, countless different attempts, countless different experiences with those she cherished…

Suddenly, a question that she had been suppressing, that she hadn't thought about carefully in previous reincarnations—or perhaps that she had avoided even as she became aware of it—appeared in her mind: in the endless cycles of reincarnation, was the point in time she returned to "a point in time she had experienced in the past" or "a point in time she was about to experience"?

Panic is brewing. Once Pandora's box is opened, people's minds are sealed inside this narrow box, and they are left to struggle and suffer setbacks in a dead-end alley.

After saying that, Denise had already gotten up to leave, but after taking only a few steps, she realized something was wrong behind her. She turned around and saw that Xiaoyan was now clutching her head in pain, her eyes filled with confusion and fear, clearly trapped in a quagmire of thought, unable to extricate herself.

"If the point in time I returned to wasn't the same one I experienced... then will the person I met afterward still be the same Xiaoyuan I first knew?"

Dinisa never expected that a question she herself hadn't figured out would cause this girl to get so fixated on it, as if she already had a deep understanding of the issue, and that her words had merely ignited a problem that the girl had been selectively ignoring.

Faced with this girl who had far more experience than her appearance suggested, yet was far less strong than she appeared, Denise felt somewhat at a loss.

It seems that Xiaoyan is about to slide into the abyss like this.

Fortunately, another figure rushed over and took over the mess that Denise had made.

It was that petite girl who had been hiding on the steps. She seemed to have been secretly listening to Teresa and Homura's conversation. When she heard Teresa's pointed question, she seemed to be stunned for a moment, but she didn't get caught up in it. Instead, after hearing Homura's painful whispers, she felt a sense of sympathy for her.

Before she could even process what this feeling meant, her body instinctively rushed over.

"Ouch!"

The petite girl seemed to want to hug Xiaoyan, but she obviously forgot that Xiaoyan was just a phantom in her eyes. She fell straight to the ground, covered her red forehead, and got up with tears in her eyes.

"Ouch... No! Um... Actually, you don't need to worry too much about the exact time you returned... You just need to know that the people you returned to are also the people who need you to return to them, isn't that enough?"

Ignoring her own pain, she loudly expressed her views, hoping that her trembling voice could convey her experiences and insights to this person who, like her in the past, was troubled by time.

"Does Madoka need me?... Yes... Madoka needs me... If I don't go back... I have to go back right now!"

The petite girl's words were successfully conveyed, but Xiaoyan, who went from one extreme to the other, caught everyone off guard once again. She suddenly rushed towards the campfire, repeatedly muttering keywords such as "Rosric Walls" and "powerful souls," trying to teleport to her next destination without any clear purpose.

No one else could touch her in the parallel world of the torch; they could only watch her hysterically lying on the campfire, letting the quietly burning flames evaporate the tears from the corners of her eyes, bit by bit.

"Tsk, is it even possible to infiltrate a sacrificial site?"

"Of course not, this is the core of our own world."

The wolf girl appeared out of nowhere, holding a blood-red eye gem in her hand. Clearly, she had already tried it before drawing this conclusion based on experience.