Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

The thin blade sliced ​​through the armor, breaking through its defenses and drawing blood from the Loki.

"—Use the attack with the longest range to seize the initiative!"

The power of the Iaijutsu caused Rakuki to stagger, and taking advantage of his moment of weakness, Ori delivered two more slashes.

"Once you get the first move, you can land a few more hits. It's easy to stun small enemies like this."

As she explained, Zhi rolled away to create distance again as Luo Qi recovered and launched a counterattack with a horizontal slash.

"When you try to take the initiative, you need to be observant, because even if he doesn't raise his shield, he might directly use a straight thrust with his knight's sword. This move doesn't have a large range, but it has a long attack distance, which can easily lead to a situation where you have to switch swords with him."

Once in battle mode, Zhi completely lost her usual cheerful expression. She stared intently at her opponent, as if every flaw in her opponent was in her eyes. The slightest movement would magnify these flaws infinitely, and then, under her dagger, the opponent would skip the step of injury and directly step into death.

Xiaoyan was stunned. She clearly used a katana, so why did she see a figure holding a dagger?

"Then it's simple: just keep repeating the steps of controlling the distance, taking the initiative, finishing off enemies, and creating distance, and you can wear him down like this."

As if a replay of the previous duel, Ori, assuming an iaido stance, carefully rolled away several thrusts. As he once again lowered his shield and assumed a fighting stance with both longswords, Ori took a few steps forward and slashed out with his sword.

"Heh, not bad. If you hadn't run into me, you could have used your combat stance to reduce the stun time, then countered with any attack while in stance, causing the opponent to stagger and finish them off in one combo. Too bad, I'm no ordinary Ash. You'll have to learn from this defeat after you die!"

This time, Zhi didn't seem to be explaining to Xiaoyan, but directly evaluating Luoqi's response. Regardless of whether Luoqi understood or not, after gaining the initiative, she still recklessly finished off the enemy, even using the slowest vertical slash.

Everything proceeded as she had predicted. After taking a direct hit from a jikai attack, Luo Qi, thanks to his disciplined stance, did not falter. As Zhi's vertical slash descended, his sword tip also emerged.

As Zhi said, even if her attack was faster, if she couldn't create a stun, she would be hit by a charged upward slash immediately after completing the attack. Since she had almost no armor, she would be knocked out after being stunned by the counterattack and then taken down in one combo.

But when the sword pierced through the armor of the Loki, it produced an astonishing effect.

Blood, an astonishing amount of blood, as if something had exploded inside his body. The massive amount of bleeding from this single blow soaked his entire body in blood, even splattering blood-red graffiti on the crumbling city walls.

This bizarre attack took Luo Qi's life. Once again, he helplessly lowered the sword tip that was about to pierce the enemy's body and fell powerlessly to the ground.

But at least this time, he lost in a direct confrontation, and his dignity as a knight can be preserved.

Zhi stood in the pool of blood, slowly wiping her face with her free hand, as if savoring the taste of the blood.

She turned her head slightly to look at Xiaoyan, probably wanting to show off her achievements, but her 45-degree profile, with the corners of her mouth turned upwards, looked as if a dagger had slashed her mask, the blood-red color both chilling and eerie.

As Xiaoyan walked past in silence, she turned around, slightly opening her arms as if inviting her princess to give her a celebratory hug, completely disregarding the bloodstains smeared on her face that distorted her features.

Xiao Yan walked up to her, ignored the arms that were wrapped around her, and slammed the hilt of her sword into her stomach.

"Ouch! -- Xiaoyan, what are you doing! That hurts!" QAQ

Finally, the pain tore through that wicked smile. With tears in her eyes, Zhi bent over, clutching her stomach, and pitifully looked up at the expressionless Xiao Yan.

"Great, this expression looks much better."

"You really enjoy seeing me cry?!" QAQ

"First, let's clean up the blood on you. Don't even think about picking you up like this, it's disgusting."

Thus, the cloak of the dead knight became a tool for wiping away bloodstains, once again being reused after his death.

Watching Zhi slowly clean up the bloodstains on her body, Xiao Yan sighed and gently offered a suggestion.

"Hey, Zhi, next time you use your remaining abilities, don't get splattered with blood again."

"Um, Xiaoyan, do you hate blood that much?"

"It's not that I hate blood, it's just that you, bathed in blood, give off a very bad feeling."

Zhi was stunned, then quickly wiped the blood off her face and gave Xiaoyan a thumbs up.

"I understand. Next time, I'll take care of them even more decisively!"

For the first time, Xiao Yan found her overly cheerful smile quite pleasing to the eye.

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

Homura Akemi's Intelligence Compilation Manual

Information regarding equipment:

Armor: Different armors have different attributes, which are generally reflected in resistance to different attack methods. According to Zhi, no matter how good the equipment is, you can't expect to reduce the damage you take by relying solely on armor. The purpose of armor is to give you one more chance to fight back before you die.

Flynn's Ring: A magical ring that increases attack power based on the weight of the equipment; it is said that the lighter the load, the greater the increase in attack power.

Information regarding the battle:

Attack range: Different moves have different attack ranges, which are determined not only by the length of the weapon but also by the moves themselves. For example, the Iai Slash has a much wider attack range due to the quick step before it starts, making it very suitable for taking the initiative. However, this also makes it easy to parry this move because of its long wind-up.

Special damage attribute - Bleeding: As the name suggests, it accumulates and expands the wound through multiple attacks, increasing the amount of bleeding after the enemy is injured. This special damage attribute, which instantly causes a large amount of damage, seems to be effective only against flesh and blood. Due to its thin blade, the katana has a bleeding correction, and with the addition of an unknown residual ability, the accumulation of bleeding is extremely fast, and when it bursts out, the effect is terrifying.

Xiaoyan's comment: So, in this battle, where did your equipment's advantages stand out?

Weaving's reply: The final blow, the final blow! Without the effect of Flynn's ring, I wouldn't have been able to kill him instantly after stacking bleed on my attacks.

Xiaoyan's reply: However, all I saw was a massive amount of bleeding. →_→

Zhi's reply: QAQ

PS: Yunxi: 744486102 Thank you to reader [Yuan Shen Xin Zui - Houmura] for the reward and monthly ticket. By the way, which timeline of Homura are you from? Σ(⊙▽⊙)

Chapter Sixteen: Routine and Counter-Routine

After tidying up a bit, the two prepared to set off for the expeditionary knights at the gates of Lothric.

But before leaving, Xiaoyan suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, is there something good behind that iron gate over there?"

She pointed to the locked iron gate opposite the high wall where the Lothric Knights fought and asked Zhi a question.

"Um... Little Flame, sometimes, greed can lead to great disasters."

Speak like a human.

"There's a mimicry there. If a newbie encounters it, they're guaranteed to be killed by it at least once."

"So that's how it is. That guy was definitely up to no good."

With Zhi's testimony, Xiaoyan is now completely certain that Anri's earlier statement about the treasure was definitely meant to embarrass her in front of the mimic monster.

"That guy? Someone told you before that there were mimics there?"

“Ah, a local resident told me there are good things in there.”

"Pfft—that guy's got some skills. Wait, you said you met a local resident you can fight alongside?"

"That's right, she's wearing the same outfit as Teresa."

"...Strange, why haven't I encountered this place before?"

Teresa's equipment style was clearly remembered by Zhi, after all, she was also Zhi's half guide. However, not only when she broke through the Lothric High Wall, but also when she met Xiaoyan and mingled in the Undead Street in order to obtain the Sun Oath and Flynn's Ring, she did not see any similar native residents... No, it should be said that apart from enemies, she did not see any native residents with whom she could communicate.

"Alright, that guy's problem is irrelevant. Now, let me show you my strength."

Without giving Zhi much time to think, Xiao Yan readily accepted the task of clearing out the remaining minions.

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

They quickly cleared the entire tower. The only slightly threatening soldier was the one carrying a spear, but Xiao Yan's already masterful shield parrying skills allowed him to hold out for only a short while before he fell to Xiao Yan's execution.

At this moment, they encountered another fork in the road. One path led deeper into the side tower, while the other led to the roof of a building. Xiao Yan was still hesitating, but Zhi had already decided on their next route.

"Just head straight for the roof. It's at the very back of the side tower. There's just an empty cell there; there's nothing to explore."

Although the word "prison" reminded Xiaoyan of Anli again, as she seemed to be looking for some kind of prison key, it wasn't really related to her goal, so she didn't insist on exploring the depths of the border tower.

They headed towards the roof, but the wicked Ori, knowing full well that there was a trap, still let Homura go first. As a result, after Homura broke the shield of a soldier climbing up the stairs, before she could execute him, another soldier climbed up the wall and slashed at her with his sword.

Fortunately, Zhi had some conscience. After Xiao Yan was startled, she stabbed him in the back before the soldier could hurt her.

"I've made up my mind. From now on, you'll be the one to lead the way."

As a result, the reputation that Zhi had with Xiaoyan turned into hatred, and she was forced to clear the way ahead and could not leave Xiaoyan's sight.

However, Zhi had clearly put in a lot of effort, and she had memorized several of the more complex tricks.

Further ahead was a familiar place: an empty rooftop. In the center of the rooftop, Xiao Yan once again saw those branches that seemed to be made of people, and next to these branches, as usual, were several wandering spirits praying.

She saw Zhi rush forward without a word, and just as a wandering spirit screamed, she slashed down with her sword, even using her power directly. In an instant, thick black liquid splattered all over the roof... Black liquid? Pus?

This time, Zhi was very careful to avoid the splattering pus; it seems that even she couldn't stand being drenched in this stuff.

"Hehe, there's a pustule hidden in the crowd here. If we don't have something like a fire pot, taking him out before the pus bursts out is a good option."

However, this was just the beginning. The journey ahead made Xiao Yan deeply feel the malice of this world—in this small space, there were four overlapping floors, and each floor was thrilling and exciting.

There are crossbowmen who will shoot arrows at you as soon as you come down the stairs, and when you rush over to cut them down, you will find another crossbowman shooting arrows in the blind spot further behind you, and soldiers will also suddenly climb up from the balconies all around.

There's a White Knight hiding behind the door... a screaming watchman. When you enter, you'll only notice another crossbowman. If you can't help but recall the memory of being shot by a stray arrow and rush to kill him, the White Knight... the watchman will scream loudly. Then you'll see a jar overturned in the corner, revealing a soldier inside. And behind the spot where you killed the crossbowman, another soldier will rush out from that door, creating a pincer attack.

Here come the Lothric Knights with spears, slowly patrolling out. If you spend too much time on the previous strategy, you might end up with this troublesome knight after getting badly hurt. Then, with low health and unwilling to drink an elemental potion before continuing, you'll be taken down by this knight's spear in one shot. By the way, when Xiaoyan and the others arrived here, Zhi wanted to explain the normal way to fight the Lothric Knights with spears, but Xiaoyan didn't say a word, raised her longsword, broke his shield twice, and then finished him off in one combo.

There's another soldier hiding behind the wall. If you don't spot him, and after going through the previous tricks, you're out of elemental potions and have only a sliver of health left, getting backstabbed by him is quite a painful experience.

Following Zhi all the way to the door of the lowest room, Xiaoyan was covered in cold sweat. She couldn't imagine how many times she would have died to get here if no one had led the way.

So she asked Zhi about this, and this is how Zhi answered.

"Oh, actually I've never been able to get past this last level because I haven't figured out an efficient way to defeat the spear-wielding Lothric Knights with my katana. So every time I get here I'm left with a sliver of health, and then, unsurprisingly, I get played to death by the guys inside."

"I remember that you can reverse the blade with a katana."

"With my small frame, one failure would be fatal, so I didn't dare to try. That's why I took a different route, which was much safer."

"If there's an easy way, why did you bring me this way?"

"Because there really is something good in here. I risked my life several times before finally getting my hands on it. But now that there are two of us, I think we can try charging in head-on."

"Okay, tell me how you want to do it."

"Before I begin my explanation, come with me over here. Keep your body low so the guys down below can't see you."

Zhi bent down and entered the room on the ground floor of the building first, and Xiao Yan followed suit.

Instead of going up the stairs to the middle of the room, they turned right after entering and came to a narrow room.

There was an empty treasure chest here, and a thief was sitting next to it. However, after Zhi killed him, she immediately rushed forward, activated her ability, and instantly killed an enemy further ahead with one slash.

As this guy fell to the ground, Xiaoyan clearly saw a fire pot roll off his hand.

"Heh heh, see this guy? If we hadn't dealt with him beforehand and just barged into the room—"