Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

"Um... that's just a nickname. Granny Wolf said he was some kind of War Knight from the Cold Valley. I only called him that because he always lies down when he fights, his attacks have ice attributes, and he guards the city gate."

"So, does that mean he's very capable?"

"If I had to say, my nickname is actually quite fitting. He's already a beast without reason, so in the first stage, as long as you stand at his feet, you're almost guaranteed not to be attacked by him."

"Then you've died nine times..."

"Everyone says that was phase one. In phase two, he really became a mad dog. Not only did he exude ice, but he also liked to charge around recklessly. You know I'm not used to using a shield or wearing heavy armor. His long-range charges were okay, but his close-range, unpredictable short-range charges were the most troublesome. In the end, I relied on my own abilities to chip away at his health when he transformed in phase two, and then I dodged the charges by luck. I killed him when he spat out ice."

"In short, you died so many times because you didn't wear your gear properly, right?"

"...Damn it, what you said makes so much sense, I can't refute it at all!"

Ignoring the dejected Weaver leaning forward, Xiaoyan cleared away the monsters lingering in front of the first city gate and walked over.

"Hiss... It's so cold. Is this what you called the frost attribute?"

"Huh? Is it that exaggerated? He only radiates ice from his entire body during the second stage."

Somewhat puzzled by Xiaoyan's description, Zhi disregarded the blow she had suffered earlier, stood up from the ground, and walked to the front door as well.

"Wait a minute, everything's frozen over here!"

"So, are you really going to walk in looking like this?"

Xiao Yan stared at Zhi, who was still only wearing a breast wrap, with dead fish eyes.

"That's not the point. The key thing is that the battlefield environment has become very strange. I don't remember any predecessor mentioning a situation where it was completely covered by frost, or even covered with a thin layer of ice."

"So what? As long as he still possesses a powerful soul, I will never let him go."

"...That's true. Whether it's a mad dog or a cold dog, this is a strange world for us. I'm really not mature enough to use common sense to judge things in a place like this. Let's go then."

Having been persuaded by Xiaoyan, Zhi stopped agonizing over it. She shook her head, seemingly correcting her ingrained train of thought, and with renewed spirits, she prepared to step through the first city gate.

Then Xiaoyan pulled her back.

"So you'd better put on some clothes. I don't want any guy to freeze to death in battle because he's not wearing any clothes."

"Hi, hi!"

Zhi took out the bright red kimono again and draped it over her shoulders.

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Two more figures appeared at the city gate, startling Bordo who was deep in thought.

Perhaps this cannot be called thinking, but at least the chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind now are much better than when he was in his beastly state, driven only by instinct.

"Hey, there's definitely something wrong here. I remember the first time I saw him, it was when the city gate in front was opened, he suddenly appeared behind me."

"Aren't you annoying? It's all the same to me, just hurry up and get rid of him."

He climbed up from his newly forged lair of ice, one hand on the ground and the other on his hammer, and sized up the two Ashbringers who had just entered.

two……

In his chaotic mind, some information churned, seemingly telling him that the ashes before him were not quite the same as ordinary ones.

"Oh, it's moving now, and the sense of oppression is much stronger than before. And what is that wing-like thing?!"

"I told you to shut up! Never mind all that, get the attacking!"

An ashes rapidly approached in his field of vision, their chilling fighting spirit perfectly received by Bordeaux.

No, his thoughts were still in disarray. Bordo subconsciously tried to perform a ritual befitting this battle spirit, but his chaotic mind only allowed him to let out a roar.

The sound waves swept across the entire city gate, transforming into a blizzard with a chilling aura.

"It really is in the second stage! Little Flame, watch out for the dragon charge!"

The weaving's warning came too late. After his roar, Bordo lowered his head and charged towards him with a fierce storm.

"Oops!"

Xiao Yan had gotten too close earlier, leaving her no room to dodge. She could only abruptly return to the city gate entrance and then immediately run away with Zhi in the opposite direction.

The earth trembled, and ice shards flew beneath his heavy limbs, only to be swept up by the storm he created, transforming into piercing ice spears in the chill.

The reckless ash disappeared before their eyes, leaving the spot where she had been standing in a mess, ravaged by Bordo's charge and the subsequent ice spears.

He didn't stop, rushing straight towards the city gate. Even after the two of them split up and fled, he only turned a corner and continued running along the outline of the city gate.

The earth trembled without ceasing for a moment.

"Damn it, this guy's dragon chariot isn't crashing into walls anymore! Does this mean we're not even given a chance to attack?!"

Zhi continued to complain. At this moment, she and Xiaoyan were running towards the other side of the city gate, one on the left and one on the right, with the center line of the city gate as the dividing line.

The tremors and ice shards drew closer to Little Flame, and Bordo followed along the city wall on her side.

At this moment, the whole scene strangely turned into a race against death, with the three of them running desperately towards the city gate on the other side of the icy venue.

Ice shards began to splash onto Homura. Bordo, on all fours, easily overtook Homura with his massive body and kept pace with her.

While using her shield to block the ice shards, Xiao Yan concentrated on judging the timing of releasing her skills amidst the intense tremors of the earth.

Bordo turned his head strangely as he ran, his scarlet eyes staring at him through the biting cold wind.

"Be careful while weaving!"

A loud bang came from the ground.

Xiao Yan still saw the phantom of a wild beast in his eyes. At this moment, he seemed like a hunting dog playing with a rabbit. After startling her, he suddenly leaped up, soaring over Xiao Yan's head amidst the flying pebbles, and pounced on Zhi on the other side.

"asshole!"

The shadow fell, and Zhi, caught off guard, changed her footing and slid out in the direction from which the shadow was coming.

boom--!

A tremor more severe than any before swept across the entire city gate. The icicles hanging from the top of the gate broke off bit by bit during the tremor, causing a dangerous icy rain to fall over the entire gate.

The impact of the ice dog landing blew Zhi away from where she was gliding. The cold storm stole her body heat, and she felt her strength rapidly declining. Ignoring the drizzling icy rain above her head, she endured the excruciating pain, got up, and immediately turned back the way she came.

The deafening roar continued; it was the sound of Bordo crashing through the thin ice and striking the ice pillars as he slid down.

However, before these ominous sounds could subside, the earth was struck again with a heavy blow.

The chaotic consciousness was suppressed, and the pure beastly instinct rose again. It seemed that because he had grown bone wings, he actually longed to fly. Although the pouncing action was brief, he was immersed in the pleasure of soaring into the air. After gliding and losing momentum, he pounced on Zhi again.

After the mutation, the beast's physical abilities were greatly enhanced. Actions that were previously impossible with its massive body were now performed with ease. It could even swing its hammer after leaping out, making its swift pounce even more deadly.

Seeing the dark shadow loom overhead again, Zhi suddenly turned around and slid several steps in the opposite direction, barely managing to slip past Bordo's feet.

Icicles fell from the roof again, and Xiaoyan dodged the threat falling from the sky, trying her best to move towards it.

"Xiao Yan, his target this time is you!"

Once again blown into the air by the storm, Zhi felt the cold wind almost tearing her flesh apart. At the same time, in her vision, the ferocious beast, after crashing down and shattering the floor, leaped up and pounced on its other target.

Xiao Yan suddenly appeared at the city gate entrance, leaving the pitiful battlefield with yet another horrific wound.

She rushed towards Zhi while chugging down the Elemental Gray bottle.

"We need to stop him from this mindless rush!"

"If I could jump on his head, I'd give him a good beating!"

Having gotten back up, Zhi also drank the elemental bottle, struggling to suppress the chill that was almost freezing her blood, and charged straight at Bordo.

The hellish ordeal of the dragon chariot continued, the icy rain never ceasing amidst the tremors. Bordo, having once again missed his target, saw this delicate little rabbit who dared to charge at him. Without a word, he leaped up again, his ferocious warhammer determined to draw blood this time.

"Little Flame!"

"I see!"

Xiaoyan finally connected the two. She turned to face Zhi, who was running towards her, and half-squatted down, using her hands to form a springboard. As Zhi stepped down, she threw her out hard. In the next instant, a dark shadow loomed over her.

One tiny, one enormous, the two figures met in mid-air. Zhi's eyes shone with dazzling light. She broke through the icy wind surrounding the Ice Dog and crashed head-on into his forehead. She thrust out her katana, and in an instant, the splattered blood stained the Ice Rain crimson.

The tiny figure was thrown out, while the enormous figure, covered in his congealed blood, pressed down heavily.

At the critical moment, Xiaoyan dodged the heavy hammer mixed with blood and ice. She appeared behind Bordo, where she had once raced alongside him. This time, however, their competition was no longer about speed, but about courage. Like two sports cars racing head-on in a blizzard, whoever let go of the accelerator and turned the steering wheel first would lose this life-or-death race.

But Xiaoyan wasn't facing a fragile sports car, nor was she a mindless competitor. As she ran, purple flames burned on her body. With her enhanced physical abilities, she kept leaping, maintaining her height so that she could land on Bordo's head.

The wounded beast roared, no longer able to discern who had harmed it, and instinctively targeted the prey that was still provoking it.

The tremors continued, the ground, unable to bear the weight, groaned, and a crack, following Bordo's running footprints, extended towards Little Flame.

Little Flame seemed oblivious, continuing to leap and bound as she approached the enormous beast.

"Zhi, can I borrow your katana?"

"Got it!"

Despite delivering a powerful blow in mid-air, Zhi, who was knocked away, endured the pain of her body being shattered and covered in frost. She crawled out from the wreckage and, with her last bit of strength, threw her katana.

Two opposing lines are about to collide. It is still a contest of vast disparity, one small and one large. The small one has a firm determination, while the large one is accompanied by a fierce storm.

The moment the crazed red eyes met the calm black eyes, Homura received the katana, and Bordo swung his warhammer.

boom--!

Stone bricks, ice shards, and blood—three colors swirled around as Bordo, propelled by his own momentum, slid forward, following the path that Little Flame had leaped through, spilling his blood.

Little Flame kept appearing above his head, being knocked away, appearing again, being knocked away again, appearing again, and being knocked away again.

The elemental ash bottle was being consumed continuously, and the heavy blows caused by the weave were being repeated, with bursting blood tearing and tearing and tearing again on the Ice Dog's forehead!

Blood, like the crudest graffiti, was splattered in chunks on the frozen, icy blue ground. Lacking technique and creativity, it froze the most savage and cruel scene into crystals, blending it into the terrain.

Finally, the beast crashed violently into the wall, and with a deafening roar, the maddened hell dragon reached its destination.

Xiaoyan was thrown out one last time, rolling into the ruins, the katana she was holding tightly in her hand already broken into pieces.

The icy rain gradually stopped, and Xiao Yan, who was completely soaked in blood, felt something slowly gathering in her hand amidst the crimson.

With a powerful soul, she suddenly realized something. Wiping away the blood on her face, she gently held this coveted and precious trophy, completely ignoring the other side, where Bordo, whose body was beginning to scatter fine light fragments, struggled to raise his head, which had been severed in two, and glanced at the church not far away before disappearing.

The chill faded, and from the pool of blood, an unlit campfire slowly appeared.

"Hey, Homura, although the process was a bit bumpy and even a little inexplicable, we succeeded!"

Golden flames slowly burned on Zhi's body. Her heavy injuries made her feel the call of the campfire, but she did not drink the last bottle of elemental potion to save herself. Instead, she let her body slowly fade away in the flames.

"Yes... I... am one step closer to my own world."