Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Mikuru was shyly hugged by the girl and wanted to struggle, but when she saw the face that looked very similar to someone in her memory, she stopped trying to refuse.

"Yuri, this is prohibited. Stop it immediately. The student council president is looking over here."

"Hmph~ To hell with that white-haired guy. Hey, Mikuru, our 'SSS Group' is missing a mascot. Why don't you just join us?"

"But……"

"There are no 'buts,' it's settled then!"

In this peaceful world, a girl who was also made of ashes let out a small, mournful cry.

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Homura Akemi's Intelligence Compilation Manual:

Information regarding the battle:

Gun parry: A technique discovered only after equipping firearms. It allows you to use bullets to attack vital points and cause the enemy to stagger when they are unprepared or have made an attack.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Monster's Weakness and Bleeding

YOU DIED

The flames died down, and Xiaoyan and Zhi returned to the campfire.

"Haha, this time it was absolutely thrilling!"

Ignoring Ori, who became excited after suffering, Homura shared the information she had "seen" earlier.

"The woman who rang the bell was initially hiding behind a large tree in the center of the square; she seemed to be the organizer of the ceremony."

"ceremony?"

"Ah, it's a ritual, a ritual to create a fused monster... No, based on some details, the fused monster was just an experiment, but I can't see any more of it."

Xiaoyan rubbed her temples, trying hard to recall the "past" she had seen before she died.

"In short, no matter what they want to do, we have to get through it. Besides, I have another reason now."

"Oh, did you discover anything else?"

"There's something good in the middle of the square. It should be an elemental fragment, and they seem to have discovered its effects. The woman who's ringing the bell is using it as an auxiliary tool."

"Wait, wait... The enemy can actually use elemental fragments. How has this world changed? I have a feeling that these things are not simple."

"Let's leave these questions for when we return to the sacrificial site and ask Granny Wolf for answers. Right now, we need to figure out how to get rid of that woman who's ringing the bell."

"But she's hiding behind a big tree. Even if you use a gun, you can't hit her directly, right?"

"So, this is all up to you."

Xiaoyan patted Zhi's shoulder heavily and, under Zhi's bewildered gaze, explained her tactics.

"We'll stick to the previous 'cannibal cabin' plan, but you'll be the one to deal with the endless stream of enemies below."

"You mean..."

"That's right, I'm going to stay hidden on the second floor and snipe that woman from a distance as soon as she appears!"

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Gunfire erupted once again, igniting the battle for the Undead Settlement.

It was still Homura who struck first, it was still that unlucky mentor, it was still the gun parry stun after being hit by the magic bullet and no one executed her, the difference was that after attracting the aggro, Homura secretly sneaked back to the balcony.

"Keep going, knitting!"

Hearing the growing noise downstairs, Xiao Yan mentally encouraged Zhi.

Meanwhile, Zhike downstairs was in a terrible situation. At first, the villagers who flooded in were fine; as long as she controlled the order of killing them, she could make them all perish here, no matter how many came.

The key was the three executioners who filed in.

Without Xiaoyan's gun parry, she no longer had the chance to execute, bleed, and finish off an executioner by exploiting openings. She could only carefully hide among the crowd and mummies, striking out with a few slashes at opportune moments.

For the first time, she felt such disgust for the wooden planks these guys carried on their backs. Did the executioners already know the truth of "fat and weak chrysanthemums" and deliberately use this method to cut off the Ashes' chance to stab them in the back?

Despite her complaints, she still managed to find an opportunity, risking being slashed, to kill an executioner. However, the dwindling number of mummies in the room was a countdown to her complete demise.

"Hurry up, Little Flame, I can already see the campfire beckoning to me!" QAQ

Xiaoyan, of course, couldn't hear Zhi's cries for help. She was calmly lying on the balcony, waiting for the bell-ringing woman to appear.

"coming!"

It was probably the death of the first executioner that finally alerted her. She slowly emerged from behind the big tree, and in an instant, Xiao Yan locked onto her.

"But there are still some problems."

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, two of the obese mentors actually remained in the square this time. While this relieved the pressure on Zhi, it also brought danger to Xiao Yan's subsequent attacks.

"Never mind, at this point we have no choice but to give it our all!"

She immediately peeked out from the balcony, pulled out her twin pistols, and, relying on her superb marksmanship honed through countless reincarnations, unleashed a torrent of purple magic bullets.

The first shot hit her head accurately, and as the bell-ringer leaned back, the second shot struck her chest, bringing her back to her balance.

Xiaoyan maintained this continuous attack, ensuring that she wouldn't fall down due to the attack and thus avoid her firing range. Occasionally, she would fire a bullet into the arm that was shaking the bell, stopping her from doing so.

She had originally intended to try to knock the bell off directly, but this bell seemed to be special. Bullets made of magic could not penetrate the bell directly, and penetrating damage caused by attacking flesh did not seem to cause much trouble for the special enemies of this world. Even with several holes in her hands, she held on to the bell tightly.

Therefore, Xiaoyan could only unleash as much firepower as possible on Xiaoyan's vital points while controlling her not to ring the bell.

However, in doing so, Xiaoyan, who was shooting at a fixed target, also became someone else's fixed target.

The mentors downstairs weren't made of wood; the instant the gunshot rang out, they also locked onto Xiaoyan and unleashed an evil miracle.

The black swarm of insects drifted over unsteadily, while Little Flame continued to unleash her firepower on the bell-ringing woman without even glancing at her.

The first insect bite hit her; she felt as if she had been bitten hard by something, and the splattered blood even obscured her vision.

Despite her swaying body, she managed to hit her target, sending another bullet into the bell-ringer's head.

Finally, the bell-ringing woman turned into light fragments amidst screams, and the second insect attack was just about to hit her.

She instinctively tried to roll over, but the violent shaking of the cabin interrupted her movements.

"Oops!"

And the insect bite that could very well kill her was already upon her.

"Is all our efforts going to be in vain?"

She looked at the evil miracle so close to her with some resentment, but the depletion of magic power caused by the previous barrage of magic bullets had left her with no room to resist.

The sound of blood splattering was so jarring in front of her.

However, she discovered that she was not injured.

Looking up, she saw Zhi, whose eyes were shining brightly, looking at her cheerfully. Clearly, the insect bite had been cut away by her with a single stroke.

"Well done, my princess."

"Zhi, why did you come up here?"

That cheerful smile, however, gave her a bad feeling.

"That's because... I messed it up!"

As if in sync with her words, the wooden house shook once again, and the monster formed from the fused corpses rushed up to the second floor.

"The 'cannibalistic wooden house' has been torn down again. Come on, princess, let's jump down first!"

She scooped up Xiaoyan and leaped off the already tilted and collapsed balcony, slashing at several more evil miracles with her katana in the process.

"What happened to the 'big body weak gate'? These monsters just tore the gate apart without warning."

They resumed their back-to-back posture, and Zhi complained with a headache as she watched the corpse-fused monster crawl out of the wooden house ruins.

Instead of talking about these trivial things, let's think about what to do next.

"What do you think about continuing with 'plan B'?"

"what?"

It means choosing a way to die and sending yourself to your death!

“I’m telling you, weaving.”

"what happened?"

"Don't you feel that we are slowly losing something?"

"..."

"Looks like you've noticed too. That's right, ever since we've become 'immortal,' we've been able to calmly 'send ourselves to our deaths.' But, many times, don't we still have options other than 'sending ourselves to our deaths'?"

"For example, fighting to the bitter end."

"Yes, fight to the death... 'Not dying' doesn't mean you can 'die at will.' If we don't even have the courage to try to live, then what's the difference between us and those 'corpses' that we despise?"

"Then there's only one option left."

"That's right, so which side do you choose?"

"what?"

"So, those disgusting things are all yours to handle!"

Before Zhi could react, Xiao Yan drank a bottle of elemental ash and rushed straight to the center of the square where there were still two mentors left.

"Hey! That's not fair! What happened to the right to choose?"

The mixed monster of corpses had already rushed in front of her. Zhi activated her magic eye, slid to the side, and dodged the densely packed hands and feet.

"'The monsters are weak and bleeding,' believe that your abilities will have a miraculous effect on them!"

She gave each of the two instructors who were chanting a spell a magic bullet, then drew her longsword, assumed a fighting stance, and immediately unleashed a killing blow.

"Where did this incantation come from? Besides, you could at least have applied a blood talisman for me!"

The knife plunged into the monster's abdomen, just like puncturing a blood bubble, and a large amount of blood gushed out.

"What the hell is a blood talisman? You can't get your hands on one yet!"

With minimal magic consumption, she managed to rewind to a place where the other mentor's staff couldn't reach, and then Flame continued to swing her longsword.