Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Zhi glanced discreetly at the front and realized she had made a profit from that last move.

Ahem, getting down to business is the most important thing, getting down to business is the most important thing.

She fumbled around and found her katana tucked behind her back; to break the bag, she would need a suitable tool.

"Little Flame, where's your longsword?"

"...It was shot down during the previous battle."

"Uh, what about your pistol..."

"The magic is long gone; it's just a decoration now."

Was that just a simple threat? Why do I feel like I lost out? Wait, doesn't that mean that Xiaoyan is now a completely unarmed and weak woman, and in this kind of environment—Pfft!

She got punched in the stomach again.

I feel like you're thinking something very rude.

"Ahem... I've tucked the katana behind my back, so I need to find a spare dagger."

"Then hurry up and find it, why are you telling me this?"

“I stuffed it in my pants, so…”

Let's emphasize their posture again. Xiaoyan is sitting on Zhi, with her legs straddling her body. The space inside the bag is small, and the bottom of the bag is taut due to the weight, so their waists and below are inevitably pressed together.

Moreover, Xiaoyan's uniform has a skirt underneath, and even though she's wearing leggings, she still doesn't want to experience the feeling of someone putting their hand under her skirt.

"...Where is it? I'll get it for you."

There was absolutely no room for negotiation. Their faces were pressed extremely close together, and Xiao Yan's pupils, burning with purple flames, already revealed a murderous intent.

"Um, slightly to the right of the center..."

Let's take a look at Zhi's outfit. Although she still hasn't taken off the bright red kimono she put back on when fighting the Ice Dog, it can't hide the fact that she's wearing the same expert outfit as the katana guy. So, calling it pants is more like calling it a loincloth. In short, it's very small. I don't know how she hid a dagger there.

Xiao Yan swallowed hard and reached her hand into the fabric.

Wait a minute! What's with only one layer of fabric?

Xiao Yan felt a hornless, hairy, four-legged beast rushing through her mind, and she couldn't help but put on a black line on her face!

Even someone as carefree as Zhi felt embarrassed at this moment, so she looked away and couldn't help but urge him on.

"Hurry up! I sense something's off about the atmosphere around us. If we don't get out soon, we might be in danger."

The hand that had paused finally slowly reached deeper into the fabric.

Hmm, as expected, this guy was just spouting nonsense when he introduced himself, even saying he was a boy, when he didn't have anything extra to say about himself.

So even someone as emotionless as Homura still has a girlish heart, and it's perfectly normal for her to have random thoughts while engaging in this kind of play.

"Xiao Yan, we really need to hurry, something's really wrong outside!"

However, the object of the play had no time to care about any of that. The magic pupils she wove were flashing with dazzling light, and everything she "saw" emphasized the increasingly dangerous situation.

Xiaoyan knew that now was not the time to think so much, but her girlish reserve still prevented her from making any big moves.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness! I'm sorry to offend you!"

But Zhi couldn't care less about that now. She sensed that the cloth bag guy, who had been moving forward, had stopped, and right in front of him was a deadly crisis—no, probably worse than death.

She believed Mo Tong's warning without question, grabbed Xiao Yan's arm, and moved it to the dagger by instinct.

"Did you get it?"

"Um……"

Xiaoyan's answer was barely audible, entirely because her hand had touched some sensitive areas during that sudden movement.

The gender of the fabric has been confirmed—female!

Zhi Ke didn't care about anything else. She roughly pulled out Xiao Yan's arm, snatched the dagger, and stabbed it into the flaw in the sturdy bag.

At that moment, the guy with the cloth bag also pulled up the bag, seemingly trying to pour them forward!

At the last second, before they could complete the movement, the two of them slid out through the opening created by the dagger.

At that moment, Zhi demonstrated her basic skills as a killer. As she picked up Xiaoyan, she grabbed the fallen katana and immediately moved away from Budai-ge.

The alarm bells of the crisis have gradually been lifted, but the current situation is far from optimistic.

They now appeared to be in a huge pit, a circular cavern surrounded by gnarled tree roots that stretched all the way to the bottom. Near the walls on the ground, there were numerous tombstones, and in the center, facing the Cloth Bag Brother, was a boiling pool of blood that almost filled the entire pit... something ominous was vaguely churning within the blood pool.

Zhi carefully put down Xiao Yan, who had recovered, and the two of them looked around with some trepidation.

Clearly, the man with the cloth bag was about to throw the two of them into this ominous pool of blood, but now that his plan had failed, he slowly turned his head away.

Ring ring—!

The crisp sound of bells rose and fell, and looking around, the blood pool was surrounded by bell-ringing women.

The executioners, who were working, also noticed the unusual situation. They threw aside the large vat they were pouring into the blood pool, took out their guillotines, and surrounded the area.

A vicious enemy, an unknown environment, and an uncharted path—their current situation is truly a desperate predicament.

"I think it's time to ask Granny Wolf about some things."

"I feel the same way... However, it seems we have to choose a way to die first."

"Anything is fine except for falling into that pool of blood and drowning."

“That’s right. My magic eye tells me never to get into the blood pool, because that might mean more than just death.”

"Now, let's see how many people we can drag onto the train of death together."

Trapped in a desperate situation and surrounded by the enemy, the girls launched a charge without hesitation.

YOU DIED

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The campfire at the sacrificial site flickered, and Xiaoyan and Zhi emerged from it.

"Welcome back, Lord Ash."

"Ah...it wasn't easy for you to come back this time, Fire Keeper Sister."

With a somewhat complicated expression, she greeted the Fire Keeper, and the two of them immediately began searching for the figure who was always stationed there.

"Holo, are you really not going to reconsider my suggestion?"

The bustling atmosphere when I returned last time seemed like an illusion; the current sacrificial site, with only two or three illusory figures, is the norm.

“We have nothing to talk about, Rudauth. I’m just a carefree old woman. I can’t possibly interfere with the children’s decisions.”

Xiao Yan glanced at the petite girl huddled to one side with some surprise, but quickly turned her attention back to the two arguing people.

“I know you don’t care about our mission at all, and I’ve never forced you to do so before, but things are different now. Some of you have brought unpredictable changes to our world, and these changes will eventually affect you as well.”

Instead of leaning casually on the arena steps, Granny Wolf stood beneath Rudolf's throne, holding her helmet and looking up at him in confrontation.

"So what? We are already dead. Now, with our ashes, we are doing this thing against the tide. There is no easy road ahead. The more twists and turns we encounter, the better we can train those children. Life and death are determined by the fire in our hearts."

"Even if I really face death... no, that's worse than death."

“We know what you’re thinking, Rudolf. Linking the fire has almost become your obsession. Do you know what you mutter to yourself when you’re asleep? We truly admire you. Just for a tiny bit of hope, you dragged your charred body to our sacrificial site. You even risked your genius-level skills, using the lure of returning to your original world to make a deal with us. But alas, our fire is not your fire, not even that of some Onion Head. If it weren’t for that covetous creature, it would have been stolen countless times already!”

Granny Wolf seemed to be furious. Even though she had already noticed Xiaoyan and the others' return, she still revealed many very deep secrets.

However, Xiaoyan glanced at Zhi, who was deep in thought, and found that she, like herself, had not understood anything.

But Ludovic clearly understood what Granny Wolf was saying. He clutched his head in pain, closed his eyes briefly, and then opened them again.

"I know all of this. Passing on the flame, extinguishing the flame, and usurping the flame—I have never intended to interfere with the choices of those heroes. But at least I understand that the right to choose should be given to those who can truly create an era, while the remnants of certain eras cannot and are not qualified to determine the direction of the times!"

Ludows, who had been very calm, suddenly became fierce, and raging flames erupted from his body. In an instant, the aura of the Lord of Cinder swept out.

But he quickly calmed down and put the flames away.

Actually, Xiaoyan was a little confused earlier, because she remembered that when Teresa demonstrated the transaction process with Rudolph to her, the other Ashes couldn't hear his conversation with Teresa. But now, although he should be communicating with Granny Wolf, the others could hear him.

"I hope you will reconsider my suggestion, and I also hope you will learn more about the changes in your area. Those two girls seem to have experienced a lot. You can talk to them first."

Rudaus finished speaking slowly, then resumed his chin-resting posture and wearily closed his eyes.

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

Homura Akemi's Intelligence Compilation Manual

Information about teammates:

Zhi: Female, confirmed (crossed out!)

Zhi's message: Hey, hey, hey, don't write weird things in the intelligence log! QAQ

Xiaoyan's reply: →_→

PS: Yunxi: 744486102 No time to explain, get on the bus!

Chapter 32 We fixed a bug that prevented players from traversing the map.

In the empty sacrificial ground, three ashes sat on the ground, exchanging information.

In the intervals between recounting their experiences, Xiaoyan glanced at the petite girl again—she remembered that Granny Wolf seemed to call her Asahina.

In short, the girl had no intention of coming closer, as if she were in a different world from them.

However, they are indeed in different worlds.

Xiaoyan plans to ask her about her intention to form a team later; for now, exchanging information is more important.

"...This is the situation we're in. That pool of blood gives me a very bad feeling. Even if we ashes fall in, we might not be able to come back."

"Hiss, that guy over there has already connected with Sarivan... I understand. Your intelligence is very valuable. I will remind the other new recruits to pay close attention to these things."

"Wait! Sister Holo, don't you think you're still hiding a lot of information from us? What if there's something else like that? Will we just die... disappear without a trace?"

Xiao Yan interrupted Granny Wolf's perfunctory remarks at the right moment, pointing out the information asymmetry between them in a slightly forceful manner.

"...First of all, I'm very pleased that you can still call me 'sister,' Xiaoyan; however, I still maintain my point of view: while the exchange of intelligence is important, actual practice is the only way to uncover the truth."

"But you're not sharing any intelligence with us at all!"

"Even if I tell you this information, you won't understand it at all if you don't have the corresponding understanding. Just like the Shariva we mentioned earlier, even if I tell you now that he is the mastermind behind most of the conspiracies, what use will this information be to you?"