Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Onion Knight wielded his greatsword with imposing might, sweeping away rows of skeletons amidst the whistling wind.

But this caused trouble for the other teammates, who had to crouch down to avoid being hit by the wide-ranging attack, and also had to clear the skeletons in the knight's blind spots.

Xiaoyan simply pulled out her pistol, squatted down, and used magic bullets to pick up the baskets, while poor Anri and Zhi could only clear out the enemies while being careful of their teammates' attacks.

The battle ended with Onion Knight unleashing the Force. A golden shockwave swept through the tomb, scattering the skeletons, and the impact of the explosion filled the other two, who weren't wearing helmets, with mouthfuls of bone fragments.

"Hmm... branches have sprouted from their bodies. Just as Yhorm said, is this era about to wither away?"

He himself was still observing the enemies without paying any attention, while Anri, who had escaped with his helmet, was rummaging around in the cemetery, seemingly picking up something.

This strange behavior became even more pronounced when they emerged from the tomb and descended into a ravine.

Anri actually ran to a large, empty valley floor, chasing after something and slashing at it. After a while, he groped around there, then went to the two corpses and squatted down to grope around for a bit.

Then, as they were touching the second corpse, they watched in horror as an executioner suddenly jumped off the cliff, slamming Anri to the ground.

"WTF! What are you all standing there for? Come and help!"

The cool, clear voice that was so familiar to Xiaoyan and Zhi could no longer maintain its composure. Anri, who was being trampled under the executioner's feet, angrily accused his teammates who stood by and did nothing, and struggled desperately, trying to break free from the executioner's control before the guillotine swung down.

"You bastard over there! How dare you be so disrespectful to a lady! Take this sword from the Knight of Catarina!"

At crucial moments, Onion Knight is still the most reliable. Two unscrupulous girls, for their own reasons, just stood by and watched this guy make a fool of himself, without offering any help whatsoever.

"I regret bringing you all along. If I had explored on my own, none of this would have happened."

"Don't say that. If it weren't for Mr. Onion, you would probably be back at the campfire by now."

Zhi didn't actually have any ill feelings towards her. On the contrary, that sense of familiarity made her have a fairly high initial level of goodwill towards Anri. It was only because Xiaoyan clearly didn't get along with her and had some questions about her appearance and these strange behaviors that she chose to stand by and watch. At this moment, she stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Haha, helping ladies is a gentleman's duty, and besides, I'm not an onion..."

"Anyway, thank you, Mr. Onion."

"Haha, no need to be so polite, no need to be so polite..."

Chapter Thirty-Five: NPCs Can't Be Saved Just Like That

On the rest of the journey, Anri shot down a corpse with an arrow and then went back up to stealthily touch it.

"Mr. Onion, what... what is this knight doing?"

Unable to contain her curiosity, Zhi asked Onion Knight, who had been calmly observing Anri's movements, about this issue.

"Oh... well, you know, many of the wandering souls in the Undead Settlement were transported from Lothric City, and a small number of them may have even held military positions. So there are quite a few good things on these corpses. If you have time, you might as well go and look for some of the corpses that are glowing white—and, don't call me Onion if you're not ladies..."

So this really is about finding equipment... Zhi and Xiaoyan thought to themselves speechlessly, and then, as always, ignored Onion Knight's words.

However, they didn't see any white light on the corpses. In fact, the only time they saw white light on a corpse was when they picked up the Elemental Bottle and the Elemental Ash Bottle. Even when Xiao Yan defeated the large Crystal Lizard, she directly picked up the dropped crystal body.

I always felt that there were still many strange things in this world, and the fact that I met Anri before the world changed meant that the phenomenon of their arrival in this world was not simple either.

However, these questions didn't need to be answered right now. After Anri finished collecting the spoils, they continued towards the entrance on the other side of the ravine.

The place we entered was a very spacious area, like a sewer pool, and there was a corpse lying under a ladder in the distance.

"...Why are you all staring at me?"

"There seems to be a body over there, aren't you going to pick it up?"

"...I'm very uneasy that none of you are going down into this dried-up pool."

"It's okay. If they try anything else, we'll jump right away."

In the end, they accompanied Anri to the body.

"Hmm, so that's the trick."

Zhi activated her magic eye in advance, observed her surroundings, and quickly found the blind spot.

“There are a few sewer openings here. Mr. Onion, you, Xiaoyan, and I will each block one, and Anri, you can go and loot the corpse without worry.”

"Don't use such an offensive term as 'looting a corpse,' I'm just picking up what's dropped."

Seeing that everyone had taken precautions, Anri felt relieved and went to pick up the fallen item.

This is a saint's amulet, which can probably be used to perform miracles. Anri put it in her bag, and then when she turned around, she saw a very funny scene.

The other three blocked the sewer opening. As soon as a rat appeared, they swatted it away. Then another one appeared, and they swatted it away again.

"Ah, this reminds me of a game I played when I was a kid, but it was much easier."

As Zhi sighed, he brandished his katana, stabbing the rats that popped their heads out one by one to death.

When you play whack-a-mole at home, do you ever accidentally get bitten to death?

Meanwhile, Xiaoyan was making sarcastic remarks on the other side with a blank expression.

"Oh, little girl, you truly live up to your title of Sun Knight! You cracked the scheme so easily. I'm truly impressed."

Hey, Sun Knight doesn't have the ability to see through tricks.

Although he was wearing a helmet and couldn't see, Anri must have had dead fish eyes at that moment.

The enjoyable time spent catching mice was over, and they arrived at the end of their journey—actually, they had completely circled back. When they came to the saintess, Xiao Yan pushed open a certain iron door that could only be opened from the inside, and then saw that arrogant knight with a foul mouth.

“…Has someone come? Ah…there are two—no, three sirs, whoever they are, please come and touch me…”

Anri walked up to the saintess, who seemed to sense something and suddenly raised her head, swaying it horizontally. Her unfocused pupils seemed to be observing something, and then, in a voice that sounded like she was enduring some kind of pain, she made a request to them.

"Three people? Wait... one, two, three, four, huh?"

Some of the information in this request was strange, so strange that Zhi couldn't help but count the number of people around her one by one.

Why are you arguing with a blind woman?

After opening the door and returning, Xiaoyan complained about Zhi, then crossed her arms and quietly watched the scene unfold.

"It's so dark, I can't see anything, the darkness has gripped me... The insects keep biting and torturing me... So please, anyone, please touch me."

Anri stepped forward, knelt down on one knee in front of her, and gently placed one hand on her shoulder.

As if something had been unlocked, the moment Anri's hand touched the saintess, the saintess suddenly sat up straight and exhaled deeply.

"Ah, there you are. Though not the brightest light, it is the warmest radiance that suits me best."

“God, thank you… Ah, forgive my rudeness, I am Irina of Kalim, and I have come here to become the Fire Keeper.”

She shifted her position, no longer "looking" at the other two, and instead sat down in front of Anli, making her request.

"So, the one who touched me and freed me from the darkness must be the hero, right? I'm too weak, so I think I can't possibly become the Fire Keeper. Even so, hero, would you still allow me to serve you?"

"Of course—or rather, I, the Ashes Without Fire… need your help."

Anri replied solemnly.

"Thank you so much, hero. Now, let's establish a contract... I am Irina of Kalim, and I am willing to serve you."

The moment the contract was made, a teleportation light emanated from the saintess, and she vanished.

Anri slowly straightened up, looking at her hand that had just touched the saintess with a complicated expression, before finally turning back around.

"Alright, I've taken care of things here. Now, it's time to complete Mr. Onion's request."

She stepped out of the iron gate that Xiaoyan had opened and headed towards the tower, while Zhi, who was about to follow, noticed something unusual.

"Little Flame, I think we sat around a campfire before, didn't we?"

"Yes, what's wrong with the campfire at the end of the dilapidated bridge?"

"Look, the monsters outside haven't come back to life..."

Xiao Yan then realized where the subtle sense of unease she felt when she opened the iron gate came from. Indeed, An Li was now safely outside, but the environment she was in was still the chaotic battlefield after their battle. Bloodstains, signs of destruction, and corpses were all still there, as if the chaotic timeline had been completely sorted out.

They even took out their elemental bottles and calculated the amount they consumed.

“We did sit around a campfire, and I’ve replenished all the elemental ash bottles I used up.”

"...We're encountering more and more mysteries, but no one is providing us with answers. It's a terrible feeling."

It seemed they had been staying for too long, and Anri, somewhat puzzled, beckoned them over from a distance.

Suppressing their doubts once again, they left the prison, while Kalim's Ego remained seated, silently watching them pass by.

"The elevator here is amazing. Before, when I wanted to go to the top of the tower, I rode the lower part, but I couldn't get up no matter what I did."

Upon entering the tower, Onion Knight immediately began recounting his experiences, then went up himself, activated the mechanism, and quickly ran down the elevator.

"Like this, first lower the lower part, and then we can take the elevator to the upper part."

"As expected of Mr. Onion, you discovered the mechanism so easily. I had to run up and down and try several times before I finally understood the principle."

Actually, when Zhi was fighting the Flame Demon for Flynn's Ring, according to Teresa's information, she passed it on her first try.

"Haha, these little things are nothing to mention. The more important thing is that after I took this elevator, I accidentally arrived at the location of the Flame Demon. If I hadn't failed to find a way to communicate with it, I wouldn't have come down again in such a confused state and then met my friend Anri."

"So, Mr. Onion, although you've cracked the elevator mechanism, you don't know exactly how to get to the Flame Demon?"

The straightforward Anri directly summarized the Onion Knight's lengthy discourse.

"Haha, believe me, as long as we take the elevator up, we'll definitely get there."

As he spoke, Onion Knight walked toward the elevator on his own.

"Wait... I mean, if you don't know how to get there, don't rush up here."

Anri tried to stop him, but Oriya pulled her up with her, while Homura just glanced at Oriya with her cheerful smile and followed.

"Xiao Yan, when I yell 'Jump' later, let's kick these two guys off the elevator together, and then jump down."

As Homura came up, Onion Knight had already stepped on the mechanism, and taking advantage of the noise of the elevator starting up, he whispered the words above into Homura's ear.

"...You're not trying to trick me again, are you?"

"How could that be? I tricked them this time."

I'll trust you one more time.

After they finished discussing, they ignored Anri's continued complaints and silently walked behind the two of them.

The elevator gradually increased in speed and began to rise. As the elevator passed a wooden barrier, Zhi shouted out.

"Now! Jump!"

Anri was startled by Zhi's sudden voice. Before she could react, she felt someone kick her from behind and fell out of the elevator.