Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

The flames ignited swiftly and then quickly went out, but the longing that arose in that instant made Xiaoyan's heart pound—she seemed to have found something that could save Xiaoyuan in countless reincarnations, the so-called embers.

But what exactly is the Ember? Why was she able to come to this conclusion so abruptly without any intelligence or analysis, as if deep down she had always firmly believed that the Ember could fulfill her wish?

She came with the intention of gathering intelligence, but apart from some obscure and difficult-to-understand information, her only gain was a heart-pounding desire.

At least she found a reason to keep going in this world, didn't she?

She took a deep breath to calm her chaotic thoughts. No matter what, she still had to keep going. If she couldn't find a way back to her own world, then she would follow her only desire in this world.

She shifted her gaze from the message and headed toward another purpose of her trip: the orb of light that had appeared above the corpse of a knight.

After observing for a while, she still couldn't confirm what it was, so she boldly reached out her hand.

Within the ball of light, she seemed to touch something. Then the ball of light dispersed, revealing two strangely shaped glass bottles in her hand: one dark green, filled with a golden liquid; the other gray, filled with a blue liquid.

Is this some kind of beverage?

She was a little confused. After looking closely, she found that apart from the intricate patterns, there were no other clues on the two bottles.

It can't be like in the game, an item used to restore HP and MP, right?

She temporarily put away the two bottles, intending to ask the guy she met by the campfire.

Come to think of it, I haven't even asked her name yet?

Somewhat indifferent to this trivial matter, she walked towards the fork in the road she had discovered earlier, intending to go in and take a look.

Having never been here before, she carefully walked into the crevice between the mountain walls on both sides, shield in hand.

The crevice in the rock led to a spacious basin, and as she stepped into the basin, she saw the strange monster.

The creature was covered in blue-glowing crystals, had a thick tail, and was curled up in a ball. Incidentally, opposite this lizard-like crystal monster, there was also a corpse with white orbs of light floating on its body.

The reason why the light orb that could be picked up was only mentioned incidentally was because when Xiao Yan stepped into the basin, the crystal monster seemed to be disturbed and slowly got up.

Xiao Yan was certain that she hadn't made any loud noise, and the monster was facing away from the basin entrance, so she was quite far away from it and there was absolutely no possibility of disturbing it.

She felt the deep malice once again.

The crystal lizard turned around, its head with a broad jaw fixed on Little Flame's location, and let out a low growl.

Its massive body and crystallized skin, which clearly demonstrated its strong defensive capabilities, told Xiao Yan that it was best not to confront it head-on.

She accepted the advice of reason and turned to run back to the crevice connecting the basin.

But reason doesn't always lead to the right choice. While trapped in the crevice, she only heard a rumbling sound behind her. In a brief moment of running, she glanced back and saw that the monster had curled itself into a wheel shape and was rolling towards her at high speed.

"Ruined……"

She didn't have time to escape the crevice, and the monster's enormous body filled it perfectly, leaving her with no way to escape.

A tremendous force struck her from behind, knocking her to the ground, and then the monster with sharp crystals ran over her.

YOU DIED

Chapter Four: Communication Can Sometimes Transcend Worlds

YOU DIED

In the darkness, the same bright red subtitles and the same intense pain repeat themselves.

However, this time, what tormented Xiaoyan was the pain of having her whole body crushed.

After an unknown amount of time, the flames finally surged up, and in an instant, the warmth emanating from the heart was intoxicating.

It was as if she had fallen from hell to heaven. The extreme shift between pain and comfort left Xiaoyan still somewhat dazed after her resurrection.

"Yo! Welcome back."

"Um, I'm back... my foot!"

The familiar, spirited voice pulled her back to reality, but the overly cheerful tone inexplicably made her uncomfortable.

"So it turns out you can quickly return to the campfire by dying. Why didn't I think of this before?"

Xiaoyan's complaints did not bother the guy who was inexplicably excited. She slapped her hand and said the above sentence in a way that sounded like she had discovered a great idea.

This naturally ignited Xiaoyan's anger.

"Hmph... I died back to the campfire just from reading a comment. I'm really sorry for being so bad."

With a completely flat voice, an expressionless face, a long sword gently patted in her palm, and a faint black aura emanating from her, Xiao Yan was now incredibly imposing!

"How...how terrifying!"

The girl, whose name is now unknown, immediately chickened out.

"Heroine, spare my life! I apologize for my thoughtless words just now!"

"Tsk... So we can't attack each other after all... Alright, I'll forgive you for now."

An unknown girl sat there with a stiff smile on her face, her twitching eyes glancing at the semi-transparent sword mark left on the ground where she had been sitting.

Hey! It's really coming at me! If it weren't for the fact that everyone in the Ashes lives in a different world and other Ashes are just blurry phantoms, this could really send me back to the campfire!

She roared inwardly, large beads of sweat sliding down her forehead.

Style, girls who turn evil are really scary QAQ

However, Shiki, being in another world, would not comfort her. She could only face the extremely oppressive Homura alone, trembling with fear.

"Enough with the jokes, let's get down to business and exchange information."

Nodding.

"First, let me introduce myself. My name is Homura Akemi, I come from the year 2011 (Note 1), and my profession is a magical girl."

Nodding.

stare--!

"Huh? Ah! My name is Ryougi Ori, I come from the year 1995 (Note 2). As for my profession, I'd say I'm an exorcist. By the way, I'm male."

"Then, Miss Ryougi—"

"Um, I'm a guy..."

"Miss Ryougi!"

"Hi, hi!"

"Next time you need to disguise your gender, at least wrap your breast wrap tighter and change into a men's kimono. Okay, let's get back to the main topic. I just found the original message, but apart from getting the information about 'Ember' and confirming my goal in this world, I didn't get any other useful information—dying back at the campfire was just an accident."

Having confirmed that the girl who identified herself as Ryougi Ori remained sitting upright with no extra expression, she continued speaking.

"Therefore, if Miss Ryougi has any further information, please inform me."

Looking at the girl who had just been so bold and was now bowing to her so solemnly, Zhi scratched her head in a bit of a predicament.

"No need to be so formal. Learning to share information is a required course for us Ash people."

"Then I would be grateful if Miss Ryougi could enlighten me."

"You can just call me Zhi."

"Please enlighten me, Miss Ryougi." *Stare!*

"I know, I know! Although I've only been in this world for a short time, I'll tell Homura everything I know. First, let's confirm one thing: Homura, is there anything you absolutely must do back in your own world?"

She was quite unhappy with the overly familiar way she was addressed as "Flame," but seeing that she was unusually serious, Flame decided to let it go for now.

"Of course, as I mentioned to Ms. Ryougi before, I did not enter this world through death. Rather, I was brought to this world when I used special means to rewind time in order to fulfill my own wish."

"I see, then this is a bit difficult..."

Hearing the other person's hesitant tone, Xiaoyan raised an eyebrow.

"How to say?"

"First, after we enter this World of Fire—which is what we call our current world—we become a kind of life form called 'Ashes.' As the name suggests, this term fully reflects the characteristic that 'we are just the remains of our original life forms in this world.' Here, we are not complete. The most direct manifestation of this is that the characteristics and abilities we originally possessed will only remain in part here, or even disappear completely."

"That is to say..."

"That's right. If you can't use the previous methods to rewind time here, you'll lose the ability to rewind time once you return to your original world."

"How could this be! I didn't enter this world because of death! Why did I turn into 'ashes'?"

"This brings me to my second point. For those 'ashes' who entered this world with a strong purpose and used methods like 'reincarnation' or 'time travel' to travel through time and space, according to the parallel universe theory, you are very likely 'yourselves on a different timeline who failed in reincarnation or time travel and died.' In other words, on your own timeline, you are already dead. It's just that this near-euthanasia experience is very similar to the experience of reincarnation or time travel, leading you to the illusion that you are still experiencing normal time travel and reincarnation. Of course, the above statement comes from a senior; I myself have never experienced reincarnation or time travel."

Zhi's description was very detailed, but Xiao Yan would rather she hadn't been so detailed, because her well-reasoned conclusion was almost a pronouncement that she was now forever separated from her original world.

"How could this be... how could this be..."

Xiaoyan's actions in this world are almost all aimed at finding a way back to the past. Even though the initial message ignited her desire for the 'Ember,' returning to her original world is still the source of her motivation.

All of this was destroyed by the fact of death, which ended Xiaoyan's obsession with reincarnation.

The pupils gradually lost their luster.

"Hey! Hey! Don't just despair like that. Even the thing that 'can't die' happens in this world, so doesn't the possibility of 'being able to return to the original world and be resurrected even after death' also exist?"

Zhi keenly sensed that Xiaoyan had fallen into the abyss of despair. She instinctively wanted to hold Xiaoyan's shoulders and shake her awake, but physical contact was impossible due to the difference in their worlds. She watched helplessly as her hand passed through Xiaoyan's shoulders, and in the end, she had to use the power of words to try to dispel Xiaoyan's despair.

Her efforts did indeed have an effect.

"Is this method... really possible?"

The pupils regained some of their light.

"I don't know if it's possible! But! There is definitely a way to go back to the original world!"

Tell me quickly!

Her once dormant pupils suddenly shone with an astonishing light, and Xiao Yan desperately tried to grab Zhi's clothes, as if afraid that she would suddenly disappear.

However, her hand also passed through the fabric's body.

"Ah... I've emphasized this many times, we live in two different worlds, and that's the third point I wanted to make..."

"We'll talk about that later! First, tell me how we can get back to our original world!"

"I'll tell you! The method is to offer a powerful soul to the only Lord of Cinder who sits on the throne, and the Lord of Cinder will extract the power from that soul, allowing you to temporarily return to your own world!"

Xiaoyan finally calmed down, but the light in her eyes remained bright.

"Then who is the Lord of Cinder? And what is a powerful soul?"