Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Memories are actually dispensable. The person before me has no mission. She pursues something different. She doesn't even need to judge qualifications because she herself is ashes. She only needs to cross one hurdle, and the flame that belongs to her will ignite in her heart.

Little Flame ran over, and the Judge handed over his halberd without hesitation.

This is a series of thrusts after a quick forward step to close the distance. Usually, the Judge will thrust twice in succession, and the last time will be a heavy step to raise the halberd over the shoulder and make a vertical slash. If you are hit by a combo and then hit by the upward strike after the vertical slash, you can kill Xiaoyan instantly - this is the information she obtained at the cost of her life.

But this is also a good opportunity for a shield parry. The power of the thrust is concentrated at one point, making it easy to be deflected by forces from other directions. Even without strengthening her body, she can perfectly deflect this attack.

As the step to close the distance ended, Little Flame was now within attack range. With the final step, the Judge raised his front leg high, pulled his halberd behind him with his right hand to gather power, and thrust it straight out as he stepped down.

Xiao Yan had been waiting for this moment. She swung her shield out along the path of the halberd's thrust.

The shield struck the junction of the halberd's hilt and blade with a dull thud, deflecting the Judge's attack and leaving him vulnerable.

It's now!

Xiao Yan held the sword to her chest, aimed at the judge's chest, and plunged it in hard.

Ah, a beautiful shield parry.

Despite his own blood splattering everywhere, Gudako mentally assessed Homura's response. With remarkable resilience, he withstood the attack's impact and reached out with his left hand to grab at Homura.

"You won't succeed!"

The enhanced body now displayed power far exceeding its size. As Xiao Yan drew her sword, she used it as a lever to pry open the Judge's body.

A large gash was ripped open in his chest, and the judge was forced back a few steps by the force.

But he acted as if nothing had happened. Using the momentum of his retreat, he turned sideways into a lunge position, used his right hand to hold the halberd to the left, and swung it out with a powerful backhand sweep.

The attack swept from Xiaoyan's right, and she couldn't deflect it with her left-hand shield. She immediately rolled backward.

The halberd swept across, creating a gust of wind.

Locking onto the direction where Xiaoyan got up, the Judge unleashed a vertical slash.

However, Xiaoyan didn't get up at all; after her first roll, she rolled out again.

The halberd struck the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, and when the halberd head was pulled out, it sent up a shower of falling rocks.

The Judge pulled the halberd from the ground with a bit too much force, causing his center of gravity to shift backward, and he once again exposed an opening in front of Little Flame.

good chance!

With her longsword drawn behind her back to gather power, Xiao Yan delivered two thrusts to the Judge.

Two more holes appeared on the judge's side, but he still ignored the injuries. The increasingly troublesome Little Flame gradually brought him back to the thrill of fighting. Now he was going to use another strike to test whether she had mastered the essence of shield parrying to the extreme.

The halberd was poised behind him, and then he unleashed another sweeping strike.

This time it was a forehand sweep, the attack landing on Xiaoyan's left, which was also a good opportunity for a shield parry. However, in the last battle, Xiaoyan, who had not strengthened her body, did not deflect this powerful sweep at all. Instead, she was taken down in one blow when she failed to parry.

This time, she decided to take a gamble, hoping that her enhanced body could withstand the attack.

The halberd slashed down with a whooshing sound, and Xiao Yan, her whole body wreathed in purple flames, met it head-on.

Boom-!

Visible shockwaves spread through the air as Xiaoyan gritted her teeth and pushed towards the shield with all her might.

"Drink—ah—!"

Finally, the magic etched into her soul did not disappoint Xiaoyan. With the blessing of magic, she successfully deflected the sweeping attack.

The powerful recoil caused the Judge to stagger a few steps. Xiao Yan, enduring the excruciating pain of her shattered left hand, charged toward the Judge, who had exposed a huge opening.

She leaped up, held the longsword upside down with both hands, and plunged it into the judge's shoulder blade.

The kinetic energy of the impact and the potential energy accumulated during the jump erupted at this moment, and the longsword, after piercing the shoulder blade, continued its momentum all the way from the shoulder to the waist.

Blood splattered and soaked Xiaoyan's entire body. She fiercely raised her foot and stomped on the Judge, kicking him away as she drew her longsword.

"Ha...ha...this time, you should finally die."

The judge had two huge gashes in his chest, his entire body almost ripped open. With such terrible injuries, Xiao Yan felt that she saw a glimmer of hope for victory.

How could he possibly die? Since he bears the name of Gundyr, a mere wound cannot affect his fighting spirit. How could he not enjoy such a thrilling battle for a little longer?

Wait, what's that? Damn it, this damned divine realm!

Bosses can all transform twice.

Before Little Flame could catch her breath, the Ash Judge's body suddenly convulsed.

The black tentacles that had been wriggling around his neck suddenly extended outwards, coiling up his body and swelling larger and larger, like a ferocious snake head slowly rising.

"What the hell!"

Xiaoyan didn't have time to think much. Her intuition told her that instead of waiting for the BOSS to transform, she should go up and get a few hits.

She did just that, rushing to the kneeling Judge and stabbing him in the chest three more times.

Transformation always comes to an end, and often after a BOSS transforms, it unleashes a screen-wide ultimate attack.

Even the Judge, who burst forth with human pus, was no exception. From the pus wrapped around his body, a pale, ferocious claw, like a withered tree branch, extended from the left and swept fiercely around his entire body.

The judge's will has succumbed; evil thoughts from the abyss have tainted the body that should have been glorious.

As expected, Xiaoyan, who was busy finishing off her opponent, was swept away. The enormous power brought by her huge size instantly left her severely injured.

Fortunately, the Judge, who had just transformed, was still getting up. She quickly took out the Element Bottle and took a swig.

It's amazing. Even though I could feel that the broken bones were still crooked, after drinking the elemental juice, the injury didn't affect my movements at all.

The thought flashed through her mind, and she took advantage of the moment to quickly gulp down another mouthful of the elemental gray bottle.

The magic that had sustained her physical enhancement returned instantly, and the Judge, who had stood up, used the power of her giant claws to leap high into the air, disappearing from her sight in an instant.

"Oh no..."

Suppressing her discomfort at losing her target, she didn't think much of it and turned to run back.

This choice saved her life; the enormous claws and the snake's head made of pus slammed heavily onto the spot where she had just been standing.

As soon as he landed, the tail extending from the pus swept over him.

Homura suffered another heavy blow to her back, but fortunately, the force of her tail was not great, and she only stumbled before regaining her balance.

However, the enormous snake head that then lunged at her forced her to dodge again.

She chose to roll towards the judge.

She knew that due to their enormous size, these giants would become more restrained when she got close, giving her more opportunities to attack.

She rolled under the snake's neck to avoid the bite, and then swung her longsword, inflicting another wound on the Judge's body.

She regained some of her fighting spirit. You see, the enemies of magical girls are all giant and bizarre witches. This battle is the rhythm she is truly familiar with now.

Beware of its massive claws!

She silently calculated that, in close combat, the only parts that could effectively attack her were her tail and the giant claws. Rather than risk an attack from the massive claws, she would rather withstand the tail's force and maintain close range. So she circled around past the giant claws to the Judge's left rear and stabbed him mercilessly in the lower back.

It seemed that the Human Pus had stolen the Judge's fighting skills. Ignoring Little Flame who had circled behind it, it braced itself with its giant claws and charged forward a few steps. After escaping Little Flame's attack range, it turned around and slammed its even larger, swollen claws down at her.

A giant claw cast a shadow over her head, and she quickly analyzed the course of the battle based on her experience dealing with witches.

Retreat? No, the monster is enormous with a retractable snake neck. If they create distance, they'll be overwhelmed by the relentless attacks. Advance? That's the only option, but if they can't inflict enough damage in this close-quarters battle, they'll be locked in a tug-of-war of maintaining distance. This is disadvantageous for Xiaoyan, who's constantly expending magic to strengthen her body. Once her magic runs out and her mobility decreases, her only fate will be to be sent back to the campfire.

Having fought to this extent, she didn't want to go back to the campfire and be mocked by some guy again!

Then we can only use this last bit of magic to fight it out!

She targeted the judge's nape, where the pus of humanity had first taken root.

Magic was poured into the hourglass on the shield, and she felt the dark shadow looming over her head slow down instantly.

The purple magical flames surged like never before, and she transformed into a bolt of purple lightning, striking straight at the Judge's true form.

She only had one chance to attack. She reached over the judge's shoulder, hooked her arm around his neck, and used the momentum of the impact to swing herself behind him.

Disgusting pus was writhing at the back of his neck. She aimed at the junction of the two, and with her own rapid speed, the longsword in her hand slashed out like a purple lightning bolt.

In an instant, the flesh armor, along with the writhing pus, was cut off. The unwilling human pus, as it broke free from the judge, fiercely lashed its tail at Little Flame.

Little Flame, whose magic power was almost completely depleted, was fighting off the dizziness in her brain when she was struck squarely in the slowed-down physical sensations.

She rolled on the ground, and after barely managing to stop herself, she drank the last mouthful of the elemental bottle.

The human pus screamed, twisted and fell to the ground, slowly turning into real pus.

But this is far from the end. It is deeply rooted in the abyss of people's hearts, and as long as it draws strength from those it has corrupted, it can continue to grow.

The flesh and blood under the judge's neck began to churn again, and black pus was about to overflow once more.

I will never let you defile this body again!

As Xiaoyan stood up again with a desperate determination, she seemed to hear a silent roar. Suddenly, the Judge reached for the back of her neck and dug out the pus-filled root that was connected to the abyss of her heart.

Light began to slowly scatter across his body, but his once reddened gaze once again shot out a chilling fighting spirit.

The pustule was crushed like trash, and he, Gundyr the Ashen Judge, once again took up his halberd.

Xiao Yan fell silent. She planted her longsword in front of her, placed her right hand on her chest, and gave a knightly salute.

After picking up the longsword again, she vaguely sensed that something was different.

Light shards drifted around the two warriors who had risked their lives, witnessing the final showdown of this trial.

The halberd slashed, the shield parried, the longsword thrust forward, and iron backs pressed together; blood stained the halberd, and shards of light flew from the blade. There was no more pus, no more power; all that remained was the sparks of steel clashing against steel and the warrior's indomitable will.

Light fragments filled the entire courtroom, and blood soaked the thin surface of the water. The two figures separated during a collision, but after landing, they charged at each other again.

The judge, wielding his halberd and trailing ribbons of light, was about to unleash his ultimate technique.

Despite the excruciating pain that threatened to kill her, Xiao Yan gripped her sword with both hands and charged straight ahead without flinching or dodging.

Just as the raised halberd was about to pierce Little Flame, the Judge stomped his foot and spun around, sending a dazzling arc of light fragments sweeping over with irresistible force.

Faced with this unavoidable attack, Xiaoyan resolutely swung her longsword, hoping only to leave this great warrior with a perfect duel before she died.

The bloodied figure flew out, while the figure radiating light remained standing in the center of the battlefield.

He touched his helmet, feeling the deep scratches on it. He knew that his true mission was complete, and in the end, he wanted to give this newly recruited soldier his final blessing.

The halberd was planted in the ground, and he knelt down on one knee before Xiao Yan, just like when they first met. The only difference was that the scattered light fragments replaced the spiral longsword.

The light fragments eventually dispersed completely, and Little Flame completed the trial of ashes.

HEIR OF FIRE DESTROYED