Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

However, the actual executors are not those famous wolf-blooded warriors. The inhabitants of this forest will spontaneously carry sharpened tree branches, search for traces of the abyss under the dense shade, and be ready to bravely rush forward at any time to nip the worst possible situation that the abyss may cause in the bud.

Well, in the world of the Flame, these guys might really be contributing to their own world, but for Zhi, who knows the truth, these things are just trials projected onto herself. They may still have their own thoughts, but what they think about has nothing to do with this world.

Zhi was squatting on the cross in front of the water, staring blankly at her reflection in the water.

Several corpses of berserker hunters lay around them, all killed with a single blow. In terms of the intensity of the trial, the weak, unarmored, and unskilled humanoid monster posed no threat to the two Ash who had experienced so much—although there was only one Ash here at the moment.

Zhi was on her way to the Farron Fortress to see what Rudas meant by the changes, and also to find Granny Wolf, who was said to have settled there permanently, to fill in some of the information that Rudas had been vague about.

Actually, she was just making things difficult for herself. She felt that if she wasted time waiting in the sacrificial arena, even though she could give Xiaoyan a big hug the moment she climbed out of the abyss... Oh, even she couldn't hug Xiaoyan in the sacrificial arena, so without even that benefit, how could she say that she was anxious for her companion who had gone through so much hardship and struggle to climb, and that's why she was waiting here just to see her as soon as she came back?

They weren't a couple radiating the saccharine scent of romance. Although Zhi didn't deny having some ulterior motives, as fellow ashes, they didn't need such worthless concern. Since they couldn't fight side by side, she would always have something to do for her princess.

So she began to make the most of this free time, gathering intelligence everywhere. She had already explored the path of the sacrificial offerings, even thoroughly investigating the small cave hidden under the cliff. In fact, apart from a woman with a large machete hiding on a small path, she hadn't found anything of value. But at least she could confidently tell Xiao Yan, who had returned, that she had completed her exploration of the area. Princess, just follow me, and we'll reach the next campfire as quickly as possible.

However, she couldn't help but be attracted by the beautiful scenery before her. She remembered that there were many stunning sights in the world of the Flame of Fire. It seemed that when she first arrived at the high walls of Lothric, the moment she pushed open the door of the teleportation room, the majestic city made her marvel.

At that time, she had just become an independent individual, had not yet awakened her inner fire, and did not know what she wanted. So she sat on the edge of the cliff for a long time, thinking that if she could blend into this magnificent scenery, even if she became a person in a painting, it would be nice to just sit there forever.

At this moment, she was also surrounded by a beautiful scene, but she was no longer satisfied with being a person in a painting. She wanted to put her arm around her companion's neck in front of the painting, wave her fingers and comment on the details of the painting, and share all the beauty she had experienced with her companion.

She shook her head abruptly and jumped off the cross, because she thought that Xiaoyan was probably more interested in what kind of enemy was hiding behind that giant tree. Her princess was just that practical. Even if she really saw the beautiful scenery on both sides of the road she was walking, she would just silently remember it in her heart and plan to come back to see it one day after fulfilling her wish.

Having cast aside her indifferent sentiments, she felt the pure fire in her heart, trying to confirm whether that momentary melancholy had caused any change in it. The result was disappointing; the flame still burned quietly, without fluctuation or change in color. She knew that she still had a long way to go before she could mend the huge hole in her heart.

"Right, right, this is when you need to catch a lingering ember!"

She suddenly remembered that in order to encounter other ashes, they would need to use this little tool to shorten the distance between their own inner fire and the inner fire of others, so that her world and the world of others would overlap and appear in each other's field of vision.

The Forest of Crucifixion is already the territory of the Faran Guardians. As a guest, it would be impolite for her to quietly run into the core of someone else's territory and then suddenly jump out with an ember to scare them. It would be better to create the ember now and then knock on their door properly.

Flames of the same color as the campfire rippled around her, revealing things that had been hidden before.

Then she was startled, because what was more striking than the various colored symbols was the bloodstains all over the ground.

The bloodstains stretched out, as if a trail of blood connected the Farron Fortress and the Deep Cathedral.

At this moment, Zhi didn't know anything about the secluded church. All she knew was that this bloody path had completely ruined the beauty of the entire forest. And when she randomly picked a few bloodstains to watch the moment of their deaths, all she could see was the image of people wielding weapons finally falling on the battlefield.

But there don't seem to be any dangerous creatures here. Well, not counting those giant crabs, and even if they were, they shouldn't cause so many casualties.

"Never mind, random thinking won't lead to any conclusions. Let's get the necessary information first."

However, she had only taken a few steps when she realized why there was so much blood here.

One, two, three—just as she sensed something stirring her inner fire, Zhi keenly noticed three blue-green figures appearing in her field of vision. These three were dressed in outfits very similar to Granny Wolf's, except they weren't wearing helmets. Judging from their exposed faces, they were a group of two men and one woman.

Has she been hacked? Has she been hacked? She must have been hacked!

The painful memory of her first invasion was still fresh in her mind. She placed her hand on the hilt of her knife and silently backed away, intending to run away as soon as the intruder materialized.

The spirits slowly approached, but they did not materialize until they left the water.

"Ah, so it seems you're not one of those crazed hunters. In that case, I might be able to put up a fight."

The katana was drawn, and Zhi held the blade in his right hand, resting it lightly on his right shoulder, while his left hand loosely gripped the hilt. He spread his feet and assumed a highly aggressive upper-body katana stance—the Dragonfly Eight Forms.

This is a stance from an ancient school of swordsmanship that she heard her teacher talk about when she was learning Kendo. This school of swordsmanship is all-out, emphasizing slashing, strong offense and no defense, using overwhelming attacks to force the opponent to have no chance to breathe.

She realized that she was good at attacking but not good at defending, so she began to study the sword techniques she had learned before. The Satsuma Jigen-ryu style was the one that suited her best. Now she was confident that her eyes could help her cut through almost any obstacle. Since she couldn't defend, she would just give up on defense and show her all the attacks.

The core style of the Bakumatsu killer technique now appeared in the hands of Ash, who had shed his identity as a murderer. The overflowing killing intent, accompanied by a violent bloody wind, swept towards the three Farron guards.

"Miss, wait a minute!"

However, just as her killing intent reached its peak and she was about to take on all three opponents and launch the first attack, the short-haired black boy in the middle of the three suddenly spoke up, interrupting her prepared attack.

"Although we may appear to be invaders, we are not actually the enemy!"

As the three approached, the left hand was about to place the right hand in a unique gesture of respect, but the intense killing intent forced them into battle preparations. At this moment, the boy equipped with two longswords barely withstood her killing intent, sheathed the drawn swords, waved his hands in the air, forced a smile, and walked closer.

"Huh? Is there such a thing as an intruder not being an enemy?"

The killing intent was suppressed, making Zhi feel uncomfortable. She seemed to relax her stance, but the katana was still on her shoulder, ready to launch the most aggressive slash at any time.

"Well, that's generally how it is! Wait! That's why I said it's generally how it is! Let me explain!"

As soon as the boy entered Zhi's attack range, he saw a flash of light stop at his throat. He instinctively wanted to draw his sword to parry, but he suppressed his impulse and maintained his surrender posture, uttering the words mentioned above.

Zhi glanced at his hand, which he had just put back to his waist. Even so, he still hadn't drawn his twin swords. It seemed this guy was quite sincere and was also an excellent warrior. Indeed, the Ashes were not to be underestimated.

"Sorry, sorry, it was a slip of the hand~ You see, I'm still a newbie, this is my first time in the Forest of Crucifixion, please forgive me if I've offended any rules~"

Slowly sheathing the katana, Zhi put it back on her shoulder and put on a cheerful smile, looking like a complete novice.

The boy touched his throat, thinking to himself, "I'd be a fool to believe you," but he still had a smile on his face and was about to explain.

"Captain, no need to explain, they've already appeared," Do Misaka reminded him.

A voice even colder than Xiaoyan's, or rather, inorganic, came from the brown-haired girl in the trio.

The moment she finished speaking, the others also felt an even greater wave of invasion into the world.

PS: Yunxi: 744486102 is earnestly asking for votes~

Chapter Five Stubbornness

"Finally caught you! You runaway kid."

The humanoid noticed that the cane she thrust at Little Flame's vest had pierced through her front. At this moment, the two were facing each other at close range for the first time. Ash gripped the cane with one hand and her hand holding the cane with the other. Flames burned in her pierced chest like charcoal that had been pierced through.

She struggled violently, and deep purple flames climbed up her hands and onto her body, cheering and boiling, about to burn away everything that was hiding behind the fire in her heart.

Xiaoyan's inner fire has never been clear; too much darkness has risen within her own world, and even now the flames are a deep purple, showing how many impurities are mixed in.

The flames were constantly forging her, whether it was her body, spirit, or soul. The human heart was the furnace, into which she threw everything, tossing and burning in the flames. Impurities were refined out, finally condensing into a clear essence. But what exactly would be refined away and what would remain, even the unfathomable human heart itself would not know.

At least the color of the flames still reveals some information, because its fuel is what is brewing in people's hearts, so the ashes can see into one's own heart even more clearly.

Darkness is being forged by Xiaoyan, a result of her stubborn and twisted obsession.

Sometimes reason and emotion are in conflict. A rational mind, after witnessing the birth of a demon, tries its best to avoid following in the demon's footsteps, while the emotion is unwilling to give up what has accumulated in its endless cycle of reincarnation.

But reason prevailed in this confrontation, simply because Ashflame had developed a touch of emotion as it journeyed through the world of the Flame of the Heart, or rather, the world of the Flame of the Heart.

This feeling is not like those things that have accumulated over time and become so thick that they turn into darkness. It is clear and bright, full of vitality, closer to a flame. It will not weigh heavily on your heart, but will only burn warmly in your heart.

Thus, some of the emotion defected to the camp of reason, and the flames classified these black things as impurities, burning and refining them to turn them into ashes.

They could only flee into the shadow of the flames, but the flames relentlessly pursued them.

The humanoid figure struggled to escape the burning ashes. Why did the true "self" have to throw itself into this abyss when it could have simply hidden in that inconspicuous shadow? Was it just to exterminate her?

Even Xiaoyan herself didn't realize that the reason she truly slipped into the abyss was simply because she grabbed a human-shaped hand in her dream.

Perhaps it wasn't a dream at all.

Seeing the twisted, shrieking, and struggling humanoid figure, Xiao Yan remained unmoved by the flames' rejection. With alternating force, she pulled the humanoid figure in front of her and embraced it tightly, leaving no room for resistance.

The flames paused for a moment, seemingly unable to believe their choice. But the flames were also themselves, and at the instant they made their decision, everything that belonged to them had no choice but to submit.

She wanted to throw these stubborn, twisted things back into the flames. The fire of her heart should not reject anything she already possessed. All that was buried deep in her heart was kindling, which was why her flames were a deep purple.

The humanoid stopped struggling, and her sunken lips transformed into a peaceful smile. She embraced Little Flame tightly amidst the ever-deepening flames.

A thin mist gathered around them, only to be slowly evaporated by the intense heat. The foggy night in the city had passed, and the city was slowly waking up.

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

The naughty kids are finally home, but will a family with two naughty kids be driven crazy by them?

Still in that dimly lit sewer, Xiaoyan watched with a headache as two familiars, holding hands and dancing and cheering, linked arms.

The darkness faded away from the human form, and those deep things returned to the depths of Xiaoyan's heart to sustain the burning flame. However, the human form itself remained, transforming into a girl wearing a black woolen hat and gloves, and a black woolen skirt.

Like the arrogant one, she had purple eyes, with black lines encircling them, making her look as delicate as a doll.

This abyss is our stage.

She's now collected two of the children from the fake street. The new familiar is named Stubborn, which really suits her things that she can't let go of.

However, she doesn't have time to deal with these two unruly kids right now; she needs to seriously consider how to get back to this world.

"Hey, do you two know how to get back from here?"

The familiars, who had been dancing hand in hand, stopped. They looked at each other, then shook their heads at the same time.

"...Shouldn't I have relied on you guys after all?"

After resolving her inner issues, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu about this unfamiliar world—not that she was familiar with it, but rather that in that instant, she felt as if she had stepped from a fixed, lifeless world into a complete, functioning one.

It's like leaving the witch's barrier, but if I had to give an example, it would be more like meeting Anri, the feeling that the world suddenly came alive.

In short, she is now certain that she has entered a real world, rather than some projection constructed in her mind.

The damp and gloomy feeling faded, replaced by the pervasive stench of blood and madness in the air.

"Never mind, let's explore the area first."

Xiao Yan randomly chose a direction and headed towards the sewer, while the two mischievous children, arm in arm, enthusiastically kicked at the puddles in the sewer, walking behind her with a splashing sound.

“I think it’s better for you to go back into my shadow. I always feel that if I leave you alone, you’ll bring back some surprises.”

The two excited children immediately lowered their heads.

However, Xiaoyan had no pity for them. After all, the aura of this world told her that it was not safe at all. She had seen how mischievous the demon fire's familiars were. She didn't want to turn around and see them pulling a train of monsters while exploring this world.

Finding that their attempts to charm and coax them were ineffective, the two women simply crossed their arms over their chests and turned their heads to the sides, looking like they were having a tiff.

Then one of them got a shove on the head.

The two familiars, their eyes brimming with tears, crouched on the ground, covering their foreheads and peering upwards at their helpless master.

With a twitch at the corner of her eye, Xiao Yan was thinking of simply taking a forceful approach and stuffing them back into her shadow.

Seeing that even acting cute wouldn't get their master to compromise, the two familiars panicked. They exchanged a glance, and then the arrogant one, who had been with Xiaoyan for a longer time, came up with a solution. She slapped her hand, looking as if she had a sudden inspiration, and then pulled the stubborn one towards Xiaoyan.

Xiao Yan thought they were going to rebel, so she pulled a wooden stick out of her shield and was about to use violence to suppress the two unruly children.

She had clearly misunderstood. Even the most mischievous kids from the fake street were still familiars. How could they possibly attack their master? At most, they would just throw tomatoes at their master or something.

So they simply hugged her, and then their figures overlapped with Xiaoyan's.

It was as if she had drawn an outline for Xiaoyan with a black pen. She waved her hand slightly, feeling that her movement created two superimposed images. It was as if the two of them had become layers superimposed on Xiaoyan's back. Whenever she moved, the superposition would become misaligned, and the mischievous kids would have to imitate her movements at all times. But for them, this would be more interesting.

Well, that way they won't run around and attract monsters. Let them be.