Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Stand at attention! The two rows of men resumed their solemn posture, looking just like obsequious underworld thugs.

"Ahem, that's all for now. The induction ceremony is over. Come in quickly, we're about to start our operational meeting."

As soon as the commander finished speaking, how could the underlings dare not obey? The originally neat formation immediately dispersed, and everyone loosely gathered around the desk. The curtains were drawn, the projector was turned on, the commander put on his white beret, and the combat conference system was activated.

"Yeah, what a lively team."

"That's right, everyone here is a very interesting person."

When will the firearms be distributed?

"Akomi-san is still thinking about the guns..."

The three girls beside him walked into the principal's office without any hesitation, leaving only the boy in his tattered school uniform standing there motionless with his head down.

"Hey buddy, aren't you coming in?"

"...I think I'd better give up. As for fighting against gods, just make me disappear."

He turned around, waved, and seemed about to leave.

"What are you saying, bro? Don't be in such a hurry to disappear. Once you disappear, there will be nothing left. Even if you cause trouble, wouldn't it be a waste of your time if you didn't leave a lasting mark on this world while you still exist?"

Before he could go far, an arm pulled him back tightly. The person in the arm, muttering words of reminiscence, dragged him into the principal's office without giving him a chance to explain.

"Besides, you don't even have any memories. If you don't seize this opportunity to create some new memories, that would be many times more pathetic than losing your memories altogether."

The principal's office door was closed.

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Yes, humans are always resisting death, simply because survival itself is a struggle against death.

But there are so many things that can bring death: hunger, disease, natural disasters, man-made calamities. If you're not careful, a fragile life can be gone in the blink of an eye, without leaving a trace.

Even in the afterlife, they only avoided physical death; they simply replaced the meaning of death with "disappearance," and naively believed that as long as they continued to resist, they would not "disappear."

It's as if ashes are trying to avoid becoming ghosts.

But this is also a good hunting ground, where the prey will not die easily, which allows the hunters to enjoy the thrill of the hunt even more.

Whether the hunter thought that way is unknown, as he was covered in hideous armor, making it impossible to see his face.

His helmet was covered in spikes, his shoulder armor was covered in spikes, his wrist guards were covered in spikes, his leg armor was covered in spikes, he carried a shield covered in spikes, and the straight sword at his waist was also covered in spikes.

His entire body was made of needles, each of which was stained with dark red blood.

This wasn't his first time here; the last time he came, he reaped a considerable amount of spoils.

It's good that people can't die; their tongues can grow back after being cut off. If it weren't for those guys who took over the Cathedral of the Deep saying that this place was an important source of people, he could have transported those tongues back by the dozen without any scruples.

Oh, we shouldn't blame those guys. He was able to invade this terrifyingly peaceful world thanks to them, so cooperating with them a little wouldn't be a bad idea.

Although he didn't know exactly what they were going to do, all he needed was a tongue to give to his goddess.

Kirk the Middle Finger has always been such a simple person. He is covered in blood, but he doesn't kill for the sake of killing. Whether in the past or now, from beginning to end, he only raises his knife for his goddess.

His goddess has lost her voice because her tongue was cut off. So he needs many, many tongues to comfort his goddess. He doesn't ask for redemption or rebirth, he just wants to give. Perhaps only by giving in this way can he feel that he is alive.

This is his second invasion of this world. Last time, his joyful hunt was stopped by a group of armed teenagers, teenagers who had died countless times. They had given him a lot of tongues, so he didn't think they were hateful, but rather cute, at least better than that Ash who was so scared that he couldn't move when he first saw him.

No, no, no, we can't slander that Ash. Ultimately, if she weren't here, even those guys wouldn't have been able to get here.

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Intermittent four-way intrusion and counter-intrusion

"Operation start time: 18:30, Operation name: Tornado!"

"Now, let the battle begin!"

The members of the "Afterlife Front" firmly believe that the gods are in control of this world, because only a world ruled by the gods would make such arrangements for the boys and girls who died under such unfair fates.

On the surface, they are asked to relive the youth they missed due to fate, and then, in the daily life of the campus, their regrets are erased, they lose all memories of their past lives, disappear from this world, and are reincarnated to start a new life.

But they were unwilling to accept it. After experiencing such an unfair fate, all they had was a peaceful life. If they were to forget their past, what value would that experience, all that they had in their short lives, have? What did they really mean by being filled with grief, despair, despair, torment, and suffering in that fate?

God is a wicked being; He has already fooled their lives, and He will continue to fool them even when they have no lives left.

Therefore, they will not follow God's arrangement and live a good life here; they have more exciting and noisy things to do.

The school cafeteria had become a military cordon. Unaware of this, ordinary people—perhaps they should be called NPCs, the dead who had their memories slowly eroded in this world in accordance with the will of God; or perhaps they were created by God to fill the void in this world—in any case, they still gathered here after class according to their usual routine.

Completely unnoticed, the four corners of the cafeteria and all the main passageways were filled with thugs armed with dangerous firearms.

In the best-viewed corner of the cafeteria building, three Ashes gathered. They had their own battle plan, not against the "angels," but against a certain intruder.

Although they witnessed the conflict between the SSS group and the angels last night, and used the fact that Ashen doesn't need sleep to patrol the entire campus without finding any signs of invasion, the fact that this invasion didn't happen in the Heartfire or Fire World, and the way the other side invaded, was intriguing, meant they were not letting their guard down at all.

Occupying the best sniping position is to be able to spot the intruders as soon as they gather in crowds; based on their instincts for their kind, the Ashes have a premonition that the guy who killed Asahina and caused the annihilation of the SSS group is still in this world.

Xiao Yan skillfully maneuvered the M200 sniper rifle, using its optical scope to monitor the entire area surrounding the cafeteria.

Perhaps because she was assigned the weapon she had always dreamed of, she was in a very good mood. Even though she needed to constantly adjust her tactics and observe different positions so that the Ashes could discover and eliminate the intruders first, she didn't complain at all. On the contrary, she felt a little happy about it.

Asahina is the operator for their group, responsible for finding ways to cover up their group's extra operations when Yuri's plan begins to be implemented.

At this moment, the little girl was also very focused, constantly learning Xiaoyan's tactical movements. Wherever Xiaoyan raised her gun and observed through the scope, she followed suit. When Xiaoyan made tactical maneuvers and changed concealed positions, she followed suit. She also clutched the radio tightly, showing that she really wanted to do her job well.

Time ticked by, and finally, the minute hand of the clock pointed to the bottom mark on the clock face.

The operation begins! The power switch was pulled, plunging the entire cafeteria into darkness.

The next moment, the deafening music, like a surging wave, swept through the entire cafeteria the instant the spotlight came on.

Girls Dead Monster, collectively known as the "Dead Front Feint Team," is the most popular band in this school of the dead; at this moment, they are attracting the attention of the entire school for the implementation of their plan.

The stairwell on the second floor of the cafeteria had become their stage. Under the spotlight, lead singer Masami Iwasawa strummed the strings of her electric guitar, her voice vibrant as she poured her most powerful notes into the microphone. At that moment, they were the protagonists of the entire world, and as long as the music continued, they would control the passage of time.

The upbeat rhythm, rousing chords, and clear vocals ignited the peaceful dinner time. The crowd erupted in cheers, waving their hands to the beat of the drums and the resonance of the guitar, offering their most sincere shouts to the band that brought a different kind of excitement to their otherwise dull lives.

The crowd was completely engulfed in a sea of ​​music.

"Their influence is truly astounding; it's as if the entire school has come alive because of them."

Even through the thick roof, the three Ashes could feel the intense heat of the boiling passion. Zhi, who had been idle since the start of the operation, ran to the open window and stared in amazement at the concert below. In her life before becoming Ashes, she seemed to have never experienced such clamor. Now, feeling the fire in her heart pulsating with the music, she inexplicably wanted to shout out her surging emotions along with the songs and rhythm.

"Target located."

Xiaoyan's voice remained cool and aloof amidst the clamor, but it was precisely this cool tone that brought the news, giving Zhi, who had become frenzied, an outlet for her emotions.

"Ah, he's finally here! We've been waiting so long! — Where is he? I'm going to go and meet him!"

"Anling is moving towards the cafeteria, which leads to the sports field."

At the same time that Zhi rushed towards the Dark Spirit, on the second connecting bridge leading to the cafeteria, the boy named Otonashi, whom she had forcibly dragged into the group, also discovered the angel's traces.

But compared to the seemingly frail student council president, Middle Finger Kirk alone exerted immense pressure on Asahina with his mere presence.

It was the psychological trauma inflicted by the merciless slaughter. The bloody killing intent seemed to drown out the clamor of music, leaving her mind blank. She could only stare fixedly at that ferocious figure, as it approached the boiling center of this world step by step.

The sniper rifle spat out muzzle flashes, and the roar of bullets made the music even louder.

Asahina snapped back to reality in an instant. Her companions were still beside her, and the rock music was still blaring in her ears. That nightmarish figure was so out of place in this noisy world, and even bullets seemed to want to keep him out of the revelry.

The air was pierced by the sound, and the sound was pierced by the bullet. The .408 bullet crossed the speed of sound and struck the spiked helmet hard before the roar arrived.

"Hey! Little Flame, don't be so ruthless! Give me a chance to fight!"

"Failed to kill the target—don't worry, the M200 isn't an anti-materiel weapon like the Barrett. It would be quite difficult to penetrate his armor."

"That's good! You just need to cover me from now on!"

The immense impact of the hit sent the slowly walking needle knight flying. He remembered the sensation; the last time, those swarms of ants had used this same weapon to cause him considerable trouble.

However, the trouble was still considerable. Although the spiked helmet was not pierced, it was covered in cracks.

He no longer overestimated himself and began to navigate through obstacles using the evasion techniques he had learned during the previous massacre.

Deafening gunfire also erupted from the second connecting bridge. The other personnel had already engaged "Angel," and the situation was unclear. However, the roar of the MG3 general-purpose machine gun, accompanied by loud music, indicated that the situation was not optimistic.

"Sniper team! What's the sniper team doing?! The interception team needs fire support!"

Ignoring Yuri's angry roar in the earpiece, the optical sight locked onto the dodge-and-runner, the Needle Knight.

"Oh dear! Akatsuki, Akemi-san needs to adjust our tactical positions. We'll be in a few more minutes before we're in place..."

Asahina used unreliable information to fob off the leader, while Homura had already seized the opportunity to attack from that unprofessional evasion.

The sniper rifle roared again, and the tearing sound of bullets slammed into the cracked helmet once more.

In beyond-visual-range, supersonic attacks, whether a shot hits depends entirely on the shooter's skill. Once a skilled shooter gets the ball, the bullet will not give the target any time to react.

But the invaders are the true Ashes; one could even say that the name Ashes was originally created for them. Kirk has invaded countless worlds, and his sense of malice and killing intent is already extremely acute.

Once in combat mode, he sensed the murderous intent that had coalesced before he pulled the trigger. He immediately rolled, leaving only a bullet mark on the ground.

Xiaoyan may not be an elite sniper, but she is definitely a formidable gunslinger.

Ash's powerful body completely ignored the recoil of the sniper rifle. After that missed shot, she no longer aimed precisely, but relied on her senses, moving the muzzle quickly. As long as the crosshair was on the Needle Knight, she would immediately pull the trigger.

The overwhelming, supersonic firepower made Kirk realize the enemy's strength. The rapid-fire bullets showed no hesitation, no confusion, no weakness; the unwavering killing intent made him feel as if he were in a world engulfed in flames. He realized that he was facing an enemy of the same caliber as himself.

Even their races are similar.

The deafening music also reached his ears, but compared to these incomprehensible notes, the belated roar of gunfire sounded more pleasing to him.

This is what battle is, this is what invasion is, this is true enjoyment!

A different kind of stirring sound, unlike music, ignited his emotions. The crazed invader abandoned his unsightly evasive maneuvers and, bracing his spiked shield, charged straight toward the slaughterhouse he had previously chosen, but which had now been redefined as a battlefield, amidst the clanging and pounding blows that nearly shattered the shield.

"Oh dear, oh dear, we finally made it! Mr. Dark Spirit, you've really worked hard to avoid being sniped by Little Flame~"

A completely different killing intent enveloped him. The clamor of the music made him want to roar. Today was truly a good day. In another world, the master of the torch and the master of the heart fire were about to face off.

In the name of ashes! Who is the true, fireless ashes?

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The first commotion of the fifth intermission

Beneath the cacophony of music, a life-or-death battle is about to begin.