Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Even after a life filled with regrets has ended, the dead still carry those regrets.

However, this regret lingers in the heart for a much shorter time than those regrets that one can never forget, even in death.

Many things happened in the past day, one by one, so that when the new day begins, most people are still immersed in the gentle narrative of last night.

"I feel like we've had a very fulfilling time every day since you newcomers arrived."

"Boss, don't change the subject! Aren't we discussing GDM's new lead singer?"

However, the slightly sad story of the musical girl still lingers in everyone's hearts, but the changes in the world are about to erase the girl's traces. Perhaps until the end, everyone will only remember that there was once such a lead singer when they hear her songs, who sang out her life at the moment of farewell.

"Your name is Yui, right? Although GDM can't carry out our feint attack without its lead singer, isn't it a bit too hasty to try and replace Iwasawa while her body is still warm?"

Apart from the pink-haired, twin-tailed, ahoge-haired girl named Yui, who wore a devil headdress and a tail, the entire principal's office was in a low-pressure state. Even the usually energetic leader, who was planning one battle after another, was listlessly propping his head up with one hand, barely managing to appease this enthusiastic fan.

"What do you mean, 'body not cold yet'? Senior disappeared only after fulfilling his regrets! And I don't want to replace Iwasawa-senpai! I just want to carry on his legacy! Senior moved me with his music, and I want to continue that feeling! And don't let my appearance fool you, I've also accumulated experience through street performances! I can sing all of Iwasawa-senpai's songs!"

Although the girl was petite, she was not weak in any way. Facing the leader who had absolute dominance, she dared to point her index finger and confidently state her demands.

"Hey, I get your determination, but we're not professionals. If you want to take on the role of lead singer, you'll have to pass the test of the other band members first."

"Yo-ho! It worked! As long as I can get through to you guys who can't even read sheet music, the rest of the band will definitely understand the feelings I express in my music!"

"That's settled then, good luck, girl..."

"Of course! I'll go report to Hisako-senpai right now!"

After seeing off the energetic and cheerful girl, the Angel Operations Headquarters fell into a rare silence.

"By the way, there's a school ball skills competition today. If any of you are interested, you can form a team and participate... Remember, don't participate according to the formal procedures. Just barge in. It's good that Iwasawa got rid of his regret, but I don't want to see anyone else disappear for no reason. That's all for now, meeting adjourned."

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The ball skills competition is a baseball tournament.

Speaking of baseball, it's another thing that can mark the life of a certain young person.

Compared to the story of the music girl, this baseball-related story is much shorter, after all, it is just a turning point in her life, not her entire life.

The blue-haired boy then reflected on his own life because of baseball.

Well, he didn't have any particular feelings about it. However, as a baseball player who had the honor of competing for Koshien, he was quite interested in participating in this kind of activity. Anyway, he didn't have anything to do today, so it was a good choice to vent his feelings from yesterday through exercise.

So, this only veteran member who participated in the formation of the SSS group, besides the leader, enthusiastically dragged along the entire executive team, including the newcomer Otonashi, and noisily went to forcibly participate in a baseball game.

This left only the Ashes and the leader in the principal's office.

"That Hyuga guy really went to unnecessary trouble. If I wanted to talk to you, I could have found another place. There was no need for him to clear the place for me."

"She probably thinks this is your home turf and that she can give you a lot of initiative."

"What use is this little bit of initiative against two monsters like you?"

"Th-that, monster or something."

As the group spoke, the atmosphere in the room seemed to grow increasingly oppressive.

“I don’t want to beat around the bush either. In last night’s battle, some of my men died. Normally, in the afterlife, death is nothing, but if we replace the word death with ‘disappearance,’ the situation becomes much more serious.”

"Disappeared? Did someone fail to be resurrected?"

"That's right. The Vanisher was the last member of the team to be killed before the angels and dark spirits clashed. He was not able to be resurrected. After the battle, we only found a pool of blood at the scene."

A photograph was placed in front of the three ashes. A pool of bright red blood was indeed visible on it, vaguely familiar to them, as if it didn't belong to this world. Aside from that, the photograph left no other trace.

“I let you handle this matter on your own before, and I didn’t force you to reveal your origins, because no matter how many times that dark spirit slaughtered us, it wouldn’t cause any real death. But now it’s different. We are now certain that that guy poses a threat to our survival, so I can’t let you do whatever you want.”

The photo was taken back, and the leader, who had returned to his usual pose with his hands supporting his chin, neither exuded an imposing aura nor showed any pleading attitude. He simply and calmly completed his brief statement.

It was a simple statement, not a simple protest, nor a simple proposal.

She was stating her decision as the leader of the afterlife front, which did not require the Ashes' approval or support. After all, the level of trust between the two sides had never been high. She had drawn a line for them, and if they overstepped it, they, who were even rebelling against the gods, would not mind adding another member to their list of opponents.

This was not a wise decision, but it was a decision that aligned with the original intentions of the SSS group.

Yuri knew perfectly well that the best course of action in the face of an unknown enemy was to win over the Ashes, who were clearly at odds with the Dark Spirits; they even subtly revealed that their purpose in being there was to help Asahina eliminate the threat of the Dark Spirits.

However, the SSS group has its own sharpness and its own persistence. She cannot trust Ash, who keeps everything a secret, nor can she accept being a recipient of charity. If they do not even understand the enemy who is threatening them, and let this threat be eliminated by someone who also does not understand them, how can they expect to find a new path from those tragic lives?

Of course, if some things can be resolved through communication, there's no need to resort to more complex methods.

At least in this conversation, Yu Li clearly stated his bottom line and put forward his demands.

"Why, why can't Yuriko trust me? They only came because of my request. They have no responsibility for this. Blame me, I'm completely incompetent..."

Faced with Yuri's calm statement of the SSS group's decision, the one who felt the most distressed was Asahina. It all started because of her, but after it happened, the situation completely ignored her, the person involved, and rushed around like a headless fly, until it reached a point where no one could see it anymore.

The worst-case scenario can be said to have already happened, or it can be said that the worst-case scenario has not happened.

The threat of the Dark Spirits has become tangible. The only thing she can be thankful for is that the people she cherishes have not been harmed. It is selfish, but she has no choice but to be selfish. She has done her best. If there is anything else she can do, it is to take up arms.

"...I know that you, Mikuru, definitely have an agreement with them. You will be the one who makes the most difficult request. I believe in your intentions and believe that our mascot really wants to solve this problem. That's why I'm representing the SSS group to explain our thoughts. We hope that you can openly exchange information and clearly tell us what is threatening our lives after death."

"But, this is really prohibited."

"No, this isn't prohibited."

The silent Homura walked past Ori, who had been handling the negotiations, and went to Asahina, who was caught between the two, gently stroking her hair.

"The existence of ash isn't actually something that needs to be kept secret. The reason we don't reveal it is simply because it's such an incredible fact that we can't expect anyone to truly understand us. But that's not a reason to stop others from understanding us. Our nature dictates that we exist in various worlds. Wouldn't it be tragic if we couldn't even say what we are?"

Yuri raised an eyebrow at Homura's intimate gesture, then pouted unhappily and took over the conversation.

"Hmph, but you've all kept quiet about these things."

"Getting to know someone is a mutual process. It's a big no-no to talk too much with someone you don't know well. I don't think ordinary people would casually reveal their personal information."

"So now, do you think we're ready to start having in-depth conversations?"

"To be honest, we still don't want to involve you directly."

"What an arrogant idea."

"But we have the right to be arrogant... However, the experiences of the past few days have shown us some things that you are willing to stand up for. If you are determined to bear the consequences of knowing this information, we don't mind being frank with you this once."

"There are some consequences that we have no choice but to bear, even if we don't want to."

"The pursuit of the truth often leads to disastrous consequences, and your pursuit of us will completely entangle your world in our cause and effect. So let me confirm one last time, do you really want to know the truth about the ashes?"

Her cool, dark eyes calmly met the blue eyes that had suddenly become turbulent. What a cunning negotiator! She just threw the decision back to her like that. Wasn't this forcing her to make a choice that could affect the whole world?

How ironic that she, who was tricked by fate, is now going to decide the fate of the afterlife.

It was that damned god again who came up with another clever idea to play tricks on them.

Who cares? Even if it's some damn God's arrangement, they'll get through this ordeal beautifully.

No one can destroy their lives again.

"Of course, let me see what disastrous consequences your true colors will cause."

Interval Fourteen: Mysterious and Unpredictable

It has to be said that the SSS team's execution group is a collection of oddballs, and these oddballs also have considerable combat power; not only in various operations against angels, but they also handle sports like baseball with ease.

"Perhaps I'm playing with too much ease," sighed Otonashi, the pitcher in this inning. He glanced around his outfield, where only the blue-haired boy, Hinata, seemed somewhat normal. The other two were a female ninja, Shiina, who was balancing a broom on her right index finger, supposedly to wash away the shame of losing to a novice in Operation "Guild" and thus train her concentration; and a judo expert, Matsushita, who was happily eating a bowl of meat udon noodles—the reward Hinata gave him for inviting him to join the team.

However, these two oddballs, one a left fielder and the other a center fielder, defended their outfield with impenetrable defense.

Leaving aside the ninjas, as the strongest before Ash entered this world, Shiina could ensure that his right-hand broom wouldn't fall even after performing a difficult move of moving and catching the enemy.

Matsushita, a 5th dan, possesses not only superhuman athleticism but also exceptional judgment. Whenever a high ball flies towards his defensive area, he can leisurely put down his chopsticks and, with his massive body, accurately reach the ball's landing point to beautifully receive and smash it.

In short, the strong outfield support significantly reduced the pressure on pitcher Otonashi. Not to mention, during the offensive phase, the idiot delinquent Noda, wielding a halberd, could easily swing and hit the ball, while Fujimaki, as a member of the Tachi-shu, also possessed exceptional hitting ability.

Therefore, by forcibly intervening in the ball skills competition, they, led by Hinata, fought their way through the competition with all sorts of bizarre performances, and made it to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, the semi-finals were in full swing, with the eccentrics shouting and cheering. The baseball flew through the clear sky, and the boys chasing the white ball ran, pounced, and slid through the dust on the field, fully demonstrating their youth and passion.

The Ashes couldn't help but wonder if their youth, mixed with various dangerous elements, could truly be considered an experience.

They had just come out of the principal's office, having finished their conversation with Yuri and told her the basic information about Ash in detail.

Even someone like Yuri, who is experiencing the afterlife and is not familiar with the world, needs time to digest the remnants thrown out of the other world, because they have once again fundamentally shattered the captain's worldview.

She not only had to piece together her understanding of the world and the universe, but also had to consider her attitude toward the Ashes, whether to explain the origins of the Ashes to her subordinates, and most importantly, deploy a defensive network against the Dark Spirits based on the information she had gathered about their combat abilities.

This gave Yuri a real headache, and naturally she started to complain more about the Ashes. However, her leader's intuition led her to decide to share the intelligence network with the Ashes and help them investigate the ways the Dark Spirits invaded.

She also wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible, sending away the powerful Ash and Dark Spirits so that they could comfortably live and fight with the angels.

So the Ashes were eventually kicked out of the principal's office, and the leader needed a quiet environment to sort out the chaotic situation.

The three Ashes, who had nothing to do for the time being, strolled around to the vicinity of the baseball field, watching the enthusiastic young men and women while summarizing some details they had discovered during their second battle against the Dark Spirits.

“Yesterday, when I killed the second person in Dark Spirit, I discovered a summoning mark. After that, at each hunting site, I also found a corresponding mark that was slowly disappearing.”

"Besides the scene of the death of the last guy who 'disappeared'?"

“That’s right. When I arrived, the scene was already as shown in the photos taken by Yuri.”

Asahina watched the scoreboard slowly being filled in in the distance, listening to her two companions' analysis of the Dark Spirits' invasion methods. She realized that the progress of the events on both sides was far removed from her own. Since returning to this world, she seemed to have always been an observer, just like watching a baseball game now, watching her two companions fight against the Dark Spirits.

"When you arrived, the angels had already engaged the dark spirits, so we cannot rule out the possibility that the mark had disappeared."

"That's possible, but I still tend to believe that 'the Dark Spirits changed their invasion methods the last time.'"

"In other words, in the previous instances, the Dark Spirits were summoned 'passively,' with the last one being an 'active' invasion."

"Then the questions arise: how did he inscribe the talisman, who summoned him, and how did he actively invade the vanished member of the group?"

The crisp sound of bats hitting baseballs and the cheers of the audience for a beautiful home run filled the gaps between the two Ashes' thoughts. Asahina was unsure whether she should cheer for Hinata who hit the home run or remain silent and wait for her teammate to come to a decision.

"Perhaps the bloodstain can explain how he initiated the intrusion."

“That’s true. That thing looks so familiar to us. I saw it not long ago, in the Crucible Forest that has become a battlefield.”

"Following this line of reasoning, the conclusion becomes quite bizarre. Could it be that the member of that group was also ashes?"

A new question was raised, and Asahina suddenly realized that this was a clue that only she, as an ashes who had lived here for a very long time, could provide.

"Ah, actually I've met that classmate before, and I've heard Yuri talk about his regrets before he died. I can confirm that he's not Ash... at least not before the first invasion of the Dark Spirits."

"Then it's strange. Based on the truth about 'time travel' that we discovered when we entered this world, this kind of active invasion should also require a 'related party' connected to the flame as a 'coordinate' to locate it, just like our arrival here, in order to travel through."

"And since the invasion itself was carried out with the help of the Crimson Eyes, the 'stakeholders' could not be just those of us who shared the ashes of the oath. Anyone connected to the World of the Flame could become a target."