Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Sixteen Intervals: Baseball and Life

The addition of Ash turned a high-level baseball game into a bloody battlefield.

The baseball bats that died on the battlefield were lined up and laid out on the sidelines, serving as a deterrent to any new recruits who dared to step onto the battlefield.

Well, there were actually only six bodies, which was exactly the number of strikeouts for two batters. As for the third batter, he cleverly switched to a metal bat, and under Xiaoyan's pressure, the power of his pitch was kept at a level that would not penetrate the glove. Therefore, he had no way to break the metal bat and was successfully blocked, turning it into a ground ball.

First base fielder Fujimaki immediately pounced on the baseball like a wolf, but a cloud of dust flew past him. Just as he picked up the ball, he saw the batter run up to first base.

Ori gently tossed the baseball, exchanging a glance with Homura. She was certain that even with reduced power, her throw was still incredibly fast, yet three people in a row had managed to catch it. This was highly suspicious, especially considering its speed, comparable to a ninja wielding a broom—had the entire student council, except for the angels, fallen to her? Or had even the angels…?

With various thoughts swirling in her mind, Zhi's super-fast fastball was hit by an ordinary player and the vice president in succession, allowing them to successfully reach base.

At this point, the field truly became a battlefield. If it weren't for the fact that the eccentric idiots of the SSS team were also strong enough to make all sorts of tackles and saves, preventing the opposing team from reaching two bases at once, the situation would have been one-sided by now.

Ori kept giving Homura meaningful glances, asking her to loosen the restrictions on her power output, while Homura, with a deadpan expression, replied with her eyes that she should throw some more technically sophisticated changing balls. But Ori had absolutely no throwing expertise; she was planning to overwhelm her with sheer brute force anyway, wasn't this just asking the impossible?

To make matters worse, the opposing team's sixth batter was a silver-haired girl who had changed into a tracksuit and was wearing a baseball cap.

The student council president himself took the stage.

Zhi once again used her eyes to apply to Xiaoyan, explaining the student council president's strengths, and went on and on until her eyes twitched.

Speechless, she looked at her companion. Just how determined was she to win the game? After thinking for a moment, Xiaoyan summoned her familiar and overlapped it with her own, then placed her arrogant hand over Xiaoyan's hand. Now, she wouldn't have to worry about the powerful pitches from the other girl causing her harm.

Originally, it was very excited to be summoned to participate in the ball game, but when it found out that it was being used as a shield by its master, it immediately became unhappy. Just as it was about to make a fuss to break free from the overlapping state, it was violently suppressed by Xiaoyan.

Having finally received permission to go all out, Zhi looked defiantly at the girl who had remained steadfast despite her murderous aura, preparing to show her the cruelty of battle on the court.

The ball-holding hand opened and gathered power. This time, Orihime displayed the momentum of wielding a katana, stomping her foot hard and leaving a deep footprint in the ground. The air was blown apart by the enormous kinetic energy, causing the baseball to trail a white trajectory that seemed to burn, heading straight for Homura's catcher's glove.

Calmly holding onto her gloves with an arrogant hand, Xiaoyan staggered her feet, assuming a posture to protect herself from impact.

Just as the batting attempt to break the metal bat was about to enter the strike zone, Angel swung the bat with the movements of a beginner, lacking any power. This perfectly matched her image as a light and agile silver-haired girl, and she seemed about to float away from the baseball that was accompanied by a whistling sound.

In that instant, a distorted light curtain unfolded across the entire strike zone, causing the speeding baseball, under the dumbfounded gaze of the two ashes, to trace a curved trajectory and fly headlong towards the angel above, becoming a shooting star in the sky.

"Coach! She really fouled this time!"

Watching the baseball she had thrown disappear into the horizon, Zhi suddenly snapped out of her daze and started yelling at the umpire again.

"Hmph, you fool, who do you think you're playing baseball with? The student council president is standing right here; she's the one who sets the rules!"

The silver-haired girl was still tilting her head, watching the baseball fly away, when the vice president couldn't wait to jump out, his expression arrogant, and began to perform a sly act on behalf of his superior.

After a while, the student council president, who seemed to be lamenting the baseball that could not be found, realized that she had become the focus of everyone's attention. She tilted her head in confusion again, glanced at her arrogant first subordinate, nodded blankly, and then leisurely began to run the bases.

Whether the president's behavior was naturally naive or naturally cunning, it made Zhi feel like she had punched a cotton ball, leaving her feeling weak and deflated.

And just like that, with the three players who had reached base earlier, the Angels scored four runs in one go, leaving the SSS team far behind.

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The bloody battle continues, with angels and ashes stealing the spotlight.

With the restrictions lifted, Zhi began to lay her metal bats on the sidelines like a corpse, and apart from the naturally cunning and constantly cheating president, no one could catch her pitches.

The obviously problematic vice president kept striking out everyone except Ash and Ash, and then walking two Ash players to base. They could only hope that the idiots in the SSS team would occasionally perform exceptionally well and create opportunities for them to run the bases.

As the number of rounds increased, the score also climbed slowly, point by point. Thanks to the bursts of energy from the idiots in three consecutive rounds, they managed to get the vice president's pitch and allow the two Ashes to score. The SSS team finally managed to catch up with the score.

I've never played such a boring ball game before.

Standing in the right field, Hyuga listened as the umpire announced that Oori had struck out once again. He looked up at the blue sky, slightly lost in thought.

If only his team before he died had such a strong pitcher who could completely dominate the defensive end and prevent the opponent from scoring, then he, as a right fielder, wouldn't have had to face those high fly balls that could determine the fate of the entire team.

Yes, the situation back then was completely different from now.

He could still remember the baseball field that was almost scorched by the blazing sun. The high temperature made the air slightly distorted, and every breath felt like swallowing scalding hot sand. Yet he had to gasp for breath because the situation of the game was just as intense as the field. He felt that even if he was dried out, he had to suppress his tense emotions by taking deep breaths.

It was under these circumstances that he faced the last baseball flying towards him in his life.

A high-flying ball, seemingly easy to catch, flew straight toward him. The air distorted, making his memory hazy and unclear for a moment. He seemed not to have caught the ball, and he couldn't remember why he hadn't. After the hazy memory, he saw the figure of a blue-haired boy alone in the locker room, lost in thought.

He cut off his memories, because if he continued to recall them, all he would find were fragments of decadent, disastrous thoughts.

That high-flying ball was a turning point in his life, or perhaps just a test from fate. He failed the test, and his life plunged into despair after the defeat. More regrettable than the regret caused by that ball is the regret of himself who accepted the tiny pill.

So he always thought the afterlife was pretty good, perfect for someone like him who had created his own regrets, a place to escape. But some people aren't escaping here; her life was truly unfair, she was the one who should truly rebel against the gods, and in his eyes, she was dazzlingly radiant.

After the World Front was established, he became one of the only two founders. He was the guy who ruined his own life. What kind of feelings did he have when he became the second person to rebel against the gods? Even he himself didn't know.

Perhaps it's because only after it's gone do we realize how precious life is, and we want to take this opportunity to truly enjoy our youth.

Yes, for him, the afterlife is the true beginning of life. There he has companions, best friends, laughter, and joy. He doesn't want them to disappear, nor does he want to disappear himself. That's why he rebels against the gods. As long as he keeps rebelling against the gods, he can keep "living" in the afterlife.

He cherishes his life to the fullest.

A soft "ding" sounded; that must have been the sound of a bat hitting a baseball.

Wait a minute, who could hit the ball thrown by the ashes with a baseball bat?

The silver-haired figure stood far away in the batter's position. Ash, who stubbornly refused to use the walk tactic, looked at the high ball flying up with some surprise.

It seems the Angels didn't cheat this time, and it seems the Ashes didn't throw a straight ball this time.

The breaking ball he threw for the first time and the bat he swung seriously for the first time coincidentally collided, coincidentally soared high into the air, coincidentally flew towards the outfield, and coincidentally landed on his head.

Do gods really exist in this world, gods who weave people's destinies? They used fate to destroy someone's life before death, and if that's not enough, do they still want to use fate to end their life after death?

As expected, such an obtuse god should be resisted to death. Indeed, I am more like the creator of the afterlife battlefront.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure running towards me. It was the new guy who had just arrived. It seemed like I had told him about my life, and he seemed to know about Iwasawa's life as well.

I always felt that he was more like the Grim Reaper than Ash and some other guys. He listened to their lives and then let them disappear one by one, even though he took such good care of him.

Well, this is nothing more than some pointless reflection on this coincidental and dramatic fate.

Isn't the newcomer still trying to prevent him from disappearing?

However, he doesn't need to stop it; even if he catches the ball, he won't disappear.

So confidently, amidst the astonished gazes of the newcomers, he raised his hand high, caught the ball steadily, and beautifully eliminated the angel, brilliantly ending the game and perfectly continuing his life after death.

He tossed the ball in his hand to the newlyweds and flashed what he considered his most handsome smile.

Ash caught the baseball he threw back, and something felt different.

What's different?

It was the "ashes" that made something different.

PS: Yunxi: 744486102, as usual, please vote!

The situation of not stopping for even a moment during the seventeenth intermission.

The baseball game where the ashes and angels clashed finally came to an end. After witnessing the brutal battle between the two sides for almost the entire time, all the idiots and oddballs in the SSS team's execution group breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, they gained a deeper understanding of the powerful fighting ability of the ashes... well, the ashes excluding the mascots.

When they finally saw the score, everyone got excited again, because Hinata's beautiful catch blocked the student council team's scoring opportunity, allowing them to take the lead and defeat Angel for the first time in a head-to-head confrontation.

The idiots and oddballs cheered and carried the hero Hyuga on their way to the principal's office, to tell their leader about today's unexpected victory.

Zhi was originally supposed to enjoy this kind of treatment, but when the group of oddballs rushed up and saw the baseball Zhi was juggling, they all immediately chickened out and could only target the team's organizer.

The Ashes were also very happy, enjoying a ball game they had never played before, completely relaxing their minds, and finding a clue about a potential enemy. They planned to share this clue with Yuri after meeting her, asking her to help investigate the student council.

However, they still had some distance to go before reaching the headquarters of the Angels, so they had time to enjoy a more relaxed journey.

Observing the group of boys and girls making a ruckus ahead, they realized that even though they lived in different worlds, in different eras, and even belonged to different races, namely "humans," the essence of joy in the smiling faces they saw before them and in the smiles etched in their memories was the same.

Just like human smiles, the smiles of ashes should be the same.

Something transcends the world and time, connecting the hearts of millions of individuals, enabling them to instinctively produce the same expression when they are joyful—an expression that requires no learning, no training, and no control.

A smile is a wonderful thing. Without realizing it, even the aloof Xiaoyan gradually became able to keep that expression on her face.

The shadows of countless reincarnations begin to fade, and new experiences and new lives are influencing every ashes, subtly cleansing their inner fire, making it burn with exceptional purity no matter what color it may be.

A strong heart makes a strong person; as long as the fire burns, the ashes will never be extinguished.

Asahina was still unaware of this; she was still wavering between the excited crowd and the pleasant ashes, keenly sensing the subtle difference in the atmosphere on both sides, yet simultaneously yearning for both kinds of joy arising from different reasons.

Her life had already begun, but having taken a wrong turn on the road to ashes, where would she end up?

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Compared to her carefree subordinates, Yuri, as the leader, also worries about a bunch of oddballs and idiots after all her wildly imaginative battle plans.

She is a qualified team leader who has built a team with strong initiative and cohesion.

Although the eccentric and foolish nature of her subordinates provided her with a lot of advantages in leadership, it is undeniable that she, as the leader who most resolutely carried out the will to defy the gods, possessed extremely high personal charisma.

Willful, bossy, stubborn, scheming, and with an overactive imagination—these derogatory terms, when applied to her, truly constitute the charm of Yuri Nakamura. This is because when you add to that deep-seated belief in protecting everyone, which is inextricably linked to her regret before her death, those negative descriptions shine with a unique brilliance.

She is currently preoccupied with the Dark Spirits. After talking with the Ashes and driving them away, she reviewed the intelligence from the first Dark Spirit invasion, the disappearance of Asahina, to the present.

They did find some things she had overlooked, namely reports of members' abnormal disappearances. The most recent one was received before "Operation Guild Landing," while the oldest one appeared shortly after they repelled the Dark Spirits.

There are still people lurking in the afterlife! She reached the same conclusion as the Ashen Ones, except that the Ashen Ones made their assumptions based on that pool of blood, while the information she compiled was solid evidence.

This conclusion sent chills down her spine. It turned out that there had long been something that could threaten their existence, slowly wiping out her subordinates, and she, as the leader, had carelessly ignored it, even defining their disappearance as normal reincarnation.

The thought of reincarnation brought her to an uncontrollable whirlwind of questions: where did these members who vanished after being murdered go? Were they forcibly reincarnated, or did they truly disappear, or perhaps...?

boom--!

The principal's office door was suddenly pushed open, interrupting her thoughts by the oddballs and idiots she had just been thinking about. These unscrupulous subordinates rushed into the principal's office, cheering excitedly, and then threw the Hinata classmate who had been carried in onto Yuri's desk piled high with intelligence papers.

In an instant, white paper scraps filled the room, like confetti being set off to celebrate.

"Yuriko! Great news! We defeated the angel in the ball skills competition with honor!"

Despite not having played, the one who rushed to report the good news was the baby-faced Daiyama; while Takamatsu, who also hadn't played and considered himself an advisor, kept nodding beside him.

"Get out of here! You didn't even cheer us on, don't steal our credit!"

The other idiots who had taken the stage immediately objected, and the violent group led by Fujimaki and Noda pushed the two aside.

"Extremely superficial!"

Shiina, the ninja, still held the broom on his right index finger, stood next to this pile of idiots and uttered his catchphrase.

"That's it, Yuriko. The two Ash Girls have been a great help."

Hinata, who was thrown onto the desk, was somewhat conscientious enough not to take all the credit. However, when he mentioned Ash, it felt like he was trying to change the subject. This was because, being the closest to the leader, he clearly saw that ever since he was thrown onto the desk, sending papers flying everywhere, Yuri's bangs had been shrouded in shadow, completely obscuring her expression.