Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

She really is just an ordinary girl, like Yuri and the others, who came to the afterlife with something in her heart. She is not a messenger of a god, and didn't their battlefront already prove that her power has nothing to do with the gods?

Defiance against the gods is absolutely not the meaning of this world's existence.

Furthermore, this world has begun to become distorted. Dark spirits, ashes, and vampires are all hindering the most basic functions of this world. Reincarnation should be the final destination for the people of this world.

Like Iwasawa, finding solace in their songs is what they should be pursuing.

So what regrets did that silver-haired girl have?

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That afternoon, while they were still dealing with two boys who appeared to have been attacked by vampires in the infirmary, the Ashes received a message from Yuri that the Angel was stepping down as student council president.

When the message was relayed, even the commander, who was always full of boundless energy and had a head full of bizarre battle plans, felt a moment of confusion. It seemed unreal that he had so simply dragged the angel down from the altar.

If angels aren't really "angels," then do gods really exist?

However, the fate of the angels is no longer the top priority for the current front. They are more concerned about how the student council will act without the angels.

"That's it. We've decided to strike while the iron is hot and conduct another 'Tornado Operation' tonight to test the new student council's attitude. But for the safety of our personnel, we need to rethink our defenses against the Dark Spirit and that Lurker."

There are two ways the dark spirits invade. One is through summoning via talismans, which they have confirmed. The other is still a guess, but the dark spirits may directly invade the person being corrupted.

Therefore, when there is no need for defensive angels, the members of the battle line should try to gather the potential corrupted individuals together in a safe place during combat, and then have one of their ashes protect these people.

According to previous intelligence, the Dark Spirits should not actively attack NPCs, but just in case, if there are any Dead Students who have not joined the battle but have also been corrupted, they will also be in great danger. Therefore, someone is needed to monitor the battlefield, and preferably someone with remote support capabilities.

Without a doubt, Xiaoyan is more suitable for monitoring the battlefield, while Zhi can only act as a babysitter for another group of people this time.

The above are the precautions taken against the direct invasion of the Dark Spirits. As for the summoning of runes, Xiaoyan is leading Asahina to patrol the entire cafeteria—the battlefield for tonight's battle—and clear away any runes that may exist in the surrounding area.

The kids from the fake street made a long-awaited appearance. These two doll-like creatures, who had been thrown by Xiaoyan to inspect the roof and beams of the cafeteria, were now running around on their heads like crazy.

Their method of cleaning up the runes is very simple. Since they were originally runes for summoning, they can simply use them once they find them.

Xiao Yan was prepared to fight several rounds, but the talismans they found in several hidden places were rejected by the dark spirits that had inscribed them after they were used. It seems that the other side has a way of knowing who is summoning him.

In short, this effectively prevents dark spirits from appearing in places where no corrupted individuals have been infected.

"Asahina, what are your plans after things are settled in this world?"

During the cleanup, Homura suddenly asked Asahina a question.

"Sigh, sigh? But I still don't know when it will be resolved..."

"The situation is indeed a bit tricky for us right now, but don't forget, we still have a last resort: to go to the Farron Fortress for reinforcements."

"But if we bring them here, this world will no longer be under their control, will it?"

"Even after we've dealt with everything here, we'll still submit a report to our predecessors. If the weapons produced by this advanced technology are usable, our predecessors probably won't abandon this place."

"H-How could this be..."

"Regarding this, I have to apologize to you, because no matter what, the price offered by the Survey Corps was something I couldn't refuse. You know, I want to save the gods, so I need to go to countless worlds to find a feasible method. The Survey Corps gave me such an opportunity."

After clearing the last mark, Homura let the two familiars, who hadn't been active for a long time, go find somewhere to play. She then took Asahina to the cafeteria balcony, found a seat, and continued their discussion.

"So it may sound cruel, but wherever the ashes have passed, they will surely leave behind the traces of fire. The world we set foot in will eventually become entangled with the flames. From the moment your remains were thrown into this world, from the moment you began the trial of the heart fire, Yuri and the others could not escape the fate of being set on fire."

Asahina was completely stunned. Although she had long recognized that she was the one who brought the intruders, and had made up her mind that after resolving the matter here, she would never set foot in this world again, even if she stayed in the sacrificial site.

But Xiaoyan's words shattered her hopes completely. This world would never return to peace; sooner or later it would be tainted by blood and fire.

She suddenly understood why Yuri hated God so much; this guy who joked about other people's lives was truly, truly, utterly awful.

The darkness that hadn't appeared for a long time began to spread beneath her feet again, and her empty eyes were exactly the same as the ones that Xiaoyan had shown when she killed the priest.

Xiaoyan didn't know whether it was lucky or unlucky for Asahina to meet her. She was to Asahina what Asahina was to the afterlife. When she met Asahina, her inner fire had already begun to interfere with Asahina's life.

Her goals were too clear, her actions too resolute. No entanglement could bind her and hinder her steps. In fact, her burning passion might pull anyone who tried to entangle her away from their path.

But she felt no regret whatsoever. Even though she could now often put on a smile, she knew that her behavior had become even more cold-hearted.

Simply because she will continue to pursue her goals without regret.

Therefore, it's better for her and her companions to clarify some things beforehand.

As for Zhi, she wasn't worried. Their tacit understanding was already beyond words. Unless Zhi found a goal that held the same place in her heart, the two of them would smile and sever their ties.

Asahina, on the other hand, is far from reaching that level. Even though both of them are firsthand experiencers of time travel, they have not been able to develop any tacit understanding over such a long period of time, and can only explain everything to her.

"I understand. Maybe this is a better outcome for me, since I can stay here indefinitely, right?"

While Homura was in a daze, Asahina actually broke free from that state. However, with tears in her eyes and a forced smile on her face, she seemed to have once again chosen to accept her fate instead of showing the determination she had when she wanted to save the priest and making one last desperate attempt.

"..."

Xiao Yan has dragged her far ahead, and now it seems she should make up her mind to sever this half-hearted bond.

Interval 23 Invasion always happens during concerts

The battlefront in the afterlife is still the same battlefront, and the GDM band is still the same band. However, a few days later, when rock music resounds again on the second-floor platform of the cafeteria, the person in the center of the spotlight is no longer the girl singing about her life.

This energetic girl with pink hair, twin tails, ahoge, and a devil headdress and tail replaced the former lead singer and stood on the world's noisiest stage for the first time.

At first, the fans in the cafeteria were momentarily stunned when they heard the familiar song being sung by a different voice. But they quickly understood and, with a touch of nostalgia and encouragement, cheered for the equally hardworking girl.

The battle has begun.

Most of the ordinary members, including Ooyama and Takamatsu, were gathered by Yuri next to the most crucial piece of equipment for the operation—a large blower hidden under the stairs—and protected by Yuri.

The song was still noisy, but for Zhi, it no longer evoked the same feeling as when she first heard it. Instead, the repeated battles with Dark Spirit in this rock music made her reflexively smell the scent of blood and fire on the battlefield.

The golden-white demonic eye had already opened the moment the first chord was played.

And each time, the situation always turned out very differently from what they expected.

"Calling the leader, calling the leader, the rate of corruption among the members is worse than we anticipated."

In her field of vision, besides Takamatsu, there were nearly a third of the ordinary members who displayed physical characteristics far removed from those of humans.

This was also part of the plan. To avoid alerting the enemy, Yuri did not directly gather her team members for Zhi to identify. Instead, she took advantage of this operation to require everyone to be present and to protect the blower, giving Zhi a one-time opportunity to identify and screen out the problematic individuals.

"Tch... This is Yuri. Can you guarantee that you can suppress any dark spirits that might appear in a timely manner, with so many people around?"

Yuri personally directed the operation on-site. She mingled among the crowd on the third floor and, under the protection of Noda and Shiina from the execution team, together with Asahina, took in the entire cafeteria.

"I can only hope that they are not being controlled by anyone. If they blend into the crowd on their own, there's nothing I can do."

"Or, could you have the execution team move closer to your side?"

Although they didn't need to stop the angels, the execution team was still scattered around the cafeteria. Their real target was the student council members.

"This is Yan. I suggest we don't withdraw the execution team. I'll have three times the firepower watching the entire cafeteria from here."

Xiaoyan had set up an M200 sniper rifle on the roof beam directly above the cafeteria, monitoring the already noisy concert. And as she said, on the two roof beams in front of and behind her, Zida and Guzhi also had the same model of sniper rifle, which not only compensated for her field of fire but also created local crossfire.

"On the contrary, the members of the executive group face the greatest pressure when dealing with the student council."

"This is Hinata. Don't worry, we'll take care of those student council guys as soon as they show up!"

Yuri frowned. Her usual policy was not to attack ordinary students, or NPCs, but now she had no choice but to open fire on those guys.

She could only console herself with the thought that "those guys are no longer human."

But she hadn't even figured out what to do with her members who had become inhuman.

Let's find out more about the student council tonight before making any decisions.

After the opening song, the new lead singer did a pretty good job. It seems that what she said when introducing herself, that she had accumulated experience by singing on the streets, was not just empty boasting. Although her singing lacked something that could touch people's hearts, her full of energy and drive allowed the fans to hear some different styles.

The music paused for a moment, but the fiery atmosphere didn't stop. A cheerful drumbeat led to another range of chords, and the second song began. Before the blower even started, the intense electronic music, almost accompanied by frenzied shouts, seemed poised to soar to the heavens.

"They've arrived... This is Flame. Target located in the crowd."

Once again, under the cover of noisy singing, it abruptly invaded other people's worlds. However, this time, the needle-covered creature did not appear in a gloomy corner, but blatantly entered the crowd.

The frenzied crowd was blind, their eyes already drawn to the figure under the spotlight, oblivious to everything else and deaf to anything else. The singing not only concealed his entrance but also allowed his glowing red spirit to blend into the frenzied atmosphere.

He found his target, a low-level mutant who, like the rest of the noisy crowd, was busy waving his hands and completely oblivious to his arrival. It didn't matter; since he was allowed to resume the killing spree, as long as he could get a tongue, that was enough. If it weren't for killing the others… I think they were called NPCs, and not getting a tongue, he really wanted to roll right into the crowd.

His back, completely unguarded, was practically beckoning him to deliver a merciless backstab. If that happened, he wouldn't hold back!

call out--!

There was no gunshot, but there was a whistling sound. He didn't sense any killing intent, simply because the one who pulled the trigger was a mischievous kid who only knew how to play pranks.

Just like a mischievous child chopping up an earthworm simply for fun, not for killing, when the familiars pull the trigger, they bring only innocent malice.

The first bullet deflected the straight sword, the second bullet blocked the shield, and it was the third bullet that truly carried the killing intent.

Under the flickering spotlight, a dark purple line was drawn out—the witch's inner fire, tainted by the bullet, aimed straight for his head!

The spirit flickered suddenly, and the helmet was pierced. The Ashes were beginning to get used to the use of the Heartfire. This was not just "fire," but an extension of their power. What was broken was not only the armor, but also the soul contained in the "Ash Container."

Miracles are the deeds of the gods. If she were to silently recite her own story, would the evil deeds of a certain demon be revealed?

It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, but the bullet did have an effect far beyond what was expected. It seemed to repeat the effect of the attack three times in an instant, amplifying the damage three times.

Although the Knight of the Needles bears the name of a knight, he does not live up to the virtues of a knight. He failed and chose to temporarily retreat.

The reddish figure shrank into the crowd, slowly disappearing as it was blocked by the crowd.

The people behind him paid no attention to the strange fellow; they were simply relieved that the red special effect that had been blocking their view had finally disappeared. Even the unfortunate soul who had been targeted had no idea that he had just narrowly escaped death.

"The first attack on the target has been suppressed. We are continuing to monitor it—the target has been reconfirmed."

Outside the headphones, there was rock music mixed with vocals; inside, there was a cold, detached report.

The calm tone suppressed the anxiety stirred up by the music, giving everyone who learned about the situation through the report a sense of calm and control over the matter.

The sniper rifles with silencers drew alternating lines of deep purple and blank on the beams of the cafeteria. The deep purple lines represented the deadly Miracle Ammunition, while the blank lines represented the playful suppression barrage of mischievous children.

It seems that many of the boys and girls who died and came to this world were not taken away by the SSS group. They are no different from ordinary NPCs, peacefully enjoying their lives after death, waiting for the day when they will be reincarnated, casting aside all regrets and embracing a new life.

Therefore, they were unaware that a crimson dark spirit had once raised a straight sword behind them, nearly cutting short their journey to a new life. No, the dark spirit wasn't the end of their lives; by the time they were vulnerable to its invasion, their lives had already been stained with something else entirely.

It turns out that the SSS group had been surrounded by the enemy for a long time. The infiltrator was actually a plague. In the afterlife, after truly dying, one would be resurrected without leaving a body. Instead, this concealed the spread of the plague and even gave that guy a second chance to be infected. This cycle would repeat itself until one day, the corrupted guy would be able to survive death and become something else.

As Xiaoyan pulled the trigger, she thought of many things, yet it was as if she thought of nothing at all. Her pupils dilated slightly, taking in the entire cafeteria. Once that conspicuous red appeared, the next moment her slightly bent finger would send the bullet, imbued with her inner fire, toward the constantly appearing dark spirit.

It's like playing whack-a-mole.

I wonder if Kirk would invade her side if he heard Xiaoyan's thoughts right now.

It seems that ever since he met these two Otherworldly Ashes, he has been constantly getting thwarted, or rather, whenever he invades Otherworldly Ashes, he is basically always getting thwarted. Where on earth did these monsters come from?