Lord of Cinder in American Comics

The Lord of Cinder in American Comics (author: Still Hungry After a Feast)

Tag list: Infinite Realms, Infinity, Mage, Time Travel

Synopsis: I, Ash, inheritor, plunderer, usurper, and destroyer of the Age of Fire, King of the Souls of Londor, the Fire Keeper's sole chosen one, the loyal knight of Silithus, the betrothed of Anri, the man known as the Dragon, the collector of all pyromancy, magic, and miracles. In the initial forge, a new world was opened.

"Gentlemen," Ash said, gazing at the released Firelinking Spirits, "our goal is to kill a Purple Potato Spirit and seize six gems. This will save the world and change the era of linking the Fire." He pointed his Sunlight Spear at them. "Now, who agrees? Who disagrees?"

## Chapter 1: The Firelink Shrine in New York

In 2006, in Hell's Kitchen, New York, a quiet alleyway had a car parked at an angle at the entrance, with half of its front end resting on the edge of a trash can. Two tall, burly black men were smoking next to the car, waiting for their boss to finish his business.

Suddenly, there was a sound like celery stalks snapping. Then came a dull thud as something fell.

In a panic, the two thugs pulled out their pistols, held them horizontally above their heads, and peered into the alley, trying to see something. Suddenly, two bullets crackling with blue electricity struck their foreheads.

A woman with reddish-brown hair walked out of the alley, holding a transmitter on her wrist. She ignored the lying-down Xiao Hei and casually opened the car door.

Starting the car and fiddling with her headset, Natasha said directly, "Kingpin has driven the other five major gangs out of Hell's Kitchen. Nobody knows what he's thinking. The only person who can contact Kingpin now is his accountant, Leslie."

"However, I heard that Kingpin has recently taken a liking to a painter, I think her name is Vanessa. Should I go and make contact with her?"

On the other end of the intercom, Fury, dressed in all black, directed Natasha's subsequent actions.

“I will have someone else take charge of this matter, and you can take a break for a while.”

"Really? This is the first time you've given me a day off. Is there a reason?" Natasha turned off the car engine, waiting for Fury to give her a definite answer.

"Congratulations, Natasha, you've passed the final screening stage. We've decided to finalize your identity and submit it to the Security Council for backup. This period will be your leave. Congratulations." Fury then hung up the phone.

Natasha sat in the car, her tense body finally relaxing slowly, and she let out a long sigh. No one knew the immense mental pressure she had endured since leaving the Red Room, constantly fleeing between various intelligence organizations. Even after Hawkeye Clint introduced her to S.H.I.E.L.D., she remained constantly on guard against being betrayed.

Now, Fury, who is known for his cautious approach, tells her that she has passed the vetting stage. This means that her identity was already an open secret within S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Security Council, and that Fury must have already planned everything that followed.

She no longer needed to worry about it, even though she had no way of getting involved.

At this point, Natasha felt relieved. She now had a 'legal status,' and all she had to do was follow Nick Fury's instructions.

As Natasha relaxed, she heard rustling sounds coming from the alleyway, as if someone was whispering.

Looking through the car door, the young black gang leader, whose arm and leg had just been broken, was lying on the ground, holding a glass bottle he had taken out of a nearby trash can, and talking to the bottle.

Natasha swung the launcher on her wrist at the Black Boss, and another bullet flashing with blue electricity struck the Black Boss's head directly, followed by a crackling sound of electricity.

Ignoring Xiao Hei's miserable state, Natasha restarted the car; she was going on vacation.

Since arriving in New York, Natasha hadn't really seen this paradise and hell. She wanted to see the sea; she'd heard there was a green park on Long Island with a cliff overlooking the entire Brooklyn estuary.

So after leaving Hell's Kitchen, Natasha went straight onto the Brooklyn Bridge and headed towards Long Island.

Just as she drove off the Brooklyn Bridge, Natasha inexplicably noticed a strangely dressed nun walking along the roadside.

Natasha slowly drove the car alongside the nun, and only then could she see the nun's full appearance.

The nun had long, silver-grey hair and wore silver metal ornaments over her eyes. The ornaments had sharp, pointed protrusions that extended upwards and stopped just above her nose. The ornaments were exquisitely and intricately constructed, and even a gemstone was set in her forehead. The entire ornaments encircled the nun's head, neatly tying her hair back, leaving only a few strands at her temples.

The nun wore a black robe that looked worn and had faded silver trim. The robe also had silver-white patterns on the chest. She also wore a shawl that covered her upper body and was tied with a bronze pendant with a long chain that eventually hung down to her upper abdomen.

"Hello, Sister." Natasha had only just spoken when she noticed that the nun's eye makeup completely covered her eyes, with neither openwork design nor any observation opening.

"Hello, madam." The nun turned to face Natasha, clasped her hands together below her abdomen, and bowed slightly in greeting.

Seeing the nun like this, Natasha didn't know what to say.

"Do you need any help? Or do you need to go anywhere? I can take you there now." Natasha got out of the car, opened the back door, and helped the Fire Keeper into the car without waiting for the Fire Keeper's reply.

After getting on the bus, I learned from talking with the nun that she had just arrived here today and was serving Lord Ashes as a nun of the church.

"Then your Lord Ash is really a scoundrel, letting you come out alone."

Hearing this, the nun covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "I decided to come out alone today and didn't ask Lord Ash to send anyone with me. I wanted to come out and see this new world on my own."

"Then I think your ashes are nothing at all."

A blind nun, only able to come out for a look around today, and no one to accompany or help her. Natasha increasingly felt that there was something wrong with this cult. But she couldn't say anything, nor could she object. In the years she had been with S.H.I.E.L.D., she had come into contact with all sorts of cults; as long as there were believers and a place to preside over them, religions in various senses could be established.

These religions with followers are legal in whatever they do as long as no one reports them, and they are extremely xenophobic; normal people have to go through a series of tests to join. Furthermore, some people use the guise of emerging religions to make a fortune, and demand a large sum of money to leave.

Natasha wanted to get more information from the nun to see if she could do something meaningful during her vacation.

"Then who is this Ashes of yours?"

After asking the question, Natasha noticed that the Fire Keeper's expression had become serious. The nun said, "The Ashbringer is a hero who, upon hearing the tolling of the bells to link the fire, rose from the unclaimed graves, embarked on the path to link the fire, obtained the Lord of Cinder's kindling, and rekindled the First Flame."

"And what about you? What's your role in the cult?" Natasha observed the nun while looking in the rearview mirror.

"I am the Fire Keeper of the Firelink Shrine, maintaining the flames of the Firelink Shrine and turning unclaimed souls into the power of the Ash Lord."

The host, a so-called hero, was sending a blind nun to protect a flame? Natasha, comparing the flame and the nun, could only think of the medieval torture of burning witches at the stake. Natasha was now even more certain that this was absolutely a charlatan.

The next step is to make contact with this so-called sacrificial site, extract more information, and obtain evidence to pull this girl out of this quagmire.

Having made up her mind, Natasha drove to the location the Fire Keeper had indicated.

A dilapidated wall enclosed part of the cliff by the sea. Passing through a large brass gate that required several people to open, one faced a series of crumbling steps, some long gone and covered only by weeds. At the very end, a bunker-like building lay hidden at the top of the steps, flanked by two towers. The right tower was missing its entire top floor, and the towers were connected by a stone corridor. Natasha stared at the ruined structure, speechless.

Natasha, having opened the door and seen everything, thought to herself, 'Is there really such a poor church? It's so dilapidated; it seems this sect not only has stupid doctrines, but they're also incapable of swindling money.'

At this moment, the fire-keeper stepped forward and extended her hand in a gesture of invitation: "Welcome to the fire-lighting ritual site."

## Chapter Two: Ash x Ashes

The Fire Keeper led Natasha closer to the Firelink Shrine, where Natasha discovered many tombstones along the right side of the path, and even at the entrance of the shrine, extending all the way to the right rear, there were many stone coffins.

Several gargoyles stood along the stone steps, extending all the way to the entrance of the sacrificial site. They had huge stone wings and were divided into two types based on the weapons they held: one type held a staff of light, and the other held a spiked spear. The gargoyles holding staffs of light stood along the way, while the others were distributed on the rooftops and towers of the sacrificial site.

Natasha approached the gargoyles and even tapped them with her hand; they were indeed made of stone. But what intrigued her was that the gargoyles holding lamps were constantly burning.

Noticing Natasha's curiosity, the Fire Keeper came over and introduced, "These are gargoyles from the City of Sin, temporarily serving as guards of the Firelink Shrine. Lord Ash originally intended to have the Black Knight guard this place, but for some reason, the more powerful Black Knight was rejected."

Natasha paid no attention to the stone statues, only thinking that the person in charge of burning fuel to light these lamps even during the day, the so-called Ash, was even more brainless.

As Natasha got closer to the sacrificial site, her belief that the building was a bunker became more and more accurate. The part of the building above ground was extremely low; one could even reach out and touch the eaves. With a little effort, one could jump onto the roof without any difficulty.

It wasn't until she stood at the entrance to the sacrificial site that Natasha could barely make out the layout inside.

Looking from the entrance hall, the interior of the building is divided into three floors. At the top is a connecting corridor, accessible by staircases on either side of the entrance. In the center are five enormous stone thrones. Except for the one in the very center, which occupies the central position, the others are lower and further forward, as if the other four are guarding it.

Beneath the throne was the third layer, buried underground. This layer was the true center of the entire sacrificial site, with only a single brazier burning in the very center, before which sat a person dressed in a massive priestly robe.

To Natasha, the entire sacrificial site was like a giant brazier, and what was burning was not the bottom layer, but the huge thrones on the second layer, as if the people who originally sat on those thrones were the firewood.

The fire-preserving woman went straight down to the bottom floor and walked toward the person sitting by the fire pit.

The man sat cross-legged, his right hand supporting his head as he slept. He was wearing a huge priestly robe, the red robe embroidered with sacred texts in gold, and even a sash that hung from his neck to the ground.

"Lord Ash, I'm back."

The person slowly woke up when they heard the sound, stood up and patted the dust off their body, but this only made more dust float in the air.

As expected of 'Lord Ashes,' he was indeed covered in ash. Natasha thought to herself before noticing that after the man stood up, a twisted, spiraling one-handed sword was stuck in the brazier.

The man turned around and opened his arms.

"Welcome back, my Fire Keeper."

"Lord Ash, this lady brought me back." After saying that, the Fire Keeper pointed to Natasha, who was standing behind her, and said this.

"You let a blind nun go out alone, without any protection or contact information, and that's how you set up your church?"

Natasha strode forward and began to condemn the man.

After listening, the man lowered his head and muttered to himself. His voice sounded as if he were saying, "Before Rudaus told me who broke his leg, I thought so too."

"Lord Ash (*￣︿￣)"

The man immediately stood up straight and said, "It was my fault, it was my mistake. It won't happen again, there won't be a next time."

Seeing the man's reaction, Natasha couldn't say anything. She could only secretly resolve to investigate later.

“I am Natalia Arianovna. How come there is such a unique church here?”

“Oh, this was rebuilt under the supervision of the new Pope Salvador. I am only here to guard this sacrificial site. For the time being, the Fire Keeper and I will stay here to look after it.”

The man spoke of the Firelink Shrine with great enthusiasm, introducing the massive stone throne in detail, and even planning to take Natasha to the top of the shrine to see the magical bird's nest he mentioned that could be used to exchange for items.

As the man introduced himself, Natasha seemed to encounter a chatterbox, talking incessantly, while the Fire Keeper stood by and simply watched with a smile.

Natasha had no choice but to interrupt the man's introduction.

"Sir, could you please stop for a moment? Do you know that all churches in New York have to register and file for record? If you have any legal questions, I can help you. I happen to be doing a legal internship and can assist you. However, I would like to ask for your name and relevant information."

“My name is Ash Solar, and I am the high priest of this shrine. I have completed all the necessary registrations and filings without any problems.”

Having obtained the name, Natasha wanted more information, so she pressed on, "Does your so-called sacrificial site need donations? It looks so dilapidated. I can start a fundraising campaign for you to help improve the environment here."

“In fact, we are not short of money. Some believers have bought most of the surrounding land and donated it to the sacrificial site. Even the private buildings outside the gate of the sacrificial site, including the roads and sidewalks, belong to the property of the sacrificial site.”

After hearing Ash's words, Natasha didn't know what to say. She could only sigh that someone who was so rich lived in such a terrible place. He must be crazy.

Natasha then walked around the Firelink Shrine and found that the entire gloomy shrine was illuminated by candles, which were placed from the lowest steps all the way up to the third level of the shrine. Apart from a blacksmith's table under the entrance hall, there was not a single piece of iron in the entire shrine, except for the iron gates of the two towers, which could be considered iron.

Even the small passageway beneath the blacksmith's table was filled with water; the dimness, candles, and puddles of water made up the entire sacrificial site.

After walking around, they met the Fire Keeper and Ash again. The two seemed to have just finished talking, and then Ash walked towards Natasha.

“Miss Natalia, thank you for sending the Fire Keeper. I will offer you a miracle blessing in gratitude.”

After saying this, Ash took out a coin, crushed it, and scattered the pieces at Natasha. As she crushed it, Natasha seemed to hear a crisp sound from the depths of her heart. Then, specks of golden light floated towards Natasha and eventually disappeared without a trace.

Natasha, who felt no change in her body and even suspected the faint light was magic, still expressed her gratitude. She then said she had something to attend to and left.

After bidding farewell to the Fire Keeper once more, Natasha left Firelink Shrine. She did indeed have things to do: dispose of the vehicle that didn't belong to her and find out Ash's identity.

In the car, Natasha dialed Clint's number.

"Xiao Na, congratulations! Fury told me you passed the screening." Clint's congratulations came through the phone as soon as it connected.

"Clint, I need you to investigate someone for me. It's a personal matter."

Having just received news of her passing the screening, Natasha couldn't possibly mobilize S.H.I.E.L.D. resources to do her bidding at this time. The period before and after passing the screening isn't the sensitive period; it's afterward. Therefore, Natasha needs someone else she trusts to do this.

“Of course, I understand what you mean. Who do you want to investigate?” Clint, who had introduced Natasha to S.H.I.E.L.D. and even her family, naturally knew the ins and outs of the matter. He also trusted Natasha and was willing to help her with this favor.