Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Stark was also in the room, leaning against Jarvis, searching for information about Stan.

Suddenly, Stark's phone started ringing, alarms went off in the control room, and Ash looked up at a certain spot.

The two of them said in unison, "Something's happened!"

Chapter 171: The Saintess and Guardian Knight of Kalim

Irina of Kalim set out for Firelink Shrine to become a Fire Keeper, but ultimately stopped in the prison of the Undead Settlement.

Her guardian knight, Ego, was a stubborn but soft-hearted fellow. Since the blind Irina couldn't move on her own and didn't give Ego any instructions, Ego stayed outside the prison, separated from Irina only by a makeshift iron gate.

To prevent herself from falling into the abyss, Irina begged Ego to kill her as promised when she lost herself.

When Ash saw the poor couple in the Undead Settlement, Ego, leaning on Morn's hammer, just stood there watching Irina through the door.

In the final journey, as long as Irina doesn't leave this iron gate, she won't become the Fire Keeper, and thus Ego won't lose his mission.

Similarly, as long as no Ashes open this door and hand over the Dark Scripture to Irina for interpretation, Irina will not fall into the abyss.

An iron gate that only works on ashes became the last chance for the two of them to be together.

However, Ash still reached Irina's side, pushed open the iron gate, and destroyed Igor's defenses.

"Hmph, fine, I'm already fed up with monitoring you. I'm a knight of Kalim, my name is Ego. As long as you're protecting that woman, I'm your ally... just for that period of time..."

Despite his reluctance, the stubborn Ego respected Irina's choice and told Ash that as long as he was protecting Irina, he would be Ash's comrade.

Later, in the battle against the Crystal Elder, Ego single-handedly defeated the former Grand Mage, while Ash simply hid behind a brick wall, constantly drinking Element Bottles to stay alive.

After Ash gave Irina the Braille Codex of Kalimdor and the Braille Codex of Lothric, Irina learned the power of the Codexes and finally became the Fire Keeper.

As the saint's guardian knight, Ego had lost his mission. Gazing at the location of the Firelink Shrine, Ego took his own life.

Ash, along with Irina, waited for Ego behind the wall of the Ashen Judge Gundyr for a full two weeks before jumping off the wall during Ego's final farewell.

The falling ashes startled Ego. Morn's hammer swung instinctively, stopping at the ashes' skull.

Ash, who was nearly driven mad, looked at Igor's masked armor and asked, "Are you just going to leave like this? Aren't you Saintess Kalim's guardian knight?"

Retrieving the Greatsword of Morn, Igor's tone was somewhat somber. He reminisced about Irina, then looked at the Firelink Shrine now, and said, "My mission is complete... Irina no longer needs me..."

"Who said that? You've just given up on the saintess you once protected?"

Ego slammed Moen's hammer into the ground, the heavy rumble revealing his displeasure with the words of Ash.

“Irina has become the Fire Keeper. She doesn’t need me anymore. Now she is the Fire Keeper serving the heroes who link the fire… no longer the Saint Irina of Kalim…”

After saying this, Ego stared at Ash, and the gaze coming through the mask made Ash feel that this guy was already determined to die.

"Ash, take good care of her."

Ash leaned against the wall, behind which was Irina; the blind nun always had excellent hearing.

Ash seemed to be guiding her, saying, "Then how am I supposed to take care of her? Should I go and persuade those Lords of Cinder to take her with them? Let her travel with me among the undead and wandering spirits? Or should I leave her in the Fire Keeper's Graveyard, letting her keep company with that pile of corpses?"

Ash's words had truly angered Ego. Holding the Great Hammer of Morn in one hand and the Grief Shield slung over his left, Ego threatened, "The knights of Kalim will not forgive betrayal rotten to the bone. Ash, do not break your oath!"

Ash seemed not to hear Ego's threats, continuing on his own: "Do you know what the Fire Keeper has to face? To look directly into the abyss, they have to lose their eyes, and even then, they have to endure the whispers from the abyss. The voices of the abyss's spies will echo in their ears until they die and fall into the abyss..."

Archbishop Moen's White Church miracles have always been inclusive, and the armor named after Moen has a special function in order to protect these self-sacrificing nuns. It can help nuns who have fallen into the abyss find the light of the White Church. As long as her guardian knight is by her side, the nuns of Kalim will not get lost in the abyss.

And now, are you still planning to 'leave'? If you die, Irina won't last much longer. From Kalim to Firelink Shrine, don't you understand Irina yet?"

Upon hearing Ash's words, Ego lowered his weapon, looked down at the arm guards on his hands, and seemed lost in thought.

After a long time, Ego finally made a decision.

"Ash, go and link the fire. I'll take care of Irina."

Finally, upon hearing this, Ash breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he wouldn't lose another comrade.

Just as Ash turned to fetch Irina, Ego called out to him, saying somewhat awkwardly, "Ash, please don't tell Irina about this..."

A man's pride is always extremely strong in front of a woman. Even a knight who is by a woman's side day and night will be careful not to lose face in front of the saintess he is protecting.

The ash mechanically turned around, stiffly swaying its body, unsure of what to say.

"Um... Ego... I have something to tell you... You... don't..."

Ash's words came out in fits and starts; he hadn't yet organized his thoughts and could only use this as a way to buy time and think of words.

However, Irina somehow walked from behind the wall to the gate and called out to Ego, "My guardian knight, please continue to fulfill the oath of guardianship of Kalim."

Irina's appearance caused Ego to break down instantly, and he actually showed his timidity in front of the saintess he was protecting.

And all of this must be the work of the ashes in front of us.

"ash!!!!"

Beneath Igor's mask was a blushing face, a mixture of shame and anger erupting within him.

He slammed the Great Hammer of Morn into the ground with all his might. This exorcism symbol of the Kalim Temple, the Great Hammer of Morn, which contained the deformed rage of the Apostle Morn, detonated a white shockwave.

It took a lot of effort to level the terrain and buildings that had been damaged by Ego.

Now, Ash, who was processing documents in the office, was actually feeling the powerful force that she had personally experienced before.

Ash threw down her pen, smashed a window, and jumped out of the room. Fortunately, the Control Bureau was built like a military base, with generally low-rise buildings, so it didn't attract ordinary people.

The base's alarms detected the energy, and everyone on duty quickly moved into combat positions. Anderson had already begun assembling the Marines.

Ash activated control of the base and began a full broadcast: "Control Bureau personnel are under attack. Repeat, Control Bureau personnel are under attack. All personnel, take up combat positions, grab all weapons you can carry, and assemble and depart immediately!"

With the order from their commander, everyone sped up their work, and soldiers ran back and forth with all their might.

Within minutes, Frank had assembled a team of fully armed combat personnel and brought them to Ash.

Logan, who had been enjoying the free tequila he had gotten from Ash and hadn't been seen for days, also appeared on his motorcycle in front of Ash.

At that moment, Stark was standing in front of the broken window of Ash's office, peering out cautiously.

"Frank, follow my direction."

After saying that, Ash jumped onto the back of Logan's motorcycle and said to Logan, "I'll give you directions, Logan, full speed ahead."

Logan twisted the throttle hard, and his Harley-Davidson roared.

The base's sentries had already opened the gates according to operational requirements, and the Harley-Davidson Wolverine carrying the two sped out.

Since the dimensional invasion, Long Island was the first to be attacked, resulting in a severe loss of population. With no people around, property prices naturally dropped, and the Control Bureau used this opportunity to acquire land there.

Similarly, most of the residents here now are soldiers from the control department and their families. The soldiers have also explained the meaning of the alarm to their families.

Therefore, there are almost no vehicles on Long Island now. Occasionally, there are only people going in the opposite direction from Ash and his group, hurrying home to hide in their basements.

The Harley roared down the road, and under Logan's aggressive driving, the speedometer needle was already close to the limit. If it weren't for the shift lever at the bottom, the needle might have gone around another full circle.

Frank watched Ash's retreating figure, then grabbed the walkie-talkie and yelled angrily, "Speed ​​up! Even a civilian on a motorcycle is faster than you guys. He's carrying the boss, and we can't even see his back anymore!"

Frank's roar echoed across the public channels of all the vehicles, but no one responded. Only the combat personnel in the car looked at their driver, who slammed on the accelerator, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that veins were bulging.

The speeding convoy, following the trail of light left by Ash along the way, arrived at the beach park in northern Long Island.

This is where Ego used Morn's Hammer technique, Morn's Wrath.

In just over ten minutes, the beach park, a perfect spot for an evening date, was transformed into an empty place by the Ami people's quick and spontaneous actions.

"Logan, over there!"

Ash immediately spotted the swarming black figures in the distance, and Igor, who was wielding a large hammer and relentlessly attacking them.

Irina was already well-versed in the Kalim Scriptures, and the radiance of the White Church illuminated the beach around her, preventing the shadowy figures from getting any closer.

To relieve Irina's stress, Ego is fighting hard to kill these nasty guys.

The roar of motorcycles, accompanied by Ash's lightning spear, swept into the war zone.

The lightning spear flew out and struck the Morn's hammer. Protected by the hammer itself, the spear exploded, briefly illuminating the area and providing direction for the arriving combat personnel.

Under the brief effect of the light, the skin of the enemies besieging Ego and Irina began to fester, accompanied by a red glow.

"This is... a vampire?"

Chapter 172: Vampire

Having just arrived on Earth a few days ago, Irina and Ego have learned many Earth customs and knowledge under Ash's tutelage. They have also come into contact with other humans in Salvation's controlled areas on Earth.

However, the area under Salivaman's control was transformed into a divine kingdom on earth, and everyone was filled with reverence and fear for Irina and Ego.

Ash had originally planned to give the two of them a few days off during their stay in NY, so they could actually interact with ordinary people.

Just then, Martha, as usual, came to call the Fire Keeper to go on a shopping spree, and to take care of the two of them, she brought Irina and Ego along as well.

With his cold face and muscular physique, Ego seemed to be the bodyguard of these ladies, silently carrying a bag full of shopping bags.

After a long day of shopping, everyone was exhausted. Martha picked up Alex from school and took him to a restaurant in the beach park to have dinner.

During the meal, Alex took the blind Irina to relieve herself. A gasp from Alex caused Ego to break through the wall and appear beside Irina.

Inside the women's restroom, Alex stood in front of Irina, staring at the ill-intentioned man before him.

The two women, dressed entirely in punk studded outfits and heavily made-up with smoky makeup, stuck out their tongues and licked their lips, revealing their unusual fangs.

"Hey guys, how about we go check it out? There's a really great bar up here!"

Two vampires leaned against the door, blocking Alex and Irina from entering the bathroom.

Having witnessed such a situation firsthand with his own father, and with the knowledge imparted by Ash and his grandmother Martha, Alex could clearly see that what lay before him was not human.

Alex bravely stood in front of Irina to care for the blind nun.

The vampire, not one to let go of a blood pack that had already been placed in his mouth, reached out and grabbed at the two of them.

Upon seeing the vampire's protruding fangs, Alex couldn't contain his fear and screamed.

With Alex's scream, the wall behind the vampire exploded, and Ego, who had been waiting at the end of the corridor, burst through the wall and appeared there.

Fragments of stone and brick flew everywhere, creating hole after hole in the two vampires, but they healed quickly.

Upon seeing the explosion, Alex instinctively closed her eyes. When she opened them again, realizing she was unharmed, she discovered a milky-white barrier in front of her.

Looking behind her, Irina was taking defensive measures with a saint's amulet made of sash and blue silk, the same style as her clothing.

The vampires reacted, roaring as they lunged at Ego behind them, only to be punched into the wall by Ego.