Dark Souls.
The Dark Sign etched into humanity as the world sustained by the First Flame gradually crumbled when the flame’s power began to fade.
One of the primordial souls discovered by a nameless pygmy, the ancestor of humankind, and the very source that could be said to have given rise to that Dark Sign.
That Dark Soul signifies human nature, their immortality, and their despair.
And in its final meaning, it also refers to a game series.
“……”
After overcoming every hardship and finally reaching the First Kiln, one ember that had burned out without being able to continue the First Flame.
That ember, possessing only faint strength, rose again at an unknown summons and began its journey to seek the flame.
“Noble one, this is your final journey now.”
Final.
The princes who bore the duty but gave up on linking the fire, and the former Lords of Cinder who were supposed to link it in their place but fled.
The last of the journey that would link the fire in place of those kings began with the ember arriving once more at the First Kiln.
Fwoosh!
The being waiting for the ember, seated in the First Kiln.
That being was the incarnation formed from the wills of the Lords of Cinder, who had burned their own bodies to raise the flame until now.
Clad in fire-scorched armor and seated by the bonfire, the being waiting for one with the qualities of a Lord of Cinder sensed the ember’s presence and stood.
The flames in its ominously glowing eyes expressed the will of the kings’ incarnation.
“……”
“……”
Without a word, the ember and the incarnation each raised their swords.
Shing
The ember drew the longsword that had accompanied it on the journey.
Fwoosh
The incarnation drew the fire-tender spiral sword that had been planted in the bonfire.
Between the two beings, each holding up their own weapon, only a low silence settled.
Clang!
Then, without any signal, they crashed their full strength against each other, announcing the start of the battle that would mark the final journey.
Crackle!
Thunder boomed.
Clang! Krrrk!
The sound of metal rang out.
Whoooosh!
In the battle where wildfire swept through the surroundings.
Slash!
In the end, it was the ember that claimed victory.
From a mere ember to, at the end, one who had even defeated the incarnation of kings.
He stood before the bonfire set in the First Kiln and reflected on the past.
Faces he could no longer see, everyday moments he could no longer remember. Remembering everything he had once taken for granted, he walked toward the bonfire.
He did not sit before it, but walked farther and made his body into kindling.
He placed himself into the First Flame and rekindled it.
He tried to become the kindling that might be his last.
“...Now, I should be able to go back.”
As his body was engulfed by the First Flame, only the ember’s words remained in the First Kiln.
#
The story that should have ended like that.
“...Where is this.”
It did not end. It could not be brought to a close.
The ember, who had believed that inheriting the First Flame would let him return home.
“...Ah.”
He could not go home and instead faced yet another ordeal.
“...Ahh.”
The voice cracking apart spilled out grief.
The hope that he would return was brutally cut to pieces, leaving only utter despair.
Despair born from the fact that he could no longer see those he had forgotten, and that there was no way left to return home, consumed the ember.
“……”
Ordinarily, when humans who were meant to live forever have their minds broken by despair, they turn into Hollows.
They return to their true nature, not the false form sustained by the First Flame.
The only way to escape the curse of immortality is to be devoured by the First Flame, or to have one’s mind broken and become Hollow.
“Why.”
But the ember had inherited the First Flame.
The flame would not let the ember, the Lord of Cinder, reach despair. It would not allow him to become Hollow.
Immortal because even if he wanted to die, he could not die. Unyielding because even if he broke, he was forcibly held together and could not break.
“...Ah.”
Another sigh steeped in grief escaped him.
He could no longer feel anything.
Under the curse of immortality and unyieldingness, both hope and despair faded away.
The hope of returning had collapsed, and he could not even be freed from immortality through mental death.
In the end, what remained was futility and emptiness. Nothing but utter emptiness took root within him.
This was a story that could never be happy. The story of a human who had tried to pursue happiness and fallen into despair.
A story in which even despair was eventually swallowed by a terrible emptiness until nothing remained.
And yet, it was the story of an undead who never stopped moving forward.
This is the story of one undead who appeared in Tengu City.
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