Chapter 46: Deadman.

Mentally bracing myself, I made my way up the ruin by parkouring, my homies looked at me weirdly but they were used to my... eccentricity at this point. So me randomly scaling the shrine was just Tuesday to them.

What wasn't expected was me curling into a ball in the giant crow's nest. And a few dozen seconds later I was picked up like an egg and carried away to the undead asylum.

Geral watched all that happen with a dumbfounded expression. He then rubbed his eyes in exasperation and turned to Solaire.

''Solaire.''

''...yes.''

''Did you just see John get carried away by a giant crow while pretending to be an egg or am I finally going hollow?''

''Ah, so you saw it too! I thought that staring at the grossly incandescent sun for so long had messed with my vision, hahaha!''

''*sigh* You are incorrigible.''

...

The ride this time had been much more pleasurable, probably due to the fact that my body was far, far stronger compared to back then. Though the ride back did awaken some pleasant and some not-so-pleasant memories.

After about an hour of high-speed flight, the crow dropped me off at the asylum. And when I got off I was greeted by a sight that nearly jerked some tears from my dead body.

''Aww, you guys! You shouldn't have!''

All of my friends from the asylum stood in front of me to greet me upon my arrival. I honestly didn't expect such a warm welcome back(Get it? they are wielding torches). But I didn't refuse their warm welcome and opened my arms.

*Thwack!* *Thwack!* *Thwack!* *Thwack!* *Thwack!*...

What good friends! They are cleaning the dust that I had accumulated on my journey! But alas I couldn't stay for an extended welcome party due to my social anxiety and my urgent tasks. So I used {Hidden Body} to seemingly disappear from their sight.

I weaved my way between the hollows and came across the giant double doors.

Unable to control myself I started shivering uncontrollably and as the air got heavier. Innumerable death raced across my mind as if millions of red-hot knives were ripping my soul to shreds.

/I'm not this weak!/

Fear transformed into anger.

'{Deadman Style: Blitz Kick}!'

His leg moved at absurd speeds like a whip and slammed into the heavy set of double doors, slamming them open as his leg bent strangely. He didn't even bother assessing the damage as yellow-black light reverted it to a healthy state.

John moved onto the disgustingly familiar arena and made his way over to the waterlogged place with the bonfire while avoiding the hollows in the way. After lighting the bonfire he didn't stop and continued onto the corridor.

A black knight in the place of the hollow archer noticed him and rushed toward him with its weapon raised. But John really wasn't in the mood for battle so the moment he saw the black knight get aggressive he didn't even bother removing his hands from his pockets as the black knight rushed at him.

{Gravelord Greatsword Dance}

*Schwing!* *Schwing!* *Schwing!* *Schwing!* *Schwing!* *Schwing!* *Schwing!*...

Over ten giant ethereal red blades popped out of the ground and walls, impaling the black knight and killing it. After that whole charade, it was pitifully easy for him to stroll through the undead asylum. The only thing that momentarily stopped me was hollow Oscar.

Just seeing him like this disgusted me to the very core. A knight reduced to this for what? The man that had saved me got turned into a hollow. Because of this damn world, just fueling more and more of my everpresent spite for this damn shitshow I had been thrown into. I dispatched him as humanely as I could.

Is this really the age of fire I am supposed to prolong? Such thoughts flooded my mind but I pushed them away. I had no use for them at the moment. It wasn't like I was going to light the fire for Gwyn. I was lighting it just to reach the end.

I made my way through the rest of the asylum, eventually reaching the courtyard and I was hit by nostalgia as the brick constructs were still standing although heavily weathered. Curious I walked over to a familiar wall and started counting the scratches.

10, 20, 31, 48, 53...

Chris, I don't remember dying this many times. Although my memories from then are quite foggy so this shouldn't surprise me that much. I nearly went hollow here multiple times after all. Anyway after totaling all of them up it should be...

'147'

Wow. That's quite a lot. Anyway.

I made my way through the asylum before reaching my cell. In the corridor leading up to it, I saw yet another black knight and dispatched them the exact same way as the one before. While this miracle was strong its focus consumption was no joke. I continued onto my cell where I found something quite peculiar on the ground.

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<Peculiar Doll>

A strange doll in strange dress.

There once was an abomination who had no place in this world. She clutched this doll tightly, and eventually was drawn into a cold and lonely painted world.

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''Heh, doesn't that remind me of something?''

The doll and its description was so ironically familiar that I couldn't help but let out the closest thing I could let out to a chuckle.

'There once was an abomination who had no place in this world. She clutched this doll tightly, and eventually was drawn into a cold and lonely painted world.'

Someone who doesn't fit into their own world is forcefully dragged into a cold and lonely world. The resemblance is so uncanny it is funny to me. I gently put the doll away from my inventory before making my way back to the Asylum Demon's former arena.

I stood in front of the crumbling bricks and stripped down to only a strip of loincloth. I put away my weapons and replaced them with the singular {Deadman's Blade}. It was uncomfortable being without my helmet but I had to do it like this.

I needed to beat this enemy, the same as my past self. Only then will I have conquered my past. I remember how I covered the mere gaze of the {Stray Demon}. Now here I was challenging it.

<You have acquired the quest: {Past Demons} >

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<Past Demons>

Description: Back at your birthplace you aim to conquer the very first being you faced in this world you feared. Conquer your past and slay this foe.

Reward: Soul of the Stray Demon, Titanite Slab, Humanity, 50,000 souls.

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I didn't even care for the screen as I jumped down the hole and cast fall control, not even flinching as my feet hit the ground. I looked up and came face to face with a larger carbon copy of my nemesis wielding a giant staff. Instead of feeling fear, I felt only cold wrath fill up to the very brim of my veins.

*Slam!!!* *Slam!!!* *Slam!!!*

The giant loathsome demon slammed its giant staff on my position. The ground I stood on moments before got completely pulverized as I calmly sidestepped the blow. But I didn't retaliate, instead, I let it retrieve its staff and let it swing horizontally toward me once again. I jumped over it coming so close to getting hit that my feet nudged the staff. After he whiffed the staff came back in another swing in the opposite direction which I narrowly ducked under once again.

*Slam!* *BOOOM!!*

The stray demon slammed its staff into the wall as an explosion of magic erupted in front of me. Before I could react I was flying backward from the immense force, feeling bones creak and break under the pressure as I impacted the wall.

*Chuckle*

'Goddam this hurts. Just like how I remember it.'

John was unretaliating. He was passive. Because he wanted to remember how it was.

He wanted to know how {John Moore} managed to kill the asylum demon as a mere hollow many times weaker than himself. It just didn't make sense he could kill the {Asylum Demon} with only a shoddy sword and the stats of a baseline undead with a hollow body.

He could barely remember those times. But now struggling against the asylum demon it felt like those memories slowly pieced back together.

Slowly, the image of the asylum demon and the stray demon blended together. The wrath inside him turned into a state he remembered before.

The way {John Moore} defeated the {Asylum Demon}.

The state of total focus. Everything else besides his foe and the relevant factors in killing it turned blurry and monochrome. It felt as if everything including his own body slowed down. His body strained under state yet he didn't let it release.

< {Deadman Style lv.5} has subsumed the skill {Focus lv.10(max)} >

Just like when he first got it, everything blended together. he felt in total control of himself. He recollected when he felt this before. When he went berserk. But his time it wasn't uncontrollable.

'{Deadman Style: Total Concentration}.'

The demon swung toward him but he didn't even move a millimeter before the staff almost reached him where he lightly hopped up and landed on the staff.

*tap* *tap* *tap*

He walked calmly on the shaft of the staff as the demon tried to shake him off to no avail. Finally, the demon slammed his staff down, giving John a clear shot. He recalled a skill he had used once and pushed his body to its absolute limit.

''{Full Potential}.''

*Booom!*

The with which he dashed off was so strong it knocked the staff out of the demon's hands. John flew like a bullet toward the Stray demon with his sword ready and every muscle in his body tensed.

Almost instinctively he poured all of his focus into the sword that started all of this. His will transforming it, resonating with him. The blade started glowing a soft white and black hue as John Prepared to Swing.

'{Unleash}'

Black and white light erupted as John swung his blade, unleashing a giant crescent slash that decapitated the {Stray Demon} and gouged several meters into the wall behind it.

[VICTORY ACHIEVED]

He saw the screen flash before his eyes as he plummeted to the ground without any energy left in his body. But as he was falling some black and white smoke covered him, restoring his stamina and health. He used acrobatics to land on the ground properly and looked at the sight of the decapitated demon.

''I... did it.''

There was a slight feeling of triumph that was smothered by melancholy.

'How far I've come. To be capable of slaying beasts like this.'

he chuckled lightly as he looked at his hands and body. Countless scars covered them. His muscular body as if carved by the gods themselves. He couldn't even see the resemblance between this body and John Moore anymore.

'I have avenged you/me.'

A single tear fell. hearing the droplet hit the ground with his enhanced senses he was surprised. Likely the last teardrop he would ever shed.

'Huh, I didn't even know I was capable of that anymore. I guess there is still a bit of human still left in me'

He glanced at his sword.

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< Deadman's Blade >

The blade of the Deadman wandering Lordran.

A blade that was forged in impossible conditions like just the owner who overcame the impossible using it. Reshaped by the wielder over and over through trials and tribulations its potential is realized. This blade can unleash the true power of the Deadman.

It is nigh unbreakable like its user.

Options:

-Durandal(???)

-Channeling: This blade channels elements and energy more easily, enhancing their effectiveness when used.

-Unleash: Through channeling focus, you can unleash your power with this blade.

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'It seems I really am a deadman.'

He raised his hand and sent a torrent of flame toward the corpse of the demon, leaving it to slowly cremate. He re-equipped his armor and cape and slung his blade over his shoulder before leaving the arena.

But before he left he visited the courtyard and looked at the bonfire. He knelt down next to it gently before raising his hand above it, almost caressingly. Slight hints of black and white wafted off of his hand as the bonfire extinguished.

He got on his knees and took something out, an old and simple pendant. Memories of his outrage when he first got it played through his mind. He felt a depressing chuckle rise up but it was smothered once again. After brushing his finger over the pendant in nostalgia he put the chain around the old blade sitting on top of the extinguished bonfire.

Taking one last look at it, he left the Undead Asylum behind.

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Bonus chapter at 1000 stones.

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