Chapter 12: Klein’s Deadly Curiosity
A/N: So Im going to have a big storm tomorrow I don't know if I will have internet cause of it so im uploading this chapter just in case.
Due to the issues with the Ashen One and Old Neil's corruption, Klein was extremely distracted.
Even the minor incident of the tailcoat-clad clown's "resurrection" seemed insignificant.
Because of Old Neil's situation, the Ashen One and the three others who were supposed to return to Backlund stayed in Tingen, with Dunn responsible for hosting them.
Klein wanted to inquire about Ashen One's identity, but he didn't stay.
He quickly completed his tasks and then took a public carriage back to the house on Narcissus Street.
After confirming that Benson and Melissa had not yet returned home, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He immediately went to his bedroom and locked the door.
He didn't even change out of his damaged formal attire before heading to the space above the gray fog.
Although he wanted to directly ask the Ashen One, that wasn't a wise idea.
Not only would Ashen One likely not answer, but Klein also had no opportunity to be alone with him.
Asking such questions in front of the captain and the others would only make himself seem suspicious.
So, he chose another method—
He went to the space above the gray fog for a divination.
In the vast, hazy gray fog, within the grand, ancient palace.
Klein sat at the head of the bronze long table, with a piece of newly "manifested" parchment before him.
"Phew!"
Klein took a deep breath. Before coming here, he had considered various possibilities and thought about how to phrase his divination questions.
Without much hesitation, he wrote the divination statement on the parchment.
"The origin of the Ashen One."
After writing it, Klein hesitated slightly.
He wasn't sure if just the name "Ashen One" would suffice to target him, but he didn't have a more precise identifier.
So he could only make a bold hypothesis and carefully verify it.
If it didn't work, he'd try other methods.
"The origin of the Ashen One."
After silently reciting the divination statement seven times, Klein held the parchment and leaned back in his chair, entering a sleep state above the gray fog.
Soon, he saw an expanse of boundless, illusory gray-white fog.
After a few seconds, Klein's eyes deepened, turning from brown to black, as he entered a meditative state.
His eyelids drooped, and he "saw" a hazy and illusory dream.
It was a boundless, illusory, gray-white fog.
The fog slowly parted, revealing a scene that gradually became clearer.
It was a cemetery.
A cemetery on a snowy mountain, with a church in front of it, though that wasn't the focus! Klein's attention was entirely on the figure climbing out of a stone coffin! The figure wore armor completely different from what Klein had seen the Ashen One wear earlier, and in the blood moon, he climbed out of his coffin.
But Klein immediately recognized it.
The armor Ashen One wore was clearly the starting knight set from Dark Souls III! He watched as the Ashen One sat up from the coffin and looked ahead.
There was a bonfire made of skeletal remains! He saw the Ashen One step forward and produce a spiral sword out of thin air, thrusting it into the bonfire.
Instantly, flames roared to life.
But the next second—
Klein's vision went black, as if someone had pulled the plug, plunging him into complete darkness.
Klein suddenly opened his eyes.
However, the next moment, he saw the "gray fog" in front of him rapidly being covered by "darkness."
Almost instantly, the darkness swallowed everything around him.
The majestic palace and the ancient bronze long table gradually vanished.
Klein could only watch, terrified and confused, as it all happened.
But fortunately—
The "darkness" dispersed just before reaching him.
The gray fog filled his vision again, the hidden palace and the bronze long table reappearing.
"What was that?"
Klein's eyes widened as he gasped for air.
He looked around, and everything was back to normal, as if what had just happened was only a dream.
But he knew it wasn't a dream!
"Could it be the Goddess?"
Klein wasn't slow-witted; in that brief moment of panic, he quickly pieced everything together.
There weren't many clues about the cemetery on the snowy mountain.
But the church on the snowy mountain instantly reminded him of the Night Church's headquarters, the Cathedral of Tranquility.
And the "darkness" corresponded to the Goddess of the Night—
"She is the Goddess of the Night, exalted above the stars, more enduring than eternity. She is the Scarlet Mistress, the Mother of Secrets, the Empress of Calamity and Terror, the Lord of Peace and Silence."
Klein smiled bitterly.
Though he had no evidence, he felt it was likely true.
The one who had "invaded" the gray fog earlier was probably the Goddess of the Night.
But fortunately, the gray fog above was more mysterious than he had imagined, blocking a god's intrusion.
"Phew."
Klein exhaled, starting to analyze the clues he had gathered.
"Firstly, the Ashen One is likely the Ashen One I remember."
"Waking up from the cemetery, lighting the bonfire, matches the 'script' in my memory perfectly."
"And from the 'star fire' on him, he should have linked the flame once, maybe more. No, this is reality, not a game; there's no multiple cycles, so it should be just once."
"Of course, it might not be 'linking the fire,' but rather 'extinguishing the fire.'"
"But all this doesn't fit with this world. There's no legend of 'linking the fire,' 'Lords of Cinder,' or 'Undead.'"
"Though there is 'resurrection of the dead,' it was just a law created over a thousand years ago at the end of the last era by the Seven Churches and royal families to reduce and eliminate water ghosts, zombies, and vengeful spirits."
"These clearly don't match the Undead, who are cursed rather than dead turning into them."
"Or could this be a post-fire-extinction world, with the events of linking the fire and Lords of Cinder being 'Zero Era' occurrences?"
"Could the world from the First Era to now be post-fire-extinction? But then why are there still gods?"
"No, it might not be a post-fire-extinction world!"
"It's also possible he is a 'traveler,' but from the Dark Souls world to this one."
"But how to explain the bonfire? Yu Jin just crawled out of the grave, and the bonfire was right there, clearly not made while he was in the grave."
"And when Ashen One lit the bonfire, everything fell into darkness, which should be the Goddess's power."
"Meaning, 'lighting the bonfire' alerted the Goddess, drawing Her attention to Ashen One?"
"Was the flame from the bonfire the First Flame? Why did the Goddess watch him?"
"Ashen One, does he have anything to do with my travel?"
"Wait!"
Klein suddenly realized, sweating coldly.
In the scene he saw, there was a crimson full moon above the Ashen One's head!
And on the day he traveled, there was also a crimson blood moon! Could they have traveled on the same day?
"If that's the case…"
Klein gritted his teeth, "I must find a way to bring him to the gray fog!"
Any clue to going home, he wouldn't give up! Even if it involved gods!
(End of this chapter)
50 power stones = Extra chapter