Chapter 88: Pirate: Heh, is that all the undead can do?

"Who are you?!"

The man's angry and shocked voice echoed through the captain's cabin. Just moments ago, he had watched in disbelief as a painting hanging on the cabin wall suddenly flashed with a bright light. In the next second, a figure clad in full black armor appeared abruptly before him.

This made the man inwardly curse the crazy people of the Aurora order. Hadn't they assured him that nothing would go wrong?!

Ashes heard the man's harsh questioning and turned toward the sound. Before him stood a middle-aged man wearing a tricorn hat and a black eye patch, fitting perfectly with the stereotypical image of a pirate captain in Ashes' mind. At this moment, the man was glaring at him with his one good eye, filled with shock and anger.

"Where is this place?" Ashes glanced around the captain's cabin and asked in Loen.

"Bang!"

"Captain!"

The door to the captain's cabin was slammed open, and a group of pirates flooded into the room, glaring menacingly at Ashes with weapons drawn.

"Kill him!" The captain with the tricorn hat shouted fiercely. He didn't care where this man had come from or who he was. But since he dared to appear here, he must be seeking death!

As soon as the other pirates heard their captain's order, they charged at Ashes with loud cries. They had over a hundred pirates on this ship—how could they possibly fear one man? The advantage was theirs!

"Chop him up!"

Ashes looked at the vicious pirates and sighed softly. He had only wanted to ask where he was. But since they were so eager, how could he refuse? After all, he only needed one person to answer his questions.

"Slash!"

With a single swing, the Black Knight's greatsword sliced through a pirate's waist, continuing its momentum to shatter the bodies of three more pirates, scattering blood and flesh across the deck. The remaining pirates faltered, suddenly realizing they might have bitten off more than they could chew.

"Tough guy! Go all out!" a brawny, scar-faced pirate shouted angrily. He reached up and removed a hairpin from his head—an artifact he had stolen from a noble lady.

But before he could activate its power, the Black Knight's greatsword, accompanied by a gust of wind, sliced through his head, spraying blood like a fountain onto the other pirates.

The captain's pupils shrank. The man who had just died was his first mate, a Beyonder individual at Sequence 7. Even the captain himself wasn't a match for him in pure strength. But now, the first mate's head had been smashed with a single blow, leaving no chance to fight back.

"W-Wait, I…"

The captain finally realized the danger and hurriedly tried to negotiate. But in the next moment, Ashes was already charging at him with the Black Knight's greatsword. In an instant, the captain felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, and his perspective began to spin. His upper body seemed to fly away, and he saw his lower half.

"Bang!"

The captain's body fell to the ground, causing no ripple. But the pirates finally panicked, realizing they had provoked an enemy they should never have. They wanted to flee, but there was no escape. Having crowded into the small captain's cabin, they would now have to squeeze out again, but Ashes wouldn't give them that chance.

Though he wasn't particularly skilled with a greatsword, this narrow, crowded space was perfect for its use!

"Clang!"

This reminded him of the joyful days of fighting the Cathedral Bishops, the easiest boss he had ever faced, easier than the Bordeaux beneath him. And now, these pirates brought back memories of his past.

There were only a few survivors left on the ship. The rest had turned into corpses covering the deck, as if the entire ship had been dyed red with blood. Among the remains, a small piece of flesh blended in, barely noticeable. Not at all.

"Now, I ask, you answer." Ashes raised the Black Knight's greatsword to the last surviving pirate's head. "Understood?"

"…"

The pirate, as if scared senseless, stumbled backward and tripped over the body of a comrade, falling onto the bloodied corpse. Even faced with Ashes' questioning, he gave no response.

"Where is this place?"

The pirate opened his mouth as if to speak, but just as Ashes thought he was about to say something, saliva dribbled out instead. This gave Ashes a sudden sense of foreboding.

"What's your name?"

"Abba abba abba…"

"…"

Ashes fell silent for a long time, suddenly realizing he might have spared the wrong person. After all that, he had intentionally left a fool alive. Though the 'Eye of Wisdom' allowed him to communicate fluently in any language, it clearly couldn't help him converse with an idiot. Of course, the pirate might have just been scared stupid. If that was the case, maybe giving him some time would help…

But just as Ashes thought this, he heard a 'pop,' and the pirate's head suddenly exploded right in front of him.

"…"

Ashes fell into complete silence. He looked at the pile of meat on the captain's cabin floor, hoping to find a breathing survivor to question. But reality was harsh. He couldn't even find a complete corpse.

"Plop!"

Walking over the blood-soaked remains of the pirates, Ashes returned to the captain's cabin. The cabin had been utterly destroyed by the battle, leaving only limbs and ruins. But on one remaining half of a wooden wall, a head-sized painting was still intact. It was a fragment of a painted world, but different from the one in Mr. A's basement. Mr. A's was only palm-sized and could only be entered but not exited. This one, however, could only be exited but not entered.

But…

"…"

Ashes gently touched the surface of the painting, but no miracle occurred. It gave no response, as if it were just an ordinary oil painting. The reason was simple: Ashes had been kicked out by the master of the painted world. He was sure the other party was a god. But unfortunately, his understanding of this god was still far too shallow, and the Mist Gate was far from complete. He had narrowly escaped death. Otherwise, this god should have burned for a long time. But compared to his ignorance, the other clearly knew quite a bit about him, even thoughtfully blocking the door from this side completely. The fragment of the painted world in his hand had lost its function as an 'exit.'

Ashes looked up, gazing through the destroyed wall at the distance—a vast, endless blue sea with not an island in sight, no reference point at all. This made it impossible for him to determine his location.

"…"

Ashes was silent. The painted world was inaccessible, and he had no idea where he was. This meant he was trapped, stranded in this boundless ocean. Silence. Still silence, only silence. Silence is the golden bridge tonight.

Ashes looked at the corpses of the pirates, filled with regret. These pirates were despicable! They had died with the determination to trap him at sea!

PS: To clarify a few points.

Was writing about Dark Souls just to ride the wave of popularity? Everyone knows that The Lord of the Mysteries is niche, and Dark Souls is even more niche. If I were just writing a fanfic of The Lord of the Mysteries, readers who have read it would be potential audience members. The same goes for a Dark Souls fanfic; players of the series would be potential readers. But writing a double fanfic of The Lord of the Mysteries × Dark Souls is bound to have a problem. Only those who have both read The Lord of the Mysteries and played Dark Souls would be interested. Otherwise, others wouldn't even bother to check it out! That's why, even after being featured, the book only gained 400+ collections a day, while others got at least 2,000+. What trend am I riding? This book, though a fanfic, is niche within a niche! It's a simple and obvious truth!

Why delete comments? First, any comments deleted before October 20th had nothing to do with me. Secondly, after October 20th, a lot of comments were indeed deleted. The collection growth remained unchanged, about 400+ a day. But more and more people were leaving "daily poison" comments. I know a book can never satisfy everyone's taste, and criticism is normal. But at least leave a chapter review instead of a book review! Not a single chapter review, but right off the bat a "daily poison" book review? I can only suspect you're a troll. And it just so happens that this time period was exactly when this book was on the new book list and featured. So don't blame me for deleting comments. Of course, if your comment was deleted, you wouldn't be able to see this now. That's all.

(End of Chapter)

You can read 10 chapters ahead on my p@treon.com/Lives954