18: Welcome to Dark Souls.

Seeing Oscar's arrival, Eis jumped to his feet and climbed onto the prison roof. This brought the armored knight to a halt. He was dragging a corpse with a key hanging from it, just like in the original comic. 

"Hmm? How strange, you don't look like a corpse, no, you don't even look like one of the undead in this place, you have too proper clothes. Who are you, stranger?" said Oscar, his voice muffled by his helmet. 

Eis didn't get too close to Oscar for one simple reason, the man felt bad. He looked like he was about to do something, but Eis didn't know why the knight made him feel that way. 

"I am a traveler who wants to help any undead who wants to get up," Eis' answer made Oscar pause visibly, and then the man started to laugh. 

The man's voice seemed dry, filled with many mixed emotions. But it was obvious that he was not laughing mockingly, whatever the reason for his strange laughter, it soon ended. Then Oscar carried the body he had dragged. 

"Good! I like you, strange stranger, aren't you from this time? Your clothes are strange. Time has become very confusing since things started getting worse, people from different eras have ended up here," the knight explained before throwing the corpse through the crack in the prison. 

Oscar noticed the strangers gathered with the only 'sane' undead in the place, then he explained the purpose of his visit. 

"Hey, since you haven't gone hollow, you better get to work. You've got some interesting people around you, so you can do the job. Ring the bell and warn your way, fan the first flame, solve the curse, spread the fire age," Oscar's tone seemed strange. 

It wasn't too hard to tell that Oscar seemed to be saying goodbye as if he knew inside that he had little time left in this world. Then he looked at Eis for a second before walking away. 

"What are you going to do?" asked Eis, he knew that canonically Oscar would fight the Asylum Demon and die, but why did he go that way this time?

The people of this world are not idiots, Oscar must have realized that Eis and his companions were special in some way, so it was best to stay with them, right? But Oscar, who stopped and turned his body slightly, had a different opinion. 

"I'm not far from becoming hollow," Oscar put his hands on his helmet and pulled it off his body. 

His skin was red and parched, he had no hair on his head, and he had a bright red light in his eyes. Then Eis understood the reason why he felt so strange in Oscar. 

Eis felt his decadence, the madness bubbling beneath his body. Not everyone was as special as the chosen undead, able to survive the worst of things without becoming hollow. 

It was recorded that only the Chosen Undead were able to survive without 'humanity' at all and absorb excessive amounts of it. 

Only the Firekeepers were comparable in their ability to maintain humanity in their bodies. So knowing that Oscar was willing to die one last time to make room for himself was, in a way,... brave. 

"But you can survive, right? We can protect you, we can help you in your fight," Eis insisted, taking a step forward, but Oscar's red eyes glowed with intensity, stopping our protagonist in his tracks. 

"You're young, I understand that you haven't experienced much yet, and maybe things are different in your time, you probably haven't learned about knights, right?

We fight demons, we protect others, we can't die being protected, we die protecting. I'll hollow myself out, I'll go crazy, I'll lose myself. But I will do it on my terms, by my own choice. 

And when that happens, I want you, young man, to end my life. Because even though I see that you are young, I see something that only a gentleman can see. Deep down you want to protect the things you think are beautiful, don't you? 

It's hard for me to ask you this, but... take it as the last request of a failed knight," Oscar put on his helmet and continued on his way. 

The knight's words were heard not only by Eis but also by his teammates and an undead who had been in a catatonic state. 

As Oscar walked away, the undead began to move, drawing the attention of those present. The figure, whose features barely indicated that she was a red-haired woman, stood up and slowly approached the corpse on the ground. 

It seemed a long time since she had walked, the creak of her bones was audible, but despite the difficulty of moving, she continued to walk. Then she bent down and picked up the key that was attached to the corpse. 

Then everyone could feel something different about the undead woman, something different about her. Her eyes felt much more alive, now there seemed to be a strong will in them as if something had come back to life inside her. 

The woman looked at the strangers around her, she even stared at Gojo Satoru's beautiful face for a while longer than the others, before she went to the door. Inserting the key, the cell was unlocked with an agonizing creak.

After leaving the cell that had held her for who knows how long, the undead turned around as if to ask the others why they hadn't followed her. 

"Well, our adventure has begun," Gojo said with a smile, but the seriousness in his words was more than evident, even he wouldn't take a world as depressing as this one at face value. 

"This world is really..." muttered Schala before leaving the cell and walking behind the undead. 

"Eis, what are you waiting for?" Azula called to the boy who had not yet descended from the roof. 

Eis snapped out of his daze, only to look down and see Schala, Gojo, and Jotaro following quietly behind the chosen undead. Even Azula, who had summoned him, had followed the others, though she kept looking back. 

When she saw Eis running towards her, the princess smiled. 

"It seems the man's words have affected you," Azula told her as they walked down the corridor. 

"Yes... I have a talent for taking lives, which is why the Empire decided to train me as an assassin. But this is the second time I've heard someone say that I want to protect," Eis muttered, looking sideways at an undead who kept banging his head against a wall. 

"I don't understand your confusion, but I can give you some advice. Killing can also serve to protect, you can take it from there," Azula said before throwing a stream of fire at a wild undead that had approached her with a broken sword. 

The creature writhed in pain, but no sound came from its mouth. Soon, a charred corpse fell to the ground, but Eis and Gojo had already explained to her the strange situation of this world, that the undead would soon be resurrected in the future.

"Be careful, these guys have become more ferocious," Jotaro said, his fists covered in golden lightning. 

The man approached an undead archer and easily dodged the arrow that was shot at him. Then Jotaro slammed his right fist into the creature's chest before he struck its head with his left fist. 

The golden energy of the Hamon shattered the undead completely and turned it into ash. The Hamon worked perfectly against them and this world was perfect for Jotaro to adapt to the fight with his new abilities. 

"Guys, guess what?" Gojo's voice could be heard, he was quite far away from them, together with Schala and the chosen undead. 

Soon they approached the rest of the group, and Eis' eyes focused on the special weapon his new undead companion was carrying, and then a smile appeared on his face. 

"Now things have gotten interesting," Eis said before summoning his blue orbs, which swirled around him.

The undead Chosen One was now fully dressed in brown clerical robes, and though they were threadbare, they gave the woman a much more saintly temperament. 

In her left hand, she held a strange talisman, while in her right hand, she held the weapon that made Gojo and Eis feel lucky. For the woman had a mace. A simple weapon, but with a special meaning in this world. 

For clerics, one of the classes of this world was strongly associated with maces. Adding the talisman that emitted slight magical fluctuations, it was obvious why the boys were happy. 

They had found someone who could help them recover, an adequate support. Although it might not be noticeable in the game due to the lack of flexibility, clerics were one of the most powerful professions in this world, next to mages. 

"Hey Schala, try to win her over," Satoru whispered to the princess, causing her to look at him incomprehensively, but he gestured that he would explain everything later. 

After walking through some collapsed sewer-like tunnels that were flooded, they found a metal ladder that would allow them to climb up. 

Unlike in the game, there were many more enemies, and many more attacks, and every step up here was a constant battle. Gojo and Schala didn't attack, but they kept their wits about them as they watched their companions fight. 

Both Azula and Jotaro stood out for their abilities, which were very powerful against undead creatures. Even if these undead were technically immortal beings, Hamon's effect on dark things could stand out against them. 

On the other hand, Eis was more proactive because of Spekkio's short teachings and because he was constantly thinking about Oscar's words. Sure, he also liked to fight, but these guys weren't that strong, so he was just being casual. 

Sure, he maintained his vigilance and occasionally sent out his aura to sense things around corners or walls, but it still felt a little boring to use these beings as a punching bag. 

But this allowed him to try new and deadly things. For example, how much power does he need to use his Aura Tentacle to kill a humanoid creature? 

He also tested the devastating effects of his aura-enhanced blows on unsuspecting beings, making him more aware of his strength. He also brought out the blunt aspect of his blue orbs, easily shattering the heads of his enemies. 

Azula tested her flames against them, and even her lightning. She noticed an interesting phenomenon: electricity seemed to be much more useful against the undead than heat.

"I don't understand, my flames are much more powerful than my lightning, why do they suffer more from them than from fire?" asked Azula strangely as she looked at the pile of ashes in front of her that had once been an enemy. 

"Easy, the core of this world is fire, flames are mixed with many things here in one way or another. Even the current state of these beings is related to fire," Gojo said, listening to Azula's words and deciding to answer her. 

"That, and the gods of this world technically handle lightning, so think about it. Why would you want mortals to develop resistance to the element you control?" Eis said sarcastically, his contempt for the gods of this world obvious. 

Sure, no one asked if it was because he technically had his goddess to follow, but that wasn't the case with Spekkio, so there must be something much deeper to the young man's feelings. 

On the other hand, Jotaro seemed to have completely adjusted to his new abilities. It had always been the Stands who were able to do superhuman things, but now, he could replicate some of that power. 

Sure, he didn't have any special techniques like the Zeppeli in the records or the nonsense his grandfather was always pulling out of his sleeve, but he had become a truly powerful force. 

When the group reached the place the stairs led to, they came out into a small open room. They were surrounded by walls and a huge door at the front, and in the middle of the place was an unlit bonfire. 

Drawn by the flames, the chosen undead approached the bonfire and extended her hand. As she did so, a small spark of fire leaped into her palm. Then her body began to undergo an extraordinary transformation. 

Schala noticed a strange darkness stirring within the undead, as if roaring behind chains, but it did not feel harmful, as this element usually presents itself, but rather.....happy? 

The woman had now undergone a great transformation. Her skin returned to its natural color, a white with a few freckles on her face. Her flesh seemed to recover so that her bones were no longer marked. 

Her red hair seemed to rekindle like flames, fluttering wildly as it spread over her shoulders. The woman had red eyes and delicate features, but from the ease with which she carried her mace, it was obvious that she was indeed strong. 

"They said this could happen, but... wow," Azula muttered as she saw the drastic change the woman was going through. 

The redhead looked down at her hands as if it had been a long time since she had seen them up close. The woman then shook her arms, shook her neck, her bones thundering before she let out an audible sigh, the first sound she had made in all that time. 

The woman then made her mace and talisman disappear and approached the huge door. It was obvious that this construction was heavy, and made of wood and metal. 

"Would you like some help?" Jotaro suggested, approaching the red-haired woman, but she just shook her head. 

Then the woman put her hands on the door and started to push forward. Gojo let out an audible hiss as the woman's slender arms were completely supported by thick veins, demonstrating her strength. 

The doors creaked, then began to move, splitting in two under the redhead's steady thrust. Then, in a single motion, they swung wide open. 

The woman turned around and saw that Jotaro was surprised by her display of power. As if regaining her true appearance had brought back her normal emotions, the woman smiled slightly before moving forward. 

"Looks like our new friend is a bit of a show-off," Schala said, finding the strange nature of the undead interesting. 

"She's really pretty, but that robe ruins her appearance," said Gojo, who received Eis' hand on his shoulder. 

"I'll tell Giratina," the blue-haired boy said before running away, avoiding Satoru's grip. 

"You can't talk if you don't have a mouth," Satoru shouted jokingly, but his eyes had already caught something strange about the place in front of him. 

It was empty, a huge area with columns that did not point to a ceiling. Ships on the sides, a huge door at the end, and a small exit on the left side. 

"Wait, this isn't..." Eis, realizing where they were, looked up. 

A huge figure fell from the sky. The whole place shook and dust rose, but still, the outline of the being was more than clear. A huge green-skinned figure covered with small spikes. 

Its lower body was morbidly thick, shrinking as it approached its head. Small wings on its back, and huge arms holding a gigantic club. 

Thick spikes protruded from behind its neck, and its head had a mouth that was constantly open, revealing its horrible fangs. Its small eyes were barely distinguishable, but they were fierce and yellowish, glaring at the group with murderous intent. 

"How disgusting," Eiss' expression turned cold as he sensed something else in this being. 

It was a demon. 

Yes, maybe it was a demon from another universe and it was different from the demons of his universe, but it had something that all demons possessed, something they could never change. 

It was a strange sensation, an indicator of his true nature, a repulsive one. Not only that, he was an enemy and more than an enemy, he exuded a terrible bloodlust, but there was no appetite in him, he just wanted to 'play' with them. 

"Guys, you know, if you're not those gods or in danger, we won't get into the fights," Schala said, stepping aside with Gojo Satoru. 

They had discussed this situation, in this sad world, some enemies were really powerful and terrible if they existed in real life, but the other beings were not that dangerous, at least not against Gojo or Schala. 

So, before the heavyweights came out, only Eis, Azula, and Jotaro would deal with the enemies. Now, with the addition of their new redheaded companion, four of them could defeat this enemy. 

The Asylum Demon is a powerful creature. Yes, in the game you could defeat him by jumping on him or throwing black bombs, some fireballs, or magic rockets at him, but this was no game. 

The only glimmer of 'game' in this world was the redhead's uncanny ability to store her weapons and items, probably her inventory. But it could also be a special ability, an item, or a spell. 

"Well, I want to test myself against this thing," Azula said with a small smile on her face as she turned her attention to the demon. 

On the other hand, Star Platinum appeared behind Jotaro, who felt the terrible power behind this creature. This was different from the Pokemon he had fought before, the threat of this being was undoubtedly much higher. 

Eis quickly exchanged the blue orbs for his ice orbs. Its aura surged from his body, clinging to him and making him feel the increase in his strength. Fortunately, this monster was large, so he could let go completely.

The redhead, on the other hand, was the first to throw herself at this demon, rolling to dodge the beast's heavy club. This was a signal for the others to act. 

When the demon raised his heavy weapon, Jotaro quickly moved to the side of the monster and threw a Hamon-filled blow at it. His fist sounded as if it had hit concrete, his blow barely made a dent in the creature, but sparks from the Hamon ran down its body and burned its skin. 

The demon let out a small scream before backing away and trying to aim its club at Jotaro, but when it took the first step, a huge ice spike grew out of the ground and dug into its butt. 

This caused the monster to scream and it swung its club randomly, but it didn't have much effect. Jotaro approached the ice and channeled most of his Hamon. 

Ice was an excellent conductor of that sun-like energy, so the anti-darkness properties of the Hamon wreaked havoc inside this demon, though it was ironic since these beings were born from the flames of chaos created by Izalith. 

The redhead's mace struck the demon's lower half, and though there was no trace of blood, chunks of the creature's skin broke off, leaving it with a rock-like appearance. 

A golden bolt of lightning struck the demon's face, causing it to scream louder, making Azula realize that her attacks were particularly damaging. Then a strange routine began between them. 

Eis would use his ice to inflict puncture wounds on the demon, allowing Jotaro or Azula to channel their Hamon; if that failed, one of them would use their stance to strike the monster or throw a bolt of lightning into its face or limbs. 

If they were somehow injured, the redhead would approach them to perform a special ability, a miracle. The woman's golden glow could heal their wounds and bring them back into the fight, not eliminating their exhaustion, but allowing them to do more damage to the monster. 

Although the red-haired woman occasionally attacked with her mace, she was more in a supporting role. But the demon-possessed incredible stamina, powerful defense, and overflowing vitality. 

"I have an idea," Eis whispered to Jotaro, who simply nodded as he used Star Platinum to stop the demon's heavy club.

Although the man groaned in pain, he managed to use Star Platinum to push the weapon aside before turning his attention to Eis. 

"I'm going to use all my energy to hurt him, but he's already got me pinned down, constantly trying to attack me. So I want you to stop time and push me away, towards Azula," Eis' idea was quickly relayed to his partner, who nodded. 

Eiss' aura surged out of him like a tidal wave, the ice orbs that swirled around him slowly disintegrating and turning into a cold mist. Then that mist covered the demon's legs, stopping it in its tracks. 

The creature swung its weapon at Eis, but the world turned gray, Jotaro had stopped time. He had used this ability of his to hit the demon, but he saw that the demon was only moderately injured. 

The use of his light-speed strikes would consume a lot of energy and he didn't think that his strikes would be able to fatally wound the demon, it was too big and besides, it was dangerous to be exhausted in such a demanding fight. 

The demon was very agile despite his size, so he didn't want to wear himself out, but what Eis had done was exactly that, but much more useful. So he did his part, grabbing Eis' body and sending it toward Azula.

Taking advantage of the few seconds he had left, he jumped at the demon, and in the last second, viciously struck the demon with Star Platinum. As time resumed its course, the demon screamed as it felt parts of its body ripped apart. 

This being seemed to be a living rock, something strange. Its wounds didn't bleed, they just shattered, that was one of the reasons why Jotaro didn't use his best hits, he would only destroy a part of this being and he didn't know how to kill it. 

Yes, this wasn't a game, and this was a strange creature, what if it would just reassemble itself if he smashed it? I couldn't trust the gameplay of a PS3 game. 

Azula caught an exhausted Eis suffering from a headache, but he didn't let that stop him from telling the princess his idea. 

"Use all your Hamon on the ice and make the undead attack the demon more actively," Eis said without much explanation. 

While Jotaro avoided the damage of the weapon by using Star Platinum to protect himself from the club, Azula arrived at the ice created by Eis. After taking a big gulp of air, she ejected large amounts of golden sparks from her hands.

The Hamon, with its anti-darkness properties, mixed with the slightly anti-life properties of Eis' ice, causing cracks to appear on the demon. Then Star Platinum's fists were coated with tiny sparks of Hamon, causing much more damage. 

Eis smiled. The damage to the demon was piling up and taking its toll. The deceptive nature of this demon was really hard to decipher until he remembered the peculiarity of this type of demon. 

They sound like stones, they feel like stones, and they are different from the rest of the demons in this world. It was as if there were two types of demons, those that were completely biological and those that imitated biology. 

The wounds he had inflicted on them had already wreaked havoc inside, but the demon's exterior was relatively intact, so he used his ice not only to restrict their movements but also to affect their skin, making them more vulnerable. 

He also wanted to check something. Even if they could defeat it, there seemed to be something missing. His gaze shifted to the red-haired girl who was charging her mace at the weakened being. 

"Since you're made of stone, its greatest weakness is probably something I don't understand. This world has a lot to do with fire, but also with souls," Eis was tired after so long of fighting, and his last blast of ice had given him a terrible headache, but he focused his senses on the woman. 

The woman's strike against the demon's stony skin was the same as before, but he noticed that there was something else in these attacks. A smile appeared on his face before he leaned back against a pillar on the spot. 

"Soul damage, she can hit the soul!" shouted Eis just before the woman slammed her mace into the demon's ice-covered belly, but this made the demon scream in a completely different way than before. 

Then, instead of simply falling, its body turned into gray particles before dissipating into the air. The woman looked back, her red eyes focused on Eis'. 

"Soul power is the quickest way to hurt your enemies," the woman said, proving that she was not mute, that not speaking had been her choice. 

Eis understood what made the chosen undead special, the dark souls were strong in them, giving them the cruel ability to hurt the souls of their enemies. 

This world seemed to hold more surprises for the group, a world where people toyed with souls, what changes would a being capable of wounding or destroying them make? Thinking about it made Eis struggle to get to his feet. 

He needed to convince this woman to join his group. Soul-killing clerics were an excellent support, weren't they? This was the thought that all the chat members had when they saw the red-haired woman.