The Ashen Keeper

Chapter 98

She counted an estimate of around 10,000. The was a number way larger than she ever expected. But that should made sense. They can't exactly go around destroying entire kingdoms with just 30 of them. And the best thing about them? It is the fact that they are all undead.

They would just come back after dying so, all she had to do was restore their humanity and keep them clean from the influence of the Abyss. She, or rather Artorias would soon have a near invincible army should he chooses to accept them.

They all watched her every move. She felt as if she was a child once again in the Firelink shrine getting ready to have her eyeballs removed as other firekeepers continued to watch in pity. They still did not do anything to stop it so, she still held a small grudge.

That reminds her of another thing. What was her name? Who were her parents? It seems these did no matter anymore. The moment she walked into the firelink shrine, she was the firekeeper and nothing more. She has no need of a name. She was a tool to guide the champion of Lordran.

But, by now she has pretty much gotten over any of her past. If anything, she was thankful for her experiences that allowed her to meet the Ashen One. She would have gladly blind herself even if she went back to the past. That was how much she ... enjoyed the presence of the Ashen One.

Anyway, back to work. Teleporting ten thousand Abyss Walkers would require immense concentration. Simply judging by how many were there, she doubted that she even needed the dragons to overwhelm the 'small' Abyss on Earth.

Yes, the Abyss on Earth was not the entire Abyss or else it might have taken literal years for her and Artorias to reach Manus. The Abyss was never truly present in its full form. The only time you can see the Abyss in all its glory is when it has fully descent to the world.

A bright light lit up in the middle of nowhere as the ground begun emitting light in a similar fashion to that of the sun. An enormous pillar made of flames rose up all around them as it engulfs the undead legion of Farron.

A circle of fire rose from the ground as it slowly spun into a similar fashion to a tornado. It rose higher and higher until it reached the sky itself. Then, it begun to shrink before finally disappearing, reaching where it was meant to go.

In the lair of the dragons, a small flame rose up. Every dragon in the vicinity noticed this in an instant. how could they not realize the very source of their downfall. Last time a flame emerged, their entire race was trapped in limbo, neither alive nor death.

It slowly begun to expand. They flare their power everywhere in an attempt to extinguish the flame before it even had a chance to grow even further.

Their claws dug deep into the surface of the Earth in sheer fury. Fumes rose from their mouth as they could hardly keep it under control. The weather itself started to change as lighting rang across heaven and earth. The lighting did not bring any good memories but served to rile them up even further.

It was then that Alduin arrived from the sky as it watches intently at the flames. His arrival calmed the other dragons as they stopped flaring their power. It would be disrespectful for them to do anything when even their leader did not do anything.

The flame slowly enlarged as it transformed into a tornado of fire before disappearing in a flash. In front of their eyes, ten thousand undead stood, fully armed and ready to kill.

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[Marco POV]

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"So, the umbilical cords are links between the outer world and here?", he looked at these dried hunks of body parts.

"Do we have to collect them again to come back?", Pasithea asked him as she was not paying attention when the head of Byrgenwerth was explaining things.

"No, we don't. It's a permanent thing. I do wonder how people from the outside world can come in."

"Oh, the three nightmares exist even outside of this world."

"I killed them all. How could they exist?"

"Oh, you only killed their projections in the form you could understand. They still roam freely elsewhere."

"And how would you know?"

"I do not know. I can just see it."

"I will accept the answer for now.", he replied as he crushed the three umbilical cords in his hands. Lights flashed before his eyes as he opened them once again.

He recognized the surroundings. It was where he fought against Mergo's wetnurse. He did not hear any music or the sound of a baby crying but it did not hurt to go on guard.

Just then, the loudest sound he has ever heard roared in a distance. A giant flaming tornado rose up in the sky. As got larger and larger before finally disappearing. He did not know if this was normal in the outside world but if it was, it was a lot more dangerous than he expected.

He looked around for Pasithea. She was staring at him intensely like she wanted to tell something but is hesitant to mention it.

"Is there anything you want to mention to me?"

She shook her head. She then, pointed at something in the distance once again. He looked at it. He saw something similar to a red hood approaching. It gave off an aura similar to that of a great old one. He did not wait for it to come over and raised his shotgun and fired a round.

The red hood blew off like a rag in the wind. It felled to the ground. It then floated back into the sky and stopped as if wondering why anyone would shoot it. He did not care and fired another round. It moved quickly and came straight towards him.