this infinite world

Chu Hao's attempt to ring the second bell did not go smoothly.

Just as he had told Nian Xikong before, ringing the second bell was far more difficult than the first. The lurking figures in the Black Forest Courtyard, almost blending into the shadows, were manageable; the goat-headed demons in the lower levels of Undead Town outside the city and the legendary "Three Dogs Slaughtering Firewood Formation" weren't actually that difficult. But the gluttonous dragons in the sewers had incredible vitality and, moreover, the advantage of having home ground, making them roughly as difficult to fight as the demons in Undead Asylum…

...And Blighttown, this cursed place, perfectly embodies the immense malice of the Dark Souls world.

The pervasive toxic fog that never dissipates throughout the area, the pollution that is indistinguishable from a biological virus, the illegal buildings that look decades past their service life and creak when stepped on, and the blowgunners lurking in those crooked buildings, ready to jump out and launch a sneak attack at any moment...

A nightmare, an undeniable nightmare. Moreover, there's something wrong with this area that can severely suppress mental scanning and related perception methods... If an ordinary reincarnation team were to come here, they would probably lose two or three members, or be completely overwhelmed and exhausted.

Fortunately, Chu Hao was no ordinary person, nor was Nian Xikong, who was traveling with him. One was ruthless, black-handed, and exceptionally intelligent, while the other had killed countless people and even had the experience of wiping out an entire world with a single sword. He didn't value human life at all.

So, after realizing the complexity of the terrain, Chu Hao stopped pretending and flipped the table.

He used the explosives he brought back from the rebel organization upon returning to reality—enough to destroy a city—to completely obliterate the area of ​​Sick Village.

……

"...So, that's why we hear the bell ring twice, and the first ring is much louder than the second?"

This was Ares's strange response after Chu Hao and Nian Xikong returned to the Firelink Shrine and finished recounting their experiences.

The vice-captain of the Arctic team sighed and said, "No wonder there was such a loud noise last night that woke us all up. Looking into the distance, the flames even dyed half the sky red, causing panic at the Firelink Shrine. I thought something big had happened at the Demon Ruins again... Turns out it was you who did it."

"It wasn't entirely fruitless."

Chu Hao gave an apologetic smile. He didn't feel guilty about blowing up the disease village, but it was a bit inappropriate to make his teammates worry about him. However, the young man then rolled up his sleeve, revealing the glove on his right hand to Ares.

"This... a spell-casting glove?" Feeling the heat emanating from the glove, Ares's gaze sharpened slightly. "Where did this come from?"

"It was a gift from Klara."

Chu Hao nodded and said succinctly, "After blowing up the disease village, I went to the Spider Cave, met the Chaos Witch Kragg, and gave her all the humanity we had collected along the way."

"Humanity," something everyone in the Dark Souls world desires, is utterly useless to reincarnators from outside that world. And Chu Hao, who has no need for it, bestows it all upon Kragg, who has an extremely strong need for humanity… one of the owners of the First Flame, and one of the Old Witch's daughters.

After learning of Chu Hao's actions, the old witch's other daughter, Klara, who had nowhere to go after the bombing of Blighttown, took the initiative to find Chu Hao and gave him the spell gloves and related spellbooks.

"A very useful piece of equipment, it provides a powerful boost to fire-related magic." Chu Hao briefly explained the function of the equipment: "Even for me now, it is enough to increase the power of my fireball spell by a full 20%."

"That's terrible."

Ares had personally witnessed just how powerful Chu Hao's fireball spell was. Now, with these gloves, it was like adding wings to a tiger: "Congratulations."

"However, you also gained quite a bit while we were away, managing to control three third-tier skeletons at the same time." After finishing his own story, Chu Hao's gaze turned to Ares's back... and there stood a white jade-like skeleton, over two meters tall.

On the other side, there were two skeletons of similar size holding weapons, seemingly sparring... Although it sounds quite strange for skeletons to be "sparring," judging from the well-organized moves and lightning-fast speed of the two skeletons, it is clear that their combat power is definitely not low.

"Fortunately, I did not disgrace my life."

Ares smiled slightly, a smug look on his face.

Although the half-giant skeleton that Ares previously controlled, which he obtained through the God Space, was roughly at the third tier in strength, firstly, its massive size meant it was not as agile and nimble as the skeleton he was currently controlling… Secondly, and more importantly, the three skeletons Ares was now controlling largely retained his combat skills from his previous life.

It's unclear whether the skeleton was exceptionally powerful in life, or if the skeletons near Firelink Shrine are simply of superior quality. In any case, Ares's necromancer bloodline's ability to thrive in this world is undoubtedly inextricably linked to this world where souls are the dominant force.

This is why Ares was able to control three skeletons simultaneously, allowing them to move freely while also communicating normally with Chu Hao about their experiences during this time. It was equivalent to switching from a fully manual mode to a semi-automatic mode... This was undoubtedly a huge improvement.

"Where is everyone else?" Chu Hao looked around and found that none of his teammates from the Arctic Continent team were there, and even Nian Xikong was nowhere to be found. For a moment, the huge Firelinking Ritual Ground seemed to be empty except for him and Ares.

"Zhang Heng and Lu Zixue are on the cliff edge, J is training in Undead Town outside the city, Tom and Oqi are learning combat skills from Brother Disheart, Maria and Aikel are chatting with the Fire Keeper, and Varo is nowhere to be found..."

Ares recounted the whereabouts of his teammates one by one: "As for Stry, he was learning magic from that fat guy from the White Cult."

As he spoke, Ares pointed to a spot: "Although that fat man looked down on us 'heretics' who weren't actually white, he had one redeeming quality: he was greedy for money. I don't know what methods Sterry used, but he learned quite a few spells, and instead of keeping them to himself, he taught them to all of us..."

As he spoke, Ares stretched out his hand, and a ball of shimmering white light appeared in his palm.

"This is a spell called 'The Force'... or, in this world's terms, 'Miracle'."

Ares scratched his head: "Although it's not clear what use it is right now, considering the exchange prices with the main god, I feel that this money is well worth the price."

Hearing Ares mention this, Chu Hao's face twitched slightly. Indeed, the prices of spells from the Main God were outrageously exorbitant; even members of the third-generation Reincarnation Team sometimes found themselves short of funds…

"...Make me a copy later too," Chu Hao said solemnly.

"I've already prepared everything for you. Also, there's one more thing."

As he spoke, Ares's expression suddenly turned serious. He pulled Chu Hao and walked towards an area of ​​the Firelink Shrine: "Although I have communicated with it before and heard some things from it, I think it's better for you to handle it."

Chu Hao clearly remembered that before leaving the Fire Linking Ritual Site, that area was just an empty, deep pit. But after turning a corner, he saw a giant snake in that pit—

—A gigantic, pitch-black serpent, as if it had crawled out of the abyss. (End of Chapter)