After leaving the High Priest's Hall, Xia Yu arrived at the edge of the cliff in no time. He stood on the precipice and took out the small banner given to him by High Priest Emma. In the next moment, three Snow Winged Demons flew over from the distance.
These are the haulers of Anor Londo, creatures resembling Western demons with an extremely ugly appearance. Their skin is incredibly pale, with only their arms and sharp claws being blood-red. They possess thin wings similar to those of bats and drag a long, slender tail behind them.
Two of the demons grabbed Xia Yu by the arms and carried him away from the cliff, while the third demon led the way towards the Undead Settlement below the high wall.
That was the dwelling place of the lowest class of people in Lothric, filled with unintelligent wandering souls that were once Undead, plagued by a very serious problem of rampant Hollows.
The so-called Undead are immortal beings. To deal with the constantly reviving Hollows, the Undead Settlement employed numerous barbaric and cruel methods: execution by dogs, dismemberment, cremation, and even stuffing them into a cage collectively, but none could completely solve the problem.
No matter what they did, at best, they could only slow down the Undead's revival speed, but never completely eliminate it.
In the Soul World, immortality is a curse of despair, certainly not a blessing.
"Thud~"
A sound of landing echoed as the Snow Winged Demons brought Xia Yu to a dilapidated tower. This was a defense structure from past battles against external enemies, but now it was utterly ruined, covered in rubble and ruins.
After a brief scan, Xia Yu discovered an extinguished bonfire nearby. As he stepped forward, he took out a crimson spiral sword.
The Spiral Sword could ignite bonfires. As long as an extinguished bonfire was lit, he, being an Ashen One, could freely teleport between any bonfires.
"Hiss~"
Blazing fire erupted from the tip of the Spiral Sword. Xia Yu inserted the sword into the Ember of Bones, and in the next moment, the bonfire ignited.
Simultaneously, the power of the ignited bonfire flowed through the hilt into his body. His stamina instantly recovered to its peak, and the consumed Estus in his estus flasks was replenished by the flames.
After lighting the bonfire, Xia Yu gazed into the distance at the Undead Settlement, which was a district made up of dilapidated wooden shacks. Occasionally, he could still see wandering Hollows.
The Sorcery Teacher who instructed him in Sorceries was imprisoned in a cage on the second floor of one of those wooden houses.
Speaking of which, almost all teachers in the Souls series are imprisoned, whether it's Cornyx or Karla in dark souls iii, or Sellen in elden ring—their fate is to be imprisoned and then rescued.
Shaking off his thoughts, Xia Yu walked down the broken staircase, holding his pistol in both hands, wary of the approaching enemies.
"Clang..."
Just as Xia Yu reached the main road, the metallic clang of an iron gate opening suddenly sounded. In the next moment, three emaciated wild dogs suddenly bolted out.
"Woof woof howl!"
After bursting out, the three wild dogs mercilessly tore into the Hollows on the main road. Every bite took the life of one Hollow. This was the Undead Settlement's execution by dogs; every so often, wild dogs were released to devour the reviving Hollows.
"Tsk tsk, the Three Dog Fire-Kindling Array, truly lives up to its reputation."
Many players had fallen to these three wild dogs in the past because these three dogs could cooperate. Each bite took away a large chunk of health, and almost no player could survive the combined assault of these three dogs.
In a short while, the horde of Hollows was swept clean by the wild dogs. Having lost the Hollows as targets, the dogs suddenly fixed their gaze on Xia Yu.
They couldn't distinguish between a Hollow and an Ashen One. Baring their drooling maws, the wild dogs eagerly charged at Xia Yu, fully displaying the Undead Settlement's warm hospitality towards outsiders.
Hospitality in the Undead Street, simple folk in Yharnam, fresh air in the Farron Swamp, the tourist destination of frenzied flame Village.
Facing the eagerly welcoming Dog Lords of Cinder, Xia Yu was deeply moved and gave them their favorite Magic Bullets, causing those dog heads to explode.
Soon, the threat on the main road was cleared by Xia Yu's few shots. Looking at the iron gate that released the wild dogs, he didn't rush in but turned toward the other side.
The other side was a broken main road leading to Lothric Castle. After Pontiff Sulyvahn destroyed the bridge, pilgrims attempting to enter Lothric were trapped at the bridgehead and eventually withered away.
However, among those pilgrims, there was still one special pilgrim alive. Contacting him would create a branching point of destiny.
To put it plainly, this side quest corresponds to one of the final four endings. dark souls iii has four endings: linking the fire, Extinguishing the Fire, Usurping the Fire, and Stealing the Fire. This side quest corresponds to the Usurpation of Fire ending.
Usurping the first flame and becoming the Lord of Hollows would end the Age of Fire and usher in the Age of Dark.
Although this ending seems to end the curse of linking the fire and allows the world to enter a new age, who can be certain that this is definitely a good thing? Perhaps becoming the Lord of Hollows is just another conspiracy by a different faction.
Regarding the end of this world, Xia Yu never changed his mind: to seize the power of the first flame, then leave this place and allow the world to enter the next age.
Reincarnation is irreversible; the appearance and extinction of fire are merely parts of the world's self-sustaining cycle. Since an age begins, it is bound to reach its end, just as when heaven and earth were still in chaos.
The first god, Gwyn, initiated the Age of Fire and passed through its most prosperous period. When the flames gradually declined, Gwyn voluntarily went to the first flame to allow the Age of Fire to continue, letting the first flame ignite his soul, causing the world to remain bright forever.
Gwyn's action was called linking the fire—voluntarily sacrificing everything as kindling to sustain the first flame for the continuation of the Age of Fire.
But it is precisely because of this action that the world has decayed and fallen into ruin. The world should have entered the next age much earlier, but it has been barely surviving until now due to Gwyn's actions.
Xia Yu had no intention of defying the world's laws. Since the world desired to enter the next age, he would respect the world and let the next age arrive... The main road was littered with overturned cage carriages, the means of transport for Undead being sent to the Undead Settlement. There were too many Undead, so they could only be uniformly discarded there.
After passing through the archway of the main road, Xia Yu arrived at the broken end of the road, where countless pilgrims lay dead.
They gazed toward Lothric Castle in the distance, but they would never have a chance to step foot inside again.
The only living pilgrim was among them. Xia Yu did not search, because he knew the person would eventually make a sound to attract his attention.
"...Please, let me die, grant me release..."
Here it is!
Xia Yu's heart stirred as he searched for the source of the faint sound.
The voice was intermittent, repeating itself like a candle flickering in the wind.
Based on the location in the game, Xia Yu strode forward and, at the edge of the broken road, he discovered the pilgrim who was making the sound.
"Please, let me die..."
The pilgrim was still intermittently repeating his death wish, but when Xia Yu approached him, his voice paused, and he asked cautiously.
"...Ah, you... you are the Ashen One, Lord Hero, right? It is truly an honor to behold your presence. I am Yuria of Londor, a pilgrim as you can see. It seems I am the only one who luckily survived... but this might also be my fate."
Xia Yu remained silent, quietly observing the bowing Yuria before him. Yuria felt a bit unnerved by the gaze, but for the sake of his plan, he trembled and spoke.
"Ashen One, do you intend to have me as your attendant? I was originally a sorcerer, so I think I can be of some help to you."
Xia Yu sneered inwardly. The old man had quite the acting skills, trying to tempt me into bearing the Dark Sigil and luring me to become the Lord of Hollows—he has quite the ambition.
"You are willing to become my attendant? You should know that one of my favorite pastimes is whipping my attendants and listening to their desperate screams."
"..."
Yuria's body stiffened, but for the sake of the Great Serpent of the Abyss, Kaathe, he still spoke with a tremor.
"Ashen One, when a pilgrim who narrowly survived meets a Lord Hero, I cannot help but think this must be fate. Therefore, please let me become your attendant. I... I can endure your whippings."
"Hmm... since you are so sincere, then I..."
Hearing the tone in which Xia Yu seemed about to agree, Yuria felt a surge of joy, but the next moment, Xia Yu abruptly changed his tune.
"But I refuse!"
"What?!"
"One of the things I, Xia Yu, enjoy doing most is saying no to those who assume I will agree!"
"Since you keep muttering about wanting release, then go die."
As soon as the words fell, Xia Yu raised his gun, aimed it at Yuria's head, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Bang—!"
"Ah ah, is killing an Undead something to be proud of? Cursed Hero, this is truly... worth celebrating..."
Under the impact of the magic bullet, Yuria's figure turned into a burst of ash and vanished before Xia Yu's eyes.
"Tsk, he did have a backup plan after all; he actually got away."
Xia Yu unhappily put away his gun. Yuria himself was nothing to fear; it was the Londor faction behind him that was annoying, as they were connected to the Great Serpent Kaathe.
The Great Serpent is something that existed since the Ancient Dragon era, and Kaathe is one of the Great Serpents. It belongs to the Abyss faction and desires a world without fire.
As for why Kaathe desires the extinguishing of the fire, Xia Yu did not know. The Dark Souls trilogy never provided an explanation for this, so he could only speculate personally.