Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 425: The side effect of the Dark Ring: loss of humanity!
The mud monster Aldrich turned into a soul light and dissipated, and Sullivan's body disappeared along with it.

After the ownerless soul dissipated, only two floating twisted souls and an incomplete black skull with faint sparks remained.

Needless to say, the twisted souls belonged to Sullivan and Aldrich. Aldrich's soul was blue overall, and it was a dark blue that was almost black, which was also related to the power that permeated its soul.

At the same time, this soul is thicker and stronger than the soul of anyone Li You has obtained before, except the nameless king.

However, Sullivan's soul was unexpectedly bright golden in color, and was also smaller than Aldrich's.

As for the skull, it just lay quietly under the two souls. If it weren't for the faint sparks, it would have been almost unremarkable.

Li You was covered in flames, and he had already gotten rid of his dragon man form. At the same time, he sheathed the Blood Immortal Slash, which had returned to its original appearance.

The battle with Shalivan and Aldrich took a little longer than he expected, and his divine power was almost exhausted. It was definitely not a good idea to use the Blood Undead Slash without sufficient divine power to suppress it.

Li You looked at his companions and comrades on both sides, and seeing that they had no reaction, he walked forward, put the two souls into the pendant, and then looked at the skull on the ground.

The skull was actually quite large, and even when it was lying on the ground it was as tall as Li You's thigh. As he got closer he could see that the left half of the skull had almost completely disappeared, leaving only half of the skull, and it was distorted beyond human form.

But the biggest problem was that the skull was crawling all over, inside and out, with gray-white maggots, which were even wriggling. It looked extremely disgusting.

Li You also frowned when he saw it, and his face showed that he didn't want to touch this thing.

But he had to take it, because this seemingly ordinary broken skull was the most important thing left by Aldrich, the King of Fire - Firewood.

"If the Firewood King refuses to return to the throne, then just bring the firewood back."

The so-called search for the king actually means killing the fire kings and then taking back their heads.

That is why, after the player defeats the hip-hop team in the game, Brother Diexin will mock himself sadly: "The so-called bringing the King of Fire back to the throne is what you mean by this, how pathetic."

It can only be said that after so many years, the lingering fire-passing movement has indeed become distorted. "The fire-passing movement is a cursed path", there are many people who think so.

Anli and Horace came forward and looked at the broken skull on the ground with Li You. Horace whimpered, and Anli was silent for a moment before saying, "The man-eating demon, Aldrich, finally got what he deserved."

"...Horace, we succeeded." She turned to Horace and said excitedly, "Now those children can rest assured."

Of course, Horace couldn't reply, but he nodded to Anri.

Then, Anri looked at Li You and said solemnly: "Thanks to you, thank you very much, you kept your promise."

Li You waved his hand and said nothing.

"I'll trouble you to bring Aldrich's firewood back to the Firelink Shrine." Anri added, "Horace and I...our mission has come to an end."

Hearing this, Li You looked up at the two of them. Although he couldn't see their expressions through the helmets, he could feel from their movements and postures that the two of them had indeed relaxed.

"you……"

Li You wanted to say something, but An Li had already raised her sword. After thinking for a moment, she sheathed the sword and took off the scabbard from her waist.

"Horace and I were able to complete our mission thanks to your help," she said softly. "Whether it was the distress in the Deep Cathedral or the battle against Aldrich, if it weren't for you, we might not have gotten here at all."

Having said this, she paused again before continuing, "Also, the pilgrim who guided me should be you...?"

"Oh?" Li You looked in surprise. Anli actually discovered it?
"Don't get me wrong. I certainly don't want to charge her with crimes at this time." Anri smiled. "In fact, it was only after the pilgrim's death that I discovered her plan - the plan for Londor to create the King of Wandering Souls, and I was going to be their victim."

"...If it weren't for you, then with my previous trust in the pilgrim, I might have been lured onto that road by her in the end.

"So this is also one of the reasons why I want to thank you. I absolutely do not want to abandon those children and give up my mission. But without you, I really can't see any hope of completing my mission."

Li You knew that the "children" that Anli kept repeating were the innocent children who were sent to Aldridge's dining table with her and Horace.

As the only ones who escaped, they formed an irreconcilable feud with Aldrich. Even after awakening as a fireless ashes, Anri was still determined to find this ogre.

Perhaps we can also think about it the other way around. Maybe it was because of Anri's "fate" with Aldrich that she was awakened as ash?

Of course, this is just Li You’s guess, and it’s a question of whether the chicken or the egg came first. There’s no need to delve into the core of it.

Anri expressed her gratitude to Li You, and then handed over her carefully maintained straight sword with scabbard.

"I have nothing to give you in return. Please accept this sword from my homeland, Astra." Anri paused, "I no longer need it."

At the side, Horace also stepped forward and handed over the Exile's broadsword in his hand and the small metal round shield, the Lind shield, which he had been carrying on his back.

“…Uh uh.”

Edge's mental link has not yet connected Anri and Horace, so Li You can't understand what Horace is saying, but it is obviously not difficult to guess.

Li You thought about it and decided to take the weapons from the two men.

"So what's next for you guys...?"

Anri and Horace looked at each other and said, "We... I plan to pay tribute to those children in the past and tell them about Aldrich's death. After that, I have nothing to do."

Li You was silent. For Ashes and the Undead, there was no need to explain what "nothing to do" meant.

But he had no reason or ability to stop Anri and Horace. And after all, the world of Dark Soul was on the verge of destruction. Even if he persuaded Anri and the others to come back, what would it be of any use?
So, in the end, Li You just looked at the two of them, said goodbye to them and left.

After the final farewell, Anri raised her right hand to her side and shook it in mid-air towards Li You. This was one of Astra's ancient gestures, and it was also her way of encouraging her comrades at this moment.

Then, Li You and others watched Anli and Horace walk towards the moonlight at the gate of the Temple of Anor Londo without looking back.

"...Their mission has been accomplished." Sirius on the side exclaimed, "That's great."

Li You glanced at her, and Sirius also looked over: "This matter is over. The usurper Salivan and the blasphemous Aldrich are both dead. I also have to find a way to fulfill my own mission. Let's say goodbye now."

Siris still had to go look for her grandfather, the now mad Paladin Fodorink. Li You couldn't help for the time being, so he said, "I understand. If you find him, you can tell me and I will go over to help."

"Thank you very much, young Dark Moon Sword." Sirius said seriously, "If I need it, I will ask you for help. I hope that your journey will be blessed by the moon." After Sirius finished speaking, she directly used the miracle "Return Home" and teleported away.

Li You finally took a look at the skull of the Fire King, Aldrich, which was still lying on the floor of the hall. He looked around and said, "Forget it, let's wrap it up."

He really didn't want to touch it, but because of his injury, Yuzu had regressed back to the first stage of human form and returned to the companion space to rest. As for Edge and V, when they saw Li You looking over, they took two steps back in tacit understanding and began to appreciate the dark temple hall.

Li You's mouth twitched, but he could only do it himself. Fortunately, the system backpack was powerful. He only needed to touch the firewood slightly to put it into the backpack, which made Li You feel better.

After collecting Aldrich's maggot-infested tattered skull, Li You finally entered the temple again, took the elevator up to the second floor of the temple, to the bedroom of the Sun Princess Gwynevere at the deepest part, and picked up a golden hollow ring from her bed.

The Sun Princess Ring, a legacy of Gwynevere. It is said that it can make the wearer feel a little warmth like the sun and slowly recover from injuries.

This was also a good magic prop, and Li You collected it. Then, he took out the fragment of the spiral sword and planned to return to the Firelink Shrine to put Aldrich's skull back on the throne where it belonged.

However, just as he took out the fragment, Li You's whole body shook violently and he almost fell to the ground!
Edge and V were also shocked and quickly came over to support him, letting him sit down next to the Sun Princess' bed.

"What's wrong with you?" V was surprised. "Is it your physical strength... or your magic power? Is it too much consumption?"

Aggie was more direct. He pulled open Li You's robe, put his hand on his chest, and began to check his physical condition.

But after carefully sensing it twice, a look of doubt appeared on Aggie's face again.

"How is it? How is he?" V asked.

Aiji shook his head: "The body is very healthy, and judging from the fluctuations of mental power, it seems that there is no sign of over-consumption..."

"What's going on?" V was a little anxious.

Li You, who was sitting on the ground, felt dizzy and his ears were buzzing.

He was also clear about his condition. He had plenty of physical strength and most of his magic power. Although his divine power was almost at its bottom, it was gradually recovering... Besides, the lack of divine power would not directly affect him.

So what's the problem?
Li You's mind was still groggy when he realized something.

——The Ring of Darkness!
【Ding! 】

The system prompts are delayed.

【Please note that you have successfully used the Dark Ring. Please check the details in the status panel. 】

Li You consciously opened the panel and saw a new permanent BUFF in his status column.

[Mark of the Ring of Darkness: A mark on a cursed undead, temporarily attached to the body. Although it cannot make a person immortal, their humanity will gradually fade away over time until they become a zombie.]

[Note 1: Limited item, activated. After completing the main quest, you will receive a special reward.]

[Note 2: When the Dark Ring takes effect, the spirit, will, and humanity of the possessed person will slowly drain away. The possessed person can maintain his or her humanity by devouring the souls of the Fire Lords. The Dark Ring that has absorbed enough souls can be transformed into firewood to continue the First Fire.]

"... Tsk, it came... too fast! And, you, damn system, secretly changed the item description... Don't think I didn't see it!"

Originally it was agreed that the "powerful soul" would be devoured to maintain humanity, but now it is directly limited to the soul of the Lord of Fire, right?

If he had used it earlier, wouldn't he have been trapped and turned into a zombie?
"What the hell..."

Li You muttered angrily, but did not dare to delay. In his drowsiness, he already felt that something in his consciousness was being gradually absorbed and devoured by the dark ring in his spiritual world.

After he crushed the Ring of Darkness, the ring in his spiritual world expanded several times and looked like a black hole.

So Li You could only immediately take out the deformed soul that belonged to Aldrich that he had just obtained, and crush it under the somewhat puzzled gaze of Edge and V!
“——Buzz.”

With a familiar echo, Aldrich's dark blue soul shattered in Li You's hands, and then turned into pure milky white light, rushing to his chest, ignoring the obstruction of his robe and drilling directly in.

Li You could even feel that after all those souls rushed into his chest, they suddenly disappeared as if they had evaporated into thin air.

But in this way, Li You's dizziness symptoms finally eased and disappeared.

"Well……"

He looked down and could vaguely see a familiar dark ring mark on his chest under the collar that was torn open by Edge. It was this thing that had made him dizzy just now.

Li You immediately propped himself up and nodded to Edge and V who were looking at him with concern: "Don't worry, I'm fine...for now."

Both of them looked at him, waiting for his explanation.

Li You thought about it and told them about the Dark Ring in a relatively simple way.

"Huh?" V's voice immediately rose two pitches. "You actually used something so dangerous? What on earth were you thinking!?"

Aiji also frowned slightly, but she was more familiar with Li You and knew that he would not take such a risk without a reason, so she asked: "Why did you pinch that dark ring?"

Li You was about to explain when the system prompt suddenly popped up and appeared in front of him.

【Ding! 】

[You have used the soul of Lord Aldrich, and the loss of humanity has temporarily stopped. The remaining stop time: 07:55:21. ]

Li You: "???"

No, a Salary King’s soul is only given eight hours?
This is fucking... Fortunately, he didn't rush to get the Dark Ring before! Fortunately, he had already finished the map before fighting the Lord of Cinder!

Li You didn't even bother to rest this time, he just jumped up from the ground with a somersault.

"——Let's go to the Fran Fortress!!"

(End of this chapter)