The squad advanced along the winding tree roots. Aside from the sound of waves crashing far below, there was nothing but silence.
Everyone hoped to return to the Holy City as soon as possible, to receive honors bestowed personally by the great Empyrean.
Nolan, however, fell to the very back of the group, lost in his thoughts.
He stared at the cracked, damaged straight sword in his hand and the dented Golden Needle Knight armor on his body, as though he were once again gazing upon that despair-filled world.
The origin of the First Flame was unknown. Even Nolan, a former Lord of Cinder who had once thrown himself into the flames, had never fully grasped its secrets.
What he did know was that everything in the world of Dark Souls—light and darkness, cold and heat, life and death as clearly defined concepts—existed because of the First Flame.
But now, none of that truly mattered to him anymore.
This world did not need fire to sustain its existence, and fire itself held little influence here.
As for the past, Nolan had no desire to keep digging into it.
From the moment he arrived in this world, he had known that he carried the power of the First Flame within him.
The tale of Dark Souls began when four lords discovered four immense souls within the First Flame, representing light and darkness, life and death. These were the Four Lord Souls.
Among them, the Light King Soul wielded lightning as radiant as sunlight and possessed the power to influence the flow of time and space.
Nolan's ability to condense a lightning spear relied on the lightning of the Lord of Sunlight Soul. Even so, it was only an ordinary lightning spear, vastly inferior to Gwyn's Sunlight Spear, not even worthy of being called a miracle.
His recent surge in strength through slaughter was clearly the result of absorbing the souls of the Kindred of Rot, causing the Primordial Flame within him to burn ever more fiercely.
Nolan scratched his head unconsciously. Those souls had truly merged into his soulflame.
This was no illusion. He was far too familiar with the nature of soul power.
He knew that the First Flame could burn using souls as fuel, but he had never heard of the flame actively devouring souls on its own.
As this realization struck him, his pace quickened without him even noticing.
A faint but piercing glow in the darkness made him lift his head, his gaze settling on the equally exalted Golden Tree in the distance.
No. The Primordial Flame within him was not the same as the First Flame of the Dark Soul.
In that instant, he suddenly remembered that the two had always been different.
The Primordial Fire he carried contained all Four Lord Souls. It was simply that the powers of the other three were not normally used.
The Lord of Life Soul had remained difficult to control even after years of study by the Mother of Chaos. One careless mistake could result in the creation of demons, which would be nothing but trouble.
The Dark Lord Soul could draw power from humanity itself, but its nature was far too strange and notoriously difficult to control.
As for the Gravelord Soul, there was no need to even mention it. If he dared to use it today, tomorrow a handsome giant dog might come swinging Destined Death straight at his head.
Still, although the powers of the other three Lord Souls were rarely usable for various reasons, they were not useless.
After all, having them and choosing to use them were two very different things.
As Nolan's thoughts drifted further, he began to notice certain similarities between this world and Dark Souls.
The shared talent for tormenting people aside.
In Dark Souls, the Undead could turn souls into strength through a Fire Keeper.
In this world, there were Runes, another manifestation of soul power.
Under the rule of the Golden Order, death itself had become a taboo.
Those blessed by the Golden Tree did not truly "die."
Instead, when their time came, their bodies were buried beneath the roots of the Golden Tree, and their souls returned to its embrace.
This unique cycle of life was known as "Returning to the Tree."
When the people of the Lands Between completed their duty or truly died, the soul power they left behind condensed into a mysterious substance: Runes.
Runes could be used as currency, and with the help of Finger Maidens, the Tarnished who returned from death could also convert them into their own strength.
"Could this be the power of the Dark Soul Lord? Absorbing souls to strengthen myself… am I basically carrying my own Fire Keeper?"
As memories of those gentle faces surfaced, a quiet sorrow welled up in Nolan's heart.
They had once given him the only warmth and comfort he had known, serving as one of the pillars that allowed him to endure to the very end in that world of absolute despair.
With that reframing, he could finally grasp this power more clearly.
The Fire Keeper's existence was never just symbolic. She was a genuine source of power. Without the support and guidance of the Fire Keepers, no one could ever become the Lord of Cinder, the one who carried on the flame.
From his past experiences, Nolan had long realized that growth in the real world was nothing like the clean, precise systems of a game.
Just like the improvement he felt in this battle, there were no freely assigned stat points, no rigid requirement for how much "experience" had to be accumulated to level up.
Power simply grew with the accumulation of souls. Gain a little more soul power, and your strength rose accordingly. There were no fixed thresholds, no specialized builds—only steady, all-around growth.
One rule, however, remained unchanged. As his strength increased, the amount of "experience" required for further growth rose as well. That principle had never failed.
At that thought, Nolan instinctively glanced at the warriors around him. It wasn't that he had any dark intentions toward the comrades who had just fought alongside him.
Rather, the nature of the current era forced him to think more deeply.
The Tarnished had yet to return. The act of taking souls from others to enhance one's own strength had no official approval. In fact, it could be seen as a blatant provocation against the authority of the Golden Order.
The Greater Will had already lost contact with the Lands Between, so it naturally would not interfere. Even if it somehow knew, it probably wouldn't care.
But what the Eternal Queen would think of this… that was impossible to say.
Nolan's thoughts grew heavier by the moment.
The unexpected reaction of the Dark Lord Soul seemed to have opened up an entirely new path for him.
Whether or not it would allow him to resurrect like the Undead was still uncertain, but the ability to grow stronger by devouring the souls of others alone was enough to let him rise at an alarming speed.
This body's innate talent was painfully limited. At best, it was on par with an ordinary soldier. Trying to become strong through physical training alone was nothing short of impossible.
Even if he trained every single day until his head was shaved bare, he would never catch up to those heroes capable of cutting down a thousand enemies on their own.
The problem was that this power could not be exposed, at least not yet. Until the Tarnished returned, it had to remain hidden. Otherwise, he would end up as a target hunted by everyone.
With his current strength, he couldn't afford to stand against the entire Golden Order. If the Eternal Queen took a dislike to this flame, the Black Knife would come for him, and his end would be utterly miserable.
After thinking it through, Nolan found that he wasn't afraid.
This power was well concealed. It wouldn't be easily discovered.
As for the Site of Grace, there was little reason to worry. In the game, plenty of demigods acted recklessly, and he had never heard of anyone being exposed by their own grace.
"Get ready. I'll take you to be treated first. You've done well on this mission. His Highness will reward you."
Leda's voice rang out as she led the group into the holy city, drawing looks of admiration from the soldiers stationed at the gates.
The troops, who had looked dispirited just moments ago, immediately straightened up. They lifted their chests and followed behind the Golden Needle Knight with renewed pride as they marched into the city.