Chapter 1685 - 1002: King of Darkness Steps into Reincarnation

"Reincarnation?"

Temude read the magic words in front of him with a confused expression. He understood the meaning of each word, but together they became somewhat baffling.

Since he hadn’t seen such words when he interacted with the bonfire before, it must mean this option appeared only after he chose to extinguish the fire. Perhaps Leon saw this too after he transmitted the fire; it’s something only the two of them have witnessed so far.

Temude was quite clear on the meaning of reincarnation, but what does reincarnation signify within the Sain Dungeon?

He thought for a moment, retracted his outstretched hand without rashly choosing this strange option.

The teleportation gate to the outside world was standing in the Fire Transmission Ceremony; he could leave anytime if he wanted to.

But stepping out now wouldn’t be very adventurous.

There are still many mysteries to unravel!

"Because of my choice, has the entire dungeon changed, or is it just the scenery when I’m alone that’s transformed?"

Temude looked around, thick fog enveloped the area, bringing darkness along with it. Although the world hadn’t plunged completely into darkness, wherever he looked, there was an oppressive scene akin to dark clouds threatening to crush a city. The blue sky and white clouds of the Fire Transmission Ceremony had vanished, and it wasn’t clear whether it was day or night.

Undoubtedly, his choice caused some unknown change to the Sain Dungeon, and judging by the feeling this change evoked, it didn’t seem like a good thing.

"Sigh..."

He sighed deeply, helplessly scratched his hair, wondering why he refused to transmit the fire, leading to its extinguishment, when he initially intended to transmit the fire!

The thoughts influenced by the Sin Fire were still preserved in his memory, but recalling them made him feel ashamed, wanting to find a hole to hide in.

The thoughts influenced by the Sin Fire were not so much the wild dreams of an ambitious person as they were symptoms of a chūnibyō! At least, that’s how he saw it!

Recalling, it was due to the Sin Fire’s influence that he had thoughts of extinguishing the fire, coupled with the special state he was in when he saw stories of the Onion Knight, Youmu, and the downfall of others like the White Spider; all these various factors eventually led to the extinguishment of the fire.

"No matter what, it’s my fault, and I can’t avoid it."

Using the influence of the Sin Fire as an excuse is just that—an excuse. At its core, he wasn’t content to fall behind Leon, prompting him to seek validation elsewhere. This mindset led him to inadvertently heed the allure of Kas.

"I don’t know how my actions have impacted others." His tone was tinged with remorse, fearing that since Leon’s fire transmission brought positive effects to the entire Sain Dungeon, his extinguishing action might cause negative impacts!

Well, there’s no way around it now, he’ll have to admit his mistakes after leaving...

With regret, Temude reached out to touch the bonfire, not choosing to initiate reincarnation but instead disappearing from the spot, directly opting for teleportation to somewhere.

He first arrived at the bonfire on the Flying Dragon Bridge.

Currently, the Undead Town Outside the City, where this bonfire was located, was also shrouded in darkness. He nervously looked around, finally relaxing somewhat when he saw several blurred human figures in the fog.

Those were a few living dead soldiers. He ran over and punched and kicked them down; even though his strength was somewhat weakened, dealing with a few living dead soldiers wasn’t a problem.

"Thank goodness, at least some are still alive."

Though whether the animated corpses count as alive is another matter, seeing something still capable of moving amidst such a scene was a great comfort to him.

Only because after choosing to extinguish the fire, when he entered the state where his body was uncontrollable, he saw many distressing scenes that greatly undermined rationality—the view of all beings struggling in darkness and ultimately perishing after the Initial Fire was extinguished.

Having nearly witnessed the collapse of every familiar monster, character, and scene, it was remarkable that he could maintain sanity and continue exploring the Sain Dungeon. His spiritual and mental strength far exceeded that of ordinary people.

It was exactly these scenes that freed him from the influence of the Sin Fire and made him deeply realize one thing:

Even when the Initial Fire is so weak it’s barely functional, it still brings light to the world, and as long as there’s light, there is hope for survival. Once the fire extinguished, darkness truly descended and nothing remained.

So, even in the age of the Ember King, was choosing extinguishing truly the right decision?

While Temude was filled with myriad emotions, he suddenly sensed something, subconsciously making a "huh" sound.

"So few?"

When living dead soldiers are killed, white lights symbolizing souls naturally float into the adventurer’s body. Adventurers see their soul count increase, which is great either for currency use or upgrading. Some have even developed special uses based on this phenomenon.

For example, during friendly invasion and counter-invasion activities, if unable to find enemies, one can use this characteristic for tracking. Human creativity is boundless.