章 1: Journey Anew
Hello everyone! Welcome to this... Unique crossover.
Just remember that most of the lore of DS is vague and understandable by just reading, so don't be afraid of not knowing the characters!
Enjoy reading!
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In the land of Drangleic, brought together by despair, sat it's king on his throne, the throne of desire.
The Throne of Want.
The king who united the Crowns of the lands, the Crown of Drangleic, the Crown of the Ivory King, the Crown of the Sunken King, and lastly, the Crown of the Iron King.
The one whose ultimate goal was never reached, to end the plague of hollowing.
The Curse.
Where there's a will there's a way, is the saying.
But his seemingly endless willpower mattered not a grain of sand, as The Curse seemed to be indestructible.
In his chamber, thinking endlessly over and over for possible ways, any clues or evidence, but nothing would present itself.
But then a voice, a voice so strange, it spoke, but from everywhere.
The king stepped outside and stood in the middle of the arena he once fought the great witch Nashandra in, and the voice continued.
{Confirmed, time and space of this world has been connected to the Central World, beginning merge..}
The ground shook, nothing could stand still, and yet the king held on with his two swords.
{Merge success, sending individuals to the Central World...}
The king's expression was not visible behind his shining silver helmet, but it was obvious he was not happy with what was going on.
"....."
He did not say anything, for he was never one to talk much.
And the world seemed to collapse, and then, a void.
He almost fell asleep from a weird force, but he resisted.
{Granting individual _____ Unique Skill [Bearing Curse]....
Success.
"Bearing Curse"
"The Curse", is an attached fate to the person bound by it, it never allows the person to fully die and makes the person practically immortal, the holder is also more prone to enemy attacks all around, as feelings of hostility rise from ill-intended people.
Sub-Skills:
[Bonfire]: Special areas that the holder can create and rest at, although at an extremely high cost of both Magicules and Souls.
Those area, when used, can completely restore the user, and they act as spawn points for the holder after a death.
[Hollow]: Everytime the holder suffers a fatal blow, they are reborn immediately at the last [Bonfire] they used, but every time this passive skill is activated, the body suffers a "Hollowing" effect, seemingly growing weaker and changing it's shape for the worse.
[Souls-Born]: Every enemy has a measurement, for most if not all people, "Magicules" is the essence of power, for the Bearer of the Curse, it is both "Magicules" and "Souls", every enemy the Bearer slays is turned into souls that can grow his power further and further.
However, all the souls unused are lost at death, and can never be regained, or maybe..?
[Path of Many]: This skill grants the holder the affinity for any kinds of weapons, spells or arts, and the holder is able to learn those things faster than the average person by a good margin.
Additionally, after getting the basics of any combat related item, the holder can attain "Mastery", which allows the holder to learn the type of weapon or magic or art faster, at the cost of reducing the speed of learning for everything else.}
That voice announced an ability that took in all what the king had faced, all the hardships of dying over and over again.
The king hated that, he hated having to hear of his hardships once more.
He wanted to forget.
But there was the voice, reminding him of all that.
{Granting individuals skills..
...
...
...
...}
And only after a long pause, did the voice speak once more.
{Success.
Finishing skill-creation.
Complete.
Confirmed, Central World has been reached, and all individuals will rise from sleep with new abilities.}
Individuals.. Such an unspecific term.
What individuals? But there was no time to think, for it was lights out for the king.
North of Ingrassia, Demon Frontier
A body of shining armor laid knocked out with two massive great curved swords beside him, as creatures ran rampant a fair distance away.
A while passed, as warcries and shouts of pain were all that was heard in the area.
The King rose from his sleeping state, and observed the perimeter.
"....."
He picked up his two swords, and entered his battle stance as he approached the battlefield.
A lot of "Creatures" turned to him, and rushed at him when they understood that he was a human.
So it was written in their fates, they opposed him, and the moment they decided to go up against him, their death was certain.
The "Creatures" dissipated as they were hacked down to the tiniest pieces.
A left to right diagonal slash from his left "Murakumo" sent 3 of the creatures torn in half with their innards showing, another decapitating strike with his right ended 2.
He crushed the face of one inwards with the handle of his blade, and then flung one's head off with a full-power kick.
Then came a "Creature" he felt to be stronger than the others.
The "Creature" spoke to the king with an extremely arrogant tone.
"You, you must be a human mercenary offering his life for any kinds of money, right?
What a guttural creature, absolute lowlife you are.
Those good for nothings you fought are merely a fraction of the higher power, so come, face the might of the demons of the Red Lineage!"
Demons, it seems, creatures not unfamiliar to the king, although they looked so different, this one has a human looking body, most of the ones he fought had beast-like features, save for a few with resemblance to humans.
The demon in question charged him and casted what seemed to be magic, but it was a weird colored magic that had no equipment to act as a medium, and it was fast, almost impossible to keep track of, but the king's sense of battle was hardened to the extreme, and he immediately rolled skillfully and the magic went flying past him.
"What?! You evaded that? It must have been a fluke, or a failure in casting, both were on my part.
Eat this!"
The demon turned into nothing, and the king had no view of it anymore.
"..."
The King prepared an attack.
This was not new to him, for he has faced practically invisible ghosts in the Shaded Woods, an area obscured by fog to the extreme.
'Is he brave? Or stupid?' The Demon thought to itself and moved like a predator circling it's prey.
SLASH
The demon's body was destroyed and split into 4 pieces, the head and parts of the neck, what remained of the neck and the torso and his arms, the crotch area, and lastly, the legs.
"B..but.. how..
No! Lord.. Gu-"
And then the demon was turned into the familiar souls the king has so long gathered.
Even in this world there was [Soul Power], but if there was no Firekeeper to help him channel those souls, what would be the point?
So much souls, equivalent to the ones he obtained from the Hollowed King Vendrick, were just "There".
He let his weapons lay low and moved forward, nothing but breaths could be heard from behind his shining silver helmet.
All the demons that observed this battle began to change course, and tried to evade this man, for he has just slain something equivalent to an almost newborn Demon Lord Seed, and no one in the nearby area could hope to match.
But who are they to flee? They are attacking a nearby settlement it seems, and he needed information, and so he needs that settlement.
So he will kill every single one.
Moving with pace, like the weight of the two great swords on his shoulders did not matter, he remembered the first time he strove forward, fighting what seemed to be an impossible enemy, The Last Giant, those days were long gone, as The Last Giant was nothing compared to his power, not even his memory version, The Lord of Giants.
The demons scattered, he was using visually beautiful but terrifyingly effective spin attacks that paired well with his weapon type, and all sorts of those demons were now attempting to flee for their lives.
"..."
The king had realized something, his weapons were not just purely physical anymore, they had a different feeling, and by his guess, they had to have gained power when they appeared in his world, much like him.
Previously, his weapons were considered the strongest in the lands, as proven by how sharp they still are after so many continuous battles.
It was thought that his two "Murakumo" blades once went through 6 battles without a sign of ceasing attacks.
All this was what he was thinking amidst his slaughter, but at one point, he saw another person fighting those demons.
Not a person, an insect-human combination, fairly tall, and giving off the same air as him, silent and cold.
A stern gaze was what the "Insectoid" gave the king, and an even sterner tone was what questioned him.
"..Who are you?"
Who is he? Who had he become? Both questions were what puzzled the king for such a long time, and now he had to combine the answers into one, to even give a remotely satisfying answer.
he was The King of Drangleic and the ruler of the Four Crowns.
The King.
But his identity was not just that, he was whatever the legends and chronicles viewed him as.
Some viewed him as the God of War of Forossa's human incarnation, Faraam.
And even now, he wears the "Faraam Armor", one meticulously crafted down to the tiniest detail, to reflect the deity.
He is the incarnation of a god, the God of War himself, Faraam, is who he is.
"..Faraam."
That answer could send you freezing to death from how cold it is, the voice echoed throughout the helmet, and Razul took the answer with thought.
"Faraam..?
I have never heard of you, are you a mercenary."
The tone did not even sound like an inquiring one, it was like he was ordering him to answer.
"No.
I am just that, Faraam, the one who searches.
......."
Complete quiet, as the demons had already halted their attacks seeing as two seemingly equal powerhouses were staring each other down.
The King, no, Faraam, had his wrists raised up, which meant the swords were pointing directly at Razul, which got Razul on his guard.
"What are you?"
What is he? He thought there couldn't be a harder question than "Who are you?".
He knows his identity, but what race is he? He is human, but he no longer views himself within the reach of normal humans.
He is worse, far worse.
"A Hollow."
When Faraam answered that question, Razul raised his arms to fight, and went for a punch straight through the heart.
Clang
Faraam blocked by crossing both his swords in a perfect X shape.
Razul jumped back immediately, to create some distance for himself to analyze what had just transpired.
To block his attacks, this man must be powerful.
'Is it because of his race?' Razul thought to himself, as he regained his guard and stood his ground.
"You are dangerous and strange."
Razul slowly approached, moving in a curved line, rather than a straight line.
But Faraam was having none of this, he was not going to waste time, and ran firmly in a straight line at Razul.
Both of Faraam's weapons were ready, and so was he.
Razul raised his arms to block, but Faraam shifted from a slam down to a diagonal slash, which lead to both swords hitting Razul's left arm with a heavy amount of strength behind those hits.
Said left arm was pushed low, but it was not as damaged as Faraam thought it would be.
Razul, using his free right arm, attempted to grab a hold of Faraam's neck, which only lead to Faraam's right sword hitting Razul's right Inner Elbow area, once again, not much visible damage to be seen.
Trying once more to regain his guard, Razul jumped back again, but was immediately chased by Faraam, who tackled him to the ground.
They began exchanging blows, Faraam using his gauntlets, and Razul using his armor-like hands.
Again and again, Faraam hit Razul's head, but his exoskeleton kept together, not sustaining that much damage.
Pushing Faraam aside, Razul immediately grabbed Faraam from the back of his neck and pulled him into a headbutt, which sent the latter stumbling backwards a little.
Taking that chance, Razul followed up with such speed, and released a blow with such force to it, it would shatter the normal skull with just the shockwave.
But for Faraam, this meant much more, he can't have his helmet breaking, it's almost sacred to him now, this was his identity that Razul was attempting to break.
Faraam, using whatever power he could muster within those few moments, strafed to the right, and the attack went flying past him, but the harder part was maintaining his balance from the shockwave when he had bad footing.
That is what Faraam thought, until he grabbed a hold of one of his swords that was on the ground, and immediately spun around and hit Razul's head with an almost equal force.
Razul staggered a little, and then they began wrestling each other.
This all was happening as the demons took this chance to advance on Ingrassia, leaving the frontier in utter chaos.
There was no one in the clear advantage, Razul's body was maybe tougher than even the armor of legend he sought after, Havel's Armor.
As for Faraam, his physical strength might have been higher, and he might be more experienced in these life or death situations...
But both had experience and combat prowess that put entire armies to shame, and so, the battle continued.
Someone was watching this battle with a particular interest, not directly, however.
Through one of his demon proxies, and in his boredom, the Lord of Darkness, Guy Crimson, observed this fight.
He wondered who was this person that just arrived out of nothing, he wanted to confront him, but he decided to keep watching.
He can't have Razul dying, the "Guardian God of the West" is far too valuable to the balance to be killed.
But it didn't seem like anyone of these two would come out as the victor regardless.
"Interesting..
Raine, keep track of this.. "Person"..."
"As you wish, Lord Guy."
A smile crept on Guy's face as the battle dragged on for over an hour at this point.
In a vast land, stood two entities fighting each other.
An Insectar with a body nigh-unbreakable, and a man with an unbending will and an armor shining like the moon.
It had been long since both began combat, and it seems like the combat was beginning to end as both were nearing their limit.
But Faraam and Razul showed no signs of backing down so long the other wanted to continue.
Faraam grasped his weapons tightly and sent himself going at Razul with his will to keep fighting fueling him.
Razul prepared to deflect the attack with his arms, but ultimately...
Razul was knocked to the ground as he could not maintain holding Faraam back anymore.
Faraam stood over Razul, who managed to barely stand up.
Both of them looked like they were about to lose consciousness..
"Enough.. of this.
I must get back to serve my duty."
"...."
Faraam lowered his arms as they started to flail around, his stamina was completely exhausted.
"Good fight."
Razul left to continue killing more demons, as Faraam fell on his knees.
His exhaustion had caught up to him, this fight was extremely close, any of them could have shattered the other with any hit at any time.
After what seemed to be hours laying there on the ground, still no signs of his stamina coming back, Faraam decided to use one of those "Skills" he had obtained.
He sat upright and thought of that skill, he thought of the bonfires he used to rest at and refill his Estus Flasks at, those bonfires he used for ease of traversal.
And then, he felt himself lose the souls he had just gained from the demons, and he lost something deep within his soul, he didn't know how, but he felt weaker.
But a bonfire appeared after a cloud of smoke erupted, as always.
The bonfire ignited with his command, and he rested.
He felt himself refreshed, his injuries slowly but surely healed, but the missing power within did not recover.
He did not care, for now he can move forward once more.
Going back to being a demon slayer, Faraam once more engaged in battle with all sorts of demons, with no set destination.
He thought they would stop coming at some point, oh how wrong he was.
But at one point, a clearing made itself.. well, clear.
A gate, a gate that stood tall, and it seemed to have nothing behind it.
Of course, Faraam has entered gates such as these, cauldron like gateways to the other crown lands, but it's always a confusing experience, getting used to the new feeling of the area.
He looked around, as demons came pouring from everywhere around the gate.
And then, he opened the doors, and saw the lands there.
Hellish, lush, fiery, fertile.
Total opposite worlds were what laid there, some destroyed, some guarded.
He decided to enter, maybe he'd find out where he is from here.
One thing he knew for sure, this is no normal human settlement, this is demonic territory.
The world shifted around him, and then, he stood over a meadow, lively and green.
But this meadow was tiny, as all the land around it was ablaze.
Such was the paradoxical world where the demons lived.
His journey anew, Faraam bega
n moving through the lands, killing the demons that once stood in his path.
That is... Until he came across the abyss itself.
The one who embodies the abyss.
To be continued,
Faraam will meet the Father of the Abyss, and from there, they both will meet the demons of the Underworld.
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Well, I sure hope you enjoyed this first chapter.
Thank you for reading.
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