"Ashen One," said the Firekeeper, "Can thoust still here my voice?"
Then, he woke up. Where? He did not know, or he couldn't comprehend it. For what he saw nothing but the pitch black void. No stars, no light, nothing, yet he could see himself and everything else clearly This was unfathomable, no impossible. How could something like this happen? He did not have much time to dwell on it because a voice said, "It was always my hope that I would never leave the shrine, yet here I am. With thoust, the man who broke the cycle" The Ashen One turned to see the Shrine Maiden in all of her shriveled glory. She gave a wicked smile.
"Come now Ashen One," she said, "Why so surprised? Thoust knows that death matters little to me and now little to you." The Ashen furrowed his brows, but the Handmaiden continued.
"I have no doubt that you are wondering where the Firekeeper is?" said the Handmaiden. The Ashen One nodded. As much as he hoped for her safety, he had the bad luck of always ending up in the worst situations possible. "Well, she isn't here," said the Handmaiden. "Although, I don't think you know where this is. This...is...well...think about it as your subconscious. This is the place where you go when you are in limbo between death and life. Too alive to pass on. Yet, too dead to awake. As for the Firekeeper, she-how do I tell this to you?" The Ashen One stood immediately and looked the Handmaiden directly in her eyes. The Handmaid's face was grave as if she was about to tell him of the death of a loved one, but then she broke into a smile again.
"Alive. She is in the real world. Although, I have no idea how she is doing." The Ashen One breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that his fate was to be damned, and he was destined to die as soon as he faced the Soul of Cinder. Regardless, he didn't want that fate for the Firekeeper. She had sacrificed and endured too much for an ending like that. Thinking about endings, he looked at the Handmaiden once again and tried to ask about the fate of his companions. Patches, Siegwad, Yurai, Orbeck, and all the others. What happened to them? When he tried to speak though, all that came out was, "Agrk." He grasped his throat and tried again. "Eshjk" was all that came out. Then, he remembered. He couldn't speak, not properly. Yet, it seemed that she understood him.
"Your friends?" she said "Sorry to say, I have no idea Ashen One. I am connected to the Firekeeper no one else." The Ashen One gave a dismayed look but remained silent. He wished - BOOM. The entire void rippled as did the Handmaiden. What was that? The Handmaid's smile was replaced with a serious face. "What was that?" she asked "That magic. Only Gwyn could match it." Then, it all began to fall apart.
It started with a crack. It was small, smaller than a single strand of hair, but one crack became two, then then four, then six, then it just continued. The void's ceiling broke, and bright white light shone through it. The Handmaiden yelled, "Ashen One!", but she soon evaporated into thin air. Suddenly, a bird's squawk could be, and it soon became clear why. A giant crow swooped down from the light, grabbed the Ashen, and flew directly to the source.
When the Ashen One awoke once again, he was not in a void anymore but a chapel, but it wasn't a normal chapel. It was unlit, windowless, and most likely underground, although he couldn't be too sure. Regardless, the Ashen One knew that nothing would happen if all he did was sit around and twiddle his thumbs, so he got up and began to explore the land. Without a doubt, he was in a gravesite, but it wasn't the Cemetary of Ash. Instead of Hollows running around, there were vampires, ghouls, and other creatures, and it didn't take them long to spot him.
An unearthly howl to the Ashen One's left made him turn. He saw a buxom Vampire Bride charging at him with jaws agape and claws extended. She swung at him with inhuman speed. Luckily, he barely dodged it and slashed, cutting off her arm. The Vampire Bride screamed but was soon silenced as the Ashen One decapitated her. Too late. Her sister was alerted, and they charged at him. One cast a sorcery that crushed his Knight Armor while the other dog piled on him, scratching, biting, and trying to tear him in two. Yet, they found no matter how hard they tried to pull his limbs from him they were unable, and no matter how hard they bit, they could not draw blood. The Ashen One switched his longsword for a Sage Crystal's Staff and cast Crystal Hail. Soon, small crystals fell down from the nonexistent sky and pierced all Vampire Brides and a few unlucky Ghouls. Moving faster than the demi human eye could see, the Ashe One switched his stave and shield for the Fume Ultra Greatsword and with one mighty slash cut all the Vampire Brides to their death. The ghouls that remained hid behind the gravestones or scurried away into the darkness.
As for the Ashen One, he wiped a fake sweat on top of his Knight's Helm and looked at the damage caused by the brides. Luckily, none of his weapons broke, but his armor was severely dented and crumpled. The Ashen One dove into a pouch that was strapped to his back and searched it. No, not that one. No, that was a whip. Oh, definitely not that one, and how did it get there? Probably Patches. Finally, he found it: Repair Powder. He sprinkled some on himself, and soon his armor was fixed. Now, what to do? For the first time in a long time, the Ashen One began to think.
Staying here isn't an option, he thought, But where should I go? I don't know where the bonfire could be, and I don't even know where I am. He pondered for a couple more moments. Well, If I can't stay here, and I can't go back, he continued, Then, I might as well continue forward. Sooner or later, I'm bound to bump into something useful...or someone. So, the Ashen One took a step forward, but then he stopped. A pounding sensation hit his forehead. It was like a jackhammer, and he felt as if his head would burst open any minute. What is this! He thought. He collapsed to his knees and grabbed his head, trying desperately to somehow stop the pain, but it was useless. Then, it came: the image. The firekeeper was strapped down onto some table naked. On top of her was some Grey Squid thing. It grabbed an instrument that looked like a scalpel, and then, skinned the Firekeeper alive. The Firekeeper tried to scream, but she was gagged by a dirty cloth.
The grey squid saw this and said, " . Now, is that any way for a lady to behave? You are acting so selfish, thinking about keeping all this skin to yourself. Don't you know how great it is at making scrolls for our Supreme Being? Ahhh, Ainz-sama… just thinking about him gets me...well you know. Still, I can't believe that he only looks at those two broads, Shalltear and Albedo. He should visit the 5th floor more often instead of..." The Ashen One began to not hear the Grey Squid's rant because he then began to hear the Firekeeper's thought. Ashen One she sobbed Where are thoust? Help me. Help me please, and as suddenly it began it ended. The Ashen One returned from the scene to the Graveyard. He had no idea what he saw, but he knew that it filed him with Wrath. The Firekeeper never hurt anyone, and she had sacrificed the most when it came to his journey. How dare they do that to her? HOW. DARE. THEY. I am going to find her, and I am going to kill that Grey Squid he thought. How was he going to get there though? He knew that the squid was on the 5th floor, but he had no idea where he was. Hmmm… he thought. Of course! He had no idea, but these brides would. Reaching out his hand, the Ashen One drew the souls to himself. It all became clear.
He was in a place called the Tomb of Nazarick and was currently on the Third Floor. The grey squid he saw was Neuronist Painkiller, who was the official torturer of some skeleton lord named Ainz Ooal Gown. If he wanted to reach the Firekeeper, he had to pass a giant lake guarded by a Golem called Gargantua and enter the Glacier Floor. This was guarded by two people, a psycho name Nigredo and a giant beetle named Cocytus. If he could beat those two, then he could enter the Frozen Prison and finally rescue her. The path was clear, but he wasn't ready just yet. Reaching into his pouch once again, he switched his Longsword and Shield for the Exile's Greatsword. He wasn't just going to kill those who were in his way. He was going to make them suffer.