Chapter 77 - #77: Dark Souls Promotional Video

Chapter 77: Chapter #77: Dark Souls Promotional Video

[TN: Some may be confused here, because it said Dark Souls, but the one Ethan chose to develop first is Dark Souls 3. The video that he streamed is the trailer for Dark Souls 3.]

Before any imagery appeared on the screen, the deep, weathered voice of an old woman echoed through the darkened hall.

Her tone was heavy with the weight of forgotten history, thick with sorrow and reverence.

[Yes, indeed. It is called Lothric.]

A low, hollow bell tolled. The camera pushed forward through the fog of history, revealing a sky choked with ash and howling wind.

The world was ruined and muddy. A vast wasteland lay shrouded in dense, suffocating dust.

All that remained were the crumbling spires of decayed cities and the shattered remnants of forgotten statues. It was a world reduced to gray rock and ash.

Where is this? The audience wondered. The old woman’s voice returned to answer them.

[Where the transitory lands of the Lords of Cinder converge.]

The camera panned up, as if someone were standing on a high peak overlooking the devastation.

A single ray of golden sunlight pierced through the thick, swirling clouds, illuminating the ruined city below.

Even beneath the gray dust, the remnants of the city’s former glory were visible. The towering, fractured stone pillars and the wind-eroded battlements radiated a heavy, undeniable epic grandeur.

But the sky was filled with ash.

The broken kings had been buried by the sand, and the weathered stone walls were crumbling into the abyss.

A low, mournful orchestral arrangement began to swell.

The sweeping strings rose sharply, perfectly capturing the bleak, desolate tragedy of this forgotten age.

[In venturing north, the pilgrims discover the truth of the old words—]

Through the blinding ash storm, a line of hunched pilgrims trudged forward. They leaned heavily on dry, wooden staves, their backs burdened by massive, iron-chained tortoise shells.

Thick layers of ragged cloth wrapped their heads.

They marched stubbornly into the biting wind, their heavy footsteps sinking deep into the gray dust. The road ahead was completely obscured.

The drums kicked in, heavy and rhythmic.

A haunting piano melody joined the strings as the golden sunlight finally broke through the dust storm, revealing the towering silhouette of an ancient, royal capital.

[The fire fades.]

[And the lords go without thrones.]

One of the pilgrims, crushed beneath the weight of his iron-chained shell, collapsed to the ground. He was instantly swallowed by the endless sand.

The rusted shell was quickly buried, erased by the wind.

DOONG—

Another deep, heavy bell tolled in the distance. The sound echoed across the dead world, ringing out again and again.

Beneath the old woman’s narration, a haunting soprano began to sing a gothic hymn.

[When the link of fire is threatened, the bell tolls.]

The ancient city was dark and withered. There was no sound. No life.

[Unearthing the old Lords of Cinder from their graves...]

The music swelled with sudden, dramatic intensity, taking a sharp, violent turn.

Deep within a dark, jagged subterranean cavern, a massive pool of black sludge erupted from the earth, shimmering with twisted, golden motes of light.

[Aldrich, Saint of the Deep.]

The scene cut to a massive, ash-choked battlefield. Figures wearing pointed iron helms and clutching massive greatswords began to rise from the dust, one by one.

[Farron’s Undead Legion, the Abyss Watchers.]

A colossal machete slammed into the ground, sending a shockwave of dust into the air.

A towering, horrifying figure knelt in a ruined throne room.

Orange-red flames began to crackle and burn through his ashen, leathery skin.

Wearing a battered iron crown, the giant threw his head back and unleashed a deafening roar of absolute grief and despair.

The embers on his body violently ignited, engulfing him in a roaring inferno!

[And the reclusive lord of the Profaned Capital... Yhorm the Giant.]

As the giant lord stood up from his throne, his colossal silhouette eclipsed the light. His sheer, oppressive scale felt physically suffocating.

The orchestral chorus hit a breathtaking, thunderous climax.

The sheer weight of the music hit the audience like a physical storm.

[Only, in truth... the Lords will abandon their thrones.]

A hauntingly beautiful female vocal soared over the violent strings.

The camera cut to a pair of delicate, pale hands lifting a jagged, hollowed-out metal visor off a wooden table.

A few lonely candles flickered in the dark room.

A silver-haired girl knelt on the stone floor.

She gently placed the metal blindfold over her eyes and tilted her head up toward the faint, incoming light, as if dreaming of a future she could not see.

[And the Unkindled will rise.]

The thunderous choir refused to die down.

The pounding drums and the tolling bells continued their relentless march.

[Nameless, accursed Undead, unfit even to be cinder.]

In the pitch-black darkness, a single, fragile flame ignited.

[And so it is.]

[That ash seeketh embers.]

The cinematic faded to black.

The title card for Dark Souls reappeared.

The letters themselves seemed to ignite, burning brilliantly in the darkness like fresh wood thrown onto a roaring bonfire.

For several long seconds, the convention hall was dead silent. It was as if the audience couldn’t break free from the absolute shock of what they had just witnessed.

And then, the entire venue erupted.

The applause started as a ripple and exploded into a deafening, thunderous roar. The crowd was on their feet, screaming themselves hoarse.

"Holy fick! Holy fuck?! WHAT?!" Silver gasped, exhaling a massive, shaky breath.

He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his breath since the very first bell tolled.

"I can’t believe I didn’t get to go to E3 this year... This is a colossal loss..." he muttered, staring wide-eyed at his monitor.

His chat was moving so fast the text was literally unreadable.

[

Руслан Мэнов: IS THIS THE SECRET PROJECT HE’S BEEN HIDING?!

Zulkifli: Damn! I can literally hear the crowd losing their minds through the mic!

someguy: I thought Bloodborne was his absolute ceiling! Who knew he had something this epic waiting in the wings?!

easzay: SPROUT STUDIO IS UNTOUCHABLE. PRAISE NOVA.

nigma: The fire fades, and the lords go without thrones! CHILLS BRO CHILLS

maballs: Holy sh*t, when that Yhorm the Giant stood up, I actually started shaking. How do you even fight something that massive?!

]

"It’s just a convention. I’ve never regretted missing an expo in my life until today," Silver muttered.

He could only imagine the sheer, untouchable status Nova was going to hold in the industry after this presentation.

The cinematic trailer was dripping with a heavy, intoxicating sense of mystery and epic dark fantasy, leaving the community with endless room for speculation.

Even people who didn’t typically play video games felt an overwhelming urge to explore that ruined world after watching the trailer.

When the old woman’s narration echoed over the ash-covered wastelands, the art direction flawlessly captured the exact tone the players were craving.

It was a dying, tragic world singing a beautiful, melancholic dirge.

But what excited the players the most was the simple fact that this was a Nova game.

The entire community knew the sadist never relied purely on flashy graphics to sell his games.

He had violently drilled that concept into the global consciousness through a flawless track record of mechanical masterpieces.

If the cinematic looked this good, the gameplay was going to be industry-defining.

Standing on the stage, Ethan was now calmly explaining some of the core design philosophies behind the Dark Souls project.

But nobody watching the broadcast could actually process a word he was saying.

Everyone’s minds were still trapped in the cinematic—burning in the bonfire, staring up at the colossal giant lord shrouded in darkness.

Silver’s mind was completely blank. He just stared at the chat, letting the collective hype wash over him.

[

uppityup: Guys I just checked the Xbox store... THE CURRENT CONSOLES ARE SOLD OUT!!

propoverty: WAIT WHO IS BUYING THEM THIS FAST?!

LoreMaster: The next-gen console isn’t even out yet, and the current-gen stock is completely gone?!

GamerDad88: To be fair, the new games will have backwards compatibility, and the old machines will have upward scaling. It makes sense!

]

Silver blinked.

He quickly opened a new tab and navigated to the official Xbox hardware storefront.

When he saw the bright red [OUT OF STOCK] banner slapped across the current-generation console listings, he sat there in a daze.

He suddenly remembered how his chat used to ruthlessly mock him for being behind the times with his tech purchases. ’Bro really bought a pager in 2003 and a flip phone in 2010.’

He looked down at the sleek Xbox console resting proudly on his desk.

He finally had the ultimate trump card.

Gotcha!~

( ?° ?? ?°) ( ?° ?? ?°) ( ?° ?? ?°) ( ?° ?? ?°) ( ?° ?? ?°)

What do you all think? Did Ethan fumble by creating Dark Souls 3 before Dark Souls 1? Also, some stone is appreciated ( ?° ?? ?°).

You can support me at patreon.com/Chaos_King and read 25! Yes, 25 advanced Chapters.