Realizing that the team held an overwhelming advantage over the hollows, he spend what felt like the next several hours teaching anyone unfamiliar with Dark Souls the intricacies of the franchise, especially how simple it is to grind out an area like this by 'resetting the world' at a bonfire. With his knowledge of the game and his team's ever-growing experience, David led the group all the way through the Undead Burgh, and up the tower towards the wall overlooking all of Lordran. All that remained was the boss, the Taurus Demon, that patrolled the wall.

"Alright everyone, gather up" he said as he stepped to the front of the group "Beyond this gate of fog and smoke is our first real challenge, the first proper boss fight. So here's the plan....."

But it was all for naught, for just as the group stepped beyond the gate, psyched up and confident in their plan to steamroll the Demon, they found no challenge awaiting them. Instead, on the far side of the wall, they saw the great beast slumped and defeated, heaving its last breaths, kneeling in front of it, they made out the shape of a human, glowing a deep blood-red hue. It moved swiftly, cutting the Demon's throat and absorbing its soul. It stood and turned towards the heroes, gave a snarky wave, and vanished into thin air.

"What the..???" David frantically tapped at the device on his arm "Navi, what the hell?"
"It's the Default. It appears they have an avatar in a separate rendering of the game world, and they discovered the best way to impede your progress would be to use the invasion mechanic to steal the soul you need to progress"
"What are our options here?"
"If they claim the key construct before you, they will have a clear advantage going forward, and all of your efforts to this point would be rendered futile. Scanning. . . Complete. I can harness the game world's natural corruption to move you towards the second challenge. Of course, it appears that the missing soul will be necessary as you move towards the third challenge... Analyzing.... I've found a fragment of code that may be of service. You will be able to obtain an item to invade the Default world as they have yours, by tracking down the avatar and defeating it, you will be able to reclaim the first soul"

David turned to the others "What do you think guys?"