Gun of Ashes

The two watched the burning figure, the pitch-black armor was decaying from Lorenzo’s body, the soaring Secret Blood gradually calming down, the black blade in his hand seeming to slice through despair like the Angel’s Sword.

Looking at this damned detective, Bola felt a mix of emotions for a moment, finally his voice became somewhat choked.

”Damn it! Damn it! I think I’m bloody in love with this madman!”

Bola was somewhat incoherent, while on the other side Blue Jade also breathed a sigh of relief, slumping down powerlessly. If she weren’t so utterly exhausted, she would have wanted to express some joy.

”I have no interest in men, move aside.”

Lorenzo had already alleviated his emotions from Ed’s death, cursing and swearing, returning to his former self.

”How… did you do it?”

Blue Jade looked at the large bloodstains outside the door, fully aware of how many demons were outside. Even if they stood still allowing Lorenzo to cut, he couldn’t possibly kill so many demons in such a short time.

Lorenzo gave his answer to this.

”They retreated, I only intercepted a small portion... I guess you can also feel it, the Nightmare Illusion is lifted, presumably because that Dream Builder died. But the question is, who killed him?”

Listening to the explanation, although some words from the Demon Hunting Order were unfamiliar to Bola, he understood that the greatest difficulty of this mission had been resolved; the time for counterattack had arrived.

”The nightmare is lifted, I suppose those soldiers should be waking up... Move, Bola! If you’re not dead, get moving! The crisis isn’t over yet!”

Lorenzo spoke as he kicked the prone Bola, ignoring his severe injuries. It seemed Lorenzo had imposed the Demon Hunter’s standard on him, with the Hunter’s physique, as long as there’s a breath left, one can still fight, stubborn to a terrifying degree.

”What do you want to do next?”

Bola was somewhat confused, wondering what Lorenzo was planning to do; this detective seemed unusually diligent, as if rushing to kill.

”Recover that so-called Holy Coffin, it’s more complex than you imagine.”

This time Lorenzo was serious; everything before was undertaken from a detective’s perspective, but now what drove him was the identity of a Demon Hunter, and as one, he had to do this.

”How do we use this thing?”

On the complex control panel, those things were incomprehensible to Lorenzo. His greatest regret in Old Dunling was not learning about steam mechanics, the core technology of Ingwig. To master such knowledge, one’s background had to be extremely clean, given Lorenzo’s complex background, he’d likely be arrested as a spy the second day.

”It’s in emergency brake status and has been stagnant for a long time, we need to restore power, and then get the engine running.”

Just then the driver woke up, though unclear what happened, seeing the injuries on these two upper-rank Knights, Bola and Blue Jade, he could guess somewhat.

”Friend, you woke up just in time, then quickly get this thing moving!”

Lorenzo shouted, he was incredibly anxious now.

The driver frantically operated on the control panel, nodding furiously.

”Then it’s your turn.”

Lorenzo’s gaze turned to Bola and Blue Jade.

”What… what are you going to do?”

Bola sensed something was off about the detective, the blazing white flames slowly fading, emitting a deathly ash.

”Nothing, just planning to make something pay the price.”

As he spoke, Lorenzo squatted down, reached for Bola’s chest communicator, the indicator light turned green, after the Nightmare Illusion ended, the abnormal effect interfering with communication vanished.

”Wait! Lorenzo!”

Bola struggled to rise, attempting to stop Lorenzo, but was pressed down by Lorenzo’s foot on his chest, unable to move, watching as this damned detective adjusted the channel before speaking.

”Attention everyone, wake up those nearby who haven’t yet woken up!”

He was furious, full of rage.

”This is Mr. Lorenzo Holmes, I’m now in charge of the entire operation, everyone enter combat readiness, bullets loaded, the only command is to kill every non-human entity within sight.”

”Lorenzo, you madman, what exactly are you doing?”

Bola shouted, but Lorenzo gave him no chance, clipping the communicator on his chest, he spoke fiercely.

”You’re dismissed, Bola.”

”You’re insane, this is the Purification Mechanism’s force, you are our suspect!”

Bola was almost driven mad by this detective, mere hours ago Lorenzo had been Bola’s captive, now he was about to command the entire operation force.

”No, this time I’m serious, Bola, you have no idea what you’ve lost, I’d say you shouldn’t have touched this thing to begin with!”

It was something named killing intent, the mad aura emanating from this Demon Hunter was spine-chilling, the only difference being Lorenzo appeared human compared to a demon.

”So if you want to make up for your mistake, listen to me exclusively now, do you understand?”

Bola stared blankly at him, it was a side of this detective he had never seen, an overwhelmingly forceful aspect, but before he could speak, Lorenzo spoke again.

”I think you’ll agree, sir, I’m the only one here who can solve this problem.”

This sentence wasn’t addressed to Bola, nor to Blue Jade, nor to anyone present, his target of conversation was the Purification Mechanism far in Old Dunling, the mysterious Broken Dome.

Lorenzo’s was a full-channel broadcast, not only could the soldiers on the train hear it, but also the Broken Dome that monitored everything.

Time ticked by second by second, feeling like an eternity, and then a weathered voice came through the communicator.

”By [Arthur]’s authority, I transfer command to you, Lorenzo Holmes.”

Beneath that distant and vast dome, in the massive and complex command center, everyone was bustling about, placing report after report into capsules, which rapidly transmitted along brass pipes, extending all the way down to the dark depths below.

Someone picked up this report, promptly documenting the date and archiving it, beneath lay a huge pool filled with insulating fluid, with intricate difference engines like towering copper pillars performing frantic calculations under the pool, a suffocating mechanical artistry embodying human achievement.

The orders from Arthur released layer by layer, ultimately reaching this train below the gray haze.

Everyone heard the order, some unclear of who Lorenzo Holmes was, others knew, showing shocked expressions.

After a long while, Blue Jade on the other side shakily raised her hand.

”What should we do?”

Looking at the awakened female knight, Lorenzo nodded in appreciation before saying to her.

”First, get this damn train moving!”

”But sir, the track ahead has been destroyed by those twisted fleshy masses!”

The driver said, once the Radiant starts, it won’t run far before derailing, but Lorenzo didn’t care about this, looking at the driver.

”Are you telling me, without tracks we can’t move forward?”

The reasoning... theoretically possible, but anyone who practically attempts it is a fool, just like a human can survive in lava, but at most only for a few minutes, the logic clear but the driver wouldn’t say it aloud. This fellow was as intimidating as a murderous god, if he’s displeased, what if he cuts you down?

”Lorenzo, you’re just a lunatic now.”

Bola started cursing again but was firmly stomped down by Lorenzo.

”But even if we don’t flip over after derailing, the ground can’t withstand the Radiant, we still won’t get far.”

Blue Jade had forgotten previous sadness, disregarding pain, calmly analyzing.

”Precisely, but we don’t need to go that far, do we?”

Lorenzo’s gaze turned ahead, penetrating layers of steel, extending towards the verdant lighthouse, the Radiant was already close to it.

Very close, very close, only a final short distance awaited Lorenzo’s conquest.