Gun of Ashes

”What does it feel like?” Eve asked.

”Very strange, hard to describe, like you know something bad is going to happen.”

This feeling had appeared a long time ago, but Pres didn’t pay much attention to it. However, as time passed, it became more intense.

Eve’s face changed slightly; although the light was dim, her change still caught Pres’s attention. Pres was somewhat surprised and, after a brief thought, cautiously asked.

”Could it be...”

”That’s right, I have that feeling too.”

Eve said straightforwardly without any cover-up.

The main source of intelligence for this operation was Eve. Actually, she had also started to doubt all of this, and the cause of it all was a few weeks ago, when Eve was investigating the case related to hallucinogens. She then met the Inferior Rat and obtained a lot of secretive information.

In hindsight, Eve realized the abruptness and irrationality of it all. It seemed that it wasn’t she who found the mysterious Inferior Rat, but the Inferior Rat was waiting to be found by her, as if someone secretly orchestrated everything.

Pres’s feeling was quite peculiar. He recalled that bizarre night when the mounted police attempted to attack the Underground Palace but encountered that mysterious brigade and the Red Falcon, who provided him with firearms at the time.

Although Lorenzo tried to avoid all of this, Pres was still tainted by the darkness. He could feel the unknown fear, which made him wary.

As the two were conversing, a violent explosion sounded, and in this closed space, the scorching blast swept over them. The impact of the high temperature directly knocked over Donas at the front, making the hot air hard to breathe, and a few officers almost fainted.

But at this moment, panicked footsteps sounded, and firearms were raised, extremely vigilant.

A somewhat fearful and immature voice sounded.

”No... don’t shoot!”

Em was coughing painfully; the scorching heat seemed to have burned him. He raised his hands and emerged from the fog. Donas had already drawn his handgun, but he never expected the one to come out would be a child.

...

Several minutes earlier.

”Are we not going further?”

Em asked the man beside him, somewhat afraid. He closed his eyes but could see the flowing light through the gap of his eyelids.

Lorenzo kept his eyes shut and suddenly stopped after sprinting a distance, standing still amid the hot mist, not minding the heat.

Em was already feeling breathless, each inhalation and exhalation accompanied by intense pain, as if hot water was being poured into his lungs.

”They’ve come back.”

Lorenzo suddenly said.

He didn’t want to expand the scope of the incident, just like the rules of the Purification Mechanism; events in the darkness should end in the darkness. Demons shouldn’t be rampaging on the streets of Old Dunling in broad daylight. So he quickly acted after Ban’er detonated the steam pipeline, suspecting he was already reaching the exit and thus sealing these routes.

But then, the subtle noise made him change his mind.

The dense sound of metal whistles, this was too familiar. Somehow, the mounted police of Suyalan Hall had joined this chaos as well.

Back again?

While Em was pondering what was going on, Lorenzo suddenly covered his mouth and turned his back, letting that scorching light face the darkness.

The unlucky kid thought Lorenzo was going to harm him violently. But then, footsteps sounded; Ban’er and the others had returned.

Em’s heart turned cold, amidst the hot steam, yet he felt no warmth, like a monster running swiftly towards them. The footsteps grew closer, about to approach the two, when they suddenly changed direction, heading towards another dark route.

Ban’er brushed past Lorenzo; if he got just a bit closer, he would discover Lorenzo, but the pervasive mist and darkness perfectly concealed Lorenzo’s silhouette.

”Looks like Suyalan Hall is blocking the gates.”

Lorenzo whispered, no time to care why Suyalan Hall appeared here. This sudden turn of events actually impeded Lorenzo’s actions; it seemed these people wouldn’t take him to see the mastermind.

”Run ahead, Em, you might encounter a group of officers, so my advice is to run while raising your hands.”

Lorenzo said.

Em still didn’t quite understand, but saw Lorenzo directly take out a shotgun and aim it at him. While Em was perplexed, Lorenzo fired directly, and gunfire erupted.

The boy ran as if his life depended on it, running straight forward according to Lorenzo’s instructions. And Lorenzo, as if enjoying a dark amusement, occasionally fired at Em, yet the bullets never hit him. Instead, they burst the steam pipes above, and scorching steam surged again, filling the entire corridor.

Such adverse conditions would slow down the officers’ progress. Though their purpose was unknown, Lorenzo didn’t want them involved in this melee, especially since those bizarre hallucinogens were still around, which might turn into a demon war at any moment.

He rounded the corner; dew droplets condensed on the Folding Blade, flowing slowly.

Ban’er continued forward with the hallucinogen; his life had entered a countdown. Yet, knowing your own death date, some things weren’t that frightening anymore. He looked down at the hallucinogen in his hand, the dazzling starlight enchanting and captivating.

Despite working in transporting hallucinogens, Ban’er had never tried this stuff. His life was like that of an Ascetic Monk.

He was one of the Exiled People, filled with anger, not accepted by Ingwig nor recognized by Gaulunaro, living in the gap between both, without a home.

Ban’er was a leftover problem of war, belonging to a group that shouldn’t exist.

He once thought he would suffer like this forever until someone said, since no one accepts us, then let’s build our own Celestial Kingdom.

”I will ascend to the Celestial Kingdom...”

Ban’er repeated again, but it was in the sweltering air that fiercely surged, and the Warrior’s intuition warned him. He turned suddenly and saw the evil wolf in the darkness.

Bright pupils burned, like a beast of the night, an illusion like some monster was secretly watching them.

Ban’er’s spirit trembled for a moment but was followed by the explosive flames bursting from gunfire.

The Red Dragon breathed, igniting metal magnesium particles with fire, rushing from the gun barrel with dazzling firelight, forming a terrifying flame stream that lit up this dim space. Meanwhile, the flame stream kept moving forward, making the damp air dry out, and in this heating, made breathing even more uncomfortable.

The Dragon Breath Bullet didn’t have any remarkable lethality; after the metal magnesium particles were ignited and launched from the barrel, its kinetic energy lethality had already approached zero. Its more frequent attack method was burn and spread fear.

Lorenzo’s shot indeed achieved intimidation; everyone was stunned. Using this brief illumination, Lorenzo, relying on his excellent night vision, locked on several people’s precise positions. The light quickly vanished, and the Folding Blade was already upon them.

He didn’t need too many alive, just one would be enough.

With no chance to resist, the sudden intense light in the darkness made everyone’s eyes uncomfortable. After the light disappeared, the remaining light and shadow still blurred their vision, and then the cold Folding Blade directly slit their throats, freezing the scene in darkness forever.

Everything happened so fast that by the time the second person fell painfully in the dark, Ban’er only just recovered from the panic. The bizarre monster was still executing the killing in the darkness; he could hear the sharp whistle of steel cutting through the air and could sense that fear being spread.

The scorching white flames danced in the darkness, leaving ghostly trails of light in their eyes.

”F-fire!”

At this moment, another person broke free from the terror, pulling the trigger, and as he raised his gun, everyone fired together. The dense flames continued to flash and extinguish in the darkness, the steel pellets weaving into a lethal rain of arrows.

They hit the target, but then the pellets bounced off the shadow, seeming to collide with steel, sparking brief firelight.

What was that?

Ban’er had no idea what he was facing, and in the next second, that gaze stared at him, right in front, staring at the flame, as if facing daylight, scorching his soul.