Gun of Ashes

During the rapid advance, Lorenzo could hear the rushing sound of water, and the pale searchlights kept magnifying in his vision; he never thought he’d return here in the end.

The entire underground space was intricate, and due to limited visibility, Lorenzo had no clue where Ban’er was fleeing to. All he could do was stick closely to this damned demon to prevent it from escaping his sight.

The confined space suddenly opened up, and bursting through the permeating steam, the cold air flooded his nostrils; this abrupt change made Lorenzo feel a lot more comfortable, as the previous combat environment felt like a slaughter in a dark furnace.

There were no living people here anymore; as Lorenzo passed through, he killed all those using hallucinogens.

”New... Secret Blood?”

Although still dim, there was enough light here for Lorenzo to closely observe Ban’er’s form.

Unlike the previous inferior Secret Blood, from Ban’er’s strength, it at least seemed to be an enhanced version, making Lorenzo extremely uneasy.

Lawrence was already dead, but the lost ”Revelation” continued to produce Secret Blood, and their research was evidently advancing rapidly.

Ban’er let out another piercing scream; this combat environment was quite unfavorable for it, but Lorenzo wouldn’t give it another chance to escape—he was going to end this demon right here.

The shotgun fired continuously to suppress the demon; its multiple slender arms hugged together, attempting to shield against Lorenzo’s gunfire, but with the next shot, the dense arrow-shaped slug nailed into its body, followed by a burning sensation that tormented the demon.

The arrow-shaped slug was plated with a touch of Holy Silver, like scattered arrow rain fiercely embedding into the demon’s body, and at this moment Lorenzo charged up again, dense black armor extending from his wrist.

Just as Lorenzo had done before, the proliferating armor enveloped the folding blade, instantly extending it by dozens of centimeters like an obsidian long sword, then fiercely chopping down.

Having endured multiple attacks, the raised arms now bore wounds difficult to heal, and Lorenzo’s strike directly severed several of its limbs, cutting through like dense forest, bringing Ban’er’s body within reach.

Ban’er swung its remaining arms, forcefully embedding into the wall, the bone blade stabbing repeatedly, climbing upward along the wall. Lorenzo lacked this many arms, unable to keep up, but the demon already lost its sanity, forgetting about Lorenzo’s previously fired hook gun.

This was a weapon customized for Lorenzo, though experimental, taking into account high-intensity battles Lorenzo might face, with extremely high rope strength that hadn’t been severed in previous combat.

Lorenzo directly pulled the rope, ascending together with Ban’er, like a desperate pursuer, grasping the rope to sprint up the wall in a manner beyond convention. As he approached Ban’er, he viciously swung the folding blade, directly severing part of the arms, destabilizing Ban’er’s figure, but soon the bone blade deeply embedded into the wall, stabilizing its stance.

At this point, the demon realized the approaching Death God; the bone blade slashed at Lorenzo, but Lorenzo displayed extreme agility, pulling the rope to sprint to the opposite side of the wall, dodging the attack while forcefully kicking off the wall, causing himself to swing.

He swung a large arc centered on Ban’er, releasing his grip at the highest point, sending himself soaring.

Ban’er’s clouded gaze watched the rising fiercely white, clueless about Lorenzo’s intentions, but Lorenzo’s subsequent actions induced instinctual fear within it.

The Demon Hunter, leveraging the swinging force, ascended again, kicking off the wall above Ban’er’s head, then fiercely white flames descended from the sky.

Amidst gravitational pull and the Demon Hunter’s low roar, the fiercely white flame became a pure white scorching line, starting from Ban’er’s head, down its spine, piercing entirely through.

Brilliant glows separated life and death clearly.

Like an executioner’s guillotine, Lorenzo descended from the sky, the obsidian folding blade firmly embedded into the ground amidst a mighty impact that stirred dust.

After a second or two, the impact from the high fall was eased by Lorenzo, who slowly stood up; immediately afterward, Ban’er also fell from above. As it descended, terrifying wounds tore along that pure white line, blood splashed cleanly, revealing the blood and bone beneath.

In the wall’s mid-air, all its arms were used for climbing, at a seemingly safe height without strength to protect its fragile body, allowing the Demon Hunter to find a kill opportunity.

The ground impact caused further damage, the broken arms became lethal swords, during the impact again embedding into its own body like spears, piercing from its back.

Lorenzo won, just like a victor, treading over blood and dust, he walked towards Ban’er.

This felt like some marvelous stage, searchlight’s afterglow perfectly illuminating everything here, blood continuously gushing from Ban’er’s wounds, its heart pumping forcefully, but every forceful beat pushed more blood from the wounds.

The body was so enormous, Lorenzo appeared frail in comparison, stepping up Ban’er’s body, he picked up the folding blade and pierced through the firmly beating heart.

Clouded eyes glared at Lorenzo, and at this moment, Lorenzo drew out the folding blade, the surging blood followed, his next move aimed to sever Ban’er’s head.

But suddenly the demon moved again, struggling upright, swinging arms, crazed attacking.

Broken arms flailed randomly, mostly already broken, fractured bones connected through flesh, bone blades drawn from the body splashing what little blood remained, swinging forcefully like whips.

This was a last-ditch attack before death; Lorenzo was well-prepared, backward retreating, simultaneously firing the shotgun, blasting Ban’er’s head into pulp, metal pellets shredding its skull, crimson flesh clearly visible beneath the fractured bones.

Yet this failed to halt the madness; it fiercely pushed Lorenzo, finally pressing him into the back’s water channel.

This was Furnace Pillar’s water entrance, massive water flow washing over Lorenzo, but it wasn’t over yet; Ban’er also leaped into the channel, within the surging water flow, it continuously pressed Lorenzo backward, pushing him to the grated iron barrier at the end, a small gap; through this barred gap, accessing the Thames River.

Perhaps that’s where Ban’er longed to go, though now a demon, its last death wish still held some influence.

Bone blades embed into surroundings, stabilizing its figure within rapid water flow, attempting to drown Lorenzo inside the water channel; meanwhile, other arms weren’t idle, slashing open the iron barrier, propelling Lorenzo out of the channel.

Both monsters fully immersed in water, yet with another exertion, Lorenzo shattered.

Yes, shattered; he could clearly feel the sharp bone blade easily ripping through his armor, Lorenzo was shredded like paper in the water flow.

It... seemed to have won, but immediately afterward, the folding blade sans armor pierced through its brain from behind, drew out, swung again, directly severing the entire head.

In dark blue river water, Lorenzo swam from the demon’s corpse behind; being pressed into the channel, he discarded the armor, what Ban’er grasped was merely his discarded remnant.

He swam upwards, the thoroughly killed demon drove by water flow backward, again re-entering the channel, finally intercepted, piled with filthy debris.

Seconds later, Lorenzo surfaced, embedding the folding blade into bank, forcefully climbing up, immediately kneeling to retch, spewing quite a bit of river water.

Breathing heavily, Lorenzo never expected this hunt to be so exhausting, but not allowing him much rest, footsteps approached, steadily moving toward Lorenzo, prompting him to grip the folding blade warily, ready for another fight when familiar faces appeared in view.

”Ka... Kamu?”

Lorenzo uncertainly uttered; Kamu was a vagrant, an Inferior Rat, but the neatly dressed person before him was far from fitting the term vagrant.

Kamu just laughed, seemingly having anticipated Lorenzo’s demeanor.

”Good afternoon, Mr. Lorenzo Holmes.”

He said, but before Lorenzo could continue questioning, Kamu interrupted all of Lorenzo’s inquiries with a single sentence.

”The Rat King wants to see you.”