Gun of Ashes

”So this is your guess?”

The rain outside cleansed Old Dunling, as if washing away all filth, while the candlelight inside burned quietly, melted wax overflowing and then solidifying.

The Plague Doctor listened to the story Lawrence told, not long or complicated, merely a snapshot of an old man’s life of ups and downs.

”Yes, I suspect Lorenzo de’ Medici isn’t dead. He’s managed the Evangelical Church for so long; I can’t believe he hasn’t read the ’Revelation.’” Lawrence’s eyes were dark, feeling as though an invisible enemy had appeared before him.

”Even I can find ways to ’immortality’ within it. How could Lorenzo de’ Medici possibly not find his own ’immortality’?”

Lawrence thought as he picked up a black-and-white photo from the table, depicting a familiar person, Lorenzo Holmes.

”Lawrence...”

The Plague Doctor thought of something, feeling a surge of terror, he spoke with some fear.

”You’re not the first to discover this Authority, Authority·Gabriel.”

Lawrence nodded stiffly, his voice somewhat heavy.

”Lorenzo de’ Medici... that man dominated my life. I was enslaved to his control of the Demon Hunting Order, until one day he grew old. Yet even then, he wasn’t willing to die. In his later years, he was deliberately plotting something. Some say he was searching for ’immortality’.”

”Is that really so?” the Plague Doctor asked.

Lawrence was briefly silent, then sighed deeply.

”He indeed searched for ’immortality.’ He said at the time he needed Demon Hunters as long-term guards and subsequently took a rookie Demon Hunter away from the Order.”

He spoke casually, yet the suddenly evoked memories filled him with fear.

The past memories began to clarify, piercing through the mystery in Lawrence’s heart instantly, his pupils constricted, and everything became logical.

”Yes... that’s how it is. Lorenzo de’ Medici found Authority·Gabriel as well. Through this power, he usurped the life of that Demon Hunter to live on.”

The Plague Doctor’s heart sank as well, thinking they were the puppeteers behind the curtain, but deeper in the darkness, still a pair of eyes watching all this.

”Was the Demon Hunter taken away Lorenzo Holmes?”

This was why Lawrence was so focused on Lorenzo. After the deadly duel on the train, not only the name ”Lorenzo” but also his various oddities led Lawrence to suspect in this direction.

He was the biggest winner of the Night of the Holy Arrival, Lorenzo de’ Medici was the true victor.

”No... actually, I don’t know who the taken Demon Hunter was. Lorenzo de’ Medici still had strong hidden power, and I needed his help at the time... After Lorenzo de’ Medici fell, those dignitaries wished me dead. A Demon Hunter as Cardinal frightened them too much.”

Lawrence narrated the past known only to him.

”Lorenzo de’ Medici’s secrecy was well-executed. To this day, we can only speculate about his deeds, can’t we?”

”However, that Demon Hunter wasn’t Lorenzo Holmes. I remember him, he was 047, a Demon Hunter named Medanzo...”

”What exactly is going on?” the Plague Doctor seemed confused.

”I don’t know either, and that’s what we must do now. The taken Demon Hunter’s whereabouts still unknown, yet Lorenzo Holmes who appeared now seems like Lorenzo de’ Medici... Just like I said, Plague Doctor, this Authority has great side effects.”

”Memory chaos?”

”Exactly, we shuttle between different wills, different lives intertwine with ours, becoming chaotic. In this suffocating night, we need a Venus to guide our path.”

Lawrence furrowed his brows, continuing to analyze the situation.

”Lorenzo de’ Medici never underwent the Divine Favor Baptism, he didn’t receive the bizarre memories, hence he required something else as ’Venus.’”

”Name,” the Plague Doctor said.

Lawrence nodded affirmatively.

”That’s also why I suspect Lorenzo Holmes; he used his name as Venus.”

”But it’s merely a suspicion.”

”Indeed, but even suspicion is enough to make one wary. Plague Doctor, you’ve never seen Lorenzo de’ Medici, he’s a pure human with a pure will.”

Lawrence maintained a sense of awe, never having feared anyone in his life, but Lorenzo de’ Medici was one of them. Each encounter brought a rock-like pressure, as if he would die the next second.

He once believed Lorenzo de’ Medici was dead, but now he’s returned like a Ghost. For a moment, Lawrence seemed to revert to that powerless slave, living only at his permission.

”Some other things must have happened during the Night of the Holy Arrival, but I don’t know, nor can I know, just like how we can’t ascertain whether this guess is true or false right now.”

Lawrence picked up the remaining photos, faces familiar in black-and-white images.

”But the solution is simple: just kill them all. Whether it’s Lorenzo de’ Medici or not, kill them.”

Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded, Lawrence and the Plague Doctor exchanged a brief glance, the Plague Doctor turned around, and called out.