Gun of Ashes

The old man suddenly began telling a mythological story.

”They are beings that bring death, and those humans who look upon them will join their hunt, pursuing and hunting under the pitch-black night sky.”

”Think carefully, 042, don’t view it through the lens of mythology, but see it as something real, something intelligible... Tell me what you think.” The old man encouraged.

”A group of unknown entities possessing extraordinary powers... Do they conduct some kind of hunt? Hunt specific people and all who see them, and they exist in multiple regions?” 042’s description was dry; he didn’t know how to portray all of this.

”More or less, I learned of this myth by chance, but later, after they came to kill me, I connected them to the Wild Hunt and found all the stories complete.”

The old man’s expression was no longer the excitement of before, but instead, an extreme calmness.

”They are similar entities to the Wild Hunt... No, perhaps they are the ’Wild Hunt’ of myth themselves, only people don’t understand what they are and can only name them ’Wild Hunt’ and deify them.”

”What are you talking about, sir?” 042 grew increasingly confused by his words, while the uneasiness in his heart grew stronger, boiling into fear.

”Yes, that’s right, the ’Wild Hunt’ are the guardians of the Boundary, and all who touch upon this cursed knowledge will be marked and hunted by them. The history of the Evangelical Church is deliberately altered by them to protect the Boundary. Those who stood shoulder to shoulder with me recognized these entities and were all killed by the ’Wild Hunts’.

Indeed, it’s not just the Evangelical Church, in Leiber, Ingwig, the Viking nations, someone once discovered the source of the Demons and the Boundary.”

The old man completely ignored 042’s questions, seemingly immersed in his self-woven beauty.

Such joy, the old man was not alone. In past history, there were others standing in the same position as him. He clutched the pocket watch tightly and then softly spoke.

”Look, they’re coming.”

In an instant, it felt like something was caressing 042, like a swarm of snakes intertwining around his body, coiling around his neck. He could distinctly feel the cold touch, and then fear boiled to the extreme.

All thoughts were violently torn apart and destroyed at that moment, leaving nothing but an empty chaos in his mind. The sharp sound of the wind whistled by as if countless Nail Swords were slashing upon metallic Armor, sparking dazzling flames and creating a cacophonous sound that struck against 042’s eardrums, followed by blood oozing from his ears.

”Welcome! Unfortunate guests!”

Lorenzo de’ Medici raised his head and opened his arms, welcoming their arrival.

The flames surged at that moment, the Demon Hunters swung their Nail Swords, striking the flickering arcs. Shangdafeng Demon Hunters had been continuously using their Authority here until they foresaw their arrival in the future.

Countless black arcs flickered, shattering stone walls and matter. Beneath the light were angels not yet fully formed, with broken wings unfurling behind. The Demon Hunters had already seen their arrival and delivered a fatal blow at the moment before they fully descended.

The broken bodies then fell, collapsing before Lorenzo de’ Medici, the exquisite face with lifeless eyes staring fixedly at the unsettling old man. He picked up a wine glass, forcefully pressing it against its hideous wound, crimson blood gushing forth, filling the glass.

”Look, isn’t this the new blood of the Holy Grail?”

Lorenzo de’ Medici exclaimed with joy, then withdrew the Nail Sword, piercing through the angelic form before him. Above him, as the first angel died, dozens of black arcs burst out successively, their evil and anomalous light illuminating everyone.

Under the shroud of that corruption, a loathsome sacredness thus descended.