Gun of Ashes

Bluebird also felt a slight unease. The patients he released were not just to attract demons. After they scattered and fled, if they encountered demons, Bluebird could rely on their screams to determine their location. But now... it’s too quiet, so quiet it seems as if only they are left in the world, along with this maze they can never escape.

Bang—

An instant ringing shattered the silence. The dim lights went out one by one, plunging everyone into darkness. But before they could fear, a brighter light illuminated from above the corridor, and the dormant fans started turning again, roaring as they sucked out the foul, rotten air.

In the blink of an eye, the pervasive mist dissipated substantially, visibility gradually cleared up, and at the same time, chaotic sounds emerged, as if the illusion realm Eve and others just experienced had faded, now connecting with the real world.

”Power restoration successful!”

A familiar shout came from the end of the corridor, followed closely by intense gunfire.

Eve and Bluebird exchanged a glance. No words were needed; Bluebird directed the team, with the medical personnel remaining at the back to act according to the situation, protected by a few stationed soldiers, while the remaining soldiers followed Bluebird forward.

”You have to stay here too!”

Just about to move, Bluebird noticed Eve beside him.

But Eve said nothing. The usually lively girl was now extremely silent, her expression unusually serious, reminding Bluebird of the ghostly words Arthur once said to him.

Arthur always said Eve was a carefree wild child, always cheerful, seemingly never showing any sadness or seriousness. Arthur also said if there’s a day when Eve stops smiling and acting wild, he would feel something’s gone terribly wrong, even though he always hoped for Eve to be more ladylike, less wild and more dignified.

Bluebird said nothing more, seemingly allowing the girl’s decision, as he had some understanding of Eve’s character and knew she wouldn’t listen in such circumstances.

They moved quickly; the sounds were near at hand. Suddenly, blinding flames streaked past, carrying residual warmth and blood as they struck the iron wall.

The space opened up suddenly. From his memory, another safe house was at the other end, and at this moment, someone was battling demons.

Bluebird immediately raised his aluminothermic rifle, ready to fire. Through the scope, he clearly saw the two sides in combat.

The bloodthirsty demons swarmed out from another passage. The soldiers set up a firepower barrier to temporarily fend off the demons’ attack, but it was temporary. Most of them were already injured, and it was unclear how long their ammunition would last.

Before Bluebird could continue to observe, the firepower barrier weakened. Some soldiers ran out of ammunition and were reloading, but the weakened firepower gave the demons an opportunity. They charged, almost breaking through, at which critical moment Bluebird pulled the trigger.

The aluminothermic rounds woven into a scarlet line of fire, all converging on the passage, with the molten iron soaking into demon corpses, forming grotesque statues.

”Bluebird!”

Someone shouted joyfully; it was Red Falcon, that madman, firing an aluminothermic rifle with one hand and waving to Bluebird with the other. Judging by his blood-soaked outfit, he had just been through a fierce battle.

Behind the defense line, the safe house doors were half-open, with many patients and medical staff inside.

It seemed Red Falcon and Bluebird had the same idea, not planning to sit idly by, but unfortunately, Red Falcon’s side first encountered the demons.

”What’s the situation?” Bluebird asked.

”Due to the corruption’s impact, our communications were paralyzed, so we can’t contact others at all. As for the research area here… demons have invaded. The good news is, Arthur timely sealed off this area, and with the gate down, the demons are trapped here. Currently, they can’t spread to other facilities. The bad news is, we’re also trapped with these demons.”

With this new strength joining them, the current pressure eased considerably, and Red Falcon could finally catch his breath to explain to Bluebird.

”Also, Arthur is trapped here with us.”

”What?”

Bluebird was stunned, unclear about the situation.

”Wasn’t he supposed to be evacuated first?”

”To be precise, the enemy’s attack was too quick, and we got trapped here,” another voice said. The injured Swift walked over.

Seeing the puzzled look on Bluebird’s face, Swift continued.

”Upper-Rank Knight, codename Swift, primarily serves Black Mountain Hospital.”

Before Bluebird could ask anything else, Swift continued.

”We were testing Lorenzo at the time, but Gawain suddenly reported a demon tide approaching from inside Black Mountain Hospital.

Projections indicated they were remnants of Lawrence’s faction. They mutated patients in the mild symptom area using low-grade Secret Blood. However, the defense line Gawain set up blocked the demons’ attack, and Percival was also returning to defend the research area.

Arthur speculated that Lorenzo was the enemy’s target. Of course, they could also take the opportunity to kill off all the higher-ups of the Purification Mechanism here. Considering this, Arthur and the rest, including Merlin, took different routes to evacuate.”

”So Arthur’s route was here?” Bluebird asked.

Swift nodded and then said,

”There are many critical patients here. We need to evacuate them… or kill them. According to Arthur’s plan, we had plenty of time to evacuate, but it’s clear we underestimated the enemy.”

”Everything before was a feint. Whether it was the demon tide or anything else, it was all a feint. The enemy reached the research area before we even detected the demon tide. He released the demons, and to prevent these damned things from spreading out, we could only trap them here with us.

Luckily, Merlin is likely with Lorenzo, and Bola is covering Abigail’s departure from the ground… using the Second Generation Armor of Original Sin. Among the Upper-Rank Knights, he’s the only one who’s piloted the second generation armor.”

Bluebird fell silent, a long silence amid which his expression became somewhat grim, until he finally exhaled heavily, as if unloading all his defenses.

”So... it doesn’t seem so bad after all...”

”Yeah... not that bad,”

Red Falcon echoed, but unlike Bluebird’s relief, his face seemed rather forlorn. Although ready for death, when truly facing it, he felt some reluctance. After all, this colorful world, its brilliance, was indeed hard to leave behind.

Eve didn’t quite understand, even feeling they were crazy. Bluebird, Red Falcon, and the wounded Swift all showed different expressions, but they all seemed to convey the same sentiment, as if a mission had been completed.

This is not bad?

Eve couldn’t understand. The people within her view were all about to die, about to be killed by demons, yet Bluebird and the others didn’t think it was that bad.

After a long sigh, Bluebird turned around and looked at Eve’s cold expression, complicated emotions surging on the girl’s face, momentarily making Bluebird see a reflection of his former self.

Everyone has this process in dealing with demons, and Bluebird knew what the girl was thinking.

”The key personnel holding core technology have been successfully evacuated, the entire research area hasn’t been severely damaged, and after repairs, these facilities can be reactivated in a short time. We still have many Knight Commanders surviving, command won’t be lost…”

Bluebird spoke words that felt terrifying.

”The unfortunate thing is we might die, but the fortunate thing is the Purification Mechanism hasn’t lost yet.”

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