Gun of Ashes

The steam engine roared into operation. During that intense confrontation, although the Armor of Original Sin that Percival was piloting was fiercely attacked by demons, she avoided many fatal injuries thanks to her extensive combat experience. Despite the Armor of Original Sin being covered in wounds, it still maintained combat capability, and being a first-generation armor, the demon’s flesh gradually healed over time.

”Although I haven’t tried it, as long as we’re not directly taken down and killed, with the regenerative power of the first-generation armor, we can hold a suitable terrain to kill all these demons… but first, we have to deal with that guy.”

Percival’s voice came through the communicator; she also heard Arthur’s battle orders. Being the most familiar with the battle situation, she made a proposal.

”Is it just you left now?”

Arthur inquired. To prevent possible accidents, the Purification Mechanism had deployed substantial force this time, but even so, accidents happened.

”I’m not sure, that guy is terrifying. He charged our group with the demons, scattering us in the torrential rain. I don’t know about the others, but currently… it seems only Night Owl and I are left.”

The grim armor slowly raised its head, looking up at the silhouette standing on the dome’s edge. Reflections of those struggling desperately in the bloody water could be seen in the glasses of the bird-beak mask.

”That guy... is the Plague Doctor, someone connected to demons we’ve been hunting. It seems he’s a remnant of Lawrence’s faction.”

”Plague Doctor...”

Arthur remembered the name, a mysterious and eerie doctor conducting research on humans and demons worldwide. His methods were brutal, often leaving many ”experimental products” following each experiment, hence being monitored and hunted by the Purification Mechanism.

”What is his ability?”

Arthur asked, able to easily overthrow the Armors of Original Sin. To some degree, the Plague Doctor was even more terrifying than Lawrence.

”No, it’s not him that’s powerful, but the demons...”

It was unclear whether the erosion affected the signal or Percival was afraid; her voice began to tremble in Arthur’s ears.

Looking through the torrential rain, at the other end of the lift platform, the first-generation armor was already glowing with a crimson light. The flesh within the armor began to erode Percival’s body, fusing painfully yet powerfully.

The first-generation armor could continue fighting, but as a mortal, Percival couldn’t. Her consciousness was on the brink of collapse and could be destroyed by the eroding forces at any second.

”Don’t worry about me, there are still three vials of Florun Potion in the armor; I can hold on a while longer.”

As her voice sounded, Arthur felt as though Percival on the other side of the rain veil was looking at him, countless red lights like scarlet eyes.

The sinewy flesh tightened, the armor raised an arm, pointing the blood-stained Great Sword with its nicks towards the center of the lift platform. There lay a giant corpse impaled with iron spears and great swords, weapons burned red-hot by intense heat, creating a burst of white mist as rain hit them.

As if a nightmare monster was nailed in place, its flesh horrifyingly grotesque, bones protruding abnormally like a wolf spider, piercing through its spine into the steel, with fiercely burning white flames at the wound gaps, evaporating the rain into surging mist.

Yet the mist couldn’t conceal that forbidden body, dispersed by the furious wind, exposing the abhorrent carcass beneath the rain curtain.

All who saw it felt a slight suffocation the moment they directly viewed it.

On the bloated, bizarre body was a human head, its eyes glaring fiercely as if roaring, but people couldn’t hear its howl anymore because it was already dead.

The Great Sword and Spear of Melting pierced through its heart, severed its head, and molten iron remained securing its body.

”Is that... a demon?”

Arthur also couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing; the fiercely white flames had yet to extinguish, boiling blood tumultuous under the chilling torrential rain, a monstrous body topped with an incongruent human head... or perhaps this was its original form.

”To be precise, it’s a demon transformed from a Demon Hunter.”

Percival said with some fear.

”These demons, as the main forces, shattered us... truly worthy of being Demon Hunters, even demonized they’re so powerful. Moreover, after becoming demons, they seem capable of wielding authority. That seemingly inextinguishable flame is the authority of that Demon Hunter.”

”I speculate that these are new Order’s Demon Hunters. When they realized we had problems here, they chose to join the battlefield as well, likely targeting Lorenzo too. However, unlike the Plague Doctor, they don’t seem to know the insides of Black Mountain Hospital, so the squads spread out.

These unfortunate Demon Hunters turned demons ran into the Plague Doctor; it took tremendous effort on our part to kill them.”

Most Third Generation Armors were destroyed in combat with these demons, followed by the damaged armors being gradually consumed by the ordinary demons surrounding them.

”Are you saying the Plague Doctor broke these Demon Hunters, so terrifying that those Demon Hunters had to demonize, losing all reason, and then were used by the Plague Doctor to attack you?” Arthur asked.

”Possibly so, the Plague Doctor never took action from start to finish, we know nothing of his capabilities.”

The unknown enemy was the most terrifying, and this intelligence only seemed to deepen the despair.