Gun of Ashes

The entire lift area was a chaotic battlefield, with blood and rainwater accumulating here, floating with corpses and broken bones. The wreckage of armor and demons stood like tall stone statues. Looking upward, endless torrential rain fell, and the sky was completely dominated by gloom, resembling the night.

Percival began to move slowly, rising along with Night Owl. The performance of the Third Generation Armor was significantly reduced compared to the First Generation Armor. Fortunately, Night Owl had enough piloting experience, and with Percival taking on the majority of the firepower, his armor, though damaged, still retained some combat capability.

They moved toward Arthur’s direction, while atop the dome, the Plague Doctor silently observed it all.

Arthur wore a somber expression, pondering how to find a glimmer of hope in this despair. He initially thought he would face an immediate attack from the Plague Doctor, but now it seemed the Plague Doctor was not in a hurry to attack, as if pitying them, giving them ample time to discuss tactics or prayers before death.

The current main force consisted only of Percival and Night Owl; though the armor was damaged, it remained important firepower against the demons. The rest relied on Arthur himself.

Though his vision was obscured by the rain curtain and mist, Arthur still spotted that piece of armor, the one fallen on the other end of the large lift platform.

The blue coating on it was clearly visible, and its overall slim build resembled a light ghost, foreseeing its movements — it would likely be as swift as thunder.

This was Merlin’s proposal; he believed the First Generation Armor possessed a peculiar trait, such as the eerie connection with its pilot. This could be sensed between Lorenzo and the Black Angel, but Lorenzo, being such a unique case, was evidently unsuitable for research. So he planned to use Owes for current research, to explore the connection between him and the First Generation Armor.

No one noticed Owes, who had been lying on the back of Red Falcon, also raising his head at this moment. He couldn’t see what was beyond the rain curtain, but there was an eerie palpitation, as if something was calling him from behind the rain curtain.

The torrential rain continued to pour, and to leave here, the large lift platform had to be activated, sending everyone to the surface. However, current indicators suggested the situation on the surface might be even more dire than expected. Before Arthur could make a judgment, strange sounds echoed from above.

It was the demons, emerging like hungry beasts one after another around the edges of the dome. With monstrous forms and bared claws and fangs, they thoroughly surrounded the people inside the cage.

The Plague Doctor wasn’t pitying them. Instead, he was waiting for the demons scattered around to be drawn in by the scent of the living.

This was not yet the most terrifying despair. What truly plunged hearts into the abyss was the demon standing behind the Plague Doctor. Its skeleton and flesh were augmented by the power of Secret Blood, covered with pitch-black iron armor that continued to grow from the seams, resembling sharp blades covering the hideous body.

The face of the Demon Hunter was no longer visible, only a bloody maw opening on the mask-like black armor, thirsting for blood and flesh.

”Even Demon Hunters cannot resist the corruption of the Holy Grail’s blood…”

The Plague Doctor sighed softly, achieving all this was relatively simple: shatter a Demon Hunter and inject him with the Holy Grail’s blood before killing him. This terrifying power would corrupt the Demon Hunter completely, with sanity never able to restrain this dreadful forbidden power, eventually falling into the same demon form.

He released his grip, dropping the case. To accomplish all this, the Plague Doctor had already used up all the low-quality Secret Blood he carried; now they were useless.

He was executing all this under Lawrence’s orders. Although they hadn’t managed to find Lorenzo de’ Medici who survived using Authority Gabriel, being able to decapitate the Purification Mechanism’s Arthur here would facilitate their future actions significantly.

The torrential rain and erosion severed all connections. Flames were seen rising in the direction of the mild symptom area; Gawain’s defense line had not yet collapsed. But when they noticed the anomalies here, the Plague Doctor reckoned it should all be over.

Remaining demons swarmed, leaping off the dome, heading towards Arthur and the others. Meanwhile, the Plague Doctor sat along the dome’s edge, not in a hurry to leave in search of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s trail, instead watching everything below with interest.

It was like a microcosm of human and demon conflict; all desires, distractions, and ideals converged below this cage-like space, resembling a human observation experiment.

The iron-armored demon began to move, and once reason was completely lost, the Secret Blood would only continue to awaken. Without the restraining Silver Binding Bolt, the Demon Hunters of the new Order would grow endlessly powerful after demonization, until they died.

The iron-armored demon turned its head, seemingly with scarlet eyes within its armor’s seams, instinctively observing the Plague Doctor with bloodlust.

The Plague Doctor found it peculiar; he had reason, a human form, yet in the eyes of the demons, it was as if he didn’t exist, or rather… the Plague Doctor was their kin, so they ignored him.

Slaughter was about to begin. One by one, the demons fell onto the large lift platform. It was like an arena, a dueling arena for humans and demons, with the Plague Doctor as the only spectator.

Arthur could scarcely think anymore. The iron-armored demon was obviously a product of Demon Hunter demonization. The bizarre body continued to mutate as it advanced; the power of such a demon was evident in Percival’s information. Given the current strength, only death awaited them.