Gun of Ashes

”Have you seen the Holy Hall Knights before?”

”No,” Samuel’s gaze was somewhat dim, ”My family was very poor, living in a remote area, and I usually worked at a laundry near the Tiber River, which was hard work. I rarely had the opportunity to see them. Even when they were protecting the Cardinals, the streets were blocked by crowds. I tried jumping up, but couldn’t jump high enough.”

”You can jump high enough now.” Anthony said.

Hearing this, Samuel smiled and continued.

”Seeing them in armor... truly beautiful.

That’s when I set my mind on joining them. I participated in the recruitment, which you know was the only unrestricted recruitment that gave me a chance.”

”After the Night of the Holy Arrival, the Evangelical Church suffered great losses, not just Demon Hunters but also Holy Hall Knights. We desperately needed new blood.” Anthony recalled that recruitment.

”Your parents?” he asked.

”Both are well, they were very pleased when I became a Holy Hall Knight,” Samuel said. ”They are devout believers. I’ve never seen them so happy.”

”I bought a small house by the Tiber River. They live there now. From the balcony on the second floor, you can see the riverbank where we used to work.”

”And your friends?”

”They shared the same wish with me, and we were fortunate to all become Holy Hall Knights...” Samuel paused, ”Sadly, those guys couldn’t survive the Secret Blood trial.”

The two remained silent, as if mourning for those who had passed; the distant yellow sun gradually set, and the light covering the Seven Hills showed no sign of the darkness. More and more candle lights sparkled, dragging the city into a sea of candles.

”Want to hear about my night?”

Anthony picked up the crooked cigarette, squeezed it tightly with his hand to make it look better.

He ignited, inhaled, a faint white haze rose, enveloping both.

Anthony felt a tingling sensation, the anesthetic effect of tobacco made him feel like he was drinking heavily, this feeling made him somewhat comfortable.

”My experience was a bit better than yours, to be precise, much better,” Anthony said with a smile, the huge scar on his cheek twisted like a serpent, ”I was born into a wealthy family, all devout believers. You could say that faith was etched into my soul since birth.”

”I lived up to my parents’ expectations. After graduating from seminary, I joined the Holy Hall Knight Order, everything went smoothly until that night.”

Anthony repeated.

”That night...”

”I was stationed on duty, then suddenly received orders... Code 13, the Holy Hall Knight Order was to besiege Saint Nalos Cathedral, hunting all demons and Demon Hunters.”

The words were filled with a crimson aura, which was Anthony’s Night of the Holy Arrival. Though it was the same night for all, each person’s night was so different.

”Then there was nothing much complicated with the plot. We switched to suppression bullets meant for demons, Holy Silver Bullets, they are very valuable. It was my first time seeing them, but in reality, they aren’t much different from regular bullets.

First to appear in view were demons, but they were easy to deal with, no need for Holy Silver Bullets, regular bullets could kill them... I realized then who those Holy Silver Bullets were actually meant for.

We first blocked the Seven Hills, then moved toward Saint Nalos Cathedral. As we got closer, the corruption intensified, and some knights began to transform. We chose to stay in safe zones, hunting all who tried to escape.”

Anthony wore a blank expression, as if retelling someone else’s memories, unrelated to him.

”In reality, not many demons managed to escape afterward. And even if some did, they were injured, easy to kill.

Then the Demon Hunters appeared, caught completely off guard by us. Probably they didn’t expect us to fire upon them. I was very scared; we knew of the Demon Hunters, aware of their strength, prepared for more than half of us to fall.

But those Demon Hunters weren’t very strong; they seemed weak, some injured like the demons, some began transforming. We fired rounds of Holy Silver Bullets, accompanied by activated Silver Binding Bolts...

Logically, the battle should have been easy, but in reality, we couldn’t hold them off. They were first confused, then furious.

It was then I clearly understood the might of Demon Hunters, even in decline, they were still Demon Hunters.

They easily killed most of the Holy Hall Knights, corpses piled along the streets, blood flowed like rivers.”

Anthony’s face mirrored the same confusion from his memories, while Samuel continued to stand stiffly, unsure what to say.

”I was lucky, survived, retreated with other survivors to the city gates, more Holy Silver Bullets fired... followed by piling lives. We piled them to death.

Actually, I am not sure who truly killed them because for every deceased Demon Hunter, their wounds continuously oozed silver blood, which quickly solidified, turning their bodies into statues, forever remaining there. To be honest, we later spent significant effort dealing with those corpses.”