Gun of Ashes

The monster didn’t move. Its flesh was deeply rooted beneath the ground, like a tree of flesh and blood, branches brandishing blades, whipping up a storm.

The distance kept closing, the two entities touched, shaking the soul.

Waves surged in neat circles, spreading in all directions, branches fiercely lashing the Flame Holder’s armor, cutting through the water and tearing the soil.

Countless branches, driven by Roger’s will, whipped forward.

The Flame Holder faced a thousand blades, and in turn, it swung a thousand of its own.

Iron feathers intertwined with branches, the Flame Holder and the monster collided, and in an instant, the temperature reached its peak, billowing steam engulfed them, leaving only ever-expanding balls of mist.

A high-pitched sound echoed within, like an unending symphony, a band performing, singing of death and mourning.

The pressure from the will became increasingly overwhelming; in the shadows, Lorenzo had lost all energy, collapsed like a corpse, barely breathing unless closely observed.

Deeper, delve deeper...

An absolute will carried out the action, the surroundings plunged once again into pure darkness, reaching out was impossible, and deciphering even harder, as if they had existed here since ancient times.

Like a fence.

”I...see it...”

Lorenzo murmured softly, like a child in a dream.

In the monster’s battlefield, the movements of the Flame Holder and the monster slowed down at that moment, not only did they slow, but rain, water, and fragments...everything slowed, as if suspended in midair, finally moving towards a freeze frame.

In the stagnant world, Lorenzo could clearly see the branches lashing, one after another, forming a dense, rain-like attack, giving the Flame Holder no room for a breakthrough.

But in this delay, the branch movements slowed, he saw the falling trajectory, amidst the intersecting paths, there was a fatal gap. As long as it advanced along that gap, it could hit the monster’s core in one go.

The gap’s existence was too brief, so short it could scarcely be called a flaw, but if the Flame Holder was fast enough, swift like lightning, even overtaking thunder.

If it could reach that level, the gap would become a fatal flaw.

Yes, just like that.

Accelerate, accelerate, accelerate, use all your strength, deliver a fatal strike along the gap.

Thus the scene before his eyes began to crack, like shattering glass, and those falling branches seemed to reverse, returning to their original positions.

The scene returned to seconds earlier, both sides poised and ready, like the night before a decisive battle.

A droplet traced down the monster and Flame Holder, passing through layers of iron branches and sharp feathers, landing on the water’s surface, creating slight ripples, which then turned into towering waves.

Ignition.

Just as Lorenzo foresaw, the myriad of iron branches struck down fiercely along the expected trajectory, and at that moment, the Flame Holder punched, but while punching, dense iron armor continued to proliferate, growing along the arm into a grotesque, sharp fist blade.

Not fast enough, still not fast enough.

Lorenzo could see the gap narrowing, the iron branches nearly closing it off.

Scorching white flames erupted between the armor’s seams, dragged backward by the wind, forming a burning stream, the machinery tightly interlocked, the power reaching its peak.

This is a sword, an incredibly sharp sword, possessing swiftness beyond thunder.

Lorenzo believed it could cut through everything, like the self-deception of a pitiful person, and like a warrior’s prayer before heading into battle.

A thunderbolt flashed by in an instant, the rain was stirred up, and soon fell again, crashing onto the bloodstained armor, extinguishing the flames.

The Flame Holder and the monster were deeply entangled, from afar, it was even difficult to distinguish the two.

In the final moment, the iron feathers folded, protecting most of the Flame Holder’s torso, while the iron branches were blocked outside, but still, some broke through the iron feather’s defense, embedding into the Flame Holder’s body, deeply set beneath the armor.

As for the monster, it maintained its absolute offensive until the end.

Dense iron branches strangled the Flame Holder’s fist blades, yet faced with this lightning strike, the branches appeared far too fragile.

Most were directly shattered, breaking into several pieces, some deflected by the armor, hitting the Flame Holder’s iron feathers, while others pierced the armor by chance, one after another, leaving the Flame Holder’s right arm riddled with wounds.

The majority of the armor cracked open under the lashes, revealing the iron-colored framework beneath, the mechanical systems were damaged, pipelines exposed, leaking, and the entwined flesh was severed and crushed.

Even in such a state, the Flame Holder’s fist still pushed forward with all its might, forcing the iron bones to upright section by section, until it pierced through the gap and hit the target.

The Flame Holder won.

The fist ultimately punched through the monster’s heart, the sharp fist blade penetrated the body, protruding from the back, carrying blood and iron bones.

[I... found you.]

After a brief silence, the glow beneath the Flame Holder’s face armor ignited once more.

Outside the Mechanical Institute, Roger’s advancing steps came to a halt. He stood in the downpour, seemingly bewildered, unsure of what had occurred in that instant, but quickly he sensed the enemy’s arrival.

Looking toward the end of the rain and mist, a blurred figure stood there, watching him, but in a blink, the figure vanished, washed away by the rain like ink.

”Lorenzo Holmes...”

Roger whispered, cautious yet pleased.

”You won this first round.”

He exhaled deeply and then closed his eyes. Roger could feel an invisible path linking him to Lorenzo. Lorenzo tried to escape, but he had underestimated himself too greatly.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, Lorenzo suddenly rose, even though the pressure on his body was so immense it was nearly breaking, he had no intention of stopping.

Lorenzo staggered, coughing up blood.

There’s no time.

The moment Lorenzo defeated the monster and tracked down Roger, he clearly knew there was no time.

But Lorenzo still had to do it, just as Gawain said, he wasn’t a savior, he was just one among the common flock.

Lorenzo should try to trust others, believe they could do it all, perhaps even better than himself.

The erosion exploded entirely, Lorenzo’s will instantaneously enveloping the entire Old Dunling.

Maintaining such a vast field wasn’t easy, it completely collapsed after a few seconds, but in those few seconds, it was enough for Lorenzo to convey the crucial information.

[Roger Cruz is at the Mechanical Institute!]

This time it was no longer a false shell, under the guise of puppets, Lorenzo used the trail of erosion to finally find where Roger’s true body was.

Then... then what to do?

Lorenzo took a deep breath, eyes bloodshot, tiny streaks of scarlet spilling from the corners.

He drew the Nail Sword, leaning on it with all his strength to prevent himself from collapsing.

He knew very well what would happen next, yet it was an inevitable situation. Roger was too powerful, no matter how meticulous the plan, under absolute force, it all fell apart.

Images of a battlefield strewn with corpses and rivers of blood flashed through his mind, and he saw faces of the deceased.

Lorenzo once thought he possessed the strength to confront demons head-on, but when the full-scale war erupted, he only then realized such a confrontation required an enormous price in flesh and blood.

”The rest is up to you, Anonymous,”

Lorenzo mumbled.

The Death Row plan was far from perfect. From the start of his encounter with Roger, it had been completely disrupted by absolute force.

But this did not mean Lorenzo had lost; he still had room for a counterattack. As a gambler with nothing, he still had one last option.

Overturn the table.

Lorenzo thought this way, gripping the Echo of the End.

The next moment, a vast willpower descended, and Roger Cruz found Lorenzo through the erosion.