Gun of Ashes

Chapter 45: Chapter 33 Similar People

”Oh, then how did I get exposed?”

On the dark dock, the final game unfolded. It was clearly a fatal strike, yet Lorenzo still evaded it. The person was surprised, not expecting Lorenzo to still be wary of him.

”Because I just realized all of this myself.”

Lorenzo spoke while slowly turning to face the twisted humanoid.

”This Underground Palace was originally designed as a Thermopylae; using it to hide secrets is simply too easy. You don’t even need to deploy troops; just relying on those demons is enough to resist anything.”

He clutched at his wound. Although there was no fresh blood flowing out, the pain was still real.

”But you left a back path here, just like you said, ’no one survives,’ you said this includes you, but this secret river exposed you, you didn’t want to die, so the previous appearance was merely a feigned death, wasn’t it?”

Looking at Sabo, who had already mutated into a demon, Lorenzo spoke but couldn’t suppress the amazement in his heart. Clearly, he had also been corrupted, but he hadn’t become one of those zombie-like monsters. He still maintained his sanity, despite having the shell of a monster.

The previous short stature was gone, limbs bizarrely elongated, unique fingers thickened to better grip the sword blade. The mottled thrusting sword had similar tendon-like flesh growing on it, seemingly coming alive under the bizarre frenzy.

”Yes, I can’t die... no one can make me die.”

Sabo’s voice carried a hoarse resonance. He was almost non-human now but still retained his last bit of reason.

”I’m a deformed Viking, abandoned by God Odin the moment I was born. My mother left me in the wilderness, she might have thought I would die, but I survived.”

His eyeballs were squeezed together by the wildly growing tumors. Underneath the dark red blood vessels, his weak gaze fixated on Lorenzo.

”Mr. Holmes, I am someone abandoned by God at birth, but I am also someone who has been resisting since birth. The cold winds of the North didn’t kill me, nor did the miserable life defeat me. I exchanged three fingers for a ticket to Ingwig.

Many people wanted to kill me, but none succeeded. I will keep living, longer than anyone.”

Like a terrifying speech, with each pronunciation, viscous liquid flowed from between those sharp teeth, the whole body filled with madness. Sabo was born to fight for survival; life was his only wealth. How could he abandon it so easily because of one word from the Plague Doctor?

”By the way, I am still a believer of the Evangelical Church...”

Thinking of the past, Sabo laughed hoarsely.

”You used to be a priest, so Mr. Holmes, were you also abandoned by your God?”

With cloudy eyes filled with sorrow, barely believable, Lorenzo actually saw an emotion of sympathy on that demon’s face.

”I never believed in God. I was born in Florence, where there are only two kinds of people, believers and priests.”

With a slightly cold gaze, he replied.

”Believers not only have to bow to faith but also pay money to the church, but it’s different for us priests. We only work on Sundays, and when we run out of money, we just take some from the donation box. Life is quite comfortable.”

Even though he had been a priest and even a Holy Hall Knight, Lorenzo had no reverence for that so-called God.

”Then why did you leave?”

Sabo asked.

”For a madman, you do have a lot of nonsense.”

Lorenzo coldly rejected, and then that body exhibited a level of agility completely inconsistent with its injuries.

The shotgun suddenly lifted and fired. After the dazzling flash, several pellets carrying lethal bloodshot towards Sabo, but this time they didn’t hit. Sabo’s elongated body moved with unprecedented swiftness, a speed that the deformed shell couldn’t provide. He effortlessly dodged the lethal shot, and then the sharp thrusting sword swung down.

”I just feel that we are very much alike.”

Sabo looked at Lorenzo and slowly withdrew the thrusting sword. Even such a swift strike still didn’t manage to kill Lorenzo.

The thrusting sword shattered the wooden planks supporting the dock, and under the broken splinters, the ground for both to stand on became increasingly narrow.

”I said, you made me who I am, so I’ve always been curious where you come from. I tried many ways, but the only information I could gather is you arrived in Ingwig six years ago.”

Looking at the figure standing on the edge of the dock, Sabo spoke with deep emotion.

”A blood-soaked foreigner, no one thought you could survive with such injuries at the time, but you did. Just like me, we both fight to survive, came to Ingwig, and to Old Dunling!”

Faced with such a fanatical follower, Sabo was answered by a gunshot, but the agile figure easily dodged the shot, and the eerie claws hooked onto the damp rock wall like barbs.

”I’m not like you, Sabo.”

Looking up at the upside-down demon, Lorenzo’s emotions showed no sign of fluctuation.

”What’s different? When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you. We are the same kind!”

Sabo shouted hoarsely, accompanied by a creaking sound, a white sac bulged at the end of his arm, then burst open, and a new arm unfolded beneath it.

”You have the same scent as me, Mr. Holmes, Secret Blood flows in your veins too!”

He screamed shrilly, then violently thrust the newborn arm into his own abdomen. Accompanied by the sound of bones cracking, a pair of sharp ribs were drawn out, like blades unsheathing.

The ferocious figure fell the next second, three sharp blades descending from above, and the fragile wooden boards couldn’t withstand the immense force, shattering one after another.

Lorenzo evaded the attack with ease, despite having his chest pierced, acting as if unbothered. His figure swiftly moved on the exposed wooden stakes, occasionally turning back to fire shots in retaliation.

”We are the same, Mr. Holmes, we are of the same kind, willing to do anything to survive, even if it means devouring Secret Blood!”

The demon roared as it rushed forward. The moment the two clashed, the dock had already been mostly destroyed, leaving only rows of stakes to stand on.

The Bone Blade and the Staff Sword collided, immediately followed by another Bone Blade and Thrusting Sword attacking from different directions. Lorenzo tried to dodge, but Sabo’s free arm grabbed hold of him, and then the Bone Blade and Thrusting Sword pierced his mortal body.

”Actually, I am already very old, almost fifty years old, but because of this dwarf body, ordinary people can’t easily notice.

I’ve spent my entire life fighting to survive, but in the end, I am trapped in this deformed body, my organs are failing, my breathing has grown heavy, I can’t even raise a sail again.”

Sabo confessed as he fought, as he said, in his eyes he and Lorenzo were the same kind, two starving wolves meeting at a narrow path, only Lorenzo could understand his feelings.

”So that’s your reason for devouring Secret Blood?”

No pain showed on Lorenzo’s face, even though the blade pierced him, he questioned Sabo.

His twisted face wore a trace of sorrow as he answered.

”Yes, only this way can I survive.”

Even turned into an inhuman form, Sabo was still alive, and for him, that was enough.

”Of course, I still have one last thing to do, kill you and that escaped girl, then no one will know I survived, and I can go to a new place, just like when I came to Old Dunling, and start a new life.”

Sabo said, laughing crazily, Secret Blood had heavily corroded him, not only his body transformed into a demonic being, but even his mind was slowly slipping into madness.

”You can’t do it, starting a new life at the cost of completely abandoning the past, can you do it, Sabo?”

The words seemed mocking, and at such close range, the shotgun roared like thunder, the shattered pellets piercing the demon’s body, followed by a burning pain spreading from every part of his body.

That was the pale flame, releasing from the gaps of the penetrating Bone Blade, like a heretic sentenced to fire, Lorenzo embraced Sabo, both bathing in the holy flames.

With a piercing scream, Sabo struggled to separate from Lorenzo, the sharp blades directly severing the burning flesh, red skin covered in blistering burns.

”Sabo, we may be similar, but from the beginning, we were different people.”

On the other end of the darkness, the flames extinguished, Lorenzo’s voice slowly emerged, stepping on one stake after another, wielding the Staff Sword and gun.

It was an indescribable feeling, as if from this moment on, the detective named Lorenzo Holmes had died, replaced by an Evil Ghost lurking in the depths of darkness.

”You became a monster for survival, while I have lived until now to fight monsters!”

It was a roar that pierced the soul. On the wounded body, the healing began eerily, and the tattoo spreading across the entire back seemed to come alive, moving on the pale skin as if it had a life of its own.

[Secret Blood Awakening 7%, exiting stability range, Silver Binding Bolt starting to disintegrate.]

A blazing white radiance rose from the gray-blue pupils, and Sabo could only see the sword light being rapidly pulled into a white line, as the man’s immense force stomped, stakes collapsing one by one, splashing large droplets of water.

It almost happened in an instant. By the time Sabo realized it all, that man, like an Evil Ghost, had already thrust the Staff Sword into his chest, and the blazing white flame burned fiercely on that blade.