Gun of Ashes

Chapter 54: Chapter 40: Mystery of the Secret Blood

This is an ancient history, hidden in the dark side of the world. Anyone who understands its meaning maintains silence, passing on this secret only when leaving.

”The first to fight against demons was the Evangelical Church, more accurately, the secret organization under the Evangelical Church known as the Demon Hunting Order.”

Lorenzo began narrating the history that was supposed to be forgotten, his gaze distant and vague, as if seeing those people raising torches and exposing themselves in the night.

”Initially, humans couldn’t compete with demons; the only way to defeat them was to pile up human lives. That was the darkest and most difficult era; we could only tremble behind fortresses or sacrifice our kind to appease the demons’ invasion. It was a bloody age until one day someone said he had received a divine mandate.”

Eve was captivated by Lorenzo’s story.

”A divine... mandate?”

Lorenzo nodded and continued, like all mythological tales, there is always someone who pioneers everything.

”He said he received a divine mandate, stating there was holiness in the north that could rid of the demons. So he gathered a group of believers, probably the world’s first believers. They crossed the dark land, set sail from the kingdom, enduring countless years, heading to the frost-covered north, stepping onto the uninhabited ice fields.”

”Many years later, everyone forgot about them. Those who remembered thought they died on the way. But suddenly, one day, those people returned, carrying bronze jars sealed with gold and holy silver. The craftsmanship was beyond what technology at the time could achieve, as if gods and ghosts were both imprisoned in the metal. Their faces were fierce, guarding the knowledge within.

Inside were books written in ancient languages. Only the person who received the divine mandate and those believers who journeyed with him could understand them. After many years, they finally translated that book.”

With Lorenzo’s soft murmur, the strange connection deepened, giving Eve a very peculiar feeling, as if she had entered a new world.

The streets echoed with melodious music, low prayers resonated in the room, and the two realized there was a city church nearby, as if there was an event today. The organ played magnificent music and believers murmured prayers.

”They named that book ’Gospel,’ thus the Evangelical Church emerged. It was built upon seven hills, and thus the Seven Hills arose from the barren land, followed by the expansion of faith. The Holy Evangelical Pope Kingdom appeared on the world’s map.”

This is the reason for the birth of that ancient group, draped in mythological and epic hues, momentarily making Eve forget her anomalies.

”Of course, I won’t believe these. A story can be made up by anyone, but one thing is certain: the ’Gospel’ is not that simple, and it actually comprises two volumes. The first is the known ’Gospel’ that proclaims God and faith, while the other circulates only within the church.”

Picking up a cigarette, Lorenzo took a deep drag, the smoke rising. This is where the true secrecy lies.

”The other volume is called the ’Revelation.’ Just as the ’Gospel’ established the Evangelical Church, in the darkness, the ’Revelation’ founded the Demon Hunting Order. There’s no mention of God and faith; all it contains is knowledge about demons.”

It involves the most mysterious knowledge deep within the world, yet now it was casually spoken by Lorenzo. Clearly, it was wealth obtained by countless lives, yet in Lorenzo’s mouth, it seemed worthless.

”With faith, the Evangelical Church unified most people at the time, establishing a Divine Kingdom for mankind in a dark world. But that wasn’t enough, not enough to fight against demons. Thus, the believers at that time opened the ’Revelation’ in the name of God and established the Demon Hunting Order.”

”In the face of death threats, humans are far more terrifying than we understand ourselves to be.”

Lorenzo said, laughing again, with a hint of sarcasm.

”Abandoning ethics and morals, with no limits, just to stay alive.”

”...What did you do?”

Eve felt a sense of unease, her body cold, as if wrapped by serpents, their cold scales brushing against her skin.

”To kill a demon, you must first become a demon.”

That bell-like statement struck Eve’s heart. She felt it, the sense of deepening connection, that inexplicable yet clearly visible sense of strangeness, something in this world now had more meaning for her, like a machine seeing ghosts, while before she was just an ordinary operator, now more functions opened themselves to her.

”Demons are very bizarre. Their vitality is astonishingly strong, requiring little nourishment, able to easily tear through armor, and capable of eroding our will. Fire and blade strikes struggle to kill them; compared to them, humanity is so fragile...”

Eve watched Lorenzo, her breathing became uncontrollably rapid, the sound of her heartbeat clearly echoing in her ears.

The door opened, a dark door.

”You... you...”

Eve suspected something but dared not say it. The emotion known as fear rose from deep inside her, like a Word Spirit. She felt if she voiced that terrible reality, it would become true.

Lorenzo smiled slightly, seemingly surprised at Eve’s quick reaction. He spoke.

”This technique is called ’Secret Blood.’

”We kill those demons, extracting blood through a series of complex processes known as alchemy, then consume it. It makes us as strong as demons but full of uncontrollability. According to the Order’s records, the original consumers of Secret Blood were single-use; their sanity only lasted a few minutes before completely succumbing to darkness, becoming one of the demons.”

”Despite the huge side effects, at least we won once against the demons. What followed was a long experimental phase, with the test subjects confined in iron cages, dozens armed with iron spears pointing at him, ready to impale and kill him should he fail...”

”This... This is madness!”

Just listening to Lorenzo’s story, Eve could feel the dark despair. She cowered on the sofa like a frightened little animal.

”Can you accept this?”

”Compared to humanity not living in fear anymore, these costs are indeed too cheap.”

Lorenzo spoke softly, that dark history left for no one to judge lightly.

”Such experiments continued for hundreds of years until the appearance of the first generation of stable bodies. They could control the powers of demons while maintaining sanity. They were the Qualified of Secret Blood, the first batch of demon hunters. It was humanity’s first time to possess the power to fight against demons head-on.”

Raising his hand, Lorenzo’s arm wound gradually healed, he smiled at Eve.

”Sabo died merely because he wasn’t a Qualified; his body couldn’t handle the pressure of Secret Blood. But you, Eve, I guess you became a Qualified long ago, you just never knew.”

This was Lorenzo’s reasoning, Eve was also a Qualified who possessed Secret Blood, just she lived so long without realizing it.

”How is this possible!”

Eve screamed, unable to conceive how she was related to such things. Past memories replayed before her, clearly familiar history now cloaked in a layer of illusion.

”This is the only result, like a mathematical formula. No matter how absurd the result, the formula doesn’t lie; it’s the only correct result. Just like you, you possess Secret Blood, you’re alive, and have lived healthily for so long. If not for everything tonight, your Secret Blood might’ve remained dormant in your body, never awakening until the day you die.”

The detective spoke his reasoning, like a cruel predestined fate.

”At some point in the past, you must’ve come in contact with it, and from then on you’ve been connected to the darkness...”

He said, but suddenly stopped, cold sweat slowly pouring down. Lorenzo raised his head, gazing at the patterned ceiling, his sight seeming to penetrate the material, reaching the vault above, trying to see that person, the one manipulating fate.”

It seemed there was some unknown existence, maybe a god or something else, it was secretly manipulating the threads of destiny. Long ago, Eve had been linked to darkness, and darkness never let her go, time just delayed until now.

In a sense, it wasn’t Lorenzo who found Eve and triggered this crazy night; but that long-standing connection caused Eve to be found by him, like fate’s Gungnir, and many years ago it was already thrown carrying Eve’s fate, until today, piercing through this insane night.

This is the destined fate.