Gun of Ashes

”I thought it would be a few months before you came back. How was the World’s End?”

”Not great. If possible, I hope next time it will be your turn.”

It was still that enormous dome, under the pitch-black night where stars were clearly visible. At the ancient round table, Arthur sat at one end, looking at the files on the table, while the man at the other end was talking to him.

”The sky and earth were an endless pure white, and there was nothing else but oneself. It’s truly a lonely place, even the most optimistic person would feel despair there.”

The man spoke slowly, carrying the exhaustion of the journey.

”What happened while I was away? I see our Knight Commanders are all heavily injured, and even the Sailing Dawn isn’t in the dock.”

”A lot happened; I thought you knew the gist.”

”I have a vague idea, but I’d rather hear it from you than others. Besides, I heard the recent communication too. So, you agreed to it, Lorenzo Holmes isn’t easy to deal with, aren’t you afraid of any accidents?”

The man seemed aware of Lorenzo’s identity and was worried about it.

”Actually, wasn’t it a series of accidents from the start?”

Arthur slowly raised his head to look at the man on the other end of the round table. He wore a gray robe that covered his entire body, even his appearance was completely shrouded by the hood, only a vague shadow visible.

”Several months ago, after you left, we unexpectedly obtained intelligence related to the Demon Hunting Order, a cargo ship of the Evangelical Church sank near the Viking Kingdom’s Novbedo waters, carrying a mysterious item called the Holy Coffin.”

”You should know how hard it was for the Purification Mechanism to come this far. At the end of the Radiant War, we established dominance with steam engines, but in the darkness, demons remained a deadly threat. The Evangelical Church used this threat to demand our steam technology in exchange for the Demon Hunting Order’s protection.”

Arthur took a drag from his cigarette, the corners of his eyes etched with the lines of time.

”We won a century-long war; we will not yield to anyone, let alone those fanatics. For this, we made a deal with the distant Jiuxia, and thus General Left Garrison came with the Kui Dragon Fleet.

The Evangelical Church thought we lacked the power to resist demons. Little did they know that the Purification Mechanism had emerged in deeper darkness.”

”It seems that thing is very important.”

The gray-robed man’s voice was hoarse, sounding like an extremely elderly man, but the hand emerging slightly from the sleeve was youthful and fair.

Arthur nodded and continued.

”The Purification Mechanism was established in secret, with the technical support from Jiuxia providing a preliminary capability to combat demons, but it’s still not enough. Compared to Jiuxia’s armor technology, the Secret Blood of the Demon Hunting Order is the most advanced, and that Holy Coffin is the core of the Secret Blood technology.”

”The core?”

This piqued the gray-robed man’s interest; he was somewhat surprised, seemingly not expecting the legendary Secret Blood to be so close to him.

”According to our known intelligence, the Holy Coffin has an extremely special religious significance, but we don’t have more specific information, especially since the Demon Hunting Order disbanded six years ago.”

”Disbanded? Impossible!”

The gray-robed man lost his composure for the first time, his voice rising involuntarily.

”Yes, the high-pressure closure of the Seven Hills finally ended after six years. Our intelligence had been accumulating for six years in that damned little town, like a mailbox overflowing with letters. Most intelligence has lost its validity; the Holy Coffin is one of the few useful pieces, and the Evangelical Church seems to want to dispose of this object, but it sank mid-transport.”

What followed was a long silence, neither of the two under the dome spoke until the gray-robed man broke the silence.

”What on earth happened inside the Evangelical Church?”

”I don’t know, but the current issue is the Holy Coffin. After you left, Lancelot took over this task. We searched for the wreck in the northern seas, but someone got there before us. We don’t know who they are, but they have connections with demons, thus can be confirmed as enemies.”

Arthur continued explaining what happened after the gray-robed man left.

”Since then, we’ve started pursuing the Holy Spirit Coffin. The enemy is bigger than we imagined, countless demons poured out, and every day demons appeared within Ingwig’s territory. The Knight Commanders were running ragged; Galahad has even fallen.”

”Now is Bola pursuing the Holy Coffin?”

”To be precise, it’s delaying, the actual pursuit is led by Lancelot. He carries the Armor of Original Sin; in that pure terror, only he can remain rational.”

The gray-robed man fell silent, seemingly pondering, after a long time, he asked.

”How many people do we have left?”

”None. No matter how many others there are, if they can’t resist corrosion, it’s just sending them to their deaths. So I agreed to let Bola take that damned Lorenzo on the mission.”

Arthur spoke slowly, having lost the Demon Hunting Order, in the demon tide, the Purification Mechanism was the sole beacon.

”Furthermore, many reasons prompted me to make this decision. According to Bola, Lorenzo seems to be a Demon Hunter.”

”A Demon Hunter?”

”Perhaps we can gain more intelligence from him. Since the Seven Hills suddenly shut down six years ago, until now, Lorenzo is the first living Demon Hunter we’ve contacted. The mysteries are endless, and then there’s Eve there too.”

Speaking of Eve, Arthur’s iron-like demeanor was slightly shaken, rubbing his tired eyes, he continued.

”I couldn’t protect her. Her connection with the Gap has ultimately re-linked. Those demons discovered her; apart from that mysterious Demon Hunter, no one can control the situation.”

”That was everyone’s mistake; you don’t have to bear it alone.”

Footsteps sounded, the gray-robed man walked over slowly, barefooted like an ascetic monk, with obscure symbols and incantations engraved on the exposed skin.

Coming beside Arthur, he comforted this old friend. Arthur turned his head and spoke to him.

”I’ve been waiting for your return. We need you to lead the development of the Armor of Original Sin. The leap in technology can only make our basic forces able to withstand it, but to hunt down those powerful demons is still insufficient.

We don’t need a vast army but one cursed demon after another.”

Arthur looked into the dim eyes beneath the gray robe.

”Now that the Demon Hunting Order is disbanded, the Secret Blood technology is presumably difficult to reproduce. Even if we obtained critical information, it’s impossible in a short time. The Armor of Original Sin is our only path now.”

Open that Pandora’s Box, releasing endless calamity for a sliver of hope.

”...I understand now.”

The gray-robed man nodded, let out a long sigh, seemingly having made some heavy decision, and gazed up at the boundless night sky.

”Sometimes I feel we are so pathetic... like a group of mice living weakly in the shadows, surrounded by unknown monsters in the darkness, nightly filled with the despairing cries of our kind.”

”Sometimes I even think everything we do is futile, like a law of nature, the tiger preys on the deer; we’re destined to be the prey, and now all the sacrifices are merely meaningless resistance.”

”But at least we resisted!”

Arthur said deeply, with defiance and anger.

”We are indeed different from them. Compared to those who never thought of resisting, at least we’ve done it. If being destined as prey is a law and an iron rule, we’ve at least broken this rule, taken the first step.”

Looking down at Arthur’s angry face, he couldn’t help but feel a sigh.

”You’re still filled with drive, that’s excellent.”

”It’s just something I must do, just like when I initially decided to establish the Purification Mechanism; we can no longer live in fear.”

The old, cloudy eyes held steel and flames.

”Absolutely not.”