Gun of Ashes

”I’m just a bit curious, and it allows me to better judge what kind of person you are.”

Merlin stared at Lorenzo, his hollow gaze making it difficult for Lorenzo to determine if he was being looked at, causing an unexplainable unease.

”What do you think?”

”Not bad.”

After a prolonged stare, Merlin spoke again.

”What do you think, Arthur? Even though you don’t like him, he is indeed one of us.”

Merlin was confident in his perspective; no matter how vicious or mad a person might be, there is always something that binds them, and for this group, that binding force was surprisingly consistent.

Demon.

When interests and goals align, trust naturally follows.

Arthur remained silent, merely nodding slightly, and Merlin lifted a box from under the table. It was a sturdy iron cast, looking quite heavy, but with Merlin’s somewhat sickly physique, he lifted it effortlessly. Then, the latch opened, and a light mist of cold air spilled out from the box’s seam.

”In the past half-month, not only have demons been more active but a new type of hallucinogen has also started circulating in the Lower City District, and some of these new breeds are special. I think if you try it, you’ll understand.”

Saying this, Merlin took out a hallucinogen from the box, its surface beaded with tiny droplets of condensation, and slid it across the table to Lorenzo.

Lorenzo reached out to catch it; the glass felt icy cold, and he wasn’t sure why this needed to be kept in a cold storage box.

Lorenzo was no stranger to hallucinogens; their circulation was rampant in the Lower City District. Even after several official interventions, they were hard to eliminate effectively. It was said that these substances were gaining popularity among the upper echelons of Old Dunling.

During a fight with Sabo, Lorenzo had accidentally ingested some; the visions were hellish, and under such nerve-deceiving hallucinations, one’s judgment was severely impaired.

Looking at the semi-transparent liquid within the container, Lorenzo quickly sensed something unusual.

This was different from ordinary hallucinogens, giving Lorenzo a strange sense of familiarity. Without waiting for Merlin to say anything, Lorenzo opened the hallucinogen and consumed a bit.

There was a faint acidic taste, and moments later, Lorenzo felt his brain beginning to cloud, and more than that, his body heating up, followed by the blaring of alarm bells.

The Geiger index began to rise; the sound of metal clashing filled the darkness as if iron scales were grinding against one another, yet before anything could happen, Arthur raised his hand into the shadows, and the sounds gradually faded away, along with the ringing.

He watched Lorenzo’s transformation quietly but involuntarily picked up the revolver under the table.

About five minutes passed; Lorenzo raised his head again, cold sweat trickling from his forehead, eyes filled with ice.

”I think I know why you’re so cautious now.”

Seeing Lorenzo’s reaction, Merlin smiled slightly, seemingly confident in his hypothesis.

”We don’t know how long this has been circulating, the so-called hallucinogen is seemingly just cover for this stuff. As you saw, the effects are somewhat…”

Arthur said seriously; the prior attempts to destroy the Underground Palace and thwart the Plague Doctor were all for this; someone was using Old Dunling as an experimental ground, and the Purification Mechanism had no clue who it was.

”It’s like Secret Blood, I can feel it. To be precise, this hallucinogen is mixed with a very sparse and inferior Secret Blood.”

It was truly a terrifying secret; Lorenzo looked coldly at the two across the round table.

”Someone is trying to replicate the Secret Blood technique, and it’s evident they’ve achieved something. Though not as pure as what the Order extracted, to some extent, it still allows for stable demonization...”

Lorenzo suddenly recalled everything he experienced before; everything made sense now. The Secret Blood that demonized Sabo likely originated from this, and the perpetrator of the massacre could also be nailed down to someone capable of stable demonization.

”This is why we sought you out; it’s clear our investigative directions align. We first discovered this hallucinogen mixed with Secret Blood. It circulates in small amounts in Old Dunling. Initially, we didn’t know what it was, but with your confirmation, we are sure.”

”So you’re saying an unknown organization has already replicated Secret Blood, and it’s happening in Old Dunling.”

Lorenzo interrupted Arthur, his gaze bearing the look of ”what are the Purification Mechanism even doing?”

Arthur tried not to meet Lorenzo’s provocative eyes and continued speaking.

”We don’t know, the situation is very chaotic. As you saw, our Peeping Tom System can’t locate these people; it’s only when they demonize that they can be detected, but there’s always a time lag between discovery and arriving on the scene, and we nearly miss them every time.”

”But there are exceptions. Your mentioned instability is mostly confirmed. We once hunted a demon who, according to you, had lost stability and couldn’t revert to human form, but it’s hard to find any clues on a rampant demon.”

The two parties pieced together their intelligence, revealing a menacing face behind the fog.

Lorenzo remained silent for a long time before speaking, not answering Arthur but whispering as if convincing himself.

”No one can replicate Secret Blood; no one can do it...”

That was a taboo from the Revelation. Even the Evangelical Church took endless time to tame this ferocious beast; not to mention the others without this knowledge.

No one could do this, unless…

Lorenzo’s thoughts unknowingly drifted back to that burning night.

Night of the Holy Arrival, Ed, who survived, inferior Secret Blood, the new Pope, the reformed Demon Hunting Order, the connected Static Holy Temple...

It was as if a storm descended in his mind, tearing his thoughts apart. He knew there was an elusive link between these fractured things, but Lorenzo couldn’t connect them; he couldn’t manage.

In an instant, everything stopped. Lorenzo sat dazedly, staring ahead. Without knowing when, another person had seated beside Arthur, Watson smiling as he looked at him.

And so, the only answer appeared in Lorenzo’s mind.

Not just me, many survived, not just Ed, but many others escaped from the Seven Hills—many, many people…

Then, thinking differently, only the Evangelical Church holds the technology for Secret Blood. Could it be that amid that burning night, someone else was stirring trouble?

Right, the Night of the Holy Arrival itself was the eruption point for a massive conspiracy, so is it possible for a scholar with the Secret Blood knowledge to have fled, right?

The source of Secret Blood in Old Dunling, the mysterious figure behind Ed, and the lost Holy Coffin.

In the final Ende Town action, all the demons were purified, but the Holy Coffin, which no one had ever seen, vanished without a trace...

It seemed a massive net encompassed the entire Old Dunling, and Lorenzo felt his breath had never been so heavy.

”So, what do you want me to do?”

Lorenzo seemed to be speaking to Arthur, but it was as if he was asking the Watson beside him.

He answered.

”We want to hire you to work with the Purification Mechanism, just like you’re an outside detective for Suyalan Hall.”

Arthur spoke slowly, putting aside those damned grudges; in demon hunting, Lorenzo was one of the few experts in Old Dunling.

”These are the files regarding these events. Joey will help you with the subsequent formalities after you leave...”

”Aren’t you going to ask if I agree?”

At the critical moment, Lorenzo suddenly asked ungraciously, but this time, Arthur didn’t get angry; he only spoke lightly.

”Mr. Holmes, you are one of us; your sole wish is the demon.”

His gaze was empty as he looked at him.

”Even if I don’t invite you, you’d chase them to the ends of the earth, wouldn’t you?”

Lorenzo took the files sliding across the round table, opened the first page, and then smiled.

”Is this the code name for the entire case?”

”Yes, the most active demon is the one you pursued before. If our assumption is correct, he should still be alive.”

”Brutal killings, bloody writings... these are his traits.”

”So it’s called the Study of Bloody Characters?”

”Any problem with that?”

”No problem.”

Lorenzo said slowly as he looked at the files.

”I like this name.”