Gun of Ashes

On the night of the battle with Dean Lawrence, everyone seemed to forget one thing.

At that time, Selyu was with Eve. Perhaps it was Selyu’s unnoticeable manner that caused this oversight, but Lorenzo distinctly remembered they were together.

That is to say, when Dean Lawrence was capturing a hostage, his real target could very likely have been Selyu. However, the situation had spiraled out of control, and he didn’t want to expose his intentions, so he captured Eve instead.

Listening to Lorenzo’s explanation, Selyu felt her blood run cold. She certainly knew who Dean Lawrence was, and she had completely witnessed the process of that battle, the kind of overwhelming strength that was impossible to resist.

”Why...why do you think it’s him?”

Selyu shook her head, still reluctant to believe.

”If it was him, wouldn’t he just launch a direct attack?”

With Dean Lawrence’s might, no one could stand against him.

”Maybe he’s busy with other things and didn’t have the time...”

Lorenzo recalled the underground breeding ground. If nothing went wrong, that madman had already melted the Holy Coffin, releasing the Holy Grail contained within.

”Of course, this is merely my speculation.”

Lorenzo hesitated for a moment, not voicing his conjecture about Dean Lawrence.

Those bizarre hallucinations he had previously experienced might not have been hallucinations after all—they were images from the Gap. There, Lorenzo saw the crimson figure.

Medanzo had mentioned that it was the demons who could exploit the Gap to the fullest. If the Holy Grail was indeed released, then it wouldn’t be impossible for Dean Lawrence to possess some capability to interfere with the Gap.

”Dean Lawrence, what on earth are you planning?”

Lorenzo murmured, looking at Selyu, as a new question emerged.

Why exactly was Dean Lawrence’s target Selyu?

Thoughts started to muddle, since everything was based solely on Lorenzo’s speculation, nobody knew what the outcome would be before the truth was revealed.

He sighed slowly, feeling a bit weary, but just then, a piercing iron whistle sounded, something Lorenzo, familiar with dealing with Suyalan Hall, knew very well.

Hurried hoofbeats stopped not far away, and Lorenzo, with a cold face, hid the Knight’s Sword behind his back as he walked to the door, slowly pushing it open.

As expected, the mounted police surrounded the mansion with rifles, their barrels pointed at Lorenzo behind the door, loudly warning him.

Before the situation could develop further, someone shouted.

”Lorenzo?”

”Wait, it’s one of ours.”

Despite everything, hearing those words of camaraderie, Lorenzo inexplicably felt a rare sense of closeness.

Soon, someone dismounted and ran toward him. Lorenzo looked over and saw it was Pres.

”What are you doing here?”

”What are you doing here?”

Both spoke in unison.

After a brief silence, Lorenzo spoke first.

”A rather troublesome assignment related to those secret organizations.”

As an ordinary police officer, Pres was unaware of the existence of demons. Under the Purification Mechanism’s operation, Pres saw Lorenzo as working for some confidential agency within Old Dunling.

Pres nodded, easily immersing himself in the scenario.

This was a place where some high-up was conducting business, but... this was the Stuart family’s mansion. Could it be that the Queen had finally had enough of these openly united nobles and decided to make a move?

”Why did you come here?”

Lorenzo asked cautiously.

He didn’t know the conditions for invading the Gap but was certain that before launching an assault, he couldn’t guess where Dean Lawrence would exist within someone’s Gap.

In other words, all the mounted police before him could potentially become enemies.

”Gunshots, Lorenzo!”

Pres almost shouted in frustration.

”This is the Inner City District, where mounted police patrol 24/7, not to mention this is the Duke’s manor!”

Winchester’s damn gunshots echoed through half the street. The mounted police, having gotten the report, rushed over, suspecting someone recklessly trying to kill the Duke, and attempting to wipe out the whole family at that.

”Is that so?”

Lorenzo couldn’t help but facepalm, having forgotten about these details. This was Old Dunling, a society governed by law, even though the law couldn’t govern demons.

”Lo...”

”What now?”

One thing after another was giving Lorenzo a headache. He looked at Pres, who was staring at his face, his hand subconsciously reaching for his holster.

Lorenzo felt something trickle down, looking down, he found his hand stained red with blood—not his, but from those intruders.

As he thought about these things, Pres, almost reflexively, leaned his head into the door.

First came the overwhelming scent of blood, followed by a scene like a slaughterhouse, with blood and severed limbs everywhere. His stomach churned, and Pres nearly vomited his dinner.

It wasn’t over yet; Pres saw a little girl sitting on the staircase, her white nightgown stained with blood, looking disheveled, as if shocked, her gaze vacant.

If Pres guessed correctly, this was Miss Selyu Stuart.

The officer swallowed hard.

Pres began to consider whether to shoot Lorenzo first and run back, or just call his mounted police colleagues to provide suppressive fire on the manor.

Reading the rapid change in Pres’s expression within those few seconds, Lorenzo guessed what he was thinking.

”Hold on, it’s not what you think.”

”Lorenzo, you worked with Suyalan Hall, this line is used by many daily.”

But most of them ended up in iron prisons.

Pres slowly retreated, just as he was about to shout, more hurried hoofbeats sounded in the night. Black steeds dragged black carriages, seemingly merging with the shadows, breaking through the mist as they arrived.

The anticipated characters had finally arrived, with Red Falcon leading the Purification Mechanism’s team to the scene.

Looking at the mysterious credentials, this mysterious unit took over the scene, leaving Pres bewildered.

So, was it really an upper-level operation? Did the Queen really move against the Stuart family?

Of course, nobody gave him the chance to verify the truth. The mounted police from Suyalan Hall were promptly dismissed, and fully armed soldiers barricaded the street.

”You arrived slower than I expected.”

Lorenzo glanced at Red Falcon, then opened the door.

The Purification Mechanism was his backup. This group had spread large Geiger Counters throughout Old Dunling. Although a small portion was damaged due to Dean Lawrence’s erosion, it wouldn’t affect this place.

Feeling uneasy, Lorenzo quickly triggered Secret Blood, activating the Geiger Counter responsible for detection—just that he hadn’t anticipated the Purification Mechanism arriving so late.

”We got here as fast as possible, okay? We’re not Demon Hunters; we need time to prepare weapons.”

Red Falcon defended.

”Forget it, I need your assistance this time.”

”Really unexpected, what do you need?”

Red Falcon asked, a bit curiously; she didn’t expect such a day when a Demon Hunter needed help.

Lorenzo dragged out the two unconscious intruders, speaking to Red Falcon.

”Help me identify who they are.”

He looked into Red Falcon’s eyes, speaking very seriously.

”This is related to Dean Lawrence.”