Gun of Ashes

It was like the invasive power, cast and enveloped the entire church; in an instant, all negative emotions were amplified and continued to intensify. Even the resolute Demon Hunters were repelled by this sudden wave, their minds shaken, like a sailboat tossed in a storm.

Lorenzo and the others sat on the bench, watching the cheering residents outside the door with a heavy heart.

”Are they attacking? Against the Demon Hunters?”

Bluebird remained skeptical of everything in the story.

”Of course, Valley Town is an extremely secluded environment. Not to mention Demon Hunters, they don’t even understand what the concept of a Demon Hunter is...”

Lorenzo sighed deeply. These people understand nothing, and Lorenzo wasn’t sure if, under such enigmatic forces, they still retained any awareness of the ’outside world’.

It was like a sealed cage, leaving the humans inside to fend for themselves.

”Let the story continue.”

Red Falcon focused his mind, urging them on.

Lorenzo nodded, and then in his narrative, vicious sounds of slaughter echoed from the story.

”Of course, they’re no match for the Demon Hunters. Those residents weren’t even corrupted by the Demons. Moreover, under the cloud of Valley Town, their constitution was extremely weak. Killing them was like chopping vegetables for the Demon Hunters, but... it’s the psychological pressure that’s terrifying.”

In the story, 042 furiously swung his Nail Sword. Sometimes the more one fears, the more it can stir the anger deep within, fiery rage burning and evaporating both fear and reason.

The entire church was ignited, the raging flames engulfing all that was sacred. The four sat on the burning bench, quietly listening to the story.

The fire continued to rise, and the Demon Hunters knew they couldn’t stay here any longer. As a result, 042 chose to strike first; out of caution, he immediately activated his Authority. Sturdy armor formed from his skin, tearing through the confining robes, and covering his body.

The pitch-black knight became a moving war machine, charging straight through the front door, knocking over every obstacle in his path. The remaining two Demon Hunters, less adept at direct combat and lacking the protective Authority of 042, followed closely behind him, covering the areas he couldn’t attack.

”I thought there’d be a fierce battle, but it was actually much easier than I expected.”

Lorenzo recounted.

042’s Nail Sword easily severed steel and wooden crosses. The frail bodies were as fragile as paper under his blade. In the excessive human tide, 042 could hardly maintain himself, but the raining weapons were all deflected by the sturdy armor, only leaving sporadic sparks.

”We escaped the church with ease. Although there were only three Demon Hunters, we were a very solid team, each with different Authority, complementing each other.”

Lorenzo recalled the team members.

”My Authority is Medanzo, 016’s Authority is Raphael, and 011’s is Shangdafeng.”

The white bricks holding the church collapsed, exposing the outside view to the four, allowing them to clearly understand everything in the story.

”I was the most solid shield. 011 could give us timely warnings, 016 would help distract the enemies; we fought continuously. After the last resident was killed by me, we realized we had reached the central square of the town.”

The surrounding world began to shatter, like the curtain falling on a drama. A new scene appeared, and they sat on the square’s bench, watching the bloodied Demon Hunters not far away.

The young Demon Hunters were panting heavily. They had fought Demons, but never fought against humans driven mad like this. The whole town remained shrouded in mist, with corpses spread from the church to the square. 042 looked back the way they came, seeing only blurred bloodstains marking the path they had tread.

”That feeling was very strange, not knowing if it was an illusion or something else. As we delved deeper into Valley Town, I found the mist thickening, and our visibility continuously shrinking, down to a pitiable few meters in the end.”

Lorenzo recalled the situation back then. In his narrative, a dark, enigmatic force rose in the heart of every listener.

”It’s very strange, from the battle we clearly felt these residents hadn’t been corrupted by Demons, meaning they were all normal people, yet they were driven by some Evil Anomaly to relentlessly attack us, and they seemed to feel no fear.”

042 looked down at his blood-stained Nail Sword, reflecting the gray world.

”And we... resolute Demon Hunters, yet we were shaken in that short skirmish, like a ship’s hull riddled with holes, where the sea of fear seeped into our bodies little by little, delivering coldness from the warm innards.”

The listeners had solemn faces, already feeling that obscure fear, not intense, but like the gray mist, it slowly engulfed the listeners and the Demon Hunters in the story.

This is a natural human emotion, difficult to sever, and hard to suppress, only like balancing on a tightrope, maintaining its equilibrium with reason.

”The whole town exudes strangeness, seemingly not influenced by Demons, but their anomaly was stronger than the Demons... After a brief decision, we chose to continue investigating the town’s secrets, taking a short rest in the square, and then continuing to explore.”

”However, during the rest, I examined a few corpses and found some useful information.”

In Lorenzo’s narration, 042 turned over several corpses. In meticulous inspection, he found some interesting things.

”Black Cross?”

Bluebird seemed a bit astonished by what Lorenzo had found.

To this, Lorenzo confirmed.

”That’s right, we found a common point on those corpses. They all had marks of a black cross on their bodies—some were scars, some were tattoos, and others were items, hanging around their necks.”

”And this thing is recorded in the Demon Hunting Order, originating from a long-standing heretical sect.”

In the story being narrated, 042 slowly raised that black cross, and both 016 and 011 showed slight expressions of fear.

”This is a mark from a group called the Apocalypse Society, a bunch of madmen unknown as to where they come from, whose conduct principles are just as the name implies.”

On the bench, Lorenzo spoke to the listeners.

”The end of all things.”

The thick mist began to wriggle, as if some enigmatic entity was moving slowly behind the gray fog, bringing gusts of mild wind and stirring up the smoke and dust.

”To be honest, according to the Demon Hunting Order’s records, the Apocalypse Society is the most legit heretical group. They don’t care about fame or fortune, nor about power or status. The only thing they wish to accomplish is the end of all things, pure destruction.

This is an extremely dangerous group of madmen, and they seemingly don’t have a main gathering place, but are scattered everywhere. Some are connected to Demons, while some are unaware of the Demons’ existence. Even after all this time, we still don’t know where this society originated, or even their specific internal structure.”

Lorenzo said, frowning.

”Thinking about it now, this society indeed has many strange issues, but usually their scale isn’t large, like weeds by the roadside, easily eradicated... yet they persist endlessly.”

”And what happens next?”

Red Falcon inquired eagerly, becoming curious about the reason behind it all.

An isolated town, the mist that mysteriously conceals, the strange evil anomaly, a band of crazy madmen, and three caught-off-guard Demon Hunters.

If it wasn’t for Lorenzo’s cautious storytelling dispelling their doubts, they might really have thought of it as a story Lorenzo made up on the spot.

Lorenzo, seemingly aware of Red Falcon’s excitement, shook his head.

”It might disappoint you, this is a special mission, but the truth, in hindsight, seems a bit clichéd. However, under the circumstances at the time, it was indeed special, worth my deep thought and caution.

As for other parts, there were no shocking reversals or earth-shattering secrets, just like the previous approach of our Demon Hunter actions.”

He said somewhat coldly.

”Find the target, kill him... or kill them.”

So in the story, the Demon Hunters gripped their Nail Swords once more, heading into the depths of the thick fog.