Gun of Ashes

”What exactly happened?”

Lorenzo couldn’t help but be drawn in by Merlin’s words, his peripheral vision glancing at the Black Angel. He was filled with curiosity about this ”savior.”

”Take a look at this, it’s the experimental report from previous tests. We were fully prepared for a potential loss of control, and mobilized significant firepower for it, but strangely, the expected meltdown didn’t occur.”

Climbing up the iron ladder to an observation room suspended in mid-air, Merlin picked up several documents from the table, mixed with a few black-and-white photographs.

”Look at these, the pilot maintained a very brief rationality after activation, then was consumed by the corruption, beginning the demonization process inside the Armor of Original Sin.”

”It looks... quite normal.”

Lorenzo said, just like those who were previously corrupted, they ”normally” underwent demonization.

But after saying this, Lorenzo felt a deep chill, just as Merlin had said, he was beginning to perceive the abnormal as normal.

”No, that’s not right. In the early stages of the Armor of Original Sin’s development, we gathered a lot of data on uncontrolled events. This time is different from before.”

Merlin was one of the earliest developers of the Armor of Original Sin, and he was very familiar with the details of these experiments.

”After demonization, the pilot triggers the Armor of Original Sin’s loss of control because the human brain compensates for the Armor of Original Sin’s inherent deficiencies.”

”These machines don’t have self-awareness. They rely on the pilot’s will,” Lorenzo said.

”Exactly, every loss of control in the Armor of Original Sin stems from the pilot’s backlash. They begin demonization, resulting in mutated flesh growth that fuses with the Armor of Original Sin’s flesh. Their consciousness is replaced by madness, thus completing the evil anomaly.”

Galahad’s wounds flashed back in his mind. Galahad was the previous pilot of the Black Angel. During the assault on the Underground Palace, he lost control due to corruption. When Merlin and the others pulled him out of the Armor of Original Sin, Galahad’s back had already mutated, with growing flesh fused with the armor. They exerted significant effort to ”cut” him out of the Armor of Original Sin.

”According to our usual understanding, when the pilot undergoes demonization, he transforms into the demon’s brain, becoming bloated flesh to fill every mechanical gap. At that time, the Armor of Original Sin could also be called a demon... there actually wasn’t much difference in treating it as a demon clad in mechanical armor.”

Merlin’s gaze kept sweeping over the documentation as if searching for something.

”Take a look at this, it’s a photo after the Black Angel lost control. Everything was calm; the expected battle didn’t occur. The pilot was disassembled directly in the cockpit, literally disassembled, as if buried beneath a tree, where all his nutrients were devoured. The narrow cockpit was empty, and he became one with this armor, yet the armor didn’t lose control and remained extremely calm on the surface.”

Merlin handed the photo to Lorenzo. Due to the limitations of photography technology, the black-and-white image was somewhat blurry, but Lorenzo could still barely make out everything in it.

It seemed a monster had conducted a gruesome feast here, eating cleanly, leaving only bits of flesh debris in the corners.

”This is a singular, very exceptional case, of which we are unaware, like waking up one day to find that one plus one doesn’t equal two, but three.”

Merlin’s hollow eyes held a touch of excitement as he spoke, and Lorenzo began to grasp what he intended to do.

Lorenzo shouted loudly, shaking his head vigorously as he shouted.

”No, no, no! Merlin, don’t even think about it. I’m not going in there!”

”Lorenzo, you’re making a sacrifice for science! No matter how powerful you demon hunters are, in decades or even hundreds of years, you’ll just be a pile of bones. But technology! This knowledge can be passed down forever!”

Merlin said while grabbing the fleeing Lorenzo.

He was an alchemist, a man obsessed to madness with the truth. The only reason he seemed normal usually was that the unknown truth was so distant, like looking at a mountain peak hidden in the mist. You understand the distance between you, so there’s no rush.

But this time was different. Merlin had found a breakthrough, this anomalous Armor of Original Sin, this uncontrolled mysterious armor, which might be the breakthrough point for technology.

Under such temptation, even a fame-averse alchemist would go mad. For them, knowledge not yet mastered is the most perfect bounty.

”Lorenzo, you have to help me! You survived from this Armor of Original Sin, and it’s even possible this Armor of Original Sin lost control because of you!”

In terms of strength, Merlin was clearly no match for Lorenzo. Just as Lorenzo was about to escape the observation room, Merlin shouted loudly.

Hearing this, Lorenzo stopped his steps, looking at Merlin with some doubt.

”You say, because of me?”

”That’s right, it’s the only deduction. The Armor of Original Sin won’t activate itself unless something influences it, granting it self-awareness or certain motivational actions. Think about it, Lorenzo, the Black Angel had a strong sense of purpose on the battlefield!”

To convince Lorenzo, Merlin laid out all his conjectures.

”Think about the causality here; the Black Angel was driven by a certain purpose!”

Lorenzo froze in place. For some reason, after the incident, he rarely recalled the scenes of that time unless necessary, perhaps because he was heavily injured then and his consciousness was hazy.

”A certain purpose, what purpose?”

Lorenzo asked. This alchemist indeed knew a lot, and it was unclear what he usually researches in this underground place.

”You!”

Merlin said.

”Its purpose was you!”

Perhaps because of prolonged contact with demons, everyone carried some degree of madness.

Merlin completely forgot Lorenzo’s attempt to escape; he began analyzing everything about the incident for Lorenzo.

”The Armor of Original Sin doesn’t have independent thought capability; ultimately, it’s just a living armor! But it moved then, and with a clear sense of purpose, you could even say a certain intelligence!”

”Lorenzo, we never thought of using Holy Grail Flesh to heal the dying. Did your Demon Hunting Order ever consider this?”

Listening to Merlin’s words, Watson’s face flashed through Lorenzo’s mind— the woman who vanished like a dream after the assassination of Lawrence.

”No... never.”

”Exactly, that’s intelligence, or possessing some degree of situational judgment! The Black Angel was developed by us; there’s absolutely no issue with it. If the Armor of Original Sin we built was so powerful, we’d have pushed all the way to the gates of Florence!”

Though now a harmonious society, Merlin still harbored a grudge against the Evangelical Church, which once exerted enormous pressure on the Purification Mechanism.

”There must have been some variable on the battlefield then, an unknown variable affecting the course of everything.”

Merlin was a bit puzzled.

”And your survival is the result of that variable’s influence.”

It took Lorenzo a long time before he slowly said, ”Is there any problem with this?”

”There is a problem, and when I say it’s a problem, it’s not me who has the problem; it’s you!”

Merlin said, pointing towards Lorenzo.

”You have a problem, Lorenzo.”

”Think about it carefully, Lorenzo; it needed you to survive. Under the influence of the variable, the Black Angel’s loss of control, the slaying of Holy Grail Flesh, all of it was for you, for your survival.”

Merlin coughed a few times, standing at the door, blocking all of Lorenzo’s escape routes.

”Now, the question arises, Mr. Holmes, how did you manage to rise from the dead?”