Gun of Ashes

The endless light from the sky fell, illuminating this desolate battlefield.

Two extreme monsters fought fiercely here, and the violent battle finally ended, leaving only this terrifying scene.

Blood and fragments of machinery were scattered all over the ground, as if it were a slaughterhouse of some hybrid creature of machine and flesh, with a nauseating stench that assaulted everyone’s senses.

The writhing, entangled flesh gradually fell asleep as Lorenzo severed the connection between them, and the raging armor lost all its power, kneeling motionless on the metallic wreckage.

Night Owl looked at Lorenzo in disbelief, with the light behind him only revealing a vague darkness, like a shadow under the sun.

”Are you okay?”

Lorenzo asked. He displayed the power of the Black Angel and remained conscious, although under the influence of that corrosion, he still showed some agitation, such as emotional anger.

Due to these interferences, it contributed to the current tragic state of the Sword Dancer. Lorenzo initially intended to disable its mobility, but he struck a few more times, completely destroying the armor.

”I... I’m okay...”

Night Owl was somewhat dazed. He was so close to death, even feeling as if he had already died, and then the dark figure extended its hand to him.

...

”What... is happening?”

Nikola lay on the edge of the lift, overlooking from above. He had been prepared for an out-of-control armor incident, but just as everything was about to reach its climax, it all suddenly stopped.

The Geiger index began to fall, and the alarms, which had been blaring constantly, gradually ceased with the end of everything, leaving everyone’s faces stricken with lingering fear until Merlin suddenly laughed.

”Should I say, worthy of a Demon Hunter?”

Looking at Lorenzo below, who still hadn’t figured out the situation, Merlin unabashedly praised him.

”He didn’t lose control?”

Nikola, too, came back to his senses. If the Black Angel had lost control, it wouldn’t have stopped. It would have killed Night Owl first, and then himself.

”Of course, he is a Demon Hunter, a Demon Hunter with Secret Blood... Often, the awakening of Secret Blood shares a similar mechanism with piloting armor, both awakening a forbidden power with human will and remaining conscious under terrifying pressure.”

Merlin said, clapping his hands slightly. Lorenzo’s actions not only proved the First Generation Armor’s capability but also his own.

”Unlike us, who need only resist the corrosion while piloting armor, Demon Hunters have lived with that forbidden power at all times, and long-term erosion has made their wills extraordinarily strong. How could this armor’s erosion affect him?”

”But the Restraint Device...”

Nikola wanted to say something else, but unlike Merlin, he didn’t understand these mysterious sciences, putting his faith only in stable numerical results derived from formulas.

”It’s simple. Do you think a rusty blade can enable a swordsman to perform at full strength? The Black Angel is the same.”

The bound Black Angel couldn’t manifest Lorenzo’s full power; together, they formed a nightmarish formidable presence.

”Such powerful individual combat capability, this being Lorenzo’s first test drive, and without any external weapon support, he could easily defeat a fully armed Sword Dancer.”

Merlin kept his gaze firmly on Lorenzo below, who was struggling to pry open the steel, trying to drag Night Owl out of it.

”So... should we continue developing the First Generation Armor?”

Nikola asked.

Being heavily endorsed by Merlin, the Perpetual Motion Pump circulated the rumors that Nikola could usher in a new era, and he also represented the rational side of science within the Perpetual Motion Pump. Now Lorenzo had proven the potential of the First Generation Armor, based on Demon technology, which might suppress that rational side.

Unexpectedly for the worried Nikola, Merlin shook his head, denying all of this.

”No, quite the contrary, we must put all our efforts into developing the Third Generation Armor.”

”Why?”

Nikola was a bit puzzled.

Merlin was initially dazed, and then, as if remembering something, his tone surprisingly carried a hint of innocence.

”Because this is the future.”

”Just like Alchemy, the First Generation Armor is also like that, strong and efficient, but ultimately only serving a few, a very few special individuals. Do you think ordinary people can have the resistance of a Demon Hunter?”

Alchemy is already dead, the last Alchemist firmly believed this, even to this day.

”The Third Generation Armor is our future, the future of the majority, even without being as specialized as the Knight Commander, ordinary knights like Night Owl could be armed and have a fighting chance against the First Generation Armor…

Maybe one person cannot defeat it, but what about hundreds or thousands? Hundreds or thousands of fully armed Armor of Original Sin, they are steel torrents, unstoppable tides of death.

The efficient production of modern industry is our advantage, not to mention we’ve discovered crude oil as a new energy source; this is the future, the future of the majority, the future of armor.”

Nikola looked at Merlin in disbelief, only after a long pause did he slowly ask.

”Then, at that time, the so-called Alchemy is destined to be forgotten, right?”

”It’s the progress of the times, the elimination of the inferior,” Merlin answered almost coldly.

”So you’re destined not to witness the long-pursued Truth, right?”