Gun of Ashes

Heracles stood up holding Polo, turning on the light to dispel the darkness in the room. It was already approaching night, but due to the stormy weather, it was pitch black outside, with no telling how long this weather would last.

”I’ll tell you about the Memory Palace later, but afterward, please rest early; your current mental state is not good.”

Heracles spoke as he pointed a direction to Lorenzo.

”That room is reserved for you; I’ll be sleeping next door.”

...

The exhausted body, along with a weary mind, lay heavily in the dimly lit room. He felt cold all over, only managing to remove the soaked clothes before curling up in the bedding.

The curtains were tightly closed, allowing no light to penetrate. After a long while, Joey slowly lifted his head, staring into the void ahead.

Outside the door, there was the faint ticking of the large Geiger Counter at work, along with people’s movements and whispered conversations. Despite the harsh weather, some were still on duty. Though separated by a door, it felt like they were worlds apart from Joey.

Joey gradually hugged his head, as once again the phantom beneath the veil of blood flickered before his eyes.

He hadn’t remembered these in a long time; since leaving Black Mountain Hospital, they had ceased, but now they returned to haunt him, those young and blood-stained faces.

Joey took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He was different now; back then, he needed a Hallucinogen to escape these, but he had since walked out from that nightmare. He couldn’t return there.

But suddenly there was a flash of lightning, and through the curtain’s gap, a brief light flickered, illuminating the room for an instant. In the gloom, Joey glimpsed that rank redness.

Joey first froze in stunned rigidity, then slowly turned his head. A child’s black silhouette stood by his bed, just as when Joey had killed him many years ago.

”You’re already dead.”

Joey tried hard to keep his calm.

But the shadow gave no response, only emitted an eerie child’s voice, as if countless children were laughing at Joey in the darkness, soon rushing at him.

It was a nightmare similar to those at White Church, but a nightmare so real, so real that Joey felt he was dying. The shadow layered upon him, gnawing at his flesh and blood body, spreading the pain to its maximum.

But then Joey regained some strength, sure that the child was dead, and the dead cannot be resurrected. He rolled off the bed, drawing out the Folding Blade from beside it. In its retracted state, it was just an inconspicuous iron rod.

A flash of blade light streaked through the dim room, slicing open the writhing shadow, but it soon gathered again. In the next instant, countless crimson fissures split open upon the pitch-black shadow.

Blood gushed along the fissures, revealing rows of ghastly white teeth when they split open, the chomping mouths of hundreds, followed by chilling laughter, childlike laughter.

All the darkness became Joey’s enemy, and in this darkness, there was only that singular light, the light from the crack of the door.

Joey hurriedly crawled up from the ground; he wasn’t far from the door, only a few short steps, yet these short steps felt so long. The surrounding darkness writhed, seizing Joey, and the next moment those chomping mouths closed, their sharp teeth adding more wounds to this flesh and blood body.

Fear, oppression, anger, countless emotions surged from Joey’s heart. He roared lowly, his iron fists futilely hammering at the darkness, yet all in vain.

Dark hands dragged him up, slamming him heavily onto the ground. Joey felt a few bones crack, and then more blood gushed from his wounds.

The grotesque entity pinned Joey, gnawing while constantly applying pressure to this poor body. More blood flowed from the wounds, his bones shattering under the pressure. Mustering his last bit of strength, Joey reached out, not believing he could escape, but stubbornly trying to push the door open.

Then the door opened.

Light poured in, and that bizarre sensation vanished, his consciousness on the brink of fainting, while someone rushed in, lifting Joey, shouting his name repeatedly.

”Joey! Joey!”

Everything felt so prolonged. When Joey emerged from his stupor, he found himself lying on the floor, bright white light above him. Someone stood beside him, seemingly injecting something into his body, and soon his vision cleared.

”Can you hear me? Joey!”

Red Falcon slapped Joey’s face hard, looking at his still dazed eyes, shaking his head, he spoke to the person beside him.

”Another Florun Potion.”

The person watched with some concern, as there were already several used syringes scattered on the floor. Injecting Joey again, no one could tell what might happen.

”Red... Red Falcon?”

In the crucial moment, Joey came to, though his gaze remained somewhat vacant, basic communication was possible.

”You’re alive?”

Seeing this, Red Falcon slapped him harder, after a long ordeal, Joey seemed to finally come around. He sat on a chair, looking as though he had lost all strength.

”What happened?”

After a long time, Joey managed to utter a sentence, his eyes still somewhat cloudy.

”That’s what I want to ask you,” Red Falcon said from the side.

”I was on duty, but not long after I arrived, it raised an alarm.”

Red Falcon gestured towards the large machinery in the center of the living room, which ran through the entire building. It was the large Geiger Counter, equipment used by the Purification Mechanism to detect contamination. However, its method of detection was vague, relying on indices, light color, and alarm frequency for judgment.

”It wasn’t the usual alarm, the Geiger index rose slightly, the alarm frequency quickened... a weak level of contamination nearby, very close.”

Red Falcon scrutinized Joey.

”We were preparing to search the vicinity, but suddenly there were strange noises from your room. You were roaring, as if fighting some monster, but when I pushed the door, there was nothing there. You were holding the Folding Blade, collapsed on the ground, slightly convulsing, your gaze vacant... it was very similar to hallucinogenic reactions.

After I injected you with the Florun Potion, the Geiger index stabilized...”

Perhaps because of others being present, Red Falcon didn’t mention the use of the Hallucinogen.

”Is that so...”

Joey didn’t offer further explanation, keeping his head slightly lowered, lost in thought.

”I didn’t use any Hallucinogen,” Joey said, showing his arms where only some scars were visible, with no injection marks. ”Of course, if you want to check other spots, feel free.”

Red Falcon said nothing, while Joey looked around at the others. In terms of position, Joey and Red Falcon were their superiors.

”Please step out for a moment.”

No questions arose. After all, the Purification Mechanism was an Iron Blood Mechanism against Demons; they all understood what they were dealing with. Everyone left quickly, leaving only the two of them.

”What happened, Joey? The others have left,” Red Falcon asked.

”I’m not sure, but I can be certain I haven’t used the Hallucinogen. Ever since leaving Black Mountain Hospital, I haven’t touched it again.”

”But the Geiger Counter... have I been contaminated by something, bearing pollution?” Joey pondered over it all.

”What’s going on?” Red Falcon suddenly realized the complexity of the problem.

”I haven’t had any combat mission against Demons lately; it’s been all about damn surveillance, surveillance, and more surveillance. I haven’t been in direct contact with any Demons. Even if contacted, unless deeply contaminated, minor pollution would fade over time...”

It seemed the Florun Potion had taken effect, clearing Joey’s thoughts gradually.

”So this means... at some recent moment, I’ve been contaminated silently.”

Joey concluded, then glanced at the large Geiger Counter nearby. To ensure the city’s safety, these large machines were highly sensitive to contamination. Perhaps thanks to this, Joey resided just meters away from it, otherwise this slight anomaly might never have been noticed.