Gun of Ashes

”Many years ago, it was here that we launched the Ranger Program. After it failed, we created the Floren Potion, and the neural connection technology in armor was also developed here...”

Abigail spoke softly, her gaze piercing through the gray-yellow glass to the experimental stage, which resembled a coliseum.

A mechanical chair, like an electric chair, stood upright on the steel platform. Centered around it, machinery and pipes stretched outward like vines, interwoven with cables, with faint steam seeping out from gaps.

The emblem of the Black Mountain Hospital was engraved on the iron wall above the chair, and the willow blade that pierced the brain seemed to break through the confines of the plane, threatening to pierce through along with the person in the chair.

They usually referred to this place as the birdcage, where the experimental targets sat in the chair, watched by people from behind the railings.

”Still the same as ever, haven’t you activated it all these years?”

Merlin walked in from behind, looking around with a hint of nostalgia.

”After the teacher died... or rather, after that incident, it was never activated again. Anyway, we have had no opportunity to use it.” Abigail said.

”Ah... such fond memories. Back then, the Perpetual Motion Pump and Black Mountain Hospital worked closely together, not operating independently like now.” Merlin gently brushed the steel surface. Although maintenance had been done sporadically, the edges of the metal were still covered with rust due to the erosion of time.

”But the failure of the Ranger Program proved the differences between us. Black Mountain Hospital tried to explore the extremes of the human spirit, while all your Perpetual Motion Pump aimed for was mechanics – ever larger machinery, ever more potent explosives.”

”But it couldn’t be helped...” Merlin sighed.

”That incident changed many people, and it was then that Arthur made his decision,” Merlin reflected on the past, ”Even though Arthur had lost many children back then, he was still a passionate guy, seemingly invincible, until the demons targeted him.”

”Lorenzo often told me this: the more we contact demons, the more we get tainted by darkness. In the eyes of those demons, we become clearer, and that’s what explained why demons found Arthur back then,” Merlin said.

”What happened then, I only know roughly, after all, I wasn’t the director back then, just a student.” Abigail asked.

Merlin hesitated for a moment, about to say something but then holding back. The entire experimental site was very quiet, only the restless fan’s sound extracting the stale air.

”What else could have happened, just a clichéd story.”

Merlin finally began slowly recounting.

”The Ranger Program initially sought to replicate the Secret Blood of the Demon Hunting Order, but we took a completely different path, focusing on enhancing the spirit... actually, in retrospect, I somewhat understand why Queen Victoria supported this somewhat risky project. She probably wanted to try solving the King’s Curse using the Ranger Program’s products.

After acquiring the armor technology, Arthur became the last batch of Rangers. Then, during a battle with demons, Arthur was discovered by them. A horde of demons attacked Phoenix Manor, and his wife, who was pregnant at the time, was injured by the demons.”

”Was it this incident that changed Arthur?” Abigail asked.

”More or less. After this incident, we realized another nature of demons, but due to the scarcity of cases, it was not until we encountered Lorenzo and his confirmation that we established this connection to the darkness... just like a moth chasing a flame.”

Merlin continued recalling the distant past, and continued to say.

”Arthur believed that it was because of him that led to his family’s injury. He remembered those few children he had lost before, thinking all this was his fault, caused by demons. It was after that he became like he is now, with an extreme hatred for demons and an almost pathological protective urge towards his last child, Eve Phoenix.”

”So, what’s really going on with Eve Phoenix? In recent tests, there’s something unusual about her.”

Abigail showed a puzzled expression; she wasn’t wearing the heavy protective clothing at that moment, openly looking into Merlin’s empty, pitch-black eyes.

Although this was just an ordinary demon erosion incident, Abigail detected many strange things in Eve.

”According to her indicators... Eve is also a product of the Ranger Program? But wasn’t Arthur the last batch of Rangers?” Timeline doesn’t add up, causing Abigail to become suspicious.

”Ah... this is what I wanted to tell you next, don’t rush,” Merlin slowly said.

”At the time of the attack on Phoenix Manor, not only was Arthur’s wife injured by demons, but she was also eroded. She was pregnant with Eve back then. Her injuries, although severe, could be completely healed with our current technology, and after a mental assessment, it was confirmed that she was in the first stage of erosion, fully reversible, but the problem is... what about Eve?”

Merlin slowly turned his head, looking at that empty gaze, Abigail couldn’t help but feel a cold chill, as if there was some ominous, evil anomaly beneath that ageless shell.

”It’s not only her that was eroded, but also the child in her belly. You could examine and treat her, but Eve, who was still a fetus then, couldn’t be.” Abigail said.