Gun of Ashes

Whether it was fear or anger, or just the will to survive, the Shangdafeng Demon Hunter gave everything over to the devil hidden in his bloodline. This caused his body to become grotesque and twisted, countless futures flashing in his mind, destroying his sanity.

Demonization.

Shangdafeng Demon Hunter roared, like a newborn child in this world, letting out a sharp wail, but this wail was drowned out by a deep explosion. The Armor-Piercing Hammer heavily smashed into its head. He was not a Medanzo Demon Hunter and did not have that sturdy armor. Under Lorenzo’s strength, the head split open instantly, the hammerhead driving into the flesh beneath.

This was not the end. The power ignited by the lacquered antimony drove the Nail Hammer further downwards, brutally smashing open his entire head along with his chest.

Only half the head remained. After demonization, the Demon Hunter had started to become like a demon. With powerful vitality, some flesh barely connected the remnants of the head, while the chest area had blown open completely, revealing stark white bones and seething flesh beneath.

The heart penetrated by Lorenzo began to beat once again under this power, seen pulsing rhythmically through the gruesome wound in the chest.

”Lorenzo! Lorenzo! Lorenzo Holmes!”

The flesh twitched, emitting a twisted voice from the countless perforations in the trachea, like some kind of curse.

The Shangdafeng Demon Hunter swayed as if intoxicated. After demonization, a Demon Hunter’s rationality continuously deteriorates until they become a demon.

Through that gruesome wound, it could be seen that Lorenzo’s brutal blow had broken his spine, yet he did not become paralyzed. The proliferating flesh instead firmly bound the spine, correcting his body.

”Lorenzo! Lorenzo!”

Shangdafeng Demon Hunter continued to growl low, unable to form a complete sentence due to the invasive demonization, only able to repeatedly curse this name.

He pulled the Nail Sword out from his body, wanting to slash at the Demon Hunter before him, but all he could do was swing ineffectually.

Shangdafeng Demon Hunter could no longer see Lorenzo. It was his first attempt at a Critical Breakthrough, but as a Demon Hunter of the New Order, he had never experienced true despair nor understood the terror of the Secret Blood. At this moment, it was like a child having gained a heavy blade, unable to wield such power.

The Authority began to go out of control, countless futures flashing in his eyes, overlapping like mirrors, leaving him unable to distinguish illusion from reality.

”So pitiful...”

Lorenzo said, putting away the Armor-Piercing Hammer and instead drawing a shotgun, stabbing down through the chest wound.

These Demon Hunters were nothing more than servants of the new Pope, assembled at will for the sake of the Pope’s will. They had never realized the heavy price of this power.

He pulled the trigger, and searing flames erupted from the wound, burning fiercely.

Footsteps could be heard behind him, and Lorenzo turned his head to see one grotesque figure after another, along with that intensely maddening power.

Demonization.

Under Lorenzo’s threat, all the Demon Hunters chose Critical Breakthroughs, and in order to keep Lorenzo here forever, this power continued to rise until their bodies twisted into demons.

No, these guys obviously lacked the resolve to die; something must have interfered with them.

”Is it you, Moriarty!”

Lorenzo shouted into the storm, but no one answered him. However, Lorenzo couldn’t care less anymore.

At this life-threatening moment, Lorenzo suddenly closed his eyes.

The Authority of Raphael would drag people into a bewildering Illusion Realm, but there was a prerequisite for it to activate, which was to make eye contact with the person triggering the Authority.

Lorenzo never understood when he had made eye contact with Moriarty but later on guessed somewhat.

It was the rain, this seemingly endless storm.

The transparent liquid created a mirror-like effect. Perhaps at some unnoticed moment, Moriarty could have used these mirrors as media to establish a connection with Lorenzo’s gaze.

However, the Demon Hunter’s burning pupils were so prominent in the gloom, Moriarty’s best way to hide this was to do so midst the falling thunder.

When the blaze of the white thunder and the burning gaze overlapped, that was the moment Lorenzo fell into the illusion.

The thunder roared, but Lorenzo kept his eyes tightly shut. Once open, he might be caught by the Authority of Raphael, but not doing so would mean being torn apart by those Demon Hunters.

At this critical time, the loud sound of a foghorn rang out, as if some iron beast was rampaging through the storm.

An Iron Serpent was rumbling forward, but visibility was obscured by the heavy rain, making it impossible to see which direction the Iron Serpent came from. At this moment, Lorenzo produced the last weapon from the case.

If his plan was correct, if everything went as he envisioned...

No, there was no need to doubt himself. He was the great Lorenzo Holmes; there was no way he could lose.

Lorenzo pulled the trigger, and the grapple shot into the other side of the rain curtain. Shortly after, a mighty force jerked Lorenzo, moving him. The Demon Hunters couldn’t intercept him in time. Lorenzo tugged the rope fiercely, broke through the rain curtain, and landed on the Iron Serpent.

It was then that he opened his eyes, and could see a familiar figure looking at him from the edge of the rain curtains.

The Authority of Raphael also had distance limitations, and on this swiftly moving Iron Serpent, Lorenzo escaped Moriarty’s area of influence.

At the same time, crimson flames lit up the sky, and Lorenzo couldn’t help but look up. He could see the burning trajectory streak across the firmament, like divine punishment, with the savage wind and rain unable to restrain its path, finally plummeting like a meteor into the other side of the rain curtain, followed by a booming explosion, an even brighter crimson igniting there.

Ascalon, that damned heavy cannon, someone was firing into Old Dunling... no, it was the Black Mountain Hospital, someone was firing upon the Black Mountain Hospital.

Lorenzo watched the blazing light in shock, unclear as to what was happening within the Black Mountain Hospital, but he quickly dismissed these thoughts. He had no spare energy for concern about others; he had more important matters to attend to.

Entering the Iron Serpent, one could see this was a modified Iron Serpent, with weapons hung on the walls of the carriage, excluding a single chair, and medical kits scattered on the ground. Lorenzo spotted a note stuck in the corner, reading, damned ”Sponsored by the Stuart Family and Nordro.”

Two Iron Serpents, one in front and one behind, running on different tracks, with one set to attract Demon Hunters for a surprise attack, while the other helped Lorenzo quickly flee the battlefield, providing rest and preparations for the upcoming battle.

Though the great detective was exceptionally intelligent, he was human after all and would inevitably feel fatigue and exhaustion. He leaned back onto the chair and let the agitated Secret Blood gradually calm down, lighting a cigarette for himself. The smoke curled up as he picked up those few pages Oscar had torn from the aviation manual for him.

He had to find a place with no ”mirrors” to battle Moriarty, and with Nordro’s assistance, this battleground was already prepared.

Lorenzo was not worried that Moriarty wouldn’t fall into his trap. As Moriarty had once told him, Lorenzo was too obsessed with eradicating demons, which gave Moriarty the opportunity to design a trap. But thinking about it, wasn’t Moriarty just the same?

He was too obsessed, obsessed with destroying Lorenzo and turning him into a monster like himself. Under such pathological obsession, Moriarty was doomed to step into the trap Lorenzo had set, bringing all the threads together; it was the only road.