Gun of Ashes

”Like Hallucinogen, for instance?”

Hig patted Joey on the shoulder and continued.

”Back in the factory, people said this thing could show you what you wanted to see. Some saw deceased relatives, some saw heaps of wealth. I was tempted by this and saw my hometown. It was just an illusion, but the feeling was quite good.”

”But I’m quite surprised, Joey. You, such a proper person, also used Hallucinogen.”

”What does being proper matter? I’m still human, and as long as I’m human, I possess human weaknesses and vices,” Joey said.

”Then what was your reason?”

Hig looked at Joey. His blackened face seemed a bit clearer, and there was a pair of bewildered eyes visible in the dim light.

”Nightmares, to escape a nightmare.”

Joey spoke, seemingly explaining to Hig, yet also self-guiding.

”I’m a Soldier, a Soldier must obey orders, whether to kill or to burn, we always do it. After all, it’s an order. Though it might not be our fault retrospectively, but... it was me who killed them, it was me who witnessed all that cruelty.”

I always have nightmares, dreaming that the earth and sky vanished, leaving only countless hands waving like seaweed, grasping me, entangling tightly like vines, then ultimately tearing me apart.”

”Sounds like a terrible nightmare,” Hig seemed to empathize with Joey, nodding as he spoke.

”Will you use Hallucinogen again?” He asked further.

”No more,” Joey replied.

”That’s good.”

Then came a long silence, the two sitting quietly on the bench like sculptures, unmoving even as the drizzle soaked them completely, until Joey broke the stillness again.

”I should go, Hig.”

”Yes, you don’t belong here. This is my hometown, not yours, and our missions differ. Separation will come,” Hig said.

”But seeing you like this now, it’s really nice, Joey.”

”You too, Hig.”

The two consoled each other and then suddenly burst into laughter. Without warning, Hig punched Joey and began to run like a child towards the alley. Joey was slightly stunned but followed in chase.

Like children, they ran and played.

Such behavior seemed so childish and ridiculous on them, yet they felt nothing of it, continuing to run, as if on an endless road.

The puddles reflected their silhouettes, but it was another world, the scorching white Folding Blade slicing through the rain, chasing that strange, swift entity.

The puddles formed a mirror, segregating these two worlds.

For Hig, the feeling was really nice. He recalled a long time ago running along the seaside with other children, riding the waves, those were yellowing memories now vividly reappearing in his mind, gradually recovering his past.

The wind and rain were thrown behind him until a gentle touch came from behind, and then the hand gripped Hig’s clothes, Joey tackled Hig, both tumbling down the steps, finally crashing into the pooled rainwater.

Joey mounted Hig, struggling to rise, while Hig lay still, gazing blankly at the sky.

”Is this a dream, Joey?”

He asked.

”I don’t know.”

Joey couldn’t decipher it either.

”Actually, I think this is a dream, a beautiful and delicate dream, a dream like a cage... I’m clear I can’t go back, sometimes I can’t even confirm if that town truly exists...”

”But what about this? You’re genuinely here now,” Joey countered; everything around was so real. This was Hig’s homeland, his hometown.

”No, this is my dream because I only remember these things.”

Hig turned his head, looking at the buildings beside him.

”I only remember them in vague shapes, so they won’t open doors, won’t have pedestrians, the endless rain won’t cease because I’ve forgotten all those.”

”But perhaps this is fine too. People need to deceive themselves a bit to survive, right?”

Hig’s gaze grew increasingly indifferent as he looked at Joey pinned down on him again and spoke.

”...actually, you yourself don’t exist, you’re probably just imagined by me? But I’ll deceive myself into believing all this, it’s not much different.”

Yet at this moment, Joey shook his head, looking sorrowful.

”No...sorry, Hig.”

The Folding Blade pierced through the dream, tearing through the heavy rain.

Dream and reality overlapped here, and in an instant, those chaotic sounds became clear, the burning flames engulfing the entire town.

The drizzling rain turned violent.

In another curtain of rain, Joey finally caught up with the Demon, pinning it to the ground in front of him, surrounded by piles of those broken corpses.

Joey’s face twisted, yet his eyes were filled with sorrow, glaring at the Demon beneath him, its familiar face evoking extreme rage within him.

”Joey...”

The Demon uttered indistinct sounds, its scarlet eyes gradually calming as the Folding Blade pierced its heart. No one knew whether it was waking up now or falling into a deep sleep.

The words were like a child’s dream talk, illogical and fragmented into mere snippets.

”I’m here, Hig, really sorry.”

Joey simply looked at it sadly, the rain washing over his cheeks.

”If...if there were no Demons, without the Demons... we might have become good friends.”

He said this forcefully twisting the Folding Blade, shattering the Demon’s heart, and in its vision, the silent town under the rain solidified, the scene forever frozen in its eyes.

At the end of life, Hig finally returned to that unreachable homeland, ethereal though it was, it was his last solace to himself.

With the Demon’s blood proliferating within him, he felt the gradually heating power inside, also clearly aware of his consciousness uncontrollably sliding into the Abyss.

Thinking deeply, this feeling truly was unpleasant, utterly dreadful, all these Demons Joey killed were patients from Black Mountain Hospital, most were his colleagues before becoming patients, dedicating their lives to combating Demons.

Like some sort of curse, it tormented mankind.

”Nightmares are like rain...”

Suddenly, a distorted voice echoed from beneath the Folding Blade.

”The rainy season always passes... Joey.”

Unknown whether it was shattered will or strange dream talk, trembling pupils solidified, like cold glaciers, but such solidity didn’t last long, it soon melted away.

”Yes, goodbye.”

Joey softly spoke, and beneath his Folding Blade, the Demon could no longer discern his words. Long before Moriarty began to erode him, Hig had started to mutate. With this battle’s outbreak, thoroughly eroded, he completely transformed.

The Folding Blade freshly drew, beheading them, the entire lift zone’s Demons were all cleanly slaughtered, survivors lay limp in the corners, seemingly unable to believe they survived this catastrophe.

Joey’s eyes swept around, beyond the survivors, beyond the countless corpses.

If there were no Demons, today’s events wouldn’t have happened, so many wouldn’t have died, nor would so much sorrow have occurred.

An unnamed rage burned in Joey’s heart, fleetingly understanding Lorenzo’s fury, that uncontrollable rage.

But then came boundless sorrow, Joey bowed his head gazing into the dark red puddles, recognizing his slightly grim face reflected back.

He tried to draw the Folding Blade but lacked all strength, helplessly kneeling into the puddles, mingling with those piles of Demon corpses.