Gun of Ashes

”Are you listening to me? Child.”

Lancelot’s actions couldn’t interfere with the Plague Doctor at all. The Armor of Original Sin was also quite large, and now that he was close, Lancelot momentarily couldn’t harm the Plague Doctor. The Plague Doctor clung tightly near the Face Armor, his gaze behind the lenses continuously peering at Lancelot behind the steel.

”There’s another enemy!”

Lancelot roared, and others had already noticed the Plague Doctor’s presence, but they were unable to help him.

All the ammunition had long been exhausted. The weapons in the hands of the survivors were mostly close-combat Folding Blades. Besides, it was unclear what mysterious abilities the Plague Doctor possessed, and now that he was entangled with the Armor of Original Sin, the others couldn’t intervene at all.

”Don’t be in such a hurry, child. Can’t we have a good talk?”

The Plague Doctor grinned, seemingly forgetting his mission and was instead drawn to Lancelot.

”You smell near death... Is there something wrong with your blood?”

The Plague Doctor muttered to himself and didn’t wait for Lancelot to respond, he made a move, as did Lancelot.

Even though he was on the brink of death, Lancelot made the most precise judgment. The large lifting platform still had a distance before it could reach the ground fully. He charged out with the Plague Doctor.

All around Lancelot were wounded individuals. With the size of the Armor of Original Sin, if he fought recklessly, he might injure others. Besides, the Plague Doctor was right in front of him, potentially continuing to demonize others.

To avoid this, Lancelot pushed against the Plague Doctor, sprinted to the edge of the platform, leaped onto the ground, and at the same time, delivered a heavy punch to the Plague Doctor.

Facing the incoming heavy punch, the Plague Doctor surprisingly didn’t evade, as if he were scared stiff.

Actually, the Plague Doctor always considered himself a researcher, a Scholar, a great seeker. The hellish battlefield just now was just an experiment for him. In his eyes, there was no such thing as a battle, hence he knew nothing of it. As a pursuer of Truth, everything he did was just research.

Steel struck flesh with force, and under Lancelot’s heavy punch, the Plague Doctor’s body began to twist, his entire spine undergoing significant deformation, blood seeping from the edge of the mask.

Yet, the Plague Doctor was not knocked away. His hand still clutched the edge of the Face Armor, his twisted body tensed again, as if his shattered bones had reassembled in an instant.

The blood-stained mask suddenly lifted, the scarlet eyes beneath the shattered lenses locked with Lancelot’s.

”So irritable...”

The Plague Doctor whispered softly, and the next moment, a terrifying power surged within him. In the previous battle, the already cracked Face Armor split open with his force, creating a gap that, with the Plague Doctor’s continued pressure, kept widening until half of Lancelot’s face was fully exposed.

”So, what makes you special?”

Underneath the gray-black clothing, countless protrusions wriggled, and the Plague Doctor tore away the mask again, revealing the half-face covered in scarlet, slowly writhing tendrils.

The Plague Doctor reached out, passed through the steel into the Armor, gently touching the wound on Lancelot’s face, sending the blood with the King’s Curse into the bird beak mask, savoring it.

Lancelot was completely stunned; he didn’t even resist any of this.

He never imagined what the Plague Doctor really was, but at the moment, it seemed that hidden beneath the heavy clothing was a creature far beyond the unknown, an inhuman existence.

Although he caught only a corner of the Plague Doctor’s face, Lancelot was still shocked by the terrifying sight until the high-standing Plague Doctor spoke again, shattering the heavy fear.

”Your blood is interesting, a type I’ve never seen before. Unfortunately, you’re about to die, or I’d really want to study you... Though having a corpse doesn’t make much difference.”

He muttered to himself, his voice somewhat distressed.

Blood containing the King’s Curse was a power the Plague Doctor had never encountered, an unknown force.

Perhaps out of excitement, his entire body writhed and surged in a strange manner. For someone like the Plague Doctor, the ”unknown” was too tempting, a warped preference, a greedy desire for knowledge.

”However, for experiments, live subjects are better...”

The Plague Doctor seemed to have thought of something; his gaze shifted to Lancelot behind the broken Face Armor and extended an invitation.

”Do you... want to survive?”

”What did you say?”

”Survive, you’re about to die, child, but I have the power to save you, perhaps even solve your blood problem. After all, this thing really piques my curiosity.”

The Plague Doctor said as he took out a syringe, inside rolling with crimson blood.

”The blood of the great Holy Grail, far more potent than the medicine of your Purification Mechanism. It’s from such blood that Demon Hunters were born.”

Lancelot halted his attack and looked at the Plague Doctor, his eyes filled with distrust and anger.

”You don’t believe? This is the blood of the Holy Grail, the key to Ascension, a liquid miracle... You must have seen Lorenzo, right? The terrifying vitality of a Demon Hunter. I can turn you into one of them... a Demon Hunter? Yes, that’s right, a Demon Hunter.

No matter what diseases or pains, they will be healed before this great blood.”

The Armor of Original Sin moved again, and with a swing of the sharp longsword, it cut through the rain, forcing the Plague Doctor back.

Lancelot panted heavily, wind and rain pouring through the gap in the Face Armor, his vision filled with chaotic storm.

”No... this is betrayal.”

Lancelot was very aware of the cost of accepting this gift.

”So what if it is? You’re dying, child, but as long as you inject it, you’ll have a chance to survive. Of course, it comes at a price.”

The Plague Doctor watched Lancelot intently, looking at the child on the brink of death, the Devil revealed a smile.

”Life or death? It’s time to make a choice, child.”