Gun of Ashes

The fear from Lorenzo was embedded in their minds. They could only stand there dumbly, watching the figure clad in iron armor, his body pierced with sharp nail swords, like a hunted monster.

He was at the end of his rope.

No... it was they who were at the end of their rope, the New Order.

Only at this moment did they realize the absurdity of their actions. They were not the hunters; they were the prey, lured into a trap by a seemingly vulnerable hunter, laughingly thinking victory was within their grasp.

”Next.”

The monster whispered, clearly engulfed in a sea of fire, yet the demon hunters only felt an unbearable chill.

Lorenzo turned around to look at them, slowly loosening his grip, letting the already notched nail sword fall. Then he reached behind his back, several nail swords that had pierced into his body during the attack now all bound by the solid armor.

His hand lightly brushed over them, just as if the Armor of Original Sin was taking weapons off a rack, and Lorenzo casually selected one from the nail swords piercing his body, drawing it out and holding it in his hand.

”Next!”

He shouted again, with an angry expression, but no one answered.

The gaze of the demon hunters now only held fear; they slowly retreated, but at the edge of the sea of fire, they realized they had no way out.

This was the Reichenbach, an airship drifting high in the sky, a dead end. Either they kill Lorenzo and stop this damned airship, or Lorenzo would hunt them down thoroughly.

”Truly worthy of you, Lorenzo Holmes.”

A sudden voice emerged. On the other side of the sea of fire, a man who had remained silent slowly walked out, Moriarty applauding as he walked.

”I thought these demon hunters could not be your match, at most barely restrain you, but now it seems they can’t even do that, only being slaughtered meaninglessly.”

Moriarty leaned on an unburned platform with a wine glass in hand, suggesting this guy had been hiding in the dark watching, and even took the time to pour himself a drink at the counter.

”This is better, directly getting to the point.”

Lorenzo turned towards Moriarty and spoke.

”I won’t kill you, Moriarty. I’ll gouge out your eyes first, break your spine, and then slowly torture you. Rest assured, with the physical strength of a demon hunter, you’ll live for a long time. Indeed, injecting Secret Blood into an enemy to enhance their physique before torturing them is also something we demon hunters need to learn.”

He said these cruel words, striding forward.

”Then I am truly honored?”

Moriarty held no weapon in his hands. He wasn’t adept at any combat, even before becoming a demon hunter, he was just a madman confined in a ward. But the more deranged the madman, the more adept at dragging others into madness.

A blazing white storm swirled in his pupils, but this time, the Authority of Raphael could not affect Lorenzo. He lifted his head, the face armor sealed up completely, leaving no gap to glimpse the outside world.

By avoiding eye contact with Moriarty, one could escape the control of the Authority of Raphael, and given Lorenzo’s current state, he could follow the sound and kill Moriarty.

”Surprised?” Lorenzo asked.

”No, I, in turn, want to ask you, surprised?”

Moriarty smiled, and at the same time, Lorenzo sensed something unusual.

He was not the target of the Authority of Raphael. Turning back, the fearful demon hunters were moving again, their eyes hollow, with nothing but endless flames blazing fiercely.