Gun of Ashes

The enormous shadow enveloped Watson.

The intangible erosion gathered together, surging forward like a tsunami rising from the sea, relentless and unstoppable, hunting for Watson’s presence like hounds.

Traversing through the gaps, it spread like a flood, sweeping over every place. Watson could hear the bizarre auditory hallucinations, countless footsteps hurriedly rushing overhead, searching the surroundings without finding Watson’s trace.

Watson lowered her breathing, by the damp and dark wall. She raised her hand to peel away the damp wall surface, revealing the shiny metal beneath.

”Truly, thank you, Your Eminence.”

The immense pressure vanished, and Watson couldn’t help but let out a long breath, then painfully gasped for air.

This was indeed a safe house, prepared by the new Pope for her, meant to guard against the Silencers. Having learned that Holy Silver could block the invasion of will, the new Pope knew he couldn’t always stay in the Static Holy Temple, praying for the protection of the Well of Ascension. Therefore, he had filled possible attack areas with such safe houses.

The location of the safe house was informed to Watson by the new Pope before they parted. Whether it was due to a cooperative relationship or old camaraderie, at least this information saved Watson’s life this time.

Following the intelligence in her memory, Watson flipped through a box, pushing aside food and medical supplies. At the bottom of the box, there was a hidden compartment, which revealed a shiny headpiece like a crown when opened.

It was a laurel cast from Holy Silver. Watson placed it on her head. From the effectiveness of this safe house, it was evident that although Edron was powerful, the property of Holy Silver to shield the will also worked against him. This might fend off a few of Edron’s attacks.

After doing all this, Watson paused for a while, perhaps to calm her agitated emotions, then took the medical supplies to bandage her wounded knee.

Now she didn’t dare to use even a bit of power, lest it possibly attracts Edron’s attention. She was the priority target to be eliminated, and he definitely wouldn’t let her go.

However, this was also a good thing. Before resolving her, Edron’s attention wouldn’t be diverted, and Lorenzo might avoid disaster because of this.

Of course, running away isn’t a solution. Watson thought for a moment, confirmed the safety, then opened the weapon rack beside her and took out a Nail Sword, slashing fiercely at the wall to destroy the safe house.

After simply collecting the internal Holy Silver and putting it in her pocket, she climbed out of the cellar, pushed the door open, and an endless wilderness appeared before her.

Now Watson didn’t dare to use even the slightest power, not even daring to take off the Holy Silver crown on her head, lest Edron appear beside her and destroy her at any moment.

This operation was quite successful too; it not only probed Edron’s strength but also obtained more useful information. Watson needed to share this with Lorenzo... This might bring even greater danger, but she clearly understood neither she nor Lorenzo wanted to be those sheep content in the pen.

The fastest [Gap] transit could no longer be used, so it seemed there was only one path left.

Looking towards the direction of Ingwig, Watson found everything had returned to the starting point.

”I hope Lorenzo can see the message I left behind.”

She said, then cursed angrily. The distance to Ingwig was just too far, and she began to walk dismayedly, as for returning to the Static Holy Temple...

Watson was very doubtful whether the new Pope was alive or dead now.

But the situation was still favorable now. As Watson and the others moved forward, those guys could no longer hide in the dark. They only had two choices left: wait for Watson and others to find all the truth or kill all of them.

...

Night had deepened, and amidst the solitude, footsteps echoed. A man stepped through the water in slippers, looking up to see a pair of furry legs, then a pair of shorts, with a long pajama top, and a comedic nightcap on his head, the whole person appearing like a tramp just crawled out of a garbage dump.

Though the tramp looked disheveled, he exuded a murderous aura, and someone unaware might think this guy had an unnaturally bad temper upon waking.

One hand gripping a Nail Sword, the other dragging a Winchester, his gaze fierce, finally stopping at the alley’s end, sniffing the familiar scent of blood in the air, Lorenzo felt a twinge of unease.

Everything needed to be mentioned from a few minutes prior. Lorenzo was sleeping soundly, yet suddenly, in his sleep, he felt a wave of nauseating malice; being a Demon Hunter, he knew well what that was. Years of training endowed him with an almost abnormal level of vigilance.

He awoke instantly from the dream, picking up his weapon, searching for the Demon’s position, finally stopping at this location.

The night breeze brushed through the alley’s shadows, bringing a warm, bloody scent. Lorenzo slowly walked in; several corpses and a few Demons not yet dead lay on the ground. Their flesh seemed as if struck by something, so much so that even their deformed bodies couldn’t support them, constantly collapsing.

Lorenzo couldn’t help but cover his nose. The Demons were still emitting mournful wails, with their bodies collapsing. Their respiratory tracts were completely compressed, unable to make a sound; even breathing was extremely painful.

Not much external injury was visible; this collapse happened internally—a power even Lorenzo wasn’t familiar with...

Lorenzo pondered this, and suddenly, a memory flashed before his eyes.

The burning Demon once named Horner.

Lorenzo once unintentionally triggered a [Gap] invasion in such a manner, destroying Horner’s [Gap], killing this Demon, whose death was somewhat similar to these, with an internal collapse and implosion.

”What’s going on?”

Lorenzo confusedly examined the scene, gently running his hand along the wall. The combat traces were still very new, as if the fight had just ended moments ago, and he arrived just a step too late.

Who fought the Demons here? From the damaged marks on the wall, it wasn’t caused by a blade. Blade marks would be finer and more even. No sword or bullet wounds were visible on the Demon’s body either.

Where did the person fighting the Demons go now? Arriving here, Lorenzo hadn’t heard any escaping sounds, and from the scene, he couldn’t find traces of a second person, lest the second person was a Demon themselves.

Could two Demons be fighting here? Do Demons also have internal skirmishes?

Lorenzo was more puzzled. He wondered whether to [Gap] invade the Demons, maybe finding answers in their murky consciousness.

He hesitated a lot.

After encountering Lawrence, for some reason, Lorenzo now felt an inexplicable fear of invading others’ [Gap], whether the target was a human or a Demon, he was somewhat reluctant to do so.

Within Erin’s [Gap], she shared memories with him to prove her credibility, yet Lorenzo also experienced all her experiences and emotions: countless memories and feelings, whose intense emotions nearly caused Lorenzo to lose himself; at a moment, he even felt he was Erin...

The same was with Lawrence. When Lawrence displayed the doomsday prophecy, overwhelming fear engulfed Lorenzo; it felt as if a black ocean wholly swallowed him, devoid of light.

Thinking back now, Lorenzo couldn’t discern whether that overwhelming fear originated from himself or Lawrence’s emotions upon realizing the prophecy.

He couldn’t figure it out.

Amid this hesitation, Lorenzo saw something; he narrowed his gaze, squatting down. In the blood pool lay a line written in blood—a brief, scrawled message, indicating the writer was under extreme pressure... perhaps facing Demons, or something more terrifying.

”Don’t use Gabriel, it will find out...”

Lorenzo slowly read the blurred words aloud. The matter was exceedingly bizarre, forcing him into cautious consideration, and soon after, he discovered numbers in the word’s corners.

”042.”

Lorenzo’s expression turned rigid; he clearly knew who else in this world understood this number’s significance and now knew who left him this message.

”What happened, Watson?”

Gazing at the mess around him, Lorenzo understood the event’s sequence and asked worriedly.

”Who is ’it’?”