Gun of Ashes

”It was an incredibly dazzling starry sky, exuding enchanting colors, the surrounding darkness receding before it... They intertwined, the light slowly undulating, breathing like it was alive...”

William spoke softly, as if reciting poetry, his gaze starting to grow distant.

”This is not useful intelligence, William!”

Merlin shouted angrily, to him this was merely William’s hallucination, even though he mentioned something like intuition, it was completely unreliable when it came to William.

Indeed, William’s erosion was worsening, he wasn’t reciting poetry, it was just a murmur from his blurry consciousness.

”It resembles... just like our neural fibers.”

William continued to speak, like the ramblings of a madman.

”One star after another, their light connecting together, bursting forth with magnificent brilliance, forming a dazzling star cluster.”

He slowly stretched out his hand, as if the star cluster was right before him.

”They’re coming, they are coming, the stars are coming.”

William suddenly shouted loudly, scrambling forward awkwardly, but what awaited him was not a star, but a delicate pale palm smeared with blood, grasping the edge of the platform, dragging broken wings as it climbed up.

”So beautiful...”

William paused, the angel’s calm face reflected in his pupils, in his sight, it’s a mass releasing light and heat, this countless constellation forming the dazzling starry sky.

”Come back! William!”

Merlin swung the folding blade, grabbed the back of William’s collar, forcefully dragging him backward, while raising the folding blade, clashing with the angel’s iron feathers, sparking bursts of fire.

The figures stumbled, Merlin and William fell to the ground, after all, Merlin was just a mortal, in terms of strength, he had no ability to resist the angel at all.

It fully climbed up, standing at the edge of the platform, soldiers firing madly, aluminothermic bombs showered upon it one after another, molten iron ran across its skin, shattered steel cutting through flesh, in an instant evenly covering the angel, like it walked out from a burning furnace.

The angel waved its arms, sharp spiral long nails piercing out from its palms, dispersing the iron waters, raising crimson splashes.

Merlin only felt a scorching pain, the iron water splashing onto his legs, struggling to rise, forcefully dragging William backward; this old guy was already starting to falter, consciousness murky, body showing various deformities, sliding towards the abyss.

”Hold on, William!”

Merlin said as he injected William with a Florun Potion, shadow looming over him immediately.

The broken angel raised its spiral long nails, the motion was stiff, but no one doubted the power within, Merlin had no time to dodge, the soldiers’ attack was just temporary hindrance, unable to kill it.

The cliff of reason began to collapse, under such a death threat, Merlin knew all his wishes and purposes would collapse.

Can’t die here, neither he nor William could die here like this.

Furious, Merlin swung the folding blade, knowing well his strength couldn’t withstand the angel but refusing to fall without resistance.

The folding blade clashed with the spiral long nails, unsurprisingly, the momentary impact force made Merlin’s arm holding the blade lose sensation, then came the intense pain, falling to the ground like losing support once again.

The spiral long nails did not retreat, it fell along the original trajectory, first shattering Merlin’s folding blade, then descending towards his neck, a strike that could sever both bones and flesh, Merlin was doomed.

Pain clearly emanated from the neck, Merlin could feel his flesh being torn open, but the pain soon disappeared, at such close proximity, erosion hammered into his mind like a heavy blow, Merlin’s consciousness grew heavy, countless hallucinations flickering before his eyes.

”Merlin!”

The shout resounded, waking Merlin slightly, he lifted his head sharply, blood dripping into his eyes.

Sharp metal pierced through the angel’s chest, Lorenzo gripped the nail sword, slowly rotating the hilt, thoroughly churning the heart it penetrated, while above, the angel’s head had long vanished, in that split second just now, Lorenzo delivered a fatal blow to it.

Withdrawing the nail sword, like pulling the cork from a wine barrel, blood gushed uncontrollably, the angel’s figure swayed, finally falling below the workshop, disappearing into the rising mist.

”Time is running out, Merlin, at this rate we’ll all die.”

Lorenzo wiped the blood splattered on his face, speaking seriously.

The workshop imprisoned the angel here, similarly trapping them inside, the intensity of the erosion continued to rise, at this rate everyone would turn into demons.

”Their target is William... at least in terms of priority, it’s him. If he dies, they might leave, or continue to fight us, but whatever the result, it’s better than now.”

Lorenzo took a deep breath, looking towards the base of the workshop, seeing the sword dancer stirring the mist, advancing like a beast of steel, the lancer cavalry supporting Bola from the dome.