Gun of Ashes

”Is it over?”

Merlin looked down at the sea of fire. In the fiery white flames, the angels stood motionless like statues. With William’s death, their actions were frozen at the moment of his demise, raising their long nails and fluttering their wings.

”Maybe.”

Lorenzo said with some uncertainty, gripping the Nail Sword, his expression stern.

William’s last words might not have awakened Merlin, but they reminded Lorenzo of too much. It was only natural that the Shepherd had the scent of a hungry wolf, just as Demon Hunters became monsters to fight monsters. So is the so-called end of Ascension a pitch-black Abyss?

The Authority of Gabriel, which I wield, seems to be a powerful tool against Demons. But is there a possibility that it could also be the channel through which this plague spreads?

Lorenzo temporarily stopped thinking about it, observing the movements in the sea of fire.

In this brief contact, he roughly speculated on some of the angels’ nature. They didn’t possess advanced consciousness; they were just machines acting following a certain rule, which would inevitably lead to many clumsy operations. For example, after the death of the priority target William, they are likely to pursue another target in sequence instead of those present here.

Lorenzo was betting on this point, and the follow-up at Maruri Port was where his confidence lay. If indeed all involved were to be eradicated, then Lawrence would suffer greatly, and Maruri Port would be destroyed in flames. But according to news reports, none of that happened.

”Life or death, it depends on this time.”

Lorenzo said softly.

The angels stood in the sea of fire, their soulless gaze falling upon the charred husk, still waiting, the crackling sound constant, until the fire completely turned William to ashes, they had new movements.

The exquisite, bloodstained faces were raised, gazing at the sky from the bottom of the Abyss.

Spread their wings.

Lorenzo pushed Merlin aside, sensing the crisis, as the Secret Blood surged once more.

A sudden gust of wind arose, and they powerfully beat their wings, yet it was laughable that these wings could not lift them in flight, just like Evil Ghosts, clawing relentlessly at the well walls, striving toward the upper platform.

Seeing all this, Lorenzo found it somewhat laughable for a moment. These monsters had the holy appearance of angels, but beneath the husk lay an impenetrable, sticky, false darkness.

They were incredibly fast, and on the platform, the only force to rely on was Lorenzo. Most people had lost consciousness in this intensely corrosive environment, leaving him all alone.

The angels arrived.

Their holy figures rushed over the edge of the platform, surrounding it, and even with Lorenzo’s strength, he couldn’t instantly defeat so many angels.

Spiral Long Nails were snapped off and thrown, piercing the clueless soldiers and nailing them to the well walls, while the remaining medical personnel had no means to resist. In the blink of an eye, it became a massacre.

”Merlin! Follow me!”

Lorenzo shouted. In such a situation, he could only prioritize protecting the valuable person. Calculating carefully, everyone in the Workshop could die, but Merlin had to survive.

The Nail Sword thrust forward, stopping an angel trying to bypass him, but angels climbing up from the platform’s surroundings had already reached the perimeter, dragging their enormous wings, appendages like tumors on their bodies.

Sharp claws swung down. Merlin relied on the swordsmanship learned from harassing other Alchemists in his early years to counter, but his Folding Blade was on the verge of breaking from previous battles. The clash shattered the blade, and the sharp claws cut across Merlin’s chest.

”Merlin!”

Lorenzo abandoned his current enemy, exposing his back unguardedly to the enemy as he rushed toward Merlin. Meanwhile, countless Spiral Long Nails rained down like arrows, sealing off any potential escape routes, turning the area into a closed prison.

On the brink of death, as if time had stopped, all of the angels’ movements froze in the air.

Lorenzo flung himself beside Merlin, dense armor rising from his skin, rapidly growing along his arms and underarms, resembling the steel feathers of a Black Angel, forming an eerie, shield-like hardness.

The anticipated heavy blow never came, and Lorenzo looked at the angels, and in the next moment, they shattered.

Like statues eroded by centuries of wind and water, their smooth white skin began to yellow, peeling and falling off like dried, decayed wood bark. Endless time passed over them, their flesh turning into hard gray-black husks, enclosing fragile bones, finally revealing hollow skeletons.

Flames swirled, and the angels’ husks collapsed into a heap of ashes, returning to dust.

”Did they... leave?”

Merlin, clutching the wound on his chest, spoke weakly.

”Don’t talk just yet. We’ve already lost enough chief technicians today!”

Lorenzo ignored the angels’ movements; ensuring Merlin’s survival was more important than anything.

Ripping open the clothes, one could see Merlin’s body covered with Alchemy Inscriptions. He had once said this; he was an Alchemist obsessed with Truth. At some point in the past, Merlin conducted an Ascension experiment on himself, but, unfortunately, he failed. Luckily, he survived the catastrophe, albeit turning into the peculiar form he had now.