Gun of Ashes

The aged eyes were filled with searing flames; within Arthur’s silhouette, Lorenzo saw himself, his former self.

More than a year ago, in the dim tunnels of the Lower City District, he and a girl named Eve were on a mission; it was there he rediscovered the presence of demons.

Lorenzo still remembered his excitement at that time, nearly howling with joy as his aimless life suddenly found an outlet.

Presumably, Arthur is feeling the same now, he and the knights of the Purification Mechanism across generations all moved forward for an almost void goal, until after so many years, Arthur finally saw the end on this seemingly endless path.

There’s no way he could retreat, he would sprint forward even if he fell and couldn’t rise again, he would crawl to the end—this was the closest he had ever been to everything, surely death wouldn’t scare him away.

”The Cleaners and the Perpetual Motion Pump have long had a preliminary plan. We will transform a laboratory specifically for research purposes, an entity entirely independent of the Purification Mechanism, assisted by multiple institutions.”

Arthur had already prepared everything.

”The location of the entire laboratory is confidential. It has ample reserves, and once the experiment begins, there will be no population movement; all material transports will be handled by mechanical tracks. Its entirety will be protected by a vast Anti-Meme system. I’m unsure if this can prevent the arrival of those entities, but it’s the highest level of defense we can achieve for now. It will be under the surveillance of the Cleaners, guarded by Third Generation Armor.

All intelligence pertaining to the Pursuit Experiment will be centralized and integrated, housed in a secret chamber within the laboratory. This chamber is solely for the most basic experimental research and documentation, and no more than three people are allowed inside at any given time. Each person has the right to ascertaining the entirety of the information within, but after grasping these facts, their memories will be erased, meaning the secrets of the Pursuit Experiment, except for our brains, can only exist within that chamber.”

As he spoke, he tapped his head, pondering deeply. This was the safest way to block information.

”However, somebody needs to know the full picture to organize the experiment. Merlin will be responsible for this; he’s the only one in the laboratory who knows everything, yet he will not divulge these secrets. All experimental personnel will only execute his research orders, assisting with the studies as human tools without understanding the information.”

”And after that?”

Lorenzo asked again.

This time, Arthur fell silent. He seemed to be thinking about something, his expression turning ferocious before gradually calming.

”Haven’t thought about it.”

”Haven’t thought about it?”

Lorenzo thought he heard wrong.

”Yeah, just haven’t thought about it. I didn’t even consider what comes next. To be honest, Lorenzo, during my tenure I never imagined our progress regarding demons would be so substantial, I simply can’t foresee what lies ahead.”

Arthur spoke with a bitter smile.

”Yes, what’s next? No one has thought of it... That many years ago, none of us dared to imagine we would actually be able to confront demons with direct firepower.”

He looked at the remnants of armor. Once the factory’s production capacity improved, these Third Generation Armors would become a steel torrent sweeping away everything.

”Anyway, we move forward, Lorenzo, whether the road leads to Hell or the Celestial Kingdom, we must proceed to see it.”

Arthur said while he patted Lorenzo’s shoulder and walked toward another direction; the scene still needed Arthur’s command, and the new Third Generation Armor was released into the workshop, but this time not for cooperative combat, rather to assist with clearing the battlefield.

It’s likely due to the mass production of Third Generation Armor that everyone discovered more uses for this behemoth.

”By the way, Lorenzo, about the Victoria royal family, there are some matters.”

Arthur suddenly stopped and turned to say to Lorenzo.

”Are you referring to the war?” Lorenzo said.

”Yes, this war is too bizarre, initiated abruptly. Even I can’t comprehend it; bear in mind that I am Arthur, and the Phoenix family is a family of merit. The Queen directly ignored everyone to do these things, concerning my inquiries, the Queen didn’t reply either. In fact, she hasn’t seen anyone for days, but I remember she said she’d be willing to meet you, give you an answer, right?”

Arthur was suspicious of the Queen as soon as the war information arrived.

”Do you also think she’s acting strangely?”

”Yes, based on previous checks, William applied for experiments more than once but was denied by the Victoria royal family, only the Queen has that authority. William was also consumed by his desire for secrets and conducted the experiments privately.” Arthur said.

”But he paid the price, and his death holds its rightful value as well... albeit many years late.”

The Cleaners unearthed something from a mess of ferocious wreckage, lifting up fractured, charred bones and barely managed to piece together a broken human figure.

”Perhaps not too late, Arthur, if William had survived back then, without the Armor of Original Sin, you’d only have brought about greater disaster.”

Lorenzo thought this wasn’t that bad.

”Perhaps.”

Arthur was tired of delving into anything more.

”So, what do you need me to do, Arthur, kill the Queen, seize all power, and in one fell swoop take down the demons?”

Lorenzo asked enthusiastically, displaying an attitude of anticipation for chaos.

”Impossible, who would replace her after killing the Queen? In reality, she’s the most suitable to be Queen; the King’s Curse will perpetually trouble the Victoria royal family. Even with sinful desires, those desires will be securely locked away in the Platinum Palace.”

Arthur uttered troublesome words.

”I need you to go see her, assess her condition.”

Lorenzo heard the undertone in his words.

”Do you think she might be corrupted?”

”Possibly; such a proposal isn’t absent from the disaster preplans. Complete upper command corruption, communication held silent; Cleaners replace us at that time... But we can’t entrust everything to preplans.”

Arthur took a deep breath, quickly stepping beside Lorenzo, whispering.

”Did you ever consider another possibility, say the Queen isn’t corrupted, that she’s always known exactly what she’s doing, whether it’s denying William’s experiments or initiating the war. Then what’s her goal?”

Arthur’s voice hastened.

”You’re right, Lorenzo, if we obtained this information ten years ago, it wouldn’t have helped us but rather harmed us. Is there a chance this information has been known by the Victoria royal family all along, yet existing power simply couldn’t deal with them, so they kept it secret, eliminating anyone attempting to touch them.”

Lorenzo felt his thoughts were stirred by something, but he couldn’t quite grasp it yet, instead, he questioned.

”So now that the experiment is allowed, does this mean the Victoria royal family believes existing forces can handle these matters?”

”No, the experiment wasn’t approved. The Queen tried to stop it beforehand, but I ignored that... So, if this conjecture is true, then she believes our current power still isn’t sufficient to handle them.”

Arthur raised his volume, speaking before leaving again.

”In any case, if the Queen shows any signs of abnormality, please report back to me. Everything is being crammed together now—war, demons, angels, like a mad storm aiming to swallow everyone.”

Lorenzo watched Arthur’s back, suddenly thinking about what had moved him. When Arthur expressed his conjectures, he thought the image of the Victoria royal family was extraordinarily similar to that of the Silencers.

They’re all secretly guarding a sinful secret, a cursed secret, but the existing power simply isn’t adequate to face this despair. They can only purge those involved, controlling the spread of this plague as much as possible.

Lorenzo shivered.