Gun of Ashes

Lorenzo recognized the face—it was Eve, who had just left not long ago, and more familiar yet dead faces appeared beside her.

An icy chill crept into his heart.

The sound of tides rose, growing louder and coming from all directions. Lorenzo remembered that where he lived was at least several blocks from the Thames River. How could a flood reach here? But in the next moment, pitch-black water burst through the doors and windows. It swept up the floating corpses of the dead, and without any time to resist, Lorenzo was engulfed by it.

This is a familiar feeling... Lorenzo remembered now. It was today’s nightmare, sinking in this boundless ocean...

Was the one who drowned actually me?

At the end of the darkness, a light rose.

Lorenzo stood there dazed, still maintaining the motion of lighting a fire. The Nail Sword remained dutifully stuck beside him, a coat hanging from the hilt. His body was stiff, and then he slowly sat down.

Everything returned to normal, as if everything just now had been an illusion. Yet Lorenzo felt something was wrong; that illusion was so real, real enough that he felt extremely cold now, like he had just crawled out of a harsh winter.

”What’s going on?”

Lorenzo muttered to himself. He didn’t sense any invasive ripples, nor had he looked into anyone’s eyes. The kind of guy who could control illusions had already been killed by him.

With a hint of fear, his gaze moved once again to the ashtray, where the dust still held a faint ember, stubbornly emitting a weak glow.

”Cursed knowledge... is it?”

Lorenzo looked at the ashes left by the incineration of the paper ball and temporarily attributed the strange illusion to meme contamination among the knowledge. There were still too many secrets in this world that he did not yet know.

”Watson... what exactly did you do?”

Lorenzo lit a cigarette, his gaze somewhat lost as he looked out the window. There was no black water or dead bodies, just a scene of calm.

He felt a bit of a headache. Ordinary people might have fainted from the fright of that hallucination earlier, but Lorenzo was used to it by now. In fact, he felt that it shouldn’t have been just an illusion. With the intelligence on the paper, there should have been a group of Silencers descending.

Alright, let’s end the joke here. This type of finding solace in suffering is important, but it cannot become everything.

Lorenzo’s gaze grew heavy, and he closed his eyes in contemplation.

The information on the paper was akin to a bomb, detonating in Lorenzo’s mind. When Watson conveyed this message, it seemed urgent; every word and sentence had clearly been streamlined in advance for quick transmission via telegraph.

The intelligence Watson delivered was plentiful, but some details remained unclear. However, given her state of narration, it was understandable.

Watson was being pursued by Silencers, an independent-minded, incredibly powerful Silencer.

”You will be killed; avoid direct contact.”

This was Watson’s assessment, which worried Lorenzo greatly about her situation, increasing his sense of pressure.

In Lorenzo’s understanding, existences like him and Watson, after undergoing Ascension, were already considered top-tier combat power. In one-on-one circumstances, hardly anyone was their match. Even when facing an army, with the enhancement of Authority·Gabriel, there was still a fair chance of victory.

Yet Watson negated everything. She warned Lorenzo that the enemy could move within the Gap. Once Authority·Gabriel was used, there was a great likelihood of being discovered.

So looking at it this way, in the narrow alleys of the streets, Watson was probably there to find him but encountered the enemy, leaving her only to hastily issue a warning and send more information once safe.

Lorenzo clearly understood what had happened, further deepening his understanding of the Shepherd theory. Silencers were not all clunky machines. When sufficiently deep beyond the Fence, stronger existences will emerge to correct these errors.

This could easily be inferred—Watson had learned enough knowledge to trigger these outcomes, leading to the current situation.

So what did Watson know?

She didn’t specify this on the paper, only vaguely mentioning some clues.

”Static Holy Temple, Well of Ascension, that seems to be the starting point of it all.”

Lorenzo muttered under his breath. This was mentioned by Watson in the paper, like a riddle. But Lorenzo understood what Watson meant—recalling what he just said to Eve, Lorenzo couldn’t help but find it somewhat ironic.

Knowledge is cursed, and the secrets learned by people across different tiers are different due to this; the same story is distorted into different forms in different people’s eyes.

Layer upon layer of lies blankets this world. Just as Lorenzo couldn’t reveal the whole truth to Eve, Watson, too, couldn’t disclose more detailed content to Lorenzo. Because once Lorenzo learned of these, he’d inevitably attract the attention of the Silencers, facing the powerful enemy Watson encountered.

Watson herself couldn’t fight against that enemy, and she felt the same about herself.

However... there was a glimmer of hope, and that was the last piece of intelligence carried on the paper.

”Holy Silver can block the invasion from the Gap, protecting us from being discovered by the Silencers.”

Lorenzo never expected Holy Silver to be used in such a way. It seemed he’d need to craft a Holy Silver Helmet for himself. Yet, Lorenzo was then met with disappointment.

He no longer had any Holy Silver left. Such a valuable resource had been exhausted during the continuous battles before. Moreover, until now, Lorenzo had no idea about its composition, only knowing that the Evangelical Church possessed such resources.

Lorenzo had previously inquired with Merlin, and after providing some samples, Merlin merely concluded that it might be some kind of alchemical product. As for how Holy Silver is produced, no one knew.

”Static Holy Temple... it seems I must return there if given a chance...”

Thinking about this, Lorenzo’s sole remaining target was the Static Holy Temple—once the base of the Demon Hunting Order. From Watson’s intelligence, this was also the root of everything.

She used the word ”root,” implying there indeed existed secrets worth pursuing... well, it makes sense. Before the Night of the Holy Arrival, the Demon Hunting Order might have been the group closest to the truth of this world. Whatever was buried beneath that strange land wouldn’t surprise Lorenzo.

As said in the Gospel, darkness sprouts from the shadow of God. As the reflection of the Saint Nalos Cathedral, the Static Holy Temple is fittingly the source of darkness.

But the situation isn’t so dire yet.

Lorenzo comforted himself internally. Watson obtained new intelligence and now had also secured her safety. She mentioned in the telegraph that she’d contact him again.

Now they were a step closer to the root of the mystery, yet concurrently, deeper darkness enveloped Lorenzo.

”Fortunately, fortunately, it’s not too bad yet.”

Lorenzo muttered to himself, then got up, put on his coat, armed himself, and opened the door.

Tomorrow, he was to meet Queen Victoria, but before that, Lorenzo still had matters to attend to, such as resolving some lingering issues.

”I’ve come to fetch you, Lorenzo.”

The carriage slowly halted at the door, Blue Jade opened the carriage door, addressing Lorenzo.

”Oh, it’s you. Feels like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

Lorenzo tried to cheer himself up, forgetting the dreadful illusion and nightmare from earlier.

”We’re short-staffed now... well, we’ve always been short-staffed. Bola is still resting in the hospital; though not severely injured, he requires a psychiatric evaluation. Red Falcon’s injuries haven’t healed yet; he can only do some desk duty work, and it’s finally my turn.”

Blue Jade explained.

”That’s how it is with high-risk professions.”

Sitting inside the carriage, Lorenzo spoke leisurely.

”Looks like everyone’s struggling... How is he doing?”

”Pretty well, except for some lingering signs of schizophrenia, everything’s normal.”

Lorenzo nodded, sighed, and said,

”Alright, sounds not too bad.”