Gun of Ashes

It was a somewhat strange day.

Lorenzo still sat in his main seat, watching the group of busy, inexplicable folks in the room.

”My goodness, mushrooms are growing here!”

”Why is there a gun here?”

”There’s even a Nail Sword... it’s already rusty.”

”Geez, Lorenzo, have you ever tidied up your room?”

The chaotic voices echoed back and forth. Initially, Lorenzo maintained a shamelessly silent attitude, but as these comrades continued their archaeological excavation of the room, even Lorenzo’s old face blushed a bit.

”This place is just like a crime scene. I wouldn’t be surprised if you said there’s a dead body buried under these messy clothes.”

Red Falcon pinched his nose and finally gathered up the mess of clothes, while Eve helped him sift through them, finding heaps of miscellaneous items. Lorenzo glanced around and surprisingly found some things he had lost a long time ago.

Of course, he was a bit embarrassed to admit it now.

Worse still, Lorenzo started worrying about uncovering some random things. Although Lorenzo deemed himself a gentleman, judging by his level of drinking, he might have done inexplicable things in his boozy moments. After all, even without drinking, Lorenzo was already quite a character.

As expected, soon Red Falcon’s scream echoed.

”Did you pee in the kitchen?!”

Red Falcon felt as if he was excavating a Demon’s lair... In a way, this office wasn’t much different from a Demon’s lair.

Unclear about the kitchen’s situation, Lorenzo actively blocked out Red Falcon’s wailing.

It was a strange gathering that quickly turned into a major cleaning event. Blue Jade remained silent but easily blended into the atmosphere, wiping dust with a cloth. Heracles leaned weakly to one side after vomiting, and Eve kicked him for being in the way, looking all pitiful.

He weakly cursed about preferential treatment or something, while Polo freely scampered around but didn’t annoy anyone; instead, he was picked up and had his head rubbed.

”Is this some kind of head ornament?”

Selyu didn’t join the big clean-up. According to her, she had serious matters to discuss here, but before doing so, she noticed the Holy Silver crown. Without waiting for Lorenzo’s response, she picked it up and put it on.

Nothing happened; before encountering Demons and the unknown [Gap] invasion, Holy Silver was not much different from ordinary silver.

Lorenzo looked at Selyu wearing the crown. Although the workmanship was rough, she indeed had a touch of nobility about her.

”Looks pretty good. Did you make it yourself?”

Eve also noticed, and Selyu tacitly handed the crown to her.

She played with it a bit, feeling it was crudely made despite appearing delicate — like something hammered and twisted by a fire, still burning when formed.

”How is it?”

Eve also put on the crown, asking Lorenzo.

”Tyrant.”

Lorenzo’s response was straightforward. Perhaps due to the difference in their personalities, Selyu seemed serene, while Eve seemed ready to draw her sword and shout ”Attack” the next second, unleashing ten thousand Blade and Axe wielders to chop Lorenzo to pieces.

Eve’s response was a humph, and then the crown was hurled at Lorenzo’s head. Luckily, he was quick and caught it, preventing it from crashing to the ground.

The polished surface reflected Lorenzo’s distorted face, showing the mysterious nature of Holy Silver. Lorenzo once thought it reacted against Demons, but after experiencing more and learning greater secrets, he started believing Holy Silver might act on erosion, with suppression of Demons being just a byproduct.

The real enemy is that strange erosion; all Demons are just pitiful dead.

His fingers gently rubbed the surface, leaving clear fingerprints.

Holy Silver has another interesting feature: upon excessive erosion, it not only fails to suppress it but also begins to decompose, like Lorenzo’s Silver Binding Bolt before when the Secret Blood’s erosion intensified, causing them to melt and destroy his flesh.

”What happened to your hand?”

The calm voice interrupted Lorenzo’s thoughts. Selyu had unknowingly approached, looking perplexed as she grabbed Lorenzo’s hand and opened it.

His palm had a circular scar, a remnant from battling with Lawrence when Lorenzo removed the Holy Silver from his body. Likely due to Holy Silver’s suppressive nature, the wound wasn’t able to heal properly, leaving such a fierce scar, as if spikes had pierced through Lorenzo’s palm.

”It’s nothing.”

Lorenzo had recounted the Gaulunaro journey to Selyu, but didn’t go into much detail.

”Looks quite painful.”

Selyu’s pale fingers gently stroked the scar-riddled palm, her gaze full of pity.

”At least it’s healed.”

Lorenzo said happily.

Back then, Lawrence’s fury overwhelmed him; he hadn’t considered other consequences. On the journey back, his palm kept bleeding non-stop.

Contrary to expectations, the Demon Hunter’s self-healing ability didn’t kick in, but soon, as the remaining Holy Silver substance dissipated, the ferocious wound barely healed, yet still left this scar.