Gun of Ashes

Just then, Lorenzo sensed something; beneath the charred wreckage, something was moving.

While the Armor of Original Sin protected Lorenzo, it also brought about some drawbacks, such as isolating him from the outside world, obstructing his vision, which was why he needed the Weapon Master’s illumination.

Following his battle intuition, Lorenzo instinctively shot out a grappling hook, anchoring it to the stern, but it was already too late, as the Black Angel raised its arm, the Iron Feather acting as a shield before it.

The thunderous sound of cannon fire erupted behind the Iron Feather, as flames engulfed the Black Angel in an instant.

It was a deck-mounted terrace cannon, fallen alongside the mast that collapsed, crushing nearby structures and burying the cannon and its gunners under the debris. Fortunately, the ammunition was already loaded, requiring just a simple pull to fire. The dying gunner fired at the moment the Black Angel approached, but was subsequently crushed to death by the collapsing ruins due to the explosive shock.

The Black Angel was hit at almost point-blank range by a cannon; the Iron Feather immediately bent and fractured to varying degrees, the immense kinetic energy causing a slight deformation in the overall frame of the Armor of Original Sin, as the flesh connected to the machinery began to rupture, and blood oozed out from the cracks.

Lorenzo was captured by overwhelming pain.

He thought his arm might be broken, but it was quickly forced back into place, encased by the rapidly proliferating Demon flesh.

The Black Angel carried no external armor; if it had been Second Generation or Third Generation Armor, such a close hit might have pierced the armor. But the Black Angel was First Generation Armor, a monster composed of copious Demon flesh. Rather than cold machinery, it was more like a demon clad in armor.

The impact knocked the Black Angel out of the ironclad ship, but it didn’t fall into the sea as expected. The grappling hook quickly retracted, and flames ignited behind the Black Angel.

Thanks to Lorenzo’s intuition, he managed to block the cannon shot head-on initially; otherwise, if it had reached the fuel tank behind the Black Angel, a secondary explosion might truly have inflicted severe damage on it.

The fuel tank began to burn, hot flames pushing the Black Angel.

The flames didn’t last long, perhaps only a second or two, but this brief moment was enough to change the direction of the Black Angel’s movement. Pulled by the grappling hook, it circled in the wind, sweeping past the ironclad ship again, leaving a thin, long scar slicing across the deck, stretching to the end of the grappling hook.

The next moment, the deck could no longer bear this weight and began to collapse on itself. The Black Angel spun down, landing firmly at the stern.

The wings folded tight, like a taut cape, wrapping around the slender figure of the Black Angel, as the damaged and bent Iron Feather began to detach amidst the writhing flesh, replaced by emerging hard edges.

A blinding beam of light pierced through Lorenzo’s vision, piercing the side of the ironclad ship. Due to the shooting angle being slightly tilted, it passed through the bottom of the ship and the residual heat exploded inside the ship’s hold, a series of roars followed, and the ironclad ship was swallowed by the icy sea.

Ascalon finished loading, delivering the final blow to the ironclad beneath.

Lorenzo was drawn by the brightness.

The Spear of Melting soared into the sky again, but this time it illuminated another part of the sea, the remaining ironclads swayed in the storm, the ever-intensifying downpour causing both sides discomfort. Coupled with the sequence of ironclads destroyed by Lorenzo, their firepower was considerably reduced.

Though the remaining pirates didn’t know what had happened, they all saw the lights extinguishing one by one, the greedy frenzy gradually cooling down.

The pirates also wanted to retreat, but as if destined, wave after wave pushed the pirates towards the Morning Glow Advance, as if whirlpools beneath the sea surface among the ships emerged, swallowing and dragging everyone into its maw.

Only one side could survive.

As the distance closed, the artillery’s shots became more accurate, precisely hitting the armor of the Morning Glow Advance. No matter how advanced it was, it couldn’t withstand such blows; the armor was penetrated, and the shells smashed into the ship’s hold.

The closing distance changed the dynamics of the battle; the second Spear of Melting did not explode mid-air, the Weapon Master precisely launched it above an approaching ironclad ship.

The burning flames descended, turning the surface of the deck into a burning hell in an instant, while these blazing flames pierced through the storm’s curtain, reflecting in Lorenzo’s eyes.

The lacquered antimony inside the fuel tank burned anew, and after violent trembling, the Black Angel ascended into the air, wings unfurled, swiftly approaching the fire behind the curtain by the storm’s drive.

What followed was that familiar sequence; upon descending to a certain altitude, the grappling hook tore through the air, pulling the Black Angel toward the ironclad ship.

The sound of cannons rang out.

Not aimed at the Morning Glow Advance this time, but at the Black Angel.

Ice-cold fear sliced through Lorenzo’s heart along with the shells, as he saw the Black Angel’s fast-moving form narrowly avoid multiple shells that pierced through the rain, the metal scraping sound intensely audible.

The soaring figure disrupted by the attack lost balance, spinning and crashing onto the ironclad ship. Lorenzo promptly reacted, accelerating into the spin, as thousands of swords rapidly sliced and destroyed everything in their path.

The First Generation Armor possessed unimaginable mobility, the Black Angel barely needing any time to recover after the fall. A grappling hook retracted, another shot out, and just like previous tactics, the Black Angel skimmed over the deck’s surface when pulled. It didn’t need to pose for an attack; it itself was the deadliest weapon.

Like a rolling porcupine, except its spines were not fragile but made of thousands of sharp steel feathers.

The pirates ready to fight saw only a blurry black mass crashing toward them, then their flesh and blood were horribly smashed, a river of blood ensued.

Reaching the end of the grappling hook, the Black Angel finally halted amidst the series of shocks, Lorenzo refrained from pressing further aggression, instead glancing into the rain curtain.

That’s the direction the cannon fire just came from. Though no light was visible, Lorenzo knew something was approaching.

The booming cannons roared again; as Lorenzo heard the sound, the shells were already upon him. The Black Angel rapidly responded, it turned aside, the Iron Feather angled and rubbed against the shells, in the ensuing burst of fire, the shell hit the cabin behind the Black Angel.

Gazing beyond the rain curtain, Lorenzo heard indistinct shouts, then sharp rams broke through the rain.

”Valhalla!”

Zeus shouted with all his might, beneath his feet, the severely damaged Black Teeth was raised high by the waves, like a sharp blade.

Cannon fire roared from all directions.

The pirates switched targets, pointing all their cannons at the Black Angel.

For a moment, Lorenzo felt everything before him start to slow down, becoming extraordinarily clear.

Dense splashes arose, illuminated by lightning, crystalline like jewelry, reflecting scores of heat-radiating shells on their smooth surfaces, breaking through the rain and forming one gray line after another.

The intersecting lines pointed to only one intersection: the Black Angel.

This was a deadlock, the pirates long aware of the Black Angel’s presence, willing to sacrifice their ironclad beneath to hunt it.

In dead silence, a blaze ignited behind the Black Angel, one moment it stood at its place, and the next it distorted, accelerating frantically, Lorenzo feeling the pressure on his back, as if a heavy fist were punching fiercely.

The distance, originally needing several seconds to cover, was traversed in an instant, the Black Angel forcing its way out of the deadlock, narrowly passing by the shells.

Beneath, the ironclad ship was subjected to a barrage of shells, torn apart, turning into a rising sea of fire.

The dark shadow shot out of the flame, wings spread wide, like a jet-black cross.