Gun of Ashes

”Are you their leader?” Lorenzo asked curiously.

Zeus’s expression turned blank as well. He seemed not to have expected that the Demon was being controlled by someone.

”I... I am, I am their captain, their leader.”

For some reason, Zeus suddenly didn’t feel like dying anymore. The armor and the person controlling it, as well as the Morning Glow Advance... In an instant, Zeus felt this was no longer the world he was familiar with.

Such Divine Power being usurped by mortals was so desirable.

”Why do you want to attack us?”

Lorenzo asked again. This wasn’t a casual conversation; this operation was of great importance. They were blocked even before reaching the Viking nations, and he felt something wasn’t right.

”Why? Is there a need to explain why? Pirates are born to plunder.”

Zeus found Lorenzo’s questions inexplicable.

Lorenzo felt rather helpless. Perhaps this was just an unfortunate coincidence, having encountered such damned creatures. The damage to the Morning Glow Advance wasn’t severe, but even so, it needed to linger at the harbor for maintenance for several days.

These pirates severely delayed Lorenzo’s progress.

”So, we met by chance?”

”No, it was Odin’s guidance. He gave me this opportunity, bringing us together.”

Zeus spoke fervently, trying to move forward while speaking, his arm raising with difficulty, the axe blade reflecting his face.

”It’s a test, a test for us. Only truly brave souls can reach the Heroic Spirit Hall. These guys are just cowards; only I am the bravest.”

Zeus insulted the pirates who had lost their will to fight, deeming them unworthy of entering the sacred Heroic Spirit Hall.

”Ah... fanatical believers are truly troublesome...”

Lorenzo sighed, thinking he couldn’t get any useful information from Zeus.

Many have forgotten, but Lorenzo still remembered. He had once been a Priest and dealt with fanatical believers. Rather than calling them madmen, it was more apt to call them fools ensnared by faith, unable to even engage in the most basic communication at the end.

”Come on! Let me die here in battle!”

Maybe it was the threat of death, perhaps the mental exhaustion, or possibly the Black Angel’s corruption.

Zeus screamed wildly, his last desperate battle turning into a frenzy of one. He staggered before the Black Angel, swinging with all his might, but it was all in vain; he couldn’t even leave a scratch on the armor.

Lorenzo shook his head, unwilling to speak further to Zeus.

The Black Angel reactivated, but it did not attack Zeus. It slowly retreated, and Zeus seemed to understand what Lorenzo intended. Terrified, he shouted, waving his axe as he tried to chase the Black Angel. But he couldn’t do it; with his body, he couldn’t even cross the wreckage.

Zeus could only watch as the Black Angel departed, unable to meet a hero’s death. He would die shamefully like the other pirates.

”No... no, no!”

Zeus wailed, but it was useless. The intense pain in his body caused him to kneel, watching the Black Angel leaping into the sky. He could feel the Valkyries leaving.

For a moment, despair more frightening than death enveloped Zeus. He stared at the Black Angel, engraved Lorenzo’s face in his mind, and in the next moment, Ascalon opened fire, filling every corner of his vision with fire.