Gun of Ashes

”So, you came alone.”

The Plague Doctor’s steps halted. He hadn’t expected Lorenzo to see through his bluff so quickly. He chuckled.

”What is it you want? Plague Doctor, the ’Truth’ hidden at the end of the north?”

Lorenzo suddenly sheathed the Staff Sword, and the blazing white light in his eyes dimmed significantly.

”I know what you want. We can work together.”

An abrupt silence enveloped the two of them, as if only Lorenzo and the Plague Doctor were left here. It was also at this moment that Lorenzo surprisingly noticed that, with the departure of the Pioneer, the lunatics from the Apocalypse Society had also left.

The silence didn’t last long. A hoarse laugh echoed from beneath the beak-shaped mask.

”Cooperation?”

”That’s right, cooperation. I need your abilities, and I have the information you need. It’s a win-win situation.”

Lorenzo took steps, slowly walking towards the Plague Doctor. His gaze was clear, staring directly at the Plague Doctor. No one knew what Lorenzo was thinking at this moment.

The distance between the two grew closer and closer, close enough for Lorenzo to completely decapitate the Plague Doctor with one swing, close enough for the Plague Doctor to claw open Lorenzo’s chest.

Both maintained their calm, yet their hearts pounded intensely, like engines on the brink of losing control, rushing recklessly on the tracks.

”You... still don’t understand the ’Scholar’, Mr. Holmes.”

The writhing on the Plague Doctor’s body ceased. He spoke emotionlessly.

Lorenzo did not respond, having closed in enough, with muscles tensed. The Staff Sword, from the speed of its swing, twisted into a glaring pure white light, so sharp that even gazing upon it felt like getting cut.

There was no talk of cooperation. From long ago, the two were already poised against each other in a stance of life and death.

”That is the Truth! How could I possibly share its beauty with anyone!”

The Plague Doctor stared at the hair-raising sword light, his pupils turning into a mass of foul blood from staring at the brilliant sight.

Metal clanged, shrill and high-pitched.

The slash twisted the Plague Doctor’s body, gruesome wounds exploding along his chest, with bones and crimson muscles flying, yet they hovered mid-air, unable to fall. Innumerable red threads could be seen, pulling the shattered fragments, drawing them back into the grotesque body in the next second.

Authority · Yanar.

Through his own surgical modifications, the Plague Doctor achieved the Demon Hunters’ ”Ascension” with his understanding of biological ”evolution,” obtaining this nearly immortal power known as Yanar’s power from the Secret Blood.

They all stem from the same source, whether it be evolution or ascension, they all aim for one ultimate goal.

Ascension.

Time seemed to slow at this moment, everything becoming so clear, each detail laid bare, sketching a lurid and eerie scene.

The Staff Sword plunged deeply into the Plague Doctor’s body, innumerable, frenzied blood-red threads surged from the point of entry, wrapping around the metal, growing wantonly. But in the next instant, the frenetic dance of the red threads halted, as the soft threads began to harden, with sharp spikes protruding periodically on the surface.

It resumed its frenetic dance, transforming into a skyful of crimson thorns, lashing at Lorenzo madly, wrapping around his body, twisting tightly, slicing blood and flesh, crushing bones, until enveloping Lorenzo layer by layer, squeezing him into a ball of foul blood.

Beyond the endless thorns, in the indifferent eyes, white-hot flames arose.

The thorns fidgeted, attempting to encapsulate the daylight, to eternally isolate this holy flame, but they couldn’t. One by one, the thorns carbonized into pitch-black shells, shattering into warm dust, with every broken thorn allowing a beam of light to pierce through the darkness, until nothing could obstruct it anymore.

Daylight descended.

The Plague Doctor let out an ear-splitting wail, as if thousands wailed with him, their voices overlapping, causing the ashen skies to tremble.

The creature entangled in thorns forcefully pushed Lorenzo away, rolling on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames on its body. But the flames seemed inextinguishable, clinging to its flesh and blood, until claws slashed by, severing the flaming flesh. They scattered on the ground, still writhing and struggling after detaching from the body, until the flames devoured them completely, turning them into a pile of silent ashes.

The crisis had not ended. Each breath the Plague Doctor took brought a penetrating pain to his chest, where a broken red-hot metal remained lodged in the wound on his chest, pinning all the thorns there, with the residual heat continuing to scorch the undying flesh.

”Mr. Holmes, I indeed underestimated you.”

The Plague Doctor coughed, never expecting that he would be defeated right after confronting him. Yet in retrospect, Lorenzo was someone who could swing at Lawrence; a Scholar like him could never compare to these monsters.

It’s just... just that the transformation in Lorenzo was quite frightening.

Raising his head, Lorenzo advanced step-by-step towards the Plague Doctor, holding the Broken Sword. He was also injured, but not by the Plague Doctor. The injuries were a backlash incurred when he momentarily detonated Authority · Michael.

Whenever there’s a gain, there must be a price.

This powerful Flaming Order, when uncontrollable, impacts the releaser as well.

Half of Lorenzo’s clothes on his torso burned away, leaving only some tattered strips wrapped around his body. His arm bore burn marks, but under the rising Secret Blood, dead flesh gradually sloughed off, new skin covering the exposed crimson flesh.

The fractured Staff Sword was also burnt red. Because of the uncontrollable explosion of Authority · Michael, even the sturdiest metal couldn’t withstand such devastation.

As for the wooden hilt, Lorenzo applied slight force, causing it to collapse into ashes, with the glowing metal clattering onto the ground.

The strength Lorenzo exhibited this moment exceeded the Plague Doctor’s understanding. The Plague Doctor’s hand reached into his gaping wound, struggling to pull out the embedded metal and cast it aside.

”You have grown stronger, Mr. Holmes. So, what is the cost?”

The Plague Doctor staggered upright with crimson threads entwining him. Soon, he healed again, with exposed crimson flesh under the tattered clothes.

Lorenzo didn’t respond. He raised the Winchester, firing at the Plague Doctor. Against Authority · Yanar, Lorenzo needed to burn the Plague Doctor to ashes entirely, to halt his regeneration.

The gunshots had little effect, yet they indeed disrupted the Plague Doctor’s self-healing, exacerbating the deterioration of the wounds.

”What kind of guys did the old Order train.”

The heavy bullets struck the Plague Doctor like heavy punches. He tottered, striving hard to maintain balance, to keep from falling.

The blood blurred his vision, with Lorenzo gradually overlapping another figure, cold and oppressive, like an oddity not meant to exist in this world.

”Lawrence...”

The Plague Doctor whispered, then burst into frantic laughter.

”The Secret Blood has already begun to corrupt you, Mr. Holmes. I’ve seen such signs in Lawrence.”

The Plague Doctor had seen this scenario before. Back then, Lawrence was the same; he obtained the credentials for Ascension, thus lost the foundation of being human.

”You’re sliding into the Abyss, Mr. Holmes. There’s no turning back now.”

Lorenzo’s steps finally stopped. He looked at the Plague Doctor, pondering for a while, then slowly spoke.

”I’ve always been pondering, what exactly is it that I hold firm to, Plague Doctor.”

This distance was close enough now. If Lorenzo wished, he could again summon that terrifying temperature, dragging the Plague Doctor into a blazing inferno, but he wasn’t in a hurry. Lorenzo knew very well that this wouldn’t kill the Plague Doctor.

”Later, in Maruri, I suddenly realized.”

Lorenzo’s voice was very gentle, as if recounting an unspeakable secret.

”To become a monster for what I believe in... that price is simply too cheap.”

In an instant, countless sparks enveloped the Plague Doctor, with all flammable substances ablaze. They wailed, transforming into flying ashes, as the temperature soared, collapsing into a ring-like airflow, lifting a fiery wind, sweeping away all surrounding objects.