Gun of Ashes

Amid the calm sea, sporadic gunfire erupted, with dark red trails crisscrossing, indicating that the battle was still ongoing and the long night seemed endless, as if unchanged.

Bola sat wearily on the ground, with several empty vials of Florun Potion beside him and some simple jerky to simply fill his stomach and restore energy.

In front of him was the tall Weapon Master, secured to the deck by ropes. Technicians were hastily working on it with their toolboxes, making adjustments. The Third Generation Armor and Black Angel were not here; they had sustained significant damage and, without anyone available to pilot them, were sent back to the hold for maintenance by technicians from the Perpetual Motion Pump.

For a mortal like Bola, piloting the Armor of Original Sin was no easy task, let alone engaging in such intense combat while doing so.

After being tense for so long, Bola nearly fainted upon leaving the armor.

He wearily looked at the somewhat silent deck. Everyone was silently executing their tasks, an invisible pressure weighing on them, influenced by complex factors, such as the mission’s purpose, the fierce battle, and the absence of the Black Angel...

Bola was too lazy to think further; he comforted himself, telling himself that he should be used to the ”surprises” brought by Lorenzo.

”How are you feeling now?”

Hebdo approached, fully armed, ready for the imminent danger.

”I’m alright, at least not dead,” Bola said, voraciously biting into the jerky, ”How’s Blue Jade?”

”Quite bad, when the technicians used saws to extract her from the Third Generation Armor, her arms had several cuts from shattered steel, and a metal rod pierced through her shoulder.”

Hebdo described Blue Jade’s injuries. Hearing this, Bola lost his appetite for a moment, but considering the possible dangers ahead, he forced himself to swallow, gathering strength.

”But she’s still conscious,” Hebdo added.

It was aboard the Morning Glow Advance that he first encountered the Armor of Original Sin, but he felt no sense of technological disparity. Instead, he felt fear towards these beasts of steel and flesh.

When witnessing the arrival of the Black Angel, this fear peaked.

Hebdo, at that time, also reached the back of the Black Angel, saw the gaping cracks filled with grim flesh, and the slightly swaying connection lines that moved with the metal as if breathing.

Breathed in the heavy blood scent, Hebdo felt like facing a beast with its jaws wide open, while Lorenzo, Bola, and others had to step into those jaws, letting themselves be devoured...

It was like offering oneself as a sacrifice to some unknown grotesquery in exchange for power.

”Don’t think too much, Hebdo. What’s happening now is under control; you need to get used to it,” Bola, seemingly sensing Hebdo’s state of mind, comforted him.

”Moreover, the fight isn’t over yet. Whatever needs to be done, let’s wait until this is over,”

Bola looked towards the other side of the sea. Under the moonlight, the blurry silhouette of an Iron Armor ship was visible. Then, several dark red points of light expanded in his line of sight; some struck the Morning Glow Advance with an ear-piercing noise, while others fell into the sea, splashing water.

”It seems they’re not willing to let us go,” Bola said with some helplessness, eyeing the pursuing Iron Armor ships. ”It’s unclear what they’re thinking.”

”It seems they probably guessed that Ascalon can’t fire for now.”

Seeing this, Hebdo remarked and looked towards the end of the deck at the gigantic cannon.

The grand cannon, at the moment, had its barrel lowered, supported by makeshift iron stands to ensure it didn’t crush the deck.

Blue Jade had indeed spared no effort in protecting Ascalon. Thanks to her efforts, although Ascalon wasn’t damaged, the ring-shaped lifting frame supporting its barrel’s adjustment had been attacked by the demons. The recoil after Ascalon fired completely collapsed these supports.

Without the support of the ring-shaped lifting frame, Ascalon’s barrel was fixed in one position, making aiming difficult. For this reason, the Morning Glow Advance lost its ability to sniper Iron Armor ships from a distance and could only maintain distance to engage in skirmishing with them.

”Not only that, they outnumber us and have those insane demons. They’re pursuing their victory, while we’re on a retreat... Luckily, the Morning Glow Advance is fast enough that they can’t catch us,” Hebdo said, sharing some good news.

”But if Lorenzo doesn’t return soon, they’ll catch up with us.”

Bola slowly got up and looked towards the nearby cliff.

The Morning Glow Advance navigated around Ice Bay, reaching its backside, this cliff, awaiting Lorenzo’s arrival. The distance they had gained was being shortened during the wait, and in no time, the Iron Armor ships would catch up, leading to another fierce confrontation.

”Moreover, I’m curious how Lorenzo plans to climb up,” Bola continued.

Due to underwater reefs and other factors, the spot where the Morning Glow Advance stopped was a significant distance from the cliff. Without the help of the Armor of Original Sin, it would be difficult for Lorenzo to quickly span such a distance to reach the Morning Glow Advance.