Gun of Ashes

”Wake up! Bola! You’re sleeping way too deeply!”

Blue Jade completely abandoned her previous aloof image. To wake Bola up, she kept thinking of words, throwing them out frantically.

”Could Lorenzo be right? Are you really a fetishist? Are you planning to spend your life with that gun?”

It’s all Bola’s damn fetish’s fault; he insists on clutching that gun even while sleeping. Blue Jade couldn’t pry his fingers open with just one hand. If she had that gun, her situation might have been a lot better.

One of her hands was injured and immobile, so she had to keep stabbing out with the Folding Blade. Amid this relentless battle, the hatch had become riddled with holes, teetering on the brink of collapse, seemingly moments away from being breached by demons.

When the time comes, Blue Jade and Bola would be like sardines in a can, left at the mercy of the demons’ tasting. In such a cramped space, they would have no room to dodge or maneuver.

”Always muttering something like ’For whom does the Funeral Bell toll’ with fierce words. But now you’re about to die in your dream. Aren’t you ashamed?”

For survival, Blue Jade cursed persistently. In front of her, the hatch had turned into a gate of blood. Because of the barrier, her stabs couldn’t hit the demons’ vital spots, and the injuries only further provoked their beastly nature, causing them to bite the steel even more fiercely.

”For whom does the Funeral Bell toll...” Blue Jade said pessimistically, ”Could it be tolling for me?”

Her mind was a mess... In truth, Blue Jade thought dying here wasn’t too bad. After the Red Falcon’s brainwashing, she found herself somewhat agreeing with Red Falcon’s reasoning.

Everyone lives on time stolen from the Death God. Every minute lived is earned with blood. Blue Jade had already earned enough; she had a relatively decent life, contributing some small efforts to humanity with her mediocre soul.

Though reluctant to part, it wasn’t a bad way to end.

Blue Jade halted her attack; she really didn’t have the strength to stab out with the Folding Blade anymore. The blade itself had become nicked and notched, the edges of the hatch were crumbling one by one. Blue Jade could see a demon’s tongue slipping in through the cracks, like a slithering snake, greedily licking the floor.

”By the way... why do you call that gun ’Funeral Bell’?”

Blue Jade said, stepping on the crawling tongue, listening to a scream erupt behind the hatch; she smiled.

The hatch in front of her started to shake, more claws crawled in along the cracked edges. The hatch began to distort, some demons even squeezed in half a skull, their scarlet eyes peering at Blue Jade.

Once again, she picked up the Folding Blade, ready to die heroically in battle.

Then... the hatch shattered, and the bell tolled!

Six heavy bullets grazed Blue Jade’s body, firing past like steel nails into the shattered door, piercing through flesh and bone, carving out huge bloody holes in the demons’ bodies, spraying fresh blood across the corridor.

”Why call it ’Funeral Bell’?”

A tired voice sounded. Blue Jade turned around excitedly, but she didn’t find Bola. Instead, she saw a scarred Evil Ghost leaning against the table, opening a drawer, holding the Funeral Bell with one hand, using the other to skillfully pull out those named bullets from the drawer and reload the cylinder.

”Because this gun witnessed my despair.”

The Evil Ghost murmured to himself, raising the Funeral Bell, aiming at the demons behind the hatch.

”For whom does the Funeral Bell toll!”

He pulled the trigger, the booming gunfire releasing all accumulated resentment.

”The Funeral Bell tolls for me!”

In the cacophony of the bell toll, flesh and steel shattered, mingling fragments of flesh with fresh blood, entwining with the demons’ howls and death, forming crimson snow dust extending deeply into memories, within the shadows sealed away.

In that despair ten years ago, the Evil Ghost walked alone out of the hopeless abyss.