Gun of Ashes

He finally stepped out of the darkness, and his muddled consciousness gradually became clearer. At this moment, looking back at everything he had experienced in the gap, Lorenzo had a strange thought: if he hadn’t been able to escape the gap, perhaps Lorenzo himself would have become one of those people, forever imprisoned within the stone walls.

”Watcher, Secret Blood, the end of Ascension, [Gap]...”

Lorenzo muttered, combining the information he had obtained earlier, he slowly turned around, turning his back on the Gate of Celestial Kingdom.

The owners of Authority, Gabriel, will all embark on the path of Ascension, and from the existing information, these Ascenders seem very similar to the mysterious Watchers. Lorenzo suspected that the Watchers were actually formed by a group of people possessing Authority, Gabriel.

They possess nearly eternal life, watching over this world outside the understanding of mortals, striking down those who dare to cross the Boundary.

”Then, what would their [Gap] be like?”

Lorenzo asked curiously.

Everyone’s [Gap] is different, consisting of the most important scene in their memory, mixed with their essence and past.

Even if Lorenzo couldn’t kill the loathsome Sea Serpent... to be precise, God, then Lorenzo might still have a chance to find the secrets of the past within God’s [Gap].

Thinking this, Lorenzo looked at the world behind him.

His pupils shrank to a point, his breath halted in an instant, as if an invisible hand strangled his throat, suffocating him to death.

”Yes... behind the Gate of Celestial Kingdom, it is precisely here...”

Lorenzo murmured softly, gazing directly into God’s [Gap].

Somewhat surprised but upon careful thought, Lorenzo felt that it was all justified.

All the strange and secret things stem from the same source, and this is God’s [Gap].

”Static Holy Temple...”

Lorenzo stared at this familiar yet unfamiliar hall, at a loss.

Solemn statues stood around, towering stone pillars upheld the dome, Lorenzo could hear the distant sound of prayers, melted wax flowed down the steps, and the candle flames flickered with Lorenzo’s arrival, like waves stirring across the sea’s surface.

This place was even more prosperous than the Static Holy Temple in Lorenzo’s memory before the Night of the Holy Arrival.

”This is your memory, the Static Holy Temple in your memory.”

Lorenzo spoke to himself.

His guess was indeed correct, God was also one of the Watchers, and all Watchers originated from the Demon Hunting Order; they were Immortals possessing Authority, Gabriel.

This was a legion concealed within the shadows of history.

So this should be hundreds or even thousands of years ago, the era when these Watchers were active and the Static Holy Temple existed at that time.

This feeling is quite peculiar, how Lorenzo never expected to traverse the long years in such a situation, in such a way, to witness the Static Holy Temple once more.

”So where are you?”

Lorenzo asked the void, since this is God’s [Gap], then where is God?

Continuing forward, meandering through this ancient Static Holy Temple, Lorenzo could see weapon racks lined in the corners, filled with sharp Nail Swords, accompanied by robes and armor, ancient books stacked together, filling the walls to the brim.

Sculptures, akin to artworks, scaled the towering walls, collectively forming a tableau of gods and demons in combat, faint light fell, casting on their faces a sanguine hue.

The sonorous hymns gradually echoed, the melody so familiar, forcing Lorenzo to listen with unwavering focus.

He had heard such melodies from the mouths of many people, Lorenzo de’ Medici, Shermans Borgia, Lawrence...

This melody never recorded, only passed down through memory, Lorenzo had never heard its full extent, but now it was vividly engraved in his mind.

The opulence of the Static Holy Temple far exceeded Lorenzo’s imagination, perhaps before the Night of the Holy Arrival, it had endured some other hardships, causing its ruin, yet these events were never recorded in books, instead forgotten along with history.

Next, Lorenzo saw the first corpse.

It was a corpse lying in the shadows, untouched by the falling light. Lorenzo walked over and in the shadows saw many more similar corpses.

They piled up in heaps, filling the shadows, seemingly dead for ages, bodies completely withered, intertwined like decayed trees.

Lorenzo looked into other shadows, his pace quickened, ultimately breaking into a run; he suddenly realized that these shadows were filled with corpses, some even wearing robes.

He couldn’t comprehend what all this meant, eventually halting his steps, and began to follow the hymns and prayers toward the core of the Static Holy Temple.

If the Static Holy Temple hadn’t undergone any significant alterations in the later times, Lorenzo knew where he would end up.

Watson had once warned him in a letter.

”Well of Ascension.”

Lorenzo pondered, stepping forward; at this point, besides advancing, there was no other retreat left for him.

Once glorious sculptures crumbled, turning into rubble and dust piled in the shadows, books ignited by fierce flames, sword blades snapped and rust-stained, memories of scenes gradually drifting away, finally becoming a cold and silent stillness.

Prosperity no more, decay forever.

The fervent sound of prayers became increasingly clear and resounding, as if thousands were reciting together like gods.