Gun of Ashes

This time, the mortals had no strength to fight back.

The nearby sea began to bulge, and after a ten-thousand-foot blaze of radiance, the Sea Serpent tore through the surface, roaring as it lunged toward the Morning Glow Advance.

The heaving waves set the hull thrashing; people clutched at whatever was beside them to keep from being flung overboard.

The Plague Doctor staggered to his feet. The flesh on his body began to twist, peeling away layer after layer, until it finally revealed the sheen of metal beneath.

It was a safe, stored inside the Plague Doctor’s body, wrapped in warped flesh.

In truth, the Plague Doctor had long since ceased to be a mortal. He merely remained nostalgic for a mortal’s shape, so he often maintained a human姿态, appearing before people in that form.

”Looks like He’s even stronger than I imagined, Holmes.”

The Plague Doctor gently brushed the cold metal. This was second only to his life itself; even when faced with the Sea Serpent’s torrent of fire, his first instinct had been to protect it, to house it within his own body.

The Sea Serpent had regained its ability to move, which made the outcome of the battle in the [Gap] painfully obvious.

Lorenzo had already lost. Inside the Black Angel he was completely drenched in blood. His eyes were shut tight, his brows knotted, his expression pained, as though he were enduring some nightmare.

What should they do?

Under such despair, everyone had lost their drive. They had already fought back with everything they had... perhaps ending it like this wasn’t so bad.

These dizzying rises and falls had drained Hebdo of emotion. If this was an ordeal for mortals, he felt his own answer sheet wasn’t half bad.

The Sea Serpent drew ever closer, until it leapt from the sea on the far side and slammed viciously into the Morning Glow Advance. The hull shuddered violently, shattered metal tumbling into the sea.

The dome of light was about to crash down onto the deck when the steam whistle blared again.

Tons of Lacquered Antimony were dumped in and burned in that instant. The engine ran in a state of overload, billowing black smoke erupted from the funnel. Without any coordination, the survivors all made the same choice.

Under Froki’s control, the ship’s speed climbed to yet another tier, at the cost of a harsh, grinding cacophony, as if the hull might tear itself apart at any second under this desperate forward drive.

But no one cared about that now. They weren’t thinking about whether they could get out alive; all that was left was to see how far they could still push on.

The Black Angel began to topple, its razor-sharp Iron Feathers gouging into the deck. With the hull shaking, it could no longer hold steady and slowly slid toward the edge of the ship, about to plunge into the sea.

”Lorenzo!”

Selyu cried out in fright when she saw this.

The Black Angel wasn’t lashed down with cables, and Lorenzo’s consciousness was fighting in the [Gap]. If it fell into the sea like this, the heavy Armor would become Lorenzo’s prison, locking him away in the depths.

Selyu immediately grabbed a rope, wound it around her own waist, then fixed the other end to a nearby fixture so she wouldn’t be flung overboard by the wind and lurching deck.

She was about to get up when Hebdo caught her in one swift move.

”Are you insane? You think you can haul that big bastard?”

Hebdo shouted at Selyu. Stepping out from cover here was practically asking to die, not to mention what Selyu was trying to do.

In this situation, they simply had no way to secure the Black Angel with cables.

”I just need to drag him out of the Armor!” Selyu shot back.

Hebdo fell silent, then his expression turned vicious.

”You stay here. Leave this to me!”

He grabbed a rope himself and wrapped it around his body. From earlier maintenance, he had at least a rough idea how this kind of Armor of Original Sin opened.

Hebdo was already exhausted. If he could, he no longer wanted to struggle. More or less, it was: if you’re going to kill me, just make it quick.

In his mind, he should’ve found a place to sit, watch how far they could still sail, then face death with some measure of calm. But now he was getting up once more, sprinting toward the Black Angel.

The Sea Serpent rose from beneath the waves; in front of it the Black Angel looked like a toy. The dazzling light stabbed so harshly at Hebdo’s eyes that he couldn’t open them, yet he still ran forward.

Perhaps it was the friendship born in Maruri’s port—Hebdo couldn’t just stand by and watch the Black Angel fall.

Pure white radiance filled his vision, wind and waves roaring.

A faint pain came from his chest, then turned into a wound that ripped across his ribcage.

It all happened too fast. By the time Hebdo realized what was going on, he was already on the ground. Crumbling fragments scythed across his chest, and blood gushed out uncontrollably.

He rolled several times, the rope tether going taut before he finally slammed into some fixture and came to a stop.

Brilliant light shone in his field of view, along with the fading silhouette of the Black Angel. Its Iron Feathers carved long scars across the deck until it completely toppled into the sea.

”Sorry, Lorenzo.”

Hebdo murmured to himself.

He thought of a friend from long ago, the one who stubbornly sailed into the Silent Sea. Many times Hebdo had regretted not going with her, and so he lingered here, all the way until today.

His thoughts were drifting, but just then another figure appeared in his vision—Selyu, yanking hard on the rope as she ran toward the Black Angel.

”Don’t go! Selyu!”

Hebdo shouted with everything he had. This girl couldn’t change anything; she would only fall into the sea together with the Black Angel.

Selyu ignored him. Her heart was very calm at this moment, and the end of a story surfaced in her mind.

In that tale called ”Victoria’s Secret,” the boy still came to save the girl in the end. The reason he had done nothing before was simply that there were too many people in the city. He had set his traps out in the fields and snatched the girl away.

Perhaps he wasn’t a brave person, but at least in that instant he changed.

”I... I’ve always wanted to do something for you...”

She whispered, showing no hint of fear in the face of the colossal Sea Serpent.

Selyu didn’t even look at Him. In her sight there was only that pitch-black Armor.

The Black Angel slipped to the edge. Selyu reached out, trying to grab it, but it still toppled over the side and vanished from view.

Selyu stared blankly at it all, then in the next instant she leapt off the deck as well.

Midair, she stepped swiftly along the Black Angel’s Scale Armor. The scorching, burning wind rushed over her with the Sea Serpent’s breath, as though she had plunged into a sea of fire.

But she still clung to the Armor with all her strength.

”I’ve come to save you, Lorenzo!”

She shouted at the top of her lungs.

It was like some uncanny Spell; as it rang out, everything in the world seemed to obey its command.

In the [Gap], Lorenzo, covered in wounds, had fled to the edge of the Static Holy Temple. He leaned against the Gate of Celestial Kingdom, his whole being melding into that Ghost God painting.

He no longer had the strength to run, nor was there any place left to run. Lorenzo had been driven into a dead end by Allen; in his current state, let alone passing through the Gate of Celestial Kingdom, he couldn’t even tear open a slit to the outside world.

Weary, Lorenzo lifted his head, looking at Allen drawing closer and closer. He was so powerful that even Lawrence might not be able to match him.

Lorenzo reached out and patted his chest, wanting to light himself a cigarette, only to remember that this was the [Gap], not reality.

Death was at hand, and Lorenzo still refused to resign himself.

He had already reached the brink of the secret; if he just forced himself a step further, he might very well find the whole Truth.

But Allen was too strong. He seemed like the final link in this chain of defenses, a wall of despair blocking everyone’s path forward.

Slumped against the wall, Lorenzo didn’t even have the strength to hurl insults anymore—when suddenly, he heard something.

Someone was shouting.

”I’ve come to save you, Lorenzo!”

Lorenzo showed a helpless smile. The voice was too blurry; he couldn’t tell who it was. He was grateful for her stubbornness, but the pity was that here, Lorenzo had nowhere left to run.

Allen stepped up to Lorenzo, his towering shadow completely enveloping him.

The rusted Nail Sword pressed against Lorenzo’s chest. A slight push was all it would take to kill him.

At that instant between life and death, Lorenzo heard a thunderous roar, and then a fair hand burst through the Gate of Celestial Kingdom, an arm reaching in to grab hold of him.

Lorenzo heard that familiar voice calling.

”I’ve come to save you, Lorenzo!”