Gun of Ashes

Hebdo could barely see the silhouette under the intense light, as Selyu leapt off the Iron Armor ship in front of him, lunging towards the falling Black Angel.

He reached out his hand, trying to catch the falling girl, but Hebdo could do nothing. He couldn’t lift the falling girl, and he didn’t even have the strength to save himself.

The brilliance hung overhead, spreading light and heat, with the ever-rising temperatures beginning to redden the metal.

Hebdo painfully closed his eyes to avoid the strong light blinding his pupils, as his skin suffered wave after wave of severe pain, blisters rising one by one from the high temperatures.

This was a brutal execution, the scorching heat boiling the sea, dragging the Morning Glow Advance into the burning, slowly roasting everyone to death.

The brilliance was boundless.

Perhaps... this was the limit of mortals.

Hebdo thought as much, but suddenly a call broke through his daze.

”Hebdo!”

Someone shouted.

Hebdo found it hard to believe, but the voice soon rang out again.

”Hebdo!”

The girl anxiously called.

”Se... Selyu?”

Hebdo shouted in response, unable to open his eyes, he groped painstakingly on the ground, the deck’s high temperature causing piercing pain with each touch.

”Pull me up!”

Listening to the girl’s words, Hebdo struggled to stand, the wound on his chest still seeping blood, yet he steadied himself.

Probably because his eyes were tightly shut, he couldn’t see the brilliance’s intense light, strangely finding some peace in his loss of sight.

Relying on a vague memory, he crawled along the deck, seeking the rope binding Selyu while shouting.

”Cliff!”

Hebdo called for the Viking.

He was a somewhat timid guy who perhaps was once a brave Viking warrior, but under this endless nightmare, he had long lost his former pride and courage.

Hebdo kept calling, but there was no response.

This was not unexpected, as not everyone has the courage to face death.

Hebdo could only rely on himself now; amidst chaotic searching, he finally found the taut rope and began to pull with effort.

”Is that right?”

Hebdo was still unsure, yelling loudly.

”Yes! Hurry!”

Selyu responded anxiously.

She was hanging on the side of the ship, having just pulled Lorenzo from the Armor of Original Sin, holding him tightly in her arms.

Luckily, Lorenzo’s body had long since had the Silver Binding Bolt removed, otherwise with its weight, Selyu would truly struggle to hold Lorenzo.

Suffocating fiery winds came crashing in, blowing at the two, causing them to repeatedly collide with the ship’s hull.

Lorenzo seemed to have lost consciousness, or perhaps was still trapped in the [Gap], completely unresponsive, like a corpse.

Selyu also kept her eyes tightly shut, feeling as if she were in a furnace, all she could do apart from holding tight to Lorenzo was relinquishing hope to Hebdo.

She felt the force coming from the other end of the rope, Hebdo was doing it, he was slowly pulling the two up.

The scorching sensation continued to assault Hebdo’s body, every inch enduring the searing heat, the pulling causing his burnt blisters to break, turning his palms raw, staining the rope red.

Yet Hebdo did not let go, perhaps this was his last act of significance before death, maximizing life’s value.

He wanted to pull Selyu and Lorenzo back from the brink of Hell.

After spending so much time together, although Lorenzo sometimes seemed annoying and bothersome, it couldn’t be denied he counted as Hebdo’s friend, without whom Hebdo felt he would have long perished at Maruri port.

Selyu was also a decent girl, cold on the surface, yet after talking, Hebdo discovered she was quite interesting, the two sharing common hobbies, both liking knight novels.

Truthfully, Hebdo never imagined he would find common ground with others in such a place; it felt quite subtle, each from different cultural backgrounds, so different yet having shared bonds.

Then he remembered another person, in these damned times, Hebdo oddly thought of Red Falcon, the guide who led him to strange hobbies, wondering how he was doing now.

Thinking carefully, it’s quite fortunate Red Falcon didn’t join this action, given his unfortunate luck, perhaps he’d die on the way to Silent Sea.

Hebdo could already imagine his look of anguish and screams, maybe facing death he’d still be asking about compensation and related matters.

Finally came a familiar face.

”If... if the Heroic Spirit Hall truly lies at the edge of Silent Sea, should I die here, I would soon arrive at the Heroic Spirit Hall, right?”

Hebdo mumbled, eyes tightly shut.

Soon he would head to Heroic Spirit Hall, reunite with his bosom friends, battling in a hellish cycle endlessly, yet if with his dear friends, such a hell seemed gently bearable.

Thinking thus, his hand slowly lost strength, and when Hebdo awoke, the rope slipped swiftly through his hands, cutting his palms, he tried to grasp it, but couldn’t stop its departure.