Gun of Ashes

But now he just... just felt a little weak.

Adren looked at the Secret Keeper leaning nearby, he said nothing, and the metallic face showed no expression whatsoever. Adren found it difficult to understand his emotions and asked with a bit of reverence.

”Are you dissatisfied? I also feel that we are too slow. According to the intentions of the first Pope, all this should have been completed about a hundred years earlier.”

Adren blamed himself, saying that to optimize their Authority, the Demon Hunting Order spent too many years, only digging out the angelic authority through death after death, systematically recognizing these mysterious powers.

”No... I just, just feel a bit ashamed.”

The Secret Keeper spoke haltingly, perhaps because he hadn’t spoken to anyone in a long time, or maybe it was for some other reason.

He looked at Adren, this young Pope was wearing the silver crown, and the dim light reflected off it, almost blinding the Secret Keeper.

The Secret Keeper remembered that his heart was removed many years ago, and now it was a complex mechanical pump supplying his blood, yet for some reason, he heard the heartbeat that hadn’t been heard in years.

Thump, thump...

”I thought we had lost.”

The Secret Keeper murmured.

”I’ve never been a brave person. I didn’t dare to step out of this sanctuary to face real death, nor did I dare to gamble everything of mankind on the table. All I could do was fulfill my duty, survive here, and tell these stories to those who came after.”

He remembered many years ago, those Saint-like monkeys, the Secret Keeper still remembered those guys crying their eyes out while hanging on him.

”I’m a coward...”

Back then, the Secret Keeper stood here, watching those Saints depart. In fact, he wanted to laugh at those guys. Humanity was heading towards extinction, and even after they got the knowledge, there was almost no hope for them once they left.

Even the Secret Keeper himself chose to live poorly in pessimism back then. What could these monkey-like humans do?

”I’m the one who looks like a monkey.”

The Secret Keeper spoke words that Adren did not understand. After a long pause, the Secret Keeper stood upright again, straightening his back, merging something that had long since broken.

”You are the Ascender, right? I saw that blaze, you have also embarked on the path of Ascension. This is no good thing.”

”Sorry, only by becoming a demon can you kill a demon.”

Adren responded firmly, familiar with the Gospel and the Revelation, understanding all the causes and effects.

The Secret Keeper laughed, suddenly stepped forward, held Adren’s face with both hands, and pressed their foreheads together, their eyes meeting.

”Yes, only by becoming a demon can you kill a demon.”

The electronic eye stared into Adren’s pupils, and the Secret Keeper’s voice echoed by his ear.

”You know that technique too, right? The one where you invade my consciousness.”

”Are you referring to Authority·Gabriel?”

”What? What a weird name.”

”These are blessings from God, and we named these abilities after angels.”

”Ah... should’ve known better than to give you guys religious knowledge. But that doesn’t matter.”

The Secret Keeper said powerfully.

”Invade my consciousness, read my memory, there you will find everything you need to know.”

...

”That’s how I unveiled all the truth to Adren.”

The old man thought for a while and continued.

”His reaction was very calm, I guess he had long suspected it, otherwise, considering those monkeys, when Adren saw me, he should have been kneeling and prostrating.”

The stories of the past unfolded before his eyes, Lorenzo occasionally glanced at his palm, where scars left by the burns of Holy Silver lingered, and underneath the scars rushed the Secret Blood. Now Lorenzo finally found the so-called origin.

”I let him calm down for a while, just as I calmed down too. I woke up several other old fellows who hadn’t died yet. With Adren’s information, we learned of the survival of human beings outside. They had resiliently endured the era of darkness, ushering in the silver dawn.

So we made a decision together, prepared to use all resources for the final reset.”

The old man spoke while looking at the other Iron Coffins surrounding the disc, the glow on them no longer present, leaving only the old grey.

”We old guys were too ancient, staying here for way too long, we had already merged with the sanctuary, making it difficult to step out again, so I awakened Roger Cruz from his long slumber, commanding him to assist Adren Levien in the reset.

They left again with the knowledge and truth from the sanctuary, Adren returned to his legion, continuing the eastern campaign, reclaiming the land for human survival from the demons, and Roger Cruz attempted to reunite the lost Nation-Builders forgotten by time, forming a group named the Rosicrucian Order, making use of the reset history of the sanctuary as the group’s background.

The world called these people, who possessed advanced knowledge, Alchemists, and later the group grew larger, evolving into what was known as the Golden Dawn.

The old man’s tone shifted from excitement to loss, and Lorenzo could distinctly feel this change.

”It was nice back then. Everything was progressing positively, and for a brief moment, I even thought humanity might win this war.