Gun of Ashes

”Right now, it feels like we’re two stunning beauties, and these monsters can’t wait to have us, then tear us to pieces.”

Red Falcon raised the firearm, muttering something bizarre.

In fact, Red Falcon and Merlin didn’t have much interaction; one was the technical chief of the Perpetual Motion Pump, the other was a frontline elite employee. This damned disaster brought them together, allowing them to understand each other deeper.

Merlin realized that the weirdness of Red Falcon’s nonsense correlated directly with his stress levels.

This made Merlin a bit uncomfortable, but he didn’t say much because rambling nonsense helps Red Falcon relieve stress; compared to his dead-eyed look, Merlin preferred this slightly nonsensical Red Falcon.

Now he spoke rapidly, interspersing his nonsense with greetings to the demon’s female family members.

”This won’t do, beauties wouldn’t like brutes like you who lack even an ounce of courtesy, coming to someone’s home without even knocking on the door.”

Fingers brushed against the trigger; the demons hadn’t broken through the gate yet, only pried open a crack. Firing now would be pointless.

The pressure was immense, but it hadn’t driven Red Falcon mad; he waited for the right moment, then pulled the trigger.

The bullet shot forth, and the next moment precisely hit within the gap, immediately followed by a spray of blood.

The commotion behind the door paused for a few seconds, then grew more frantic. The sound of claws scraping became louder, as if hundreds of sword-wielding warriors were behind the door, hacking at it, trying to break through.

”This is a home invasion, folks!”

Red Falcon shouted out.

The gap widened, a demon’s head poked through, grinning fiercely at Red Falcon, only to explode out of thin air.

Smoke still curled from the barrel, and Red Falcon remained expressionless.

The headless corpse was caught in the gap, soon torn into pieces by claws, and from the crimson emerged more sharp claws.

Red Falcon guessed the area behind the door must be crowded now; maybe a stampede was already happening. Before he fired, the demons were likely already slaughtering one another, bodies piling up, pressed against the gate, with fresh blood visible, flooding the floor.

”Everyone’s hungry to eat us, none want to fall behind.”

Red Falcon murmured, continuing to fire. Every demon trying to crawl out from the gap was shot, then shredded by the demons behind.

But this ease probably wouldn’t last much longer; the gap widened further. Thanks to the place’s neglect, the gate’s tracks rusted, each small opening creaked.

The firing rate increased; according to the ammunition Red Falcon carried, soon he’d run out, then he’d need to hack a bloody path with the Folding Blade.

From here, hack all the way to the surface.

Red Falcon tried to make himself angry, hoping to draw some strength, but soon he gave up.

Survival was something to forget; he and Merlin never had much chance from the start.

He retreated into the central control room behind them; the space was large, with massive pipes descending vertically, and behind the heavy metal echoed a rumbling, as if something was rushing through them.

These dense and huge pipes were numerous, with the Furnace Pillar as the main structure, spreading underground through Old Dunling, extending to every part of the city.

Calling this place the core was most fitting.

Merlin was busy at the console.

”This was the initial control area. Later, after updates and iterations, we transferred control to the Mechanical Institute, where the Furnace Pillar could be better operated. This place got abandoned... but not completely.”

”And the Mechanical Institute got destroyed first, how awful.”

Red Falcon commented after hearing Merlin’s words.

”Not too awful; at least this can still serve as a backup start,” Merlin slammed the valve forcefully to knock off the accumulated dust and rust, ”just a bit primitive; I’ve got to twist them one by one!”

”I suggest you hurry! Merlin, these damn things are really impatient!”

Having run out of ammo, Red Falcon reloaded and kept firing.

The central control room was probably the duo’s endpoint. Even after activating, Red Falcon and Merlin couldn’t fight off the demon horde; the combined door delayed momentarily. Unless a mighty man descended before they’re devoured by demons and dealt with the pesky Roger.

Then maybe there’d be a sliver of hope.

”But if Roger could be taken down, it would certainly make a big spectacle.”

Red Falcon pondered that Roger was invading underground, and maybe Roger was just separated by a few iron walls. Killing Roger might mean an assault strong enough to bring down the entire underground system, together.

Things seemed to get worse as he thought, so Red Falcon abandoned the thinking, focusing on the battle before him.

The gap was fully opened, a demon first charged out, its body scarred, arms twisted and broken, yet still sprinted madly, then Red Falcon shot and exploded its head.

”Looks like we don’t have a way back.”

Red Falcon pulled down a lever beside him, and the central control room’s door began to close slowly. Its speed was very slow, and with each merging, loose debris would fall.

With the gate breached, this was Red Falcon and Merlin’s last line of defense. With their strength, they stood no chance of resisting, only to wait for death peacefully behind the door.