Gun of Ashes

It had been many days since that grand and earth-shattering assassination; it hadn't actually been long, yet everything felt like a lifetime ago.

In the roar of that Celestial Kingdom-like wrath, the terrifying Dean Lawrence met his end, and the sinful fire burned for several days before it slowly extinguished.

Lorenzo still felt somewhat dazed, unable to believe he had really survived. Sometimes he couldn't help but pinch his own face to distinguish reality from illusion, after all, judging by his physical condition at the time, not even God could have saved him, and yet... yet he survived.

He still remembered waking up in the workshop, the massive experimental site for adjusting the Armor of Original Sin. Just as Lorenzo found the ceiling he awoke to odd, a beam of light shone down from above, and a loud voice boomed from the speaker, greeting him with a friendly good morning.

Lorenzo was so startled he sprung up from the bed, only to see several individuals hiding atop a high platform.

It was so nice to see those familiar faces, even if their gaze upon him was odd, as if he were some stinking virus.

For safety, Merlin needed to run a series of checks on Lorenzo. Although not present at the time, Arthur had briefed him on the bizarre and frightening situation back then.

To prevent any mutation in Lorenzo, Merlin temporarily placed him in the workshop, saying that the vast space wouldn't impose any pressure on Lorenzo. Of course, it also meant the space could be covered with heavy firepower and had enough room for the Armor of Original Sin to enter for suppression.

Fortunately, nothing happened in the end, and all his body indicators were normal. However, they didn't release Lorenzo immediately but sent him here overnight.

Lorenzo stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the vast snowy scene outside.

No grey building clusters, no towering Steam Towers, no railway tracks lining the streets, no swirling steam.

The sky was unexpectedly clear, with the sun blazing red.

Everything had a rare feeling of normalcy, as if this was the real world, and the Old Dunling Lorenzo lived in before was a twisted and unknown place.

Thinking of this, Lorenzo couldn't help but have tears in his eyes, wondering what kind of wretched life he had lived before.

This place was a castle in the far outskirts of Old Dunling, said to have once been the property of a noble. After that noble went bankrupt, the land was reclaimed and eventually fell into the hands of the Purification Mechanism.

Soon after, it became a warehouse-like place, filled with strange yet harmless things collected by the Purification Mechanism over the years. To Lorenzo, it was a strange museum, but he really liked it. Over the past few days of staying here, he had discovered quite a few good things.

Besides Lorenzo and the three unlucky ones responsible for monitoring him, not many people lived here, with the rest of the manpower maintained just enough for the castle's minimum operation.

Although it was supposed to be an isolation observation for Lorenzo, these guys were living like they were on vacation. Apart from Red Falcon having to write a report on Lorenzo's physical condition every day, there was nothing legitimate to do throughout the day.

Initially, Lorenzo felt somewhat uneasy. After all, being a Demon Hunter for so long, suddenly stopping felt uncomfortable. But soon, Lorenzo displayed the strong adaptability of a Demon Hunter.

From a cold and fearsome Demon Hunter, he adapted to this slow-paced lifestyle like a lazy dog. Were it not for Red Falcon's strong opposition, Lorenzo really wanted to move his bed next to the fireplace.

It was so nice, peaceful and harmonious, without blades and swords clashing, no guns roaring, and even the beloved demons were nowhere in sight.

Lorenzo rarely felt the beauty of life, the most important activity for him each day was basking in the sun and taking a nap. After all, sunshine was scarce in Old Dunling, where most of the time you could only see the gloomy clouds dyed a faint gold.

"Ah... vacation is wonderful..."

Lorenzo sighed with emotion.

Of course, there was a slight downside, that annoying Red Falcon who came every day. He always wanted Lorenzo to cooperate with him in writing reports.

"You can write your report, but why do you have to bother me!" Lorenzo asked.

"But the report is about you!" said Red Falcon.

"It's related to me, so what? Why do you have to bother me!"

"Because it's a report on your physical condition!"

This sort of conversation happened daily, each ending with Red Falcon's desperate scream.

Honestly, Lorenzo thoroughly enjoyed tormenting Red Falcon; it gave him a strange sense of satisfaction, suddenly understanding the dull mischief of humans.

Wrapping himself in a blanket, Lorenzo, out of boredom, wandered around the castle.

This truly was a museum. Strange boxes filled most of the space, and peculiar and uniquely functional items were everywhere, imbued with mysterious and otherworldly colors. If you shattered the glass and covered it with cobwebs, you could conjure the feeling of a sinister castle in minutes.

Unfortunately, amongst the current occupants was a Demon Hunter, one particularly good at hacking, rendering any bizarre legend powerless before Lorenzo.

"This is actually Merlin's castle."

Joey came over from the side, starting a conversation with Lorenzo.