Gun of Ashes

"De... Demon Hunter?"

Joey looked at Lorenzo in surprise, for a moment feeling as if a cold wind had arisen in the room, piercing his body like a sharp sword, spreading to his muscles and veins.

"Yes, Demon Hunter. You might not know because your clearance isn't high enough. Essentially, Demon Hunters are rational demons."

Lorenzo said as he extended his hand, the blue veins beneath his skin vaguely visible.

"The Order's Secret Blood technique, to put it simply, is the transplantation of demon power into humans. But whether it's the brain or the internal organs being transplanted, there's always risk of rejection. If the experimenter is lucky, they'll die painfully. If not, they'll be transformed into horrifying demons as their flesh becomes sustenance for the demon blood."

"Ultimately, the Order found a way to purify the blood in Revelation, transplanting demon blood into humans. This was much more stable than previous experiments, then developed the Secret Blood technique from there."

Lorenzo explained briefly.

"In essence, Demon Hunters are demons yet to lose control. We are called Qualified, able to tolerate Secret Blood's presence to a certain extent, maintaining a delicate balance without conflict with the host body, or getting eroded by the Secret Blood."

This is why the Silver Binding Bolt is a warning. Under the Secret Blood technique, the Secret Blood within Demon Hunters remains dormant, only awakening during activation. But depending on the awakening's intensity, it brings power along with massive erosion."

A Secret Blood awakening level of 30% is a critical threshold for a Demon Hunter. Once surpassed, the balance between human will and demon erosion is broken, as Ed's awakened Secret Blood exceeded 60%. Beyond that point, Demon Hunters are already stepping into the Abyss."

At that moment, the Silver Binding Bolt begins to dissolve completely, and the Secret Blood drags human will into total demonization, like a meteor which shines brightest at the moment of extinction."

Joey tried to keep his composure, committing every word Lorenzo said to memory.

"And what we spoke of earlier, the rational demon, is basically an inferior version of a Demon Hunter. They may have been eroded or affected by other reasons becoming demons, but they cannot maintain a balance with the demon parts."

"The balance between humanity and demon."

"They might still act rationally, moving in a demon body, but erosion continues, and it's merely a matter of time until they become completely mad demons."

"Though it's cloaked in mythical faiths, from a biological standpoint, this stuff makes some sense."

Lorenzo gained understanding slowly through a few university lectures he managed to attend in Old Dunling. Demon Hunters are all orphans, taken in and trained by the Evangelical Church from a young age, eventually joining the Demon Hunting Order. Each child faces a hurdle before becoming a Demon Hunter, the Divine Favor Baptism and some complex training, followed by Secret Blood implantation."

Regarding the mysterious Divine Favor Baptism, Lorenzo couldn't recall much. After it, though, he inexplicably had many strange memories, others who had undergone the ceremony had similar reactions."

The implantation of Secret Blood is their coming-of-age at seventeen, raised with theological education by the Church, where priests attributed unexplained things to faith. Even dying during Secret Blood implantation was seen like this—said to be inadequate faith in God or being disloyal to the Church."

At the time, Lorenzo survived the Secret Blood implantation and felt pleased with himself, believing his loyalty to God was truly evident, but after the Night of the Holy Arrival, it all seemed laughable."

"Truly incredible."

Much later, Joey could only say this. He seemed exhausted, as if a student overloaded with knowledge all at once and unable to process it."

Joey thought the Armor of Original Sin was already forbidden power, binding demon power with steel and taking control of it, but upon actually understanding Demon Hunters, he thought the Armor was nothing."

This group of madmen stole powers not meant for them, the true forbidden power."

"There are many incredible things. The Demon Hunting Order is way more complex than you think, and according to Arthur, that new Pope has begun rebuilding the Demon Hunting Order."

Realizing this, Lorenzo couldn't help but feel some pressure. The Demon Hunting Order's reconstruction is real, and the reactivated Static Holy Temple after six years is the best proof."

"Back to the present, rational demons are quite dangerous, but your Purification Mechanism's monitoring capabilities and support speed are fast enough, you shouldn't need to worry too much."

Thinking of Lancelot coming with the Iron Serpent, Lorenzo truly felt the power of this industrial nation, systems interlinked serving an ultimate goal."

This wasn't the full operational state of the city. Lorenzo couldn't imagine the scene of mechanical rumble piercing eardrums."

"Indeed, but our monitoring has had issues, each time only detecting the demon's actions during its move, sometimes not at all."

"How is that possible? That large Geiger Counter array is far superior to the Demon Hunting Order's mystical indicators."

After the case yesterday, Joey roughly explained to Lorenzo the principle of the Peeping Tom System. Lorenzo was amazed, as the Demon Hunting Order's method relies on Demon Hunters, using highly perceptive Demon Hunters as scouts, like those of the Shangdafeng branch with certain premonitory abilities."

"But that's the problem—the demon rarely triggers Geiger index changes before acting, making us unable to track it. If not for this reason, we'd have hunted it by now, it..."

Joey thought for a moment, seeing Lorenzo suddenly understood how to explain. He hurriedly said.

"Just like you, before you activate Secret Blood, the Geiger index can't detect your reactions."

Listening, Lorenzo nodded, reaching out to grab the bottle for a drink to warm himself, but suddenly paused mid-air, face full of gravity."

"Wait, you said like me."

"Yes, no change in Geiger index before acting..."

Joey continued but seemed to realize something, locking eyes with Lorenzo, from the cold gaze recognizing they shared the same thoughts."

Lorenzo said nothing, got up, dressed, loaded Winchester with ammo, tucked it under his coat, then grabbed the cane by the door, now with a layer of Holy Silver on its Staff Sword."

"I assume your Purification Mechanism operates twenty-four hours, right."

Opening the door, Lorenzo gestured to Joey. This case was far from over."