Gun of Ashes

The Duke, who usually smiled amiably, changed his demeanor and carved a bloody path with a revolver, his marksmanship impeccable, firing each shot only when the Demons got infinitely close. At such close range, the flesh heads exploded one by one.

"I still need to protect others, you should hide here for now."

Arthur stood at the doorway, not seeming inclined to hide in this basement.

"You have to protect me, they are targeting me!"

Duke Salicardo screamed madly, the merchant truly appeared frightened, since no amount of wealth can buy life.

"Targeting you?"

Arthur looked into the basement suspiciously, asking with confusion.

"Why do you believe they're here to kill you?"

A horde of Demons exposed in Old Dunling just to kill him? Regardless of whether Duke Salicardo understood these Demons, why would he think those distorted creatures were coming for him?

"It's the Exiled People! It must be those Exiled People!"

He screamed, his voice high-pitched.

"Damn it!"

Arthur really couldn't stand the man's screams anymore, he pulled the trigger, and the resounding gunshot finally ended Salicardo's wailing.

Clearly, the poor Duke Salicardo had already been affected by the Demons' invasion, trapped in immense panic, and the situation continued to deteriorate.

Seeing his wretched state, Arthur couldn't help but feel it's a tricky situation.

He's seen many such people; in the Purification Mechanism's operations against Demons, they always find many survivors, but most of them are corrupted, unable to communicate, and ultimately sent to mental hospitals, hoping these maniacs can return to normal someday.

The greatest difficulty in the battle between humans and Demons is that eerie corruption; it's like a flood of fear crashing against the dam of the mind, and once the dam collapses, humans fall into mad terror. This is why knowledge about Demons is so scarce.

Many scholars who studied Demons wound up dying from their own madness, causing the knowledge to perish, and even if books remain, they're mostly unreadable by ordinary people.

"Calm down, Duke Salicardo, if you want to survive, explain things clearly!"

Arthur forced Duke Salicardo to calm down; he's a shrewd merchant, and if this guy goes mad, it could affect Old Dunling's economic situation.

Many can die tonight, but Salicardo absolutely cannot; others can easily be replaced, but not him.

Duke Salicardo's name is tied to countless enterprises; if anything happened to him, it would certainly cause another wave of unrest in Old Dunling.

"It's the Exiled People, those Exiled People."

Salicardo tried to steady his breathing, but the corruption worked within his mind; he couldn't stop seeing countless faces flashing before him, shouting in anger.

"What's going on!"

"I… I hired them… you know, the Exiled People are very cheap, easy to exploit, but recently a small group appeared within them."

Salicardo recalled the letters he had received.

"They demand fair treatment, and you know, that's impossible. Then he said he would come to kill me, so I treated it as just another threat letter; you know, people like me receive a lot of threats..."

"Yes, but out of so many threat letters, you believe only this one?"

Arthur said fiercely.

"At this point, you're still hiding something from me."

Duke Salicardo wore a mournful face, but then, as if seeing something terrifying, he pointed behind Arthur.

"It's… it!"

Arthur let go of Salicardo, and in an instant, a gust of wind rose within the basement; the Demon had found him, its sharp claws slicing down.

Common folk could hardly avoid it, but Arthur's movements were far beyond ordinary; he swiftly turned to evade the attack, then pressed the gun against the Demon's chest, pulling the trigger, causing blood to spray and dye the wall behind.

The Demon tried to attack again, but Arthur swung a heavy fist, colliding with the crimson arm, producing the sound of cracking bones, but it was the Demon who was injured, not Arthur. The entire arm grotesquely folded back, then the gun barrel was pressed against its jaw, its whole head exploding in the next second.

The Demon's body fell powerless to the ground, blood almost dyeing Arthur red; he turned like an Evil Ghost, fear filling Duke Salicardo's eyes.

"Duke Salicardo, to be honest, you're in big trouble."

Arthur reloaded his revolver, his voice calm, but overall like the God of Death announcing doom.

...

An elbow knocked out Duke Salicardo, and Arthur locked him in the basement. Standing in the vacant manor, facing the blazing world, he wearily lit a cigarette.

"I've discovered something new; these Demons came for Duke Salicardo. Many Exiled People died in his factories, and using the Duke's power, these matters were kept unknown. Previously, groups of Exiled People attempted many assassinations against him, but today, it's Demons coming for assassination."

"Exiled People? Are you referring to the matters in the southern region?"

Blue Jade's voice arose in the channel, as she was on duty at the central monitoring station today.

"Yes, unfair treatment only breeds conflict. We assumed the Exiled People's armed forces could only cause trouble in the southern region, but evidently, they somehow linked with Demons."