Gun of Ashes

At this moment, Eve finally felt her own helplessness. In the face of that true threat, she could do nothing. That serene yet grim face loomed near, like a ghost breaking through a nightmare.

Beside her, Selyu was pulling on Eve, trying to drag her away, but at that speed, they were still too slow.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The sharp Great Sword pierced through the smoke and the sea of fire. Lorenzo couldn't stop Dean Lawrence, but just a few seconds of delay would be enough, like holding onto a ridiculous hope, as if just delaying those few seconds could save Eve, as if some hope would emerge.

So he threw the Great Sword in his hand.

But nothing changed. The Great Sword didn't hit Dean Lawrence at all, merely stabbing into the ground beside him. Perhaps the only difference was that at the last moment, Eve pushed Selyu away forcefully. The frail girl was so light, like a feather falling to the other side, and immediately that sharp Broken Sword was held against Eve's neck.

Everything halted, Dean Lawrence held Eve hostage, smiling at Lorenzo.

He had won, and won thoroughly.

The entire situation ended with him taking Eve hostage.

"Never let others see your intentions, child."

It seemed like a lesson, yet also like a taunt.

Lorenzo took a deep breath, and then that Iron Armor stood in a relatively safe spot.

"So, you have nowhere left to run."

The soldiers in the darkness emerged, this time different from the previous moving aim. Dean Lawrence stood right there, the Aluminothermic Rifle dead set on him, and deeper in the darkness, the sound of mechanisms turned. Who knows when the demon's wails had already stopped, and the Purification Mechanism had fully controlled this place.

"But I have a hostage."

"Your hostage isn't worth much, and isn't she your target anyway?"

"Ah... child, you still haven't learned my lesson."

Dean Lawrence smiled, speaking words only understood by Lorenzo.

The flames rising on the Iron Armor slightly froze, as Lorenzo had once again been played, or rather, misled by Dean Lawrence's schemes.

Dean Lawrence was also a deceiver. You would never know his intentions until he revealed the truth. Lorenzo's thoughts flew.

Was Eve really his goal?

If Eve was the goal, then were his words now misleading himself? Making himself lower his guard.

But come to think of it, if his goal was Eve, then what motive did Eve have for him to plot?

In Lorenzo's view, Eve was just a young, brash kid. If she had anything special... the strange Secret Blood in her body and being the daughter of Arthur.

Lorenzo felt as if he had caught onto something: the chaos of the Night of the Holy Arrival, the theft of the "Revelation," the development of inferior Secret Blood, and now Eve carrying the Secret Blood.

Yes, the Secret Blood technology was only possessed by the Order, so where did Eve's Secret Blood come from, or rather... as the head of the Purification Mechanism, had Arthur also developed Secret Blood?

The entire situation became increasingly chaotic, but it also made Lorenzo start to believe.

"No, you wouldn't. She's your target, you won't kill her."

Lorenzo replied coldly.

With Eve's relationship with Arthur, the Purification Mechanism certainly wouldn't be as clueless about the Secret Blood as they claimed. Perhaps they had found another way to develop Secret Blood, after all, this was the birthplace of the steam engine, the pinnacle of world research.

"Oh?"

Hearing that confident voice, Dean Lawrence was somewhat surprised.

"The Authority of Shangdafeng is not all-powerful. You can't foresee the distant future, and you can't sustain the foresight at all times, right."

Lorenzo calmly analyzed, the more powerful the Authority, the more strain it put on the body, just like Michael, where the extreme of burning is to destroy oneself along with it.

"You will always have that moment when you can't see the future..."

"So what, with just a light move, she dies."

Dean Lawrence's Broken Sword steadily pressed against Eve's neck again.

The Purification Mechanism had encircled this place heavily. In these six years, Dean Lawrence had also gained some understanding of the Purification Mechanism's power in the dark. He might be able to kill everyone present, but under the strong transport ability of the Midcourt Serpent, there would be a continuous flow of iron creations pursuing him until he was drowned by that flood of steel.

It was time to retreat. He couldn't see further into the future. If he could, he wouldn't have encountered Lorenzo so directly.

"You better let her go."

A voice sounded from the other side, and out of the darkness walked Arthur slowly, stained with blood, looking extremely battered.

"Duke Phoenix?"

Dean Lawrence's voice rose a few pitches, looking at him provocatively.

"I remember this is your daughter, right."

What a damn situation. Arthur said nothing, the soldiers in the darkness approached, all sorts of weapons locked onto Dean Lawrence, even with his foresight ability, he couldn't evade such a dense barrage, after all, some inevitable future cannot be avoided.

"What do you want?"

Arthur asked coldly.

"To leave, what do you think? Let me leave, and I'll let your daughter go."

Silence, only silence.

Arthur stared intently at Dean Lawrence, then a voice emerged.

"He is the Dean of the Demon Hunting Order; if nothing else, it was he who produced that inferior Secret Blood."

Beneath the burning iron steed, Lorenzo spoke slowly, without any reservation, directly identifying Dean Lawrence.

"Arthur, he must die."

The voice was very calm, like a tranquil sea, where no one could see the monsters lurking beneath.

"Does that mean you've joined the Purification Mechanism now?"

Hearing Lorenzo's voice, Dean Lawrence asked somewhat unexpectedly.

"The Demon Hunting Order has already disbanded. I see no problem in finding a new job."

Lorenzo said.

A cold laugh resounded.

Eve quietly watched all this; at this moment, her fate was held in the hands of these few people, a strange feeling, not fear of death or anything, but rather that everything about you now hinges on these few people, completely up to them to decide.

Her own father, the avenging detective, the enigmatic dean.

For a moment, it felt like an auction, with three people bidding in turn, and she was the item.

"Now's the time to show your worth, girl."

Dean Lawrence's smiling expression gradually cooled, and even the surging sea of flames calmed down.

Eve's value to them would determine the direction of the night, whether to let Dean Lawrence leave, or to open fire, killing them all together.

Eve suddenly felt a hint of unease, not from the Broken Sword in front of her, but further from the two staring at each other.

"Arthur, I hope you can make the right decision... although that decision is very difficult."

The voice sounded again, and Arthur looked towards the burning iron steed; the jagged armor gleamed with a cold light, like a steel statue.

He gazed at the girl behind the Broken Sword; to be honest, although they hadn't known each other long, Eve was quite interesting, sometimes even keeping up with Lorenzo's neurotic rhythms, the two like patients in a mental asylum dancing and singing together.

But essentially, they were different people. Lorenzo was the soul that survived the Night of the Holy Arrival; he had too much to do and didn't mind becoming a weapon, just as his teacher in front of him taught.

He had to turn back as well; only absolute cold rationality could stand firm against the tide of despair.

Just as he remembered the girl's image in his heart, Lorenzo's once warm gaze gradually solidified into an Ice Sea.

Words that everyone could not understand, but after long silence, Arthur knew.

"You... what are you talking about!"

Arthur shouted at Lorenzo, perhaps others could not understand, but he could, because they were the same kind of people.

"Very difficult, but... choose the lesser of two evils."

The cold iron steed said so, like a machine without human feelings.

"But isn't she your friend? You're a heartless bastard, I ought to shoot you."

Arthur cursed at Lorenzo.

"That's why this decision is very difficult, Arthur."

The twisted face armor slowly turned towards Arthur; beneath the sturdy armor, the gaze was full of sadness, but no one could see it.

Sometimes fate is like this; you strive with all your might, but what it returns to you is not so delightful.

In the end, Lorenzo became a boring adult too.

The voice beneath the armor resounded again, somewhat weary, somewhat distant, like an old man's sigh.

"Arthur, now we stand by the tracks, the lever that decides fate is in our hands."

"The demons... must be eradicated."

The figure froze in place, as if petrified.

Just like the initial conversation inside the Broken Dome, only this time lying on the tracks was not a pawn, not Bola nor Red Falcon; this time lying on the tracks was his daughter, and the demon's train roared forward.

Essentially, we are all absolutely cold-blooded monsters, and only we can make the most rational judgment for all this.

Dean Lawrence cannot be spared, absolutely not.

All the weapons in the dark were ready, even the mysterious Lancelot had arrived, but it wasn't their time to appear yet; after all, the one deciding all this was Arthur.

As soon as he gave the order, the steel flood would completely crush Dean Lawrence; after all, no matter how powerful a Demon Hunter is, he is just a human who has usurped demon power, and he will age and die.

Or he might just surrender like this, lose his rationality, and let Dean Lawrence leave, this man harboring great secrets disappearing from view.

It's indeed a difficult decision, one side is his daughter, the other is what he has always stood by.

The girl simply didn't understand what was happening; she just watched the two conversing, one peeling away emotions, cold as steel, and the other a lion finally meeting its old age, watching all this, at a loss.

Only Dean Lawrence seemed to understand all this, mocking them.