Gun of Ashes

This time, the Upper-Rank Knights didn't suffer any injuries. They were on the outskirts of the battlefield and successfully avoided the crash zone of the airship.

But Joey was somewhat unlucky. He was hit by the falling wreckage and was unconscious in the hospital for several days. The bed next to Lorenzo's initially was occupied by him.

Eve and Selyu, under the protection of the soldiers, were unharmed. Lancelot, who fell with Lorenzo into the core area, seemed to have been taken away by the Perpetual Motion Pump. The Armor of Original Sin protected him. Although his injuries were severe, they weren't fatal.

"How is the situation?"

"It's a mess. Luckily, in recent years, we haven't downsized the Cleaner Squad despite the decrease in Demon activity. Otherwise, I'd be exhausted."

"To accelerate the retreat of the erosion, we've injected all our stock of Neutralizing Liquid into the Furnace Pillar, setting the main steam outlet at Salicado Manor."

The Neutralizing Liquid is also an alchemical potion produced by the Perpetual Motion Pump. Its only effect is to accelerate the retreat of regional erosion pollution. It is usually injected into the Furnace Pillar and spreads with the steam throughout the affected area.

"Then there's the destruction of several large Geiger Counters. That moment of high intensity destroyed these observation devices. Now the surrounding area is no longer under the surveillance of the Peeping Tom System, but we've increased patrol forces."

As they exchanged information, unknowingly, the two had already stood on the same front line.

"We need to gather strength quickly. Dean Lawrence is carrying something very dangerous. Once that thing fully spreads inside Old Dunling... we can only hope that the Evangelical Church still has the ability to organize another crusade."

A crusade, a religious term exclusive to the Evangelical Church. On the surface, it records the largest scale religious war in history. In reality, it refers to the full-scale war of the Demon Hunting Order, with all Demon Hunters mobilized, and all actions of the Holy Evangelical Pope Kingdom prioritized to serve them.

In Lorenzo's memory, the Demon Hunting Order's crusade took place several hundred years ago, and the outcome was that Demons once disappeared from the world completely.

"What does he have on him?"

"A [Messiah] class containment item, containing Secret Blood technology from the 'Revelation.'"

Lorenzo had nothing more to hide. He knew very well that with his own strength alone, he could not kill Dean Lawrence. He needed allies.

"Sounds like troublesome stuff."

Arthur was a bit troubled. He envied the previous Arthurs. During their tenure, when Demon activity was at its peak, it was only as intense as Ende Town's actions. Now, everything has turned into a mode like Hell.

"Arthur, what do you think? This is Old Dunling, your home ground."

Lorenzo asked.

"Please give me some time to think. As I said before, the problem is not only within Old Dunling. The new Pope still hopes to unite with us, but I don't know if he truly means it. The situation is far more complicated than it appears."

The reconstruction of the Demon Hunting Order, the arrival of the new Pope, followed by these monsters of the past returning from the dead.

It feels like the end of the world is coming, with everyone celebrating gleefully, amidst rising flames and wailing lamentations.

Arthur was extremely tired. As if prearranged, all the chaos erupted simultaneously.

The three of them fell into a brief silence, with a looming cloud hanging over Old Dunling.

But suddenly, a blank face flashed before Lorenzo's eyes. He remembered him, Baron Abel. However, this playboy now looked lifeless, his eyes hollow and vacant, his head drooping to one side as if soulless, sitting in a wheelchair as a doctor wheeled him away.

"What happened to him?"

Lorenzo instinctively asked. Ordinarily, he wouldn't care about someone like Baron Abel, but seeing those hollow eyes felt like being watched by something eerie, creating a chilling sensation.

"He's just become an idiot."

Arthur replied slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"Let me explain it to you slowly, can I? Dean Lawrence almost slit my throat, and now I even fear to cough."

Arthur clutched his chest, his face twisting slightly whenever he spoke.

"This was one of the early findings of the Purification Mechanism."

In the empty corridor, Joey pushed a wheelchair, as the three strolled and conversed.

"We discovered several stages of Demon erosion: initially, there's the Phase One with constant magnification of various negative emotions, Phase Two where hallucinations and disorientation begin, even madness, and Phase Three is Demonization."

Arthur's voice seemed a bit lengthy. He didn't specify where these data derived from, as such ruthless acts shouldn't be exposed to daylight.

Experimenters were confined in the same cage as demons, but separated by iron bars. They witnessed the despair and madness of the experimenters, eventually turning into monsters like the demons themselves.

And such experiments didn't occur just once. Sometimes to save humanity, one has to abandon humanity first.

"We discovered a very interesting phenomenon. The key to Demon erosion lies in Phase Three. As long as one doesn't enter Phase Three, a normal person merely turns into a lunatic, not a demon."

"So we conducted numerous experiments; indeed, for a time, Old Dunling's death row inmates were utterly consumed by us.

We found a theorem: when demons can't be observed, the erosion halts."

"What do you mean?"

"Try to understand it like this, Mr. Holmes, how do you observe the world?"

Arthur noticed Lorenzo's confusion, guiding him towards a thought, but he didn't give Lorenzo a chance to answer. He continued speaking immediately.

"Through your visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory, and other sensory organs. Precisely because we can perceive the world's existence through these sensory organs, then consider this: if we can't perceive anything at all, then does the world correspondingly not exist?"

"Existence or nonexistence depends on our observation, right? A few hundred years ago, someone like you would be seen as heretical, executed by fire, specifically by Michael's Demon Hunters, burning to ash without any remnants."

Lorenzo's expression and demeanor couldn't help but become serious. Arthur's words were like a madman's theorem, yet the theorem carried the absurd and eerie truth.

"So your Demon Hunting Order is unwilling to welcome the new age, attributing everything to God. We're different. We believe in science, in technology, in things that can be systematized—not originating from anyone's favor, but solely belonging to ourselves."

Arthur continued.

"These observed data are ultimately conveyed to our brains. If we accept normal information, we don't encounter anomalies. But what if the information received stems from demon erosion? That highly polluting, incomprehensible, absurd, and unacceptable power invades our brain using it as a medium."

"After multiple autopsies, we can prove this point. All Demonizations initially begin in the brain. Cut open the skull, and you'll discover their diseased brain."

The empty corridor was so silent it was possible to hear each person's breathing and heartbeat.

"So... what then?"

Lorenzo looked at Arthur. As he previously suspected, the Purification Mechanism knew far more than what it outwardly expressed. Yet, he didn't expect to be so astounded.

"So, if we sever all means of information transmission before the brain mutates, or rather before the Phase Three erosion unfolds?"

Arthur lifted his head, looking at Lorenzo, uttering words of blasphemy.

"As long as we cut off the bridge connecting to the outside, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, smelling nothing... refusing to accept any information, then does that mean the demon's erosion can't proceed further, or rather from the involved party's perspective, the demon doesn't exist, or even the entire world doesn't exist?"

"Enclose the entire brain..."

Arthur spoke with a smile.

"Unobserved, nonexistent."

"Let me introduce you to one of the cruelest surgeries in human history, the prefrontal lobotomy."