Gun of Ashes

The vocabulary from past memories was brought up again, as if reaching the present through memories once more.

Lorenzo looked at everyone, his gaze heavy and cold.

It was as if the language possessed magic power. Accompanied by Lorenzo's gentle narration, an unknown force slowly bred in places that the fierce flames could not illuminate,

"We spent several days to reach that town. They called themselves Valley Town. Due to its inaccessibility and the eerie fog that enveloped it, the locals had an odd, morbid aura about them."

"The entire Valley Town was cloaked in a highly bizarre color, and according to a certain postman, several terrifying murders occurred there... In fact, they can no longer be described merely as murders, as it's difficult for humans to manage such acts."

"Those?" asked Red Falcon, seemingly entranced by the story.

"Very brutal tortures, you might even call it a sacrificial ritual of some bizarre cult,"

Lorenzo said slowly.

"Humans have innate protective mechanisms towards their own kind. When you kill a human, you instinctively feel a bit of disgust, let alone do something even more cruel, unless you are not a normal person or have undergone cold-hearted training."

"Our arrival did not attract anyone's attention, or rather, the locals actively pretended not to see us. We ultimately reached the church in Valley Town, where the priest led us to the murder scene."

"There we saw that brutal scene: human bodies were hung, dismembered, and slaughtered. This was not a vent of anger or a sick pleasure, the perpetrator was purposefully killing, akin to a slaughterhouse selectively cutting useful parts."

Lorenzo continued speaking.

"This was far more bizarre than any mission I had dealt with before. When ordinary people encounter a demon, their injuries are usually from bites and tearing. But this time was different. Although the mission was bizarre like a demon, this 'demon' was rational, and moreover, we felt no erosion at the crime scene."

Though these words had no specific imagery, upon entering the ears of Red Falcon and others, they felt similar nausea, as if something squirmed in their stomachs, and the stale air was filled with the scent of blood.

"So deducing from this, the attacker was human, right?" Bluebird said, noting that the lack of erosion meant it was unrelated to demons.

However, Lorenzo did not directly answer, instead responding.

"This is the intriguing part of the mission. From an outsider's perspective, everything seems full of loopholes, but when you're truly in it... you become lost, and even demon hunters are no exception."

He still did not clarify the mysterious truth, and the atmosphere grew more suspenseful, the unknown story echoing around the four.

"At that time, several doubts arose. We didn't know the perpetrator's motive or the connection between the victims, and notably, why the priest didn't report to the church but instead an almost maddened postman brought the information."

"Our squad had a brief meeting, temporarily associating this incident with a cult ritual and proceeding gradually to investigate as taught within the Order."

"Cult ritual?" Joey evidently had not suspected this, "In a town under church rule, such existence?"

"Of course, no matter how many times you kill these things, they can never be fully purged; historical crusades merely dealt a heavy blow... It's really strange, as if someone were supporting them,"

Lorenzo explained.

"The existence of cults isn't bizarre. To be precise, in the church's eyes, every sect other than itself is a cult."

"Rulers need faith to deceive the ignorant, so ritual is the best way to communicate with that elusive God. In the Order's records, such brutal tortures, taking specific parts, are very likely materials for some kind of ritual,"

Lorenzo changed his posture, and he glanced at everyone.

"This deduction should be something your Purification Mechanism would also have, right?"

Joey nodded to this. As a modern secret department, the Purification Mechanism does not remain as secretive as the Demon Hunting Order in many aspects.

"Now that we have a line of thought, we can act more efficiently. After all, we are demon hunters; cultists are far gentler than demons. However, at that time, we still remained vigilant because many cults are actually connected to demons."

"Just like how someone accidentally saw a demon, got eroded, and then began to demonize. But during this phase, they still retained their rationality, treating demonization as a 'miracle' to bewitch others,"

Lorenzo recounted those textbook-like classic cases.

"Resulting in a large-scale demon outbreak, but fortunately, each time the demon hunters eradicated them in time."

"So, in Valley Town at that time, it was likely that a band of cultists was hidden or even a demon was being regarded as a 'miracle.'"

"The squad returned to the church after leaving the crime scene. Before figuring these out, we first needed to know why the priests hadn't reported this."

"But as we walked down the street, something eerie happened."

Lorenzo's expression turned serious.

"The entire Valley Town... changed."

"The foggy sky turned completely gray, there was not a single person on the streets, nor any sound, as if the entire world only consisted of the three of us."