Gun of Ashes

042 gasped violently, the unknown corpse had already fallen, but looking at that similar yet different face, a strange feeling gripped his throat tightly, trembling fog came from all directions, with each breath of 042, gradually numbing and infecting his nerves.

"Something's wrong... this isn't right."

Looking at his teammates behind him, their faces bore the same expression of terror, that inexplicable feeling grew stronger, like a heavy hammer, continuously striking the hearts of the three, with the passage of time, the strikes became increasingly heavy.

042 slowly raised his hand, covering his cheek, even though it was just a simple slash, after killing this guy, he felt even more exhausted, his heart was pounding, but the blood seemed frozen in his veins, no matter how hard it pumped, it couldn't flow, becoming stagnant.

"No sense of erosion, yet it feels like erosion..."

011 slowly said, he too noticed that amplifying negative emotion, his thoughts being gradually suppressed, bit by bit twisted.

"Nothing abnormal... but that's the biggest abnormality."

042 looked at the almost tangible fog, something was interfering with them, but at this moment they were still unclear what it was.

"Hallucination?"

016 proposed.

"Impossible, if it's a group hallucination, you should've noticed something." 042 turned to 016 said.

"So what's exactly wrong?" 011 asked.

042 didn't reply, he forcefully repressed the emotions swirling inside, maintaining sanity using the wilfulness of Demon Hunter.

He leaned down, cautiously uncovering that bizarre corpse.

"He... is human."

Wiping away the blood stains on the face with his hand, 042 surprisingly discovered the facial features were deliberately processed effect posthumously, though some of it might be related to the valley's oddities.

As those symbols were wiped away, the strange feeling inside gradually faded, 042 focused, analyzing.

"It seems I have some clues."

042 slowly said.

"It's these symbols."

016 gave a curious glance, 011 didn't look this way, he intermittently activated Shangdafeng to ensure no monster would suddenly emerge from the fog, catching them off guard.

These bizarre proceedings seem to have glimpsed part of the truth, Lorenzo said slowly to the listeners.

"Are you aware of cognitive pressure? In battling demons, you must have encountered some of this."

"That sort of reception of information?" Joey obviously understood Lorenzo's words, he replied.

"When the brain receives excessive information in a short period, it creates self-protection measures, yet similarly, cognition can be distorted."

"You mean the power of demons?" Joey asked.

Lorenzo shook his head, "No, this kind of thing isn't necessarily related to demons, it's like psychological suggestion, for instance, you're afraid of fire, under certain pressured environments, sudden appearance of fire will escalate your psychological stress, causing fear."

"Similarly, some things can guide your cognition, this is key to the whole Valley of Horror task."

Lorenzo looked towards the Demon Hunters stepping into the mist.

"Those symbols seem like some peculiar alchemy symbols, they can cause cognitive pressure and fear to the observer, like the erosion of demons, but the erosion of demons leaves you nowhere to escape, whereas you can just avoid these symbols."

At the time I contemplated for a long before making this deduction, after all, Demon Hunters are fearless, the biggest difference between us and normal people is, we can maintain absolute sanity in the extremest adversities, this is the key to combating fear."

042 moved forward with furrowed brow, after realizing the bizarre fear stemmed from those symbols, he felt much relieved.

Oftentimes unknown is a major factor of fear, but now the unknown is no longer unknown.

Though so, the entire Valley Town remains under the clouded fog, 042 has to figure out the situation here.

The three-man squad moved forward, not knowing for how long they moved, during the journey they didn't encounter enemies, it seemed the residents here lost their sense of direction because of the mist... or perhaps they were presently gathered somewhere, preparing for the final ritual.

"How does it feel now?"

042 inquired, 042 needed to know the cognitive pressure of the squad members.

"Getting heavier, it seems indeed something is interfering with us in secret... not erosion."

016 replied, she was extremely sensitive to such mental feelings.

042 nodded, then black silhouettes revealed amidst the fog, it was a magnificent building, yet it had no light source, only upon approaching did 042 realize the gate was already open here, inside pitch dark, a breeze flowed out from the darkness within, carrying a heavy smell of blood, seemingly the end of this darkness led to a terrifying hell.

"Should we go inside?" 016 asked.

042 said directly, "I'll go first, 011 remember to warn."

011 nodded to 042, then dazzling white light emitted from his pupils, Shangdafeng's power protected the Demon Hunters.

Demon Hunters have faced many powerful foes, but those foes were tangible entities traceable, yet different was this Valley of Horror task, the bizarre enemy lurked incessantly within the darkness, observing every one, spreading terror at will, until the Demon Hunters can bear no more.

042 couldn't wait any longer, nor had the time to wait, under the armor's protection, he strode directly into the darkness.

Inside was sheer darkness, the three Demon Hunters cautiously looked around, only the burning eye pupils emitted light in the blackness.

Secret Blood had been activated, under its amplification, Demon Hunters could perceive things within the darkness distinctly, though the detectable distance was shorter, it was already a huge advantage in darkness, not to mention there's still 011's warning.

Dust covered every corner, massive paintings hung on the walls, after the hall entrance, spiral staircases on either side continued to the top floor.

042 breathed shallowly, the air filled with dust particles, making his breather terribly uncomfortable.

Following that blood scent, Demon Hunters moved forward; footsteps creaked upon the rotten planks.

Pushing open a wooden door within darkness, that heavy blood scent was completely freed, rushing forth.

Relying on Demon Hunter's sight, 042 saw in the space behind the door what they aimed to find.

Blaze lit in the world behind the door, like a cruel slaughter, countless iron hooks hung upside down in the house, each hook bearing a dead corpse, their bodies hung head-down, blood had run dry, they appeared shriveled more.

Dried blood traces solidified on the ground, the manure within the house reeked unpleasantly.

042 raised his hand making the hush gesture, there were others within this house.

That person seemed to have lost all strength, though suffering, merely faintly moaning, he too hung upside down upon an iron hook, surrounding him, were the kind of guys previously encountered by 042, their faces marked with bizarre symbols, raising blades, they sliced another hanging person... or say, corpse.

They seemed unaware of the Demon Hunters' arrival, so within darkness, Demon Hunters launched simultaneous assault.

Amidst darkness there was ghastly pale Nail Sword striking, Demon Hunter's terrifying physical abilities showcased then, 042 virtually was upon someone's discovery, swiftly stepping forward, embedding Nail Sword into the man's throat, he didn't even manage a sound before he was killed.

Vigorously swinging the blade, directly ripping apart most of the flesh, adjacent man reacted to attempt counterattack, yet there was a piercing but subtle sound sounded within darkness.

Crossbow Arrows tore through darkness, traversing among complex iron hooks, hit directly the man's skull, and not just one, several arrows prowled swiftly, providing assassination while 042 engaged in close combat.

The battle ended from the moment it began, 042 collected the Nail Sword, the men's corpses sprawled upon the floor soaked with blood trace, he tried avoiding looking at their faces, lest those strange symbols intensified his pressure.

011 emerged from darkness, Shangdafeng forecasted fleeting future.

"Safe."

He said.

Having confirmed the scene's stability afterward, 042 set his gaze upon another man hanging on an iron hook, releasing the dying fellow down, he was emaciated, had none of those bizarre symbols on, looked someone negotiable.

"So... what's going on here?"

042 watched the gradually recovering breathing of the man, he asked.