Gun of Ashes

Fireworks and storm wove together; in an instant the blazing-white gale swept over this land, the forest of obelisks standing firm within the storm, coldly watching this centuries-long conflict.

Lorenzo could no longer track the Pioneer or Edlun; he could only feel wave after wave of violent erosion being unleashed, and vaguely hear the sound of shattering steel.

Watson was also standing there in a daze. It wasn’t the battle between the Pioneer and Edlun that stunned her, nor was she pondering because the bygone story had been exposed.

She heard it.

Watson was certain; she believed she had heard it.

"Downward..."

The blurred voice echoed inside the Black Angel, carrying the buzz of static.

"Go... down..."

The Armor of Original Sin carried electronic communication devices, but due to erosion these devices would mostly crash and fail the moment combat began; communication would be jammed, leaving only shrill noise. So neither Watson nor Lorenzo paid much attention to such things. As long as erosion existed, these devices would always be severely limited.

Yet now, under this high-intensity erosion, a single message, battered by the raging wind and rain, barely managed to reach this place, issuing a muffled command.

This could almost be called a miracle.

As if some Ghost were speaking with Watson through this thing, it had traversed an endless span of years, repeating its words over and over.

"Downward..."

Watson looked into the darkness beneath her feet, into the depths at the roots of the obelisks.

"Is that you?"

Watson whispered.

The Pioneer and Edlun were both beings approaching The Inexpressible; their ascending power could even briefly suppress the influence of the Anti-Meme, unleashing their strength to the utmost.

Watson made up her mind. The Black Angel instantly lunged over, clutching the few of them tightly, its grappling hooks driving beneath the ice to keep itself from being devoured by the storm. Its silhouette shook violently; they were like leaves on the wind, struggling with all their might not to be carried away.

Humanity of the old era had discovered the path of Ascension. They prayed for a greater power, and indeed they succeeded—but at the end of that road lay an answer that left them at a loss.

Authority: Gabriel was the Credential—the one-way ticket onto the road of Ascension.

Lorenzo had used it to excavate more terrifying power, but at the same time, he was also drawing closer to those monsters. Those humans who did not obtain the Credentials could not withstand the mutterings of The Inexpressible; crushed by the madness-laden "information," they turned into bloodthirsty beasts.

They had pursued for so long, and finally found the answer at the Root Source of all this.

Lorenzo had been mentally prepared, but when he truly faced it all, he still felt panic and helplessness.

The temperature all around was climbing relentlessly. This was the pressure coming from Edlun; upon realizing the Pioneer’s presence, he had directly detonated his power, scorching heat riding the storm forward.

The Black Angel’s form began to shake violently. In such a situation, they had no ability to join the battlefield at all. The hooks tore free, the heat melting the ice layer; Lorenzo could hear the rush of water as the solid ice beneath them weakened and collapsed.

"Is this God?"

The Plague Doctor witnessed this sight and couldn’t help but murmur.

He was a rational doctor, a rational Scholar, but after hearing the Pioneer’s account and feeling this insane power, the Plague Doctor could not help but doubt.

If even this doesn’t count as God, then what possibly could?

The Pioneer had tried his best to describe this greater existence in reasonable terms, but when one truly stood before it, few could keep their hearts steadfast and refuse to revere its presence.

"This isn’t God, Plague Doctor!" Lorenzo bellowed at this moment. "Even if it really is God, it’s a God that can be killed! Don’t revere it!"

They had thought about finding the so-called God at the World’s End, but never imagined that in the end God would look like this.

"Don’t revere it, Plague Doctor!"

Lorenzo shouted, calling God into question.

"God is nothing more than a being so powerful it’s hard to comprehend! It’s not worth reverence or faith!"

The Plague Doctor took a deep breath, the chaos in his eyes gradually clearing a little. He paused, then burst out cursing.

"The Pioneer is the real fucking lunatic! He wants to let The Inexpressible out!"

The Plague Doctor’s curses trembled. It was no simple thing to muster courage, especially when confronting the ultimate evil of this world.

Before this, the Plague Doctor had shrugged off the so-called end of all things, but after feeling the Pioneer’s power, he had vaguely glimpsed that scene of despair; the shock of that instant almost killed him.

It was as if countless blades were pounding into the wounds of your soul, spreading darkness over every inch of land, slowly kneading your humanity and mind until they were twisted into a warped, grotesque shape.

Of course, what made the Plague Doctor shudder most was the Pioneer’s madness.

The Plague Doctor knew all too well what this "perverted metamorphosis" called Ascension implied—tadpoles turning into frogs, caterpillars into butterflies.

The Pioneer would cast off all humanity and sink into a more exalted existence. Before The Inexpressible, human self-awareness, intellect, ethics, honor, achievements—everything, all of it, was void, a mistaken fork on the road of Ascension.

This kind of Ascension the Pioneer chose—rather than calling it casting off all fetters and rising to become part of The Inexpressible—it would be better to say it was a mad act of suicide.

This was self-slaughter, erasing every last trace of one’s own meaning.

"Goddammit! If someone has to die, then die alone! Why the hell does he have to drag us along!"

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