Embers of Embers

Chapter 197 The Uncanny Valley
"What happened during the Demon Hunting Order?"
Lorenzo hesitated at first. For him, this was a story he didn't want to recall. Maybe the robin also realized this, and he continued.
"Can you tell me how your demon hunting sect hunts demons?"
The question was broken down again, and the robin continued.
"Such as some...bizarre monster hunting."
The purification agency has not encountered many demons in recent years, and there have not been many battles that were too weird and complicated.
"Bedtime ghost story?"
Lorenzo was so happy that he didn't expect the robin to want to know this.
"You are right to understand this... In fact, the Purification Agency and the Demon Hunting Order are very similar organizations, but fundamentally they are completely different."
"What establishes the purification mechanism is science, formulas and theories, but what implements the Demon Hunting Order is divine authority and belief."
"Even saying that we are similar but completely opposite at the same time." Robin expressed his confusion.
They can be regarded as having the same goal, but they grow iron branches that resist the darkness in completely different ways.
"Yes, even if you hid deeply, the Demon Hunting Order has never discovered your existence."
Lorenzo stared at the fireworks in the fireplace, his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was recalling the past, but the once clear past was confused into a blurry picture in his mind, making it difficult for him to distinguish.
In fact, this situation appeared after he came back from the dead. Lorenzo seemed to have entered Alzheimer's disease in advance, and his fragmented memory was chaotic.
"The Demon Hunting Order has always used its power to fight demons as capital to threaten other countries. Yin Erweg did not want to be checked and balanced by it, so he developed in secret, and even did not hesitate to trade steam technology with Jiuxia."
Like a locked-down weapon power, the evangelical church monopolized all this until the power of the Far East intervened, breaking the dead pool and stirring up a wave.
"According to the behavior style of the Evangelical Church, you will be regarded as heretics, and then the demon hunters will enter the arena, defeating your immature technology again, and ensuring your dominant position in fighting against demon power."
But at this point Lorenzo suddenly sneered.
"Fortunately, they played themselves to death, otherwise the few of us might be facing each other with swords now."
Every time he thought about this, Lorenzo had a deeper understanding of the death of alchemy mentioned by Merlin. The mysterious power will eventually be eliminated from human life and must not dominate. Without the Book of Revelation, the Gospel Church The secret blood technology is locked to death, which is a warning to the purification mechanism.
He denounced the Evangelical Church, which made Lorenzo much easier to accept. For him, it was a beautiful but cruel time.
The long night was boring, so he brought the topic back, Lorenzo said slowly.
"Then...just listen to it as a strange demon hunting story."
The memory gradually became clearer, Lorenzo continued.
"This is the most profound and special mission in my memory. I can't remember the specific details, but I can probably tell you about it in general."
Seeing that he was getting serious, the three of them quietly looked at Lorenzo by the fireplace. No one could stop their curiosity about the mysterious demon hunting order.
A lonely old castle, a cold winter night, quietly burning fireworks, and a group of people connected to the darkness... this is the best atmosphere for storytelling.
"But before telling this story, I need to make a few points."
Lorenzo said.
"Actually, when it comes to demon incidents, our Demon Hunting Order and the Purification Agency have two completely different action plans. We have no plans and no advance plans." He recalled, "The demon hunters of different branches are fully responsible for They have different functions, so although they are called demon hunters, most demon hunters are not on the front line of fighting demons."
"For example, I am a demon hunter from the Medanzo branch. All we have to do is guard the Cathedral of Saint-Naro, and we rarely even go out to the Seven Hills."
"But before we actually take up our functions, we will all undergo a period of practical training... In fact, no matter what branch of demon hunter, we drag them out to kill a few monsters and then come back, just like a work internship."
The three people looked at each other strangely. Only a lunatic like Lorenzo could describe such a fatal thing as an internship.
"You invented the Geiger counter to detect the erosion of demons, but we are different. The detection mainly relies on the local church and the precognition of the demon hunter Shangda Feng."
"It sounds very backward...having top-notch power but using primitive methods to investigate," Joey said.
"So the Evangelical Church is a relic of the old times..." Lorenzo said, "Due to the small number of demon hunters, patrols are often carried out in small teams."
"Because there is no efficient means of detecting demons, the information reported by local churches is often wrong. When those people encounter strange things, they report them as demons."
"So actually we don't encounter demons very often, but that case was very complicated, very complicated."
Lorenzo frowned, recalling what happened.
"Our team received the news and then arrived at a small town located in the valley. The town is very remote and has very little communication with the outside world. The information we got there was reported by a postman.
He was frightened, as if he had been invaded by a demon, and his spirit almost collapsed. After leaving the small town in the valley, he was discovered by a nearby traveler. This incident was noticed by the priests, and then he got the information about the Information about the town followed by the entry of the witcher. "
Lorenzo looked at the three people, and his speaking speed gradually slowed down. The cold wind was like monsters roaring outside the wall, and they seemed to be the only ones left in the silence.
"When we got to that town... it was a microcosm of old Dunling."
As Lorenzo spoke slowly, he seemed to have returned to that place, the long past.
"The town is located in a valley. The transportation is very inconvenient. The buildings seem to be hundreds of years ago. The valley is shrouded in fog, just like the old Dunling, but it is even worse there. The tall mountains completely block the light. Sometimes You can’t even tell day from night.”
Unable to resist, he stretched his hand into his pocket, but found nothing. At this moment, Lorenzo remembered that his cigarette case did not come back from the dead. After a brief moment of silence, he continued.
"We demon hunters are very sensitive to the existence of demons. We are even said to be Geiger counters. Many times, when we arrive at the scene, we can tell whether the mission is related to demons.
But this time is very special. We can't detect any erosion, but we can clearly feel the weirdness permeating the town. "
Lorenzo recalled the gray town, which seemed to remain that eerie gray day or night.
"It was precisely because of that inexplicable weird feeling that we did not evacuate, but chose to find out the truth."
Lorenzo's voice paused and then said.
"We named that mission...the Uncanny Valley."
(End of this chapter)