Embers of Embers

Chapter 198 What Is Fear
Words in the past memories are mentioned again, as if they have arrived in the present world again through memories.
Lorenzo looked at everyone with serious and cold eyes.
It was as if words had magic power. As Lorenzo spoke softly, unknown power slowly grew in the place where the fire could not shine.
"It took us several days to arrive at that small town. They called themselves Valley Town. Due to the inconvenient transportation and the strange shrouding fog, the locals had a strange sense of morbidity."
"The entire valley town has an extremely weird color, and according to the postman, several horrific murders have occurred here... In fact, it can no longer be described as murder, after all, it is difficult for people to do that. "
"Those?" Kestrel asked, seemingly fascinated.
"Very cruel torture, even said to be like a sacrifice ceremony of some weird religion."
Lorenzo said slowly.
"Humans have certain protective measures for the same kind. When you kill a human being, you will instinctively feel a little disgusted, let alone do something more cruel, unless you are not a normal person, or you have experienced A ruthless training."
"Our arrival did not attract anyone's attention. It even seemed that the local residents took the initiative to pretend that they could not see us. We finally arrived at the church in the valley town, and the priest there took us to the scene of the murders."
"That's where we saw the cruel scene. The human body was hung up, divided and slaughtered, and this was not the kind of venting anger, or venting some disgusting pleasure. The perpetrator had a very purposeful purpose. Carry out the slaughter just like in a slaughterhouse, specifically selecting the parts you need and cutting them.”
Lorenzo continued.
"This is far weirder than the missions I have experienced before. If ordinary people encounter monsters, their injuries are usually biting and gnawing to death, but this time is different. This mission is as weird as a monster, but that 'monster' But he has a clear sense of reason, not to mention that we can’t feel any erosion at the crime scene.”
It was clearly words with no specific image, but when it poured into their ears, Kestrel and the others felt the same nausea, as if something was wriggling in the stomach, and the stale air was full of blood.
"Then it can be inferred that the perpetrator is a human, right?" Robin said, without any intrusion, it was revealed that the incident had nothing to do with demons.
But Lorenzo did not answer directly, but answered instead.
"This is the weird thing about this mission. In fact, from the perspective of a bystander, everything is full of loopholes, but when you are really in this moment... you will be lost, even the demon hunter."
He still didn't name the mysterious truth, and the atmosphere gradually became suspenseful, with unknown stories echoing around the four of them.
"At that time, there were several doubts. We didn't know the purpose of the murder, nor the connection between the deceased. Of course, the most important thing is why the priest did not report it to the church, but an almost crazy postman brought it. information."
"After a short meeting, our team temporarily connected this incident with the cult sacrifice, and gradually investigated it according to the instructions in the cult."
"Cult priest?" Joey obviously didn't expect this suspicion, "Will there be such a thing under the rule of the church?"
"Of course, no matter how hard you kill these things, you can't kill them all. Several Eastern Expeditions in history only severely damaged them... It's really strange, as if someone is supporting them."
Lorenzo explained.
"The existence of a cult is not strange. To be precise, in the eyes of the church, except for itself, all other sects are cults."
"Rulers need faith to deceive the ignorant, so sacrifice is the best way to communicate with the illusory god. And in the religious sect's information, this kind of cruel killing and removal of specific parts is very likely to be Some kind of sacrificial material.”
Lorenzo changed his posture and looked at everyone.
"This is the kind of inference that your purification agency should also have."
Joey nodded at this. As a modern secret department, many aspects of the Purification Agency are not as mysterious as the Demon Hunting Order.
"Once we have an idea, it will be easier for everyone to take action. After all, we are demon hunters, and cultists are much gentler than demons. However, we did not take it lightly at the time, because many cults are actually related to demons."
"It's like someone accidentally saw a demon and was eroded, and then he began to demonize, but at this stage he still maintained his rationality, so he used demonization as a kind of 'miracle' to confuse others."
Lorenzo tells these classic cases that can be called 'textbook'.
"The result was a large-scale outbreak of demons. Fortunately, each time they were eradicated by the demon hunters in time."
"That is to say, it is very likely that there was a cultist or even a demon that was regarded as a 'miracle' in the valley town at that time."
"The team returned to the church after leaving the scene of the crime. Before we can figure this out, we must first know why the priests did not report this situation."
"But as we were walking down the street, something weird happened."
Lorenzo's expression became serious.
"The whole town of Valley...has changed."
“The foggy sky turned completely gray, there was no one on the street, and there was no sound. It was as if there were only the three of us left in the whole world.
Apart from the dim light emitting from the sky, there is no other light source. "
Darkness, strangeness, and obscure unknowns lurk in the ancient town, peeping at everyone in the shadowed corners.
Unknowingly, the atmosphere became tense, tinged with fear.
"Isn't this a horror story you specially made up?" Kestrel asked doubtfully. After all, with the bad taste of this great detective, this is not impossible.
Lorenzo shook his head with contempt in his eyes.
"Kestrel, what do you think fear is? Or what is the definition of fear?"
"Fear?"
Kestrel was speechless. He tried to think about the definition of fear, but found that when he really wanted to describe this common word rationally, it became very difficult.
"Yes, this is a kind of 'negligence' of people, just like everyone enjoys the convenience of the steam engine, but they don't think about the principle of the steam engine, and everyone is used to the existence of fear, but they don't think about the reason for the fear .”
There was a strange light in those gray-blue eyes, and I had to admit that when the great detective told stories...or began to exert his thoughts on others, they could clearly feel the strange power.
"Fear is precisely a state of mental activity, a strong negative psychological state brought about by uncontrollable, uncertain, and unpredictable factors around the body."
"And it's not just a psychological effect, it affects us physiologically."
Lorenzo suddenly realized something, connected the two things together, and he spoke faster and faster.
"From your consciousness to your body."
Lorenzo looked at them with a slight smile, "You must also feel this deeply, right?"
“When fear begins, the human body enters a state of emergency, a large amount of adrenaline is released, breathing becomes heavier and faster, the heart rate increases, blood circulation accelerates, and the blood supply to the muscles increases to provide more power and speed.
Pupils dilate to receive more light; the brain releases dopamine substances and the mind is highly concentrated to speed up reaction ability and judgment..."
He paused suddenly and said in a deep voice.
"But this... is very similar to the demon's erosion of us. It spreads from consciousness to the body."
There seemed to be a big bell humming in the calmness, hammering on the thinking of ordinary people.Perhaps they themselves didn't realize that their breathing was accelerating and their pupils were slightly dilated.
After a long moment of silence, Joey said slowly.
"Lorenzo... Actually, you may be more suitable to be a cult leader than a detective demon hunter."
"This is natural. After all, before becoming a demon hunter, you have to become a priest. Although it is just a formality, I feel that my talent as a priest is outstanding."
He was beaming and didn't care about Joey's words.
"But, don't worry about these, just treat them as one person's random thoughts. After all, I am an overthinking person..."
Although he said this, there were complex and strange emotions in his gray-blue eyes.
"So back to the Uncanny Valley mission, when we stood on the deserted street, we all invariably felt that weird feeling, that feeling of fear, like erosion, it captured us."
"This alerted us and we returned to the church as planned."
The memory gradually became clearer. In that gray world, the black silhouette of the church seemed to be in the gray world, and the towering spire was like a stabbing spear.
"We thought we would encounter some weird things on the way, but there was nothing... In fact, this kind of silence is disturbing. If hundreds of monsters appeared on their way back, it might be more peaceful than calm. Comfortable."
"After all, when the demon appears, the emotion of fear has a physical body, and as long as there is a physical thing, it can be killed with a nailed sword."
Lorenzo said viciously.
"But obviously, the monster hidden under the gray mist is more complicated than we thought. It doesn't face us directly, but scares us from various angles."
At the gray end, the heavy door of the church was pushed open, and the surging blood rushed in. The holy priest fell into a pool of blood with a pious look on his face.
The trembling mist enveloped the young demon hunters. They were at a loss. They clutched the nail sword tightly and had the power of broken steel, but when the enemy became nothing, they seemed powerless.
"The priest died, but not a homicide, but a suicide."
Lorenzo said calmly as he recalled the terrible scene.
"He sacrificed himself."
Like an obscure spell, a strong wind surged outside the window.
"Sacrificially... yourself?"
The robin's voice seemed a bit heavy, Lorenzo nodded and continued.
"I offer everything I have to you, the unknown, and please protect this lonely island in the darkness."
Those words were carved on the church pew, stained with blood, and appeared to be the priest's last words.
"We should have thought of this. The reason why the church did not report it was because they had become part of that mysterious cult."
The atmosphere has never been more solid.
"The holy priests have long since fallen."
His voice was also somewhat fearful. Lorenzo had no idea how long he had been depraved, and when the weirdness in Valley Town started.
"We have stepped into a trap, and everyone in the entire valley town is the enemy."
The surging mist swallowed everything, and blood slowly flowed on the floor, finally covering Lorenzo's feet.
The blood that had not yet dried carved out strange and complicated graphics, and the priest fell among them, with a pious face, a piety that turned his back on the gods and was devoted to the darkness.
The entire castle was shattered, and the four people sat firmly in the chaotic wind. Then the white stone bricks rose from the ground, and they were piled up one after another. Finally, they were lit by warm candles, moving like waves. The wind sways.
Memory and reality overlap.
Immersive.
It seemed like four people were sitting on the bench. The holy statue rose from the fire in the fireplace, with blood flowing from its eyes. It seemed to be staring at the people who would look back on all this in the future, waiting. Follow their prayers.
The detective stood up slowly, and gently stroked the pale golden statue, but immediately after, blood flowed down from it, staining his hands.
A long time ago, in the church deep in the memory, the leader of the demon hunter slowly turned back to look at the other two people, his young cheeks full of vigilance and unbearable panic.
"This...is a trap."
042 said.
Immediately afterwards, noisy voices came from outside the church, and a shuddering strange feeling came from the gray mist. Black silhouettes stood upright in it, and the sick residents held high the torches, which were randomly combined with broken wire and wood. Cross.
It was the fear deep in the memory. Strange symbols were smeared with blood on the pale face, and the severed limbs of the corpse were held high.
It was also at that moment that Lorenzo suddenly understood why the dead showed no signs of resistance... This is a sacrifice, one sacrifice after another, towards that unknown existence.
The entire valley town is a huge altar, and the escaped postman may have been one of the sacrifices.
Their faces were distorted and hideous, and they cheered and screamed.
"No no no..."
042 looked at all this with some disbelief, and then he roared angrily.
"Come back! 016!"
Hearing 042's roar, 016, who was standing at the door, calmed down. She quickly leaned over. The three demon hunters drew their nail swords and looked at the frantic crowd outside the church with vigilance. Then there was a burning Throwing objects were thrown into the church, one after another.
In the blink of an eye everything was on fire.
It wasn't until they got closer that the demon hunters could see their faces clearly. They were masks, abominable masks carved from human skin and bones. They arrived with joy, like a surging wave.
(End of this chapter)