Embers of Embers

Chapter 251 The Curse of Knowledge
Lorenzo was sitting on a chair with several bottles of potion in front of him. Although they were well sealed, a strange smell still entered his nasal cavity, and he couldn't help but sneeze.
Raising his head, he was now in this huge underground factory. Steel and machinery were intertwined with each other, like a huge deep well. He was at the bottom, and he couldn't see the sky when he raised his head.
After several temptations and persuasion from Merlin, Lorenzo reluctantly agreed to his experiment. At the same time, he also thought a lot about why he survived, as Merlin said.
Lorenzo thought about it for a long time, who would be the biggest beneficiary if he survived, and finally came to this conclusion.
It's Watson who doesn't want to die, his own survival is just a by-product.
Lorenzo himself is a cage, trapping Watson in it. As long as Lorenzo remains silent, Watson will be trapped here forever. And when Lorenzo dies, the last person who remembers her will be The people disappeared, and Watson had no means of survival, so she needed Lorenzo to live, and the two were like a strange symbiotic relationship.
Of course, these are just Lorenzo's inferences. He can only rely on guesswork to judge the nature of this pseudo-Holy Grail.
Watson was born on that devastating Holy Night, and all the participants basically died in that catastrophe. Not to mention the nature of the experiment on the pseudo-Holy Grail, there are only a few people who know her existence... and even say that There was only Lorenzo.
To this day, Lorenzo still thinks that he is one of the only survivors of the Night of Advent, and he is the only one who still remembers the tragedy.
"So you're still watching all this?"
Lorenzo whispered softly, looking around warily.
He thought of his conjecture again. After Lawrence's death, when he returned from the Black Angel, Watson disappeared. This evil devil never responded to any of his calls, as if she was just Lorenzo's crazy imagination. , or maybe she has escaped from Lorenzo's cage.
But Lorenzo's more inclined guess is that Watson is still trapped in his body, but she remains silent. She is observing Lorenzo's confused expression with an evil smile, waiting for his random thoughts and ego. Doubtful, until cracks appeared in her solid faith, breaking her down.
Looking back and forth, Lorenzo believed that Watson was nearby, peeping at him in the darkness that he couldn't detect. However, in this case, there was another doubt in all this, which was the whereabouts of Metanzo.
The ghostly Metanzo exists in Lorenzo's [Gap]. He is one of the shackles guarding the pseudo-Holy Grail, but so far he has not responded, and Lorenzo cannot feel his presence.
The puzzle once again appeared in front of Lorenzo's eyes, as if some danger was slowly approaching. He wanted to take precautions in advance, but he couldn't see the direction in which it was coming.
"Mr. Holmes!" Merlin shouted, pulling Lorenzo back from the whirlpool of thoughts.
The alchemist had obviously planned ahead, and some experimental equipment and medicines were ready. Lorenzo even wondered if he had been tricked.
"Just call me Lorenzo."
Lorenzo said, after hearing too many respectful words, he felt a little strange.
"Okay, then use this first, Lorenzo."
Merlin said as he handed a Florund potion to Lorenzo, "We don't know what will happen to you, but there is nothing wrong with waking yourself up."
Lorenzo took the potion, pressed it on his neck skillfully, and injected it. After a brief pain, there was a biting cold feeling. Everything became clearer before his eyes. It felt great.
"Do you still remember the process of using the Original Sin Armor before?" Merlin asked.
Lorenzo nodded. To be honest, for him, every time he drove the original sin armor, the process was not so good.
"Lorenzo, the last time you piloted the Original Sin Armor, you immediately lost consciousness. But it's funny, you didn't lose control. In the erosion, you seemed to have entered a strange state. Am I right?"
Merlin had indeed planned it in advance. If there was anyone in the purification agency who wanted Lorenzo alive the most, it would be Merlin. Such experimental materials could not often be foreseen.
"Weaponer?"
Lorenzo recalled everything that happened at that time. He entered the original sin armor called the Weapon Master, and then...then he stepped into the [Gap].
Yes, Lorenzo suddenly remembered this. He raised his head and looked at the black angel who seemed to be hanging, and a terrible thought slowly rose in his heart.
That mysterious [gap], every time Lorenzo arrived there, he relied on the call of Medanzo or Watson, but that time was different, the original sin armor seemed to be some kind of connector, which made him reach the [gap] on his own initiative. 】Among them.
"The connected person and the manager..."
Lorenzo still remembers Medanzo's description of all this, "the gap" is like a large spiritual world, when the erosion reaches a certain level, when you are drawn into the deepest part of darkness, you can see it .Lorenzo can only be passively connected, just like the call from the Temple of Stasis at that time.
But it was different with the Original Sin Armor. At that time, he relied on the weapon master to actively connect to that weird spiritual world, and even said that he saw the "gap" representing the Stasis Temple there.
Where does [Gap] come from, and what is the Temple of Stasis... Is it really just a building?
"What's the matter, Lorenzo?"
Merlin looked at Lorenzo who was suddenly silent. Although he lowered his head, Merlin still saw the corners of his mouth that were gradually turning ferocious, as if he was laughing wildly.
"what?"
Lorenzo's thoughts were interrupted, and he hurriedly put away his somewhat crazy smile.
"No, just, just thinking about a lot of things."
Is this a connection to darkness?In an instant, many things that troubled Lorenzo were answered. For Watson and Metanzo, it would be great if he returned to the [Gap] to confirm everything with his own eyes.
"When can we start?"
Contrary to his previous passivity, Lorenzo cooperated very well with his work, which made Merlin a little dazed, but then he said.
"Black Angel still needs to be debugged. Do you have any last words? What if you can't get down?"
Merlin said as he sat next to Lorenzo, looking concerned.
"what are you going to do?"
"It's just a heart-to-heart talk. It can relieve your inner stress and doubts and improve your survival rate in subsequent experiments."
"Wait, what do you mean survival rate?"
"Because of the danger of the black angel, we still can't find the answer to its mystery, and it is also fused with the flesh and blood of the Holy Grail. You also have a certain proportion of this thing in your body. Who can guess what will happen after you enter it? Said Maybe the flesh and blood of the two holy grails will fuse together, and a super monster will appear? That’s not certain, right.”
"Just kidding, just a joke."
Lorenzo looked at the face that looked like all the facial nerves were necrotic. It was as stiff as a brick. The jokes he told with this face had a cold feeling.
"Merlin did anyone say you weren't good at telling jokes?"
"Hmm... probably not, after all, I rarely talk about it."
"Then you know now."
There was something different about the two freaks sitting together. Lorenzo glanced at Merlin from the corner of his eyes from time to time. Sometimes, the alchemist and the demon hunter were somewhat similar, both of which were not seen by ordinary people. Guys who understand, and they appear to be even more withdrawn than witchers.
The awkward calm lasted for a few seconds before Merlin suddenly spoke again.
"Should you consider writing a will?"
"Please stop joking, okay?"
"I'm serious, haven't you thought about this? Lorenzo, I thought that in a high-risk profession like yours, you would always carry a will with you."
Merlin said seriously.
"Think about Lorenzo, human life is so fragile. You may slip and fall, hit your head on a protruding stone, die like this, or be eaten by a monster that suddenly jumps out. I Of course I know that you demon hunters are not so vulnerable, but you are not invincible in every battle, right?"
Lorenzo looked at him with confusion, but Merlin continued.
"Just like you, you get injured every time you kill a demon, and sometimes you even fall into a coma...haven't you ever thought that one day you won't be able to wake up?"
Merlin looked at him, and Lorenzo could not read anything in his empty eyes.
"Not feeling well recently?"
"What do you mean?"
"Feleng Cui, "Apocalypse", etc. Although I am like this, I am very sensitive to changes in people. Lorenzo, you are wary of us... What are you afraid of? Let me guess."
A stiff smile appeared on Merlin's face. This alchemist was also full of weirdness. Lorenzo suspected that in his pursuit of truth, he had transformed himself into an inhuman creature.
"Are you worried that we will become the next Demon Hunting Order?" Merlin asked.
"The Book of Revelation is not something that ordinary people should understand. It will inspire the bad nature of human beings, just like the Demon Hunting Order. They first used it to defend the world, and then tried to use it to conquer the world."
Lorenzo didn't answer directly, but talked about something else.
"Of course I've thought about this, Merlin, but I've been thinking about it for a long time and can't find the answer." He said and looked at Merlin, looking directly into the empty eyes.
"Persuasion? Warning? These are useless. Even in the Evangelical Church, those who know the history of demons will surrender before temptation, let alone you? And what's the use of the persistence of a few people?"
Lorenzo seemed to have understood these things a long time ago, and replied calmly.
"You are an organization, a group. One person's will cannot change the overall idea. And after all, the real decision-maker is Queen Victoria, isn't it? Compared to the interests of the entire Yin Erweg, the demons are nothing. ?”
Merlin asked, "What would you do if something you don't want to see happens?"
"In my way, as before, the demon must be eradicated."
Lorenzo responded briefly.
"Yes, that's what I always thought." Merlin said suddenly.
"What do you think?"
"There is no good or evil in people, they just have different positions. Just like you, Lorenzo Holmes, what you want is the destruction of demons. Everything related to demons should be buried in the sea of ​​fire, but I am different. , our different positions will eventually lead us to the opposite sides, until we draw our swords against each other... But in fact, none of us are wrong, we just have different ideas."
Merlin continued talking, asking Lorenzo questions.
"Do you know the curse of knowledge?"
The alchemist spoke calmly, and before Lorenzo could answer anything, he revealed all his secrets bit by bit.
"Actually, I can only count as cooperation with the Purification Agency, just like your relationship with the Purification Agency. Everyone just has the same position, or a part of the position overlaps, so we can become temporary allies."
"I helped the Purification Agency develop technology to fight against demons. They collected those lost alchemy notes for me. If your pursuit is the eradication of demons, then I am the truth, the unknown truth."
Merlin thought carefully and continued to explain what he wanted to say for Lorenzo.
"So speaking of these, Lorenzo, the Black Angel is very important to me. I think it is a key to open the dusty door."
"I think you are like a magician now." Lorenzo said with some fear. These alchemists are all madmen, but Merlin is the calmer one among them.
"This is the bad nature of human beings. We will never understand each other, and it is this curse that caused knowledge. Do you remember what you said to me [Baptism of Divine Favor]?"
Merlin's expression was full of yearning, and he was happy but also in pain.
"Lorenzo, I am a scholar. Your story did not attract the attention of others, but I was deeply attracted by such a magnificent and beautiful world...
But the more painful point has appeared, Lorenzo, no matter how much I imagine, I can't construct the world I have never seen in my mind, and the same is true for you. No matter how detailed you explain it all to me, Regarding that unknown world, I am still a blind person and can't see anything. "
Merlin looked at the black angel above. Under the light, it had an eerie sense of holiness, as if it were a sacrifice.
"I read a lot of alchemy notes, and I deciphered a lot of the contents. The more I understood the knowledge, the more terrifying I discovered..."
Merlin looked at Lorenzo and expressed his doubts.
"Have you ever thought that demons are the unknown? Our understanding of them is the curse of this knowledge?"
"Poor information."
Lorenzo said slowly, he began to put away his indifferent mood, and gradually became serious as he listened.
"Just like when we developed the steam engine, it actually caused dissatisfaction among many people at the time. They thought it was abnormal because this far superhuman machine broke their 'common sense'. Yes, before the steam engine appeared, everything was It's manpower, and some people even think we're wizards who bind souls into machines to work for us.
This is ignorance, this is backwardness, this is a kind of poor information..."
Merlin leaned close to Lorenzo's ear and whispered softly, as if it was some kind of taboo, some kind of blasphemy.
"Then...is there such a possibility, Lorenzo Holmes?"
There was darkness in those empty eyes, reflecting Lorenzo's appearance.
"Is it possible that demons were originally a normal state, but our understanding of them is gradually lost due to erosion, just like the world you saw in [Baptism of the Gods], no matter what the predecessors said in the alchemy notes I can't even imagine the original appearance of a demon in their eyes."
Merlin stood up slowly. The seeker of truth looked at the hung black angel. Perhaps that would be the key to the door to truth.
"Just like a person a hundred years ago saw today's war airships, he didn't understand it and couldn't describe it. When he told others what he saw, those people just thought he was crazy..."
Merlin suddenly laughed when he said this, talking to himself.
"Yeah...who would believe it? How could steel fly into the sky?
Maybe we're cursed, Lorenzo. "
Silence, after a long silence, a voice sounded.
"You will be burned at the stake for these speeches in Fei Leng Cui."
The speculations revealed in these words were enough to make Lorenzo think too much. He felt that his brain was frozen and he could only respond casually.
But Merlin shook his head, looked at Lorenzo in confusion, and asked again.
"So are the so-called teachings of the church preventing us from understanding the truth? Did those who were burned at the stake really violate the teachings, or did they learn something that they should not have known?"
Lorenzo was startled, and the strong restraint slowly shattered, revealing his free will.
(End of this chapter)