Embers of Embers

Chapter 29
"The demon... Although we have been fighting for endless time, we still don't know what it is, where it comes from, what it is, and what it is for...
Maybe there are people who know this, but also die with secrets into the grave. These are all I can know, but everything should have its own name, even the filthy monster, so those saints Name it after the mythical creature that is hostile to God. "
Lorenzo whispered the ancient secret, and just telling the story made the girl feel inexplicable pressure.
The girl breathed hard and remained silent. She listened to Lorenzo's words, but didn't want to say anything more.
As Lorenzo said, that is taboo knowledge, and in Eve's current state it is best not to have too much exposure to it.
"Is that... the exit?"
At this desperate moment, the light ahead became brighter and brighter, and Eve was in a trance, walking tiredly.
As if she had grasped some hope, she regained some strength and ran over desperately. She could feel that that was the exit. As long as she left here, she could say goodbye to these weird things, and this damn nightmare would end. But when Eve was only a few steps away from the light, Lorenzo pushed her down. What the girl wanted to say was blocked by him.
"Shut up, it's not right."
Lorenzo's voice was very soft, and the calmness in his pupils still dominated this excited body.
Eve didn't put up much resistance. Under Lorenzo's restraint, she only heard Lorenzo's cold voice.
"The only thing you can do in the face of madness is to stay sane, absolutely sane, do you understand?"
Sternly admonishing, Lorenzo has experienced this situation many times. After enduring great pressure in the darkness, everyone will lose their mind when they see the light, just like people who have lived underground for a long time and warmly embrace the sunshine when they step onto the surface. look like.
But that ending will not be happy. The blazing sunshine will instantly burn the eyes that have adapted to the darkness. In the light after leaving the darkness, perhaps what is waiting for Eve is an even more terrifying monster.
Under Lorenzo's control, the two moved forward slowly, and finally she moved her gaze to the front, behind the light.
There was nothing that Lorenzo was wary of, it was just a deep pit. The passage where Eve and Lorenzo were at the moment was above the huge pit, connected by a staircase rising along the wall of the pit.
Eve thought that the banquet hall was the largest underground space in the underground palace, but obviously this was the largest.
Endless light sprinkled down from above, which seemed to be some kind of high-intensity electric lamp. The two people who were brightly lit just moved their eyes upward to find it dazzling and unable to observe at all.
The entire deep pit was at least tens of meters deep and was illuminated extremely brightly. There were also meaningless torches lit around the pit walls. Looking down, the bottom of the pit was covered by blood-red mist, and only a blurry cloud could be seen. red.
"I guess this is a place of worship."
Lorenzo looked at the bottom of the pit. Although it was covered by fog, his past experience made him wary.
"So your previous job at Feilengcui was to... fight against this kind of thing?"
Eve said slowly, but when it comes to monsters, she instinctively avoids them. She has only seen one side of them, but the impact of monsters on her has been extremely profound.
"Yes, but it's not comprehensive. Generally, we have a mature hunting system. We will hunt people before they are completely transformed into monsters, instead of waiting for them to completely turn into monsters."
Just like Wall, as long as a person has not completely mutated into a monster, it is still essentially a human and can be easily killed with swords and guns. But after the mutation is completed, it will become an inhuman existence and require inhumanity. s method.
"Is this why you, a priest, know how to use a sword?"
Eve suddenly felt that Lorenzo's life experience was a bit legendary.
"Bologna Swordsmanship is a compulsory course for every Templar Knight, and becoming a priest is a prerequisite for becoming a Templar Knight."
The voice was very calm, but the short sentences all showed Lorenzo's former identity. Eve was a little confused. She remembered everyone's descriptions of the Templars. They were knights favored by God, and they were noble under their white armor. Personality, holding a sword ignited with holy flames to maintain order and peace.
Although it is very unclear how this person with a bad personality got the word noble, Eve is still very curious.
"That should be a very noble status, but why do you want to come to Yin Erweg to be a detective?"
Even if the influence of the Evangelical Church is not as strong as before, the status of Templar Knights in the Holy Evangelical Pope is still extremely noble. In the eyes of believers, these knights guarding the Seven Hills are simply angels who have descended into the world.
"It's very simple, I have no meaning of existence anymore, or...I am unemployed."
Lorenzo didn't really want to mention the past, but he still told Eve when asked.
"The demons were wiped out a long time ago, there is no need for me to stay there... You may not believe it, but I, Lorenzo Holmes, have a dream."
He actually laughed as he said that.
"Be a detective?"
What a hell of an inspirational story. He nodded vigorously when faced with Eve's question.
"To be honest, Feilengcui is a place where no one lives. It is different from the progress and openness of old Dunling. It is like a dying saint, with rules and beliefs everywhere."
Maybe it was recalled, even though Lorenzo hated them, he still rambled on at this moment.
"The Seven Hills, the capital of the Holy Evangelical Papal State, is even more prosperous. Only the most devout believers are allowed to go there. They say it is the most sacred place in the world. Demons cannot enter even half of it. The actual situation is that the church is stationed there. Crusaders, even Yin Erweg’s attack will take several days.”
A strong fishy smell came from below, and something fell from above during the conversation.
It was a black shadow that descended quickly and hit the stairs in front of the exit. It was a corpse. With the violent impact, the entire corpse was shattered by the impact, and dark red blood slowly flowed from it.
"Of course, if I have the chance to go back, my biggest wish is to fill the streets with cow dung on the streets of the Seven Hills... Do you know, those believers are proud to die in the Seven Hills, so you can just sprinkle a bucket Water, there may be several cardinals buried under that ground.”
Lorenzo said as he strode out.
"Of course, these are all things for later. What I have to do now is to find out why the extinct monsters are still alive?"
At the end of the words, he was like a lion's low roar, kicking the corpse down the pit. That kick was full of emotions. It seemed that this guy was really unhappy.
The corpse slipped and then fell on the surface of the pit. With the violent impact, the thick red mist was blown away a little, and the frightening ghostly face was unveiled.
"It's a sacrifice...someone is raising these things."
Lorenzo's voice was colder than ever before, and it is now certain that everything that happened tonight was not a coincidence, it was a long-planned plan in the dark, and all of this was related to the mysterious item called the Holy Coffin, And that mysterious item is related to demons.
This is just the tip of the glacier that emerges from the sea. The deeper, colder and darker parts are still unknown.
Eve looked under the deep pit, and it seemed that something had crawled out of her stomach. She couldn't hold back for a moment, lying on the edge and retching.
It was a ground covered with bones and flesh. Just like the red tide that hunted the two of them in the end, the smelly flesh and blood was covered with tiny hairs.
After the corpse fell, the flesh and blood seemed to come alive. The red fluff was wrapped around the corpse like silk. Along with the faint sound of gnawing, the position of the corpse was just a few breaths away. Only the numerous bones were left.
"It's the Stomachweed, a plant-like demon with little mobility, but the danger lies in its hunting nature. Once captured by its fluffy tentacles, it will penetrate your skin and eat your body."
Lorenzo stood at the edge of the stairs, feeling really bad about returning to his old ways.
"Be careful. This kind of thing cannot move. In order to prey, just like biological evolution, they will have companions to cooperate with them, such as another group of mobile monsters. They are responsible for preying, and the deadly characteristics of the stomach grass are It will provide them with shelter.”
Eve tried hard to muster the courage. Although she was scared, as Lorenzo said, if she didn't want to die, she had to force herself to be strong.
"What should I do?"
It looked like there was no way for the two of them to go down. There was no other way but to go back the way they came.
Lorenzo didn't answer, but just looked down at the terrain. Eve suddenly felt something bad, so she asked tentatively.
"Are you going to kill it?"
Eve said in fear.That thing called a monster, Eve was terrified by the so-called mental oppression just by seeing that thing, let alone swinging a sword at it, and even if he had the courage to swing a sword, so what?Can that weird and twisted thing really be killed with a sword and a gun?
Such a large piece of blood-red demon grass.
"Do you know? Most demons have one thing in common: they hate light and are afraid of fire and silver."
This is the knowledge accumulated by the Evangelical Church for thousands of years, and it all exists in Lorenzo's mind at this moment, but so what if he knows it, let alone the silverware, even the flames here are only those few illuminated torches.
"Eve, this is something that has been kept in captivity. Look around the bottom of the pit. It is rolling and boiling, but it has never overflowed. You must know that although it cannot move, it expands extremely quickly. It is recorded in the church book that it is just a The stomach grass swallowed up the entire town, and in order to control it, the church burned the entire town to the ground."
"You mean there's something restricting its movement?"
Eve seemed to understand what Lorenzo meant. The detective's observation skills were really sharp. If she were to think of any counterattack, she would only think about escaping.
"Yeah, I think I know exactly what's going to happen tonight."
Everything that was fragmented was pieced together in Lorenzo's mind, and the details of tonight were picked up one by one by the detective. He finally figured out what Sabo was going to do.
"Saab is preparing to launch a premeditated attack tonight, targeting the entire Old Dunling."
The detective's face became extremely ugly. How many people were there in Old Dunling? 100 million or 200 million, as long as there is enough flesh and blood, it is only a matter of time before the stomach grass grows full of old Dun Ling.
"That's why he said there will be no survivors tonight. Let alone the underground palace. Once these things leave, the entire Lower City will fall tonight."
Sabo's words echoed in his mind. He did everything he did now according to that mysterious mentor. Whether it was the death of those people or the lack of survivors tonight, it was all related to the mysterious Coffin of the Holy God, because those Dead people have been in contact with it.
Lorenzo seemed to have grasped some key point, he thought, that is to say, the sacred coffin had stayed here.
Sabo destroyed the people related to him, and now he wants to destroy this place together, just because it is related to the Holy Coffin.
"Shrike...what the hell did you transport?"
Lorenzo whispered, if he could leave alive tonight, maybe he would really have a serious talk with Shrike.
There seemed to be other sounds in this strange silence. It was the gears dragging the iron locks, which seemed to be rusted due to moisture. The sound was extremely sharp.
Eve raised her head, the voice came from above, the high-intensity light when she first entered here has weakened, so that Eve can observe.
I saw that the top of the deep pit was a funnel-shaped iron net, and above it were densely arranged fluorescent lamps. Although the light had faded, but against the light, one could only see a twisted black shadow at the edge of the shadow. Countless hands stretched out, as if it were darkness composed of hundreds of people.
Suddenly, water droplets fell from the black shadow and landed on Eve's face. The liquid was warm, and the girl wiped it lightly with her hand, only to find that her palm had been stained red.
"I think I know what that is." Lorenzo said suddenly at the side.
"Those are the shackles that restrain this monster."
The dense array of fluorescent lamps constitutes this high-intensity sunlight illumination, which limits the activity of the Stomach Grass to a certain extent. Now that the lights are extinguished and the iron mesh falls off, the items wrapped in it are also clear. Countless corpses.
The one who accidentally fell before fell from it, but now they all fell into the bottom of the pit.
The next second the light completely dissipated, just like when he met the demon in the hall, darkness swallowed up everything around him.
Both of them could not help but breathe heavily, and then countless gnawing sounds came from the darkness. It was the demon eating. This was an extremely rich meal for it.
"What's going on here."
The girl didn't get an answer, Lorenzo was silent and just pulled her towards the corridor behind him. In fact, he knew exactly what was going on, this was a feeding, and it would definitely expand after being fed with the characteristics of stomach grass , and now the high-intensity fluorescent lights that limited it have gone out.
As Szabo puts it, the real "No Survival" is about to begin.
(End of this chapter)