Embers of Embers

Chapter 320 Free Will
The armor-covered iron snake lay across the middle of the road, with it as the dividing line. On one side were the demon hunters holding nail swords, and on the other side were the original sin armors hidden under the rain curtain.
Lorenzo stood between the two, his eyes swept back and forth, and finally fell on Arthur.
"The queen's order?"
Lorenzo had expected it, but he didn't expect that everything would happen so quickly, and that the queen's order would be issued at this time.
"You have reached an agreement with the New Religion? Are you here to divide my interests?"
Lorenzo said in a calm tone, but everyone could hear the rage hidden in his voice, and the hand holding the folding knife turned white with force.
"So I hope to have a good talk with you. After all, our previous cooperation was very pleasant, wasn't it?" Arthur said, "The purification agency has not abandoned you, it's just..."
"Is it just an order from a superior that makes it difficult for you?"
"Yes, after all, our purification agency is actually controlled by Queen Victoria, but she did not interfere with our actions for a long time."
Arthur's meaning is very simple. Now that the mysterious Queen Victoria has taken back her power, she wants to decide these matters herself. Lorenzo doesn't know what kind of benefits the new order has used to impress her, so that the noble existence can Issue instructions.
Take a deep breath and let the cold air flow into your lungs to cool down your burning body.
"What if I refuse? Will you kill me?"
"No, I just want to control you. If I can, I don't want to see that ending...Although you have done many evil things, at least...at least you have a hint of a good person, Lorenzo, you still have the spirit of a human being. Heart, rather than a pure monster, so this is why I chose to talk to you instead of capturing you directly."
Although he hates this detective, he has to say that after getting along with him for so long, Arthur feels that Lorenzo is not bad. He thinks he is a monster, but he has a human heart. For some strange reasons, he and The hateful monsters were fighting.
Lorenzo lowered his voice. He and Arthur were the only ones nearby. Anthony and the demon hunter might be afraid of the original sin armors behind the rain curtain, so they just stood there quietly, waiting for the result to appear.
"The New Order and others..."
Lorenzo was about to tell all about the new order, but suddenly he was speechless. He looked at Arthur and understood everything.
"So what they just did was with your acquiescence? If they could subdue me, you wouldn't show up, and if they failed, you would adjust from it."
This is the old Dunling, the home of the Purification Agency. Every move of the new religious group cannot be hidden from the sight of the Purification Agency, let alone the direct use of secret blood on the streets.
"You don't trust me anymore, do you? Arthur."
"I still believe in you, Lorenzo, but now I am not representing an individual, but the entire purification agency."
Arthur said slowly.
"The New Order has received reliable information. Based on the remaining information, they have deduced the general nature of the false Holy Grail. You have been corrupted and are extremely dangerous. Even if they are not involved, I hope to have a good talk with you. About how to contain the false Holy Grail in you."
"They can't be trusted."
After coming into contact with Shermans' notes, Lorenzo was conditioned to believe that the Evangelical Church was still hiding some secret, and that secret was related to the truth of the world. Lorenzo wanted to take out Shermans' notes. Show it to Arthur, he believes that the weird knowledge in it can prove all this to Arthur.
But Lorenzo couldn't do it.
Lorenzo could feel that if he told those secrets, something bad would happen... Those ghosts were still peeping at him, and they had never given up on hunting him, the person who had violated the taboo. , the peace now is just a short rest.
"So are you trustworthy? Lorenzo, should I call you 047?"
Arthur's face was expressionless, without any personal emotion. At this moment, he was just a cold machine, executing orders so that this huge organization could run without any errors.
"You have never revealed your true identity, nor have you ever spoken about the existence of the false Holy Grail... According to the New Order, it was developed by the War Sect on the basis of the [Holy Grail] during the Night of Holy Advent. You should know what the [Holy Grail] is, right?"
Arthur also wanted to trust Lorenzo, but he couldn't do it. Even after all he had experienced, Lorenzo was still a stranger after all. No one could guarantee that he could see through another person's mind. The same was true for Arthur. He can't completely believe Lorenzo, just like he doesn't know whether Lorenzo is good or evil.
No one can guarantee all this. No one can be sure whether Lorenzo really retains his sanity, or whether everything he has done before is just an act to gain the trust of the purification agency, and his true intentions are buried deep in the Deep in the consciousness, until the time is right, it completely explodes.
The two looked at each other. Arthur knew what Lorenzo was thinking, and Lorenzo also understood what Arthur meant. The sad thing is that they both understood it, but they couldn't really believe that the other party had no reservations. They could only In this way, we are wary of each other.
"You just killed people, Lorenzo, a lot of people."
After a long silence, Arthur said again, and sure enough, it was Moriarty's trap, and the purpose was just for what happened next.
"Do you think I would be the one to do this?" Lorenzo said. "It was Moriarty, a demon hunter from the New Order, whose power was Raphael, who misled me. .”
"As the Duke of Phoenix, I am willing to believe you. You will not kill innocent people easily." Arthur said, "But my current identity is Arthur..."
Arthur's tone is still emotionless, but his eyes are slightly moved. The situation is very bad now. Everyone has clenched their swords. The demon hunters and the original sin armors are all here for Lorenzo. Once there is any mistake in decision-making, the worst ending will come.
The only one who can stop all this seems to be Arthur. He knows very well what kind of guy Lorenzo is. He can only try to persuade him as much as possible, although he also feels that there is little hope.
The rain continued to fall, washing the city of steel. After an unknown amount of time, Lorenzo slowly put away the nail sword in his hand, peeling off the iron armor on his body one by one, and finally the burning fireworks went out.
If there is a complete confrontation with the purification agency here, Lorenzo has no hope of escaping. Not only the original sin armors, but also the demon hunters will join the hunt without hesitation. In fact, when Arthur appears, Lorenzo had no hope of escape.
He could also pull out a knife and hold Arthur hostage, but based on Lorenzo's understanding of him, Arthur wouldn't care at all.
"Then let's have a nice chat."
……
The Iron Snake was moving rapidly through the silent streets. As if to show sincerity, Anthony dismissed the witchers. Only he and Lorenzo boarded the Iron Snake, and this time the destination was unknown.
There were some huge creatures following the Iron Snake in the heavy rain. The Original Sin Armor was speeding under the rain curtain. Its appearance was obscured by the white water vapor and could not be seen clearly, but Lorenzo could feel it, from the weak erosion. In terms of strength, they are all third-generation armor.
Maybe this is the power of industrialization. I just blew up a test machine not long ago, but now the Perpetual Pump has been able to mass-produce it on a small scale, but it is also possible that the production has been completed long ago, and it was in the workshop at that time. Nemelin's words were deceiving and paralyzing himself, making him mistakenly believe that the Purification Agency had very few original sin armors.
But these are not important anymore. Lorenzo sat on the seat and looked at the two people who were also sitting opposite. At this moment, the three people were very similar, with expressionless faces, like dead people, and the atmosphere was chilling.
"Lorenzo Holmes... I remember they said you liked to be called by that name."
Anthony was the first to break the calm. He didn't carry any weapons and faced Lorenzo alone.
"Do you know what the false Holy Grail is?"
Lorenzo remained silent, with a cold face, like a life made of steel. Although he gave up resistance temporarily, he did not disarm himself. The folding knife was at his waist, and there was paint in his pocket that could detonate everything. Antimony throwing knife.
If Lorenzo wanted to, he could kill the leaders of the New Order and the Purification Agency here in a completely crushing beheading operation, but he also knew that this would be in vain.
They are also the same puppets, controlled by higher-level beings, and those people have different names, the new Pope, Queen Victoria, or, in other words, gods in faith.
Killing them changes nothing.
"After inspection by the Evangelical Church, we have roughly deduced the specific nature of the pseudo-Holy Grail, which is of course the reason why our attitude suddenly became tougher."
Anthony continued.
"The Pseudo-Holy Grail is an unknown thing developed based on the [Holy Grail]. The data on its specific form has been destroyed and we don't know yet. But from what we know now, the Pseudo-Holy Grail has similar properties to the [Holy Grail]. The demon's 'Concept', this kind of thing should be difficult for everyone to understand, so let me use another word to describe it."
"erosion."
Lorenzo remained silent, now was not the time for him to fight back, and no matter what Anthony said was true or false, Lorenzo was also a little curious about what the so-called false Holy Grail was.
"Erosion is a phenomenon, an influence originating from demons. In this way, the [Holy Grail] is no different from ordinary demons, but in fact, it is a kind of 'erosion' that is beyond our current knowledge. The 'erosion' that cannot be felt.
One of the reasons why we can fight against demons is that human consciousness can feel the erosion of uneasiness, but the [Holy Grail] is different, its erosion is silent, and its influence does exist, distorting this little by little. The world has alienated humans into monsters that they hate equally.
We analyzed that it was precisely because of this imperceptible reason that the demons could not be eradicated even after so many years of fighting...until we captured the [Holy Grail]. "
Anthony did not continue. The Night of Advent caused a huge epoch in the history of the Evangelical Church, and a lot of knowledge was lost, including naturally the part about capturing the [Holy Grail].
"Well, the above is just speculation. The [Holy Grail] has been lost, and the false Holy Grail is being carried on you. All our intelligence can only be inferred through these clues."
Anthony said frankly that in the history of fighting against demons, knowledge is the most precious thing, but it is also difficult to be passed down.
"so what?"
Lorenzo asked, curious as to what reason had convinced everyone of the new order.
"So we are qualified to suspect that the pseudo-Holy Grail has similar properties to the [Holy Grail], that kind of silent erosion. Because of this power, even if you were... once a Metazord, you would not be able to sense it. The reason is weird.
It has been silently influencing you for so many years, Lorenzo, until the arrival of the new Order made the False Holy Grail feel threatened and wanted to get rid of us, thus prompting you to do what you did. "
Anthony said seriously.
"Lorenzo, you are controlled by a demon. The invisible erosion has been affecting you and even caused confusion in your memory."
"Isn't this the desire of your new cult? You need to recover this power so that you, who have lost the Book of Revelation, can continue to maintain your status in the world."
Lorenzo couldn't help but retorted.
"What about your previous atrocities? You killed innocent people." Anthony asked.
"Moriarty, the demon hunter of your new order, he used his power to mislead me!"
Lorenzo said, but facing Lorenzo's words, Anthony showed a strange expression, that kind of blank and ignorant expression.
An icy chill spread from his heart, and Lorenzo felt something familiar. Then he remembered that this was just like the performance he had seen before at the Royal Academy of Art. The prologue began, and the actors followed the script. The show started.
"Moriarty? There is no such demon hunter in the new order."
Anthony's words confirmed Lorenzo's conjecture. He suppressed his inner thoughts. This was Moriarty's game. Without a clear understanding of the situation, Lorenzo's rash attack would only turn into the stalemate just now.
Arthur understood Lorenzo's suspicion, and he also said at this time.
"This person is not on the witcher's list."
"He sneaked in secretly..."
Lorenzo stopped mid-sentence, knowing that his words were meaningless because there was no evidence to back them up.
After a brief silence, Lorenzo reorganized his thoughts. For a long time, he hated this kind of strategic confrontation. It made him extremely troublesome, so the great detective always carried a shotgun with him. , so as to break all the conspiracies.
But the current situation cannot be broken by a shotgun, and the shotgun named Winchester is no longer there.
"Lorenzo."
Suddenly Arthur shouted. He had been silent and looked at himself with complicated eyes. After hesitating for a long time, Arthur asked a question that was obviously irrelevant to the conversation.
"Do you think humans really have free will?"
(End of this chapter)