Embers of Embers

Chapter 324 Withering
The direction of the story becomes more and more bizarre and confusing. The heavy and dark curtain imprisons everyone's cognition, blocking it all out.
"Are you crazy?"
047's voice sounded. He seemed to have no specific form, nor did he exist as a ghost.
"On the contrary, I am very rational, and it is because of this reason that I made such a decision."
Watson replied, power beginning to surge.
During the fight to the death between Lorenzo and Lawrence, Lorenzo broke through the critical value at the last moment, and the demon hunter became the source of erosion. Therefore, the closed door opened, allowing Watson to find a way to escape. .
Lorenzo's worries became a reality. Watson and 047 were not the creatures of his imagination, but similarly, these prisoners also escaped from his prison.
But the expected destruction and disaster did not happen. No one knew what Watson wanted to do, nor did they understand what kind of power she had as the pseudo-Holy Grail.
"You...were not this crazy before..."
047's voice was hesitant and sad.
In fact, he knew very well that both he and 016 died, but they came back to life after death. In a weird way, they were no longer themselves.
"I just can understand the world more clearly. This feeling is very interesting... It's like we were all ants once, but one day I broke away from that weak body and weak will.
Don't you think it's ridiculous to think of this as an ant now that we've become more powerful creatures? "
There is no emotion in the words. In fact, Watson doesn't have much emotion at all. This is a change. Just like Lorenzo once described her, she is just a monster with the appearance and memory of 016. That's it, she used to be her, but she is no longer her.
016 is already dead, died in the Night of Holy Advent. From a rational point of view, Watson at this moment is just the pseudo-Holy Grail that has inherited all this.
She usually didn't like to think about this. Tracing her origins like this would sometimes make her unable to tell who she really was, so she had to let the command echo in her mind and devote herself to it.
047 Silence, there is no complete mutual recognition and understanding between people, let alone another higher-level life.
But he could feel that Watson still maintained a little bit of humanity, and those little bits of humanity made her sublimation incomplete. Perhaps it was also for these reasons that she was a pseudo-Holy Grail, not the real [Holy Grail].
It was these retained humanity that made 047, a still-living soul, decide to join hands with him to carry out those plans.
……
It has been a few minutes since the battle started. In fact, this time can be regarded as a short time, but in this short time, the new pope has walked between life and death several times.
He was thinking hard to avoid the leakage of his own information as much as possible while responding to the angel's attack.
This is really a bad day. There are so many guests here. The purpose of these guests is not clear yet. I don't know if they are enemies or allies.
The angel's attack became more and more rapid. Spiral-shaped threaded spikes pierced out of the palm of his hand, and he swung quickly. Each blow carried a huge force, which was the power that could easily split rocks, but as a demon hunter People, the new pope can deal with it calmly, but the nail sword in his hand is somewhat unbearable.
After all, it is just a mortal thing. Under high-intensity fighting, the nail sword has been covered with tiny gaps and shallow cracks, as if it will break completely with one more blow.
"Are you being hunted by them?"
Lawrence, who had been silent for a long time, finally asked. At this moment, the erosion pressure in the stagnant temple was almost as oppressive as the deep sea. Under this power, the mortal body was collapsing.
The new pope was attacked more than once by these angels, so what was the reason for the attack?
Lawrence vaguely sensed the reason, but he was not sure about it. On the other hand, the new pope was also confused by Lawrence's words.
The two were opposed to each other and wary of each other, constantly testing each other, and inferring the current situation from the fragments of each other's words.
"I don't know, but... it probably has something to do with my pursuit of [truth]."
This time the new pope did not hide it and expressed his vague speculations. In fact, he did not know the specific reasons. But judging from the warning of the old pope, the old pope must know something. He warned himself, If you continue to pursue it, you will be doomed. But what the old pope didn't expect is that the new pope has encountered angels more than once.
These holy angels are guarding 【Truth】, killing all those who seek it in vain.
The old pope must have known something, but he kept silent about all this, even in the hell below.
"So, do we now have a glimpse of a part of the [truth]?"
The distorted body made such a question, its voice trembling and confused.
The new pope also hesitated for a moment. Suddenly, the angel changed its attack posture. Fighting with the new pope, it flapped its wings in an instant. Those strong silver-gray iron feathers popped out like flying knives and slid down quickly. It's like a rain of arrows.
The surface shone with gray light, like a silver band of light circulating in the air, but this time the direction of its attack was not the new Pope, but Lawrence.
The violent iron feathers fell in an instant, bombarding the stone pillars and the ground, splashing thick smoke and dust, and each wing was like a long sword, cutting deeply into them.
Lawrence was breathing heavily, half of his body was stained with blood. This body was still too weak, so slow in his eyes.
The iron feather pierced Lawrence's shoulder and cut off one of his arms. The blood gushed out unstoppably. Maybe this body would bleed to death in a short time.
Seeing this, the new pope let out a ferocious laugh. It was obvious that the angel would not let go of anyone related to the "truth". Now Lawrence and the mysterious woman have also become its enemies. Although it is not clear what these evil things are. What's going on inside the thing, but at least the new pope isn't alone now.
The heavy wings flapped, and the angel began to fly at low altitude. It also realized that Lawrence was more fragile than the new pope, and listed him as the first target to kill. As fast as thunder, it arrived in front of Lawrence in an instant.
Lawrence lost his mind for a moment. In fact, from the beginning of all this, his cognition has been constantly destroyed and reorganized.
He worked hard to obtain the sacred coffin, and finally got a glimpse of the mysterious [Holy Grail]. But what he didn't expect was that he saw it here again at this moment. It was not the cold dead body, but a real living thing.
Lawrence, who owned the Book of Revelation, knew more than the new pope and Watson. Countless conjectures were mixed together in his mind, but when he saw the blank gaze of the angel, all the confusion All gone.
That was a scene that the epidemic doctor had also seen. At that time, he tried to touch the dead [Holy Grail], or...angel. He touched the taboo and saw the psychedelic kingdom of heaven.
As their eyes briefly met, Lawrence was captured by the hallucination. The angel's cold and ruthless face gradually softened, and her soft eyes were as clear as pool water. She was like the most perfect woman in the world. She smiled at Lawrence, She reached out and gently touched his face, humming a lullaby softly.
The dagger cut Lawrence's wrist. The severe pain made him break free from the hallucination, but it was too late. The beautiful woman just now was no longer there, only a cold angel like a sculpture. It hugged Lawrence and closed its wings in an instant. Lawrence could not be seen from the outside world. He was completely wrapped up.
A shuddering sound sounded. Thousands of sword blades were intertwined at this moment. The metals collided and split with each other. The flesh and blood were ruthlessly smashed, and the internal organs and bones were torn. Scarlet blood flowed down along the gaps in the wings. In the blink of an eye, a large pool of blood formed at the angel's feet.
It was like a strange meal, but soon the wriggling of the wings stopped, and the sharp dagger stabbed out from the angel's back. The corpse, which had been strangled to death, launched the final attack. The angel might also be a little uncomfortable. Understand why it can break free from illusion and why it can resist this terrible erosion.
Immediately, a burning sting came from the wound. The dagger was also plated with holy silver. At this moment, it also suppressed the angel.
A roaring wind surged up, and something was moving at high speed under the dome. The angel had no time to defend itself. When it killed Lawrence, it also bound itself.
The blazing evil ghost followed him like a shadow, and Seine Lothair fell like thunder with his nailed sword.
All this happened so fast. From the angel killing Lawrence to the new pope chasing after him, it only took a moment. The new pope made the best decision, and the angel had no chance to resist. In the steel wings, the incomplete The corpse burst out with final strength.
It is this miserable body that is weak, not Lawrence's will.
His head was almost crushed by the iron feather, but he still held the dagger tightly and twisted it vigorously. While crushing the angel's body, he was also accelerating the death of his own body.
The blazing white sword light flashed like a falling meteor. The sword slashed along the angel's back. While cutting off the flesh and blood, it also cut off most of its wings. The new pope used too much force. He knew very well the angel's It's terrifying, and I'm trying to kill it completely with this blow.
The force of the sword swing was too great. Halfway through the strike, the nailed sword was overwhelmed and shattered. However, the new pope did not stop. He stepped forward and grabbed the longest broken blade, even if it was cut. He grabbed it with his own palm, and then thrust it further into the angel's body.
Without the support of flesh and blood, most of the wings fell down, revealing the corpse cut into pieces. The flow of blood was distorted, and a blurry shadow stood in front of the angel.
At the last moment, Lawrence abandoned this body, completely forgetting the pain of his split will. At this moment, he only thought about how to defeat the angel in front of him.
Now that he is also the one who has touched the taboo, the angels will be hunting him all the time, and there is no other way but to fight back.
But without his body, Lawrence returned to that nihilistic will, with no carrier for him to intervene in reality.
The new pope is still holding the sharp broken blade. He is behind the angel. Although he is not sure, but in such a long battle, the new pope probably speculates that the angel's structure is modeled on humans, not so much that it It is a human being, or rather a higher-order life existence based on human beings.
Likewise, it is not completely divine, it also has human bad qualities.
The broken blade stirred flesh and blood, shredding the ribs and then continued forward until the new pope tore it apart with force and broke the entire spine with force.
Losing support, the angel's upper body was pulled by the heavy wings and fell to the ground. Lawrence evacuated at this time. He also had to hide in the shadows like Watson, watching how the new pope killed the angel.
Wait...where's Watson?
Lawrence was shocked to realize at this moment that he had lost the trace of the woman, the ghostly guy who was hiding in the dark and watching all this. It was also at this moment that a cold and rotten malice erupted, as if some devil had escaped from the prison.
I saw it, everyone saw it, a distorted path appeared in the air, it seemed that someone walked by there, the residual influence was causing a whirlwind that pulled the space, and there was a faint black arc in it.
Lawrence couldn't see the woman, but he could really recognize her presence, she was running fast, she was attacking...
For a moment, Lawrence was stunned. He suddenly knew what this woman was going to do next. He couldn't help but feel terrible and crazy, but there seemed to be a strange temptation in it, tempting Lawrence to do the same thing as the woman.
She invaded the angels in [Gap], and she actually tried to invade that terrifying and evil existence!
But after the madness, Lawrence calmed down. Yes, the will controls the body, so what is hidden under that abominable body?
The new pope's fatal blow completely suppressed the angel, but the angel's counterattack continued. This strange existence could not be treated with common sense. Countless red lines of love stretched out from the flesh and blood, pulling at the angel. The broken body reassembled, and the new pope tried to move away, but he was also entangled in the red thread and could not escape.
The wrist twisted strangely and stabbed down the spiral spike. Just when it was about to hit the new pope, the angel suddenly stopped moving, and then for the first time there was a wave of emotion on the cold and ruthless face.
It suddenly looked into the void, and then the woman's appearance became clearer in its eyes. She stretched out her hand as if to touch its cheek.
"I reject."
The new pope's face turned pale. He could not have heard wrongly. The angel spoke. This was the first time an angel communicated with humans. Then countless inscriptions lit up on the jade-like skin, which burned and glowed under the flesh. , built together as if they were some alchemical matrix.
It was a familiar pattern, and the new pope felt a sense of familiarity as he looked at the lit matrix, as if he had seen it somewhere before...
Well of sublimation.
Those are the inscriptions engraved inside the Well of Sublimation, and they rest here as one body.
The new pope didn't know what the function of those things was. For a while, he even thought that it was just a pattern used to decorate carvings, but what happened now warned him that it was not that simple.
Watson stretched out her hand with all her strength, trying to touch the angel's body. As long as she could "erode" and interfere with the angel, she could attack the will under the body and try to impact its [gap].
But it was only a short distance away, so close but out of reach, as the burning bright matrix began to operate, Watson felt a huge repulsion, the angel was repelling itself, and it was able to resist the [gap] invasion.
The empty gaze seemed to have become conscious for a moment. An unknown entity observed Watson with this body. Suddenly, there was a faint smile on the stiff and cold face. Such an abnormality made Watson feel it. There was a chill, and then the angel disintegrated.
Flesh and blood is disintegrating, just as it appeared out of thin air at that time. The "exchange" in alchemy is proceeding at this moment. The composition of flesh and blood is reversed, and the edges of the body begin to turn into ashes and scatter into dust.
It's not clear if it didn't want to be invaded by Watson, or if it gave up this pursuit, the angel's body dried up and dissipated, returning to dust.
The new pope had a serious look on his face. He was not surprised by this ending. Every time after he defeated the angel, the angel would scatter into dust, as if he was unwilling to be captured by the fading body.
His expression was a bit complicated. Looking at the empty ghost, the scattered ashes were distorted by her presence, outlining the shape of a woman. The new pope felt that the figure was familiar. He seemed to have seen it somewhere, but he couldn't remember who it was. .
He had seen the angel's performance before, and he did not have the slightest fear in this strange situation. Instead, he was ecstatic. The new pope understood that he was closer to what he was looking for.
"How is this going?"
The new pope asked the ghosts, but he didn't know whether these ghosts would answer for him.
There was no answer, and the priest was cut into pieces of flesh. On the putrid flesh and blood, Lawrence's figure had long disappeared. It was unknown when he left.
Watson paused for a long time before looking at the new pope.
"I seem to know you."
Watson said.
Before she became like this, she was number 016, a demon hunter of the Raphael faction.
But before the new pope could say anything, Watson let out a burst of laughter, and his existence was stripped away until it disappeared. In the blink of an eye, only the new pope was left in the stasis temple, as well as those howls coming from the corner.
He can survive the erosion of angels, but others cannot. Those priests working in the Temple of Stasis have been transformed into demons, walking through the sacred palace, but the new pope is not in a hurry to deal with them now.
Picking up the broken nail sword, the blood on it also dried up as the angel withered. He walked forward until he stopped by the dark well. He looked at the deep darkness without saying a word.
(End of this chapter)