Embers of Embers

Chapter 336 Beheading
"Don't worry, although the formation looks a bit scary, it's actually just that the machine is too big."
Abigail stood in front of Lorenzo and fastened the various mechanisms on the chair.
She was right. This machine was too big. The cables and steel were like the roots of trees, spreading along the chair at Lorenzo's feet. As Lorenzo sat on the chair, he could clearly feel it. The metal trembled slightly, as if there were some monsters moving beneath the ground, but in fact it was steam rushing through the pipes.
As an important scientific research institution of the purification agency, the scientific research area of ​​Black Mountain Hospital is the same as the perpetual pump underground of the Mechanical Institute. It is directly powered by the furnace pillar. Huge energy travels between the machines. With the development of lacquer antimony, This force is getting stronger.
Lorenzo raised his head and looked around. There were dazzling lights above his head, making it difficult for Lorenzo to look straight. The surroundings were a cage-like structure, and Lorenzo was in the center of the cage.
On the way here, Arthur gave him a general explanation of this place. They called it a birdcage. When Lorenzo first came in, he didn't realize the meaning of this word, but now it seems that he somewhat understands it.
He was like a delicate bird, imprisoned in this metal cage. Due to the dazzling light above his head, Lorenzo could not see clearly the people outside the cage, but he clearly felt that there were countless His eyes were staring at him.
"What is this machine for?" Lorenzo asked.
"Analyzing the brain...it's actually quite complicated and contradictory, but I still have some time to explain it to you now."
As Abigail spoke, there was a crashing sound. The medical staff pushed the trolley to the foot of the steps, then took out some medicine bags and syringes, and hung them skillfully on the iron rack beside Lorenzo. The needle was then inserted into Lorenzo's arm.
"This is an emergency measure. After all, this technology is not yet mature at the moment. Some accidents may occur during this period, and you are a demon hunter, so you are different from normal people... So if something happens, these medicines will be injected into you urgently. In your body, I don’t know what extent your secret blood can achieve, but at least having this thing can be regarded as a guarantee.”
With a few crisp sounds, Lorenzo was completely restrained on the chair, and the steel almost completely enveloped him. It was like a throne, but also like a cage.
"It feels like an electric chair to me."
"Absolutely. The biggest difference is that the output power of the electrocution chair will kill you...probably, but this one won't. At most, you will feel pain and some hallucinations."
Abigail waved her hand and motioned for the men to connect the disconnected cables.
"This thing is difficult to explain. The purification agency has always looked at the world from a rational perspective, and my scientific research institution is even more so. However, because of rationality, Merlin and I have had some differences in recent years."
Abigail suddenly reached out and put her hand on Lorenzo's head. Because he was restrained, Lorenzo could not resist.
"Just like the human brain, from a rational point of view, humans have no will and soul. All our actions are just directed by the pile of sticky rotten meat under the skull, and the erosion of demons can also be understood as... Some kind of radiation? Or something else, anyway, this thing is still unknown to us, so call it whatever you want.
After being eroded, the human brain will first begin to become 'disease', transforming into a demon, and passing on this erosion, which is like some kind of... [epidemic]. "
Lorenzo frowned slightly. In Shermans's notes, the old man had similar views, but no one knew the truth behind the fog.
"Merlin is an alchemist after all. Although he also advocates rationality, this past identity will always constrain him. He feels that people...may have souls, and erosion is a kind of attack on our souls. corrupt.
But you should know some of these theories. In fact, they are just useless nonsense, but this does involve the machine itself. "
Abigail grew serious.
"We are exploring the unknown in an uncontrollable way, and what we get is often unknown that exceeds our current knowledge."
Gently stroking the steel surface, it was once covered with blood. Some of the people sitting on the chair were deformed into monsters, while others successfully received power and became rangers.
This can't help but remind Abigail of those alchemy rituals. The ritual shrouded in mystery is so similar to the experiment at this moment. The birdcage is the altar of this ritual, and Lorenzo is the sacrifice that will be consecrated .
"This machine is our most accurate detection machine for corrosion at present. Whether the so-called pseudo-Holy Grail is a strange [disease] or, as Merlin speculated, it is some kind of mysterious spirit body, whether it is based on No matter what form it exists, as long as it exists, it will definitely have a certain impact on your brain."
"Like the wind, we can't see it, but we can hear it, feel it..." Lorenzo said.
"Absolutely, so the first step of the experiment is to detect whether there is any obvious abnormality in your brain. If so, whether that abnormality is the pseudo-Holy Grail."
After making all preparations, Abigail walked off the stage. After she left the venue, Merlin's voice came from the radio.
"How do you feel now, Lorenzo?"
"It's okay."
"That's good. We don't know what will happen next. After all, this thing has not been used for a long time." Merlin said.
"So...this might hurt a little."
Merlin said as he pulled the lever. Without any warning, a huge electric current flowed through the entire birdcage in an instant. Gorgeous sparks splashed on the steel structure. Lorenzo only felt a slight numbness, but then there was something heavy. The fist hit his head, as if there was an invisible executioner torturing him, trying to pry open his skull to see what was hidden under the rotten flesh.
The momentary pain made Lorenzo a little distracted. The lights above his head flickered on and off, and the colorful world began to lose color in the flickering. In the end, only gray black and white remained in Lorenzo's eyes, but this black and white also kept passing away. It was as if darkness was gradually swallowing him up.
"Lorenzo, there's a little button on the side of your left armrest that I need you to press every five seconds to prove to me that you're awake."
In a daze, Merlin's voice sounded again. After enduring the severe pain, Lorenzo quickly found the button. He wanted to curse, but at this moment, the severe torture had taken over all his will, and he had no strength to scream loudly. Lorenzo Renzo could only lower his head, count the seconds silently, and press the button while staying awake.
Above the chair, a ridiculous indicator light turned on and off as Lorenzo pressed it.
The high-frequency noise reverberated between the birdcages, and the steel plate began to slip, revealing the roaring differential engine behind it. The gears meshed with each other to drive the machinery. The fan rumbled, draining the hot air, and the electric current was flowing during the period. Travel through, and finally convert the complex signals from Lorenzo into a diagram and spit it out from the printer.
Under the limitation of technology, all this seems so absurd, a ridiculously bloated machine, but full of the terrible will of human beings.
Go ahead, go ahead by any means.
The paper is spit out from the machine, and the ink on it still has a warm touch. Due to current technical limitations, humans cannot display the data in real time, so the data is printed every five seconds. The data on the paper changes rapidly, and the data on the paper changes rapidly. Then they were collected together by blue emeralds.
Everyone was busy. Perhaps because it had not been used for too long, there was a fire in the corner of the birdcage.
Everything was going well until the Geiger counter in the birdcage turned red, followed by a sharp whine, its sound disturbing the peace, and then more Geiger counters turned red and let out a whimpering howl. .
"Is it Lorenzo?"
Arthur asked hurriedly, while Merlin frowned in confusion.
"No...Lorenzo is still conscious."
The ridiculous lights were still flashing, and Lorenzo remained awake, restraining his bloodthirsty nature.
"Then what's going on?" Abigail asked, "Where does the erosion come from?"
She was answered with a heavy roar, and then the entire birdcage shook violently, the emergency lighting came on, and Gawain's voice sounded from the radio in the chaos.
"This is Knight Commander Gawain. We are stationed outside the critical area. Currently, we have detected that a large number of demons are approaching here from the mild area..."
His words were covered by violent gunshots, endless torrential rain fell on the surface, and the increasingly dense dark clouds blocked all light. The wailing sounds of the demons overlapped with the howling wind, and lights kept lighting up in the darkness. The gunfire illuminated the ferocious armor one after another.
"The outer defenses of Black Mountain Hospital are normal, and the enemy seems to have appeared from inside Black Mountain Hospital!"
Percival's voice sounded, and the original sin armors were moving towards the area where the battle broke out. She, who had been laughing and joking, became rarely serious this time, looking through the gap in the visor to look at the gunfire under the iron curtain.
Countless demons came from behind the rain curtain. They bared their teeth and claws to add blood to the cold rain curtain. The dull thunder rolled behind the dark clouds, and the pale light penetrated and wreaked havoc, like a group of out-of-control beasts.
"A new order?"
Abigail asked Arthur. The purification agency had been wary of potential attacks by the new cult, but they did not expect that the scale of the attack would be so large.
Arthur said slowly with a gloomy face.
"That's not right. The new cult does not have the ability to control demons... No... Lawrence."
He grabbed the communicator and asked anxiously.
"Gawain examines the corpses of the demons and reports all the characteristics."
It was no longer clear whether it was the sound of electricity or the sound of wind. Gawain gritted his teeth and moved forward. The bad weather greatly affected the vision of the Original Sin Armor, and the soldiers on the ground, wearing heavy equipment, armed the building into fortress.
The soldiers could not come out to assist Gawain. Under the protection of his armor, he could withstand the suffocating rainstorm, but the soldiers could not. Fighting the demon in this environment would mean death.
Swinging the heavy sword blade, he pierced a monster that jumped out from behind the vapor, and Gawain dragged the struggling half of the monster backwards.
Modern firepower formed a firepower network at this moment, sealing off this area, and Percival from the periphery was also coming to eliminate these monsters.
"Characteristics...wait, the demon is wearing a hospital gown from Black Mountain Hospital?"
Gawain lifted the struggling demon up, and with the light of thunder, he could clearly see the tattered hospital clothes on the demon's body.
"Is that true..."
Arthur slowly put down the communicator. Currently, the only people who can create artificial monsters are those who have the "Revelation". In addition to the previous incident of Lorenzo chasing inferior secret blood, Arthur only felt that he was already prepared. Dark clouds are coming.
Merlin heard that too, he asked.
"Lawrence's remnants?"
"Yes, but how does he know what is happening now, or...we have their people inside?"
Arthur looked at Merlin, his calm tone revealing murderous intent.
All this seems too weird. If this was done by the New Order, Arthur would not be surprised. But at this moment, it seems that the remnants of Lawrence are causing all this. Arthur thought that after Lawrence died, he was responsible for him. It was a heavy blow, but now it seems that there is much more behind Lawrence.
But there was no time to deal with that right now, so Arthur gave the order.
"Gawain, hold the line of defense and kill all the demons. Percival, lead the team directly to the top of the scientific research area to protect this place."
"But the demon..."
"This is an order. Leave the demons to Gawain, and you will protect the scientific research area!" Arthur shouted.
"Arthur, Percival is behind the demon tide. She and Gawain can directly destroy the demons through a flanking attack." Abigail didn't understand Arthur's instructions.
"Then who will fight against the witcher?" Arthur asked with red eyes.
"What... a witcher?"
"The New Order."
Arthur picked up the loaded firearm from under his clothes with a stern look.
"The New Order will not give up Lorenzo easily. After losing the Book of Revelation, they must not give up the False Holy Grail again, but this is the old Dunling. They cannot confront us head-on, but it is different now.
This is a conspiracy and a cooperation. Although it is unclear for what purpose Lawrence's remnants attacked, under this situation, do you think the New Order will let this opportunity pass? "
Abigail froze. As a scholar, she knew little about these machinations.
"The New Order has been hesitating, but now the opportunity has come. Not only can he regain the False Holy Grail, he can even say..."
Arthur also realized the terrible fact when he said this. His eyes moved from Abigail to Merlin beside him, and his words were trembling.
"They even said that all the elite members of the purification agency would be beheaded here."
……
All the long-prepared foreshadowing completely broke out here due to various coincidences.
Anthony raised his head and looked at the roaring and rolling clouds, and slowly let go of his hand, letting the letter written with secret blood fly away in the wind until it was completely torn apart by the violent rain and wind.
"So who actually sent this letter?"
Samuel tightened his raincoat and shouted loudly to Anthony.
"I don't know, but what is certain is...he didn't lie."
Fireworks lit up at the end of the rain curtain, and the roar of demons turned into a violent storm, just like a doomsday scene.
"Are we preparing to attack? This is a suicide action. Even if Arthur and others are successfully killed, it will cause a war between the Evangelical Church and Yin Erweg." Samuel said.
"I know, so we just need to wait and see, and leave the rest to Moriarty." Anthony said expressionlessly.
"What if he fails?"
"What does failure have to do with us?" Anthony asked, repeating what he said to Arthur and Lorenzo at that time.
"The New Order has no witcher named James Moriarty, then and now."
Samuel suddenly felt a chill. Looking at Anthony beside him, he suddenly felt that he was so strange, and he felt as if he finally knew him officially.
(End of this chapter)