Embers of Embers

Chapter 427 The King of Kings
In the splendid church, among the flickering candlelight, two figures faced each other, like wild beasts meeting on a narrow road, neither one wanted to retreat.
Watson had thought about everything she might encounter here, but it was obvious that the existing changes had completely broken her train of thought.
The new pope stood in front of him defenselessly, his head slightly stretched out, his voice filled with provocation.
"Who are you?"
Watson asked, one of the many mysteries about the man before him.
No one thought that this sacred crown would fall into the hands of such a mysterious person. All the information about the new pope was zero, and it was impossible to trace his past. He just appeared out of thin air in the history of the Evangelical Church. among.
"Me? Seny Lothair, the new pope of the Evangelical Church, and you?"
When the new pope saw that Watson had no intention of fighting, he straightened up and picked up the fallen nail sword.
"I mean under your mask, who is under this iron face?"
Watson asked in a deep voice.
The distance between the two was very short. Watson could have tried [Gap] to invade the New Pope, but she was a little hesitant. She did not dare to do so. Previous intelligence showed that the New Pope had fought against the Silent One more than once, and every time. He survived every time.
Maybe... maybe this is a guy scarier than Lawrence. Watson doesn't know how much he knows about Power Gabriel. She needs to be more vigilant, at least not to attack rashly now.
"Under the mask?"
The new pope touched the cold mask, followed by laughter.
"That's a question for another time, guest."
He swung his nailed sword, danced out a few beautiful sword flowers, and then got out of the way. The dark door to heaven was already open, just like a wild beast with its fangs open, waiting for people to step in.
"But before I answer this question, let me go and talk somewhere else first. After all, this place is so sacred. It is somewhat disrespectful to talk about those sinful things here."
The new pope said, making a "please" gesture.
Watson didn't hesitate too much. She made all the preparations when she arrived here. Too many people have made sacrifices for that lofty ideal.
She stepped into the darkness, the new pope following close behind.
There was a slight friction sound in the darkness, and the stale air was mixed with dust. Watson could feel that he was being swallowed by the darkness little by little, falling into the endless abyss.
She and the new pope each occupied a corner, and Watson's voice sounded in the silence, and she asked again.
"Who are you behind the mask?"
"Hold on……"
The voice of the new pope came from the other end of the darkness. He actually took off his mask and took out a cigarette. A faint light came on in the darkness.
This is a very strange feeling, as if the new pope did not regard Watson as an enemy from the beginning, or he did not think that Watson would attack him.
In this way, he smoked a cigarette leisurely. The narrow space was filled with the smell of smoke, and Watson smelled something different.
"Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with this cigarette, it just has some... numbing effect. I usually use this thing to relieve pain, but the effect will fade if I smoke it too much, so I will light one only at this time."
The new pope said slowly. His habit reminded Watson of Lorenzo. That guy liked to do all kinds of things in tobacco.
"Ah...don't you think this is great? Falling from heaven to hell, here is the 'fall' embodied, just like a ritual."
His hoarse laughter sounded in the darkness.
Watson did not speak. What she occupied was Anthony's body, and secret blood was flowing in this body. She also enjoyed the power of this body.
She tried to use her witcher's vision to see through the darkness, but no matter how Watson stared at the dim light of the tobacco, she could not see the Pope's face. It seemed as if there was an invisible dark, sticky and bloated mass attached to it. .
"It's so comfortable..."
The new pope seldom talks so much. In everyone's opinion, he is a silent tyrant. He prefers to express his thoughts through actions rather than words.
"This nerve-numbing feeling can briefly wake me up from the sea of ​​pain, but unfortunately, sooner or later I will become resistant to it, and the things in this world that can relieve my pain will only become more and more few."
The new pope did not put on the steel mask, but put it aside. In the darkness, Watson felt the new pope's gaze.
"I'll answer your questions, and you'll answer mine, okay?"
"Ah."
Watson thought for a moment and replied in a low voice.
"Is Lorenzo Medici dead?"
asked the new pope.
The darkness was silent for a while, and Watson decided to tell this answer and put an end to this long death.
"he died."
"Wow, I thought he was alive, he's so scary after all."
The new pope was very surprised by this answer. In fact, in his guess, he felt that the strange ghost controlling Anthony in front of him was Lorenzo Medici, but he never expected that the old man who had always been wary of him would actually die. .
"How did he die? When?"
"Killed by the Silent One, many years ago, on the night of Holy Advent." Watson answered.
"Is that so?"
In the darkness, the new pope lit another cigarette. For some reason, the sinking was so long, as if he couldn't reach the bottom.
"Lorenzo Medici, I thought he would get the power named Gabriel, so it seems that he failed?"
The new pope analyzed the information. He did not make any cover-up and told it directly in front of Watson.
"Your reaction was lukewarm...so he still succeeded?"
His eyes fell on Watson again, and she was accurately captured in the darkness.
"Successor? I didn't expect that a guy like that would choose to give up in the end. No, this is in line with Lorenzo Medici's style. To achieve his goal, he will do whatever it takes, even if it means sacrificing himself."
Watson seemed to be transparent in front of the new pope. He could easily find what he wanted from the fragmented words. After integrating the existing information, a brand new story appeared in front of him.
"You know Lorenzo Medici and your death, so you are also his faction, right? You are his crystallization and control this inhuman power...You are his successor?" "
The new pope continued to ask.
Watson shook her head. She could have not answered the new pope's question, but she still said it, with a somewhat lonely and expectant mood in her voice.
"I'm not the successor."
"So what about the successor? I think in this situation, the successor should come to me, not you." The new pope said.
"It's not necessary. Anyone can do this."
As he spoke, the face of 042 once appeared in front of Watson's eyes. Whether it was him, himself, or 047, everyone had become unrecognizable under the changes of time.
"He is a poor guy, doomed to the road of destruction," Watson's voice hesitated, "He is an evil ghost, an evil ghost who has not been defeated by the malice of the world. I just hope that he can be more mature before he completely loses his mind. Feel the beauty of the world in more places.”
"So you are taking this responsibility for him? How interesting..."
The new pope analyzed Watson's psychology. It was clear that the enemy in front of him was so strange, but he seemed to be in control of the overall situation and was very casual.
"It seems like I don't have to explain anything else. You've already guessed everything."
Watson looked to the other side of the darkness. The new Pope was far more treacherous than she imagined.
"Absolutely. I have been preparing for it for too long. In order to know the [truth], I have almost read through the history books of the church. Even so, I still cannot know the whole story... I think you are the same."
"So you're not afraid of me?" Watson asked.
"Of course, I knew exactly what you wanted the moment you appeared in front of me."
The new pope smoked his cigarette vigorously, and the faint firelight in the darkness briefly brightened.
He is a demon hunter named "Raphael", who is in charge of the power of chaos and psychedelics. The new pope is very aware of the filth of the human heart and how to use it.
"If you are not the Silent One, then you are its enemy. No one wants to let that kind of ghost go. And since you found me, I think you only have two purposes left."
He held out two fingers in the darkness.
"Find me a cooperation, fight against the silent ones together, and find [the truth]."
"What about the other one?"
Laughter arose, the new pope said.
"The other one? To kill me for some purpose I don't know yet, but I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid of anyone, so I don't care what your thoughts are."
"Is this what is called 'strong'?" Watson said.
"probably."
Before he finished speaking, violent erosion erupted in this small space, and at the same time, the nailed sword also burst out with a sharp sword light.
The two of them never let down their guard from the beginning, and the seemingly calm conversation before was just to elicit more information.
Watson was the first to launch this attack. The mottled blade and the [Gap] invasion were launched at the same time. In Watson's opinion, this was the most deadly surprise attack she could achieve so far.
Attack both mentally and physically at the same time.
Only the harsh sound of swords was heard, the metal intertwined together was deafening, and with the roar of the explosion, the burning figure directly knocked open the elevator, broke through the closed passage, and fell from the top of the Stasis Temple.
During the rapid descent, the smoke and dust were swept away, revealing the figure below, which was Watson.
She fell from mid-air, and then landed firmly on the ground. The hand holding the sword was shaking slightly. The blow just now was so heavy that she could hardly feel the existence of her arm.
Looking up, on the towering wall, there was a blurry figure standing in the crack created by the blow. He calmly jumped down and landed in front of Watson.
There was a roaring sound, and it was the elevator that fell together. In the brief encounter just now, it was cut and destroyed, and crashed directly into the shaft, with dust overflowing.
"You are very strong..."
Watson gasped and whispered.
She tried [Gap] invasion, but this time Watson failed to successfully invade the new Pope's will, as if something was blocking her, like a city wall.
His own sword strikes were also resisted and counterattacked. It seemed that the new pope was still worried about Anthony's health, so he did not fight back with all his strength.
"It's just that I know Power Gabriel very well. Once you understand this kind of thing, you can fight against it."
Behind the smoke came the sound of the new pope's footsteps.
"So does this prove my strength?"
"Who are you!"
Watson stood up abruptly. She tried to do something, but her movements stopped instantly. She stared blankly ahead. After the smoke cleared, the face of the new pope was revealed.
The steel mask was buried in the shaft together with the elevator, and his appearance was completely exposed.
It was a somewhat handsome face, but this was not what shocked Watson. What shocked her was that she never imagined that the person behind the mask would be him. The so-called new pope, Seine Lothair, was actually him.
"Raphael..."
Watson whispered his name.
"You know me and this face?"
Raphael's reaction was even more interesting than Watson's, his smile followed by ecstasy.
"I have been training my power, and I will exert this power on everyone who looks directly into my eyes, so I am a different face in everyone's eyes...but this face is my true appearance, Only those people have seen and known what I look like.”
Raphael looked at the confused Watson, all of this was his plan, and he had already guessed Watson's identity under this series of designs.
“Only my comrades who are fellow demon hunters like Raphael have seen me like this.
So is it you? "
Everything in the memory was pieced together. If anyone could survive that desperate night and master such terrifying power, then there was only one answer left.
"I'm so happy, 016, I didn't expect to see you alive again."
Extreme coldness hit Watson's nerves, and she almost forgot to breathe for a moment.
"No, it's impossible, how could it be you under the mask..."
"Yes, it is indeed not this face under the mask."
Raphael continued after Watson's words, his expression was a little lonely, and then the fireworks lit up washed his cheeks.
The handsome appearance was broken, like the devil's veil was lifted, and beneath it was a formidable face, like a burning tree. The entire face had completely withered and shrunk, the gums were exposed, and the cheeks were gone. Covered, twisted scarlet flesh rolled beneath it.
The most frightening thing was the pair of eyes. The eyelids were so shriveled that the eyeballs were so directly exposed that Raphael could never close his eyes again.
Is it a hallucination?
Watson asked herself this, and then she realized that the handsome face just now was an illusion, and this was Raphael's current face.
Such a hideous and abominable appearance.
"No...no one can survive the horrific erosion..."
Watson still couldn't believe it. During that night, everyone turned into a monster, yearning for blood and killing.
"Yes, no one can survive, but I am different. I am strong. I am stronger than everyone."
Raphael's voice was calm, but in Watson's ears it was like the roar of a monster. She looked at the eyes that were bloodshot because she couldn't rest, and she suddenly recalled the teachings she received from Raphael a long time ago.
The man in front of me once said that Power Raphael is a very terrifying power. It can control illusions at will and make people addicted to it. But it can also make the demon hunter addicted to it, so he wants to control this power. This power requires an extremely strong and firm will, a mind that can recall one's own name no matter what kind of hallucinations it faces.
"I should have died. The erosion has taken effect on my body, and I am turning into that abominable monster little by little... But we all know that in the final analysis, erosion is a consideration of our will. If we sink into it, we will be destroyed. Transformed into that terrifying monster."
Raphael held the nail sword, with a ferocious smile on his withered face.
This was not an injury but an erosion. His body was alienating, and Raphael was turning into a demon little by little. But this alienation process lasted for a long time, and it was so long that even today, after so many years, it still failed to defeat Raphael.
"I am strong and indestructible. Even in the face of the [Holy Grail]'s erosion, it cannot shake my will."
A brilliant glimmer of light rose from Raphael's head, which was a crown of thorns woven from holy silver. The sharp corners penetrated deeply into the scalp, leaving streaks that had long been healed and torn. cracked scar.
He was holding a nailed sword, like a dead man returning from that distant hell.
"016, Raphael is dead, and what you see now is the new pope, the new pope who is called Seny Lothair."
"The King of Kings!"
Seney Lothair said, stretching out his hand with a disturbing smile on his terrifying face.
"Would you like to call me Your Majesty?"
(End of this chapter)