Embers of Embers

Chapter 471 The Shepherd
An invisible storm rolled up in this sealed workshop, and countless ghosts accompanied by wailing sounds created this windless, crazy tornado. The mind and body, the metal baffles and the armor of the armors were violently shaken. Trembling.
"Geiger...the index continues to rise!"
Percival's voice rang in the channel. Due to the influence of erosion, it was intermittent and soon completely disappeared from the channel. Only the harsh sound of electric current echoed in it. The sound of electric current continued to surge up like a roaring wind. sound.
"Stay vigilant!"
The sound rang again, but this time it didn't come from the channel. When the channel was interfered with, Percival turned on the Original Sin Armor's loudspeaker, letting his voice echo in the workshop.
Based on previous experience in fighting monsters, in order to maintain communication, the purification agency used a simple and crude tool like a loudspeaker.
As she said this, it felt as if the air in her lungs had been drained. Percival felt extremely depressed. Under the influence of erosion, she began to have difficulty breathing, followed by a surge of emotions, countless Mixed emotions stirred inside her.
The darkness spreads in my heart little by little, until invisible hands stretch out from the deep quagmire. They are like strong seaweed, scratching everything within reach.
Suddenly Percival had a strange feeling, and she realized that the Original Sin Armor she was currently controlling was actually a cage, closing little by little, trying to swallow herself into darkness...
The harmonious emerald green on the indicator light turned into blood-like red, and the alarm sounded inside the armor. Then emergency measures were triggered, and Florund's medicine was injected into Percival's body according to the pre-buried infusion tube. She was in a daze for a while, and finally the indicator light turned back to harmonious green.
She almost lost control at that moment, and Percival knew why. In that seemingly endless storm, she was the same as now, falling into the ferocious armor, looking at the steel that penetrated her body, and... There was a constant gush of blood.
"Percival are you okay?"
Shrike asked as a voice came from the other side and the Sword Dancer approached the Lancer.
"I'm fine, pay attention below, Lorenzo is starting to eat away at William."
Percival said briefly, and at the same time, the huge lance she was riding also finished loading, tightened the trigger, and was ready to fire at any time.
The erosion stirred up a storm, and Lorenzo was the core, the eye of the storm.
In the critical breakthrough state, his erosion will break away from the shackles of the body and expand outward. Similarly, once entering this state, Lorenzo will tend to become demonized.
Under the black coat, you can see slight bulges wriggling. Lorenzo's exposed skin becomes tough, strong muscles continue to grow, filling his body, and the fireworks in his eyes become extremely fierce. In the end, it turned into pure white that could not be seen directly.
Lorenzo could smell everyone's emotions in the air, fear, anxiety, sadness, guilt, low self-esteem...and some urine smells.
Something... isn't quite right.
Lorenzo lowered his head and saw William clinging to the back of the chair. He was shaking constantly, his heart was beating violently, his face was red, and there was light yellow liquid dripping under his legs.He was incontinent.
Ah this...
"It's quite frustrating."
Lorenzo muttered to himself, and the next moment he directly stretched out his fingers and pressed lightly on William's forehead, causing erosion to erupt at close range, pushing the pollution in his brain to re-conquer this cursed place after many years. Everything is pushed forward again.
William's expression froze, as if he had been injected with a sedative. He no longer trembled or struggled. His eyes moved over with difficulty and looked at Lorenzo, even though the white fireworks were so bright. , he did not move his eyes away, letting tears fill his eyes.
"Welcome back, William."
Lorenzo withdrew his hand and said softly.
……
"The awakening is successful. William has woken up, but judging from the intensity of Lorenzo's erosion, we don't have much time!"
Merlin saw this from a distance. Lorenzo raised the sign to indicate that the awakening was successful. Under Merlin's order, the medical staff injected Florund's medicine and rushed towards William in the center.
"Here... where is it?"
William's voice was shaky. After he went crazy, he regarded himself as an alchemist, and his way of alchemy was to chew on all kinds of strange things, so he hurt his throat several times while chewing.
"The core experimental area and workshop of the Everlasting Pump."
Lorenzo replied that he was trying hard to calm down the secret blood. William had already woken up. He needed to reduce the intensity of the erosion, prolong his awake time as much as possible, and allow others to come closer.
Corrosion does not distinguish between friend and foe, and while William is enduring this, other people in the workshop are also bearing this horrific erosion.
"Eternally Moving Pump... Workshop..."
William slowly raised his head and looked at this magnificent steel temple. He remembered this, but it was very different from everything in his memory. At that time, the dome was still a few pitiful large searchlights, and the surrounding iron walls were far less than they are now. So sophisticated, not to mention those large lifts.
"I...I remember that I was doing an experiment, and then an accident happened...I was locked in a cage, a dark, twisted cage. It was just like the place where I did the experiment, but it was There seems to be no end, no matter which door I push open, there is just another repetitive laboratory...
I've been lost for too long. "
William looked like a frightened child, but his face was so old and weathered.
"That should be your [gap]. It seems like that experiment was really important to you, so much so that it became a situation in your [gap]."
Lorenzo said that the most important scenery for everyone will become what is seen in the [Gap], and after the erosion of madness, the poor will is sealed in the [Gap], carrying out endless processes. Reincarnation.
"[Gap]? What is that?"
This was a new word for William, and although his head still hurt and his mind was still shaking under the influence of erosion, he still became interested in it.
William is a scholar. In order to know the secrets he wants, he even dares to disobey the queen's orders and start experiments privately.
"I also want to talk to you about this...but this is not what we should talk about today. Your time is limited."
Lorenzo shook his head. As the secret blood subsided, the changes in his body were gradually restored. William saw all this, and his eyes were filled with a little fear.
"Let me talk to him, Lorenzo."
Rapid footsteps sounded, and Merlin led the medical staff as they strode forward.
"Examine William, inject him with Florund's medicine, and prolong his awake time as much as possible. You are responsible for recording, and every sentence must be recorded in detail."
Merlin directed others. In order to prevent the information from being destroyed due to "accidents", this time he summoned several people to take charge of recording, and he and Lorenzo themselves were among the recorders.
"Hello, William, I think you have no impression of me, but it doesn't matter."
Merlin said and stretched out his hand, but then he realized that William was tied up and he couldn't reach out at all. Merlin had no intention of untying him. After an awkward pause, he retracted his hand and said to him.
"I am the current technical director of Everlasting Pump, Merlin."
"Chief Technology Officer? I am...the current..."
William paused as he spoke. He looked at Merlin blankly, and then asked.
"what happened?"
"There was an accident in your experiment, which triggered a high-intensity erosion pollution in the Perpetual Motion Pump. Many people turned into monsters, and all relevant information was destroyed. However, you became a monster due to the influence of erosion. madman."
There wasn't much time left for Merlin to investigate the truth. He didn't take care of William's emotions at all, and there was no need for him to do so.
"It is now the year 932 of the Invergian calendar."
Merlin added.
William was stunned. He couldn't believe the information he heard. He looked at Merlin and then at Lorenzo. His eyes swept back and forth, observing the surroundings. Everything was so familiar, but yet It's so strange.
The medical staff noticed William's reaction. They had prepared the Florund potion and a series of emergency measures. They had considered these before the experiment started. Under the influence of erosion, William knew that he had been crazy for so many years. Will it lead to a mental breakdown?
William did not speak. He finally lowered his head. No one could see his expression clearly. He remained silent.
"Your experimental accident is what we call the 'Red News Incident'. Today, so many years later, we have found a way to save people from the effects of erosion, so you are awake now, and we need your experiment Report, what exactly happened in that experiment?”
Merlin continued, time was urgent.
"Rescuing crazy people from the influence of erosion? This is really a good initiative... You said that my time is running out, so is this sobriety only temporary?"
William was talking to Lorenzo, but he didn't wait for his reply, but talked to himself.
"Ah... It's been 932 years in the Yin Erwei calendar. It's actually been so long."
"His mental state doesn't look very good. We're going to inject him with Florund's medicine."
Merlin said expressionlessly.
The medical staff was about to step forward, but at this moment William suddenly raised his head, his face filled with tears and sadness.
In fact, death is not terrible. What is terrible for William is the awakening after death. His life has been stolen by fate for countless years, and he has missed too many things.
"No need, I just need to adjust my mentality. After all, this kind of thing is really confusing."
William's voice also became calmer, and his face became expressionless, although it was covered with tears and looked embarrassed.
"I am William, the technical chief of the Everlasting Pump. At that time, I was conducting research on demon erosion. It can be said that we have never faced a real 'demon' so far. What we have faced is one after another being eroded. Human beings who have become demons, that is to say, the long history of human beings' struggle against demons is actually just a civil war among us humans."
William repeated his inner thoughts. He was a member of the purification agency and held the position of chief technical officer. He knew exactly what he was doing for. After a brief period of pain, he returned to his former appearance, a Scholar, a transmitter of knowledge.
No more words were needed, William knew very well that his sobriety was an extremely precious opportunity, and he wanted to pass on the knowledge that he had devoted everything to pursue.
"I suddenly realized that maybe...the demon is not a demon. The real demon is 'erosion'. The power of this pollution, the so-called demon is just the carrier of pollution. Even the so-called demon is just the process of erosion." The by-products are the same.
This is like a disease, all it needs is to spread continuously, and death is just a by-product of its spread. This is the real 'demon', our real enemy. "
"What kind of research did you do?"
Merlin asked next. Both he and Lorenzo frowned. This was a novel angle and a terrifying guess.
"Before I tell you about my research, I need to tell you some prerequisite information that triggered my experiment."
William took a deep breath. The erosion was still affecting his brain. The knowledge he had memorized was shattered under this influence, which also caused his words to be illogical.
The medical staff injected him with a Florund potion, which made William feel much better. He sat upright with unspeakable dignity and stubbornness.
"You mean that based on the demon's ability to spread, humans are simply unable to resist, right? But we still exist in this world and can fight against it. So in order to correct these, there must be some abnormal inhibitory force that controls the spread of demons. ?”
Merlin continued.
"I have read your research and some of the surviving diaries, and your ideas coincide with those of a cardinal of the Evangelical Church."
William froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously.
"That's right, it's true. At the end of the road, we will all be walking on the same road."
"My research was to track down this mysterious power. If we could control it, we might be able to completely eradicate the demon. But I was still too naive at the time. I never thought about why that inhibitory force did this. .”
William said feeling painful again.
"Why do this?"
"Yes, it has the ability to control demons and correct the world, so why not completely eradicate demons? Or is it unable to kill all demons? All it can do is control and maintain the fragile balance between humans and demons. "
William's speaking speed increased.
"I realized it. At the end of the experiment, I realized that we are like a group of lambs enclosed by a fence, and that inhibitory force is the shepherd. They protect us from the dangers outside the fence, but there are still Part of the weirdness flowed in through the cracks in the fence...
That is the devil. "
The words seemed to have magic, and everyone felt it. As William told it, the bone-chilling cold spread to everyone's body bit by bit, but everyone knew very well that this was underground, and the entire facility of the Perpetual Pump was Attached to the main branch of the Pillar of the Furnace, it has always been hot here, and there has never been a so-called cold at all.
"We are a group of restless lambs. We are trying to find out the truth, but this will inevitably lead to crossing the fence. We may die outside the fence, but it is more likely to bring in hungry wolves from outside and kill other peaceful people. Lamb, what would you do if you were the shepherd?”
William looked at Merlin, staring intently into those blank eyes.
"Kill the hungry wolves that sneak in...and the restless lambs."
William smiled, and he shook his head helplessly.
"This is my experiment...the truth about the Red News Incident."
The heart-stopping power surged again, startling everyone. They turned around and saw that Lorenzo was fully armed, with dense iron armor covering the vital parts of his body. He pulled out his nail sword and Winches. Special, eyes like torches, vigilant around.
Lorenzo felt it, and as William, the restless lamb, recounted the cursed knowledge that should not exist, he clearly felt the surge of power.
"Merlin, you better speed up."
Lorenzo looked around uneasily, holding his weapon.
"The shepherds are coming."
(End of this chapter)