Embers of Embers

Chapter 566 Requiem
【gap】.
The spiritual world of life, the abode of the soul, the unsolved form of existence.
Lorenzo stepped into the crack. The interior was narrow and crowded. Except for the road under his feet, he could not see anything else. There was only pure darkness, and his consciousness was also hindered. He could not move freely at all.
This black wall is not only a barrier against invasion, but also a cage for imprisoning monsters. Movements are constantly blocked, and it seems that Lorenzo, the intruder, will be imprisoned together with him.
The journey was so long. Lorenzo kept moving forward in the narrow darkness. There was nothing but monotonous darkness. In the silence, Lorenzo's perception of time was slowly blurring.
He didn't know how long he had been walking. He could only repeat the steps and continue to move forward. His cognition collapsed little by little, and Lorenzo almost forgot his original purpose.
There was a sound of shattering all around, and the walls on both sides began to get closer. The cracks became more and more crowded, and they seemed to be merging. This was the first time the outside world gave Lorenzo feedback during the long journey, and his absent-minded eyes appeared. Some shine.
The long silence was maddening, and this sudden change made Lorenzo ecstatic that his journey was not in vain.
Speeding up his pace, Lorenzo ran quickly. As he went deeper, the darkness was gradually shattering, and he could see more details. It was also at this time that complex wailing sounds sounded, as if thousands of people were crying in pain.
The eternal silence was broken, and the roaring sound was enough to destroy people's minds in an instant. The sounds of crying, wailing, lamentation, and even the cry of a baby were stretched thin and sharp, and overlapped together in Lorenzo's ears. Explosive roar.
Also playing was the dance of death. The rising fireworks surged from the walls that were closing on both sides. In the white dots, Lorenzo could see the crawling on the surface of the wall, and he could also hear the crazy screams. The sound of collapsing gravel could be heard.
In an instant, countless arms pierced out from the walls on both sides. The dry and rotten arms stretched out and swayed like lush seaweed. The sharp nails tried to scratch Lorenzo, tearing the flesh and blood, and blood gushed out.
This is a spiritual world, but the pain is so real, as if Lorenzo is in another reality.
They tried to drag Lorenzo, pull him into the wall, and merge with these strange abominations. One after another ferocious heads could be seen at the base of their arms. They opened their mouths greedily, and their eyes rose. There was a raging fire.
Vague murmurs sounded from their mouths, as if they were calling some unspeakable name.
The noisy roars and murmurs intertwined together, like a prelude to the end of the world.
Lorenzo continued to move forward. He could see a little light emerging from the end of the crack. He finally saw the end, and the walls on both sides were closing more quickly. Behind Lorenzo, the arms were tight to each other. They held each other and blocked the way back, forcing Lorenzo to escape.
Taking a deep breath, he tensed up. An arm grabbed Lorenzo, but could not keep him. The sharp nails tore off large pieces of flesh and blood from his body. While feeling pain, Lorenzo felt that his memory A corner was missing, and his consciousness was torn apart.
More arms grabbed him, coming from all directions, grabbing Lorenzo's body one after another, wrapping his limbs tightly, and the ferocious head whispered crazily in Lorenzo's ears.
Lorenzo tried to reach out and touch the light at the end of the road, but more arms stretched out, and they were intertwined, covering up all the light.
Everything fell silent again.
In the gray world, reliefs of angels and demons were carved on the stone walls. The collapsed cracks separated them, but as they closed, the broken pictures were spliced ​​together again. The ghosts and gods waved their weapons and poured out the flames of war. Between heaven and hell.
Time froze at this moment, freezing this picture in this moment forever.
It was like this thousands of years ago, and it will still be like this for thousands of years to come.
But nothing is eternal. Even in the deep cold and dead silence, there will be a faint flicker of fire.
A slight heartbeat sounded in the silence, and then the heartbeat became more and more intense, sounding like a dense drumbeat, disturbing the deathly silence.
The ghosts and gods on the relief had ferocious faces, as if they were alive, trembling continuously until a small crack appeared on it.
The cracks began to collapse and spread, and in a blink of an eye they turned into huge cracks. Beast-like gasping sounds could be heard from inside, until a blood-stained arm punched through the obstruction.
Both hands grabbed the edge of the crack and stretched it open until the bloody self was completely out of it.
Lorenzo walked out of the chasm covered in blood and crossed the many obstacles.
In the darkness of the crack behind him, those wailing sounds ended with Lorenzo's breakthrough. The sounds stopped together, and the waving arms froze stiffly in the air. Finally, a helpless sigh sounded in the deep darkness.
The cracks closed and the broken pictures were put back together. Lorenzo looked at the relief on it. It was so familiar that he never imagined that Lorenzo would see it here.
"The Gate of Heaven."
Lorenzo looked at the almost endless stone wall. He had seen the reliefs on it.
This is the gate to heaven that separates the Cathedral of Saint-Naro from the Temple of Stasis.
He finally walked out of the darkness, and his hazy consciousness gradually became clearer. At this time, looking back at everything he had experienced in the rift, Lorenzo had a strange idea. If he failed to get out of the rift, maybe Lorenzo himself would too. To be one of those guys, imprisoned within the stone walls forever.
"Watcher, Secret Blood, End of Ascension, [Gap]..."
Lorenzo muttered, combined with the information he had obtained before, he turned around slowly, with his back to the gate of heaven.
The possessors of Power Gabriel will all embark on the road of sublimation, and based on the existing information, these sublimators are very similar to the mysterious Watchers. Lorenzo suspects that the Watchers are actually a group of possessors. Established by the people of Might Gabriel.
They have an almost eternal life, and beyond the knowledge of mortals, they watch the world and attack and kill those who dare to cross the border.
“So, what will their [gaps] look like?”
Lorenzo asked curiously.
Everyone's [Gap] is different, and it is composed of the most important scenes in their memory, which is also mixed with their essence and past.
Even if Lorenzo couldn't kill this abominable sea serpent... to be precise, it was him, then Lorenzo would still have a chance to find the secret of the past in his [gap].
Thinking this, Lorenzo looked at the world behind him.
His pupils narrowed to a point, and his breathing stopped for a moment, as if an invisible hand was holding his throat, suffocating him to death.
"That's right... behind the gate of the kingdom of heaven, this is exactly here..."
Lorenzo murmured in a low voice, staring straight at His [gap].
It was a bit surprising, but after thinking about it carefully, Lorenzo felt that it was all natural.
All the weirdness and secrets have the same origin, and this is His [gap].
"The Temple of Stasis..."
Lorenzo looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar palace, at a loss.
Solemn statues stood all around, and one huge stone pillar after another supported the dome. Lorenzo could hear the prayers coming from the distance. The melted wax oil filled the steps, and the candlelight on them followed. It swayed with Lorenzo's arrival like the waves of the sea.
This place is even more prosperous than the Temple of Stasis before the Holy Night in Lorenzo's memory.
"This is your memory, the temple of stasis in your memory."
Lorenzo said to himself.
Sure enough, his guess was correct. He was also a member of the Watchers, and all Watchers originated from the Demon Hunting Order. They were all immortals with the power of Gabriel.
This is an army hiding in the shadow of history.
Then this should be the Temple of Stasis that existed at that time when these watchers were active hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
This feeling is quite strange. Lorenzo never imagined that he would cross a long period of time in this way and see the former stasis temple again.
"So where are you?"
Lorenzo asked into the void, this is His [gap], so where is He?
Continuing forward, strolling in this ancient stasis temple, Lorenzo could see the weapon racks lined up in the corners, filled with sharp nailed swords, robes and armor, and ancient books. They piled up and filled the walls.
Sculptures that can be called works of art are built climbing the towering walls, forming a picture of ghosts and gods fighting together. When the dim light falls, their faces are colored with blood.
Gradually, a melodious hymn began to sound. The melody was so familiar that Lorenzo couldn't concentrate on listening to it.
He had heard such a melody from the mouths of many people, including Lorenzo Medici, Sherman Borgia, Lawrence...
This is an unrecorded melody, passed down only by memory. Lorenzo has never heard its entirety, but now it is clearly engraved in his mind.
The prosperity of the Temple of Stasis far exceeds Lorenzo's imagination. Perhaps before the Holy Night, it also experienced some other hardships that made it fall into decline. However, these things were not recorded in the book, but Forgotten along with history.
Immediately afterwards, Lorenzo saw the first corpse.
It was a corpse lying in the shadow. The falling light could not reach it. Lorenzo walked over and saw more similar corpses in the shadow.
They piled up into mountains and filled the shadows. They seemed to have been dead for a long time, and their bodies were completely shrunken and entangled together, like dead trees.
Lorenzo looked at the other shadows, his steps became hurried, and finally he ran wildly. He suddenly discovered that these shadows were filled with corpses, and some of the corpses were still wearing robes.
He couldn't figure out what was going on, so he could only stop in the end, and then followed the hymns and prayers, walking towards the core of the stagnant temple.
If the Temple of Stasis did not undergo any major changes in the later years, Lorenzo knew where he would go.
Watson had warned him in a letter.
"The Well of Sublimation."
Lorenzo thought and moved forward. Now, he had no other way out except moving forward.
The once-splendid sculptures collapsed and turned into rubble and dust piled in the darkness. Books were burned by fire, sword blades were broken and stained with rust. The pictures in the memory gradually faded away, and finally turned into a cold and dead silence.
Prosperity is gone, dilapidated forever.
The devout prayers became clearer and louder, as if tens of millions of people were chanting the gods together.
Lorenzo stepped up the long steps, and then he saw it.
Brilliant light fell from the dome, and the candles hanging on the stone pillars matched it, filling the darkness below, and illuminating the gray robe.
Lorenzo stood there blankly. According to his knowledge, the [gap] was empty, and only lonely souls remained. He was wandering in this empty [gap], suffering, just like Same as William.
But what appeared in front of Lorenzo at this moment was a presence that far exceeded his expectations. There were at least a hundred priests kneeling in the open space under the long steps. They formed a circle, each wearing a gray robe, and their bodies were completely covered. Covered, face hidden in shadow.
Standing silently like stone sculptures, without the murmuring of prayers, they would have been dead.
Lorenzo held his breath, and he slowly moved forward. As he passed these priests, he could clearly feel the vitality of these people. They were alive, one living soul after another.
But as if they couldn't feel Lorenzo's presence, they lowered their heads and murmured mechanically, reciting this seemingly endless prayer.
"How is this possible..."
Lorenzo whispered.
It was hard for him to believe that there was not just one soul in this [gap], but hundreds or thousands of souls.
Then he thought.
No...it's possible.
The same is true for Lorenzo's [Gap], he is not the only one who exists, there are other souls gathered in his [Gap].
He is the same as himself. He is not wandering alone in the "gap". He has compatriots in groups.
"So...is that it?"
Lorenzo felt that he had lost all his strength and could no longer move forward. Although he had already made suspicions in his heart, when the truth was before his eyes, he was still stunned by the shock and impact.
Lorenzo is of one origin with him and with them.
Looking around, Lorenzo couldn't describe his mood at the moment.
In that epoch-making history, in an unknown period of the Demon Hunting Order, these demon hunters gathered here, and together they carried out a great ascension.
They are they, the wandering spirits of Gabriel with power, the watchers who defend the fence.
The forgotten souls of the dead gathered here, and together they formed this huge [gap], thus possessing a huge body like a mountain in the seabed.
Lorenzo stretched out his hand and tried to touch the priest beside him. The priest did not respond at all to Lorenzo's touch.
Gritting his teeth, Lorenzo lifted his hood, revealing a faceless face.
No hair, no mouth, no eyes, no nose, no ears... nothing, just almost cold flesh and blood, as if touching a dead corpse.
Lorenzo turned around and lifted the hoods of the priests on the other side. One after another, he lifted the hoods of several people.
Some are the same faceless people as before, some have no eyes or ears, and some only have mouths... They are still reciting prayers mechanically.
Lorenzo looked at these weird faces, and he suddenly realized that the prayers here used to be extremely loud, but for some reason, many people lost their faces and were like sculptures in the middle, with only a few remaining people. Still continuing to recite.
"How is this going?"
Lorenzo had completely forgotten about the battle with the sea serpent. He had stumbled into the center of this mystery, and now he only wanted to find the answer to it all.
Suddenly there was an unusual noise, briefly interrupting the prayer.
"There is an abnormality in the Requiem program."
A priest suddenly raised his head and spoke mechanically with only one mouth left.
"Needs correction."
Another voice sounded, that of a priest who had lost his eyes and ears.
"Needs correction."
"Needs correction."
Dense voices rang out, interrupting the prayers.
Lorenzo's heart became tense. The other faceless men remained silent, as if they were dead, while the remaining people were talking stiffly, as if they were waking up from a dream.
Fiery fire overflowed from the eyes of these people, and the next moment all eyes turned to Lorenzo.
Lorenzo's mind went cold. Although he didn't know what was going on, what was certain was that these guys who had not yet become faceless men were all independent consciousnesses one after another. What he was facing was not one person, but A Forgotten Legion.
With his current ability, Lorenzo doesn't think he has the ability to survive the siege of so many people. Maybe this is his burial place.
He concentrated on preparing for a fierce battle that might break out, but soon, these eyes moved away from Lorenzo.
The priests looked up at the dome.
Countless white wings tore open the robes, spread their wings, and rose into the dome waving their wings.
Angels do not fall from the sky, but rise from the abyss.
Lorenzo protected his body, and one after another the angels ascended into the dome and disappeared from sight. The priests who did not leave lowered their heads again and prayed. The faceless men still did not respond at all, as if Life was lost.
"Someone got over the fence."
Lorenzo said to himself.
He is the residence of the watchers, and this huge [gap] is the residence of these wandering souls. They have been guarding here for thousands of years, monitoring the world, and killing the lives that cross the fence.
Lorenzo just witnessed one of their dispatches, but it was all so cold, as if these people were all machines.
No, it should be said that it is mechanical.
It can be seen from the previous battles and Floki's words that these watchers have no intelligence. They all execute orders mechanically, like beasts that rely on instinct to act.
"What are you praying for?"
Lorenzo couldn't figure it out. Looking at the priests, he moved forward until he reached the center of the crowd and finally stopped.
Standing on the edge of the abyss, Lorenzo looked into the darkness below.
Well of sublimation.
These priests sit around the Well of Ascension, and at their center is the dark mouth of the well.
Watson said that this is the source of everything. Although the well of sublimation in his eyes is just an illusory manifestation of the "gap", an uneasy voice still sounded in Lorenzo's heart, urging Lorenzo to jump into it.
Although it was illusory, Lorenzo still felt an indescribable uneasiness in the darkness, as if the dark wellhead was leading somewhere, and that place was a place that no mortal could ever touch.
"They were praying in silence and humming lullabies."
A voice sounded, answering Lorenzo's words.
Suddenly a voice answered Lorenzo's question in such a strange place. This was not a comfortable scene. Lorenzo backed away suddenly. If he hadn't been a little alert in his heart, he would have almost moved forward. The attack is over.
I saw a priest standing on the other side of the Well of Sublimation, his body was completely hidden in the shadow by his gray cassock, and Lorenzo couldn't see his face clearly.
"Lullaby?"
Lorenzo felt a little strange hearing such words at this time, but then he thought of something.
Requiem program.
These priests are not only praying, it seems that this prayer is also a kind of song, they are singing lullabies softly...
The more he thought about it, the more frightened Lorenzo became.
So who are these terrifying and powerful watchers humming for?Who are they putting to sleep?
Thinking like this, Lorenzo's eyes moved downwards involuntarily. He looked at the dark wellhead beneath him. In a trance, it seemed to have turned into a dark vortex, attracting Lorenzo's eyes and mind...
"what!"
Lorenzo exclaimed and fell backward.
He thought that his willpower was pretty good, but when faced with this false well of sublimation, he almost took that step and fell into the dark well.
The priest also moved slowly at this time. It seemed that he was the only one among these people who had self-awareness, or was sober.
"Jesia, have you also left?"
He walked up to a priest and lifted her hood, revealing a faceless face.
"Leave? What do you mean? Is she...dead?"
Lorenzo stood up slowly and looked at the sad man.
At this time, Lorenzo somewhat understood the fanaticism of those scholars. The truth of the world was right in front of him. Even if the place was full of dangers, Lorenzo wanted to know more before he died.
"She's not dead, she's just lost."
The man stretched out his hand and gently rubbed the woman's face. It was bare, with nothing on it, without the blood of a living person, like a cold corpse.
"Eternal life, fighting day after day, no matter how strong the will is, will sink and be lost."
The man withdrew his hand and looked at his former friends around him.
"They are lost, they have lost themselves, they are not even beasts anymore."
Listening to his words, Lorenzo looked at the other faceless men. They accounted for the majority among the priests, which means that in these long years, most of the watchers have lost themselves and become lifeless. flesh and blood.
So the watchmen are also withering, they are constantly decreasing, until the day of complete extinction.
Lorenzo looked at the Well of Sublimation by mistake.
So, of course, what happens when the Watchers die completely?
In a daze, Lorenzo saw the darkness squirming, with scarlet cracks appearing one after another in it, and then completely split open, revealing thousands of pale eyes, staring at him.
For a moment, Lorenzo felt a sense of disgust from the depths of his soul, extreme nausea and stench, as if all the sins in the world were gathered in the darkness, and the enemies of the gods spurned by the gods were breeding and wreaking havoc in it.
"What is there under the Well of Sublimation?"
Lorenzo gasped as he realized that was the fence and that what the priests were watching was what lay beneath.
"Enemy."
The man replied, then he lowered his body and picked up "Jesia"'s sword from her side.
A rusty nailed sword.
"Then who are you?"
Lorenzo asked again, and like a man, he picked up the nailed sword placed on the ground and grasped the hilt.
The man looked at Lorenzo. His eyes were dull, as if they had lost their luster a long time ago.
He said.
"Edron Levien."
The rusty nailed sword enlarged in his eyes, as fast as flashing thunder.
When Lorenzo tried to lift the nail sword to block it, a bright red wound opened on his cheek, cutting it from his forehead and cutting along the bridge of his nose.
Adren came in long strides with a solemn expression.
"You shouldn't be here, kid."
……
Roaring tides lap at the glacier, causing it to collapse and disperse into broken ice floes.
The pioneer was holding a spear, and he was looking at the sea in the distance. The sea snake was deadlocked in place, and the Morning Glory Advance was running at full speed, rushing towards here. At this moment, it seemed that nothing could stop it, neither sea water nor solid matter. The ice all shattered under the strong impact angle.
"You're back too, Adren."
The pioneer slowly moved his gaze to his feet. He looked at the snow-covered ice surface, his eyes seemed to pass through the obstacles, staring at the twisted flesh and blood in the deep sea.
"That can't be done..."
The Herald said to himself.
There was blood flowing around his feet. When he turned around, the smell of blood hit his face.
Broken corpses fell into the snow one after another. The blood seemed to be endless, dyeing the surrounding ground bright red. Some corpses were still squirming, their huge wings fluttering feebly.
The head fell to the side, staring at the pioneer with dull eyes, without any emotion at all.
"My fellow citizens, it is time to put an end to this dark fate."
The Herald said as he walked towards the angel who was not yet dead and thrust out his spear.
The wings vibrated, and the sharp wings tried to slash the pioneer, but the cold spear was faster than it and penetrated its heart easily.
The angel was still trying to struggle and pull out the body from the spear that penetrated it, but soon, its blood vessels turned gray-black, like spreading poison, spreading throughout the body, and finally lost its vitality.
Pulling up his spear, the Herald looked at all this coldly, as if he was waiting for something. Soon more thunderballs appeared, and the Watchers came back.
(End of this chapter)