Embers of Embers

Chapter 602 The Oath
Old Dunling is a very special city in the world. It is not only the capital of Inverg and a leader in technology. Its most special thing is that the city itself is wrapped in several secret systems.
Ordinary citizens don't know this at all. The long-term explosion of science and technology has made it easy for citizens to accept these new things. Under such numbness, few people can notice the existence of these secrets, let alone the purification mechanism.
Due to the existence of regulations, the information in the purification agency is not completely open. Most soldiers only know the existence of the Mechanical Institute, but they do not know that underneath it is the mysterious perpetual pump, not to mention the Black Mountain Hospital, Dunhuang Hospital, Lingta waited.
As the rank rises, more secrets are revealed to the newcomer until he reaches the top.
But at this time, a person's heart will not feel happy about knowing all the secrets. He will have doubts, just like Merlin now.
"After becoming the technical director of the Eternal Pump, I thought I knew enough about the purification mechanism, but no one thought that there was a mysterious nation-builder above us."
Merlin and Arthur walked in the huge underground factory. The molten iron spread along the flow channels and turned into deadly weapons one after another under the processing of technicians.
These are molten holy silver. The Mechanical Institute has fully taken over the excavation of the holy silver mine. Trains are constantly transporting the holy silver into the furnace. The factory is working day and night, rushing to manufacture weapons. Soon after, the holy silver will be assembled. Weapons will completely arm the purge agencies.
"Arthur, sometimes I wonder, since the builders of the nation exist, is there a department or system within the purification agency that we don't know about?" Merlin asked suspiciously.
"I don't know, just remember, Merlin, if there's something you don't know, it means you shouldn't know it," Arthur replied.
The corners of Merlin's mouth were raised stiffly. He was facially paralyzed. To Merlin, this was already considered a smile.
"Arthur, sometimes I really don't know if you are loyal to the regulations or if you are stupid and stubborn?"
"I just believe in myself, and the purification agencies, and the people who make the regulations." Arthur said.
"Doubt will shake us, and the enemy will take advantage of this moment."
"Ok."
The surrounding temperature began to become hot, and a restart was imminent. The perpetual pump and even the entire purification mechanism were fully activated. All unnecessary projects were temporarily shelved, and the current enemies were regarded as the highest priority.
The ground shook slightly, and the tall original sin armor stepped forward, guarding the eternal pump. This model is also a riot suppressor, but in terms of equipment configuration, it is completely different from the riot suppressor patrolling the streets of old Dunling. grade.
"Old Dunling is wrapped in several huge systems, the iron whale wandering in the sky, the railroad tracks all over the corners of the city, Dunling Tower, the Pillar of the Furnace...
We are going to build a shelter at the bottom of the Pillar of the Forge, which will be entirely made of holy silver and protected by the entire Old Dunling. "
Merlin told Arthur the prototype of his plan.
"Old Dunling will become a war fortress and will be the last place to fall in the apocalypse."
"What's the name of this plan?" Arthur asked.
"'Death Row' was named by Lorenzo. I don't know why he gave the shelter such a name. I asked him and he said he didn't know and that he chose it at random," Merlin said.
"Death Row... Actually, it's not bad. If we lose the battle, the shelter won't last long. It will become a death row for the survivors. Everyone can only die in the dark."
Arthur looked very disappointed and muttered to himself.
"I actually think that things like shelters are meaningless. According to Lorenzo's intelligence, the Indescribable is completely awakened, and humans will have no chance to fight back. At most, they will linger and die slowly."
"But he insisted on doing this... I'm more surprised than you. Lorenzo still has a day to retreat, but he said that we must prepare for the worst and at least leave some hope.
As for lingering on for a while..."
Merlin hesitated for a moment, feeling heavy and depressed by this dark truth every time he thought about it.
"In his words, human beings have been lingering on their last days. The history of thousands of years has actually been lingering on their last days. The war has never ended."
The two stopped and looked aside in unison.
The slide rail passed by, and what was hung on it was the broken Black Angel, like a hung monster, losing all its evil meaning, leaving only the coldness of death.
Fragments of metal debris fell off from it, clattering to the ground. The Geiger counter bound to it made a warning sound, and warning signs were plastered all over its body, as if it were a corpse. The iron coffin sealed with spells resists the resurrection of the dead souls inside.
In fact, without Duke Stuart's request, the Perpetual Pump will also give priority to repairing the Black Angel. After all, it is Lorenzo's weapon, and this guy is now the ace of mankind.
"This is like a grand gambling game. We are both gamblers and chips on the gambling table." Arthur turned back to look at Merlin, "I put all my chips on Lorenzo."
"Is there anyone else we can bet on?" Merlin responded, as did Arthur.
"Lorenzo had another reason about 'Death Row.'"
Merlin's expression was serious, darkness rising in his lightless eyes.
"Now there are two sublimators who are very likely to become the 'road' wandering around. They are both monsters who have lived for an unknown length of time. They are almost reaching the end of sublimation. The most important thing is that they both have sanity.
They are no longer the monsters we are familiar with, they are rational enemies, which means we can no longer judge with common sense.
Adren is the original Watcher. It can be said that he is actually in the same position as us, but if we continue to break it down, the way he chooses is different from ours. There may be the possibility of cooperation between us, but we are destined to draw our swords. Facing each other.
Roger is a madman who has been corrupted by the Unspeakable. Now he just wants to open the 'road' to wake up the Unspeakable, end the long struggle of mankind, and complete the great sublimation. "
Merlin looked up along the factory wall, as if he wanted to witness the grandeur of Old Dunling through the heavy mud.
"For Roger, his enemies are not only Edron who hunted him down, but also us, the Purification Agency, Old Dunling, Inlvig, all the existences that might stop him."
"Roger may not be able to defeat Edlon, but once he comes to Old Dunling and chooses to destroy us first, it will be a disaster."
Arthur's eyes were solemn. This was the meaning of the existence of "Death Row". Once the future envisioned by Merlin really happened, no one could predict the direction of the war.
If Roger succeeds and reduces Old Dunling to rubble, then "Death Row" is the hope of a counterattack.
"Faced with such a monster, no matter where we hide, it is not safe. Besides, I feel that we are not the only ones who are threatened by this."
Arthur thought for a while, recalling powerful enemies one after another, and a new idea came to his mind.
"Roger's target is not limited to us, I guess the Evangelical Church is also within his hunting range."
"Yes, and it seems that Edron has been awake for some time. When Lorenzo went to the Silent Sea, the Seven Hills was completely sealed off. No one knew what happened inside. All the Templar Knights were There was no news of the new religious group gathered there.
The Evangelical Church stationed troops at the Seven Hills, which was Adren's base camp. They knew the enemy was coming. "
"Then Roger will give priority to attacking the Seven Hills?"
"I don't know, but Lorenzo felt that we could try to use Adren, so he chose to integrate this intelligence and give it to the new pope to see what decision he would make."
Merlin continued.
"But Lorenzo also said that the new pope might be dead. The situation had not become so serious at that time. He said that the new pope might have been attacked by Adren long ago, and his life or death is unknown."
"Then continue to send information?" Arthur asked.
"Lorenzo means to continue, whether it is the new pope or Edron, before all this happened, we were against each other, and now we have to try to bring them together, nothing more than the size of the risk different."
"This is a gamble." Arthur felt uneasy.
"This is a war with great disparity in strength. We have to need some luck... I think Lorenzo is quite lucky." Merlin said calmly.
"If the new pope is still alive, let him know the truth, and this information cannot be hidden from Edron. Tell Edlon what we want to do. Judging from his responsibilities, he should be happy to cooperate with us. Hunt Roger together.
As for what happens next, we’ll talk about it later. "
Merlin took a long breath. The fate of the world was in the hands of these people. Among the countless branches of darkness, he found a path illuminated by light.
"These matters were handed over to Queen Victoria and other nation builders for decision a few days ago. In fact, all they can do now is to completely trust us. After all, we are familiar with the war against demons." Merlin asked Ya Se, "What do you think?"
"What else can I say, I can only agree," Arthur said helplessly, "We are familiar with these things, but Lorenzo is an expert. Professional things should be left to professionals."
The more Arthur thought about it, the more fear he felt. This emotion was not strong, but it surrounded you like a mosquito and couldn't be driven away.
"Using Adren... it's crazy to think about it."
"More than that, Lorenzo also wants to use more people, but he is also hesitant about this part."
"Hesitating for what?"
"Lorenzo also wants to exploit another person who, if successful, will add more opportunities to our war.
This man is very complicated. In Lorenzo's words, he is a madman who commits heinous crimes, but judging from his original intention, he is indeed saving the world.
If it is used well, it may really play a big role. If it is not used well, it will speed up our demise. "
Thinking of this, Merlin also felt frightened. Although that man was not as powerful as Edron, but maybe because of his experience with him, Merlin felt that he was more terrifying than Edron.
"Who?"
"Lawrence."
Looking at Arthur's stunned expression, Merlin shook his head and said slowly.
"When I knew this name, I had the same expression as you. I think this trip to the Silent Sea really had a big impact on Lorenzo. It drove him crazy. Even Lawrence wanted to take advantage of it."
"What exactly does Lorenzo want to do?" Arthur lowered his voice to prevent himself from shouting.
"Save the world, he said it himself," Merlin said, "Save the world by any means possible, even if you make a deal with the devil, it doesn't matter, as long as you can end this dark fate and break the cycle of reincarnation."
"He's really crazy."
"Absolutely. Lorenzo said that he had seen Lawrence's [gap]. He continued to expand the legion for the war he predicted, and now the war is coming.
What we're going to do is simple enough that it won't even trigger a conflict with Lawrence. "
"what's up?"
"The same method as for the new pope, tell him the truth about the world, tell him who his enemies are, so that his legion can have a goal, as for what will happen, Lorenzo said he doesn't know.
Maybe Lawrence led the legion to surprise the Seven Hills the next day and set the Well of Ascension in flames, or he may have completely fallen into madness, completed the great ascension, and became one of our enemies. "
Merlin waved his hand.
"Who knows? Lorenzo himself doesn't know what Lawrence will do, so he is very hesitant and doesn't know whether to take advantage of this madman."
"I think Lorenzo should have realized the error of his behavior when he had this idea," Arthur said.
"Lorenzo had a strange hope, and it was this hope that led him to use the new pope, Edron, and even Lawrence.
He felt that using these demons might be the right way to end reincarnation. "
"Why is he so sure of this? Just because of this strange hope?"
Arthur couldn't accept it. He had seen Lawrence's terror, and his fear was rooted in everyone's heart.
"Remember what I just said to you? Arthur, why are you so stupid and blindly trusting the so-called regulations?" Merlin said.
"You believe in the people who made the regulations, you believe in the purification agencies, and you believe in yourself."
"What do you want to say?" Arthur asked.
Merlin's words changed, and he suddenly talked about something else.
"Lorenzo said that he sometimes feels a sense of trance. He didn't expect that he had lived in Old Dunling for so long, so long that sometimes he forgot about his life in Feilengcui. Looking back on the past, that experience seemed to belong to another person. .”
This is what Lorenzo told Merlin before at the Perpetual Pump. At that time, just like now, they were walking in the factory deep underground, looking at the rumbling machines, feeling the iron and steel. fire.
"Lorenzo says he wants to believe these lunatics, and his reasons are the same as yours as to why."
"What reason?"
"He believed in the oath he took when he became a witcher."
Arthur was stunned. He felt something holding his heart, and with the slight force, blood rushed through his body.
Merlin's face was expressionless, as solemn as a priest in a church.
"No matter their stance, no matter their purpose, no matter what they did, they were once members of the Evangelical Church and members of the Demon Hunting Order."
“Eradicate the demon.
This is the meaning of the existence of the Demon Hunter Order and the oath of the Demon Hunters. "
(End of this chapter)