Embers of Embers

Chapter 728 Rebel
[Lawrence, you have finally reached the end of the prophecy. 】
【You are going to die. 】
[It's so sad. 】
Perhaps due to excessive blood loss, Lawrence's already broken consciousness became heavier and heavier. Weird and sinister voices kept ringing, as if there was an invisible devil lingering beside him, claiming his soul.
soul……
Thinking of this, Lawrence had an ugly smile on his face.
Do you really still have that noble soul?He couldn't remember the specific time, but he knew that he had abandoned that precious thing long ago to use it as a way forward and to fill the cornerstone of the abyss.
As a believer, he is not qualified to ascend to the kingdom of heaven, and he has already been prepared for such an outcome.
Soon those whispers also continued to fade and dissipate. They were fading away, and the world began to become silent. Chaotic hallucinations appeared in front of his eyes. Lawrence could see pairs of big bloody hands stretching out from the pool of blood under him. He came out, caught himself, and tried to drag himself little by little into the pool of blood, the depths of hell.
Lawrence was absent-minded for a while, and he had already been prepared in his heart, but when such an ending actually came, he still couldn't help but feel a little ridiculous.
The new Pope...the Unspeakable was right.
Lawrence himself was an apostate, but after that, he found a pillar for himself that was similar to faith.
prophecy.
The prophecy enabled Lawrence to overcome many obstacles and made him invincible. It became the sharpest spear in Lawrence's hand and the heaviest shackles, binding Lawrence tightly.
Every time he crawls out of death, every time he comes back to life, the prophecy of the "curse" is deepened. Until now, the prophecy has really come true. He will no longer have the power to resist, and he is just dragged into the world so ridiculously. The abyss of hell.
"How ironic..."
Lawrence laughed at himself. It was only now that he suddenly woke up. He was so mocking the nihilistic faith, but in the end, he became a devout fanatic and a slave to fate.
The heads of the dead poked out from the sea of ​​blood, bearing familiar faces one after another. Lawrence vaguely remembered these faces. They were the people who died because of him. The fragments of memories were stacked in the corners of his [gap]. , now as they near death, they burst out together.
Nibbling, scratching, screaming, calling names together.
【Lawrence!How do you pay off your debt! 】
The body was crushed bit by bit by bloody hands. Lawrence stretched out his hand and tried to resist, but the power of breaking steel and cracking stone was no longer available. He was as fragile as an old mortal, and was dragged into the bloody water.
A large amount of blood poured into his mouth and nose. He was more embarrassed than ever before. He struggled hard and raised his hands high, like a drowned traveler.
This feeble struggle ended quickly, and he was dragged into the thick blood. Looking towards the bottom of the water, a scarlet world came into view. Countless dead people were crawling on the ground, as numerous as a sea of ​​sand. .
The sand accumulated in piles and was shaped into a tall tower.
The scarlet figures were superimposed on each other, thousands of them, countless, each supporting the other, turning into a towering tower of Babel. They just climbed up from the bottom of the water and caught Lawrence.
Excited gasps could be heard. The dead were eager for Lawrence's flesh and blood. They were scrambling for the first place. The tower kept shaking, but it did not collapse. The figures on it kept falling, but soon new dead people filled it. There is a vacancy.
【Lawrence! 】
They called out, tasting Lawrence's flesh and blood, and the intense pain was superimposed. Lawrence did not feel numb, but instead felt more clear and real torture.
But he didn't wail, he just kept an indifferent face, and memories of the past kept flashing back in front of his eyes.
Lawrence had heard rumors that when people die, they quickly look back on their lives.
He has struggled between life and death many times, but he has never witnessed his own memories. He thought this rumor was false, but now it seems that it may be true, but his previous deaths all have the effect of returning. moment, but this time he exhausted all his body and his consciousness was exhausted.
What awaits Lawrence is "real" death.
He has reached the end of the prophecy and ushered in his own death. Therefore, Lawrence stopped resisting and waited for the darkness to come.
Gradually, the swaying palm like seaweed engulfed Lawrence, and he disappeared as if he had merged with the scarlet tower. In the scarlet world, only the greedy and excited panting sound remained. There was a dense, small sound, like insects gnawing.
His vision fell into endless darkness, and the pain in his body suddenly disappeared. Lawrence only felt that he was falling continuously. This fall might last for a few seconds, or it might last for many years, until at a certain moment, he finally hit the bottom.
When he became conscious, he looked down at the wooden floor, with dust accumulated in the gaps. He raised his head, and the scarlet world was no longer, replaced by endless darkness. A light fell from the top, illuminating Lawrence.
"what happened?"
He turned around in a circle, muttering to himself, wanting to say something, but his memory seemed to be missing. He couldn't remember how he came here, nor what he was going to do now.
But in the next second, more lights fell, coming from all directions, all focusing on Lawrence. The endless darkness began to clear up, with the brightening of the field of vision.Lawrence took in his surroundings clearly.
Like a concave spiral, he was in the center of the spiral, surrounded by countless seats, which were connected together to form an endless auditorium.
This was a grand performance. Lawrence could see that the auditorium was full of people, but if he looked carefully, he could only see gray outlines one after another, unable to see their cheeks clearly.
Lawrence was a little frightened and hesitant, and tried to take a few steps forward, the light following him closely.
On this empty stage, he is the only and only protagonist.
There was thunderous applause.
Everyone clapped together, and the collective applause was like rolling thunderclouds, which shocked Lawrence so much that he did not dare to move. Then several more lights fell down, illuminating the seats closest to the stage, where sat the guests who looked like guests. characters, they all applauded Lawrence.
"What a great performance! Lawrence!"
Someone cheered, and Lawrence saw his appearance clearly. The man was wearing a gray coat, and his face was hidden under a beak mask. As he applauded, blood continued to seep out from under the mask, but Lawrence did not feel fear.
"continue!"
Someone responded, it was Curley, this may be the greatest performance he has ever seen, he was so excited that he even shed tears.
Moving his eyes slowly, Lawrence saw more familiar faces, those memories that had not been swallowed by the darkness, but soon, as the lights moved away, these faces also fell into darkness.
Cheers rang out and the audience yelled.
"Lawrence!"
"Lawrence!"
"Lawrence!"
He stood there blankly, surrounded by cheers. Lawrence paused for a long time, and a great sense of satisfaction filled his heart. He slowly opened his hands, with a smile on his face, and greeted the audience.
"Let's bring this show to a close!"
There was a voice coming from the darkness. The owner of the voice seemed to be the director of this performance. Following his order, the cheers disappeared for a moment, and then the grand orchestral music sounded, and the melody was wrapped with swords, guns, swords and halberds, and came from the audience. Choral hymns.
The red curtain behind him was slowly opened, revealing a long staircase that extended to the end of the darkness. Under the staircase was a blazing fire. The blazing white fire shot into the sky, almost burning away the darkness.
No one gave Lawrence instructions, and even his own consciousness was hazy and unclear about the current situation. However, with this magnificent accompaniment, he still opened his legs and stepped onto the stairs.
This is a lonely, lonely, and extremely long journey.
The melody moves forward with Lawrence, and it seems that as long as he does not reach the end, everything will not stop.
Then there is the long climb.
All Lawrence could see was the end of the stairs. He moved his legs mechanically, and as he moved forward, countless petals fell from the darkness.
This seemed to come from the audience, who sang unknown hymns and showered Lawrence with flowers.
The petals grazed Lawrence's body and fell into the sea of ​​fire below. He could smell the fragrance among the pungent sulfur.
"It's been a long time..."
Lawrence muttered, he didn't know how long he had traveled, and his sense of time was constantly being blurred. As the journey deepened, he gradually forgot even the purpose of his progress.
During the long journey, he began to think about other things, trying hard to look through his fragmented memories and find something to pass the time from that few words.
But soon, as they moved forward, these only memories collapsed little by little, and were eaten away by the evil ghosts hiding in their own consciousness.
I don’t know how long it took, but Lawrence remembered some ancient legends. In that legend, there was a man pushing a boulder to the top of the mountain every day, but when he reached the top of the mountain, the boulder would roll back again. He repeated this endlessly. In the cycle of reincarnation, I use up everything I have.
This is a boring story, a meaningless story, but Lawrence felt sad about it. He felt that he was somewhat similar to the people in the story, and he was also pushing the boulder.
I can no longer remember why I climbed up this long staircase, nor do I know what will be waiting for me after this long staircase.
He only felt tired and lonely. If possible, he would like to end it and get real sleep from this endless reincarnation.
"Are you...going to admit defeat?"
After many years, in the endless loneliness, another voice sounded. In an instant, Lawrence recognized the owner of the voice, and those lost memories were recovered.
It was him, the one who put himself on the ladder, the one who put this show together.
Looking forward with dull eyes, he could see a pair of feet standing on the steps in front of him. Lawrence tried to raise his head, but found that he had no strength to do this. He was too tired, and his body had never been heavier. Even It takes a lot of effort to move your fingers.
By the end, Lawrence was crawling on all fours on the steps.
"I've already lost, haven't I?"
Lawrence muttered to himself, recalling the memory of that endless time before, yes, that's right, he had lost, he was dead.
"Really? If you believed in fate, you wouldn't be here at all, would you?"
the man asked back.
"You followed the path of fate and returned from death countless times. But wasn't the original purpose of all this to disobey it?"
Lawrence smiled, admitting that it did sound a little strange.
In order to stop the dark fate, he believed in the prophecy, and was driven by another fate to resist another fate. From the beginning to the end, he stood on the stage like a marionette, performing comically.
"Lawrence, do you really want to admit defeat?"
The voice asked again.
Lawrence was silent, reluctantly raised his head, saw the figure, and then laughed hoarsely.
"Let me just say, that bronze statue looks nothing like you."
His memory has long been blurred, and he can hardly remember the appearance of his old friend. Now on the edge of hell, seeing this familiar face again, Lawrence feels really good.
Then he complied with his fate, lowered his head, his hands slumped down, and his whole body was completely paralyzed on the long steps like a wild dog with its spine broken.
He was like a lunatic, muttering crazy words.
"Life is just a shadow. A poor person who is funny and clumsy on the stage appears for a moment and then quietly retreats. This is a story told by a fool. It is ridiculous, full of noise and restlessness, and has no meaning at all."
Suddenly, a light fell down and shone on the protagonist.
Lorenzo Medici shook his head in disappointment and stared at the decaying corpse. He was about to leave when he heard the sound of war drums beating under the corpse.
He heard the roar of wild beasts.
"Who would believe in such a thing as fate?"
Lawrence struggled like a crazy beast. He didn't give up, he just needed a little time to rest. He stretched out his hand and scratched the steps, and his nails were broken and stained with blood.
"There is no destiny at all, there is only the reality that is called destiny."
He was breathing anger like a demon who chooses people to eat.
"This is my great achievement, how can fate take the top spot, this is mine, Lawrence's, has nothing to do with fate, has nothing to do with gods, this is my own, only mine!"
He staggered to his feet, excited and full of rage, like a greedy and selfish devil who wanted to take all this for himself.
"There is no destiny, it's just the self-deception of poor people."
Lawrence tried to touch the old friend in front of him, and the figure of Lorenzo Medici began to dissipate, turning into a long corridor. At the end of the corridor was an oil painting depicting Lawrence's death, the scarlet sea .
"What's more, I saw...Lorenzo Medici."
Lawrence's voice became softer, and he reached out his hand and took off the painting, revealing another painting underneath.
A sky, a golden sky.
……
"I saw."
Lawrence's vague voice began to become firm, his eyes filled with tears, and he grasped the spear that penetrated his chest.
This unusual movement made the new pope tremble. He had no idea what was happening. In his mind, Lawrence, who was supposed to be dead with a weak breath, seemed to be grabbing the throat of the God of Death, forcing his life to continue, and changed again. Got furious.
"I saw……"
His expression was ferocious and terrifying, and power poured into the broken body again. Lawrence used both hands to pull out the piercing spear from his chest bit by bit.
The plasma was pouring out, dyeing almost everything scarlet.
"This is far from the end of my destiny... I should die under that golden sky."
After the scarlet sea, at the end of this endless disaster, Lawrence has been unable to determine whether it is true or false, but in the false hallucination of looking back on his life, he saw it.
That golden sky is real and not Lawrence’s crazy imagination.
He laughed. He was driven by fate, but now he went against the will of fate. Lawrence roared and pulled out the spear, then thrust it out hard. Unfortunately, the new pope stretched out his hand and blocked it. He was struck by the spear, and the sharp tip pressed against the palm of his hand, failing to penetrate it.
"The wild dog's counterattack? It's so embarrassing! Lawrence!"
The new pope taunted him vigorously, to which Lawrence just laughed loudly.
"You have devoured so many humans, but your understanding of humans is still so simple?" The angry expression softened, and Lawrence said with relief, "Your understanding of 'body' is too narrow."
The new pope's body was split with a hundred scarlet eyes. They keenly observed the surroundings, searching for the "body" that Lawrence said. It stands to reason that in the fight just now, he had indeed destroyed all of Lawrence's body. Could it be that he What other trump cards are there?
Such thoughts were soon interrupted. The new pope could feel the stinging pain coming from the palm of his hand. In an instant, Lawrence's strength increased several times. The spear penetrated directly through the palm of his hand, broke his arm, and stabbed to the chest. .
The new pope was cornered, and he let out a shrill scream, while countless branches peeled off his body and slapped Lawrence's body.
But Lawrence just laughed and roared loudly.
"I will open the way to a new world for you!"
He allowed his body to be torn into pieces, and finally turned into pieces of flesh that dissipated all over the sky. Lawrence didn't care about this at all. The moment he lost his body, he started his final charge, roaring at the top of his lungs.
"go ahead!"
This was like a spell to wake up a demon. In the blood mist inspired by the minced meat, the spear did not stop, but continued to stab forward, and a blazing white light walked with it, splitting all obstacles.
"Although I really don't want to admit it, I guess the last body he is referring to is me."
Lawrence's palm was broken, but he still held on to the spear tightly. Until his other hand held the spear, it reluctantly let go and fell into the darkness.
Like a baton, this alternation was repeated over the endless years, making everything extend to today.
Pierced through the palm and nailed into the heart, Lorenzo swung the nail sword and cut off the new pope's withered arm.
The blazing eyes were right in front of him, and it was only now that the new pope understood the reason for all this.
He was deceived, deceived by the cunning Lawrence. Lawrence had been using his body to trial and error and fight. He thought that destroying all his body would limit his actions, but no one could have guessed that Lawrence You yourself are also a part of trial and error.
He has been numbing himself with constant death, until this moment, using bloody corpses to pave the way for Lorenzo to move forward.
Crazy sacrifice, just to hide this deadly blade, Lawrence had planned this from the beginning.
Lorenzo also used the cover of Lawrence's suicide attack to finally get close to the new pope.
This is something that the unspeakable will never understand. Although they are independent individuals, they seem to be united as a whole, advancing for a collective consciousness that does not exist.
The spear penetrated the heart and broke out from the back of the withered body. The nail sword suddenly rolled up a blazing arc and slashed upward diagonally, splitting the new pope's body into two. At the same time, it seemed to be holding up The big gray tree that had stagnated the temple also collapsed in response.
"Let's go to hell together!"
Lorenzo did not stop. He gripped the spear tightly, stained with Lawrence's blood, and pushed hard, pushing the new pope into the dark abyss behind him.
Finally...it's over.
Lorenzo was thinking this in his mind, but when he looked ahead, he met a pair of completely dark eyes.
"Got...got you."
The new pope's voice was hoarse, and a shuddering laughter came from his throat.
Lorenzo's figure froze on the spot. He was only a fraction away from ending everything, but his consciousness kept sinking and falling in the vortex of the abyss.
At the end of the darkness, Lorenzo heard some strange sounds, like the cracking of a glacier and the slight sound of young shoots pushing through the soil.
(End of this chapter)