The hazy drizzle poured silently and seemingly endlessly, striking the moss-covered stone bricks, bringing a cool chill with the breeze as it passed.

It is a beautiful coastal town, as if forgotten by the whole world, the long glorious war and the steam engine that revolutionized the world have not changed this town, it still remains the same as it was a hundred years ago, as if time has stood still on it.

Higg leaned against the stone next to the door, his eyes falling on the end of the bluestone step.

As the drizzle fell, it seemed that the whole town fell into a deep sleep, there were no pedestrians on the streets, and all the gates were closed without any lights.

The whole town was covered in silence, and there was nothing left but the sound of falling raindrops.

Higg would have felt an indescribable sense of loneliness, but at the moment he didn't care about it, and even though he was alone, he couldn't help but smile as he looked at this familiar town.

Yes...... The town hidden in the depths of his memory, the town he completely forgotten.

Higg could never have imagined that one day he would actually return to this homeland that he could not return to, like a beautiful dream, he did not want to wake up.

Looking up, the sky was gray, but compared to the apocalyptic rainy season of Old Dunling, the rain curtain here was too gentle, like a cold hand, caressing him gently.

Slowly standing up, I looked towards the end of the world, the black sea was churning and roaring, and the wind set off waves several meters high, crashing on the dark reef and shattering into thousands of foams.

Higg listened to the rain and kept going, everything in the town was as he remembered, except now that the doors were closed and there was no light behind the windows.

It seemed that everyone was dead, and maybe they were all asleep, but Higg couldn't think about that.

There was a faint sound in the wind and rain, the roar of men, the wailing of monsters, and the sound of explosions.

Higg scanned back and forth, trying to find the source of the sound, but there was only the familiar town around him, but as he blinked, a figure suddenly appeared in the rain in front of him.

"Ah...... Joey!"

At the other end of the rain curtain, Higg saw Joey standing quietly in the rain, and after a brief pause, he ran over excitedly.

It was a happy day, Higg chased for so long, and finally returned to his homeland, he wanted to share this joy with Joey, but for a moment Higg couldn't see Joey's face, it was a gloomy and dark area, and no light could illuminate it.

The water beneath his feet reflected a completely different scene, Joey slashed his folding knife, and he slew demon after demon, but in the midst of the raging battle, another demon staggered close to him.

"Joey?"

Higg continued to shout, and Joey didn't say anything, just followed Higg to sit down on a bench beside him, and the two of them sat down in the pouring rain.

"I don't want to go back, Joey. ”

After a long silence, Higg broke his silence, his expression a little complicated, as if he didn't know how to say this.

"I don't want to ...... Go back?"

Joey's voice was a little muffled, and he turned his head, his face still dark.

"Yes, 121A Cork Street, although I am a little reluctant, I am not going back...... After all, this is where I belong. ”

Higg said as he looked at the town sleeping under the rain with a gentle smile on his face.

"Actually, when I left here, I just wanted to go to the outside world and see what the world that only exists in the mouths of adults is like.

Some say it's beautiful, others say it's dirty, they have different opinions, but one thing in common: it's a place you have to go, that's what the world really is...... I was really curious, until one day I actually left and really arrived in Old Dunling. ”

Higg sighed, his voice a little helpless.

"It was nice at first, I've never seen such tall buildings, so wide streets, let alone those airships speeding in the air, and iron snakes that are dense all over the city. ”

"But I'm not fit there, Joey, I'm not right, I'm just a kid from a small town by the sea, and Old Dunling is so big for me that I can barely see what it looks like, and I just want to find a corner to hide. ”

Joey didn't speak, he just kept his head down, listening to Higg's soliloquy.

"But...... If I don't go back, will anyone be sad for me?"

Higg asked, and then he thought about it, and the face of his roommate, Lorenzo Holmes, came to mind.

"Will he grieve for me?"

Higg laughed immediately, incredulous at his own idea.

"How so? That guy won't grieve for me, and even if that guy is really sad, he won't show it. Can...... But what about Madame Vanrude, she was so old that she should need someone to take care of her for the rest of her life, and Lorenzo was obviously unreliable...... I'm not that good though. ”

"It's a distressing thing, isn't it, Joey. Higg asked.

Joey nodded, and continued.

"Yes, there is a lot of helplessness in life, there are many wrong paths, and once you are wrong, you will continue to be wrong. ”

"Hallucinogens, like?"

Higg patted Joey on the shoulder and continued.

"At that time, in the factory, some people said that this thing could make people see what they wanted to see, some people used it to see their dead relatives, some people used it to see the wealth of the mountain, and I was lured by this to use it to see my hometown, although it was just an illusion, but it was a good feeling. ”

"But I'm a little surprised, Joey, a serious person like you would use hallucinogens. ”

"What about seriousness? I'm still a human being, and as long as I'm a human being, I have human weaknesses, human inferiority. Joy said.

"And what are you for?"

Higg looked at Joey, his dark face seemed to be a little clearer, and he could see a pair of confused eyes in the dimness.

"Nightmares, in order to get rid of a nightmare. ”

Joey spoke, as if explaining to Higg, as if to enlighten himself.

"I am a soldier, and a soldier must obey orders, whether it is killing or setting fires, we must always do it, after all, it is an order, although it is not our fault to be held accountable, but ...... But after all, I killed them, after all, I witnessed the cruelty with my own eyes.

I would always have nightmares about the earth and the sky gone, and all that was left was countless palms waving like seaweed, and they grabbed me, wrapped around me like vines, and finally tore me apart completely. ”

"Sounds like a terrible nightmare. Higg seemed to understand Joey, and nodded as he spoke.

"And do you still use hallucinogens?" he asked again.

"Not anymore. Joey replied.

"That's nice. ”

A long silence ensued, and the two sat quietly on the bench like sculptures, even though the drizzle soaked them completely, and so on for a long time, until Joey broke the silence again.

"It's time for me to go, Higg. ”

"Yes, you don't belong here, this is my hometown, not yours, and our missions are different, there will always be times when we separate. Higg said.

"But it's nice to see you the way you are, Joey. ”

"You too, Higg. ”

The two comforted each other, and then laughed, and without warning, Higg suddenly punched Joey, and then ran like a child, in the direction of the alleyway, Joey was slightly stunned, and then chased after him.

The two of them were like children, running and playing.

This kind of behavior seems so childish and ridiculous to them at the moment, but they themselves don't seem to feel it, and they just run, running on a road that seems to have no end.

The stagnant water on the ground reflected their figures, but it was another world, and the blazing white knives cut through the rain curtain and chased the galloping monster.

The stagnant water forms a mirror that separates the two worlds.

For Higg, it was a good feeling, remembering that a long time ago he was running along the beach with other children, riding the waves, it was a yellowed memory, but now it was constantly clear in his mind, and he was recovering his past little by little.

The wind and rain were left behind him until a slight touch came from behind him, and then the hand grabbed Higg's shirt hard, and Joey threw Higg down, and the two of them tumbled down the steps before falling into the water.

Joey pressed against Higg and struggled to get up, but Higg didn't move, just lay in the stagnant water, staring blankly at the sky.

"Is this a dream? ”

He asked.

"I don't know. ”

Joey couldn't get it either.

"Actually, I think it's a dream, a beautiful and delicate dream, a dream like a cage...... Actually, I know very well that I can't go back, and sometimes I can't confirm whether that town really exists......"

"And what about these? You're actually here right now. Joey retorted that everything around him was so real, that this was Higg's homeland, his hometown.

"No, it's my dream, because that's all I remember. ”

Higg turned his head to look at the buildings beside him.

"I just remember their vague appearance, so they won't open doors, there won't be pedestrians, and there won't be an end to this heavy rain, because I've forgotten it. ”

"But that's not bad, people have to deceive themselves more or less to survive, right? ”

Higg's gaze became indifferent, and he looked at Joey who was pressing on him again, and then spoke to him.

“...... Actually, you don't exist, I guess I imagined it, right? But I'd be fooling myself into believing all of this, not much worse. ”

But at this time, Joey shook his head, his face sad.

"No...... Sorry, Higg. ”

The folding knife pierced the dream, and it pierced the torrential rain.

Dreams and reality overlapped here, and for a moment the chaotic sounds became clear, and the flaming fireworks engulfed the entire town.

The drizzling rain became violent.

Under another curtain of rain, Joey finally caught up with the demon and crucified it in front of him, while the mangled corpses were piled around him.

Joey's face was hideous, but his eyes were full of sadness, and he looked at the demon beneath him, and that familiar face made him feel extremely angry.

"Joey ......"

The demon made a faint sound, and its scarlet eyes gradually calmed down as the knife pierced through its heart, and no one knew whether it had woken up at the moment, or if it had fallen asleep so deeply.

Those words were like a child's dream, without logic, broken into a few words.

"I'm here, Higg, I'm sorry. ”

Joey just looked at it sadly, the rain washing down his cheeks.

"What if...... If there are no demons, if there are no demons...... We might be good friends. ”

As he spoke, he twisted the folding knife vigorously, completely shattering the demon's heart, and in the demon's field of vision, the silent town under the rain curtain gradually froze together, and the picture was forever fixed in its eyes.

At the end of his life, Higg finally returned to his unreachable homeland, although illusory, but it was also his last solace for himself.

As the demonic blood proliferated in his body, he could feel the gradually blazing power in his body, and he was also clearly aware that his consciousness was slipping uncontrollably into the abyss.

If you think about it, this feeling is really not good, it is simply terrible, these demons killed by Joey are all patients of the Black Mountain Hospital, and before they became patients, most of them were Joey's colleagues who sacrificed their lives to fight the demons.

Like some kind of curse, it torments the world.

"Nightmares are like heavy rain......

Suddenly, a twisted sound sounded, from under the folding knife.

"The rainy season always passes...... Joey. ”

I don't know if it was a broken will, or that strange dream, the trembling pupils froze, like a cold glacier, but the solidity didn't last long, and then it melted.

"yes, goodbye. ”

Joey whispered, and under his folding knife, the demon could no longer distinguish his words, Higg had already begun to alienate when Moriarty had eroded him, and with the outbreak of this battle, he had been completely alienated.

The knife was pulled up again and the head was severed, and with the blood spilled, the demons in the entire lifting area were slain, and the survivors collapsed in the corners, as if they could not believe that they could survive this catastrophe.

Joey's gaze scanned all around, past the survivors, over the countless corpses.

If there were no demons, none of this would have happened today, there would not have been so many deaths, and there would not have been so much sorrow.

Nameless anger burned in Joey's heart, and for a moment he understood Lorenzo's rage, the unquenchable rage.

But then came endless sadness, and Joey looked down at the dark red water, which reflected his slightly hideous face.

He tried to pull out his folding knife, but lost all his strength, and could only fall to his knees in the stagnant water, piled up with the corpses of the demons.