"How does it feel? Arthur. ”

Abigail lifted and removed the wrapped gauze little by little, probably because of being a ranger, although Arthur was old, his physique was still much stronger than ordinary people, and the previous hideous wound had healed a lot at the moment, leaving a shallow white mark under the old skin.

"Not bad...... Arthur said, recalling everything he had been through, and couldn't help but sigh, "It feels good to be alive." ”

Arthur rarely had nightmares, but ever since he was awake, he always dreamed of that last stretch of the journey.

It was a long journey.

In the long corridor of rust and blood, whether it was advancing or retreating, some were just a cloud of darkness that could not be seen, and he ran wildly like crazy, but he could never reach the end, and he could only consume his will in this long despair.

Stepping through pools of sticky blood, sniffing the suffocating stench, witnessing one familiar corpse after another......

"You're lucky, you don't have any fatal injuries, the only thing you need to take care of is the wound on your shoulder. ”

Abigail picked up scissors and an alcohol swab and continued to deal with Arthur's wounds.

"That guy looked really crazy, I didn't have the strength at the time, I was in the same room with that guy, I wasn't killed by the demon, but I was almost bitten to death by him. ”

Arthur smiled bitterly and looked at the other side of the ward, where a patient was being tied to the iron bed at the moment, the previous chief of perpetual motion pump technology, William.

It didn't seem like he liked the state he was in, and from time to time he let out a whimpering roar and struggled like a beast.

Since the perpetual motion pump collapse more than ten years ago, William has fallen into madness due to high-intensity erosion, becoming a patient, and now he gnaws whatever he sees, and in the storm half a month ago, if it wasn't for the timely rescue come, the unconscious Arthur would almost have his throat cut by him.

"It seems that this incident touched you a lot. Abigail looked at Arthur's expression and continued.

"What does the little girl know......" Arthur tried to retort.

Compared with Arthur, Abigail is indeed a little girl, she and Nikolai are a new generation of scholars in the purification mechanism, and because she has been in the underground research area for many years, her skin is a little sickly white, and she looks much younger.

"I just...... Some understand others. ”

"What do you mean?"

"Like to live, like to be afraid of death?" Arthur couldn't help but laugh halfway through.

Arthur had never been a man who feared death, and as the commander who led the purification mechanism forward, he was able to be ruthless and easily sacrifice others and himself.

But this time he was afraid, and in that deep darkness he was so afraid of death that he even longed for the mercy of death.

"I can't die yet, at least not with this information, Cole has worked so hard to pass the torch into my hands, how can I let it go out in my hands?"

Arthur's gaze looked at the ground as if in a daze.

"So what did you get?"

Abigail asked, curiously, what Arthur had learned in that darkness, and he had yet to tell anyone.

"Clues, clues that lead us to the truth. ”

Arthur looked up at Abigail, his old eyes glowing with fire.

According to Cole's information, his consciousness remained somewhat lucid after being eroded, and his consciousness was trapped in a strange place.

A place he was extremely familiar with, like a strange spiritual world, or ...... [gap]. ”

Abigail was stunned, she had some understanding of the [gap], in the eyes of the alchemists, it was regarded as the end of darkness, a deep spiritual space, which existed but few people could reach it.

"Do you know what that means? Abigail. ”

"What?"

Arthur took a deep breath, and in the half month he was being treated, he had been thinking about all this, the connection between demons and humans, and what the nature of demons was.

"Perhaps, all the people who have been alienated into demons, they have not lost their minds, they are still alive, but their will is isolated from their completely alienated bodies, and their will is imprisoned and trapped in a cage called [gap]. ”

Abigail's pupils constricted to a point, and a cold wind swept across her back in the closed room.

Looking at her subtle reaction, Arthur laughed hoarsely.

"It's interesting, isn't it, but it's just my speculation, and in order to confirm this possibility, I need your Montenegrin hospital to give it your full attention. ”

"This kind of thing ......," Abigail still found a little incredible.

"Don't panic, you're still too young, we'll get rid of the organs, don't ...... Isn't this how we humans treat demons, facing the unknown, speculating on the unknown, and then verifying it in a way that we can understand, turning the unknown into the known. ”

Arthur continued to think about it, everything Cole had given him before he died.

"Cole doesn't know why he escaped from [the gap], so maybe we can find a way to bring him to his senses. ”

His eyes fell on William's.

"This guy has a lot of secrets, Abigail. ”

Abigail's gaze also shifted to William's body, and after Arthur's explanation, she also knew the identity of this guy, he was the previous Merlin, that is, the previous chief of perpetual motion pump technology.

"More than ten years ago, there was an accident named the Red News Incident in the Perpetual Motion Pump, and because of the Red News Incident, the demons once wreaked havoc in the old Dunling, and even Eve was because of the aftermath of this incident...... Never mind.

At the time, William seemed to be doing some kind of experiment, but judging from the information given by Cole, he seems to have found the so-called [truth], and at the time we observed that a huge erosion instantly descended on the perpetual motion pump, and we directly lost contact with it.

Even today we don't know exactly what happened inside the Perpetual Motion Pump that day, when we Rangers rushed into the Perpetual Motion Pump, only the demons that suddenly appeared inside, and the corpses in one place, all the records were deliberately destroyed by some kind of force, and all the personnel were driven into madness by erosion. ”

Arthur's gaze grew heavier.

"Mordred...... That is, Cole, and William, they both went into a madness in the Red News incident......

No...... There's something wrong with that......"

The more he recalled the past, the more Arthur recalled all kinds of doubts, no, this is not a suspicion, but after so many years, Arthur combined his existing information to correct the past Red News incident, and at this moment, it seems that some doubts at that time seem to be clear.

Immediately, a cold hand caressed Arthur's neck, and he suddenly felt an indescribable unease.

He vaguely felt that something seemed to be blocking him, like a wall.

"It's so similar......"

"What are you talking about?"

Abigail couldn't hear Arthur clearly.

"It's too similar...... It's like another Night of Advent. ”

He whispered in a voice that Abigail couldn't hear.

Looking back at this time, Arthur can't help but wonder if there is really a so-called fate in this world, the understanding of demons used to be extremely slow, but in recent years, they have advanced by leaps and bounds, armor technology, the Holy Grail and the pseudo-Holy Grail, the decline and rise of the Demon Hunting Order......

One incident after another erupted in concentration over the years, as if someone had accelerated the course of history.

"Lorenzo Holmos ......"

He couldn't help but read the familiar and unfamiliar name, Arthur rubbed his temples vigorously, with the fitness of a ranger before, he didn't care about anything like health, but now it seems that he has to pay more attention, after all, he has to work hard to live, at least live to know the truth of all this.

"Where's Merlin?"

"He should be in his castle," Abigail said, "and the Black Mountain Hospital was in ruins, and there was no place for many patients, and he contributed his dusty castle." ”

"Is that so......"

Arthur pondered, then asked again.

"Have you found Lorenzo?"

"I don't know, but based on their speculation, there's a good chance that the guy is dead, but we haven't found his body yet. Abigail replied.

In the storm half a month ago, in order to destroy the extremely strong source of pollution, Gareth commanded the Dawn to launch an artillery attack on the Lessingbach, completely destroying the flesh and blood airship.

Lorenzo was also on the airship at that time, although in the end someone observed that he and the Black Angel broke away from the airship together, but in the end, it was 10,000 meters in the air, and the heavy Black Angel did not have any flight ability at all, the most it could do was to glide, but at this altitude, gliding was only to slow down the arrival of death, and the impact when landing would still easily kill him.

"The Black Angel is weirdly out of control again...... However, Merlin had to ask Merlin for the specific situation, and according to the operation records on the Dawn, it was actually Merlin himself who opened the hatch and threw the Black Angel out. ”

Abigail said as he picked up the report from the table next to him.

"They sent it this morning, to survey the crash site of the Reishingbach. ”

Arthur picked up the report, which was interspersed with several black-and-white photographs.

The wreckage of the Reichenbach fell on the ridge, and the raging fire also spread to the nearby dense forest, and through the examination of the wreckage, many demon corpses were found, and from the index of the Geiger counter at that time, plus the comparison of the corpses of those demons in the Black Mountain Hospital, they speculated that these corpses were demon hunters who had transformed into demons.

The Black Angel, who had fallen several kilometers away, was also spotted, and the original sin armor fell to the ground, creating a trajectory of impact hundreds of meters long.

However, they did not find Lorenzo's body.

"Do you think that guy is dead?" asked Arthur.

"Probably, after all, it was such a high altitude, maybe the strong wind when he fell blew him to another place...... Anyway, it's already cordoned off by the scavengers, and if he dies, his body will be found sooner or later. ”

Abigail said as if remembering something, and then said to Arthur.

"By the way, the Protestant Order has left, or fled to be exact. ”

"What?"

Arthur jerked his head up and stared at Abigail.

"That's right, literally, and the report on this is also on the table. She said and gestured to the small table next to her, where a small mountain of papers was already piled up.

"It is certain that the local war in the Black Mountain Hospital must have been stirred up by them, but they have already prepared for it. ”

"No, huh?"

"Yes, the demon hunters in the mission have always been in the consulate, and the demon hunters who operate should have sneaked in, but as long as they don't admit it, we don't have a direct way.

During the time you were unconscious, the scavengers also took action, but the other party was a witcher after all, and a firefight broke out between us, and the other side was not in love, so we didn't suffer any casualties, but again, we couldn't stop these guys, and after tracking them to the port, we completely lost track of each other. ”

Abigail explained that as an important person, she was the luckiest in this local war, and was sent out of the war zone by the shrike at the first time, so she was responsible for a lot of follow-up incidents.

"Is that so, after all, the other party is a witcher, and without the entry of the original sin armor, we are still at a disadvantage against these humanoid monsters. ”

Arthur's face was furious, he didn't expect to let the other party escape so easily, but also, at that time, the energy of the purification agency was completely focused on the Black Mountain Hospital, even if they wanted to pay attention to the new order, with the power of those witchers, it would be difficult for them to pursue.

"What does the queen mean?"

"There has been no response from the Platinum Palace yet. ”

Listening to Abigail's words, Arthur couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"So we lost this war, lost to the Protestant Order?"

"No...... To be precise, we all lost, all to Lawrence's remnants. Abigail looked a little hesitant, but finally said it.

"Based on the survivors' intel and our integration, I think we've all been counted by the guy called the Plague Doctor this time. ”

"Epidemic Doctor ......"

Thinking back to the weird guy, Arthur fell silent.

In this local war, countless forces are intermingled, and it will take some time for Arthur to fully figure it out, but at that moment there is a knock on the door.

The door was pushed open, and the soldiers, armed with weapons, walked in, holding one big and one small.

This combination is very interesting, like a grandfather with his granddaughter, and like a profiteer fooling a child.

"You've finally arrived, Lorenzo's friends. ”

Arthur looked at the two men and reorganized his emotions, just as he thought, there were so many people involved in this incident that even Arthur was a little surprised when he found these two people along the clues.

"The Duke of Stuart is quite cooperative, as for this Mr. Oscar Wilde...... When we found him, he was trying to escape by train. The soldier said.

Lorenzo's rescue team appears, but there is a lack of Hercule, who may really be worthy of being the breeder of the rat king, Hercule, this guy has a keen sense of smell, and when he saw that the Leschenbach was not heading right, this guy packed up and ran away.

The two who reacted a little slower were directly targeted, and they couldn't hide for long in order to eliminate the control of the agency over the old Dunling.

Seleuc still had a cold face, and as for Oscar, he had a shameless sneer on his face.

"Well, I've finally seen you! I've wanted to accuse Lorenzo of his atrocities! He threatened us with everything! Yes, that shameless bastard! We're accomplices at best!"

Oscar looked righteous, and this sudden reaction caught Arthur a little off guard, but he reacted immediately.

"Threatened, so under the threat of a third-rate detective, the honorable Duke of Stuart and the North Dro...... That's it, you transferred the power to help him do this, and you Nordro even lost a Leichenbach?"

"I'm not precise! ”

Oscar said proudly, and he patted Seleu on the shoulder, who nodded in rare agreement.

Looking at Oscar's appearance, Arthur couldn't cry or laugh for a while, but then killing intent appeared on his peaceful face, and he picked up the gun and pointed it at Oscar.

Oscar was stunned, as if he didn't expect Arthur to be so direct, while Seleu became serious, although he thought that the consequences of being found out would be serious, but he didn't expect Arthur to give them no chance to turn around.

Seleuc pondered her next step, when Oscar suddenly spoke to her, grief on his old cheeks.

"Sorry, kid, this is the reality, it looks like our revolutionary friendship ends here. ”

Seleuc: "?"

"Okay, I've recruited it all, it's Lorenzo's neurotic who is about to run away from Old Dunling, we just said we would just help him make an escape route, but I didn't know that this guy didn't want to escape at all!"

Ignoring Seleuc's swearing and fighting, Oscar turned his head and shouted without reservation.