novelraw Chapter 612: Falling Ash
Chapter 612: Falling Ash
Strictly speaking, the entirety of Flarand was a contaminated zone.
The safe zone was maintained only around the city hall and its adjacent blocks. They lacked the resources to expand it; the blood dandelions drifted, and maintaining the protective fire demanded too many resources and people.
The city hall could only broadcast orders: do not leave your homes, board up your windows and doors, hide in bedrooms, closets, or basements—and wait for a possible rescue.
A bonfire burned before every building in the safe zone, warding off the dandelions that managed to break through the perimeter.
Crowds of people in thick, hooded clothing huddled near some of the fires. Cleaners in beak-like masks urged them to approach the flames and remove their clothing, layer by layer.
"These are residents rescued by the cleaners from the contaminated districts. After they're disinfected by the fire, they'll be housed in the buildings," the mayor's aide explained.
Fortunately, the area around the city hall was predominantly shops, banks, and offices... There was plenty of room for the survivors.
"You can move freely through the safe and contaminated zones. If you need supplies, report to the square in front of the city hall," he added.
"Do you have any detached wooden buildings?" Anna's question came from beneath her cloak.
"Excuse me...? What are you talking about?" The aide didn't understand."Wooden buildings, standing separate from the others and highly flammable," Lu Li clarified, guessing Anna's plan.
The aide thought for a moment. "The Antriyskaya Gallery and the library. They're built entirely of wood. The gallery is on the edge of the safe zone, the library a bit farther out. You want to..."
He suddenly realized and added with dawning horror, "I'm sorry, but setting them on fire will only clear the immediate vicinity! And inside... there are priceless works of art, books!.."
"This is a different method. It might clear several city blocks," Anna interrupted.
Clearing entire blocks... The aide hesitated. "I need to ask the mayor..."
He rushed back into the city hall and returned shortly after, out of breath. "The mayor gives his permission. He asks if there's anything else he can do to help."
The aide was stunned by the acting mayor's resolve. The treasures of the Antriyskaya Gallery were worth half of Flarand, yet he had allowed them to be burned without even attempting to save them.
"Get enough kerosene to douse the building. And lead the way," Lu Li instructed.
Lu Li and Anna followed the aide once more to the square in front of the city hall. They were the only ones without protective gear. Lu Li was under Anna's protection, while the aide had adopted Valentine's mannerisms, believing that a leader without protection instilled a sense of calm in the people.
The aide requested a group of cleaners from the supply depot and a full fifty liters of kerosene. He had wanted more, but the reserves were dwindling faster than the cleaners could replenish them—they had to keep a stockpile for the safe zone.
When he was done, the aide picked up a set of protective gear. "Wait a minute."
"That won't be necessary. We'll protect you," said Anna.
The aide froze. He had heard the stories of how Lu Li and Anna walked the streets while the dandelions parted before them. He set the suit aside and led them onward.
The wall of fire at the edge of the safe zone seemed an impassable barrier against the bloody haze. As he prepared to step into the contaminated zone, the aide slowed his pace.
Anna unfurled an invisible, fiery barrier, warding off the dandelions. The aide no longer hesitated.
After crossing a contaminated block, they saw the Antriyskaya Gallery through the bloody veil. The manor-turned-gallery was larger and... more flammable than they had expected.
Opening the gates, Lu Li and the cleaners went inside. The gallery, too, was shrouded in the bloody haze. Several desiccated silhouettes lay on the corridor carpet.
The dried-out bodies before the statues and paintings created a grimly ironic scene.
"Pour half the kerosene inside, the other half on the outer walls," Lu Li commanded. The cleaners with the canisters dispersed.
The aide stared at the canvases. It seemed they were looking back at him—some mockingly, others mournfully.
"Are we really going to burn all this...?" His voice trembled. Seeing it firsthand was not the same as just talking about it.
"Survival is more important than aesthetics," Lu Li replied succinctly.
Unlike the aide, the cleaners, who rarely set foot in art galleries, treated the place with a kind of indifferent reverence. They went about their work, performing acts that would have made any aristocrat or artist cry out in protest.
The aide watched in anguish as his favorite painting was doused with kerosene. He could have taken it with him—no one would have condemned him. Except himself.
Once finished, the cleaners exited onto the street. Those who had been working outside had also completed their task and were now gathered, waiting for the spectacle.
Lu Li struck a match and touched it to a kerosene-soaked painting. Watching the canvas warp in the flames, he, Anna, and the aide left the gallery.
The blaze spread with astonishing speed. Fire raged in the windows, and black smoke billowed out. In less than two minutes, the gallery had become a gigantic bonfire. The intense heat forced them to retreat.
As the building became fully engulfed, a wind rose over the land.
A vortex swirled around the gallery, catching the heat, gathering it into rings that spun around the colossal pyre. The fire was drawn into the whirlwind, climbing higher and higher—tens, then hundreds of meters into the air. And finally, it touched the blood-dandelion sky...
Where they met, the dandelions ignited, and the fire spread across the heavens, creating a fantastical spectacle—flames that engulfed half the city.
The people in the city hall square froze, staring up at this wonder.
The celestial fire lasted only a moment. Flarand was plunged into darkness once more. And from the sky, black ash began to fall.