Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1950: "You Are a Dragon" and Witch’s Secret Arts

The handsome middle-aged diviner nodded lightly:

"You and Miss Pavo are indeed acquainted; that lady is truly remarkable. They have given me great assistance. Although I have betrayed the Prophet’s Society, I am actually a person who keeps my promises... Isn’t that funny? Come, give it a try. This is a little pre-banquet activity; it won’t take long."

On the dining table in front of him, he flipped over an upside-down card. On the card face was a man dressed in red seated in a pitch-black banquet hall, his face blurred, reaching a hand out beyond the card—

Ding-dong!

The crisp sound seemed to explode directly in the ear, as if someone was lightly hammering a bell, signaling the start of the banquet.

On the table that was originally empty, silver and goldware filled with fresh human organs appeared one by one. The bloody haze mixed with the sweet aroma filled every corner of the banquet hall, while from the ceiling, hanging corpses dripped down...

"Begone!"

Behind Shard, the silver spiritual light of the "Gluttony" spirit rune at a corner of the Ring of Fate forcibly interrupted the diviner’s card effect with his angry shout.

Although it was Laplace Howard who used the card, accompanied by the manifestation of that peculiar spirit rune behind Shard, the swirling, bloody, sweet-smelling mist wrapped around Shard instead.

The [Gluttony] spirit rune absorbed the blood mist in reverse, and the banquet hall, just now filled with an atmospheric effect, returned to its original empty state after Shard’s roar, as if the illusion technique had been broken.

Wearing a monocle, the diviner looked in surprise at the card burning in his hand under the bright crystal lights and then casually threw it to the ground:

"This was a card made from the breath extracted from a divine item lent by the [Blood Spirit School], and you... a God Summoner, is the rumor true that you can even call upon an Evil God? Can the deity you believe in really tolerate such fickleness? Although deities are forgiving, aren’t they a little too indulgent with you?"

"Thunder Spear!"

Silver thunder exploded at the entrance of the banquet hall, followed by the Thunder Spear piercing through the hall, striking directly at the diviner’s head.

Even Shard, who launched the attack, believed that this strike would be casually nullified by the inhuman being that surpassed the Thirteen Rings. Yet, unexpectedly, the Thunder Spear exploded the opponent’s head, and the effect was so powerful that his entire upper body was blown to pieces by the thunder.

As the corpse fell from the chair, the banquet hall doors behind Shard slammed shut with a thud.

"Hahahaha~"

Mad laughter echoed within the banquet hall, now occupied only by Shard, with the source untraceable. Shard’s face showed no tension, instead displaying a smile:

"That’s more like it. You, a madman, always pretending to be rational—I’m rather unaccustomed to it."

The [Night Watchman] in his hand lit up with its brilliant silver glow for the first time today. As the gas lamps and crystal chandeliers shattered in the banquet hall, the long table covered with a white tablecloth burst open in the darkness, revealing a giant bronze coffin hidden under the cloth and table.

The darkness seemed to tremble with the appearance of this coffin. The unlit room, darker than night, seeped into normal space through the gaps that opened in the coffin.

The profound darkness clashed with the silver glow from the exorcistic [Night Watchman] and, in the next moment, the bronze coffin which was lying flat automatically stood upright. Then the giant bandaged arm flung the coffin’s lid away.

"Moonlight!"

Grasping the sword with both hands, Shard sliced through the coffin lid flying toward him, and the dazzling silver moonlight ceaselessly struck the giant bandaged arm.

Amidst the wailing that caused the entire room to tremble, Shard finally saw what had emerged from the coffin.

A ghoul’s body, a water ghost’s head, a dragon’s tail, and limbs of a special undead—the Desert Guardian. The power it demonstrated just now was sufficient to contend with an ordinary Sorcerer of Nine Rings.

The giant hand, stretching like a spring, once again flew at Shard. From its laughing mouth, black flames with a sulfurous scent spewed out a fan of fire.

"You have a dragon’s tail? Then I’ll treat you as a dragon!"

The silver blade cleaved the hand again, and they emitted a sound like metal colliding with stone. The foul black flames came head-on, only to be blocked by golden light that gleamed in the dark.

After a dull, inhaling sound from the lungs, silver light scattered in all directions from the shield of the Heaton Seal. Amid a dragon roar that shattered all the surrounding glass, a silver light beam shot from the golden shield, directly penetrating the chest of the assembled undead.

The golden shield vanished in place. Using "Lagre’s Leap," Shard leapt into the air, gripping the sword with both hands, bringing it down in a diagonal slash, cutting off the creature’s head from behind and then spearing through its body with the sharp sword, slicing the entire monster into two oblique parts.

Undead monsters always have a peculiar immortality, but Shard didn’t give the opponent a chance to act again. Pulling out the emblem from his chest, he softly praised the Death Angel, and within the gentle white halo, the undead that had been assembled turned into white ash and gradually disappeared.

"Somewhat strange."

Holding the sword and looking around, Shard furrowed his brow.

Strictly speaking, although this creature is powerful, without a Night Watchman, it would take at least a Sorcerer of Nine Rings to confront it alone. But it definitely shouldn’t appear here, especially to deal with the God Summoner, considered to be of Thirteen Rings, who everyone knows possesses a weapon specifically designed to counter such monsters.

Having waited for several seconds without seeing a new wave of attacks, Shard quickly walked toward the banquet hall door. Finding the door locked as expected, he swung his sword at it.

Clang~

This strike Shard delivered with full force, yet the recoil left his hands numb. A noticeable slash mark appeared on the metal door, symbolizing its sturdiness, showing that it couldn’t be broken open by a few hits.

"Key of the Door."

Resting the longsword against the door, as Shard slowly twisted the sword hilt, a clear "click" sound echoed. Pushing the door again, the gap opened as expected. But Shard still frowned because beyond the door gap, there wasn’t the bright light from a corridor, nor were there sounds of ghostly people dancing or music.

He used the sword to fully open the door, revealing a completely impenetrable darkness outside. Shard reached out to touch the darkness and immediately received an answer:

"Space passage, he forcibly combined the space beyond the door with another space... but why must I walk through the door?"

Taking a step to the side, he thrust the sword into the wall:

"Fossil to Mud."

With a few easy swirls of the longsword, a large hole appeared in the wall, but beyond the hole lay an unknown space of profound darkness. Touching it again, aside from the unmistakable spatial power, Shard also sensed the aura unique to the Angel Skeleton of the Death Angel.

To say he felt it would be inaccurate; it was his chest emblem slightly vibrating. The heat meant the Witch was nearby, and the vibration indicated resonance with the Angel Skeleton. That aura seemed to entice Shard to pass through the hole and obtain what Priest Augustus had been pursuing. Or perhaps the Diviner knew he wouldn’t refuse such an invitation.

"You think I’m afraid of you?"

He abandoned the idea of breaking a window to try to leave the house, and with sword in hand, he stepped into the darkness.

With a momentary dizziness, the surroundings transformed from an indoor to an outdoor space, one that was very familiar.

Fences outlined a small cemetery, within which various stone statues were displayed, but regardless of the figures portrayed, they were all collectively gazing at Shard. And amidst those statues was a modest-sized ossuary.

"Laster Edwards’ grave?"

Megan had once brought him here; it was also where they first encountered the Mirror Keeper and the Edwards Brothers. The whereabouts of Durut Giles remain unknown, but it was here that the little girl’s spirit was passively taken away.

Currently, of course, Laster Edwards isn’t here, but the door to the ossuary gleamed with a glimmer. The glimmer flickered, and something carrying immense malice was staring at Shard from behind the door.

That gaze could wound Shard’s skin even across the room door. Or rather, it could freeze it; the chilling cold was so intense that it could freeze the soul, instantly reminding him of the water in True Death.

Pale hands gripped the door slits as whatever lurked in the ossuary was about to emerge. This creature wasn’t at the same level as the stitched corpse from earlier; Shard knew that this time he truly faced an opponent.

The green leaf symbol on his right arm vanished instantly on the surface of his skin. Along with a vast life force and a spirit not belonging to himself flowing into his soul, the power from the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer, Miss Maria the Nightmare Witch, was temporarily under Shard’s command.

Unlike Miss Danester, Miss Maria, who had no deeper relationship with Shard, simply bestowed power without giving him the spellcasting ability of Nature Series Arcane Technique, namely the "Magic List." Although he had encountered the power of the Nature Series, he didn’t have in-depth knowledge of it.

Fortunately, as the power from the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer surged, memories of "Witch Echo: Oranode the Yellow Moon Witch" became remarkably clear.

This witch, possessing one-eighth elven lineage, besides being skilled with the moon’s power, was also adept at wielding the power of nature.

With a creaking ~ sound, the pale hand opened the ossuary door, and before its actual form fully emerged, the arm of a lush, translucent giant behind Shard overlapped with his. With colossal life force, it punched at the ossuary:

"Witch’s Secret Arts—Avatar of Nature!"