Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1949: The Church’s Promise

By now, quite some time had passed since the fifteen-minute mark; he had to speed up. Fortunately, this strange island no longer affected him much, and the monsters here would not actively attack him. If he rushed at full speed for ten minutes, it should not be a big problem.

Crossing half the island sounded troublesome to an ordinary person, but in fact, when Shard went from the front door of Green Lake Hotel to the place in the south of the small town where the mansion had vanished, only seven minutes had gone by.

The fluttering butterflies in the rain turned into Shard’s figure, continuing to move toward the hills. As expected, the closer he got to Edwards’ Old House, the lighter the rain became, and the denser the mist grew.

This was the only road from the town to the mansion. Countless things seemed to be peeping at him from within the fog, yet he still made his way smoothly and finally arrived before Edwards’ Old House.

In reality and in Dreams, Shard had already come here more times than he could count. Looking from outside the mansion now, lights were on in every window, and through the panes he could see different silhouettes moving about inside the house. They looked like servants and maids, and also like guests who had come to attend a banquet.

No one was here to welcome Shard, but the gate in the fence of the courtyard outside the mansion was not locked either.

Shard reached out, about to push the gate open and step in, when he suddenly heard a voice behind him:

"Have you made up your mind, and are you ready to make your choice?"

He turned to look and saw that at some point a lady in a green robe had appeared behind him. She had beautiful emerald-green eyes, but their color was slightly different from Miss Writer’s blue-green eyes, the hue deeper. In her hand she held a glowing green short branch, and around her neck hung the Holy Emblem of the Church of Nature—two overlapping leaves.

"You are... the Church of Nature’s Nightmare Witch, Miss Maria?"

This Thirteen-Ring Sorceress had been known to Shard ever since the Pantanal incident. She was Sister Delphine’s friend. Though she did not look old—her appearance was similar to Miss Aphrola’s and Miss Benanis’—in fact, among the currently active Thirteen-Ring Magicians of the Church of the Five Gods, she belonged to the more senior group.

"I have come here by Dream projection; this place is not where my body is."

The lady with the emerald eyes spoke to Shard in Delarion. Although Shard had come into contact with her several times before, this was the first time they had talked at such close range:

"Hello, is there something you need from me? I’m in a hurry to attend a banquet right now."

He pointed at the brightly lit mansion:

"If you are looking for that Chosen of Balance, you can go to the southern side of the island; she should be over there."

The Thirteen-Ring Sorceress shook her head slightly:

"God Summoner, I am here waiting for you."

Shard was a little surprised, but still nodded:

"May I ask what this is about? On whose behalf are you speaking to me?"

"God Summoner, up to now, this is the sixth appearance of The Chosen One. As for who the first five were, you were more or less involved in each case. You have been choosing The Chosen Ones."

"No, I haven’t."

Shard shook his head. The lady in the mist did not refute him:

"I am here waiting for you because I hope you can tell us, this time, who exactly you want to become The Chosen One. The triggering of Edwards’ Ascension Technique is now almost impossible to stop; even if you once again move ahead of everyone else, it will likely be very difficult to prevent the ritual from being activated. But you still have a chance: you can kill the Prophet’s Society traitor midway through the ritual, or you can choose to oppose him after he completes the ritual. So this time, whom will you choose?"

"Definitely not that traitor of the Prophet’s Society."

He said with certainty:

"If I can stop him, I’ll stop him, then let the second candidate perform the ritual. That’s the best outcome I can think of. If I can’t stop him, even if he really becomes The Chosen One, I’ll still kill him. If he dies and the second candidate still can’t perform the ritual, then, for the sake of stabilizing Space, I’ll have the third candidate take the role. The third candidate is one of mine; they’ll certainly be fine."

The Thirteen-Ring Sorceress nodded lightly:

"That is also the result the Church wishes to see. God Summoner, after the Battle of Randall Valley, the Sun Church, in accordance with the oracle, will not probe too deeply into your identity, and the Church of the Five Gods has no intention of making you an enemy. All this time, you have been helping the Church. After the Battle of Green Lake, the Church wishes to give you a gift."

Shard frowned slightly:

"You could actually just say it directly—what exactly has the Church asked you to tell me?"

"Laplace Klein Howard possesses certain materials. I am not referring to those on Human Alchemy, nor even to the records on Edwards’ Ascension Technique. He once explored the Truth of the ’Whispering Verses’ to an excessive degree, and also tried to grasp the Secrets of Time, to peep into the past and the future—things that ought not to be known in the present."

The Nightmare Witch, Maria, said softly:

"Those materials must still be in his hands. We will not prevent you from obtaining and learning them; that is your right. The Church only hopes that it will be enough for you alone to know those things—do not probe too deeply into what is true or false, and do not continue your research along Laplace Klein Howard’s path."

"The Church knows exactly what he discovered in his research... No, wait, it’s the Prophet’s Society?"

The Female Sorcerer nodded:

"The Prophet’s Society and the Church of the Five Gods are in a cooperative relationship; we have no authority to completely interfere with their research. This time, in order to oppose Laplace Klein Howard, the Prophet’s Society has finally revealed some taboo topics that the Society studied back when Laplace Klein Howard was active."

"All right, I can keep it to myself and not spread that knowledge around. Or, if I get the chance, I’ll destroy all of his research data... But what do I get in return?"

Shard asked, and the Female Sorcerer countered with a question:

"May I ask, what do you want?"

He clearly had many choices left to himself, yet Shard spoke without even thinking:

"First, the Philosopher’s Stone. Second, I want a Heart of the Undead."

The "Heart of the Undead" was something Shard had long wanted to acquire again; it was also to guard against accidents tonight, so he would have some means of remedy. As for the "Philosopher’s Stone," when that answer instinctively slipped out, even he was surprised by his own choice. But thinking it over, the "Philosopher’s Stone" was indeed quite good, so he did not take back his words.

Miss Maria nodded slightly:

"No problem. In addition to the gift originally prepared for you, we will present you with these two items through appropriate channels after the Battle of Green Lake. The Philosopher’s Stone will be procured by our Church of Nature, as thanks for your perfect resolution of the Evil Creatures of Pantanal."

Her figure was already somewhat unstable, yet she still extended her hand to Shard:

"God Summoner, I have a portion of Power here that I can temporarily bestow upon you. I hope it can help you fight the Diviner."

So the two clasped hands, and as the Female Sorcerer’s figure dissolved into green motes of light within the mist, those motes flew toward Shard’s right arm and, upon the surface of his skin, left behind a leaf-shaped branding.

[No problem, it is purely Power.]

Shard nodded and pushed open the door, stepping into the courtyard of Edwards’ Old House.

As though Time were flowing backward, everything in the old house’s courtyard looked as if it had still been in use only yesterday. The large tree was lush with foliage, the ropes and board of the swing swayed in the rain, the wellhead was not covered by a Stone Tablet, and bright flowers still bloomed in the flowerbed by the fence.

Arriving at the front door of the house, Shard knocked, and then the door opened by itself before him.

Cheerful dance music drifted out, and the bright lights made Shard’s eyes, having come from the Darkness outside, a little unaccustomed. The people inside the house, happily dancing to the music, clearly possessed the heartbeat and Life Force of the living, yet in Shard’s eyes, they still moved like phantoms through nearly every corner of the house.

No one paid any attention to Shard. He hooked his little finger slightly, sensing that Megan seemed to be on the third floor, yet the invitation card in his hand showed the words for the second floor:

"Hmm... Let’s go to the third floor first. The moment has finally come."

Squeezing past the townsfolk in their elaborate finery, he went up the stairs all the way to the third floor of the mansion. Pushing through the crowd in the corridor, under the bright gas lamps he saw the only open door on the third floor—the mansion’s banquet hall, laid with red carpet and fitted with imposing double golden doors.

An old butler, dressed in proper livery, held a bowing posture at that doorway, and though the house was packed with people, only the entrance to that banquet hall was left with an empty space.

He handed the invitation in his hand to the butler, then stepped into the banquet hall. Compared to the liveliness outside, the vast banquet hall contained no townsfolk at all, nor even Megan, whom Shard had sensed.

As he stepped into the room, the surroundings fell completely silent. Only a single dining table was set here, and beside that table sat only one person.

The ancestor of the Edwards Family, the origin of everything for this bloodline, Laplace Howard, dressed in a black tailcoat and wearing a monocle, was seated in the seat of honor at one end of the long table facing the door. The other members of the family were nowhere to be seen.

He gazed at Shard standing in the doorway, and Shard asked:

"Where are the others?"

The Diviner spoke softly:

"I sent Pride, whose injuries have healed, and Gratoni to attack your hotel. The others are waiting for us elsewhere. When they return, this banquet will officially begin. Rest assured, I will not harm your friends; I merely wish to make tonight a bit more secure."

The two names he mentioned were the second son and youngest daughter of the third generation, and also Megan’s grandfather and grandmother. The former had fallen and been corrupted into a Demon, and the latter, in her transformed Demon Black Dragon form, was something that remained vividly etched in Shard’s memory.

Shard narrowed his eyes slightly:

"Stalling for time? Your ritual isn’t ready yet?"

"No, I am not stalling for time. I originally intended to start the feast at once—I have waited over two hundred years for this moment. But my most important partner wants me, before the banquet officially begins, to engage in some interesting activities with you, this specially invited guest. She wants to see what methods you have when you do not perform God Summoning."

"Partner... the Truth Society? Miss Pavo is here?"