Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

A moment of dizziness passed as if awakening from a great dream.

Shard sat at the head of the banquet hall table, rising from his seat in the now dimly-lit hall that had returned to normal, the stench of blood from the sacrificial slaughter did not dissipate with the departure of the Evil God. But the blood mist had vanished, and the body behind him had disappeared too, as if that moment of tenderness was only an illusion before death.

"Did you really appear?"

He asked in a daze.

[The Supernatural Gate has been opened by you, and the Path of Sublimation is now revealed. Outlander, you have discovered a special Path of Sublimation and have gained a drop of divinity.]

The Brass Life Ring that was fading away behind him was entwined with gold flashes that were hard to detect.

"What's the use?"

Shard gazed at the silent banquet hall, where moonlight streamed in from the outside windows, falling at his feet, falling onto the remains of the living sacrifices on the ground.

[You have gained information from the divinity.]

[With each ascension, cleanse the corresponding Spirit Rune of the Sublimation Incantation with a drop of divinity. When you ascend to the Thirteen Rings, if you complete the cleansing of the twelve Spirit Runes corresponding to the three sentences of the Sublimation Incantation, then recite those Sublimation Incantations that belong to you, you will ascend to godhood.]

The thought was unimaginable, yet Shard was surprisingly not too excited:

"Can everyone do this?"

He questioned in his heart.

[No, you are special. Apart from you, no mortal's soul can withstand the power of divinity.]

"Did you manifest just now?"

[The power of divinity allowed me to have a momentary physical form, that ring gave a fleeting chance, allowing you to absorb the Evil God's power. Of course, He will also watch you because of this, and that deserves caution.]

"Will you always be by my side?"

[Of course.]

Shard walked to the back of the banquet hall in this stillness, pushing open a door to a balcony on the third floor. The evening wind had cleared the blood fog, but the courtyard of Lakeside Manor was in utter disarray. He felt an unprecedented strong power within himself at this moment.

"What else can divinity do?"

[By burning divine power in the Ring of Fate as fuel, you can temporarily transform into a deity, gaining the brief state of "Divinity Overflow." You are not a god, but you can match any deity.]

Shard fell silent, looking toward the courtyard of Lakeside Manor, where the spreading blood fog had cleared, and people were still lying on the ground.

In the very center of the manor courtyard, the original long table had been smashed apart, and two squads of Church Ring Sorcerers from the True God Church were battling a middle-aged man with a silver glow in his eyes, who was protecting "Lady Lassoya" who had just seriously injured the three Schneiders.

Shard murmured to himself from the balcony on the third floor:

"The Silver-Eyed One of 'Blood of Mercury,' he's come to assist that person. But I think there's no need to use divinity for mere mortals."

[Within the ten minutes of possessing divinity, due to the slight overflow of divine power, you have an almost immortal body and nearly limitless spirit, but once you use the overflowed power, you will fall into a long coma afterwards, this is the state of "Divinity Overflow."]

[While holding divinity, the power of divinity is locked within the Wheel of Destiny, the escaping glow will keep you in a state of 'Divine Afterglow' continuously. During this period, any use of Arcane Technique, Sorcery, and ceremony will be strengthened.]

"So this is what the Old God mentioned as the God's Afterglow... So, is my task for the rest of my life to shuttle through past and present Space-Time, just to collect twelve drops of divinity? For you? For me?"

[There is no task, everything is up to you to decide. Outlander, you are outside fate.]

The Brass Life Ring with a nine-sided shape displayed the Silver-Eyed One's power, with more than twenty Ring Sorcerers surrounding him, yet not one could approach.

The luster of mercury revealed itself behind the Silver-Eyed One, and with the full force of the Arcane Technique, a huge Mercury Giant appeared. It was lifting the Silver-Eyed One, lifting the Wheel of Destiny, standing upon the courtyard soil.

The power of the Arcane Technique prevented people from approaching, but Iluna Beath, a brunette young lady, was brave enough to stand in front of the wounded, protecting her companions. Shard saw her, and she also suddenly looked up and saw the masked stranger on the third-floor balcony.

"Then who is she?"

[You should ask your friend Annette, not me. But clearly, even if this world has a so-called protagonist, it won't be you. Outlander, no one can interfere with the choices of those outside fate, but spectators of the story cannot become the protagonists.]

"With the Path of Sublimation connecting to the twelve divinities, I don't want to become some troublesome Chosen One either. But are you an Old God with Silvermoon clergy? Are you the Witch Empress of the Fifth Era of Silvermoon? Have you chosen me to aid you in becoming a god after my ascension? This is my last inquiry to you."

[No, I am you.]

Shard nodded, accepting that the other was with him.

Standing on the balcony, he took out a frog's leg, rolling it between his fingers while reciting the awkward Spell Words, and he used the Sorcery "Frog's Leap."

With a graceful leap, he jumped from the third-floor balcony to the mansion's rooftop, standing under the dazzling starry sky, next to the rooftop statues.

The people in the courtyard also noticed the young man beneath the stars. He was high above, bathed in the radiance of the three full moons, but only the Silvermoon's glow seemed to drape over him.

Shard's whisper sounded at this moment; the overflowing power of divinity and the memory of the recent Dream of the Silvermoon activated the Spirit Rune of Silvermoon to cast the Arcane Technique, Illusion of the Moon Shadow.

Now, the Silvermoon in the sky appeared to break away from the other two moons. The silvery Moon Disk grew larger and larger until it appeared behind him, as though channeling its brilliance through his skull, casting light from his right eye. At the same time, the figure of Shard standing on the rooftop was reduced to nothing but a vague shadow.

Shard recalled the Dream of the Silvermoon again, thinking of the trail of the Silvermoon's Light Trace under the night sky.

His feet came together, and his hands were slightly raised beside his body before he made a light leap into the night sky.

The massive Silvermoon hung high in the sky, and Shard's body turned in front of the silver lunar circle; when his body reached the center of Silvermoon, he was perfectly posed with arms raised, head pointed downward, and feet upwards, inverted before the Star Ocean behind Silvermoon.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As his body fell, his left foot, shining with Silvermoon's radiance, slid forward, drawing his right foot to follow downwards.

Inverted before Silvermoon, Shard's silhouette was nothing but a shadow in front of it, but his feet carved dazzling and resplendent silver Light Traces in the air. Those dazzling traces broke away from the trajectory of his feet, growing larger in the night sky.

Shattering the night, cleaving through the peaceful summer night, beneath the stars, the slashing Silver Light plummeted toward the courtyard of Lakeside Manor.

"This is..."

The color of Moonlight had momentarily stunned everyone, sprinkling everyone's faces with silver light.

Church Ring Sorcerers besieging the Silver-Eyed One began retreating with the unconscious guests around them; the Mercury Giant turned its massive body, raised its arms without resistance, and was evaporated by the splendid Silvermoon light.

The Silver-Eyed One, suffering from backlash by the Arcane Technique, spat blood, dropping "Lady Lassoya" to dodge, causing the uninformed "Lady Lassoya" to also evaporate in the Moonlight, with the white goose-egg-stoned ring falling on the ground below.

The spectacular silver Moonlight finally landed on the ground, leaving a permanent Moon Track on the manor's courtyard floor amidst an earthquake that shook the entire southern suburbs of Tobesk.

The figure vanished in midair, and Shard fell onto the third-floor balcony, truly lapsing into unconsciousness this time.

Miss Annette reached out to pull him back into the shadows of the balcony, away from the eyes of the True God Church, then dragged him back into the third-floor banquet hall piled with sacrificial corpses.

Priest Augustus, who had awakened, was looking after the still unconscious Dr. Schneider and Miss Luisa. Apart from his pale complexion, he seemed miraculously fully recovered.

"Does he really believe that we would take him away in time?"

The lady with purple pupils softly said, looking at the sleeping face of the detective. She was the only one who had not been severely injured that night.

"Hamilton Detective is actually a very trusting young man. He's too young; he's just woken up from Blind Foolishness and lacks a great deal of life experience, which I'll teach him later. But the detective is indeed a good person," said Priest Augustus, shaking his head, color returning to his face visibly, though hesitated,

"That Slash of Silvermoon just now..."

"Each of us has our secrets, don't we, Priest Augustus? Like you, no matter how severe the injuries, you always recover."

Miss Annette said, her eyes flickering as she gazed at the sleeping young detective:

"Like the prophecy that has always shown me our group would never have a fifth member. He comes from beyond Fate."

"Let's get moving, take the three of them and leave. I'll hold off the Church's Ring Sorcerer squad," the old man said wearily,

"Today, we're indeed fortunate that you ultimately disrupted the ritual node, preventing the Evil God from coming into our world. Annette, you have saved the world again."

"Yes, I did disrupt the node, but..."

The brown-haired, purple-pupiled Miss Annette looked at Shard, but before she succeeded, the Shadow of the Evil God had already partly appeared. Although it was only for three seconds, before a Deity capable of warping space-time, three seconds might not simply be three seconds.

"It was his luck to have held out for three seconds in front of the Shadow of the Evil God, allowing me to completely disrupt the ritual."

Shaking his head and preparing to leave, Priest Augustus straightened out his robe, looking at the chaotic banquet hall:

"I have a feeling that this is absolutely not the end."

Moonlight shone in from outside the window, casting the Priest's large shadow onto the banquet hall wall, a shadow flickering as if a pair of wings flitted behind it.

Miss Annette's purple eyes softly glowed as she tenderly looked at Shard's face, as if speaking to herself:

"Priest, this is just the beginning. The epic of the Sixth Era has begun."