Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Yellow, red, and silver moons hung high in the night sky above Lakeside Manor, unobstructed by clouds, with the dazzling Star River seemingly hanging upside down overhead, as if one could reach out and touch the stellar glow.

When the accident occurred, the aftermath of the Divine Descent Ritual put the guests of the banquet into a deep sleep, so no one witnessed the unusual blood mist and fighting that followed.

This, in fact, facilitated the explanation of tonight's events—the organizer of the banquet, Little Clown, in collaboration with followers of the Evil God, the Lord of the Blood Feast, had placed sleeping drugs in the banquet's food and drinks. Fortunately, the True God Church, representing justice, arrived just in time to thwart their conspiracy.

As for the recent earthquake, it was entirely coincidental and unrelated to this place.

Now, Lakeside Manor was surrounded by a joint force of Tobesk military and police, while the guests of the banquet who awoke were politely taken by the True God Church to rest and be examined inside the grand mansion.

This was partly to prevent too many people from seeing the Moon Track in the courtyard of Lakeside Manor, and partly to try to identify suspicious individuals who should not be present from among the guests.

Teams of Circle Sorcerers from the Sun Church and Peace Church who participated in the great battle remained in the courtyard.

Newly arrived police took charge of entering the mansion to maintain order, while a support squad of Circle Sorcerers from the town conducted a thorough search of the manor, documenting and destroying the ritual of "The Divine Descent of the Sun's Moon, Sixth Era - 1853," and incidentally plucking those eerie blood-red flowers from the walls of the manor.

This was indeed a precious material.

Miss Iluna Beath, a young lady with brown hair, stood with her companions in the courtyard, in front of the terrible scar still emitting a silver glow.

The Moon Track, nearly straight, extended from the main entrance of the mansion to the gates of Lakeside Manor, splitting the entire axis of the manor, and its residual power lingered for a long time. Even after half an hour had passed, people still dared not touch the markings on the ground directly.

Miss Lanina Green of the Sun Church was the first True God Church Ten-Ring Circle Sorcerer to arrive at the manor. Dressed in a long blue gown, she stood beside the glowing ground scar, playing with the "Transmutation Ring," a relic that fell from Lady Lassoya after her death, listening to the Circle Sorcerers from the Sun Church recount what had just happened.

Miss Iluna Beath, with brown hair, had no right to speak, simply listening to Mr. Robinson, the team captain, as he recounted, and after he finished, she added to the Circle Sorceress of their church:

"I think I was the first to notice him, but I didn't see his face or appearance. However, I believe it was a man. I noticed him coming out of the banquet hall on the third floor before he jumped into the air."

She was very confident about this.

Miss Green smiled back at her, nodding in confirmation after ensuring no other clues were offered by the group, then lowered her head to look at the glowing ground marks.

"Was the adversary strong?"

Miss Beath asked, pinching her skirt, sounding somewhat uneasy.

"Judging from the remnants of the Spirit, at least stronger than me."

All present inevitably frowned, in the Sixth Era, High Ring Sorcerers of Ten Rings and above, while not exactly rare, were very hard to come across:

"Miss Green, who could it be?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Team captain Robinson, considered strong enough by Shard to kill him and Mia with one punch, inquired with a furrowed brow.

"It's uncertain, but certainly not someone from the True God Church or the Magic Academy, as those professors rarely tread on the Old Continent. We should send letters to all three academies for confirmation; they might know who it is… how coincidental that Mr. Sari Pirot, the Iron Right Hand of the Church of Creation, had just left Tobesk last week, and then this happened..."

The Sorceress turned to look at the team of Circle Sorcerers from the Peace Church on the side, who had already met up with an Eleven-Ring Circle Sorcerer from the Peace Church.

The Eleven-Ring Circle Sorcerer from the Peace Church was an old man who appeared even older than Priest Augustus, with white hair, dressed in a plain clergy robe. If encountered casually in a church, it would be hard to believe he possessed such formidable power:

"Mr. Modro, what's your opinion?"

Miss Green inquired as Old Mr. Modro knelt down, directly placing his hand on the ground scar:

"Oh, this is quite powerful!"

He immediately withdrew his hand, then looked at his palm, now covered in cracks, as the silver glow gradually faded:

"Your view is similar... at least Twelve Rings, possibly Thirteen. The attacker didn't reveal his Ring of Fate during the attack, indicating that it was merely a casual strike for him."

Everyone present inhaled sharply; the old Eleven-Ring Sorcerer couldn't help but marvel:

"Impressive indeed, that sir probably knew from the start that the Blood of Mercury and the cultists planned to summon an Evil God here. Not only did he resolve the 'Heart Collector' that the church had not discovered beforehand, but he also hid and observed our team of Circle Sorcerers in action.

On confirming that the church could not overcome the adversary and that reinforcements from the town would not arrive in time, he alone disrupted the ritual on the third floor with exquisite skill and then wounded the Silver-Eyed One with a casual strike before quietly departing… Which one from the New World has returned? Or, which Twelve-Ring Sorcerer has been promoted?"

The old man's voice gradually lowered, and he no longer reached out, but remained in a crouching stance looking at the glowing soil, saying:

"Perhaps later we could use Divination for guidance, but tonight, with the Evil God descending, the aura of a god will disturb the traces of Fate."

"Evil God..."

Miss Green looked up toward the third floor of the mansion, where the "Masked Person under Silvermoon" everyone had just mentioned had appeared:

"But at least the person is not a foe, he stopped 'Lord of the Blood Feast' from descending and even attacked the Silver-Eyed One and his companion. The headless corpse found in the garden of Lakeside Manor just thirty minutes ago has been confirmed to belong to the Blood of Mercury's 'Heart Collector.' The individual seems quite familiar with Blood of Mercury, cultists, and our squad's movements.

Tonight's operation seemed to be particularly aimed at Blood of Mercury and was very efficient. Could it be, he came here for..."

She didn't say the name of that Sage-Level Relic directly, but Old Mr. Modro, an Eleven-Ring Sorcerer, understood her intention:

"Regardless, investigating the participants of this banquet and identifying suspicious individuals is essential. I think there should at least be a list. I'm curious to see if any Correspondence Circle Sorcerers were present. Given the current situation, even if one of the suspicious guests is adept at divination and has inside help at the church, they won't be able to escape.

Moreover, before we came and the Silver-Eyed One fled, did anyone come down from the third floor of the mansion?"

He had grasped the key point.

"No."

Mr. Robinson, the captain of the Sun Church Ring Sorcerer team, said as he pulled out a small notebook and flipped through it:

"We inspected the second and third floors recently, and only the guests trapped on the second floor left the mansion after the fight. Among them, several had somewhat sensitive identities and vouched for their own and their servants' innocence using their honor; we checked thoroughly and confirmed that they were ordinary people."

"Sensitive identities? Which member of the Royal Family is here tonight?"

Miss Green inquired.

"Duchess Galina Cavendish, she just came to Tobesk from her lands a few weeks ago."

A Ring Sorcerer from the Peace Church answered, and everyone seemed quite confident about the Duchess, so they did not suspect her entourage.

"Since it's a suspected Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer, they obviously won't be easily found by us."

Miss Green said, her eyes gazing at the triune moon and twinkling stars above:

"Issue a Bounty Order, offering a reward worldwide for members of the Blood of Mercury and believers of the 'Lord of the Blood Feast.' This matter cannot simply end here. Although 'Iron Right Hand' is temporarily not in this parish, I believe the Church of the Five Gods can temporarily assign another Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer to solve the issues of the cultists and Blood of Mercury decisively.

As for that man..."

Miss Green hesitated for a moment, so Mr. Modro from the Peace Church spoke up:

"For now, use 'Masked Person under Silvermoon' as a codename to inform the Dawn Church, Church of Nature, and Church of Creation, who were not involved in tonight's operation, of that person's identity. Since he prevented the descent of the Evil God, there's no need to consider him an enemy for the time being. We can maintain a wait-and-see approach until he appears again.

But Tobesk Parish needs to closely inspect unidentified mages coming in over the next few months... Silvermoon, could it be the 'Grand Witch of Silvermoon' from the Witch Council has arrived?"

He pondered, but then stood up and shook his head:

"I must be confused; there are no men in the Witch Council."

Miss Green then mentioned the latest news:

"We just received intelligence that those women have been active in Tobesk Parish."

"Recently, it's not just them that have been active in Tobesk, and, besides, don't you know what these people are after?"

Mr. Modro said as he glanced at Miss Iluna Beath standing beside them, who was unaware of what they were discussing.

"Anyway, the world is about to become chaotic again. How many years has it been since an incident of an Evil God nearly descending successfully occurred?"

The old man spoke with concern.

"Sir, why would it become chaotic? Isn't it still a time of peace?"

A young priest from the Peace Church team, who had once handed out Relief Food flyers to Shard, cautiously asked.

Miss Green sighed:

"The grand prophecy left by the Witch Empresses..."

She looked at her church's bewildered Miss Iluna Beath, who was surprised by her words. Miss Green shook her head:

"No, it's just a prophecy. Anyway, those who believe in the prophecy will soon gather in Tobesk City to fulfill the first section of the 'Whispering Verses.' The city will see some odd fellows recently. I believe, the 'Masked Person under Silvermoon,' too, was drawn here by the prophecy of the Old God's resurgence and accidentally targeted Blood of Mercury. Twelve Rings, or even Thirteen...

who could it possibly be?"