Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1939: Contact

Looking more closely behind the Mirror Keeper, it was clear that he wasn’t alone by the lakeshore; there were more people walking or working in the fog, including Circle Sorcerers dressed in attire belonging to the True God Church clergy members.

This communication was extremely unstable, with the Mirror Keeper’s figure constantly flickering, obviously unable to maintain it for long.

Fortunately, the "Mirror Keeper" at Green Lake Shore could also see the situation here through this method. He first nodded to Shard, then quickly said:

"The situation is terrible; the white fog has already covered the entire Green Lake Region, and the rift in the night sky has completed the shroud over the material world’s night sky. According to the church, the Chosen of Space must be selected urgently, and then he should reinforce the seal on Green Lake Central Island, otherwise, everything will be irredeemable."

"Did the [Mirror Association] collaborate with the church?"

Shard asked, as the flickering figure of the Mirror Keeper glanced at him:

"Only this once, even the church isn’t very willing to cooperate with us.

I’ll keep it brief; because the fog spreading into the city will take at least an hour or even longer for the church to reach your position by ship, but there might be methods unknown to me that allow earlier access to the island. The good news is, since this kind of communication works now, it indicates that there are other means of communication available. The deceased Chosen One left a message for the God Summoner—’Ignite the flame.’"

Shard slightly furrowed his brow:

"Fire? I understand."

"Also, the church is attempting to project Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers or supplies onto the island through my projection method. The projection of Circle Sorcerers is not going smoothly, but some items have successfully entered the island. You can try to find them during your exploration on the island."

"How is the city now?"

"I didn’t expect you’d still care about that; it’s terrible, but not to the point of destroying the city. It depends on how swift your actions are..."

The glimmer shot from the bronze eyeball suddenly vanished, and the Mirror Keeper’s figure disappeared along with it. Shard thought it was because the two brothers couldn’t bear the pressure of using this relic any longer; he turned around only to find that Wood Edwards and Grass Edwards, who had been standing beside him, had disappeared together.

"What happened?"

[The fog surged around them, and then they vanished.]

"Then let’s meet again in the banquet hall."

He didn’t care about the disappearance of the brothers and looked towards the direction of Edwards’ Old House in the distance. Instead of advancing, he took out the Return Charm from his pocket and was about to bend one, when he suddenly looked around with suspicion.

A peculiar force, unseen, unheard, or untouchable, but at this moment, Shard distinctly felt some strange power emerge here due to what had just occurred in the cemetery.

He couldn’t describe this feeling, and after instinctively confirming it wasn’t a trap or danger, he raised his hand lightly and touched the lush blood-red tree.

The "her" beside his ear seemed to chuckle, then Shard received a prompt:

[Outlander, you have felt Miracle, Desecration, Enlightenment, and Whisper.]

[Outlander, you are touching "Edwards’ Ascension Technique"... you extracted the power symbolizing "Blood Flesh Ascension."]

[Your vision on the island expanded; suppression by island power weakened; before leaving the island, your spirit and stamina recovery enhanced.]

"What?"

He was puzzled and bemused.

[Edwards’ Ascension Technique is effective for you too.]

"Her" voice was still so gentle, but the sentences spoken gave Shard a full shock:

"Am I possibly a descendant of Edwards; am I actually related to Megan and Audrey? Can we still..."

[You have no blood relation with Edwards.]

"Then why... oh?"

Shard felt that he might have guessed some truth:

"The ceremony, Edwards’ Ascension Technique, is modeled after the Thirteen Chosen One Ceremony. In essence, it bears very similar characteristics to the Thirteen Chosen One. Although I am not a descendant of Edwards and lack Iluna’s luck to gain strength after each Chosen One’s tale, I am not always without gain either."

With his hand on the position of his card deck on his chest, he could clearly perceive the presence of five Impermanence Cards—Silvermoon and Space were currently ordinary cards, and didn’t have the sense like his own limbs:

"So, as long as it’s related to the Thirteen Chosen One Ceremony, can one indeed extract strength from it?"

He shook hands, but didn’t feel any additional strength.

[This is a symbolic ritual. If you can touch more traces of this ritual, perhaps you can compete with the creator of the ritual for control in the end.]

"There’s something like this?"

Shard thought suspiciously, then bent a "Return Charm." His figure disappeared into the cemetery.

Fog surged, completely covering every corner of the cemetery. The blood on the ground continued to seep underground, the roots of the tree lurking beneath the island silently absorbing the red liquid, and the fog on the island seemed even denser.

"Shard!"

"Meow~"

When Shard appeared by the bonfire on the first floor of the Green Lake Hotel, the girls immediately surrounded him anxiously, thinking he was seriously injured and had to return.

Seeing that he was intact except for being soaked, they breathed a little easier. Miss Haley Aflora walked over and placed her hand on Shard’s back, quickly drying the soaked clothes within five seconds:

"Mr. Hamilton, I just tried to enter the Council, but it’s not possible here."

This was expected. Shard nodded, looked around, and unexpectedly found that there were noticeably more female sorcerers standing than when he left.

Under the flickering shadows of the three bonfires, pairs of eyes watched him, and Tifa at the door seemed to know what Shard was thinking:

"After you left, we managed to wake up a few unconscious girls, though not many regained full mobility."

This is good news, after all, Shard hadn’t been gone long.

Magic potions to restore stamina, remove negative states, and strengthen power had already been brought over, and enhancement Arcane Techniques were thrown onto Shard one after another.

Shard hugged Lecia for a moment and nodded to Dorothy before speaking:

"I just encountered the Edwards Brothers. They had brief communication from outside the island. Sister Delphine gave me a message, and I think I understand the sister’s intention. The situation now is quite interesting, almost all forces outside the island are collaborating. This state of isolation will soon end, be prepared to respond."

Saying this, he sat down by the campfire. The girls made space for him, leaving just him alone by the fire. Only Angelina crouched down, carefully placed Mia on the ground, and the cat joyfully ran to Shard and then lay down in front of him.

Focusing his attention, Shard stared at the flame in front of him. Stretching out his right index finger, a tiny flame jumped from it. The Fire of the Primordial that Sister Delphine shared with him couldn’t be fully controlled; he could only use all his strength to keep the flame steady and then reached his hand into the campfire in front of him.

The flame seemed to ignite his entire hand, and in the fire, Sister Delphine’s face with a silver mask clearly appeared. Her gray hair stuck wetly to her cheeks, indicating she was also outdoors at the moment.

However, the sister didn’t speak. Shard only felt a warm hand in the flame holding his own. That hand stuffed something into his hand, and a warm current flowed into his hand, restoring his stamina and spirit, calming his tense mind.

Then, the sister’s masked face disappeared from the flame.

Shard withdrew his right hand, and in his palm appeared a rolled-up paper, a golden earring, and a pink rhombus crystal.

Shard didn’t immediately check the paper or the other item but instead looked in surprise at the golden earring obviously meant for the right ear:

"Megan and Audrey’s golden earrings? Ancient witches’ golden jewelry? Why is it with Sister Delphine?"

This is the symbol of the witches’ identity. Though Shard hadn’t seen Megan wearing it this evening, it shouldn’t be with Sister Delphine.

"Check the content of the paper."

Dorothy reminded him, so Shard unrolled the paper. The handwriting was undoubtedly Sister Delphine’s, and the ancient grammar in the paper was something only Sister Delphine would use.

Because there was a lot to write and the paper was limited in size, the letters were densely packed and small. The sister didn’t indulge in excessive pleasantries, starting right away with the reason the earring was in her possession:

[Megan Edwards feared she would die in the old family house and lose an important Council relic, so she took this earring off in advance and left it with me.]

As for why it wasn’t given to other witches or Shard, evidently Megan didn’t want others to know her concerns.

A hand reached out to Shard, holding his palm with the earring. Shard turned to see Lecia behind him, Her Highness the Princess nodded slightly:

"Since you’ve promised to bring them back, make sure you don’t break your word."

Compared to other witches, Lecia had the best impression of Megan and Audrey. The fate of "twins" made her feel that she was similar to Dorothy and the witch sisters.

The rest of the paper described the current situation outside. As expected, all three pairs of twins of the sixth generation disappeared after half past seven. However, contrary to Shard’s expectations, the Edwardses at the hotel received the second invitation letter at seven forty-eight, and the timing for Edwards elsewhere varied.