Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1420: Assembly

That night, as usual, Dorothy stayed overnight at the Shard Family house. Having heard that Luviya would soon be done with matters in Randall Valley by next week, and would be back soon, Miss Writer cherished the current moments.

After the adult time in the evening, she even let Mia out of the closet, so that the cat could sleep peacefully next to Shard’s pillow.

At 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, the bedroom at No. 6, Saint Delan Square was in complete darkness, the tightly closed curtains blocking the moonlight and the glow from the gas streetlights outside.

The sleeping Shard was embracing the girl in his arms when suddenly the cat next to the pillow opened its amber eyes, stood up alertly, and jumped onto Shard’s body, then patted his blanket with its paw.

As the lightly sleeping Shard regained some awareness, "she" whispered in his ear:

"Earthquake."

"What?"

The feeling of the bed slightly shaking only came after Shard finished asking. With no time to think, Shard instinctively grabbed Dorothy with one hand and the cat with the other, then turned over directly and rolled off the bed, rolling with force to take Mia and Dorothy under it.

It wasn’t until then that the deeply asleep Dorothy realized what was happening:

"Oh, Shard, if you want to try something under the bed, can you let me know first?"

"It’s an earthquake!"

Shard emphasized, as the shaking sensation was beginning to subside.

"What about an earthquake? If your haunted house is going to collapse during an earthquake, then it’s not really a haunted house."

The golden-haired girl mumbled drowsily, holding Shard tightly, and did a roll to pull him out from under the bed. Fortunately, the maid who cleaned weekly was diligent and responsible, ensuring even the corners were cleaned, so under the bed wasn’t dirty.

Now Dorothy couldn’t sleep either, so they got up and went to the window, seeing Shard’s neighbors, dressed in pajamas, nervously coming outside one after another, only to return to their houses because it was too cold, and then back to sleep.

This small earthquake in Tobesk, though not causing much damage, inexplicably made Shard feel that his actions in Randall Valley needed to be sped up.

During that Sunday morning, Shard first met not Sister Delphine, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, but Marilyn Handel, whom he saw on the first floor of the Abundant Land Inn when he went to find Luviya early in the morning.

This lady had been out of touch since she last met Shard and Dr. Schneider last late autumn at Tobesk Public Cemetery. After not seeing her for nearly half a year, she seemed thinner, and her skin was paler than it was last time.

Yet at the same time, the feeling that almost directly touched the essence of death on her body appeared increasingly evident. Shard wasn’t sure if that was because she had genuinely stepped out of death, or due to that death curse.

Joey Barton’s soul was standing beside Ms. Handel, nodding towards Shard as he approached the inn.

Shard pulled out a chair, sitting across from the pale-faced woman. After ordering hot tea from the waiter, he clasped his hands together:

"Long time no see, Ms. Handel. How do you find this city?"

"Like a lost soul about to fall into the abyss."

Marilyn Handel said in Delarion:

"I can feel the breath of death spreading over this land, and dying here might mean not being able to reach the end. The earth is binding souls, and the earth is trying to seize the power of death."

Shard nodded:

"Someone will handle the matters here. The reason we brought you here this time is to hope you can deal with a soul."

"Where is this soul, may I ask?"

Ms. Handel inquired.

"The person isn’t dead yet. However, I hope after he dies, he can leave the living world as soon as possible, preferably heading directly to the end."

Ms. Handel exchanged a glance with the soul beside her:

"No problem, sending lingering souls on their return journey is part of our redemption."

"That’s good... actually, there’s another issue. Recently, I’ve encountered a very special soul. This soul itself exists as a whole, yet it’s composed of hundreds of powerful souls sharing one consciousness, while still able to exhibit hundreds of different ways of thinking."

He described the existence of the Guardians, and Ms. Hendel hesitated:

"Souls belong to the World and the gods. Theoretically speaking, what you described does not align with basic common sense and should not occur. But if it’s a voluntary sacrifice, combined with the power of the Great One, it might be possible for so many souls to merge, resulting in a near-transcendental phenomenon."

Seeing that Shard still wanted to inquire, Ms. Hendel added:

"But even if the Deity permits it, this form of existence still conflicts with the World. The World itself, along with the Supernatural System and Mysticism, has strict definitions regarding souls. In my and Barton’s view, even if it’s a voluntary sacrifice, it’s still a form of desecration of the soul. Even for the protection of the Earth beneath our feet, it should not be done."

Joey Barton, who hadn’t spoken all this while, also spoke at this moment:

"Those souls are destined not to walk towards Death because they desecrated the soul and rejected Death, so Death also rejected them. Compared to the Demon soul you mentioned earlier, this collective soul is an existence that should absolutely not appear. We do not intend to judge other Chosen Ones, but he may be even more mad than I was back then."

Shard pursed his lips, lowered his voice, and asked very, very quietly:

"If there is a situation where I come into conflict with the Guardian, is there a way for me to specifically deal with him?"

[What do you intend to do?]

"She" suddenly asked.

"It’s important to be cautious. Before the Chosen One Ceremony is held, nothing can be said for certain. Besides, Long-Haired Luvia insists on letting Miss Lathis die, using her soul to control the Guardian, which means the Guardian is likely to encounter problems. I discussed this situation with Luvia after confronting the Shadow of the Evil God on Tuesday night."

Ms. Hendel and Joey Barton both considered for a moment, and then the pale-faced woman replied:

"Fighting the Guardian is equivalent to fighting hundreds of Circle Sorcerers at once. In terms of power, you currently cannot suppress so many souls, but those are souls nonetheless. The nun with the silver eyepatch, relying on the power of the Chosen by Death, can definitely oppose them." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Can’t preparations be made based on its characteristic of existing as hundreds of souls?"

Shard asked again, and Joey Barton nodded:

"Because hundreds of souls merge into one, if you successfully cast a curse on the soul, it’s equivalent to the opponent having to undergo hundreds of checks. As long as one check fails, the entire collective soul will be cursed. If the demon you mentioned wants to combat the Guardian, it likely uses this method."

He gestured for Ms. Hendel to take out paper and pen and write down an arcane technique, handing it to Shard:

"Because the opponent’s soul resistance must be extremely high, and they are aware of their own weaknesses, highly destructive soul curses are likely ineffective. You could try this, though it might not defeat the enemy in one blow, it is definitely useful."

Shard looked at the contents of the note:

"Arcane Technique - [Soul Lashing], corresponds to the Spirit Rune - [Punishment] [Thorns] [Penalty] [Long Whip] [Pain], and it must be of the Miracle or Desecration type. It’s an active arcane technique that requires a drop of blood from the caster’s own spellcasting materials. Prick your finger, flick the blood, turning it into an invisible Soul Lashing, causing the target soul to suffer pain as if struck by thorny vines. But aside from this pain, the arcane technique itself has no direct harm."

"Pain itself is a form of harm."

Shard said, then felt he had seen a similar arcane technique. But the one he saw was not aimed at the soul, but at the body, which could only cause physical pain without actual injury. The similar arcane technique he saw came from the "Book of Pink," but Shard had not learned the technique he saw.

"The lashing pain from the arcane technique itself is enough to daze even a strong soul for a moment. And hundreds of instances of the same pain stacked should be enough to cause trouble for the Guardian. Or at the very least, delay his actions."

Ms. Hendel said and explained the origin of the arcane technique:

"Not all souls residing in the Living World are polite. The ancient Messengers of Death created this ancient arcane technique to politely send souls away without harming them. Due to its widely renowned name since the First Era, [Soul Lashing] is more effective on ancient souls. Time and age have granted this arcane technique unique abilities."

Although Shard does not have the "Thorns" Spirit Rune, he has the Miracle "Thorns of the Moon," so he thinks he might be able to learn this arcane technique.

After thanking Ms. Hendel, Shard arranged for her to stay at the Abundant Land Inn and informed her that while the exact time of the operation had not been determined, it would definitely be next week.

As for Sister Delphine, she arrived at Randall Valley at noon that day, but then went to the Sun Cathedral. By the time Shard met the nun at the Wilder Opera House, it was already after dinner.

Because Sister Delphine was ostensibly supporting the Church, she found it inconvenient to directly contact the Witch, so she met Shard and Luvia in a box at the Wilder Opera House.

The opera began with a high-pitched female singing voice expressing the laundry maid’s anticipation and hope for a new day. This is Casenli’s famous play "The Laundry Girl and the Cat Prince," which Shard has already seen many times at the Wilder Opera House.

"That’s about it."

Shard and Luvia narrated the current progress to the nun, and Sister Delphine actually reached a conclusion similar to that of Marilyn Hendel that morning:

"This time, the enemy is not two but three. The Guardian is bound to encounter trouble, and the unique form of the soul’s existence means he is more prone to twist than normal souls. Perhaps the Heart of the Earth you mentioned has protected him over the past thousand years, but with the Earth’s own current twist, this distortion will likely transfer to him as well. You and Luvia’s judgment is very correct, the Mad Guardian will be the final enemy."