Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 512: The People Who Once Saved the World

After Dorothy left, Shard continued to wait. At eight o'clock in the evening, Luviya had someone send a letter to Shard, which stated that the True God Church had discovered traces of Daknis and the Weeper in the southern part of the city, but the pursuit was not going smoothly due to the appearance of other Circle Sorcerer organizations.

"Other Circle Sorcerer organizations as well..."

Shard, who remained in Saint Delan Square, felt that the situation was becoming increasingly grim. Circle Sorcerer organizations seeking the Chosen One were not limited to the Church, Academy, Council, and Blood Spirit School. A few more days of delay might even bring forth new Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers.

Besides, Luviya had already made contact with Iluna. The uncontrollable Relic, the "Dark Realm," was immensely dangerous, and the church had produced some amulets to protect those who needed to enter. Iluna had acquired two extra ones, and Luviya would bring the amulets to Saint Delan Square during her next visit.

She also believed that Daknis was very likely to successfully enter the "Dark Realm," so she had Shard remain ready to leave at any moment.

Thus, Saturday morning arrived, the thirty-first day of the Month of Blossoms, at the end of August.

Waking up in the morning, Shard thought that if he still could not confirm the whereabouts of Daknis by noon today, he would go look for Luviya and not wait any longer.

But just after breakfast, someone knocked on the door downstairs. However, when an expectant Shard opened the door, he found that the visitor was neither Luviya nor the maid with the "Box of Darkness," but Priest Augustus.

"Why do you look so disappointed to see me? Shard, do you really dislike me that much?"

Priest wasn't involved in the matters of the Chosen One, so while Shard was anxiously and eagerly waiting for the decisive battle, the priest's life was quite leisurely.

"No, no, I am happy that you came by. But I was waiting for Luviya, there are some important matters I need to ask her about."

Shard said, then stepped aside to let Priest Augustus enter the door.

"Luviya? Who is that? Have you met a new girl?"

The priest asked with a laugh, prepared to enter, just then noticing Shard was standing there dumbfounded:

"Detective, you're being very strange today, what's wrong?"

He furrowed his brows.

"Priest, Luviya Annette, don't you recognize her?"

"Who is that?"

Priest Augustus asked curiously, stroking his chin, seeming genuinely puzzled and not jesting.

At that moment, Shard doubted he was still not awake, but immediately thought of the properties of the "Dark Realm":

"Well then, Priest, please think carefully, how many people are there in our group, including you and me?"

Shard asked again.

"There's the doctor and the author, four people... Hmm? Why does it feel like something is off... Wait, weren't our group complete with five people?"

He looked up at the detective at the door:

"Am I being affected by something's influence on my memory?"

"It's not an influence on memory, it's an alteration of cognition."

The area covered by the "Dark Realm" would not only completely vanish, but all related knowledge would also fade. Any related records would disappear in a relatively logical manner. Thus, people who entered that area would also be forgotten by everyone. Even though all records disappeared, people would gradually notice that something was amiss, which is why the church could initially discover the emergence of the "Dark Realm" around the Tobesk Region.

"Come with me, Priest, there's something very important we need to check."

Shard quickly headed upstairs, with the priest closing the door behind him and following while mulling over the situation:

"Oh, don't walk so fast, do you think I am as young as you? Shard, tell me first, what level is the relic?"

Shard was almost at the second floor now, moving quickly, while the priest had just reached the stairwell corner:

"It's an Angel-Level (1-Level) Relic, the 'Dark Realm'!"

"As long as it's not Unclassified Level, I don't want to encounter what happened last time again,"

"Priest, have you experienced an incident where an Unclassified Level Relic went out of control?"

By the time the Priest reached the second floor, gasping for breath, Shard's voice came from the study.

"Yes, yes, that was a complete disaster. It involved Annette and me… Oh, it reminds me of Annette!"

The Old Cleric said excitedly, smoothening his breath as he crossed the living room towards the study:

"The Unclassified Level Relic, 'Time of Retrospection', looks like an hourglass with silver sand inside. It caused the Tobesk Region to repeat the same day over and over, and with each cycle, the affected area grew larger. By the time she found me, the relic's influence had almost reached the southern border of the Kingdom."

"Hmm?"

Shard's head poked out from the study doorway:

"A time loop? You two managed to resolve it?"

"It was mostly Annette. She was completely immune to the time resets and could remember everything from each loop. She tried eight times on her own to locate and contain the relic within 24 hours but failed, which is why she sought my help,"

The Priest said with a hint of pride:

"Though I'm only a Two Ring Sorcerer, after knocking out Bishop Owen and stuffing him into the broom closet, I could mobilize all the Circle Sorcerers of Dawn Chapel under the pretext of searching for the missing bishop."

He walked into the study and saw Shard holding a huge rolled-up map, heading towards the door:

"No need to come to the study, Priest. Could you help open the door on the living room wall that leads to Room Two? This map can only be fully displayed in the next room... So, how did you deal with that Unclassified Level Relic? Such a tricky thing, did you sell it to the Academy after containing it?"

"No, no, Annette thought that having finally obtained an Unclassified Level Relic, how could we let it go easily? The hourglass was placed under the church. I dug up the floor beneath the Divine Statue and buried the hourglass at the statue's base to prevent it from going out of control again. In a way, it was Annette who saved the world,"

The Priest said, as he opened the door and led the way into Room Two.

"Priest, you really... have some ideas. But doesn't that count as desecration?"

"Of course not, I actively used the power of our Lord to suppress an Unclassified Level Relic. If this were made public, the church would even canonize me after my death,"

The Priest boasted, spreading the map, which Miss Galina had described as 'Military Grade', on the floor along with Shard.

"But Shard, the thing I just told you, you must not tell others. I promised Annette I wouldn't tell anyone."

The Priest said with some concern:

"I'm only telling you because of this incident and because you and Annette are quite close."

"No problem, Priest."

Shard crouched down, looking at the map of the southern part of Tobesk, meanwhile explaining to Priest Augustus what 'Dark Realm' was. Although the Priest wasn't a Circle Sorcerer of the church, he had heard about the dangerous Angel-Level Relic that had appeared in the Tobesk Parish, so Shard did not need to elaborate much.

"However, why aren't you affected by the 'Dark Realm'?"

The Priest asked curiously from behind Shard.

"I'm not completely unaffected; the impact is just weaker. When I woke up this morning, I felt as though I was waiting for someone, but I couldn't remember who. When you knocked on the door downstairs, I blurted out 'Luviya is here', then I realized I was waiting for her... Ha, I thought I was just confused from sleep,"

Shard explained, and the Priest nodded, accepting this explanation:

"But the reason Annette isn't affected by the 'Time of Circulation', I really can't figure out. As far as I remember, she doesn't possess any time-related powers."

The Priest muttered softly, while Shard knew the answer.

When Shard kissed Luviya Fiocchi Annette under the moon, she unromantically hinted to him that Luviya Fiocchi Annette was cursed by time. Any grand forces of time were unrelated to her, and the damages of time appeared more pronounced on her.

Perhaps, the time loops were another manifestation of such grand forces of time.

Although Shard chided her for being unromantic, the voice beside him still assisted Shard and Priest Augustus in comparing the current map with the one Shard had seen before, identifying how much of the area had disappeared.

The situation was somewhat better than Shard had expected; the city area was unaffected. A month ago at the opera house, when he first heard about this relic with Dorothy, the "Dark Realm" had only engulfed a small town in the southeast of Tobesk. Now during this inspection, the part of the map that had disappeared expanded northward and westward to the southern suburbs of Tobesk.

Even Miss Galina's manor was included within it.

This indicated that the relic, which had been largely under control, had undergone a new change, yet the change was not particularly significant. It was very likely related to the proximity of the "Dark" Chosen One.

This situation must have arisen only a few hours ago because before Shard went to sleep early this morning, he had been studying the southeast city terrain on the simple map when everything was still normal.

"The 'Dark Realm' became uncontrollable but then it came under control again."

Priest Augustus made the same judgment as Shard.

"Yes, the criminal pursued by the church must have done something."

Shard stood up and looked down at the map:

"Priest, I need to go do something that I should do. Please inform the church about the uncontrollable state of the relic...well, they must already know, I might be underestimating the True God Church a bit too much."

Shard shook his head.

Priest Augustus frowned and looked at Shard:

"What are you going to do?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you that."

"Is it related to the demon you inquired about before? Related to the 'Dark Realm'?"

"Yes."

Shard nodded:

"And Luviya might also be in that area; I need to go rescue her. Priest, you don't need to stop me or follow me, I am already prepared. Do not forget what I did at Lakeside Manor, I can use that power one more time."

The two returned to the living room of Room 1, where the priest watched Shard pack up the things on the coffee table, preparing to leave. The old man hesitated:

"Well, at my age, even if I followed you, I probably couldn't be of much help...Shard."

"What is it?"

The Outlander looked surprised as the old cleric suddenly raised his voice.

"Darkness has never been unbeatable; I've always believed that the human heart is initially dark and needs to be purified through faith. But I also believe that even the deepest darkness will eventually meet someone who can devour it."

Priest Augustus said with a serious expression:

"Now, please close your eyes and don't look directly at me. Before you leave, I can give you some blessings and strength. Detective, if this journey of yours is just, you shall surely receive the protection of the spirits."

Shard, who was originally holding a cat and planning to throw it onto the sofa before closing the lid of the "God's Gift Box", put the cat down upon hearing the priest:

"What do you want to do...well, I believe you."

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He stood next to the coffee table, closed his eyes, and then the air around him started to move; he also seemed to hear the fluttering of wings.

Shard realized that the priest had spread his wings.

A cold finger suddenly touched Shard's forehead. An almost soul-freezing chill entered Shard's forehead from the fingertips of Priest Augustus, nearly making him shiver uncontrollably from the penetrating cold.

[Outlander, you have perceived the "Whisper."]

[This is the power of death. Such brilliant, such beautiful, such dazzling death.]

She was murmuring softly as if singing.

"All right."

His fingers withdrew, and Priest Augustus spoke in a weak tone.

Shard opened his eyes and saw the priest's pale face as he sat down on the couch with support.

"Priest, what's wrong with you..."

"I'm fine."

The old man waved his hand with difficulty, his wrinkles more evident than ever, clearly not looking fine:

"I'm too old, Shard, I can't go with you. The blessing just now wasn't very effective, it will only protect you from those dark influences once you enter the range of the Relic."

Shard hadn't yet received the church's special amulet. He had planned to rely on Divinity and resist the influence of the Relic like he did on the Fishbone Pirate Ship, but the priest had facilitated things for him.

"Are you really okay?"

"I'm really fine, I just need to rest a bit. I'm just too old, can't keep up with you young folks."

His voice remained weak, and seeing Shard wanting to heal him, he waved his hand again:

"It's just a big expenditure of my energy, not an injury. Go on, Shard, be careful, and don't think that my blessing ensures no danger.

You must remember, overcoming darkness relies on courage and strength, not on any Light. Light and darkness are inherently linked; darkness too is a power, and it isn't synonymous with evil."

The priest instructed, the words fitting well with his identity as an old cleric of the Church of Light and Shadow.

"I'll remember."

Shard nodded, turned around, and closed the lid of the "God's Gift Box" on the coffee table, then packed it into his tailored backpack.

Priest Augustus didn't seem to recognize it.

After packing up and shouldering his backpack, he realized that Mia, who had been on the coffee table moments before, had disappeared. The cat must have slipped out through the door, which wasn't closed, and gone to room two to scratch at things.

Shard tried calling out a few times, but the orange cat did not appear running. Being pressed for time, he didn't search for little Mia, assuming it would be safe at home.

"Oh, right, priest, what was it you came to tell me?"

Shard suddenly remembered this.

"Oh, I almost forgot."

Priest Augustus patted his face, which had regained some color:

"Schneider sent me to inform you that today's study session is canceled; he has important matters and will be leaving town, probably returning late."

"That's great, I definitely won't be able to return to town this afternoon."

Even if Shard moved quickly in the Dark Realm, it would take a lot of time to get from the city center to the southern part of town.

"Okay, when you see Annette later, also tell her that today's study session is canceled. I'll rest here for a while before I go to notify Luisa."

"Priest, just rest easy here," Shard said.

He adjusted the straps of his backpack and threw the house keys to the priest:

"Lock the door for me when you leave. Now, I must be on my way."

"Whatever you do, be very careful," the priest sighed.

"Light shines on the shadow, the shadow follows the dawn. May Mr. Dawn protect you, Shard."