Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 516: The Demon of the Past

On the other side, Shard, unaware that because he had left home in such a hurry, brought along something extra without actually leaving anything behind.

He was currently crawling on the ground, holding his breath, enduring the headache as he listened to the sharp, piercing song.

Ahead was the source of the singing, in the center of the cornfield where all the plants were flattened to form a circular area. Dozens of short Servants of the Hidden, clad in black robes, surrounded a bonfire built of human bones, singing while performing frantic dance movements in the center of the cornfield.

They clearly had only one eye on their faces, but still managed to produce sounds. The bonfire, however, was of a deeper black, darker than the darkness around it, merely staring at it instinctively filled one with fear and danger.

It was as if everything in the world could sink into eternal slumber in the black bonfire at the center of the cornfield, and the slightly trembling black flames seemed to symbolize the end of everything.

If it weren't for the divine warmth in his soul, constantly warming Shard, he probably would have fallen asleep and entered an eternal rest by now. As soon as he shifted his gaze away, his soul still felt the coldness, silence, and hollowness from just a moment ago.

"What is this?"

Shard quietly asked inside his mind, but received no answer. He lifted his head again, peering through the gaps between the cornstalks to a slightly leftward position, where there appeared to be a somewhat illusory space on the left side of the circular clearing.

This was a spatial fracture created by the dissolution of darkness, and once one enters that area, they'll be transferred to another location within the Dark Realm.

"Luviya's divination couldn't possibly be meant for us to fight these demons, so, the meaning of the divination is to go through this spatial anomaly to another location... could we possibly appear right in front of Daknis? No, that would be too lucky."

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Shard deduced in his mind, squinting as he thought some more.

If he were alone, he could just rush out from the cornfield and take a step forward using Lagre's Leap before the demons reacted, definitely entering the spatial anomaly before being attacked to death.

But he had Luviya by his side, and where he might end up after passing through that special area, and whether he would need to fight right after, these were all unknown to Shard.

"I need to go back and consult with Luviya, but for now, this is good news."

He listened to the sharp, piercing song composed of blasphemous utterances, praying for power from the God of the Dark, as he cautiously crawled backward.

The scene of the demons praying in the clearing was obscured by the densely packed black cornstalks. Shard moved back bit by bit, then heard the song gradually become more frantic.

A bad premonition suddenly arose in his heart, and the voice inside him signaled that the elements of Whisper were becoming more intense around him.

Bow your head!

Shard, who had crawled several dozen feet, suddenly felt a cold wind rush overhead in an instant.

The area affected by the dark bonfire of human bones expanded with the ritual proceedings; amidst the howling of the Servants of the Hidden, more cornstalks were bowing down, enlarging the ceremony's ground.

Thereby, Shard in hiding was exposed.

He slapped the dirt off his body and stood up, the singing in his ears stopping as he looked up to see dozens of vertical pupils staring at him. Perhaps his eyes had adjusted to seeing in the dark, with the help of eye potions; Shard could see more and more clearly.

"Really, I thought the reason I would be discovered would be something silly like accidentally breaking a branch."

Without fear or apprehension, he stuffed the Ever-Youth Leaf, originally belonging to Iluna, into his mouth, kissed the Demon Hunter Seal in his hand, and pulled out the severely light-restricted Moonlight Greatsword from the air with his right hand.

The appearance of the two-handed greatsword seemed to provoke the demons around the bonfire; they emitted a sharp cry together but didn't charge at Shard.

The demons' bodies melted away in the black firelight, and the flowing darkness eventually converged, ultimately reconstructing a humanoid creature, draped in a black robe and a head taller than Shard, before the bonfire.

It too had only one vertical pupil on its face, but on the lower half of the white, bread-like elliptical face, there was an additional dark crevice.

The crevice supposedly forming its mouth opened:

"What do I see? The moon, such pure moonlight!"

This was the language of demons, more blasphemous and more powerful than the language used by the Servants of the Hidden:

"Welcome to the realm of darkness!"

With a sharp laugh emanating from its mouth, it turned around, and both hands pulled out slender white human bones from the fire behind it. The bones were crossed in front of its chest and clacked against each other, and as black flames wrapped around the bones, it tilted its face toward the black sky, letting out the sharpest roar yet:

"Please, rest here in peace!"

"Wait, you recognize the moonlight on me?"

Shard extended his empty left hand in a gesture to pause, but in reality, it wasn't to seek an answer but rather, while extending his hand, he made a forward-pointing gesture with his fingers, his eyes narrowing:

"Psychic Shockwave!"

Three crystals atop the Crystal Ring simultaneously emitted light, sending out waves imperceptible to the naked eye from the tips of his fingers. The demon, clutching the Black Fire Skeleton, stood rigid before the bonfire. Shard, holding his sword in one hand, charged forward. Upon entering a 10m radius around the demon's body, he disappeared, then reappeared above the demon's head with a sword in both hands:

"Heh!"

Infused with the spirit of Shard and the pulsation of elements, the Moonlight Greatsword shone even brighter. But the stiffened demon swiftly raised its hand, and the Black Fire Skeleton blocked the Moonlight Greatsword. It then opened its mouth toward Shard's head, and a deep black shockwave surged forth.

"Not good."

As Shard raised his blade to block the darkness that seemed more profound against the black backdrop, his right hand adorned with the Demon Hunter Seal faintly glowed, revealing an intricate chain of runes on the translucent silvery blade.

Despite this, the darkness spewed forth by the demon shattered the silvery greatsword before striking Shard squarely in the chest.

In excruciating pain, he was flung far back, landing on the edge of the circular cornfield. He immediately touched himself to trigger the effect of "False Immortality."

Rising from the ground with difficulty, his mouth tasted not just the flavor of the Ever-Youth Leaf but also blood. In haste, he pulled out a test tube and took a sip of water tainted with a silvery spiritual light. There was no need to waste the Ever-Youth Leaf just yet.

In just a single exchange, Shard was almost at death's door. This demon, formed from a fusion of several Servants of the Hidden, could be considered as powerful as a 6th or even 7th Inner Ring human Circle Sorcerer.

Though Shard possessed the Demon Hunter Seal, he was suppressed within the "Dark Realm," whereas the demon benefited from the environment.

"Yes, I recognize the moonlight within you. A mortal favored by the God of Silvermoon, with such pure light, you could almost be mistaken for the Priest of the Grand Sage."

These blasphemous words filled Shard with alarm as he used his sword to push himself to his feet;

"You actually know about the Ancient God of the Moon, Sage of Silvermoon?"

"Before becoming a demon, we were once part of the Elemental Progeny under the Ancient God 'Crawling Darkness.' An individual could be a race, but a race could also be an individual."

The demon, wielding the Black Fire Skeleton, laughed maniacally at Shard:

"We were ordered to guard the corpse of an Ancient Demon slain by the gods. After the Ancient Gods left, the material world went through tens of thousands of years of changes, and we too became different. It has been far too long; even the collective memory of the past is nearly extinguished, but I still remember this moonlight, so pure, so mesmerizing. If you were to also rest here, I'm sure this darkness would grow even stronger."

"So, can you see what I am?"

Shard immediately asked.

"You, huh~"

The demon laughed wildly, lifting the two bones in its hand before abruptly vanishing from before the bonfire.

"Damn it, these derivatives of Relics can shift through the darkness!"

Shard realized wind was stirring behind him. The profane words followed the descent of the weapon, reaching Shard's ears:

"How would I know what you are?"

The Black Fire Skeleton smashed towards Shard's head, but Shard's figure once again disappeared.

The demon with the vertical pupil merged back into the darkness and reappeared behind Shard, who had just manifested.

Prepared, Shard threw a punch with his right fist, the one bearing the Demon Hunter Seal, straight toward the demon's face. The demon tried to dissolve into the darkness again, but the activated "Spatial Stabilization Aura" was unable to dispel the "Dark Realm," yet it prevented anyone but Shard from using spatial powers around him.

Thump!

The punch still missed its target; the demon dropped one of the skeletal weapons from its left hand and caught Shard's fist. As the seal touched its hand, smoke with a foul odor rose immediately, but the vertical pupil demon didn't seem to care:

"A Demon Hunter Seal? Indeed, each time we appear, these rings emerge as if dogs sniffing out bones."

It grabbed Shard's fist and hoisted him high, the bone in its other hand knocking away Shard's drawn greatsword, scattering it into silvery specks.

"It's not over yet!"

With a swipe through the air, Shard's left hand sent a slash of moonlight from Silvermoon directly at the demon's vertical pupil. The eye simply closed, its lid blocking the beam of moonlight. Next, the left hand attempted a "Psychic Shockwave," but the demon, well-prepared this time, slammed into Shard's head with a laugh, making him feel as if the world was spinning, blood trickling down his cheek. His spirit attack missed, and the "Psychic Shockwave" failed to launch.

"Pure moonlight, but you have no idea how to use it."

It dropped the weapon from its right hand and grabbed both of Shard's hands, lifting him high. Then, it brutally pulled apart, as if to tear Shard in two.

With a roar and the sound of a steam whistle, the complete Second Ring appeared behind Shard, signifying the Circle Sorcerer's most formidable battle state:

"You think I really don't know how to use the moonlight?"