Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 521: I love you

In the corridor, there were neither indescribable strange creatures nor terrifying evil spirits with transparent bodies, nor was there anything with a visible form.

There was nothing in the corridor where candle flames flickered.

In the depths of the corridor, where the fire had completely extinguished, the walls emitted a faint glow nearly merging with the darkness, flickering at a rate similar to that of a heartbeat.

Merely by gazing at those faint glows, Shard truly felt as if he had heard the throbbing sound of a massive heart. At that moment, his body and soul were completely frozen by time and space, and he vaguely understood something.

What he was looking at was Horror Fortress, and from the very beginning, there was nothing chasing him. That which exuded fear, seemingly driving away any intruders, was the Horror Fortress itself.

The profound faint glows represented the Horror Fortress itself. The so-called "Horror Fortress" turned out to be a living being with consciousness.

The fear that exceeded limits momentarily made Shard almost completely lose consciousness, and the impact of the fear even made him feel as though he was about to fall into an eternal slumber.

"No, would I fear fear?"

Under the trees of the Forest of Thousand Trees, after the deity had temporarily departed, memories flooded his mind of standing shoulder to shoulder with two witches facing the endless terrifying darkness. This fear seemed to awaken some latent power within his soul, and the Spirit Rune called "Kiss of the Tree," which had never been linked to any Arcane Technique, trembled slightly in his soul.

In this moment, close to an emotional breakdown, the primitive fear engulfing his body and the clarity regained in his soul through courage, created a stark misalignment, letting Shard for the first time clearly feel the unusualness of his own soul.

It was not only the two drops of Divinity protecting him within his soul, but he also felt as if there was something warm yet somewhat cold, embracing him from behind.

"Is that..."

Even though facing the core of fear in the Horror Fortress froze his body and soul, an impulsive desire miraculously made him turn his head.

Before him was the Horror Fortress, but what he saw upon turning was an endless white fog, within which was a gigantic tree whose top could not be seen.

The tree seemed to connect heaven and earth and appeared to support them as well. Its roots were expansive, and its crown was lush. The transparent patterns on its trunk seemed to record the story of an entire civilization.

Gazing at that tree, a warm feeling washed over his body and soul, quickly awakening him from the negative state of encountering the source of fear. However, the most genuine touch of the soul that he sensed at the edge of soul fragmentation also disappeared with it.

The transparent canopy of the tree gently swayed in the white fog, and Shard, with a somewhat lost expression, reached out to catch two spiraling green leaves.

"Was it you I felt just now?"

He softly inquired.

The surrounding white fog contracted towards a doorway pendant that had appeared unknowingly beneath his feet, and the scene of an empty land in the middle of the dark cornfield slowly emerged with the disappearance of the fog, as the darkness encroached the space around Shard.

Receiving no response, he sighed, wanting to bend down to pick up The Twenty-Sided Die of Destiny, for the battle with that formidable demon was not yet over.

But unexpectedly, before the surrounding white fog had completely cleared, the demon wielding Black Fire Skeleton rushed forward, seemingly impatient to make Shard eternally slumber here.

"Outlander, you have returned to the present time."

"From the Ancient God, Father of the Infinite Tree:"

"Do you not wish to answer my question?"

Shard maintained his stooped position, preparing to stand and throw the dice. Because whenever he threw the dice, it would inevitably land on twenty.

"Infinite time protects you."

Wrapped in darkness, the demon suppressing the Silvermoon Radiance on Shard finally reached him.

At this moment, the last few strands of surrounding white fog had not completely disappeared, and the demon's appearance seemed to disturb something. Behind Shard, the illusory image of the gigantic tree that seemed to pierce the heavens and earth, which had faded with the disappearing fog, re-emerged at this moment.

Dense fog burst forth instantly from behind Shard, as if he had once again returned to the Time Corridor. However, the target of the white fog was not Shard, but as the limbs of the tree behind him swayed, the white fog lunged forward, devouring the demon in front of Shard, and then quietly disappeared into the surroundings.

The disappearance of the white fog brought darkness anew, although now there was no trace of the demon left around.

"What does this mean?"

Shard straightened up, gripping the die, and looked down at the metal doorway pendant which had returned to normal.

"Infinite time protects you."

She repeated the sentence, and Shard thoughtfully nodded:

"So, every time I complete a mission for a key and return from the past, those who try to attack me at that moment will be counterattacked by the lingering power of the Father of the Infinite Tree?"

But this seemed utterly useless; not only did this benefit occur every time after completing a key's mission, but it was also not every time that a fool would attack Shard during such a moment.

"But anyway, dealing with the enemy is a good thing."

Bending down, he picked up his own Relics and Spellcasting Materials from the ground and then looked at the two leaves he was holding in the palm of his hand.

After thinking for a bit, he casually placed one of the leaves over his right eye.

The veins on the leaf twinkled with golden Spiritual Light, which gradually gathered and entered Shard's right eye, infusing him with a new power into his spirit.

"Breath of Ages?"

It took at least half a minute before he took the leaf from his hand, as a voice inside his head had already started revealing specific information about the Arcane Technique.

"Breath of Ages," corresponding to the Space-Time Spirit Rune Arcane Technique. This is an actively released Arcane Technique that requires Spellcasting Materials.

There are two effects of the Arcane Technique, corresponding to the actions "Inhale" and "Exhale." When Shard uses the technique and "Inhales," he can restore an old item to its earlier state.

Shard pulled out his pocket watch that had stopped working due to water damage at Coldwater Port, summoned the Ring of Fate behind him, and then activated the Arcane Technique. As he inhaled deeply, some gray air flowed from the pocket watch, split into two streams, entering his nostrils. The surface of the pocket watch, which had some rust marks, flaked off while the hands started moving again.

"For ordinary items, with my Second Ring spirit, I can restore it to its state up to three months ago. It does not work on Relics, but it is effective on living beings and other special items, because I am interfering with time, not the item itself, though it consumes more spirit."

Of course, Shard's interference with his pocket watch only restored it to the moment when he had jumped off the ship with Lecia; he couldn't afford to spend all his spirit just to test the technique.

When Shard uses the technique and performs "Exhale," he can accelerate the decay of the target object through time. This is not about moving the object's timeline into the future but letting it decay naturally. If the target is in the air when using the technique, it will oxidize quickly; if in the wind, it will erode quickly.

Although he didn't waste any more spirit to try out the acceleration aspect, accelerating the target's time is somewhat easier than restoration. If restoration of ordinary items can currently go back up to three months, then acceleration could reach up to a year. Of course, decay can also be applied to living beings and some special items, but the difficulty would be much greater.

And the most crucial information about "Breath of Ages" is that the Spellcasting Material is lifespan. Once a month spellcasting is material-free, like Shard's recent one. Before the end of this natural month, that is, before today ends, affecting time will consume one-tenth of the duration of life span as Spellcasting Material.

"Although it sounds magical and could even allow a Low Ring Sorcerer like me to directly affect time, that cost is too steep, right? Even if the spirit is sufficient, the longest influence at a time is only about a thousand years... Hmm, when I think about it, the cost isn't that high after all."

Shard mused to himself but did not read the information from the other leaf that represented "A Fragment of True Information - Dark Dungeon." The leaves could be used only once, and he currently had no inclination to memorize those complex details.

Regardless of what assistance this information could provide him, he decided to wait until after the adventure in the Dark Realm was over to explore further.

After ensuring he had picked up all his items, Shard turned and entered the cornfield, where he found Luviya curled up next to God's Gift Box.

She was sleeping soundly, which greatly alarmed Shard at first as he thought she had fallen into that eternal slumber again. But upon hearing footsteps, Luviya slowly stirred awake, looking somewhat better though still weak compared to when Shard had left.

She managed a weak smile at Shard:

"You're back? Oh, I actually fell asleep."

"Something happened, but it's safe now."

Shard carefully helped Luviya up and then turned to strap the box on his back. God's Gift Box was glowing very quietly with no anomalies.

"Come with me, I've found the location your Divination pointed us to."

With Shard by her side, Luviya's spirits improved significantly. Together, they returned to the center of the cornfield where Shard had fought the demon, and Shard briefly explained his encounters in just a few minutes.

Afterward, with Shard being especially sensitive to spatial traces, they found the unknown space rift. Holding hands, they stepped into the rift. It was just like using "Lagre's Leap," with no special sensation.

As he stepped forward, the surroundings were a cornfield and, once his foot touched the ground again, the surroundings had shifted to a flat road in darkness.

Behind them was a forest, on both sides lay the road's direction, and the surroundings were dotted with past vague figures, difficult to distinguish. Shard raised his finger pointing forward, barely making out a quiet manor standing in the profound darkness with the little light available.

"This is... Miss Galina's manor, we've arrived at Miss Galina's manor!"

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The Witch's manor, like its surroundings, lacked any light, but the sight of a familiar structure in the darkness still brought a smile to Shard's face. He didn't believe for a moment that this manor too had succumbed to the darkness.