Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 522 -

Carrying the "God's Gift Box," Shard supported the increasingly unwell Luviya as they entered the manor immediately.

In the courtyard, they saw no sleeping maids, and after struggling to open the main door that was locked from the inside, still no one appeared.

Since it was pitch dark everywhere, the indoors looked no different from the outdoors, except they had to be careful not to run into walls. As no one appeared, Shard felt uneasy, but fortunately, the pendant he carried could detect witches around him. Even if the "Dark Realm" hindered its function, it did not completely nullify its effects.

Based on the different heat emissions at various locations from the pendant, Shard led Luviya to the third floor of the manor and stopped at the door of the master bedroom. This was Miss Galina's bedroom, which only Tifa could enter and exit freely without permission, and Shard had never entered before.

At that moment, the two doors stood firmly closed in the dark. When Shard reached out to push, he was surprised as golden-red runes flashed on the door, pushing him away.

Far from being surprised, Shard actually smiled:

"I knew it, even if Miss Galina might not be in the manor, it's impossible that all the servants would fall asleep due to the spread of darkness. Luviya, do you recognize the ritual on the door?"

Shard turned his head to ask, and Luviya tried to open her eyes to look, then shook her head:

"The ritual doesn't matter. Why don't you just knock on the door?"

"Oh, that makes sense. If someone is still awake, we can just knock," he reasoned.

Since the door prevented touching, Shard eventually chose to shout towards the inside. After waiting for tens of seconds, a faint voice emerged from behind the door, where, within the "Dark Realm," even voices were consumed by darkness, so presumably, they were also shouting loudly:

"Is that Shard?"

"Yes, it's me, and I'm with my friend."

Shard recognized the somewhat distorted voice as Tifa's, indicating that when the incident occurred, Miss Galina hadn't taken her along to leave the manor.

"Prove your identity,"

said the voice from inside.

"Last time, when we were investigating the ophthalmologist together, I had you drop blood into my eyes while I was using a potion."

"Oh, it really is you."

Tifa carefully opened the right side of the double doors of the bedroom, but only enough to allow Shard to slip in sideways. Shard took a mask out of his pocket and offered it to Luviya, but she shook her head;

"No need, I think even if the witches know my face it doesn't matter."

Shard entered the room first, after ensuring the door was safe, he then peeked back through the crack in the door, pulling Luviya inside as well.

Inside, a modest light source appeared after a long absence, placed on the carpet at the center of the bedroom, where over thirty maid-uniformed girls were either sprawled over desks or lying in small groups on the carpet, sleeping soundly or whispering across various parts of the room, with the light source casting over their bodies, making their shadows quiver slightly.

No matter from which angle, this scene was visually striking.

Tifa, still in her usual maid uniform, perceived the silvery glimmer emanating from Shard's whole body, as he walked in carrying a glowing box and leading a dignified lady—this sight was even more visually impactful.

Inside the room, the ones not resting weren't only Tifa but also four maid-uniformed women and three ladies in their usual dresses.

These seven ladies were also circle sorcerers close to Miss Galina, two from the Second Ring, one from the Three Rings, and the rest from the Inner Ring, yet none surpassed Tifa in rank.

At that time, five of the circle sorcerers sat around the room's only light source, on the carpet marked with a hexagram ritual trace made from ash. The remaining two stood with Tifa at the door, welcoming Shard's arrival, as he was a regular guest of Miss Galina's manor and was recognized by all the maids.

"This is my friend, the diviner..."

"Luviya Annette."

Shard had intended to give a false name, but Luviya revealed her real name herself.

Tifa nodded with a smile, introduced herself, then instructed the awake maids to awaken their sleeping colleagues and prepare hot tea for the two visitors who had come from afar.

"What's the situation now? Is Miss Galina not here?"

The door closed behind them, keeping the darkness outside. The bedroom was filled with a strong fragrance, perhaps Miss Galina liked to light incense in her room.

"This morning, before the darkness spread, the miss had already left alone. When the incident occurred, the manor itself resisted for less than five minutes. In that time, I gathered the manor's servants to take refuge in the mansion, but five individuals in the back garden didn't make it back in time. Now, the male servants are in the first-floor kitchen, probably fallen into sleep, and the other maids, led by the housekeeper, went to the second-floor dining room, and I think they must have also gone to sleep. Here, the people are the maids responsible for taking care of the miss closely, so without informing the miss, I brought them up here. They are not sleeping due to the influence of the relic, but because of the immense mental stress, they must sleep frequently."

Tifa spoke softly.

Although Miss Galina despised men, some physically demanding tasks in the manor required male servants, and the absence of male servants altogether could lead others to speculate, so male servants were present, albeit forbidden to enter the second floor and above.

"Are you all okay?"

Shard asked with concern, lowering his voice to prevent waking the others who were sleeping.

"For now, yes. The lady foresaw the worst scenario, so she left this behind."

Tifa pointed to a light source behind her, a cylindrical kerosene lamp. Made of bronze metal, primarily cylindrical in shape, supported by three legs at the base. The lamp was about as tall as Shard's chest and was divided into five segments, each with its own wick that could glow. The lampshade was made of glass, and the metal fixing the lampshade bore the pattern of a phoenix, with a delicate bronze phoenix statue also adorning the top of the lamp post.

This was a Relic.

"Keeper of Secrets Level (3) [Phoenix Lantern], the only positive trait is that it can continuously emit light and heat to illuminate the surroundings, and will never extinguish. The negative trait is, if the lamp is not contained in a fire-resistant material, the likelihood of a fire occurring nearby greatly increases, and if a fire is not managed promptly, creatures that even the lady finds troublesome might appear in the flames."

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Tifa explained to Shard:

"It's precisely because it has only one trait that it can continue to emit light in the Dark Realm. However, the difference between the [Phoenix Lantern] and the Dark Realm is too great. We must use a ritual to enhance the brightness, allowing it to cover a wider area. But as long as no new complications arise, this light should be enough to sustain us until the end of the event."

"Miss Galina anticipated this scenario in advance? She really is remarkable,"

Shard whispered in admiration.

"No, in my view, the fact that you came here amidst the chaos of a Controlling Relic is the truly remarkable thing. The situation outside must be quite bad, right?"

Tifa said, and Shard shook his head:

"It's not my doing, it's the strength that a friend gave me. Forget that now, Luviya, you stay here. You can't follow me any further; I will go on alone."

The girl with purple eyes looked regretfully at Shard, but what Shard said was indeed the reality.

"Tifa, does Miss Galina have a map of the core area of the Dark Realm? I need to proceed further."

"Yes, I have it here. But I will come with you, no, please don't decline."

She still wore a serene expression on her face, looking up at Shard:

"I am also very worried about the lady; she might also be in the central area of the Relic. Due to the suddenness of the situation, I'm not sure if the lady is prepared to cope. Since you are going there, let's go together. After all, I don't know the current situation outside either, I need your assistance."

Her way of putting it rather seemed as if she needed Shard's company.

Shard knew that Tifa was trying to protect herself and, after thinking it over, he did not refuse. But before setting out, he still had one more thing to ask:

"Is the Box of Darkness here in the manor?"

Though the immense fear had passed, Shard had seen the power in that fear. But it was a power of courage, worth attempting again for the sake of the [Brightness Spirit Rune].

"It is here, but I advise you not to use it lightly."

She led Shard to the bedside in the master bedroom, which was enormously spacious, and an even more enormous four-poster bed raised on two steps. But the curtains were drawn, blocking the view of the bed, and Shard did not intrude.

The light from the [Phoenix Lantern] just reached the edge of the large bed, but the transition between light and darkness was not smooth; the boundary was very clear, as if there truly was a line dividing them.

The brass gear Mechanism Box was placed right on the boundary line between light and dark, with the dividing line coinciding exactly with the central axis of the surface of the box.

This was the long-unseen [Box of Darkness].

"How did you bring it into Miss Galina's bedroom? Did you foresee my return?"

Shard asked, but Tifa shook her head and carefully moved the box completely into the area covered by the lamp's light, allowing Shard to notice the large and small gears on the side of the box, stained with uneven, disgusting black marks.

"We were able to escape here by using this Relic,"

Tifa explained:

"The innate trait of the [Box of Darkness] is that by rotating the gears on its six sides in a certain pattern, it can controllably release darkness from the box. Darkness differs too, and when the [Box of Darkness]'s darkness covers us, the darkness of the Dark Realm temporarily cannot affect us."

Shard raised an eyebrow, finding this method quite interesting. Priest Augustus had said before Shard set out that it wasn't necessarily the light that conquers darkness, but he hadn't expected that darkness could actually combat darkness as well.