Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 260 Blood-colored Dusk

"Ah!"

With the combined power of the "Ancient Witch's Golden Necklace" and the "Bodor Candle," Shard's Silvermoon Slash nearly split the man's head in two.

But he did not die. As he screamed, he managed to block the weak stab from Miss Annette's dagger with his sword. Then, his body leaped upward, sticking to the canopy like a huge bat, attempting to fly out of the room.

However, no matter how fast he flew, he could not outpace the light. A curved Light Blade chased him from behind and sliced down the massive shadow that had taken flight.

The man crashed heavily to the ground, the bloody longsword in his right hand dissipated, and the "Maze Candle" in his left rolled to the side. The blood mist exuding from him forced Miss Annette to retreat.

"No, no, I cannot be wounded here! That tree... No! Damn it! I cannot be wounded here."

"Detective, his condition is off. Be careful."

Miss Annette warned, her short hair disheveled behind her, a light bloodstain on her face. Shard had never seen the lady in such disarray. It seemed that the fight outside was just as intense while Shard was confronting the Silver-Eyed One.

"I know, you be careful too, that tree..." Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"Haha."

Laughter came from under the tree again, and pale blue tendrils lit up the man beneath the tree.

"Silver-Eyed One!"

Miss Beyas barely suppressed the urge to fire the Sunlight Gun in that direction.

"This damned thing, the damned Blood Spirit School! You got hurt here! You're done for! The 'Corpse Tree' won't spare anyone."

As the man under the tree laughed, the Five-Ring Magician's Ring of Fate clearly appeared behind the vampire. But the core Rune wasn't entirely the brass color of "Enlightenment"; the Vampire Kind's core rune was the black iron color of "Whisper."

"I smell moonlight. Who exactly are you?"

The trembling voice became hoarse, losing all the magnetism it had when speaking with Miss Annette earlier.

Shard stepped back, lighting a candle to hide his form once again, while a silver fog appeared, enveloping the two ladies in the "Illusion of the Moon Shadow."

Two terrifying rifts appeared on the man's face and back as he rose from the ground, the flesh at the wounds writhing and regenerating at a visible rate.

Simultaneously, at the edges of the wounds, tiny wooden tendrils barely perceptible to the eye gently swayed, seemingly trying to intertwine with the flesh.

Miss Beyas rang the Holy Bell and hurled a Sunlight Gun at the increasingly mutated man. But the tendrils atop their heads actively blocked the lightning strike:

"What?"

A blood-red glimmer emitted from the Brass Life Ring behind the vampire, and then the entire figure transformed into a streak of blood-light. Instead of rushing towards the illusion-shrouded ladies, he charged at Shard, who was supposed to be invisible.

"He can see me too?"

Shard hurriedly dodged, but as the blood mist spread, his figure emerged from thin air.

"I smell moonlight! Who are you?"

The crevices on his head kept healing, but his visage became increasingly grotesque. He seemed slightly mad, and the blood-light surged towards Shard. In the next instant, his right hand, nearly transformed into a claw, clutched Shard's throat tightly and lifted him high.

However, the Golden Necklace on Shard's neck immediately began to heat up upon contact with the claw.

"What is this?"

A golden glimmer burst from the Witch's Necklace, loosening the grip of the claw a bit, giving Shard a chance:

"Strangling someone will never kill them! Once I kill you, this adventure will be over."

He uttered words that no one understood, and with a flick of his hand, the light from his right hand harshly severed the abnormally thickened right arm that seemed adorned with wooden armor.

The man, who had grown taller in the midst of the blood mist, stumbled backward. But the blood spurting from his severed arm transformed into two blood-colored longswords that thrust towards Shard.

The short blade at his fingertips cleaved through the first longsword, but the second pierced into Shard's left shoulder.

Suppressing the urge to cry out in pain, Shard gripped the sword, trying to pull it out, but as the blood-red glow of the longsword flickered, he felt his own blood boiling, completely out of control.

"Sunlight Gun!"

The crystal-clear sound of a bell rang in his ears, and then golden lightning shot out from behind the vampire, piercing straight through his heart.

As the blood mist thickened, Shard stumbled in an attempt to flee, but the wound inflicted by the blood-colored sword numbed him with pain.

"The Whisper Element on you..."

"I know, I'm hurt too; that tree is affecting me."

The longsword had not been removed yet, but wooden tendrils had already begun to emerge at the wound.

"You're done for as well."

The voice of the Silver-Eyed One sounded as though it came from afar, and Shard felt his consciousness blurring.

Amidst the not-yet-dissipated Silvermoon Illusion, Miss Beyas, after throwing the Sunlight Gun, seemed depleted, unable to move any further. Miss Annette did not attempt to attack with the golden dagger in her hands again; instead, she once more took off the butterfly-shaped hair accessory and tossed it forward.

The pale blue transparent butterfly swarm immediately mixed with the bloodlight surrounding the man's body.

The bloodlight weakened slightly, and the vampire's facial features finally emerged. The crack on his face caused by Shard's Slash hadn't healed. Instead, tendrils-like vines were trying to burrow out from the wound. His entire head had swelled to twice its size, and tiny wooden tendrils spread from the wound across his face, revealing tattoo-like black patterns.

The distorted, eerie feeling made the already unearthly being look even less human. The mutated body carried a primal fear, its indescribable, bizarre form seeming to endow it with more formidable power.

The black mist mingled with the crimson fog around it. The wisdom in its eyes, beast-like and yellow with vertical pupils, faded gradually, while madness and cruelty grew ever stronger.

"Damn! He's lost control; the tree is affecting him!"

The diviner with purple eyes moaned, intending to pull something else from his pocket, but he saw the vampire's figure growing taller, the blood mist devouring the blue butterfly swarm, and his shadow on the ground took on the form of a tree.

The sound of a bell echoed amidst the drone of a steam whistle, accompanied by the barely discernible flapping of a bat swarm's wings. The deep voice, like the grating of rusted metal, yet resonated in everyone's ears:

"The bloodsucking abomination roars within..."

The Spirit Runes on the Ring of Fate behind the Five-Ring Sorcerer swiftly aligned, and Miss Annette blinked in surprise:

"This is..."

"Sublimation Incantation! He's completely mad!"

The Silver-Eyed One laughed loudly, wanting to watch everyone here die with him. But he himself had no intention of using the Sublimation Incantation; he feared death and wouldn't commit such a crazed act.

Miss Annette could not worry about the madman beneath the tree; she tried to run to Shard, who had collapsed on the ground, but the air had turned thick as liquid in an instant, impeding her advance.

"...under a blood-red sunset."

A wave of the smell of blood swept over them, a blinding crimson light filled their view, and as the Sublimation Incantation was invoked, everything around them transformed.

The tall monster stood amidst the ruins of a sunset twilight, with crooked, tall buildings scattered around, and behind them loomed a blood-red sun.