Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 264 The Chosen One Ceremony

Having advanced to Second Ring, Shard stood in place, feeling the transformation within himself. Punching through the ground was of course an illusion, but after utilizing a complete droplet of Divinity to cleanse the First Ring Spirit Rune, and advancing to Second Ring with Divine power as the foundation, Shard knew he was no ordinary Second Ring Sorcerer.

His foundation was more solid, Arcane Technique and Sorcery were more powerful, and his reserves of Spirit and elements were also much greater. Even his body had become stronger from the excessive saturation with Divinity and a special sublimation ritual, with the essence of his life undergoing metamorphosis.

Even if he couldn't easily defeat a High Ring Circle Sorcerer as a Second Ring Sorcerer, as long as he continued along the "Path of the Twelve Divinities," he could obtain the power to match any Circle Sorcerer in the material world, even without reaching the pinnacle of the Thirteen Rings.

[You have not actively used your power, so the state of Divinity Overflow is still ongoing, with an estimated 7 minutes and 32 seconds remaining.],

she whispered in his ear.

"Shard!"

Still listening to the voice in his ear, two ladies had already approached. Miss Annette simply looked at him with a smile, while Miss Beyas gave him a hug straight away.

"It's all right now, it's all over."

Shard said somewhat embarrassingly, thankful that it was dark, and no one saw his cheeks turn red.

Miss Beyas hugged him for a moment then released him, her face also turning a shade of red:

"In any case, we owe you a lot for this time."

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"But what I'm more curious about is, who is this?"

Miss Annette's voice came, as the three of them turned to look at the ghost next to the Divine Statue.

She had peered at Shard in the tomb chamber, had given him a candle in the battle just now, and had even briefly helped him drive away the rift not long ago.

The transparent woman in a white robe, somewhat melancholic, finished her prayers and stood there looking at the three of them. She appeared to be around thirty years old, barefoot, with her hair scattered behind her, and a Crown of Thorns on her head.

Her body was extremely unstable, the transparent figure flickering nonstop, as if she would disappear the next second.

The woman gave a slight bow to Shard:

"Good evening, God's Favored One."

Shard understood the origin of this address, Miss Beyas was a bit confused, Miss Annette said nothing.

"You are..."

Shard hesitated to ask, though he had already guessed the answer.

"Gina Angela Serwell. The last Guardian. I did not leave after my death, but stayed here to watch over this tree and guide the successors to completely resolve it. It has not fed for a long time, its power weakened to a low point,"

the ghost answered, and Shard exchanged glances with his companions:

"We can do that, but we have to finish our own matters first, and we don't know how to destroy a Relic."

"That's fine, I will guide you. My body is in that tree, not yet fully digested. With your power, it will be enough to bring this tree to Ultimate Death. And you, will receive my gift."

The Order donated nearly all of its assets, and there were no valuable relics left here for Shard to take away, so the so-called "gift" was probably Miss Serwell's inheritance.

Shard, holding the "God's Gift Box," returned with the two ladies to the base of the tree trunk, the spirit from the past temporarily vanished, waiting for them to handle their own affairs.

At this time, more and more vines were hanging down from the tree crown, making the area under the tree trunk glow blue.

Probably because it had absorbed the body of the Vampire Kind, or maybe it was scared by Shard, the tree still did not attack the three of them. The Silver-Eyed One, however, continued to be trapped by the vines under the tree, looking pale and leaning against the tree trunk as they approached:

"You will all die, no one will live."

His mind seemed to have some problems.

"Do you still recognize me?"

Miss Beyas said ferociously as she bent down, and with a most unladylike kick, she kicked him. The Silver-Eyed One gave a miserable smile; the middle-aged man had seemingly gone mad after witnessing everything that had just occurred:

"I have offended countless people in my life, why do you think, I would be able to remember every single one?"

"Then, do you remember the Tomb Raider Hawthorn, do you remember the Truth Society?"

Miss Beyas asked again.

"What happened to that old Hawthorn... the Truth Society?"

The Silver-Eyed One was stunned, his eyes widened as he looked at Miss Beyas:

"Oh, so you were the First Ring Sorcerer who escaped back then. I remember now, I helped the Truth Society steal a slab engraved with a portion of the 'Whispering Verses' from the True God Church, indeed there was one survivor. Oh!"

Miss Beyas pursed her lips and kicked him squarely in the chest, causing him to crash back against the tree trunk:

"It was you!"

He laughed crazily, a laughter that was chill-inducing:

"I get it now, so The Chosen One mentioned in the prophecy was you! How could we have not realized it back then?"

Miss Beyas, filled with anger, was about to kick again, but Shard coughed, and she thus refrained from lifting her foot again.

The tree crown shook, and the rustling sound echoed continuously; the Corpse Tree seemed to realize its prey was about to be killed, but Shard didn't care. The state of Divinity Overflow had not ended, and no one here could defeat him:

"We'll hold the Chosen One Ceremony now, and let Miss Beyas become The Chosen One. We need to leave this place quickly."

He was now very weary:

"It's time to end this. Oh, there's one more thing. There aren't just one container for the Evil God, Lawrence. I was reminded just now, and I think I've figured it out."

He glanced at the frenzied Silver-Eyed One:

"Do you remember the doctor's Gluttony patient?"

Miss Beyas didn't understand, but Miss Annette did. The look of horror on her face was something she hadn't shown before:

"The wife and daughter of Earl Abrash?"

"Yes, but don't worry too much. As long as the banquet doesn't happen, the extra containers are of no use. But to be on the safe side, we need to let the Church know about this as soon as possible. The variables are too significant."

"I'll go tell the Church later. You've all worked hard, there's no need to show yourselves in front of the Church."

Miss Beyas said, and Shard, along with Miss Annette, felt the same.

The two stepped aside as Miss Beyas, holding the Judge's Holy Bell, looked up at the canopy above:

"Speaking of which, how am I supposed to hang upside down?"

"I've prepared a rope."

Miss Annette said with a smile, but Shard shook his head:

"No need for that, I'll use Sorcery 'Levitate' to lift you up."

"Is that possible?"

Miss Beyas asked, somewhat embarrassed.

"Yes."

Actually, his sorcery wasn't that strong. Even after advancing to the Second Ring, lifting a small creature like Mia was strenuous. But now with Divinity Overflow, it wasn't a problem. And the time of unconsciousness after Divinity Overflow depended on the extent of power actively used. Last time, a full-force blow was one day; 'Levitate' would probably just be a few minutes of sleep:

"Be ready, it's about to start."

Shard indicated that they were ready, Miss Beyas instinctively covered her trousers, Shard then realized she wasn't wearing a skirt today, and there was an implication in that.

"See, I was prepared."

The seventeen-year-old girl said uneasily. After a life and death battle, everyone was in good spirits, and both Shard and Miss Annette smiled.

Shard allowed Miss Beyas to ascend slowly, positioning her in the air in an upside-down stance before standing silently with Miss Annette.

The girl with brown hair hung beneath the tree, her expression becoming solemn as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then a vision of golden scales materialized above her.

"It begins, Shard. Let's witness epics together," the Female Diviner said softly. Shard nodded, watching intently ahead without blinking.

Miss Beyas took a deep breath and said aloud:

"I, Iluna Amelia Beath, hereby declare..."

She breathed heavily, looking at her friends once again. A pale gold glimmer emanated from her body, and the overlaid voices of countless prayers filled the air from an unknown source. The wind began to pick up again, rustling the tree canopies.

Hanging beneath the tree, Miss Beyas reached out her hand in front of her left eye and, gritting her teeth, used her hand to gouge out her own eyeball. Shard admired her courage from the bottom of his heart; had it been him in that position, he probably would have hesitated a few seconds more.

Blood dripped from the gory eyeball, but she made no sound of pain:

"To the Ancient God 'The Upside-Down Judge,' I sacrifice my left eye for wisdom."

The light from the golden scales above enveloped her, and Shard suddenly realized that a strange force had taken over the task of maintaining Miss Beyas's position, allowing him to stop his sorcery.

Exhaustion surged, but he could still hold on.

The left eye gouged out by Miss Beyas floated to the left side of the scales above her head, tipping the balance, and then ancient runes appeared on the right side of the golden scales.

Even in his state of Divinity Overflow, deciphering that rune made him feel severe dizziness and discomfort. The rune exchanged for the left eye was named "Balance."

"I shall judge my enemies with fairness."

The suspended girl said tremblingly, struggling to shake the Holy Bell in her right hand. The sound of the bell was different from ever before, and at that moment it transformed, tinged with the radiance from the golden scales.

"I... Silver-Eyed Diak, you..."

Without using any means to stem the bleeding, the blood from Miss Beyas's left eye continued to drip. She was getting weaker:

"You have killed the innocent, preyed on the weak, plundered the remains of heathens, and conspired with cultists to summon the Evil God into the material world."

Her gaze blurred, but the light around her grew increasingly bright. Behind her, the Second Ring Sorcerer's Ring of Fate emerged, ascending and overlapping with the gold scales.

Daylight pierced the soil layer, shining down from above to envelop the person hanging upside down beneath the tree. A ritual circle composed of thirteen differently colored points of light extended from the feet above to the head below.

She spoke with difficulty:

"In the capacity of 'Balance's Chosen One,' I sentence you..."