Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 268 The Second Banquet Begins

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Having finished the exploration of the ruins, Shard felt a significant sense of relief. After Miss Annette left, he was ready to head home, missing the cute cat that was lazy, gluttonous, and timid, yet very adorable.

First, he needed to figure out his current location. After leaving the print shop, the three of them had run off and found themselves a street away from the print shop.

Walking a few steps along the low wall on the side of the street, he saw the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company standing quietly in the night fog. Shard had encountered many events in this area, such as the time he saw the True God Church catching a Circle Sorcerer known as "Blood of Mercury" at the silverware shop at the next intersection; and he had found the statue of the "Vampire Duke Lowell," an Old God, in the alley diagonally across from the milk company.

"The alley where the 'Blood of Mercury' hid the Old God statue is a dead end, so it's actually quite far from that print shop. It's coincidentally so close to the milk delivery company," he thought to himself.

Glancing around, he walked towards the rental carriage parked at the corner. The driver sat alone on the shaft, smoking, with the glowing tip of the cigarette flickering in the fog of tonight's air.

Returning to Saint Delan Square and taking out the key to unlock the door, a smile he couldn't suppress spread across his face. Even though the entry hall was pitch-dark, the familiar feeling of home made Shard feel very good. Then he heard the sound of Mia running down the stairs, which made his mood even better.

"Oh, my Mia!"

He bent down and picked up the soft cat. The little orange cat meowed happily and rubbed its fluffy cheek against the back of Shard's hand with its eyes squinted.

Having turned on the gas lamp, he carried the cat and the box upstairs.

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Sitting in the bright living room and tilting his head toward the darkness outside the window, Shard felt that no matter what happened tonight, his current joy wouldn't change.

"It's great to have finished the long adventure and to be able to safely sit on the couch at home."

Of course, there were still other things to do tonight. For instance, he had to find a suitable way to store the three relics he brought back home, and he wanted to test the two types of Arcane Technique he had acquired.

"Forget it, I'm a bit tired. Let's push those tasks to tomorrow."

But there was one thing he couldn't postpone: the Time Key for the year 3002 in the Common Era Calendar. Everything else could wait, but every second he delayed with this key meant that all future keys would also be postponed by a second. Therefore, no matter how much he needed a long rest right now, Shard had no choice but to catch his breath and prepare to embark on a whole new temporal journey.

The Fifth Era lasted a total of 5793 years, so this key corresponded to the middle of the Fifth Era. Shard did some research on this year, but due to the obscurity of history before the Sixth Era and the intentional blocking by the Academy, he couldn't find much information. All he knew was that that year was peaceful, just like the year 1068 of the Fifth Era recorded in history.

"Therefore, preliminary investigations are useless. If the 'Father of the Infinite Tree' really took notice of me, he wouldn't make my journey easy."

Although he said the investigation was useless, he still had to conduct the necessary research.

He placed the relics he brought back on the coffee table one by one, while the cat standing on the sofa curiously looked at them. When Shard took out the brooch that could release a one-time Sunlight Gun, the cat instinctively stretched out its paw to fiddle with it.

Shard laughed and picked it up, ignoring Mia's protesting meows.

Carrying the cat, he walked to the window and looked out at the night together:

"Don't always be so curious; these things are quite dangerous."

"Meow~"

The small orange cat waved its paw and let out a lazy sound. Then suddenly, it froze, wiggling in Shard's arms and turning around, its amber eyes looking at the night sky outside the window.

Shard did not notice its actions and continued talking:

"I'm in a good mood tonight, so I'll spare you the lecture, but you must not touch those relics while I'm away... Ha, I'm talking to a cat again, how odd."

Indeed, his mood tonight was very good, and it wasn't because of the two kisses, but because of that drop of Divinity.

"Meow~"

The cat, now terrified, meowed at the window, and Shard looked out with confusion, but the night sky was covered with dense fog, a very ordinary night:

"What's the matter?"

He patted the timid cat, thinking it was scared by the dark shadows outside.

The contrast between the bright indoors and the dark outside created an optical effect, allowing the glass to reflect his face. The reflection of his face in the glass overlapped with the dark city outside, and he was undeniably smiling very happily:

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"No matter what Mia saw, even if an Angel-Level Relic lost control, it couldn't affect my good mood anymore."

[Really, nothing at all will affect you?]

She asked softly, her words tinged with an unmistakable laughter.

"Of course."

Shard nodded at his reflection in the glass, appraising the features of his own face.

Then, with a thunderous roar, a blood-colored light surged upwards from the distant city into the sky. Blood mist spewed towards the night sky from the ground, then spread throughout the entire city. Countless crimson lights flickered abruptly across various parts of the city, directing the blood mist to engulf Tobesk.

The reflection of Shard's smiling face in the glass froze.

"This..."

His perception was razor-sharp as he sensed it—a massive, twisted, indescribable entity was stepping into the material world. It was at the location where the blood-red column of light had appeared, watching over the whole world:

"But, how could this happen, when the banquet was entirely under the church's control…"

The Ring of Fate appeared behind him; a resplendent golden light ignited with the rotating metal. Numerous clues converged, and suddenly, Shard's eyes widened in realization:

"Apart from Lawrence, there were two Divine Descent Vessels. And aside from the charity banquet, there was another Blood Feast. The milk, I get it now! I understand! It's the milk from the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company, that strange flavor, the coachman mentioned the recently discounted prices on the milk! Quick, ignite the Divin..."

An almost tangible gaze shot from afar, as if something high above was directly staring at him.

"It's Him! He is watching me!"

He had not fully descended yet, but His gaze was already interlocked with Shard, and he understood the meaning within that gaze—

He was inviting Shard, this bold mortal who had devoured His power, to join another Blood Feast. It was not coercion, but He had already arrived, and there was no escape.

"He has set His sights on me!"

The blood mist had completely consumed everything around Saint Delan Square, sneaking through the cracks of the window into the inside. Shard stepped back, cradling the frightened cat, who swung its claws forward in an attempt to protect him.

[The Saint has not fully descended yet. Do you need to burn your Divinity? Be aware, you only have a single drop of Divinity. If you don't wish to lose the Divine Afterglow, you must act again within…]

"No, not now. The Evil God came prepared; I can't guarantee I'd be able to defeat it before a drop of Divinity is completely consumed."

Shard watched the blood mist close in, step by step. They were about to have nowhere left to retreat. His eyes hardened with resolve, he had long considered that he would eventually confront a Deity head-on for the sake of Divinity; the current situation wasn't the worst possible, at least it seemed the Deity was unaware that he could become divine.

[Whatever surprise you intend to give the adversary, please do so quickly.]

"Three seconds! Mia, trust me completely, don't resist at all."

As the blood mist seeped into the room, Shard retreated step by step, speaking softly. Then, he grabbed a thin blanket from the sofa and covered Mia, who was shivering in fear and waving her claws. Removing the blanket, the petite Mia Cat transformed into an even tinier Mia plush cat, the cat granted Shard her absolute trust:

"I want to seek ways to use Divinity to overcome a Deity from other deities."

He held the Time Key in his hand, inserting it directly into the chest ornament's keyhole:

"May the World Tree bless me across infinite time."

With a click, the lock of the ornament door twisted, opening to reveal a door of endless white mist.

As the blood mist fully infiltrated the room, Shard, holding the Mia Cat plush, extended his right index finger into the Mist Gate.

With a clink, the ornament fell to the floor; Shard vanished from the spot while the blood mist swallowed up the room.