Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 274 The Power of Impermanence

"God... Godfall! The Sixth Era still has other Benevolent Gods!"

Someone by the long dining table murmured, but everyone was compelled to avert their gaze from the figure at the end of the street, an entity not meant to be beheld by mortals.

A vast Silvermoon hung high above, as the blood fog swept back in. At one end of the dining table, the Deity met the gaze of the deity from the road's end in the long night.

Time seemed to stand still in that moment, the blood-red light interwoven with the light of the Silvermoon. The ground vibrated, and the wind howled as if even the world itself was uneasy.

"Silvermoon!"

A gentle voice arose in the minds of everyone still able to maintain consciousness, a deity under the silver moonlight pointing towards the sky, a dazzling Light Trace blazing from the fingertip; a momentary holy brightness scattered the blood fog covering at least half the city.

He walked down the road towards the grand mansion, trailing a silver light that seemed destined to eternally brand itself upon the fabric of space.

The immense shadow of flesh hung in the sky, its twisted and massive body roaring. The flesh shuddered, droplets of corrupt blood falling around the mansion, and the blood fog surged once more, where the silver light met the blood-red light, black thunder cracked intermittently.

At the end of the long table, the Saint of the Blood Robe flicked his knife and fork, and a dinner knife flew out from a hole in the wall.

The God of White Robes, coming down the road, continued his pace. A silver Great Sword, shimmering with holy light, materialized beside him and soared straight into the sky, splitting the flying dinner knife and then surged towards the mansion. Around the mansion, a silent, semi-spherical, blood-red barrier appeared, then silently swallowed up the seemingly all-cleaving silver Great Sword.

The deity continued walking toward the mansion, a Silvermoon tearing a great hole in the blood fog overhead seemed to draw nearer.

An eerie silence lingered for a moment before people realized that the Silvermoon was not merely appearing to draw nearer.

It grew larger and larger, until the Silvermoon obscured the sky. The silver lunar disk descended from the heavens, slow yet weighty, carrying tremendous wind pressure and potential energy as it collided with the transparent, blood-red barrier surrounding the mansion.

Boom~

The explosive sound in that instant swept the blood fog and dust throughout the city like shockwaves.

The ground shook, even the dinnerware and the long table on the third floor of the mansion vibrated.

The sounds of shattering glass nearly pierced everyone's eardrums. The blood-red barrier dented, then shattered piece by piece, huge droplets of blood fell toward the ground. Meanwhile, the falling Silvermoon summoned by the deity also transformed into specks of light, encircling the mansion.

Shard Hamilton took a deep breath, the burn of divine power had not brought forth all of its strength—right now, he couldn't even be sure if he was still himself as his heightened soul allowed him to see more, but also understood what his adversary truly was.

Even though the deity that descended into the material world looked human, He was not human. The eyes harboring the corrupt flesh that devoured the mansion was indeed the Saint's true form.

The silver Great Sword and the summoned meteor were just superficial confrontations between the two. Their power levels were not much different, but the issue was that Shard's divinity was only a droplet, and already one-third had burned away.

The falling Silvermoon momentarily gave him the upper hand, and in that brief moment when spatial constraints loosened, His figure vanished beneath the silver moonlight.

Specks of silver Light Trace finally entered through the hole in the walls into the third-floor Blood Feast, where the figure of the god in white robes reappeared.

The Saint of the Blood Robe had no reaction, so Shard, following a hint from his distant past, pulled out the chair at the other end of the dining table across from Him and sat down.

The two deities gazed at each other across the long table, mortals clenched their eyes shut, their bodies trembling, fervently wishing to become more insignificant at this moment. Even with their eyes tightly shut, they could still sense the gargantuan beings staring at each other; even with their eyes tightly shut, the whispering voices and intertwining of two strange songs around them could not be ignored.

After a moment, a gentle yet extremely solemn voice once again resonated in everyone's hearts.

"May I depart."

"The feast is insufficient."

It was another voice, like the sound of wet, sticky flesh dragging across the ground, or like an Evil Spirit's whisper in a tomb.

A golden bowl appeared in front of Shard, but He shook His head, not tossing anything into the bowl.

A card appeared between His fingers, only in such a state could He feel that it truly didn't possess much power, yet it concealed a trace of Ancient God essence.

Following Miss Feliana's hint, He infused it with Divine Power—

Impermanence: Balance.

The divine brightness flickered on the card as Shard waved his fingers, tossing the card onto the table. Within the dark golden hue, a great Scale emerged atop the card and on the table, one side pointing at the Lord of the Blood Feast in his red attire, the other at the white-robed Shard.

Iluna Beath abruptly opened her right eye.

The ancient and sacred aura that accompanied the appearance of the balance made it even more difficult for mortals, who were already feeling unwell, to maintain consciousness. However, Iluna Beath felt that the luster of the balance had completely restored her condition.

She could open her eyes and was able to see the content of the cards on the table. Then, the one-eyed looked towards the deity emanating holy white light.

Two silver eyeballs flew out from the sleeves of the white robe, landing on the dark gold end of the balance that pointed towards her. The silver eyeballs pushed down the balance above the cards, tilting it towards Shard:

"Leave."

The dark gold luster from the balance covered the tabletop, and the blood mist faded a bit, also suppressing the blood-colored light.

The two eyes were the Demon Eye "Greedy Silver," which Shard used as a meal for the opposing Evil God in response to its "insufficient feast." Even as relics, the two eyes could hardly satisfy the other's demand, but the balance summoned from "Genesis: Balance," represented the power of the Ancient God. Shard, who manipulated the divine power through balance, believed it was a fair trade, hence the tilt of the balance suppressed the "Lord of the Blood Feast."

It was the key to victory provided by the most powerful Grand Witch in the world five thousand years ago.

"Not enough."

A viscous, slippery voice came from all around, and despite being suppressed, It was still not satisfied with just the meal of two eyes.

The blood-colored light spread towards Shard again, its glimmer devouring the holy silver light surrounding him. But abruptly, a long siren sounded, and the "Gluttony" rune appeared on the deity's forehead. The stone mask held by the Saint of the Blood Robe against his face instantly shattered.

But soon, the same blood-colored light lit up on Shard. The gluttonous power from the "Lord of the Blood Feast," intertwined with the sublimated power of the relic. A giant stone gargoyle visage, swirling with silver and blood light, appeared beside It, its maw engulfing the surging blood light.

The stone gargoyle visage shattered, and golden light traces gradually converged into Shard's hands. After a brief skirmish, He unexpectedly devoured a drop of divinity. But such an act could only be done once by suppressing it with the power of the Ancient God since there was almost no difference in power between the two parties, the other being a true deity.

With divinity integrated into his being, Shard hesitated before plucking out his own left eye, letting the eyeball fall into the balance; his eye regrew again. This cost was meaningless, as his sacrifice was merely the regenerating flesh. But his unique existence meant that Shard Hamilton's body was the deity itself; the plucked eyeball was part of the divine body, thus forming a more powerful sacrifice.

"Leave."

In the blood-colored banquet hall, the dark gold balance quietly hovered above the table. Three eyeballs tilted the balance even more towards Shard's side. The dark gold luster suppressed the true master of the Blood Feast with a firmer stance.

The Saint put down the knife and fork in his hands, looking towards the dark gold balance:

"Not enough!"

Dark, twisted blood light surged on the Saint, but again it was suppressed by the Ancient God's balance.

The God of White Robes reached out to pluck his left eye again, but the Saint of the Blood Robe spoke to stop him. The Saint's body, a mass of flesh, twitched anxiously above the mansion, the blood fog not yet dispersed by the light of the Silvermoon gathered again as He accumulated power:

"Not enough!"

The chaotic energy and collision of rules nearly caused the mortals present to collapse, but the Silvermoon sheltered them, sheltering everyone here. The "Lord of the Blood Feast" wished for a desperate struggle, and Shard softly said:

"With the Ancient God Judge as my witness, in this duel, the injured shall leave."

Shard could keep plucking out eyeballs, even a hundred if needed, but suppressing the Saint's power was still through the divine-manipulated balance, and continuing like this would also be unsustainable. And He knew Shard could still suppress Him with the Golden Scales, so He would definitely not refuse such a proposal for a quick end:

"Agreed."

The dark gold balance hung high above the Blood Feast table, as the God of White Robes and the Saint of the Blood Robe simultaneously slapped the table.

The long table disappeared from the mansion's third floor, then abruptly appeared under the night sky over Tobesk, the night wind making the white tablecloth rustle, warming the mortals around the table with the summer's warm breeze. (Note)

The surrounding was foggy with blood mist, the Silvermoon appeared nearby, and below was the unusually quiet Tobesk, with the gleam of gas lamps dotting through the blood color.

The howling night wind brushed the faces of the mortals, and in that moment of powers being accumulated by the deities, their pressure finally lessened a bit. They could feel that their current location was no longer indoors, but still, only Iluna Beath could keep her eyes open.

At both ends of the floating dining table under the moonlit night, the two deities gazed at each other.

Iluna saw an enticing red halo emerge around the Saint of the Blood Robe, saw a huge shadow of flesh as if emerging from another side of space, gradually overlapping with the Saint's position.

Iluna saw the silver white light on the God of White Robes grow weaker as He pushed his chair back and stood up.

The God of White Robes stood against the night sky, the quiet Silvermoon lingering behind Him, a "Genesis: Silver Moon" appearing in his hand.