Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 276 The Shadow on the Wall

Luviya Annette carefully lifted the lying Shard into her arms, a girl with long brown hair, meticulously directed water from the bottle into his mouth. At that moment, Shard still retained basic instincts and cautiously swallowed the liquid, but even after the entire bottle was emptied, he didn't wake up.

"Meow~"

A ginger cat circled around Shard and meowed anxiously twice, then jumped up and tried to paw at his pocket.

Miss Beyas was startled:

"You..."

She quickly realized and took out a pocket watch from Shard's pocket. After opening the watch, there indeed was the last Ever-Youth Leaf.

Although he could still swallow liquid, it was too difficult for the current Shard to chew the leaf. And due to the trait of the Relic, the leaf couldn't easily be juiced by other methods.

The young girl, her face flushed, looked at Shard and then at the anxious cat that was watching,

"Don't worry, I'll save him."

Her trembling hands covered her intact left eye, then with a blushing face, she brought the leaf towards her mouth...

Urgent footsteps sounded downstairs again, making Iluna realize she had forgotten to close the door.

Turning around with Shard in her arms, the purple-eyed Diviner appeared, panting heavily at the staircase. She hurriedly saw Iluna kneeling there holding the unconscious Shard, the cat squatting beside, and she too paused:

"Just now... the Evil God... so terrifying... my divination... the moon, and then I wondered if it was him... How is Shard?"

"You could actually look at the night sky just now?"

Miss Beyas originally thought she was the only one who had witnessed that scene.

"My eyes are very special, don't say so much now, how is Shard?"

Miss Annette walked over to Shard and knelt beside him, looking worriedly at his face.

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"I fed him a whole bottle of No. 1 Holy Water Essence, but he still didn't wake up, so this."

The girl with long brown hair flushed and shook the leaf she was holding, and Miss Annette immediately got it, hesitating for a moment she asked softly:

"You mean to... okay, will you do it or should I?"

"I will!"

She blurted out louder than intended, Miss Beyas gave an embarrassed smile, just about to put the leaf into her mouth when Shard suddenly raised his hand, grabbing her wrist, his eyes still closed:

"Don't... waste it, I only have one leaf left, water..."

His hoarse voice spoke, indicating the No. 1 Holy Water Essence had some effect after all.

"Water?"

Before the still confused Miss Beyas holding the Ever-Youth Leaf could react, Miss Annette had already risen to fetch a teacup and filled it with water:

"Shard, don't move around, if it really doesn't work..."

Bell sounds and steam whistles filled the narrow space, within the Second Ring Sorcerer's Ring of Fate, the silver representing Gluttony flashed with abnormally bright Spiritual Light. The Deity's pose consuming the second drop of divinity from the Lord of the Blood Feast didn't grant Shard new powers; instead, the existing Gluttony intensified.

His hand, held by Miss Annette, eventually touched the teacup, and the silver light almost burst forth from the teacup the next second.

Miss Beyas immediately steadied him by holding him upright, while Miss Annette carefully held the cup, feeding Shard the water.

The parlor's gas lamp flickered in this eventful long night, and at No. 6, Saint Delan Square's second floor, three people leaned together, their silhouettes indistinctly tangled on the wall. The ginger cat squatted nearby, meowing softly, seemingly hoping for Shard's quick recovery.

"I don't quite understand, why did you return to an empty home instead of looking for us?"

Miss Beyas asked softly, lowering her head.

"Because... I didn't know what would happen, and... it wasn't easy to have my own house, even if I were to die, I would... want to die here."

The shadows on the wall flickered, and the two ladies chuckled softly. Though Shard was still unwell, such words meant there was no need to worry about him leaving.

"So, the Blood Feast... will that entity still come looking for you?"

Miss Annette also asked, Miss Beyas cradling Shard's head in her arms and holding his hand. Shard shook his head subconsciously, feeling as if he had touched something:

"No more, we're even now... witnessed by the Ancient God, He can't use any means to..."

His voice low, Shard drifted off to sleep.

The gas lamp's light was soft yellow, and no matter what, this night was finally over.

(Mia was running...)

When Shard opened his eyes again, he saw the familiar ceiling of his own bedroom. He sensed the time, Friday morning at 7:30am, only eight hours since he had last drank water and lost consciousness again.

The movement of sitting up in bed startled the cat lying next to his pillow. Sunlight slipped through gaps in the curtains, shining on Mia's ginger fur, making it seem like it was glowing.

After continuous rain, Tobesk was finally greeted by a clear day.

"Speaking of which..."

He recalled the last part of last night's conversation, and as he looked toward the meowing cat beside him, he furrowed his brows:

"Did I use Arcane Technique yesterday to restore Mia from a doll... How did you turn back?"

"Meow?"

The orange cat looked up at Shard, its amber eyes seemingly growing larger with the upward glance.

"How did Mia revert back?"

Although he didn't know, she must have seen it at the time.

["During the overflow of divinity, some of it seemed to be absorbed by this cat."]

"Mia absorbed it?"

He picked up the cooing cat, but the foolish cat looked no different than usual. Still unable to perceive any element or spirit within Mia, it represented that this was still just an ordinary kitten.

"Could it be that I was unconscious, worried about dying, causing Mia to permanently become a doll, and subconsciously guiding the power to restore her to normal?"

["Very likely."]

Putting the cat down, he started moving and only then felt his body had completely recovered. Clenching his palms, Shard even felt his body's strength and reflexes becoming stronger than before.

["You burned a droplet of divinity. Though the radiance of that divinity has long faded, the power thoroughly infused in your flesh has still transformed your body."]

"Are there benefits to burning divinity as well?"

["If you hadn't obtained a second drop of divinity in time, you might have already died. If it weren't for No. 1 Holy Water, you probably would have had to lie in bed for half a year."]

"These were all anticipated events, and I don't regret it at all since everyone is alive now, and I haven't lost much."

He was very satisfied with everything he had done last night, even though he lost the Demon Eye and the ["other face"], but he saved everything and gained experience in battling with gods, worth all the losses.

Probably hearing the sound of Shard getting up, the bedroom door opened, and Luviya Annette pushed the door:

"Oh, Shard, good morning. Are you awake? How do you feel?"

"Not bad. Good morning, Miss Annette."

Shard moved his arms, stepped into his slippers, stood up, pulled open the curtains, and then took a deep breath, letting the brilliant sunlight shine on his face:

"I feel very good."

The cat, held in one hand, also meowed towards the sunlight.

"What about Miss Beyas?"

He turned and asked again, the purple-eyed Diviner leaning on the door frame shook her head:

"The church called her away, she confronted a saint last night, used the power of The Chosen One, letting the church know about the first confirmed identity of The Chosen One, so the church couldn't possibly not inquire about her. She'll probably be back by tonight; by then, you'll need to explain to us what exactly happened last night."

Shard paused for a moment, then realized that the purple-eyed Diviner also knew what the God in White Robes under the moon night was about. His memory of the last part of last night's conversation was very vague, but he vaguely remembered that Miss Annette and Miss Beyas were both here:

"You guessed it?"

"Yes."

She briskly stepped into the room, and only then did Shard see she was wearing an apron. He thought she wanted to ask more questions, but instead, Miss Annette gently hugged him, then quickly let go.

Purple eyes lifted to meet Shard's:

"Are you... really just a Second Ring?"

"Of course, genuine quality."

"Then how can you bear the power of a god? I'm really worried, worried that you..."

This question made it clear to Shard how she and Miss Beyas understood what happened last night. They didn't think Shard was a god, but rather that Shard's body had become a Divine Descent Vessel, bearing the power of a deity. Combining his use of Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer's power at Lakeside Manor and his survival without immediately dying, thus they guessed again that he was Thirteen Rings...

Shard squinted his eyes; honestly, he too did not want to expose his own secrets. Besides being an Outlander, the power of divinity was his deepest secret. Now that Miss Annette and Miss Beyas thought this way, it likely meant the church also believed that the "Masked Person under Silvermoon" as a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer, summoned a deity to defeat the Lord of the Blood Feast; he saw no need to refute this idea.

Letting himself be "suspected as Thirteen Rings" was much more preferable than being "suspected as a deity."

The Ring of Fate appeared behind him, unmistakably proving his identity

"The power last night, like the Maze Lock, came from the past. Apart from the True God, there were no Benevolent Gods in the Sixth Era, but they existed in the past; I have met deities in the past. Last night, as a Divine Descent Vessel, I summoned a god from the past."

This explanation was half-true, half-false, and with his current relationship with the two ladies, telling them about his unusual time travel adventures wasn't too out of the ordinary.

"The Time Key, right? I understand now, you indeed hadn't told the truth about the first key, so that's why Dorothy suddenly decided to become your mentor because..."

Miss Annette nodded in understanding, successfully led into the "correct" line of thinking by Shard's words. Regardless, she would never guess that the god from last night was right in front of her.

A gentle smile appeared in her eyes, and then, quite unexpectedly, the purple-eyed girl tiptoed to peck Shard's cheek, and softly said:

"Thank you, Rejed's Hamilton Knight, the unnamed hero who saved Tobesk. You've done so much, yet nobody can know all this, and there's no reward, so all you get is a girl's kiss."

Shard resisted the urge to ask her age, touching his cheek jokingly said:

"No, I've received many rewards already. Ahem, so other than the kiss, does the hero and his cat have breakfast?"

Following by Shard's feet, Mia Cat, hearing the keyword "breakfast," perked up greatly, meowing again.

"Of course, but there isn't any sheep milk left, the entire city is under martial law, and the Silver Parrot delivery service was raided. I've made some simple breakfast, I hope you like it... Shard, do you rarely cook at home? I noticed that your kitchen is so bare, it could starve a mouse."

Saying this, the two of them walked out of the bedroom.