Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1976: The Saviors

"Flame, the Fire of the Primordial! The nun safeguarding it since the First Era seeks the original spark that foretells the world’s fate!"

The flames rushed toward Shard as he stepped forward and continued pounding on the door before him, completely disregarding what the other was saying.

"Witch, Empress of the Fifth Era! The Witch Empresses who have already discovered the world is drawing to an end—did they truly leave nothing for the future of the world as their era faded? Did they really all depart?"

Exquisite, beautiful faces morphed from black light rushed at Shard, and the last was the Holy Emblem of the ancient witch.

Shard’s blows on the door grew increasingly forceful, the firelight nearly melting everything before him into molten iron.

"Church, the deity wielding the power of the Ancient God! The devoted believers who continued to uphold the order of the material world even after the Ancient God’s departure—are they really unaware of the future?"

With a loud boom, a large hole was forcefully punched through the Ring of Fate by Shard. Countless whispered prayers from devoted believers echoed in his ears, as if he truly saw uncountable priests, clergy members, and nuns praying toward the sky, the earth, and the world, yet he cared nothing.

"And those ancient associations of seers, prophets attempting to peer into the future! When civilization faces extinction, what is it that weaves a grand ritual using the power of civilization and enlightenment, trying to gather the enlightenment element and hold together a civilization on the brink of collapse?"

Countless Roder card phantoms moved as though swept by a gale amidst the flames, rushing straight at Shard, who suddenly paused his sword-swinging motion:

"What did you say? What is the Roder card?"

"Past stories! Ancient legends! Folktales passed down! Modern civilization! Prophets wove an intricate web with the element of enlightenment, using all information from past, present, and future civilizations, and gathered the slightly weak glow of world civilization with the Roder card, which became a part of civilization development! This is the ritual of enlightenment, the ritual of civilization, the grand salvation ceremony of the Sixth Era!

Do you think I researched Roder cards, researched Impermanence cards out of whim?"

Shard watched in astonishment, as the face of the approaching Roder card displayed images of [Ancient Fairy Tale], [Northern City], [Old Continent Scenery], [Southern Carsonrick Folklore], [King’s Secret Order], [History of New World Exploration], [Life Ritual], [Old Continent Minerals], [Phantom Opera House], [Circus Tragedy], [Summerkadi Story], [Sad Opera], [Modern Girl], [Steam Era], [Words of the Era], and many more card series flashing past in quick succession.

"And the cultists, those you deem mad Circle Sorcerers! Transforming to stone, diving into the deep seas, sublimating into light, recreating the golden bloodline, returning to an ancient dragon era, contesting for the world king amid war and chaos! Everything is in search of a way for humanity to survive the inevitable apocalypse!"

Every cultist and cult ceremony Shard had encountered in the past shaped themselves from the flames toward him, but vanished instantly.

"Laplace Klein Howard, what did you see!? What’s truly visible to you?"

"I saw it, I saw it all.

Miracle! The resurrecting angel! Observing and assisting civilization making its final gamble!

Desecration! Demons whispering words of desecration are equally striving to find a direction to live!

Enlightenment! Civilization chose its path, fate chose extraordinary heroes, anticipating the unification, saving all life!

Whispering! Whispering is the world’s final elegy! I saw it, I finally saw it!"

As the faces of Priest Augustus, Dr. Schneider, and Dorothy flashed by one by one, the diviner hiding behind that door screamed in frenzy, completely losing his composure this night:

"The female diviner returning from an era of destruction! The destroyer of worlds countless times! Daughter of destruction traversing time is fighting for the continuation of civilization!"

Purple eyes seemed to watch Shard through the flames, as Shard finally lowered the longsword in his hand, feeling as if his head was struck by thunder for an instant:

"Miracle is angel, desecration is demon, enlightenment is the chosen savior of civilization, whispering is Luviya bearing witness to the world’s apocalypse. The four members of the group correspond just right to the Four Elements? Why? Why is it like this?"

"You’ve understood! You finally did!"

The diviner behind the bronze door seemed entirely mentally affected by evil objects, laughing heartily yet as if weeping:

"There has never been such a thing as coincidence; everything is for the continuation of the world.

The Whispering Verses guide the fate of The Chosen One, but who truly knows what our future holds? It’s not only them; countless others are preparing for the inevitable day, those who have glimpsed the shadow of the apocalypse from the Ancient Sound, ancient knowledge, and the most obscure and arduous scriptures are all making their preparations."

A group led by Old John from the Guiding Light Hermitage, Mr. Edmund, and Granny Natalie, had their appearance concealed by hoods, walking towards Shard in the fire, then suddenly disappearing.

"Shard Hamilton! Why are you so arrogant?

So many people, even civilization itself, strive to preserve the world. Why do you always believe your thoughts, your plans, your goals are the correct ones? Is it merely because you have glimpsed the already destroyed past? Or is it that you simply don’t care about the fate of others outside your circle?"

The Great Sword was raised by Shard once more, swung towards the brass gate in front of him. With a tremendous roar, the gate finally collapsed completely under Shard’s powerful strike, allowing the sword to hit the hysterical diviner behind.

This sword did not kill him; rather, it struck out the Door in the Bottle from within him, which was already covered with dense cracks. The final blow absorbed all the damage, corresponding to the "sealed space," "twisted truth," and "uncontrolled origin," the ancient evil entity whispering madness and distorted knowledge finally lost all ability to resist.

Separated from the evil entity, Laplace Klein Howard looked even weaker. He gave Shard a glance in the fire, then turned to disappear again as Shard wasn’t watching, but Shard could clearly sense where he went.

Ignoring the departing diviner, Shard maintained his current fused state, grasping the glass conical flask, descended in the fire, and strode into the center of the sea of flames.

Only the circular area in the center of the sea of flames was devoid of any fire; the ground here was covered with intricate lines and ritual symbols, yet the ritual looked so simple.

At the center of that standard circular space stood a white stone statue that Shard was extremely familiar with.

Upon the stone pedestal stood the man with two heads, both headless, holding a book in the left hand and pointing forward with the right hand. The direction of the finger was exactly where Shard was now positioned. The statue wore a flowing floor-length robe, barefoot, and at its foot lay the glowing lantern, inside which was the flame of the Primal Fire:

"How is this lantern so similar to mine? Is this the entrance to the Spatial Labyrinth? The Ancient God [Primordial Rift] Statue! Wait, then wouldn’t that mist be..."

Everything suddenly made sense; neither time nor fire could leave any marks on the statue. The presence of this Ancient God Statue was the true reason why even a single flame of the Primal Fire could seal this island for several eras.

Previously, Shard had not considered such a possibility, yet now it seemed that only this made everything entirely logical.

His tall figure blurred in the fire, as the black Bell Tower vanished, and Shard and Sister Delphine appeared together in the sea of flames.

Shard breathed deeply, feeling more exhausted. He re-clipped the eyepatch stuck to his left arm, handing it back to the nun who, with her head down and eyes closed, did not want him to see her current appearance. After she put the eyepatch back on, she took the Door in the Bottle with one hand, and raised the oil lamp at the foot of the Ancient God Statue with the other.

This lantern was identical to the one Shard had obtained from the Sin Mansion.

The ritual circle, which had shone for tens of thousands of years on the ground, finally dimmed. The ground vibrated; the already damaged sealing ritual completely collapsed due to the departure of its core item.

But in the next moment, the massive golden ritual circle of the Sun, Moon, and Stars re-illuminated on the ground. The black Time Key transformed into a glowing mass, floating in front of Shard:

"In the name of Luviya Annette..."

The light in his hand extended laterally until it became that straight black long staff.

Under the nun’s gaze, Shard stood holding the staff in front of the Ancient God Statue:

"Originally, I was worried that only the Kiss of the Tree wouldn’t be enough to seal here. Unexpectedly, the Ancient God Statue is also present, so there should be no problem now. Ancient God of Time, Father of the Infinite Tree, Ancient God of Space, Primordial Rift, please bless the endless time and vast space that houses me, please bless me in protecting this world."

With both hands wielding the staff, he struck the ground, emerald green light spread from the tip of the staff into the sea of flames, until the towering phantom of a giant tree stood behind Shard and the statue.

Meanwhile, amidst the island’s rumbling tremors, everyone on the island saw, beneath the gradually shrinking black hole of the night sky, behind the blood-red giant tree, a colossal tree of normal color rising from the ground, until the emerald green canopy melded with the blood-red canopy.

The ground still shook as large cracks appeared beneath the trunk of the blood-red giant tree, and the flames burst from the depths of the earth almost immediately ignited the blood-red tree located behind Edwards’ Old House. The blazing tree turned the fiery red giant tree even more dazzling, these being the firewood Sister Delphine had long set her sights on.