Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

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When Shard once again saw the light ahead, he temporarily left the narrow, mud-covered corridor and entered a more spacious area inside the temple. This place was probably a library or something of the sort in the past, decaying bookshelves scattered amidst the mud on the ground.

The merman High Priest, clad in a red ritual robe, was fighting with the vice-chancellor of Saint Byrons Integrated Academy, Professor Sanchez. Despite being a Nine Rings sorcerer, the High Priest seemed to have his powers bolstered within the temple. Even so, he was still being completely overpowered by Professor Sanchez, whose victory was all but assured.

"Who are you?"

Just like the Church Ring Sorcerer at the entrance to the temple, Professor Sanchez also posed this question. But Shard still didn't speak and tried to bypass them to move forward.

Neither the red-robed High Priest nor the professor attempted to stop him, the professor even went so far as to warn:

"It's more dangerous ahead. The power of the deity repels us non-believers. Whatever you're trying to do, for humanity's sake, I must remind you: if it's not necessary, don't go any further."

Shard shook his head and ran past the two, holding his fishing rod.

After entering the corridor again with his tattoo, Shard immediately felt the air grow heavier. After running a few more steps, the air was like a mire, hindering Shard's progress. Some powerful force was radiating from ahead, a force that Shard was very familiar with.

Although the temple complex was vast, Shard, running with all his might, finally reached the end.

This was the real Temple of Bygone Days. When Shard emerged from the corridor's exit, his gaze swept past the huge black stone pillars that supported the structure, past the odd and bizarre merman and mermaid statues standing on the ground, and even past the four people embroiled in combat, until he saw the Holy Emblem hanging on the wall at the deepest part of the temple.

Here the light was faint, but the Holy Emblem shone with a striking golden radiance.

That strange and twisted sensation was only slightly better than the last time, when he was being directly gazed at by the Evil God. Inside the temple, Shard even felt his skin wriggle as if trying to spontaneously transform into an aquatic creature's form. But due to the counteracting force of some powerful energy within his flesh, this transformation couldn't progress at all.

The red spiral phantoms, accompanying the double vision before his eyes, became clearer and clearer. He could vaguely hear prayers though it also felt like someone whispering in his ear. Those low, muddled voices poured directly into his ears. If it weren't for Shard's experience with facing deities, he might have collapsed and started convulsing the moment he left the corridor.

Among the four fighting, the ugly merman High Priest turned out to be a Twelve Rings sorcerer. Shard hadn't expected the Crimson Cult to have such high-ranking magicians. However, it made sense that they would dare to launch a ritual with such a High Ring Sorcerer present.

Unfortunately for him, his opponent was a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer. Judging by the Holy Emblem hanging from his chest and his combat style, this calm middle-aged man clothed in a black coat, manipulating countless tiny brass creations, should be from the Church of Creation and Destruction.

Aside from the two of them, Shard actually saw Daknis, who had removed his red gloves, and Lady Hevy Aurora, whose face seemed to be veiled by a thin mist. Of course, because he couldn't see her face and her clothes had changed, Shard wasn't sure who she was at first, but the badge heating up on his chest was hinting to him that there wasn't a second Grand Witch in Coldwater Port.

Shard immediately took the gold ring from his hand and put it in his pocket, feeling very fortunate that the red seawater made it impossible to discern the original design of his clothing.

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The other three were unaffected as they stood in the temple, which was heavily influenced by divine power. Shard wasn't surprised, but the fact that Daknis, with only Six Rings, could also resist the pressure that felt as if being watched by a deity was somewhat unexpected.

Apart from the Twelve Rings Merman, everyone's power was suppressed.

The battle between Daknis and Miss Aphrola was bizarre. The former was bent over, his Six Rings Sorcerer's Ring of Fate materializing behind him, surrounded by dark vortexes. His right hand grotesquely swelled into the upper half of a flesh-colored, incomprehensible creature, with sulfur and black flames spewing out of the laughing mouth.

Miss Hevy Aphrola barely fought back, not even revealing her Ring of Fate. She continued to use telekinesis to passively defend with the merman statues scattered throughout the temple. But this witch, stronger than Miss Galina, should not be losing to Daknis. Shard remembered how Miss Galina had dared to rush forward when facing an Evil God, and even managed to retreat successfully.

The witch seemed wary of the thing growing from Daknis's right hand, so she did not go all out in her attack.

"Why have Daknis and the witch also come here?"

Shard thought with confusion and then saw the crimson merman tattoo on the fish hook that kindly brought him here dissipate.

The scattering crimson merged into the temple, drifting into the numerous merman and mermaid statues. It seemed this was the actual origin of the Mermaid's Curse, and the initial object spreading the curse, the small mermaid statues, originally belonged to the temple.

The four people caught up in the battle soon noticed the stranger holding a fishing rod at the entrance of the temple, but no one knew what he was there for.

"Stranger, help me defeat the people from the True God Church. Once the tsunami engulfs Coldwater Port, I will give you the treasure of the Merman. Choose whatever you want—the Elixir of Immortality, gold and silverware, ancient scriptures, occult codices!"

The Merman High Priest was the first to speak. The degree of his face's transformation, while not as extreme as the captain of the White Bone Pirate Ship or the painting in Mr. Jude's safe, was definitely the most fish-like face Shard had seen in Coldwater Port.

His skin was covered in slimy, wrinkled scales, his hands and forehead engraved with the Holy Emblem of the Evil God. Only the real controller of the Crimson Cult would be entitled to do so.

"Do not trust these cultists. The Sea Return ritual will never succeed. Stranger, help me against him, and there will be fewer sacrifices in the city. Whatever organization you are from, we are all humans, and the Church will provide you with appropriate compensation."

This Church Ring Sorcerer, who was controlling brass mechanical constructs, spoke quite directly, without using any talk of justice to persuade Shard. However, his accent was off, indicating he was not a Draleon. This one must have been temporarily transferred from Carsonrick by the Church of Creation.

"Stranger, help me against this man possessed by a demon. How about a non-negotiable draft of twenty thousand pounds afterward? It can be cashed in any big city bank."

Miss Aphrola also spoke up, even though the two were close, the power of the Evil God in the temple was too overwhelming for her to accurately sense the anomaly with Shard.

"She's a witch, do not trust her!"

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Daknis spoke out loud, his own voice steady, but the laugh from the demon his right hand had become was sharp and piercing.

"You're not naming a price?"

Shard shifted his gaze from the Holy Emblem deep within the temple and asked with a frown.

"What?"

Daknis was taken aback.

"I mean, the other three have named their price, aren't you going to make an offer?"

Shard repeated himself, and before the other could look back at him, his body suddenly disappeared inside the temple.

"Be careful! It's the power of space!"

The demon in Daknis's right hand suddenly spoke, its strange blasphemous language affecting the space, but only Shard and Daknis himself could understand it.

On instinct, Daknis swung his right arm behind him, and the demon's gaping mouth bit down hard on the Moonlight Greatsword Shard had swung from behind.

The blade emitted a glimmer of Holy Silver light, and blisters formed on the demon's mouth as though it was being scorched, emitting foul-smelling black smoke.

The power in the Six Rings Sorcerer's odd right hand was originally far beyond what a Second Ring like Shard could contend with. But before the power in that piece of flesh faded, Shard could still just barely resist.

But that mouth was indeed formidable, and in just two or three seconds there were already signs of splintering on the Moonlight Greatsword. Daknis's left hand was moving towards Shard's heart when suddenly another Moonlight Greatsword slashed down from the void.

A strange dark vortex suddenly appeared before the Moonlight Greatsword. The two-handed sword that thrust out from the void plunged into the darkness and was completely gone. At the same time, the sword in Shard's hand was also completely shattered by the sharp teeth.

He immediately retreated, and Daknis, probably still wary of the witch nearby, did not pursue.

"Last time you said you were Six Rings, and asked me how many Rings I was, do you have an answer now?"

Shard asked softly, glancing towards the Holy Emblem on the deepest wall of the temple.

"You..."

The Half-body Demon on the right hand suddenly roared, its arm stretching out attempting to tear and bite Shard, but Shard disappeared once again, reappearing at an even further location.

"Is it you? The person on the roof?"

The middle-aged man realized.

"The report letter enclosed with a 'shilling' note, did you write it to the Church of Nature? Wait, your signature is..."

The Church Ring Sorcerer with the Carsonrick accent suddenly widened his eyes and glanced towards Shard, but he didn't utter the name "God Summoner."

"It was you who reported me?"

Daknis glared at Shard.

"It was you who wanted to kill me with the Puppeteer's Script. I had no choice but to report you."

Shard responded.

Daknis's expression of anger intensified:

"You were the one who found our location first; how could I possibly let you leave alive? Wait, something's wrong. My partner paid with his life for a clerical error, making you a Misfortune meeting a level 0 Relic—how are you still alive?"

"Level 0 Relic? So my good fortune... level 0?"

The image of the monster in the pool flashed before Shard's eyes, and the corner of his mouth twitched:

"Level 0."
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This was the first level 0 Relic he had encountered in this world. Although the creature hadn't demonstrated any power, considering the strange contamination that could nearly dissolve any spirit and the fact that it called itself "Desire", it seemed reasonable that it was level 0.

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