Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Do you think this place is somewhere you can just come and go as you please?"

Shard wanted to argue with Daknis, but the old priest who had been overpowered and beaten by the Church's Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer suddenly raised his voice and asked.

Perhaps feeling insulted, his face, which was very much like that of a fish, became flushed with anger, and the three Holy Emblems on the back of his hand and forehead were glowing:

"Show some respect, humans! What do you think this place is?"

Shard and Daknis exchanged glances, then both looked towards the fishman. Surrounding the old fishman was a transparent protective shield made of liquid, while the machinery operated by the Church of Creation's Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer was trying to contaminate it.

"The age of man will surely be ended by the age of the deep sea. When the light of civilization extinguishes and the world moves towards its end, all will return to the deep sea!"

The fish priest of the Crimson Cult loudly prayed in the common language of Draleon.

"Madman."

The witch muttered under her breath.

"You do not understand, humans, none of you understand. My lord has already said that the world will eventually move towards destruction. It is all destined, and none of you can escape it."

The fish priest shouted, and the Holy Emblems at the end of the temple seemed to respond to his prayer, making him even more powerful with their golden glimmer:

"This is the temple of The Great One, where the ancient ocean rulers once dwelled. Heathens meet only the fate of ultimate death."

Indeed, the strange pressure grew even stronger with his shouts. Not only the witch, the Church's Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer, and Daknis, but even Shard, whose soul contained a touch of divinity, found breathing difficult.

"Miss, I'll help you deal with him in a moment,"

Shard whispered to the witch, stepping on the floor, as snowflakes fluttered down from above. The ceiling fresco of the temple, which depicted the ancient and brutal ocean wars, seemed to have a large hole melted into it. However, rather than a gloomy, rain-clouded sky behind it, silver moonlight poured down from the ceiling.

"Hmm?"

The witch looked over.

Although he couldn't use Maze Lock in its entirety, creating a space with parts of Maze Lock was still possible. While the power from that mass of flesh remained effective, Shard was now comparable to an Inner Ring Sorcerer nearing the High Ring. With everyone but the fishman suppressed, the unfolding of the incomplete Maze Lock suppressed the fishman, elevating Shard.

The rise and fall might not be enough for Shard to surpass anyone here, but he at least had the credentials to participate in the fight. After all, his original purpose was not to defeat anyone but to get these troublesome people to leave the place temporarily—that was what he needed to do.

Shard said to the man from the Church of Creation:

"I've been injured, so I might not be of much help, but I think we can start by dealing with this cultist,"

He was making excuses for himself; in this battle, he could at best play a distracting role.

"Your injuries from Tobesk haven't... healed yet, so be very careful—its divination abilities are extremely powerful,"

Speaking in awkward Draleon Common, the middle-aged man charged toward the fishman priest through the falling snowflakes. Tiny brass mechanics drilled into his pores, forming an odd metallic layer beneath his skin. The old priest waved his arms, and three spirit runes—[Fishman][Ocean][Impact]—on his back's Ring of Fate flickered with spiritual light:

"Oh, spirit of the great sea!"

As the ground beneath their feet trembled, a huge shark composed purely of sea water leapt from beneath the floor. Although it seemed forceful, the shark scattered into points of light within the dancing snowflakes upon impact with a Church Ring Sorcerer from the Church of Creation.

His body gushed steam outward, and he resembled a steam bomb about to explode. After brushing aside the obstructing shark, he slammed forcefully into the dazed old priest. However, the fishman's body suddenly turned to seawater, splashing to the ground and attempting to burrow into the cracks.

The witch, temporarily in truce with Daknis, glanced over and pointed a finger; the scattered water reformed, and the vanished body of the old fishman reappeared.

"Moonlight Greatsword!"

Shard's figure appeared above it, not bothering with any fancy moves, and unleashed his most destructive attack to date. Under the illumination of Maze Lock's Silvermoon, the old fishman dared not face the attack head-on.

The two-handed greatsword descended fiercely, and the old fishman looked up and chanted a spell. The skin on his back undulated, and dozens of slender octopus tentacles shot out from his collar, forcibly blocking Shard's blade:

"Your power feels off? What Ring are you exactly?"

Direct contact allowed the experienced Twelve-Ring Cultist Sorcerer to notice something peculiar about Shard.

"What do you think?"

Shard said with a smile, as chains rattled out from his sleeve, latching onto those octopus tentacles, and astonishingly touched the fishman's Ring of Fate behind him. Originally spinning at high speed, the rotation of the ring slowed abruptly upon contact with the chains, but then the spinning Ring of Fate ripped the pitch-black peculiar chains apart and began to rotate rapidly once again.

Even Shard did not expect the Arcane Technique, newly acquired, to possess such power—certainly, the enhancements from both the [Desire] flesh and Maze Lock contributed to this effect.

The momentary weakening of the Ring of Fate caused by the [Great Sin Chain] provided the Church sorcerer with an opportunity. Buzzing brass mechanics shining with light clustered around the fishman, and, once assured of Shard's disappearance yet again, those tiny metals encircling the old fishman detonated fiercely.

This was no ordinary blast that destroys through light, heat, or pressure. To Shard, it seemed more like the metals were erasing matter within space. Rather than manipulating metal, it seemed more like a spatial rupture capability to Shard. And this was not a single-point spatial rupture; numerous tiny metals, each capable of fracturing space in a self-destructive manner, made for an extremely formidable technique.

After the explosion ended, the change in air pressure stirred the stale air within the somber temple.

A loud, coughing noise came from the deeper reaches of the temple. The Church Ring Sorcerer, Shard, the witch, and Daknis all turned to look in that direction. Seawater burbled from the cracks in the floor, once more materializing into the disheveled body of the old fishman, who glared with eyes that seemed about to bleed at the four humans beneath the falling snow.

The recent attack could be considered a joint effort by the Church Ring Sorcerer, witch, and Shard against it. Although it seemed unscathed, Shard, who was quite proficient with spatial power, could sense that it definitely hadn't escaped the spatial damage.

Even Daknis wouldn't assist it at this time. Although there had been collaboration, from the current situation, it seemed that the Crimson Cult was doomed to fail.

"You all..."

The Old Fishman spat blood, his body rapidly swelling, prompting everyone to immediately back away, as it appeared that he was about to self-destruct. The reason he didn't use the Sublimation Incantation in a desperate attempt probably lay in its great cost, leaving him powerless. After all, even without Shard's appearance, the Old Fishman was no match for a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer.

The difference between twelve and thirteen is the difference between two and three Sublimation Incantations.

"Sea Return is no longer possible,"

said the Church Ring Sorcerer, who manipulated the brass mechanical constructs, his raspy and stable voice clarifying that the Church had control of the situation. Unlike the Night of the God's Descent in Tobesk, there would be no accidents during the great shadow event in Coldwater Port.

"You don't understand, you don't understand, the fire of civilization is teetering on the brink, none of you understand."

It shrieked madly, its arms and legs waving uncontrollably. On closer scrutiny, the dance resembled the primitive ritual dances that people performed around fire in ancient times.

This odd dance held a unique rhythm, and Shard felt he glimpsed something in it.

It danced, it yelled, it laughed, turning its gaze consecutively upon the four humans:

"I see it, I see it, none of you will end well!"

But no one paid it any attention.

"You, a human trying to renounce flesh and blood."

The middle-aged man from the Church of Creation slightly furrowed his brow.

"You, shrouded in darkness yet beguiled by it."

Daknis remained unmoved, the Half-body Demon still laughing wildly.

"You, burdened with a curse yet still foolishly chasing freedom."

Although Shard couldn't see Miss Aphrola's face, he knew she must be angry.

"You..."

The Old Fishman turned to look at Shard, and Shard looked back into its murky fish eyes. An Evil God Ritualist, also a Twelve-Ring Sorcerer, and even an expert in Divination, its remarks about the others were quite interesting.

"What about me?"

Shard asked softly.

"Do you really think the audience below the stage is truly the safest?"

The Fishman laughed heartily, its body having swelled more than three-fold since Shard had first arrived.

"Audience..."

"You're the foolish one, entangled in desires, broken in body, void in future. Even if the past's power shelters you, what about the future? Your end will be more tragic than mine. Such a fool, all of you are fools, why can't you believe in the deep sea?"

It suddenly stopped, then facing the Holy Emblem emanating radiant light from the depths of the Temple, it spread its arms wide and roared:

"May the Lord of the Crimson Spiral be with me!"

Daknis' right hand flesh mass swelled drastically, the flesh-colored structures burning with black flames formed a shield before him; the gentleman from the Church summoned all the brass mechanical constructs he had released, then kneeling on one knee, he gripped the metallic great shield formed by the constructs; the Witch, unruffled, snapped her fingers and her body vibrated swiftly, her skin color fading gradually until she became completely transparent.

Shard did not believe the leaf in his mouth would shield him from the incoming harm, so he stepped back, vanished from sight, and returned to the corridor.

He ran back along the corridor and then suddenly leapt forward, embracing his head and lying down. It might not look as dignified as the actions of the other three, but it was at least effective. Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire

Boom!

A dull sound came from behind, and as his body was pressed against the ground, Shard could even feel the ancient, uneven stones quivering beneath him.

Terrible noises came from above, and whispers of dust and clods of earth kept falling.

"Cough, cough~"

Shard coughed as he stood up and dusted the dirt off his hair. When he turned and re-entered the Temple, the floor was splattered with blood and flesh, where the Old Fishman had once stood was now a small pit.

But its death was not in vain, as the blood of the willing sacrifice had stained the Holy Emblem, its sinister golden light growing stronger. The divine power within the Temple forcefully suppressed the non-believers present.

Outside the Temple, the sound of rain was furious; the Crimson Cult was making its last stand. The Giant Mermaid Corpse, carrying the giant waves, advanced toward Coldwater Port. The battle that started at dawn wasn't long and was coming to an end.

The Witch, Daknis, and the Church Ring Sorcerer looked around through the dust of the explosion. The Witch and the Church's Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer were unharmed, while Daknis looked somewhat disheveled but not seriously injured.

In the light of the Holy Emblem of the Evil God, the four individuals observed each other. Although Shard was still the weakest among them, he now saw a glimmer of hope, because—

"I am on the side of justice, after all, the protagonist."