Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

``` After the spirit dissipated, the corpses beneath the ground no longer stirred. The freed priest looked at Shard in surprise: "I've been meaning to ask, what exactly is this arcane technique? While it's said that power is not inherently good or evil, this..." "Priest, try to communicate with the spirit again," Shard waved his hand dismissively, not wishing to elaborate, and pointed to the corpse on the ground: "If a body can be restored after destruction, perhaps the spirit can be as well. If successful, we'll attempt communication; if the spirit has indeed been completely destroyed by me, then this body can be safely transported to the church." "No problem." So the priest slapped the corpse again, and the spirit that subsequently appeared was in a normal state, and obviously remembered what had just occurred. It had barely appeared when it tried to move swiftly toward the distance, but Shard, who was already prepared, bound the spirit tightly with chains. The slender tip of the chain, adorned with the Rune Chain of "Gluttony," pointed at the spirit's head. The spirit was somewhat frantic at that moment, and it was unclear whether it was the experience of the spirit's distortion and collapse that had driven it mad or whether the influence of the "Great Sin Chain" had not dissipated even with the spirit's rebirth. "If you want to experience the feeling of being on the verge of losing control again, I can help you," Shard said, his threat clearly having a deterrent effect. "No, no, I won't run anymore." The spirit quickly shook its head, its translucent head displaying a jumbled expression, but its eyes glanced at the black metal dagger on the ground. Priest Augustus asked: "What are you actually doing? What is the purpose of this resurrection ritual? Or rather, why is there no Whisper Element on the dagger, but on your body instead?" The spirit didn't want to answer the question, but forced by Shard tightening the chain, it spoke: "It's actually nothing much. I'm using the resurrection ritual to seize the power of the Relic in nine resurrections... That is, to fuse myself with the Relic. This is the Poet-Level Relic, 'Death Curse Dagger,' which can enhance the abilities of necromancy and control the Undead through the dagger." "Fuse with the Relic?" Laughter came from "her," and Shard frowned, while the priest was infuriated, his face turning red: "Why are there always madmen like you? Even the Church and the Academy only dare to contain and utilize Relics to a limited extent. How dare you... What Circle Sorcerer Organization do you belong to?" "Release me, or else the organization will definitely retaliate against you... Oh." The tip of the chain poked his face several times. "I said, move this damn chain away. The Truth Society! I am from the Truth Society!" He seemed truly afraid of what was before his eyes. "The Truth Society?" Shard had heard the name "Truth Society" only once before, mentioned by Iluna. Like the Silver-Eyed One, the brown-haired girl and the "Truth Society" had an inextricable enmity. "The Truth Society is an illegal organization of Circle Sorcerers rooted in the Primal Forest in the southern part of the Old Continent, with their own secret castle hidden deep within the forest. It is said that the Truth Society originated during the chaotic era of the Fourth Era. These people claim to be a scholarly organization, gathering together in pursuit of truth, but their mad actions always cause great trouble," the priest explained to Shard on the side, knowing that Shard would not be aware of this: "Detective, kill him. Everyone in the Truth Society deserves to die; there's no need to keep him alive." Shard nodded and raised the sword in his hand. The spirit immediately shouted: "I've almost succeeded. Do you not want to see my research materials? Under extreme conditions, a person and a Relic can indeed fuse! Especially those bizarre and powerful Relics, they are even more likely!" He looked at Shard and the priest in turn: "You can too! Both of you are very potent Circle Sorcerers. You must surely be able to carry out the ritual I'm performing now! To fuse with a Relic, you both can!" ``` "Detective, don't listen to his nonsense. Kill him, and I'll report the incident to the church. All his remaining research material should be recovered and destroyed," Shard's sword came down, and the spirit screamed wildly. It seemed to want to clash with the two men using the "Sublimation Incantation," but the "Great Sin Chain" could seal the powers of a Circle Sorcerer: "To die without ever having seen a true union with a Relic!" The spirit was shattered a second time by Shard, then dissipated into the air. This time, Priest Augustus suddenly reached out to grab something in the air, and Shard once again saw the illusory sight of white feathers falling behind him. The priest's hand caught some black traces, his aged fingers plucked at them like guitar strings into the air, and a series of white Runes appeared and then vanished. Following those traces captured by the priest, the two unearthed a purple and gold pendant box from the dirt in front of the coffin. The resurrection ritual required actual death, and in order to prevent the soul from leaving and causing the ritual to fail, the Circle Sorcerer conducting the ritual had to prepare a vessel to contain the spirit. All this information was imparted to Shard by Priest Augustus, who had extensive knowledge of such rituals. After sealing both the pendant box and the dagger, now temporarily void of Whisper Element, they exhumed the coffin from the grave pit as well to ensure nothing else was around. As expected, there was something else beneath the coffin, but it was the body of a regular person. Apparently, this was indeed the body of the farmer's husband. Having confirmed the second body was unproblematic, Shard and Priest Augustus reburied it. Shard even picked a handful of wildflowers and placed them by the grave marker, next to the fence where Mia had just stood, as an apology for disturbing the grave that night. Meanwhile, the light in the Tomb Guardian's cabin remained off the entire time. Shard wasn't sure whether the other party was really in deep sleep or had woken up but didn't dare make a sound. "Priest, what should we do with the Circle Sorcerer's body, spirit, and dagger? Do I need to call a carriage?" Shard asked only after ensuring that all traces had been dealt with. "You head back first, Detective. You've had a hard night. I'll give you the Weak Angel Potion next week," Rolling down his sleeves that had been pushed up during digging, Priest Augustus waved goodbye to Shard: "I've dealt with similar matters many times before. I'll figure out a way to notify the church next, so they can retrieve the body." "Alright then, I'll take Mia and leave first. It feels like tonight's action brought no gains." Shard yawned as he spoke, and Priest Augustus seemed quite pleased: "We've successfully thwarted someone who could have caused trouble in the Tobesk Parish, and returned an unfortunate entangled body to its coffin. Isn't that a gain?" "Indeed, a success. Well then, Priest, I'll be off. Oh, it's nearly two o'clock, and I still have a medical study session this afternoon." Shard nodded his head and bid farewell to the priest before walking briskly out of the graveyard with the cat. Priest Augustus remained smiling, standing next to the body, in front of the grave, watching Shard's figure disappear down the path at the front of the graveyard. The smile vanished from the old man's face as he returned the lantern to the Tomb Guardian's cabin, then bent down to pick up two shovels and tuck them under his left side, fastened the box containing the dagger and spirit into a large pocket tied around his waist, and finally grabbed the body's hand with his right. Looking around warily to ensure no one was nearby, he turned to face the moon, closed his eyes, and furrowed his brow. After a while, as the sound of birds flapping their wings emerged, a pair of tattered white feather wings, revealing bone and flesh, appeared behind the priest. The moonlight shone upon Priest Augustus, filtering through the gaps in the charred feathers, casting strange shadows on the ground. Feathers glimmering with light fell towards the ground, but disappeared just before touching it; the wings were translucent. The wings flapped twice behind him, and the priest slowly ascended. Then, under the moonlight, in the moonlit night, carrying the shovels and dragging the body, he flew toward the direction of the town. "This scene is indeed the strangest of the night." Silver mist appeared abruptly behind the Tomb Guardian's cabin, with Shard emerging from the mist carrying the cat, joining Mia in looking up at Priest Augustus, now just a small black dot under the moonlight. He hadn't intended to spy on someone's secret but was very curious about how the priest planned to return without a carriage nearby. "Vice-Principal Professor Sanchez mentioned that thirty years ago, in the third year after Lat August joined the Dawn Church as a layperson, he was involved in a containment failure incident of a Level 0 Relic. And Priest Augustus was among the few survivors of that year..." Shard squinted his eyes toward the priest who had vanished into the deep night sky: "What creature could those bizarre wings belong to? Perfect, tattered, sanctified, bloody... Interesting, everyone has their secrets." Recalling Professor Sanchez's evaluation of the five people in the group, perhaps the professor's conclusion that Shard was the only normal one among them was indeed correct.