Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 328: The Afterglow Reappears

"I am not complete."

The deep and hoarse voice seemed to be getting closer, but the person facing away from them on the stairs hadn’t moved. Combined with the rocking of the ship and the thunderstorm sounds outside the planks, this scene was far more terrifying than the monster that had just forced Shard to drink the soup.

"But I yearn to be complete."

The words continued, while the glimmer at the tips of Shard’s fingers was becoming faint, the surrounding darkness pressing against it, forcing him to increase the output of Spirit.

"So."

The air inside the cabin, which seemed to have been stagnant, began to flow at this moment. Miss Princess, who was closer, felt a breeze behind her, and the raspy male voice appeared directly behind her:

"Let me become complete with your help!"

A fatal sense of crisis surged in her heart. Miss Princess instinctively wanted to turn around but forcibly suppressed the urge:

"Shard, is there something behind me?"

"Don’t turn around, there is nothing behind you!"

All the shadows were gathered at the staircase entrance, Miss Princess absolutely couldn’t turn around now, facing the enemy.

"Okay, then I understand."

The young lady, pale-faced, revealed a smile:

"So that’s how it is."

Raising her right hand, she gently touched the ruby earrings on her ears. As her fingertips made contact with the gemstone, a faint red glow rippled out from within the stone. Her slender fingers played with the glow, and with the movement of her fingers, a thin red Light Trace was pulled through the air.

Then, with a light tap forward, the red "ribbon" flew towards the figure with its back to them. It wrapped around smoothly, and the sailor sat rigidly in place, not speaking anymore, even the sound of dripping water stopped.

"Hurry, I can’t control it for too long."

Miss Princess immediately turned to Shard behind her and said, looking even worse off than before.

"This Sage-Level Relic, apart from stopping Sorcery and Arcane Technique, can actually temporarily bind a target; it’s just too powerful."

As he ran down the stairs with the lady whose hair had almost turned entirely red, Shard couldn’t stop marveling. He didn’t immediately ask about the effects of the relic but planned to once they had left the ship. Read new chapters at novelbuddy

[Think about this ship being a Sage-Level Relic, think about the necklace the witch lent you, think about the gift box that can contain any abnormal object.]

"Oh, actually, having this kind of effect is quite normal."

After passing the third level of stairs, the cold wind and eerie atmosphere also eased a bit. Shard and Miss Princess were both breathing heavily through their noses, their mouths shut tight. They resisted the urge to look back, stepping quickly down the decaying wooden stairs.

Both knew the sailor was definitely watching them from behind. Fortunately, the duration of the ruby earring’s binding was long enough, and as they turned the corner of the stairs, no strange noises came from above.

After distancing themselves from the dripping sailor, the cabin seemed to return to normal all of a sudden. It’s just that the stairs seemed a little too long; they stopped to rest for a moment. They had thought they’d see the captain immediately, but then they walked for a full five minutes on the stairs before finally hearing the noise from further down.

Continuing downward, they could now see a ghostly green glimmer emerging from the bottom, making this unexpected adventure seem not so long after all.

"Hm?"

After stepping past a certain stair level, Miss Princess suddenly furrowed her brows and looked towards Shard, who, enduring hunger, belatedly stopped his steps and looked down at his own arms.

On the exposed back of his hand, the skin slowly cracked inch by inch, with golden Light Traces shining beneath those cracks, reflecting the silver glimmer at his fingertips. Rolling up his sleeves, the cracks extended from his hand towards his entire body. In nearly the blink of an eye, his whole body was covered with golden fissures, even his clothes showed cracks.

Swinging his arm, the golden Light Traces pulled out afterimages and left behind gold spark-like points in the air. The brilliant golden light radiated outward from within the cracks. Warm and gentle, yet exceptionally sacred and solemn.

The filling sensation of power and warmth greatly diluted Shard’s hunger at the moment. It was as if his body was slowly immersing into hot water, like taking a bath in the restroom. The oppressive feeling ever since he came aboard this strange vessel in the seas seemed to dissipate with the emergence of the Light Traces.

The same golden radiance was also reflected in Miss Princess’s eyes. The sacred light soothed her spirit, and though she was only looking at a Second Ring Sorcerer, the sight of him made her feel breathless.

"This is... Divine Afterglow."

As long as Shard possessed Divinity, the Divine Afterglow State would continue. But for such a phenomenon to appear on the body’s surface, there were only two circumstances: one was falling into a deep Dream that exposed the soul’s nature, like the dreams induced by the Joyful Dream Pen; the other was encountering an environment related to a Deity, where the power of Divinity would automatically emerge to protect him, like the last time he saved the little girl’s family.

If this were a dream, Shard would actually be quite pleased, but it seemed all too real right now. That meant...

He looked towards the ghastly green light cast upward from deeper within the stairs:

"Everyone is on the ship, but the ship is not the only one, only the cabin with the captain is unique. There... lies the Power of the Evil God."

The good news was, at least this time it was just the power of a god existing on this ship meant for His hunt, far better than the last time when they were watched by an Evil God.

He pressed his stomach to steady himself and, seeing the girl beside him was alright, he said softly,

"Don’t worry, this is just a decoration. It will disappear once we leave."

Miss Princess covered her mouth in surprise but did not ask further, while Shard asked in his mind:

"Please confirm, do you sense any trace of the Evil God’s gaze here?"

[Absolutely not.]

Shard breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to the girl beside him and said,

"Miss Princess, we are about to meet the captain now. No matter what happens, I’ll take care of it."

The area ahead would be more deeply stained by the Power of the Evil God, further compressing the power of a Five-Ring Sorcerer.

"I can accept your proposal, but you need to explain," she said.

The red-haired girl was still rational, she bit her lip and tugged at Shard’s sleeve as if direct contact with those golden Light Traces could soothe the pain in her heart.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

"The situation below is worse than above. With the Power of the Evil God present, how much strength can you muster?"

Shard shook his hand slightly, looking serious:

"I’ve been through more dangerous situations. Even today’s events are not as bad as those at Lakeside Manor."

"I understand."

She said quietly:

"You take the front, but if you can’t hold on, let me step in. I will always be by your side."