Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 515: The Cornfield

Hearing Shard's question, Luviya laughed sheepishly in the darkness. Shard noticed that her two eyes emitted a faint purple glimmer hardly detectable in the terrifying blackness, which was especially obvious in the current lightless surroundings:

"That's part of the reason, but more importantly, President Stan is not skilled in direct combat."

She let go of Shard's hand, managing to stand on her own:

"The President has gone so far on the path of divination and prophecy that he has neglected other areas of study."

Shard nodded in understanding. After all, everyone has limited energy.

The Truth Society had appeared in this region, probably also for the Second Chosen One. As for why they came into conflict with the Prophet's Society, neither Shard nor Luviya knew.

They didn't attempt to intervene in battles that were unrelated to them, but before leaving the town, Luviya still had Shard help move the diviners, who were lying unconscious in the streets, into the shops along the road. She set up a ritual around them for protection, to prevent demons from attacking them.

Afterward, Luviya left a letter informing President Stan that she had left on her own upon waking, to seek help from nearby squads of Church Circle Sorcerers. This way, her abrupt departure could have a reasonable explanation.

"Do you know where Iluna might be now?"

Having left the town, it was time to plan their next move. Shard asked the crucial question, and the female diviner thought for a moment:

"She should have gone with the church's team toward the core zone."

She still had a map of the nearby area on her, records about oneself in the Dark Realm wouldn't disappear:

"According to what I knew before I fainted, the core zone is nearby."

Shard looked toward the map in the faint light at his fingertips, the place Luviya was pointing to was a forest. The countryside away from the city was all farmland, waste grounds, and forests, and this forest, named Millwood Forest, was a larger logging field in the southern part of Tobesk, supplying firewood for the city's winter.

Shard had no memory of this place; after all, it had already disappeared when he arrived in this world.

"Should we head to Millwood Forest immediately?"

Luviya asked for Shard's opinion, and he frowned in thought:

"Do you still have that Pirate's Blood Money on you?"

"Yes, I've been carrying it with me all along."

"Use your divination to choose the direction we should go."

Shrouded in pitch darkness, Shard only knew they were a mile outside of town, as for what was around them, nobody knew.

"The current situation is complicated. We have no idea what has happened at the Relic's core zone, nor do we know what we might encounter if we keep moving forward. You're of the Three Rings, I'm of the Second Ring. If we ran into a powerful demon, we simply wouldn't stand a chance. So, use divination to guide our way, I just need a direction or a definite destination."

Luviya nodded, pulled out the Blood Coin that Shard had harvested from the Fishbone Pirate Ship from her pocket. She activated its trait by trading with herself, then closed her eyes and tossed it upwards into the air.

In the pitch-black surroundings, it was easy to see the purple light particles drifting from her fingertips and the brief, dim white glimmer over her body at that moment.

The coin started to fall from its peak, rapidly decaying into ash that dispersed into the air, indicating that a conclusion had been reached.

"Strange, the divination shows that we should go here first."

She took out the map again for comparison, and this time she pointed to a field about half a mile away from their current position.

"What does that mean? Will we find help there?"

Shard asked, with a frown:

"But who would help us? Although Miss Galina's estate was also swallowed by darkness, it's clear she would have headed directly for the core zone... Could it be that the doctor is coming to assist? Or maybe there's some weapon against the demons nearby, but this place is just ordinary countryside, isn't it?"

"How did you think of the doctor?"

Luviya asked in surprise. She had heard from Shard about the doctor's dealings with demons but hadn't connected Daknis with the doctor:

"Moreover, it's not necessarily helpers or weapons; pehaps there is other information there. Let's set out as soon as possible, Shard. Unlike you, I can't hold up for much longer."

"However, it seems you never asked how it is that I'm unharmed and able to move around here."

Shard said again, curious.

"Whatever happens to you seems normal, and compared to what you did during Tobesk Night of Divine Descent and at Coldwater Port, isn't the current situation nothing if not normal?"

Compared to wandering alone, having companions in this darkness provided great psychological comfort to Shard. The surroundings were eerily quiet, and when Shard and Luviya exchanged information, they kept their voices as low as possible.

Luviya's spirit was gradually weakening, so to prevent her from passing out again, leaving Shard without a way to seal demons, she handed over to him all the information and materials for the demon-sealing ritual she had prepared. Coupled with God's Gift Box, even if Daknis were killed, there would be no worry about the Human Pus Demon escaping.

Shard was powerless regarding Luviya's condition and could only let her hold the Ever-Youth Leaf that he originally kept for himself. He was already incredibly surprised that Luviya was able to persist and continue walking with him. This was definitely not just because of the four Divine Amulets she wore; Luviya must have had her own way to resist the erosion of darkness.

However, her resistance was not strong, as the darkness was sapping her spiritual power, dissolving her will, and grinding down her sanity. Adding to that, after she had daringly used the Divination of the Cost, Shard knew very well that in the end, he might be the only one able to proceed to the Dark Core Zone.

But before that, Shard still needed to find a safe place for Luviya to enter slumber.

Since there were no references in the darkness, even with a map in hand, they took at least three times the normal amount of time to find the location that Luviya had learned of in her divination.

Just as Shard's eyes had caught a glimpse of the corn that had turned black at the edge of his vision, Luviya suddenly tugged at him, pointed at her ear, and signaled for Shard to listen carefully.

Holding their breath, indeed, a very faint singing sound entered their ears from the cornfield in front of them, interspersed with the sounds of stones being struck.

The voices that made up the singing came from hundreds of high-pitched, shrill sounds. A normal person would probably have to clutch their throat to produce a similar noise.

"What's going on here? Who would be singing in a place like this?"

Shard wondered in his heart, wanting to enter the cornfield and use the cover of the tall plants dyed black to explore further. But as soon as he stepped into the range of the cornfield, the Glimmer on his body suddenly weakened, and the headache brought on by the singing almost made Shard stumble and fall in the field.

The situation was even worse for Luvida beside him, as all four amulets on her body made a cracking sound, and upon careful observation, cracks had appeared on all four pieces of metal. She swayed a few times and had to support herself on Shard's shoulder to avoid falling:

"The dark power is stronger here."

"The singing is part of a ritual; the ritual being conducted in this place is intensifying the power of darkness. I've encountered similar situations on the road, but not as exaggerated as this one."

Shard helped Luviya sit down in the black cornfield, thought for a moment, then removed the metal box he was carrying on his back and let the nearly blind Luviya hold it. The golden glow illuminated Luviya's face, and her breathing finally steadied:

"Wait here for me, I will check out what's happening up ahead."

"These low-intelligence demons must have gathered here, holding a ritual within their domain to spread and enhance the darkness."

Luviya clutched at Shard's sleeve:

"Such events have also been recorded in the past. Shard, don't go, you can't handle them."

"How will I know if I don't try? Our goal is in the center of the cornfield; I must see what is there besides demons."

Shard asked solemnly:

"To witness the thirteen The Chosen Ones is your wish. Or do you, Luviya, wish to retreat with me and wait for good news or bad news from the Church?"

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In the worst-case scenario, Shard still had two drops of Divinity left on him. Even though he was reluctant to use it, should his life be threatened, he wouldn't be stingy with the power of Divinity.

"Do you have the pocket watch with you?"

He asked again.

"I do."

"Time me for twenty minutes, I will definitely come back."

Shard assured her, taking out the Weak Angel Potion from his pocket. After giving it a slight shake, the potion seemed to sense its surroundings, radiating an extremely faint white fluorescence, but it quickly extinguished.

"Take this with you, just in case there's any other danger."

He stuffed the test tube into Luviya's hand and then turned around, bending low as he walked toward the center of the cornfield.

Luviya wanted to stop him, but in the blink of an eye, Shard had vanished into the darkness.

She held the bottle in her hand, at a loss for words for a moment. Wrapped in darkness, it seemed as though there was something peeping at her. Luviya clutched the box tightly, her thoughts lingering on Shard who had left.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

She heard the voice beside her ear, a smile appeared on her lips, and then she closed her eyes, wanting to rest for a while. Behind Luviya, where she couldn't see, a white transparent figure, a more mature-looking Luviya, gently embraced her, resting her head on Luviya's shoulder and rubbing their cheeks together:

"You've done very well already."

The white halo and the golden radiance of God's Gift Box together held up a small safe area.

"Meow!"

And perhaps due to Shard's departure, the metal box actually vibrated slightly. However, because the box was a slide-top, even if something was inside, it couldn't possibly push the lid open by itself.

Luviya had already closed her eyes, falling into a brief slumber, so naturally, she couldn't hear the sound. The white figure behind her also paid no attention to the faint meow, instead, she hummed a lullaby gently.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally comforting.