Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 517 - Crossed Moonlight

Using the strength that fixed his arms, Shard twisted his waist, kicking his legs forward, while desperately recalling the memory from the last Divinity Overflow state, when he demolished the giant mermaid corpse with a "Moonlight Slash."

He wasn't without studies on improving and changing his Arcane Techniques, but whether it was "Moonlight Slash" or "Moonlight Greatsword," both required a higher level of Circle Sorcerer and more Spirit Runes to achieve a complete, further sublimation.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

However, during the Divinity Overflow, while experiencing power that surpassed the Thirteen Rings, Shard also understood how else he could wield this power. Now, facing the oppression of darkness, he suddenly remembered the scene where Miss Aphrola wrote shining characters in the air with her finger at the "Witch Council," and then he remembered his action when he had a flash of inspiration at the end of the battle at Coldwater Port.

Behind him, the Core Spirit Rune of "Silvermoon" suddenly burst into radiant light.

The silver glow around his body violently expanded, as his right foot, over the face of the demon, kicked out a moonlight from the lower left to the upper right, followed by his left foot, drawing a moonlight above the demon's face from the upper left to the lower right.

The two rays of light formed a crossing figure, but they did not fly out immediately like the previous "Moonlight Slashes," instead they solidified in the air.

"Heiya!"

Shard brought his legs together and curled up, then, hanging by the rope, kicked out fiercely.

His feet struck the moonlight cross floating in the air, then the crossing moonlight, along with the force of his feet, sliced toward the demon's vertical pupil.

The crossing moonlights were more dazzling than at any previous moment, and their brilliance also gave the demon a sense of crisis. Out of necessity, it released Shard's right hand with its left and quickly raised its left arm in front of its face to defend.

Struck by Shard's kicking feet, the moonlight cross, upon contact with the demon's hefty black right arm, easily destroyed the sleeve of the robe, and then collided with the dark mist oozing from the demon's skin. Cutting through the dark mist and skin, by the time the last ray of moonlight vanished, the demon's left arm was nearly quartered.

"Ah~"

Amidst the mad and terrifying roar, the demon raised Shard, intent on slamming him to the ground. But Shard had already thrown down the Dried Frog Legs, using his left hand, which the demon had grabbed, to swing his body around, and while doing so, he drew the Moonlight Greatsword from the air with his right hand, stabbing at his opponent's right arm.

The demon, severely wounded in its left arm, had to release Shard's right hand to block the Moonlight Greatsword. Shard took this opportunity to kick lightly off the demon's raised arms, then using the reaction force, he leaped backward.

After rotating 360 degrees in mid-air, he landed smoothly on the ground, and successfully gained distance from his opponent.

The demon with vertical pupils cloaked in black did not attack again in a rage; the surrounding darkness gathered towards its severely injured left arm, while the arm, bleeding black blood, was rapidly regenerating. It seemed that in this Dark Realm, demons derived from Relics were nearly immortal.

"The kick just now was indeed commendable, but you still can't defeat me."

The words of Desecration spoke a truth; although Shard had changed the Arcane Technique "Silvermoon Slash," trading a few extra seconds of preparation time for a significant increase in power, it was unlikely he could use this alone to defeat the terrifying entity before him. The opponent was nearly dominant in the fight, and Shard didn't believe he had any chance of defeating the demon:

"Yes, so give me three seconds, I will fight you after three seconds."

Shard said seriously, as the demon absorbed the darkness to heal itself, he also took out the Time Key of the Year 1784 of the Fifth Era from his pocket:

"May the World Tree bless my time through infinity."

He chanted rapidly, holding the key in his right hand and inserting it into the pendant supported by his left hand.

With a click, the keyhole turned, and the doors of the pendant shaped like a gate opened with the key, as white fog wafted out from behind the miniaturized door frame like wisps of silk.

The black demon picked up the Black Fire Skeleton from the ground and tossed it at Shard, but Shard had already put his fingers through the door frame:

"See you in three seconds."

The Relics on him, along with the door frame pendant, fell to the ground; the Black Fire Skeleton passed through Shard's vanishing phantom and skewered into the ground where he had stood.

"Outlander, you have stepped into the 'Time Corridor'."

"Message from the Ancient God, 'Father of the Infinite Tree'":

"Year 1784 of the Fifth Era, winter, Northern Continent, Horror Fortress."

"Event: The Game of Life wager."

"Duration twenty minutes (3/3)."

"You have received additional information."

"The figure of the Father of the Infinite Tree continues to watch over you."

"The Ancient God of Time has given you a trial."

"Help the mortal win the 'Game of Life' wager."

"The Father of the Infinite Tree will reward you with an Arcane Technique - Breath of Ages, and a piece of true information - Dark Dungeon."

"This is bad, without the Box of Darkness, even when faced with fear, I still can't experience the darkness."

Shard, standing amidst the mist, thought with some annoyance.

Among the shortcuts Miss Aphrola provided for obtaining the Spirit Rune of "Light", one needs to use a relic with "Dark" power to stimulate oneself. Although Shard was now in the Dark Realm, Priest Augustus' supernatural power protected him, and he could not feel the oppression of dark power at all. His vision was severely affected, though.

Thus, without the Box of Darkness at hand, even if fear stimulated the formation of the Spirit Rune, it would not directly grant Shard the Spirit Rune.

Stepping forward through the mist into the ancient corridor of Horror Fortress, before the glimmers around him began to flicker and he felt the sensation of being watched from behind, Shard broke into a run:

"However, before completing this task, I should still go out and see what exactly is chasing me."

Since he had nearly started running as soon as he appeared, the gaze that evoked primal fear from behind was still a good distance away when he saw the door engraved with the flipped coin symbol.

Shard slammed his body against the metal door, and immediately after entering, he turned and firmly shut the door.

Then he leaned against the door, taking deep breaths, while Mr. Riddle, who had been slumping by the wall with his head down, also lifted his head.

He was still wearing the same brown, dirty robe, his eyes as lifeless as if lost in confusion. However, he quickly recognized Shard, stood up with the support of the wall, and a smile appeared on his face:

"You've finally come back... Oh! Are you hurt?"

"It's fine, just let me have a few sips of water,"

Shard shook his head, the meaning of the extra twenty minutes rest time lay right there.

"Sometimes I even doubt that all memories about you are just illusions."

Mr. Riddle murmured thoughtfully.

"Then why don't you think this moment is also an illusion?"

After drinking water, Shard placed the water bottle back in his pocket and wiped his mouth.

"When you appear, the sense of reality of the world is stronger than at any other time."

Mr. Riddle used a comparison that Shard did not understand, probably some kind of metaphor among prophets.

Although the total time Shard and Mr. Riddle had met added up to just over half an hour, both felt a sense of old friends reuniting when they saw each other.

Compared to Shard's last visit, Mr. Riddle's mental state had noticeably improved this time, and his logical thinking while talking was mostly normal. He even remembered the "Impermanence Card" Shard mentioned when he left last time. Thus, when Shard took out three cards from his pocket and explained his thoughts, Mr. Riddle was surprised and wanted to see these cards:

"This is really interesting, cards left by Ancient Gods. Although they don't possess supernatural power, they have been passed down from ancient times to the present. There must be greater secrets on these. Perhaps in some of my temporarily lost memories, there are clues about these cards. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything now."

Having seen the three cards from Shard's hands, Mr. Riddle would probably be able to conduct related research more smoothly after leaving Horror Fortress. Records of the Prophet's Society showed that Mr. Riddle did indeed find a card before his death, and that card is still preserved within the Prophet's Society to this day.

The two didn't chat for long. After Mr. Riddle sat back beside the stone table, the thick darkness was temporarily dissipated by the light of the short candle lit on the other side of the table, and that deity clad in a black robe appeared again.

So far, It has never revealed Its true form upon appearing here. Shard and Mr. Riddle had only seen the black robe, but because of this, Mr. Riddle, as a mortal, had the qualification to gamble with the deity.

If it truly were a Saint or the deity itself, even if it were just the "Creator of Innocence" with no power, Mr. Riddle would definitely not be able to last till the end of the game.

"I don't know what will happen after I place these three cards, it's still just speculation right now,"

Shard, with golden cracks appearing on his body, stood behind Mr. Riddle, placing the three cards to his right.

"Impermanence, nothing has a fixed destiny trajectory, so all we can do is take a gamble on our luck,"

Mr. Riddle said softly, this Ancient Prophet from the Fifth Era, after freeing himself from the mental instability brought on by loneliness, displayed a sense of reason and composure that surprised Shard.

But on second thought, Mr. Riddle had survived so many adventures to live till now, and historical records indicated he had over twenty more years to continue adventuring. Therefore, aside from luck, extraordinary courage and wisdom were certainly not lacking.

"Oh, God~"

He called softly, holding the "Impermanence: Balance" card that Shard placed on top in his hand. The right middle finger and index finger held the bottom of the card, showing the face of the card to the deity and also using it to cover his right eye:

"May I ask if I can use this card, gifted by an unknown, to continue this gamble?"

He chose to directly ask the deity, but after a long wait, he received no response from the deity.