Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 526 -

"Shard, you first..."

Worried that the crystallization on her would spread to Shard, Miss Maid pushed him, but Shard shook his head:

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

He poured an entire bottle of Holy Water No. 3 over Tifa. As the liquid flowed down her body, her crystallized form began to revert to normal.

But as the holy water rapidly evaporated, Shard embraced her, allowing the light from his body to fully immerse her.

The two held each other motionlessly until the earthquake ended half a minute later and the surrounding crystallization stopped, then they let go.

The darkness around them grew even denser, and the stream of darkness surged toward the center of the Crystal Forest. The ground had become uneven due to the crystallization, and all the surrounding objects were covered with black crystals.

The oppressive environment was affecting their spirits, and with the outbreak of these dark crystals, Shard distinctly felt his mood get worse.

"Be careful, the power of the demon is affecting us—it's human pus. Don't harbor negative emotions; try to avoid any negative feelings."

Miss Maid advised cautiously, her voice very low. After the four amulets had shattered, she was barely holding on.

"I understand."

The stream of darkness continued to flow forward. Following its path, the two traversed the thick darkness, overcoming one crystalline tree after another and shattering the obstructive pitch-black crystal boulders until they finally broke through the Crystal Forest and entered the very heart of the Dark Realm.

Indeed, that moment might have been the last strike in the final battle. Along the way, they encountered many people sealed by dark crystals, even the Servants of the Hidden and the Seekers within the Dark Realm had been encased in crystal. Shard risked a touch and confirmed that the people inside were not dead, but the crystals were draining their power in a way that was very much like "human pus."

Leaving the Crystal Forest, they finally reached the large clearing beneath the black monolith.

The dark stone pillar stood there quietly as if drawing power from the earth's depths, spreading darkness that devoured the world. Around the space under the pillar, massive black crystals sealed away people with faces locked in surprise.

Among these more than twenty crystals, two-thirds belonged to Circle Sorcerers from the church, with the rest likely being the Weeper's associates. It appeared from their positions that right before the recent earthquake, they had been engaged in a fierce battle, and the True God Church had the upper hand.

But now, neither side was moving.

There was a faint light beneath the trees, but the obstruction and sound absorption of the darkness made it impossible for Shard and Tifa to know who else might be active.

They carefully navigated through the forest of bizarre black crystal stones, using the darkness as cover to confirm that only eight people under the tree had not been affected by the dark crystals.

Three of them were from the True God Church: "Iron Right Hand" Mr. Sari Pirot, a Three-Ring Sorcerer from the Church of Creation, a middle-aged Female Sorcerer with an Eleven Rings who wore a glowing intertwined leaves Holy Emblem on her chest, as well as Iluna.

The brown-haired girl's right eye sparkled with golden light, and as she moved, the eye Shard had formed with the last of his Divine Power left gold streaks in the darkness, as if golden flames were burning in her eye socket.

Among the other five, an old woman holding a bronze tome embossed with the Zaras Literary Academy's emblem stood with the three from the church; a wounded Miss Galina stood somewhat further away, leaning against a crystal stone; a tall, unfamiliar middle-aged man rotating a Twelve-Ring Life Ring supported himself with a cane, with an unfamiliar Ten-Ring Sorcerer at his side.

All of their figures were exceptionally indistinct, and if Shard weren't familiar with Miss Galina and Iluna, they would have been very difficult to recognize.

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Shard and Tifa approached Miss Galina from behind, the Witch glanced sideways and nodded slightly, signaling them to remain silent.

As for Daknis, he leaned against the trunk of a giant tree, grasping a metal sword hilt wrapped in bandages in his left hand. The sword's black blade, formed of writhing pus, was likely the hilt of the Dark Sword.

The streams of black that flowed from all directions were heading towards his right hand. The red glove on that hand had disappeared, and the blackness being engulfed by the open mouth of the demon was simultaneously dying him blacker, making him appear stronger and stronger.

However, his situation didn't look good either—his entire right leg was covered in black shadows, and his body was covered in black marks. These marks indicated that had he not possessed the "Dark" Talent, he might not even have a corpse left now.

"The ceremony—the Chosen One Ceremony of the 'Dark' is to devour the darkness, absorb the ancient power, and integrate that power with himself, to forge a future path through 'Dark' and 'History.'"

The Witch explained the current situation in a low voice; due to the darkness' sound absorption, only Shard and Tifa near her could hear.

"How did you get here?"

The Witch asked cautiously, but given the complex situation, Shard didn't explain. His hand slid from behind and touched Miss Galina's side, and the silver light represented the blessing of "Cyndia's Silvermoon."

"Who are those people over there?"

Shard asked quietly, hiding behind the crystal stone.

"Three Circle Sorcerers from the church, you should recognize Iron Right Hand; the Eleven Ring is from the Church of Nature, and the youngest girl is the first Chosen One, she's very powerful. I remember you took her to the Lucky Southern Cross Club, right? The one standing beside them is Professor Goree from the Zaras Academy of Sorcery. The man with the cane is of the Vampire Kind, a Twelve Ring, his companion might be a Ten-Ring Sorcerer from the Blood Spirit School."

Miss Galina introduced them swiftly, while at the same time, Daknis silently raised the Dark Sword in his left hand.

This sword was a Ritual Sword used by the priests of the Ancient God "Crawling Darkness." After the Human Pus repaired the blade, it seemed to possess the power of demons. The squirming darkness twisted the shape of the blade, yet nobody questioned its might.

"Do you really think Mr. Hermons was truly lured away?"

Crimson eyes surveyed everyone around, and even though the earlier black crystal did not encapsulate the remaining people, everyone's condition was dire. Daknis appeared immensely peculiar, as the towering stone pillar behind him seemed to be empowering him.

Shard hurridly hid behind the black Crystal Stone with Tifa, feeling that Daknis's eyes might even penetrate the surrounding darkness.

"What exactly does the Weeper know?"

An old professor from Zaras Academy of Sorcery asked in a grave voice, manipulating five arcs of flame hovering above her head.

"You've lost."

The mouth of the demon devoured the surrounding darkness, Daknis breathed deeply, the Ring of Fate behind him also swelled:

"You should not have let me come here, I've already won just by standing here. Do you think that when we from the Blood Spirit School sent people to investigate the Dark Realm six months ago, it was for what?"

He was referring to the vampires that Shard had killed in the underground ruins.

"Did the Weeper already know that the second Chosen One and the Dark Realm were related? Do you have more Whispering Verses?"

Mr. Sari Pirot, who was blocked by a Twelve-Ring vampire, asked in a deep voice. Although the vampire was still unable to defeat a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer in this darkness, it could stop him. The ability of the race to transform into swarms of bats was quite troublesome.

"It's not just the Weeper, my partners gave me more information. Not only am I a Chosen One, but I am also favored by demons!"

Daknis's right hand suddenly went behind and pressed against a tree trunk, the Demon Mouth biting down on the towering pillar. Something seemed to flow through his arm, his right hand guzzling something from the giant tree, and the golden glimmers on Daknis's body growing ever stronger, the leap in strength was bizarre.

"A deity once killed a powerful Ancient Evil Spirit Demon here, and sealed its corpse on this spot, thus forming this area. But do you know where the demon's corpse is?"

"Is it this pillar? Is this pillar the corpse?"

Professor Goree of Zaras Literary Academy asked, facing a strange shadow, a fusion of Daknis's shadow after it shattered the Servant of the Hidden and combined with it, looking more terrifying than the Twelve-Ring Vampire Kind.

"Yes, this is the key to completing the ceremony. That's why Mr. Hermons led the Sunlight Greatsword away in advance. And all of you, no one will escape! Mr. Hermons has arranged everything, and I am the Chosen One, destiny favors me!"

He removed his right hand from the trunk and then abruptly bent down to plunge it into the ground. The black pus instantly spread, the earth trembled again, the air currents went chaotic, and, with the Earth's lament, crystallization began to spread once more on the ground.

This time it was even more terrifying than before, the rustling crystals clambering layer by layer onto the surface of all matter.

Of the eight people who were still able to move, the Eleven-Ring Sorcerer from the Church of Nature and the Ten-Ring Sorcerer beside a Vampire Kind were the first to be encapsulated by the crystals, followed by the old professor from Zaras Literary Academy because she was still trembling from the shadow, thus, sadly she too was sealed:

"If we had known there was an Ancient Demon here, we should have let someone from Sekses Medical Academy come."

That was her last dissatisfied mutter.

Shard held Tifa tightly, but even so, both of their feet turned completely to crystal. Fortunately, they were wearing boots, so taking them off was adequate. This power from the Ancient Crystal Demon seemed to only be immune to the light on his body.

Miss Galina summoned the Eleventh Rank Golden Stairs of the witch to barely resist the state of dark crystallization, but she no longer had the strength to attack. Mr. Sari Pirot of the Church of Creation, a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer known as "Iron Right Hand," was completely unaffected. In cooperation with Iluna, who was also unaffected, he astonishingly managed to catch one from the twirling bat swarm in mid-air within the third second after the earthquake, and then crushed it back into human form with his Iron Right Hand.

Mr. Pirot looked towards Daknis:

"Don't you care about your companion's life?"

He was throttling the neck of the Twelve-Ring vampire, who tried to pry the grip open with effort, but could only make hoarse noises from its throat.

"Companion? Didn't all my companions die?"

Daknis laughed, leaning against the huge pillar behind him while continuing to absorb the darkness with the palm of his right hand. Although it seemed he used Human Pus combined with the power of an Ancient Demon to encase all living things in this Crystal Forest, there was also a great burden on him as a human.

Mr. Pirot also smiled briefly, casually tossing aside the unconscious Vampire Kind. The moment it hit the ground, black crystals emerged on the body's surface and in a single breath, it was wrapped in crystal.

"Beyas, don't intervene, this thing is very dangerous. Let me deal with him; I want to see if the so-called power of an Ancient Demon is enough to confront me, a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer."

"I am the Chosen One, I have embarked on the path of Fate. I, will not lose."

Daknis's crimson eyes stared at Mr. Pirot, looking as confident as the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer himself.

And Iluna did not disobey the order, giving a slight nod before retreating two steps. She glanced sideways at Miss Galina's direction and in a flash locked eyes with Shard.