Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 529: The Chosen One Daknis

"Damn, there's something wrong with your blood, what on earth are you?"

The demon's voice awakened Shard, as the lengthy illusion translated to reality in just under two seconds, so quick that even Iluna and Tifa couldn't react in time.

His mind returned to normal, allowing the runes glowing with Spiritual Light on the Great Sin Chain to revert to their original form, but the dark hue seemed to suggest the chain was slightly altered.

Daknis's right hand, as if faced with a natural enemy, quickly let go of Shard's shoulder and retreated.

As a result of this action, the black chain that pierced through his arm was also pulled towards Daknis.

Priest Augustus's blessing had disappeared, and the Box of Darkness, due to having its power siphoned, ended its uncontrolled state, returning the surroundings to the dark environment inside the Dark Realm. Shard clutched his right shoulder, noticing the silvery light on the right side of his body had faded, with half of his body seeming to melt into the darkness.

But in the blink of an eye, the abnormal half of his body had recovered, the effects of consuming the Dark Power completely vanished, and it even seemed he had adapted to the darkness because of it, his vision now even broader than when the blessing was present—he could almost see perfectly in the dark:

"Priest Augustus's blessing was really something special. I must definitely thank him specifically once I get out,"

Shard thought.

He was chuckling softly.

Dakinis's arm retracted, transforming into pus and "spitting" out the Rune Shackles that had pierced it. With renewed vigor filling his body, Shard leapt forward again with "Lagre's Leap," breaking through space to appear in front of Daknis. His right hand swung down the sword, and this time, Daknis merely raised his right hand to catch Shard's Moonlight Greatsword.

Silvermoon shards drifted into the palm of his hand, the immense suction preventing Shard from moving. But the ample Spirit allowed Shard to maintain the existence of the Moonlight Greatsword for a long time. The demon, continuously damaged by the Weak Angel Potion and the Great Sin Chain, this time could only barely suppress him.

At this point, the Ritual Circle, composed of thirteen light spots, had moved from Daknis's feet to his waist, the Chosen One Ceremony was nearly complete.

"Hamilton, what level are you exactly?"

In the glow of the Moonlight Greatsword, Daknis's crimson eyes stared at Shard, finally asking this question.

"What do you think?"

Although the suction force prevented Shard from stepping back, he at least managed to let go of his sword and embrace the other's hand. The Demon Hunter Seal contacted the demon's mouth, and like being scalded, Daknis tried to move back, but he was blocked by a black stone pillar behind him, and more of the Great Sin Chain surged out, tightly binding Shard's hand to his right hand...

Daknis opened his mouth towards Shard and exhaled a puff of black smoke. The smoke shrouded half of Shard's face, and with a rustling sound, half of his face completely crystallized.

But that didn't matter, Shard's goal had already been achieved.

"What?"

Under the moonlight, the Blade of Chaotic Time summoned a second Moonlight Greatsword.

The hand harboring the demon, firmly embraced by Shard, could not escape. The Moonlight passed through his wrist, and the entire right hand fell to the ground with the descending moonlight. But before it could be entangled and tracked by the Great Sin Chain, that hand again transformed into a pool of pus, escaping through the gaps of the chains, and with a slap, landed on the crystalline ground beneath their feet.

Shard's God's Gift Box, which had opened a crack when he was thrown earlier, at this moment, like the earlier out-of-control Box of Darkness, was forced open by an unseen force, and a dark shadow also sprang towards the ground.

"My demon power!"

In agony, Daknis kicked Shard, who was close at hand, toward the distant ground, covered his right wrist with his left hand, and let out a miserable howl. However, the ritual was still ongoing, and having a demon attached to his body was not a necessary condition for the ritual.

"Is this situation normal? Are you sure the demon within you isn't trying to deceive you and take over your body?"

Taking advantage of the brief separation from the demon, Shard, whose half body had crystallized, struggled to speak out of half of his mouth, his uncrystallized eye staring directly into the fading crimson light in the other's eyes:

"Your talent is darkness, not the demon. Don't be deceived by the demon."

Having been kicked by the other, Shard too was in pain, besides the crystallization of his body, he even felt something climbing onto his shoulder and moving toward the box on his back.

After casting "False Immortality" on himself, he slowly stood up, the crystallization rapidly spreading to the other half of his body.

"Shard!"

The two girls, who were severely injured from a recent surge of darkness, stood behind him supporting him, and all three looked towards Daknis in the divine light.

"No, I have not been deceived; no one can deceive me!"

The black pus from the ground flew up on its own, and Daknis, with a pained expression, extended his right arm, the dark pus accurately connecting with his bleeding arm, merging little by little in the twisted darkness.

He could have rejected the demon with Shard's sword during the Chosen One Ceremony, but he chose to merge with the demon again.

"Are you really going to use the power of the demon?"

Shard looked into his eyes and asked one last time:

"Are you sure you are right?"

"I never believe in good or evil; I only believe in myself. With power, I can define good and evil myself."

Daknis, although pale-faced, floated amidst that strange divine light and stared directly back into Shard's eyes. His eyebrows were tightly furrowed as he truly considered Shard's question and the meaning of these words:

"No matter how many Rings you are, don't think about stopping me."

"I don't believe in good or evil either. Good and evil are conventions defined by humans. But after doing so many bad things, betraying your own organization for power, slaughtering ordinary people who witnessed you, spreading demonic power to distort others' souls, and turning yourself into this horrific form, is it all worth it?"

Shard asked.

"Of course it's worth it. When I was young, I pushed the cousin who knew my private secrets off a cliff. In my youth, I plotted to kill my brother for inheritance. After becoming a Circle Sorcerer, I poisoned the Second Ring Sorcerer who trusted me with a magic potion. Do you think I feel remorse? No, I have no such emotions because everything can be forsaken. Do you understand darkness? I do. I am destined to walk alone; I believe only in myself."

"But to me, darkness is not like this,"

Shard wanted to argue:

"Darkness is just darkness, the profoundest natural phenomenon capable of devouring everything. It's you who have imbued darkness with your thoughts; your darkness is not pure. You are going to be devoured by darkness."

Daknis's arm was reattached, and the crimson glow in his eyes reignited as they faced each other:

"Be afraid!"

Extreme fear once again flooded into Shard's eyes. Even though he had experienced the fear within Horror Fortress, the strike imbued with the power of the Ancient God still made his heart tremble.

Thinking about it, this moment seemed somewhat familiar as if not long ago, he had also stood in the darkness with two ladies, but then another sentence had been spoken…

His soul stirred; the long-dormant power was trying to revive. It was an impulse, a strange impulse. Shard understood the power he was seeking. Priest Augustus was right; it wasn't the Brightness that overcame darkness but the courage to face it.

He knew he was on the brink of discovering a New Magic, and he was not lacking in Spirit either. All he lacked was that final touch, the push needed to reach that great power.

The Ritual Circle, composed of thirteen light points, ascended completely to the top of Daknis's head, and the phantom in the black robe merged with the Six Rings' Ring of Fate, sweeping the power of the Chosen of Darkness across.

With a thud, all the crystals on Shard's body exploded, along with his skin and clothes. The revealed cracks glowed with the divine gold afterglow from touching the power of the Ancient God. The power of Darkness rushed towards him, and Shard shielded the two girls behind him, dragging a tail of golden flame-like brilliance from the afterglow in his cracked skin, touching the dice in his pocket and smiling:

"Just make sure you won't regret it."

Daknis stared intently into Shard's eyes, wondering what he would do at the very last moment.

Shard narrowed his eyes, then suddenly bent down—

"Balance!"

Iluna appeared close behind Shard's head, her eyes replacing Shard's as she faced Daknis.

The world fell eerily silent for a moment.

Above their heads, Daknis's Ring of Fate melted and transformed into a black robe adorned with golden light points.

The second Chosen One had officially emerged.

Squeezing the dice in his pocket, Shard, drawing Iluna and Tifa with him, stepped back; the three of them did not attack Daknis, and Daknis also did not attack them.

He landed back on the ground, and the pure white daylight exploded in the air. With a thunderous noise, the sky of the Dark Realm flashed with terrifying black lightning that continuously struck the ground, as if the world itself was celebrating the emergence of the second Chosen One.

In the deep darkness, he laughed wildly; his voice spread throughout the darkness.

The black robe that had been the Ring of Fate draped over him, the thirteen light points merging into himself, the power of the Ancient God being channeled from the distant void into his soul, his already existing talents and knowledge pushing him toward a higher apex:

"Success! Fate really is on my side!"

Black pus flowed from the palm of his right hand, spilling that disgusting black liquid onto the crystalline ground. The pus climbed up a giant black column on the ground, and like a spring, it spread continuously around.

Within moments, the clearing in the Crystal Forest was covered in pus. Outside the forest, amidst the earthquakes and mountainous roars, black crystals spread from the Crystal Forest towards the entire realm, with pillars of crystal piercing through the ground.

Iluna turned to grab the golden Balance floating behind her. A circular zone of golden glimmer formed, carving out a circular area for the three of them amidst the flowing pus.

Hamilton's human form was severely injured by the Church Ring Sorcerer, and his Demon Mouth form was heavily injured by Iluna and the "Weak Angel Potion." However, he didn't enter his third form, the Half-body Demon form. Instead, he let the Human Pus cover the right side of his body, entering the Human Pus Demon form, and gradually merged with the black pillar behind him.

"He wants to devour the corpse of the Ancient Demon, don't worry, he is affected by my gaze at the last moment. Don't be fooled by his seemingly joyful laughter or the fearsome power he is displaying now, which is greater than mine was at that time, but this is just a burst of power from an instantaneous soul sublimation. I bet that within half an hour, he won't be able to use his Four Rings level powers. Just stop the Human Pus from helping him devour the Ancient Demon and break free from my bindings, and this time we will win,"

Iluna whispered a reminder, and Shard also whispered:

"Don't worry, I will cast a Maze Lock in a moment to give him something to be amazed about."

"Maze Lock? Didn't you tell Miss that you are not a God Summoner?"

Tifa was greatly surprised, but Shard then said:

"Not the snowy Maze Lock, I have my own Maze Lock, related to darkness and courage, but it's still not perfected. A person cannot have two Maze Locks, so this again proves I'm not a God Summoner."

The rule of "a person cannot have two Maze Locks" actually does not exist. It is merely that Maze Locks are incredibly difficult to learn and master, making it almost impossible for a Circle Sorcerer to master two.

The darkness around them grew denser as the pus flowed underfoot, the deep darkness seemed about to devour everything here.

The three stood inside a circular area held open by the Balance-constrained power of the Chosen, but Shard ignored the darkness and took down the box he was carrying, opened the lid to look inside:

"Before that, I need to make sure of one thing.'

"Meow~"

The small orange cat, as if in fear, huddled into a corner of the "God's Gift Box." Seeing Shard looking down at it, it lifted its head and looked at him with amber-colored eyes, emitting a very pitiful meow.

Iluna and Tifa also saw the cat, and although Shard guessed the source of the meow, he still couldn't quite believe it:

"When did you crawl in..."

He paused again, seeing Mia in the box as if she was biting on something. He first checked his hand to confirm that all three rings were there, and then hesitantly asked:

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"Mia, that ring... where did you get it from?"

"Why can't I use my powers? Where is my Fish Training Ring?"

The Demon-Form Daknis suddenly shouted, and then Shard understood why he didn't enter his Half-body Demon form.

Without the "Fish Training Ring," the Human Pus Demon couldn't speak through the Demon Mouth, thus it couldn't transform into the semi-autonomous right-hand Half-body Demon.

The Circle Sorcerer himself was heavily injured, and with the right hand temporarily reattached, there was no immediate threat from the Demon Mouth, and the Half-body Demon couldn't appear, his Chosen of Darkness talent was suppressed by the Balance.

Although he had completed the most crucial ceremony to obtain his identity, the current Daknis was only left with the final form of Human Pus to be used. And due to the Weak Angel Potion, the Human Pus form of Daknis did not seem overwhelmingly powerful.

At this moment, it had only been four minutes since the Iron Right Hand had left. Although Shard and the ladies were all injured, it seemed they had the upper hand instead.