Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 568 - Star Whale and the Twins

Chapter 568: Chapter 568 Star Whale and the Twins Chapter 568: Chapter 568 Star Whale and the Twins For the Blood Brew that even Shard found unbearable in its coldness, the Witch drank it all in one go, her face turning pale blue as she shivered; the two little girls huddled together, sipping the Blood Brew in small gulps, warming each other.

After they had finished their drinks, the Witch distributed the blood she had brought to everyone.

The blood she brought, though it smelled fishy, was not red but blue. Observing the liquid in the glass carefully, one could even see faint glimmers that twinkled like stars in the Star Ocean.

“This is the blood of the Star Ocean Whale, a creature that exists between a physical form and a Star Body, passing through the material world only once every few hundred years. I waited from the age of 56 to 78, just to see one appear in the skies of the material world. And my wish is to break through the Ninth Rank of a Witch. I know I don’t have the possibility to ascend any further, but I truly can’t accept it, can’t accept…”

The Blood Brew made from the blood of the Star Ocean Whale had no smell of blood at all. Drinking this Blood Brew did not bring any discomfort to the drinker, and Shard even felt he was vaguely touching the power of stars.

After drinking a full cup of the blue liquid, the eyes of the mortals present all had a bit of hard-to-detect starry glimmer. Inquiring with an elder nearby, Shard learned that his eyes too exhibited similar symptoms.

The Witch did not know why this was happening, as no one had drunk such a substance in the past, and Shard could only hope that this change would not be permanent.

“Finally, a blood of value has appeared. The last time I consumed the blood of the Star Ocean Whale was in the Fourth Era, gifted to me by my loyal servants,” said the Saint as he too drank the blood, and his words of praise brought a smile to the Witch’s face. Although she would have to wait for the feast to end to obtain what she desired, she was at least sure that her twenty-plus years of waiting had indeed been worthwhile.

There were no sounds in Night Manor, and outside the windows, the uncanny yet tranquil night seemed as if it hadn’t changed since the beginning, as if the scenery was just a realistic painting.

Conversing and drinking these beverages took up a lot of time. It had been 24 minutes since Shard had stepped out of the mist to this place; it seemed there was just enough time for him to drink the last cup of liquid.

The twin girls had brought only one offering of blood, but the Deity recognized it as something they both possessed. The blood turned into a Crimson Blood Brew, evenly shared among everyone, and that red blood appeared quite ordinary. Swirling his cup, the Saint and the mortals listened to the girls’ story:

“We are twins; I am the older sister, she is the younger sister,” said the girl in a white gauze dress, speaking with a voice more mature than her appearance, sounding as logical as an adult, though she was only fourteen or fifteen years old:

“Our family is very ancient, even older than this Era. Back in times when records have been lost, our family was charged with guarding a seal. In return, every generation of our family was blessed with a Transcendent.”

Their story was a bit more complex than the others, and no one interrupted her.

“According to the contracts signed by our ancestors with the Ancient Ones, whenever twins are born to the family, it signifies that the seal is about to present problems, requiring the grown twins to perform a ritual to stabilize the seal. The ritual involves one twin entering the seal and the other staying outside, one dying and one living. By the unique Talent and soul connection born into the family’s twins, and through the torment of longing and pain, life and death resonating, the bonds of twins build the ritual from inside and outside the seal… This is the oldest of contracts and responsibilities. Even if we do not want to fulfill this duty, Fate will guide us to do so.”

Compared to the various rituals Shard had witnessed, this ritual was actually not particularly bizarre. Using a sacrifice that appears only once every few generations to ensure every generation has a Transcendent, to most people, seemed very much worth it.

This should be considered as a typical “sacrifice,” sacrificing one of the twins, using the yearning and torment of two spirits to achieve an effect that ordinary rituals could not, Shard had read about similar rituals in books.

Of course, he himself would not judge whether it was worth doing so, because it had nothing to do with him.

“But I don’t want to be separated from my sister,”

said the girl in the white veil dress, and Shard could see the determination in her expression.

“I don’t want to be separated from my sister either,”

said the girl in the black veil dress as both little girls bravely lifted their heads, looking in the direction of the Saint, holding hands, and while tears of blood flowed from their eyes, they expressed their wish:

“We, never ever want to part.”

Actually, they didn’t have to express their determination in this way, the very fact that they dared to attend the Evil God’s soirée to avoid being separated was quite telling already.

“Hence, Deity, we wish that you could lift our fate. If we die here, at least our souls would be together.”

“But what about the seal your family is responsible for guarding?”

The armored elder posed the question that Shard and the Witch were wondering, and the Witch handed the girls a handkerchief, the sister in the black dress softly apologized, being a bit more shy, while the sister in the white dress pursed her lips:

“That is the duty of our ancestors, as well as a contract signed by them, and it has nothing to do with us.”

The elder said no more, but from his expression, he seemed to sympathize with the twin sisters, but did not agree with their idea. The Witch was expressionless, and it was unclear whether it was due to strong control over her facial expressions or she was just accustomed to such situations.

As for Shard, he had no particular view on it. To the era he lived in, this was already a thing of the past. At least the world didn’t end due to that so-called seal, so all he wanted was to end this Blood Feast, and although he was curious about the outcome for the girls, he would not interfere with someone else’s choices.

This was, after all, a story from the past.

“Deity, the blood we offer is from twins of our family lineage, left before conducting the ritual. Our family preserves these as a remembrance and appreciation for their sacrifices, and also to strengthen the connection between the newborn twins by bathing them in this blood, enhancing our already magical Talent. This contains… our blood as well.”

The twin sisters drank the blood, the elder with silver-white hair shook his head, and also drank down this blood of humans. The Witch, upon knowing it was only human blood, likewise had no psychological burden as she drank it down.

The Saint did not immediately drink it down but swirled the cup and took a deep breath, as if trying to take in the whole scent into the body’s nostrils:

“Really nice.”

He was unstinting with his praise, and anyone could see the Deity’s unmasked joy:

“What fine blood, entwining bonds, pain, regret, longing, responsibility, penitence, courage, sorrow… Such complex human emotions harmoniously fused together. Only after generations of fermentation, under the emotional catalyst of connecting twin souls, can such blood exist. Not bad, although still not perfect, truly not bad, this can almost be considered a collectible.”

This time, He did not gulp it down but savored the wine carefully.

Suddenly, He turned to look at Shard sitting across the table:

“Unexpected guest, why don’t you drink?”

Of course, because it was human blood. Shard had even swallowed frog ingredients for the sake of Sorcery, so he did not feel averse to dragon blood, butterfly blood, or whale blood just now. After all, to learn Arcane Technique and Sorcery, one has to swallow even the strangest of ingredients.

Asking him to drink human blood, although not directly from a person and without harming anyone else, and certainly not cannibalism, still carried some psychological burden, so he wanted to try another method:

“May I ‘drink’ in some other way, please?”

The Deity revealed a smile:

“I have long been aware of our connection, unexpected guest. Do you wish to savor this exquisite brew with your eyes, amidst the convergence of Space-Time and fresh blood?”

The Vampire God indeed knew.

“Yes.”

“You may, but this method can only be used once. But the next time, you cannot do so again.”

The second gathering, to drink the blood concoction of the Evil God Himself, would certainly introduce even stranger elements. It wouldn’t be just human blood; Shard was very certain that the Evil God’s Blood Brew would not be consumed without a price.

“Understood.”

But in any case, he was not planning to drink the human blood this time.

Drawing the red droplets, Shard let the entire cup of Blood Brew drip into his right eye. A normal eye, of course, cannot ‘drink’ such a volume of blood, but “Shard’s Blood Echo” could, upon activation, absorb the effective components from the blood and remove impurities.

Thus, even though after ‘drinking’ all of it, Shard’s right half of his face was stained crimson by the impurities in the blood, he had indeed ‘drunk’ it all.

This temporal journey seemed simple, but the complexity lay ahead. Before the second gathering, he had to collect two qualified blood samples and would have to drink the Deity’s Blood Brew at the gathering.

It can be said that almost all the risks of the three opportunities with this key are concentrated on the second use, which is different from the past.

“Well then, Duke Lowell, I think it’s time for me to depart temporarily.”

Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.

Time was almost up, Shard put down his glass, then stood up and bowed respectfully.

“I look forward to your next arrival.”

The Deity said softly.

The old man and the twin sisters were puzzled by Shard’s departure but said nothing. The middle-aged Witch hesitated, but before Shard turned around, she finally spoke:

“Can you return to the outside world?”

“Not exactly, I am different from you, so I cannot offer you any help.”

Although the “Night Manor” likely has the characteristic of memory fragmentation after leaving, just like other places, Shard still didn’t want to share his origins with unrelated persons.

“Two kinds of blood, and some specific antidote or something.”

Calculating in his mind, he counted down while walking to the door he had entered through.

The double doors on both sides automatically opened, the timing was just right, and Shard stepped into the white mist behind the door.

At the head of the banquet table, the Saint, with hands clasped together and resting on the table, looked toward the four people shocked by Shard’s disappearance:

“What an interesting banquet, I originally thought he would be as rude as that master of the Blood Feast. Going to the Mortal World with that one last Era was a disaster. Although his appetite was big, his taste was truly poor…”

The Saint glanced at the four mortals present and suddenly smiled:

“Before the unexpected guest returns, during the intermission of the feast, maybe we can play a little game… A millennium ago, a mortal named Sludge Riddle accidentally wandered into my banquet. Although he didn’t bring any Blood Wine, he played a ‘Game of Life’ with me from the Fourth Era, so I let him go and even gave him some gifts. He said he once spread this game on a small scale, so in this Era, do you know how to play the ‘Game of Life’?”

“I do.”

The old man skillfully pulled out his deck of cards.