Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 698 - The Weakened Seal

Shard couldn’t say that the doctor had consumed a Flame Demon, so he kept his mouth shut:

“That too is a secret, albeit an unimportant one.”

Since Shard claimed he had a way to solve the problem on the third floor, the others didn’t stay long, they left after a few words since Shard had called them over so early and most of them hadn’t had breakfast yet.

After bidding farewell to his friends in the entrance hall, Shard didn’t turn to join Mia, who was standing on the stairs watching him, but waited a while longer in the hall.

As expected, there was a knock at the door; it was Luviya returning.

“Are you going to Midshire Fort today?”

She asked directly, and the two of them continued their conversation as they went upstairs.

“Of course.”

“There was another earthquake there, the last one led to the surge of Evil Spirits and the strengthening of those dreadful creatures, I wonder what will happen this time.”

Luviya expressed her worries.

“The problem isn’t just that.”

Shard asked Luviya to sit down and then waved his hand to draw a black rift in the air. Luviya immediately closed her eyes, as her power wasn’t enough to let her directly gaze at “True Death.”

Through the rift, Shard looked at the serene waters illuminated by the Nether Moon and the mudflats in front, where the Relic “Kiss of the Tree” Maze Lock seal’s traces flickered in a pale red-gold fire, the flames were somewhat weak:

“My seal, after two earthquakes, has been severely weakened. Unless I risk passing through the Interstice to push open that door again, the effects of the Kiss of the Tree will completely collapse if a third earthquake occurs, and the situation will revert to how it was before I arrived at Midshire Fort.”

In fact, Shard preferred to say “before the Priest’s seal,” but he had promised the Priest to keep his secret. While Arcane Technique “True Death” would allow Shard to pass directly through the rift behind the Gate of Death, it would mean he’d complete the transition from the world of the Living to that of the Deceased, and his spirit and body couldn’t handle such a change, so he must go through the Interstice as a transition.

“No, no, you can’t go back there, do you want to die again? You were lucky to get out last time, but there’s no guarantee this time, especially after two earthquakes, the Interstice itself has also undergone new changes.”

Luviya stopped Shard in his tracks:

“The key now is the third The Chosen One. The Poem Chapter has already made it clear, he or she will be able to resolve this major problem.”

But the problem is that four coins aren’t enough for divination.

“I understand, I’ll enter Sin Mansion today and try to obtain that Blood Coin.”

Shard picked up the longsword from the coffee table:

“We can’t wait any longer, even if it’s not about whether Midshire Fort City will continue to exist, it’s also about getting ahead of the Church and the Academy. Iluna told me last night that the Church has already started to take action. Once I can get enough coins, almost all of the current predicaments can be resolved.”

“Hold on a moment, let me perform divination for you, to see if your trip will go smoothly.”

Luviya reached into her pocket and took out a silver coin with Desecration Element. This was a Scribe Level Relic “Diviner’s Silver Coin” that Iluna had applied for from the Sun Church. Even a Circle Sorcerer without any training in divination could use this coin to enhance their own intuition, capturing more traces of Fate when making binary choices.

For a Circle Sorcerer who was proficient in divination, this was almost like a “divination amplifier.” Although it had the flaw of misleading Fate and thereby potentially entrapping oneself in a Fate trap, this coin was an extremely useful Relic for any Diviner.

Luviya asked for a strand of Shard’s hair, rolled the hair in one hand, and tossed the coin with the other. Her purple eyes seemed to light up at that moment, and the tossed coin didn’t fall but kept spinning in mid-air for a full thirty seconds before landing.

Luviya closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again:

“I can’t see if there’s any danger to your life on this trip, but I can be sure that you will encounter an old acquaintance inside the Keeper of Secrets Level ‘Sin Mansion’.”

“An old acquaintance?”

“Not someone you met in Midshire Fort, but an acquaintance from a faraway place.”

In any case, obtaining new coins was the most important thing at the moment.

Since the house was no longer safe, Shard sent Luviya away and then took the cat from the church back home, only to send it to Dorothy for care. That way, he could leave Tobesk City with peace of mind.

The location of “Sin Mansion” was even closer to the peak than the Ruined Tower. From the information provided by Granny Cassandra, this Keeper of Secrets Level Relic usually wouldn’t stay in one location for more than three weeks. When Shard stepped out of the Ruined Tower and felt that the Blood Coin he carried could still sense its counterparts, he knew that “Sin Mansion” was still on Sicarl Mountain.

Because of yesterday’s earthquake, Shard was still very worried about encountering Evil Spirits on his way up the mountain. But it turned out that he had good luck this time; of course, it might also be because Sicarl Mountain was not foggy in the morning, so he had a safe journey.

With the arrival of late autumn, the green that Shard saw on his first visit here in early autumn has mostly turned into golden yellow. The falling leaves not only dyed the Earth golden but also left the branches bare, making one wonder if this scene foretells the fate of the city down the mountain.

Although he didn’t run into any Evil Spirits on his way, Shard did encounter a group of Circle Sorcerers from the True God Church. He knew their identities because they were using Divine Arts to drive away the mosquitoes in the mountains and sprinkling Holy Water on the ground as if surveying the terrain.

It seems that the large ceremony led by the Church of Nature was really about to begin.

At 9:23 A.M., Shard, holding the Night Watchman’s Longsword, arrived on the outskirts of “Sin Mansion” and from the leaf-covered woodland, he saw the three-story building enclosed by a fence with black spikes.

But contrary to Shard’s expectations, as soon as he turned his eyes to the building’s main entrance, he saw the door silently close. He didn’t know if an unfortunate soul had mistakenly entered, or if it was the work of a soul captured by the Relic inside “Sin Mansion.”

With the Night Watchman’s Longsword sheathed and carried in his hand, as soon as Shard stepped out of the woodland and officially set foot on the pebbled path leading to the mansion, the sword began to vibrate slightly. But as soon as Shard passed through the black fence door entwined with thorny decorations, the sword returned to its original state, as if it knew its bearer had resolved to approach dangerous ground.