Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 741 - : The Power of the Church
Chapter 741 -741: The Power of the Church
Although Shard and Mr. Barton’s party didn’t leave the house through the same door, the heavy bloodstains on Professor Magis made him very noticeable when Shard circled to the back alley of the house.
Especially in foggy weather, those halos were like highlighted bars in the field of vision:
“Circle Sorcerers of the Truth Society, they couldn’t have just killed someone, could they?”
In order to avoid being spotted while tracking, Shard didn’t call for a carriage but walked through the city with Mia Cat.
He walked fast and left the downtown area about an hour later, entering the suburbs south of the city. However, the bloodstains did not head into the mountains but turned into the estate area at the foot of Sicarl Mountain where local nobles resided.
A month earlier, the Spiritual Practice Order had opened the Interstice passage in the nearby “Russell Estate”.
“Could it be that the Circle Sorcerers from the Truth Society sent to Midshire Fort are gathering in the nearby estates?”
In the woods, Shard leaned against a tree and thought surprisingly, but it was precisely because he thought of this that he didn’t continue forward:
“I should go back to the city and tell the witches or the church about this. Alone, if a fight really breaks out, escaping might even be a stretch.”
“Meow~”
Mia, who had been brought by Shard, had long grown impatient with the unfamiliar city, and now it seemed like she saw through Shard’s thoughts and meowed as if agreeing with him.
“I still have to venture into the Interstice with the witches tomorrow, so today should be…”
He turned to leave, but just outside the noble’s woodland, the sound of rapid hoofbeats reached him.
Shard instinctively hid behind a tree and through the thick fog, he saw a procession of carriages and horse riders pass by. It was the convoy of the Church of Nature, the Holy Emblems barely visible on the carriages confirmed this. Among the people in the convoy, more than half were Circle Sorcerers, and one middle-aged man with peculiar green hair even made Shard dare not look directly at him.
It wasn’t that the man had the power to mentally contaminate, but Shard worried that looking at him would lead to being discovered. This man could very likely be a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer of the Church of Nature.
“What have I stumbled on here? What is the Church of Nature up to? That direction… seems to be where the crimson halo extends…”
The carriage in the middle of the convoy had a dense Whisper Element, and judging from the concentration of the element alone, it definitely wasn’t below the Sage Level. Shard held his breath against the tree, covering Mia’s mouth and silently waited for the convoy to pass. But before Shard could even leave the area, footsteps came from behind in the depths of the dense wood.
This time it was Circle Sorcerers from the Sun Church, a total of 13, configured as a standard combat squad. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
They were not hurrying forward but spread around the area, scattering some shiny powder in the fog and occasionally, a member holding a compass would stop to bury something in the ground that looked like a stone Rune.
“Are they setting up some kind of large ritual?”
Even holding a witch’s ornament, Shard knew he was no match for a fully manned squad of Circle Sorcerers. He hurried towards the other side of the woods, grateful that the heavy fog offered good concealment.
Less than ten minutes later, Circle Sorcerers appeared again from the depths of the fog. This time they were from the Church of Creation, like the ones before, scattering powder and setting Rune Stones. Shard chose to leave again, but soon realized that staying put was safer.
It seemed like shadows of Divine Rituals were everywhere in the fog, and in just half an hour, a massive regional Divine Ritual had apparently been set up with the Base Formation already in place. Elements were being manipulated, and the Church’s Circle Sorcerers moved through the fog. Shard guessed something big was about to happen.
“It looks like the church is completely surrounding the area… Things are progressing smoother than I thought. If the Truth Society were to be wiped out and Mr. Joey Barton captured by the church, then all my activities this autumn at Midshire Fort would have the perfect ending.”
Shard didn’t move toward the center of the church’s encirclement nor did he attempt to break through the periphery; instead, he stayed in the wooded area, waiting for things to settle before safely leaving.
He waited from the afternoon until dusk, sitting on a tree branch with Mia, watching the sun in the foggy horizon slipping towards the west. As the radiant sunset gradually appeared on the horizon, the sun, in turn, slowly disappeared behind Sicarl Mountain.
The light cast Shard and the cat in mottled shadows that shook on the ground. It was as if they were completely still, while time rushed on around them.
The last of the sunset tinted the faces of the man and the cat red, Shard looked towards the sun, pondering the future, while Mia stared wide-eyed at the crimson sun. It seemed to understand something, yet appeared to understand nothing at all.
The wind brought someone’s reminiscence from afar, then passed by them. Watching the sun disappear over the horizon, time passed even faster than Shard had imagined.
And when the last trace of the sun had completely vanished, the fog still obscured the sky, preventing easy glimpses of the Star Ocean.
Thanks to the “Illusion of the Moon Shadow,” Shard was confident he wouldn’t be detected by anyone.
And at around seven o’clock in the evening, the calm night finally showed signs of disturbance.
As the surrounding normally stable environment exhibited strange fluctuations, “she” by his ear provided a prompt.
Shard climbed to the top of the tree with the cat to look far into the dense fog, where under the western sky, gigantic verdant tree shadows suddenly appeared. The colossal tree towered over any other in the forest, as if it could hold up the sky and the earth itself.
A green halo made the distant fog glow, the lush trees were silent, and merely by looking, one could feel the all-encompassing natural force. But soon, the giant tree disintegrated into specks of light, lingering in the night sky like a tornado for a long time.
“Such a rich Enlightenment Element, what happened over there?”
Shard quickly placed Mia Cat on his head, squinting to see more clearly,
“Is this a Maze Lock? Or a Sublimation Incantation? Is that a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer from the Church of Nature in action, who is his opponent?”
The drifting green specks of light also reached the woodland where Shard was located after a few minutes. These green lights looked completely harmless, merely swaying with the wind, making the tranquil misty night increasingly elusive.
At ten minutes past seven in the evening, not long after the burst of Enlightenment Element in the distance, a scarlet radiance abruptly flashed skyward, followed by a thunderous sound like an entire armory exploding, spreading across the night sky.
[Whisper Element.]
“I know, what Level is this Relic? Isn’t this light and sound effect a bit exaggerated?”
But an even more exaggerated event followed, as Shard, holding the cat, stared dumbfounded at the mist in the sky, which thinned suddenly with the soaring blood light revealing the starry sky overhead. Then, the distant constellations shifted and a distorted black hole abruptly appeared. Just one glance at it, and Shard immediately heard the squelching whispers akin to tentacles.
He quickly looked away:
“What’s inside there?”
A giant meteorite enveloped in flames ‘slowly’ flew out from the black hole, leaving fractured traces in the air, smashing directly into the distant battlefield.
The trail of flames dragged by the enormous Fireball was not normal; rather, it looked like fiery red tentacles constantly writhing and swaying. Upon seeing that meteorite, the whispering by Shard’s ear became clearer, tempting him to worship The Great One residing in the starry skies, who possessed the ability to summon meteorites:
“Damn, has the Truth Society used an Angel-Level Relic?”
Even though the landing spot of the meteorite was extremely far from Shard, watching it descend, the primal panic at the bottom of his heart still could not be shaken off. As the subtle whispers grew louder, the Fireball finally smashed into the ground.
Shard thought an earthquake or something of the sort would follow, but unexpectedly, the surroundings lit up with a golden light. Then, the entire area’s mist was illuminated by the golden Spiritual Light bursting from the ground. If one were to look down at the Foot of Sicarl Mountain, a standard circle bloomed amid the rugged mountains.
Amid the light of a previously arranged Divine Ritual, a huge golden-winged figure appeared in the misty sky.
The faceless immense Angel, wearing a simple robe, yet the robe bore scarcely visible densely packed golden Runes. Amidst the nearly eardrum-piercing siren, behind the Angel appeared a gigantic Twelve Rings corresponding to its stature.
This was the first time Shard observed the Ring of Fate so clearly, the core Core Spirit Rune being [Sanctity][Spirit Summoning]. The Twelve Rings bearing over fifty Spirit Runes (Note) mostly related to summoning and Divine Arts concepts.
The rotating gigantic Brass Life Ring met the meteorite head-on, and then as the gigantic Angel wielded a golden sword, both the fiery red and golden lights faded simultaneously. In the light illuminating the entire area, the meteorite dragging a tail like tentacles vanished without a trace.
Shard didn’t know what to say anymore:
“Is this an incident of the Church utilizing the power of a Divine Ritual to directly counter a high-risk Relic? I knew it, as long as the True God Church is prepared, those madmen definitely stand no chance. Which one is it? The [Star Summoning Magic Stone], [Squirming Star Remains], or [Cursed Star Item]? Oh!”
The shock wave from the collision between the Divine Ritual and the Star Summoning Relic almost knocked Shard, who was spectating from the tree, down to the ground. The surrounding trees rustled, with leaves yellowed by deep autumn falling with the wind.
After a strike that seemed capable of leveling Sicarl Mountain, a pained howl came from afar, echoing in the silent night. Then, another muted sound followed, causing a slight tremor on the ground.
At this moment, Shard had already descended from the tree with the frightened cat, leaning against a tree under the concealment of an illusion, waiting for what would come next.
The rumbling sounds continued, the sporadically visible golden Spiritual Light on the ground fluctuated with the rhythm of breathing. Black light shot into the sky but was then obscured by the Divine light, and amidst the mist, one could faintly hear people in the night sky calling out the Sublimation Incantation, although it was too muted to be clear due to the mist.
The True God Church was currently purging the Truth Society; this was never a fair fight. And having witnessed tonight’s event, Shard once again confirmed that as long as the Church is prepared in advance, there exists no force of Circle Sorcerers in the material world that can contend with them… except for the Three Great Magics Academies.
