Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1958: The Banquet Begins

"Do you know that the Church and other Circle Sorcerers have already started landing on the island?"

Iluna asked again, walking towards the long table with Shard, but they remained standing without taking a seat. Shard stared at the diviner in front of him, while the soft voice beside his ear said:

[Very similar, but still not the original.]

"Of course I know, I can sense every foreigner who steps onto ’Green Island’."

The diviner with a monocle replied, raising the glass in front of him and spilling the liquid, as a curtain of water revealed an image.

In the storm-surrounded island, several dozen various small boats carrying High Ring Sorcerers appeared amidst the storm and rain, amidst the black reefs riddled with holes.

In the turbulent green lake water, countless monsters surged from the depths like tides to block their approach to the shore. Their arcane technique exchanges alone formed a clear light trail on the water.

Divine arts tried to illuminate the darkness, the brilliance of the thirteen-ring Life Ring was so dazzling in the mist, the green lake water splashed over everyone, and even at the pier on the island’s edge, Miss Sylvia and Miss Galina, who had already landed, were trying to block monsters approaching the Green Lake Hotel.

Miss Aphrola stood at the bow of a shell-shaped small boat, her brown hair fluttering in the wind. She blew into the azure conch in her hand, as the melodious sound echoed, mermaid heads slowly emerged from the water behind over a dozen small boats amidst emerging bubbles.

"Mermaids, so it is the Aphrola family’s lady."

The diviner in the "banquet hall" said softly, while Shard realized that the conch held by the witch might be similar to a "Butterfly Summoning Flute."

The "Mirror Keeper" was also among the fleet formed by these dozens of small boats, holding the angel-level relic [Fasha’s Cursed Mirror] in his hand, sealing monstrous black images jumping into the water to pave the way for the fleet.

Suddenly, hundreds of golden vortexes appeared above the fleet, with energy-formed golden cannons extending from the vortexes, a volley raising countless oddly-shaped corpses from the lake surface, this was the Peace Church’s divine arts; the red moon fell, and Miss Danester and professors from the Three Major Academies were on the same boat; the green lake water seemed to assist them, believers of the God of Nature were manipulating the lake water and controlling the reefs, trying to make this their arena.

In this chaotic and intense island landing battle, Sister Delphine sat calmly at the bow of the small wooden boat summoned by Shard, holding a slender flame doing nothing. Beside her, Miss Benanis stood manipulating three large stone statues.

Suddenly, Sister Delphine’s face raised, eyes behind the mask seemed to gaze directly at the people in the "banquet hall" observing the battle.

The diviner at the table chuckled, shifting the water curtain away from Sister Delphine to continue displaying the battles by the lake. He even spilled another glass of wine, allowing a second water curtain to display the surrounding battles at Green Lake Hotel in the woodland:

"I assume you don’t have time for idle talk with me, so before we act, I have only one question: the ultimate death of the world, in the foreseeable future, will inevitably arrive. Many have done many things, but I’ve glimpsed the shattered time and seen everyone’s endeavors, yet none can twist the fate destined to come."

He asked softly:

"So, since destruction is unavoidable, what do you think I chose?"

Shard and Iluna certainly didn’t answer him, so the diviner nodded:

"Indeed, since destruction is unavoidable, I intend to distance myself from this doomed world. I’ll carry forth the only kindling flame, as the tomb guardian of this world, to continue our civilization."

The thirteen-ring Life Ring slowly appeared behind him, but this ring was not metal, rather completely composed of tree roots. Before this, Shard had never seen anyone’s Life Ring change material.

Based on the doctor’s initial statement, the Steam Age of the Sixth Era determined the Life Ring as brass. So, Laplace Klein Howard has indeed made his choice.

"Even if the world is about to perish, there will certainly be countless people striving to twist fate. Do you, Howard, believe you are the most talented transcendent of all time? Do you regard yourself as the savior?"

Iluna finally couldn’t resist asking:

"Just to fulfill your insane ideas, do you know how many people you’ve killed? Do you know how many are dying due to you at this moment?"

The diviner earnestly answered her question:

"I don’t consider myself a genius, nor do I think of myself as the savior. I’ve glimpsed a nonexistent space-time; precisely because I’ve seen others with more ways, and I self-admittedly fall short of them, I chose a different path."

Iluna slightly opened her mouth, unable to believe the other seems aware that the Sixth Era has potentially repeated at least once. Shard, who had long known the diviner had perceived the "bygone era," asked the most crucial question:

"Did you truly see everything in the so-called nonexistent time? As a diviner, you should be more aware than anyone that attempting to manipulate time, and fate leads only to self-inflicted destruction under their unyielding tricks."

The Diviner nodded gently:

"Yes, but someone always has to do something, right?"

He sighed softly, clasped his hands together in front of his mouth, then closed his eyes facing Shard and Iluna:

"Let the feast begin."

Rumble!

The largest roar thus far came from beneath the ground, bringing with it the island’s strongest earthquake yet.

At this moment, the ground undulated violently like the surface of turbulent water. Shard and Iluna, barely able to stand, reached out to support each other, but then both realized this was more than an earthquake:

"The ground is rising!"

Crack~

The cracks on the walls and ceiling became full fractures in just two seconds. The smooth basement floor around the banquet table where everyone was seated developed a whole ring of irregular cracks amidst the shaking.

The rock ceiling above split open entirely, yet the falling dust and stones conveniently avoided the banquet table and everyone around it. When the first drop of rain landed by Shard’s foot, the force erupting from beneath finally lifted the remnants of the banquet hall from the depths, carrying them upwards into the rainy night sky.

The howling and fierce night wind blew at Shard and Iluna’s clothes. Looking around, from this elevated perspective, they could see the entire fog-enveloped island, even spotting the "black tide" and a dozen small boats nearing the shoreline at the island’s mist-thinned edge.

Meanwhile, outside the basement, by the lakeside, and at the Green Lake Hotel, people witnessed an even more unbelievable scene.

The entire island shook as if it were about to collapse during the tremors. The trees in the woodland swayed wildly. Across the island’s surface and even above the surrounding lake, blood-red imprints manifested and converged towards the center of the island.

However, only those in the "banquet hall" realized those surfaced blood-red imprints were the illuminated veins of massive tree roots from beneath, with strong and eerie blood light seeping through the earth and the water to the surface.

The activation of Edwards’ Ascension Spell even compelled the monsters battling with the Circle Sorcerers to worship towards the island’s center, driven by their blood and body instincts.

The thick fog gradually dissipated, and even the days-long torrential rain started to weaken. In the blink of an eye, those who stepped into this anomaly found themselves looking in varied directions, yet simultaneously they sensed something vast and terrifying, something capable of controlling this part of the world, was being born.

Instinctively, everyone looked towards the direction of Edwards’ Old House. The mansion, situated atop the hills, was becoming clearer in the night rain. The trembling of the ground shook the hills as well, and soon amidst roaring sounds, rocks exploded, hills crumbled, and a colossal blood-colored entity rose from beneath the hills, stretching towards the sky in an instant.

The massive blood-colored entity rapidly grew upwards amidst the earth rumble, gales, and earthquakes, with countless townsfolk across the island praying. The giant tree, with roots permeating the entire island, finally revealed its full form.

"Is this... a tree? A blood-red tree?"

It wasn’t that a giant tree was hidden underground and only now emerged in the rain. It was more as if a massive seed buried deeply underground had rapidly absorbed nutrients at this moment, growing into a towering blood-red tree.

Everyone around the island who looked up witnessed, in a few short minutes, the sapling’s growth, the crimson branches spreading until the blood-red canopy blocked the night sky.

On the boats, Church Ring Sorcerers quietly discussed with Diviners appointed by the Prophet’s Society, while the witches squinted at the shape of that colossal tree. Sister Delphine glanced at it, then returned her gaze to the flame in her hands, and behind Granny Cassandra, Grace and Helen softly bade farewell to the Old Witch:

"Goodbye, Zina."

The aged witch forced herself to hold back sorrow:

"We will meet again, won’t we?"

The twins smiled as they consoled their student, who they had watched grow from a girl to the Grand Witch she was now:

"As long as you believe in him, we will meet again. You are our student, you should understand more than anyone else that every encounter means another farewell. Goodbye, Zina."

The sisters, transformed into red butterflies, flew like streams of light through the backdrop of the blood-red giant tree growing and the gale howling, crossing over all those still fighting, heading towards the forest inn.