Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

From Ruff Lane, Shard took a carriage and arrived at his destination as the sun set. After jumping down from the carriage, he thanked the coachman and looked toward the western sky.

From his perspective, the frighteningly large, yellowish sunset had already sunk one-third behind the Sicarl Mountain. Due to its direction, it appeared as though the sunset rested below Sicarl Mountain. Combined with the local rumors and stories, this scene was indeed quite terrifying.

Since a ceremony was to be held in this famously haunted estate, the Spiritual Practice Order had cleared the area in advance. They not only set up the ceremony in the nearby woods to prevent ordinary people from accidentally entering but also stationed people at key intersections to ensure that tonight's ceremony would not be disrupted by external forces.

The cost of materials alone for the ceremony was worth 3,000 pounds, which definitely classified it as a large-scale ceremony. When Shard got down from the carriage, he already saw numerous nuns and monks in the desolate courtyard of the manor, all wearing silver crown-shaped eyepatches, carefully inspecting the surroundings and drawing lines on the ground with chalk or pure silver scepters.

Their attire was very similar to that of Sister Delphine, the leader of the order. They wore dark nun robes covered by shawls of the same color. However, their hair colors were all normal, unlike Sister Delphine whose white hair seemed lifeless.

Miss Galina had mentioned that the members of the Spiritual Practice Order who were qualified to wear the silver crown eyepatches were the core force of the order. At that moment, Shard saw more than ten such members. Thankfully, Sister Delphine only charged him for the ritual materials; otherwise, Shard and the doctor might have had to sell their belongings to pay for the labor costs of so many people.

The middle-aged monk covering his eyes with a cloth had been waiting at the entrance of the estate. Shard followed him, passing through the courtyard where the ceremony was being prepared and entering the large house covered with ivy and morning glory.

Inside the manor, it was surprisingly not as cold and grey as Shard had imagined. The floor seemed to have been cleaned recently, showing little dust. Numerous nuns and monks were applying complex runes on the walls, outlining interconnected lines, or walking around ringing silver bells.

The sound of the bells was particularly crisp. Each ring made Shard feel more relaxed.

"It is not a relaxation of the mind, but a purification of the soul."

"Purification of the soul?"

Shard curiously looked at a middle-aged nun passing by:

"It seems that long-standing circles of magicians all have their unique techniques."

The Spiritual Practice Order was renovating the entire manor for the ceremony, which was more troublesome than Shard had expected. It also made him realize how big a favor he owed. He would certainly be willing to help this organization that had helped him, but first, he needed to rescue Priest Augustus.

As he walked deeper into the manor, Shard noticed a subtle mist spreading through the corridor. Though it was uniform in concentration, by the time he reached the depths of the first floor, the level of mist remained subtly perceptible.

The temporarily fixed "entrance" was on the wall at the end of the deepest corridor on the first floor. Complex ritual circles had already been drawn on both sides of the walls. Sister Delphine was standing there quietly, waiting for Shard. Three high-ring nuns wearing silver eyepatches were kneeling in front of the wall. One held a long-handled silver bell, another held a parchment roll, and the third clasped her fists in front of her chest, all muttering unknown spell words to maintain the stability of the "entrance."

"Mr. Watson."

Sister Delphine nodded to Shard, and when she saw him looking at the wall, she asked softly:

"Can you see the entrance too?"

"Yes, I possess the 'Space' Spirit Rune."

Shard stated. The nun paused unexpectedly before asking with ancient syntax in an elegant yet almost intonationless voice:

"We rely on our eyes capturing spirituality to see the position of the entrance. So, in the true vision of 'Space' power, what does the entrance look like to you?"

Shard stared at the wall again:

"I see a terrifying black vortex, with white mist drifting out from it. You cannot stare at the inside of the vortex for long; I can feel the horror, chill, and malice towards the living on the other side."

Once he finished, he shifted his gaze away. The black vortex on the wall felt to him obviously different from Daknis's black vortex. It was hard to say which was more dangerous, but clearly, neither should be touched lightly.

"You can detect this mist?"

Sister Delphine was even more surprised; of course, her expression and tone did not reveal it:

"The presence of this mist indicates that the boundary between the world of the deceased and the world of the living is permeating towards us. This mist is too thin; theoretically, apart from the members of the order, only those who possess the 'Death' Spirit Rune should be able to see this mist."

"I possess a special ability related to the eyes."

Shard simply explained and then asked:

"Please allow me to thank you again for your help. So, when does the ceremony start after sunset? I have nothing left to prepare."

Although he hadn't had dinner, he wasn't lazy like Mia Cat; missing a meal was not a big deal for him.

"Tonight at ten o'clock. Only at night can we safely open the door to the Interstice. Although tonight is not the night of a shining Silvermoon, the moon will be exceptionally bright tonight, which should guide you well into the other world."

Sister Delphine said, then took a short twig from the pocket of her robe and handed it to Shard, resting it on her palm. Her hands were unusually pale and slender, the kind well suited for playing the piano.

"The other world is filled with a power that will rot the flesh, so please take this with you. It's a branch from Elf Wood, and it can temporarily protect you before it decays."

Last week, when Shard was studying the "Elf's Detoxification," he had used something similar, a short twig of about the same length.

"No need, I have this."

Shard took out his pocket watch and removed the "Ever-Youth Leaf" from inside the watch cover. Despite her eyes being covered and herself being blind, the grey-haired Sister Delphine still nodded:

"Ah, the 'Ever-Youth Leaf', indeed that is the best choice, you've prepared well."

She then stuffed the short twig back into the side pocket of her robe:

"Please hand over Priest Augustus's personal belongings to me temporarily. I need to handle them so they can guide you."

Thus, Shard handed over the silver pendant that Priest Augustus had left in the passageway of the underground cemetery:

"This is Mr. Dawn's Holy Emblem. Will the Holy Emblem affect the ritual?"

The Holy Emblem of the True God itself is a symbol of mystical significance, and rashly using it in a ritual could cause great uncertainty.

"No worries, the Holy Emblem of Dawn can better guide you. The True God of light and shadows will bless you, residing between life and death."

As he handed over the Holy Emblem, Shard took out three thousand pounds of cash from a doctor's pocket. He had placed the money in a suitcase, so what he "took out" from his pocket was the suitcase.

But Sister Delphine did not touch the money. Instead, she asked Shard to hand over the suitcase to another nun later.

All that was left for Shard to do was wait. Once the sun had completely set and the Order had lit a bonfire in the courtyard to cook dinner, Shard too ate the hot grilled meat.

Perhaps the character of the leader influenced the behavior of the entire organization; these nuns and monks who covered their eyes generally did not speak much. However, if Shard tried to converse with them, they would respond.

They didn't mind Shard uncovering the secrets of the ritual as long as he didn't interfere, and they didn't forbid him from wandering around the haunted mansion. Unlike No. 6 Saint Delan Square, which was rumored to be haunted, this haunted estate was genuinely haunted.

However, before Shard arrived by carriage, Sister Delphine had already dispatched the three troublesome evil spirits, namely Viscount Russell and his two servants.

But this did not mean that Shard could not learn the story of the place. After everyone had finished dinner, Sister Delphine did not return to the mansion but stood alone by the bonfire, her hands clasped together in front of the large bonfire.

The orange-yellow flames flickered on her grey-black nun's robe, which seemed to be made of silk, also illuminating the silver crown-like accessory. With her eyes covered, it was impossible to determine her mood and thoughts from her facial expressions and eyes. But Shard didn't need to guess her thoughts; he was just idly curious and wanted to know the story of what had happened there.

Standing quietly next to Sister Delphine he asked a question, to which the nun softly replied:

"It's not a very interesting story. An evil spirit from the deep forest attacked the estate and scared the Baron to death. The Baron's unwilling soul turned into an evil spirit and then killed his two servants. After that, the souls of the three wandered around this estate, merely because they couldn't leave this place and weren't strong enough to be discovered by the True God Church."

Shard nodded in understanding, then curiously asked:

"But how did you come to know about this? Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your secrets, but can the Spiritual Practice Order analyze a soul's past?"

The nun maintained her hands clasped together, her silver-grey hair shimmering in the firelight as she slightly shook her head:

"This is my special talent that has existed since I became a Circle Sorcerer. Although my eyes can't see normal things, by facing a soon-to-be-extinguished soul and looking at them with my eyes after removing my eyepatch, I can see fragments of their past."

"Oh~ That's very impressive."

Shard praised earnestly.

"According to the Order, this is the special ability of my 'other self'—Vision of Death. For ordinary people, this brings misfortune; for Circle Sorcerers, it inevitably brings me closer to death. It was the Order that saved me; the Order's special prayers and spiritual practices have shown me how to understand this ability. Cold death... is not to be feared."

Shard nodded, choosing not to probe further. Considering she was an Eleven-Ring Sorcerer and had shared this much, it was clear she trusted him.

But this brief conversation had spawned new questions for Shard. This "Vision of Death" special ability seemed to also possibly link with The Chosen One.

If the third Chosen One, who was predicted to be tied to 'death', was about to appear, then besides Priest Augustus, Sister Delphine might also possibly be The Chosen One of death.