Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 478: Servant of the Hidden

The doctor occasionally used terms in the synthetic formula for the medicine that Shard couldn't understand to refer to certain additives. Although Shard's knowledge of herbal and magic potions was limited, judging from the synthesis process and the order of the potion additions, this "Red Potion" was very likely the active ingredient.

"This is... it's a laboratory-grade synthetic potion given to me by a friend from the Tobesk Third Mechanical College."

"Lies."

The black-haired girl, who was looking down at the treatment records and didn't bother to raise her head, said, and Mr. Alfred's sweat immediately started streaming down his face. Shard shook his head and put aside his notebook:

"Doctor, I have reason to believe that the so-called 'Red Potion' is a powerful hallucinogenic drug you bought from the black market. This unknown illegal drug stimulated Mr. Bondy the Musician's eyes and also caused him to develop an addiction and hallucinations, eventually leading to his tragic suicide."

"It is absolutely not a hallucinogenic drug! I've tried it myself! It's just for treating the eyes."

Mr. Alfred said again, raising his voice, but under Shard's scrutinizing gaze, he felt oddly afraid of the young man before him.

"What exactly is the Red Potion?"

He asked, staring into the ophthalmologist's eyes. The middle-aged man shuddered with fear, but still bravely met his gaze.

The two men stared at each other for a long time. Besides wanting to blink badly, Shard's expression was unchanging. The doctor, looking into Shard's eyes, felt increasingly terrified. The young man before him didn't show any fierce temperament and wasn't as scary as the gang members he had seen in nearby streets, but the more he stared at Shard, the more inexplainable pressure made him feel as if he was looking up at something indescribable and immense.

Eventually, the doctor gave up on hiding the truth, looking away somewhat dejectedly:

"It was... an ancestral gift."

Shard sighed and looked towards his assistant. The black-haired girl looked eager for the story, while Shard seemed relieved that this troublesome matter was finally coming to an end.

Compared to Shard's investigation, Dr. Alfred's story was somewhat duller.

The doctor wasn't a native of Tobesk; he had moved there from afar. Although he had successfully settled in this city, known as the Northern Pearl, Jacob Alfred still returned to his hometown every year.

This spring, while considering selling the family homestead back home to finance the expansion of his clinic in Tobesk, an earthquake occurred during his visit. The earthquake caused a crack in the wall of the basement of the old house, and behind that crack, Dr. Alfred discovered a hidden compartment designed to hold objects, containing three items: a bottle of red potion, a parchment roll in an unknown language, and a ring.

"How thrilling!"

The black-haired girl whispered softly.

"These are the items. I couldn't recognize the words on the parchment, and the ring looked like an antique. As for the potion, I didn't know its specific use, but I saw a symbol of an eye on the parchment and thought it might be useful for the eyes. Later, I experimented on mice and found it was indeed effective. I added some other herbs to make it work on humans. Mr. Bondy was my first test subject. It truly worked; he really regained his sight."

Dr. Alfred took out an old leather case from the safe, brought it to the coffee table, unlocked it with a key, opened it, and laid the three items out on the table. The yellowed bottle with the red liquid was only three-quarters full, the rest had been mixed into that bright yellow potion. The parchment looked quite ancient and indeed was in an ancient language.

And that last item, an old square signet ring...

[Outlander, you have touched "Whisper."]

"Oh? A relic?"

"A relic?"

Miss Maid looked surprised, as it was difficult to notice an inactive relic without knowing its specific traits. Shard's sensitivity to spirits allowed him to quickly make judgments.

He put on gloves and took the ring into his hand, the voice by his ear confirming it as a relic instantly.

The band of the ring was black iron in color, and the signet itself was made of even darker antique black iron. The rectangular signet was slightly convex around the edges with a recessed center, but the pattern inside the rectangle was raised.

Shard suddenly widened his eyes:

"Can a ring also count as a seal?"

It was an ancient metal signet ring, and the design on the seal...

"Knock, knock, knock~"

All three turned toward the door of the study as the sudden knocking began, bringing not much of a scare, but making them all feel a chill at that moment.

The person outside was knocking very rhythmically, showing no sign of stopping.

"Doctor, is there anyone else in your house?"

Miss Servit frowned slightly and asked. Turning to look at the doctor, fear climbed over his expression after her question:

"No, there should have been no one else here before you arrived. Someone has broken in! Oh, who is it, who is out there!"

He asked loudly, but there was no response from outside and the knocking maintained its original frequency but grew louder.

Miss Servit stood up:

"Detective, be careful."

She and Shard both felt an abnormal sensation emanating from the other side of the door.

They told the doctor to hide under the desk, and Shard stood up too.

An icy wind rushed through the door gap, although it was late summer afternoon, the light in the area around the door suddenly dimmed, as if something was absorbing the brightness.

In just a few seconds, the two standing in the middle of the study saw the area around the door descend into pitch darkness. The door completely vanished into the dark, and the knocking sound seemed to be completely absorbed by the darkness, disappearing without a trace.

"What is this?"

Tifa quietly asked, stepping forward to shield Shard behind her. Miss Galina had commanded her to follow Shard, one of the orders being to protect him.

Shard rubbed the signet on the metal ring with his fingertip, then carefully slid it onto his own index finger. He already knew what relic it was—the design on the signet was the Exorcism Emblem associated with the Prophet Riddle from the Fifth Era.

This is the "Demon Hunting Seal," a symbol of the demon hunters from the Third Era who hunted evil spirit demons. Shard had only heard about it from Luviya yesterday, he had expected to encounter it if he simply moved forward, but he didn't expect the seal to actually be a ring.

Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at ƒrēenovelkiss.com Only.

If what he had seen earlier was the seal, he definitely wouldn't have touched the ring.

"I think it was probably this ring that drew the demon. If the ring has not been held by a Circle Sorcerer for a long time, it will attract demons when it encounters a Circle Sorcerer again. This is one of its negative traits, as if the original owner of the ring wanted its next bearer to understand the mission they are shouldering."

Shard whispered softly.

"What?"

Miss Maid thought she had heard wrong for a moment.

"This ring is a Relic, its negative trait is attracting demons. I don't know why, but it appeared in my hand when I was searching for it, and I know even less why there are demons in the Tobesk Urban Area, but now the demons have come, the evil spirit demons left over from the Third Era have come."

He walked towards the darkness that was creeping and spreading forward, but his right hand was held back by Tifa, Miss Maid frowned, her expression stern, and she asked:

"Wait, Mr. Hamilton, what do you intend to do?"

"Of course, I want to test whether I can actually fight this thing. It's not strong, yes, it's not strong."

This was also the reason Shard did not immediately flee through the window—Weak Angel Potion was at hand, and the "Demon Hunting Seal" had been acquired. An "evil spirit" that "she" considered relatively weak had appeared, and the Outlander wanted to test if the weapons he had prepared with so much effort were effective.

Miss Servet somewhat couldn't believe it; Shard from the Second Ring thought the terrifying creature that brought darkness was not strong:

"Mr. Hamilton, I know what this is. It's a Servant of the Hidden from the out-of-control Angel-Level Relic 'Dark Realm' that came out from outside the city. It brings darkness to engulf Brightness, expanding the range of the Dark Realm, trying to plunge the entire world into forgotten darkness. I must ensure your safety, let's leave immediately!"

The implication was that she could handle it, but with Shard by her side, she couldn't take the risk.

"Servant of the Hidden? Oh, it's an offshoot of an out-of-control Angel-Level Relic, I've heard of this... So, I can't leave now."

Seeing that Miss Maid was still holding on to him, he explained further:

"Don't worry, what I fear least is darkness, darkness cannot engulf us."

"Detective, are you worried that this darkness will spread through the district, engulfing more humans, so you're unwilling to leave?"

Miss Maid asked, somewhat disbelieving.

"Why would you think that? Even if I were a good person, I'm not that good."

His expression was just as serious, looking at his assistant for the day:

"Miss Servet... no, Tifa, do you really think I'm the type who seeks his own death?"

He addressed the girl in front of him by her first name.

"How would you behave when Miss Galina took you along to handle matters? Tifa, even though you are not in your maid's outfit now, please return to the normal state of being a maid."

"But..."

"I won't brag in front of a beautiful girl just to save face, and I won't rely on your strength just because you're by my side. This time, you are a maid, you are a detective's assistant, please follow my orders. Hold my hand tight, and let's deal with this thing."

He looked into Tifa's eyes, and seeing his serious expression, she blinked, her expression relaxed a bit:

"But I must emphasize two points, first, if we really encounter danger, we will retreat immediately. Second, until Miss decides to marry you, you are not my master, so please do not give me orders."

Shard nodded:

"Yes, Miss Tifa Servet, I might really need your protection later. But for now, please hold my hand tight, and don't let the darkness engulf you."

Their hands clasped together, Shard took the lead, and then they stepped into the creeping darkness ahead.

As they stepped from the normal area of the study into the edge of darkness, there was no spatial movement, but the body still felt a sensation of weightlessness. However, the black-haired girl wasn't concerned about that moment of weightlessness, but rather, that upon entering the darkness, the blackness coming in from all around felt like it would melt her body and steal her spirit in the next moment.

The terrifying illusion of being engulfed by darkness didn't last long, as a faint Glimmer dispelled the abnormal emotions.

She saw the hand she was holding shining faintly, then saw Shard himself emitting that pure, captivating Holy Silver Glimmer. It seemed that because they were holding hands, the Glimmer also faintly adhered to her, keeping the darkness at bay.

"You see, darkness cannot engulf me."

Shard said as they both summoned their Ring of Fate. Darkness could not engulf the dazzling four-colored Glimmer on Shard's Ring of Fate either; and because the two metal rings were too close, they sparked against each other amidst the Steam Mist upon appearing and rapidly rotating, before eventually adjusting size and drifting in opposite directions.

"The plan is this. Find the demon, then kill it. How does that sound?"

Shard asked, looking into the surrounding darkness.

"A simple enough plan, but how will you locate it? Wait for it to attack us?"

Tifa also looked around.

"No no, please wait a moment... Silvermoon!"

The Holy Silver Glimmer at his fingertips barely flashed, unable to dispel the darkness. This was the first time the Light of Silvermoon was ineffective, but it was within Shard's expectations, as even the Sage-Level Relic "Fishbone Pirate Ship" was able to suppress the Moonlight, it was normal for an Angel-Level Relic specifically targeted at Glimmer to be more powerful.

"In that case, I will have to touch this darkness even deeper."

Taking a deep breath, he inhaled air into his lungs. After listening intently for a moment and getting a hint, he led Tifa forward.

The area shrouded in darkness wasn't large to begin with, it wasn't a spatial anomaly, and so with the right direction chosen, it was just over a dozen steps before an unusual noise appeared up ahead.