Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 507: Pursuit

"Clearly, they haven't found Daknis."

At eight o'clock Thursday morning, in the restaurant on the second floor of No. 6, Saint Delan Square, Shard said to Luviya at the table.

Martial law had been lifted at three o'clock that morning, affecting the newspaper and dairy companies, thus delaying the delivery of newspapers and dairy products. When Luviya arrived, Shard had just begun to eat breakfast with a cat currently enjoying its meal.

He had already told Luviya about the events of the previous night. Fortunately, Shard had not been deeply involved, and with the help of Bishop Owen from the Dawn Church, he had merely signed a confidentiality agreement and was allowed to go home; the church did not trouble him further. Unfortunately, Little Dimock, having been rescued, was still forcibly required to stay in the church.

"Daknis has appeared in Tobesk, and last night he most likely tried to gather the materials for the Chosen One Ceremony, guided by the 'Puppeteer's Script.'

Shard made his judgment, stirring the milk in his bowl with his right hand. Last night, his hand had rashly entered the mouth of a demon that seemed able to devour everything, and thus had been severely injured. But fortunately, it was only a superficial wound without adhering elements, which even healed before the church arrived, thanks to the 'Satiety Food' and 'Cyndia's Silvermoon Blessing.'

"Although the 'Puppeteer's Script' can influence fate, this relic tends to bring those who attempt to manipulate fate face to face with greater misfortune, much like that 'Heart Collector.' So, guiding Daknis to the Yordle Palace and even causing him to encounter 'Iron Right Hand' and you might just be the relic's negative traits at work,"

Luviya said, with the Prophet's Society being quite knowledgeable about such relics.

"Yes."

Shard nodded, frowning as he spoke,

"Even using my connections in the Yordle Palace, I couldn't find out what exactly was stolen. The worst suspicion is that Daknis has already gathered the ritual materials and, after leaving the Yordle Palace last night, went directly into the Dark Realm."

"That could be troublesome."

The girl with purple eyes also looked serious, knowing the final moments had arrived.

"So, I think we must take some risks. At the very least, we need to determine where Daknis is now."

Shard, who was wearing a shirt at home, took a small glass bottle with a cork out of his shirt pocket and placed it on the dining table. The cat, which had been licking goat milk, immediately raised its head upon hearing the sound but lost interest upon seeing the bottle.

It had already smelled this thing last night and was sure it wasn't food.

Inside the bottle was a small layer of clear water, in which one could faintly see a mix of black and red substances. The red was very pale, and the black swirled with it like some type of viscous pus:

"This is Daknis's blood. I don't know why there is such disgusting stuff in his blood. But 'Echo of Blood' works best with fresh blood. If we wait any longer, this blood will be unusable."

"Are you thinking of dripping this stuff into your own eyes?"

Luviya was quite shocked by Shard's thought:

"The black liquid in his blood is clearly human pus. Are you planning to drip human pus into your eyes?"

"Of course not, I wouldn't do something so risky. Luviya, please close your eyes,"

Said Shard, pointing his finger at the bottle:

"Silvermoon!"

By the time the female diviner reopened her eyes, the black pus mixed with the blood in the bottle had completely disappeared.

"That should do it."

Said Shard, then pushed the bottle towards Luviya:

"Please control the drops into my eyes, we need to act quickly. If Daknis is still in the city, we'll immediately report this to the church. If he went outside the city, we'll pack up and head for the Dark Realm this evening."

"No problem, we've been waiting for this day for more than half a month."

Luviya pulled the stopper out of the bottle, her purple eyes scrutinizing the blood inside:

"It's a pity Iluna was assigned by the Sun Church to conduct a search, otherwise our safety would be enhanced if she joined us."

"We can't always gather everyone together when we need to act. That's quite normal."

Said Shard, then placed his hands on the table and slightly inclined his head to look at the ceiling. Luviya approached him, her finger pointing to the liquid in the bottle. Large drops like a pearl necklace strung together flew up.

"I've estimated that an ordinary drop of blood can maintain the 'Echo of Blood' effect for about an hour. Last night, I was worried about being discovered, and the blood I hastily collected wasn't much. After removing the human pus just now and the slight degradation of the blood overnight, this liquid can at most maintain the 'Echo of Blood' effect for three hours."

As those liquids continuously dripped into Shard's eyes, Shard explained.

Luviya, utilizing Sorcery to precisely manipulate the liquid, was still able to multitask and converse with Shard:

"Three hours should be enough. If the other party is still in the city, by following his trail, we will definitely be able to locate where he is staying."

After all, the church had launched a city-wide manhunt shortly after the incident last night; Daknis couldn't possibly wander around the city at will.

"So where should we start from?"

Luviya asked, after ensuring the bottle was empty, she then corked it and placed it on the dining table. The cat, not quite sated from its meal, immediately jumped onto the table and began rolling the bottle around, always having a special fondness for round objects.

Just like the Transmutation Ring.

"Let's start near Yordle Palace, looking for traces of him leaving."

Shard kept opening and closing his eyes, adjusting to the rough sensation caused by the influx of a large amount of liquid.

Due to the Arcane Technique, a portion of the liquid was expelled from the eyes, sliding down from the corners. In fact, only a small fraction of the liquid that was beneficial for the "Echo of Blood" was absorbed by the Arcane Technique, and the blood that flowed out was still blood, but it had lost its echoing capabilities, so it was expelled by the Arcane Technique.

"Luviya, let's leave immediately."

He stood up from the chair, blinking his eyes and turned around to look through the kitchen window at the bustling Silver Cross Avenue and Yordle Palace nearby:

"We must determine Daknis's whereabouts today."

From Saint Delan Square to Silver Cross Avenue, Shard easily captured the air filled with a series of blood-red halos forming a human motion trail. But that trail was headed in the direction of Yordle Palace, which means this was Daknis entering Yordle Palace.

Circling around Yordle Palace, they finally spotted Daknis jumping over a back garden wall and leaving on a street behind the palace buildings, namely Felishe Countryside Avenue.

"Felishe Countryside" in Draleon language, means "a mythical paradise," and farther west of this street lies the Terael River cutting across the entire City of Tobesk.

Daknis indeed moved toward the Terael River, and Shard, accompanied by Luviya, headed west until they saw Daknis's figure disappear on the riverbank slope on the east side of the Terael River.

Stairs extended downward from the riverside street where nearby residents washed clothes or dumped household wastewater. The trail of blood-red halos stopped here, leaving no further trace.

"Did Daknis jump into the water?"

Luviya guessed as Shard scanned around.

"No, even if he had jumped into the water, I would at least be able to see his figure as he entered the water."

Shard stood on the steps with his hands in his pockets looking towards the cargo ships on the river. The Terael River had a significant volume of water during the summer high water season, allowing large steam cargo ships to pass through the city waterways.

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It was blowing its steam whistle, dragging black smoke from its three large chimneys towards the rear as it traveled south past them, gradually blending into the misty air, composing an ordinary riverside scene of the City of Steam, Northern Pearl Tobesk.

As it was soon docking to unload goods, the sailors on deck were busy. Some idlers, however, were leaning on the deck railing, gazing toward both sides of the river.

The rough sailors whistled at the women washing clothes by the river and laughed heartily with their companions after being scolded by the women. Obviously, some also noticed Shard and Luviya standing on the riverbank stairs, and they began whistling. Shard pulled out a pistol from his belt and raised it towards the deck, and the noises immediately ceased.

"Daknis can move through darkness, but the distance is short, not enough for him to cross directly to the western bank."

As Shard put his pistol away, he reasoned, while Luviya began to understand:

"So, to avoid being captured by the church, he entered the water directly through the black vortex?"

"Yes, that's why I lost sight of him."

Shard nodded, fortunately unlike the time he chased a member of the "Blood of Mercury" carrying Merman Scales with Dorothy, this time flowing water couldn't hinder the function of the "Echo of Blood."

The best approach was to enter the water to find the blood halo, and then follow it underwater.

But once they entered the water, it would be inconvenient to move. So, Shard had Luviya perform a divination, and then the two walked upriver a distance, and about 1200 feet north upstream from where Daknis had entered the water, they saw traces of him near the surface.

Daknis probably didn't have Sorcery like "Underwater Breathing," but as a Six Rings Warlock, he might have other means to stay underwater for extended periods. Surfacing was to check for pursuers, and this movement conveniently aided Shard and Luviya's search.

Daknis headed upstream, and thus Shard and Luviya followed along the river toward the northwestern part of the city. From the center of Tobesk, they reached the crossroads of the western and northern districts. Crossing the Disc Bridge spanning the river, Shard talked to Luviya about the first time he helped the Witch with her errands, back when he hadn't yet realized the Witch was testing his gender.