Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 793 Under the Nether Moon

Chapter 793 -793 Under the Nether Moon

The Old Cleric, who personally instructed Shard not to kill anyone here, certainly wouldn’t kill Joey Barton.

This deformed middle-aged man, with a penetrating hole in his forehead, tremulously stood up surrounded by thousands of white shadows. Iluna squinted at them, seeing large swathes of white mist emerging above the water surface:

“Look, it’s the Maze Lock, finally someone’s going to use the Maze Lock!”

This is not the Interstice of Life and Death, no matter how resilient Joey Barton’s condition is, using the Maze Lock means he’s going for a desperate fight.

Noticing the spatial anomaly, Shard stood on the water, unpanicked. Several months ago, after ascending from Second Ring to Third Ring, he could even unseal Human Pus with the Maze Lock, so of course he could do it again this time.

The Kiss of the Tree didn’t have much killing power, and the Matchstick Girl might reveal to the Old Cleric and Sister Delphine that he was the God Summoner, so:

“Sleeping Princess!”

With one hand gripping his sword, he slashed fiercely forward, cutting through the darkness. The dense colors spread to the sides like a dark curtain being unveiled, revealing a splendid royal palace hall.

The dilapidated city enshrouded in white mist intertwined with the royal halls, though neither could completely cover the water body, appearing like colorful fragments forcibly patched onto an oil painting, imposed upon the water surface.

Iluna still watched the scene with her face in her hands, then saw Shard, holding the sword in one hand, turn quickly and step up the palace’s high stairs. The ice coffin descended from the heavens, crashing onto the platform at the highest peak of the palace. The lid silently slid open, and Shard reached out, grasping the pale hand from within the depths of the ice coffin.

A witch with fiery red hair stepped out of the ice coffin, bowed slightly to Shard, then stood beside him.

“I guess this is another witch.”

The seventeen-year-old girl murmured monotonously, squinting at the two intersecting Maze Locks. Joey Barton, wrapped in the Undead, charged toward the palace but was swept clean by a blast of scorching Dragon Breath.

The Maze Lock enhances the caster’s advantage. From the outcome, with both parties using the Maze Lock, Barton was suppressed by Shard and the witch.

“Hah, that lady even has a tail… like a dragon’s tail… I killed a dragon some time ago, you know.”

Iluna continued to murmur.

The Old Cleric, savoring his tobacco, smiled but said nothing, while Sister Delphine reached out her hand towards the flames before her.

“Feliana’s Witch Light!”

Shard and the “Princess” simultaneously extended their fingers forward, the expanding golden light washing over everything. The “Sleeping Princess” Maze Lock continuously eroded the “Interstice of Life and Death,” forcing Barton to retreat step by step, never expecting to face such a situation.

The girl with fiery red hair once again spewed hot Dragon Breath. Though Shard hadn’t seen this move in Gadis Library, the Dragon Breath of a Half-Blood Dragon Clan was just as fearsome.

But the fire also came from the shadows of Miss Drago by his side. The Night Watchman in Shard’s hand suddenly drew a fiery red trail towards the ground. In that blaze, Sister Delphine, enveloped in the light of flames, slowly straightened up.

“Ah?”

Shard hadn’t expected this scene.

She bowed slightly to Shard before walking on the red carpet towards the chaotic space where the Maze Locks intersected. Joey Barton looked at her in horror. The nun said nothing, throwing a ball of fire with a wave. The flames landed inside the Interstice of Life and Death Maze Lock, and the next moment, the dilapidated city caught fire, with the Maze Lock itself burning.

Sister Delphine was a genuine Eleven-Ring Sorcerer.

The Maze Lock was an independent space, briefly detaching from the deadly water region, weakening Joey Barton but enhancing Shard, a living being. As Sister Delphine’s apparition vanished, Shard took advantage of the Prime Fire burning Barton’s Maze Lock. The Night Watchman fired a dazzling Sunlight Ray, completely obliterating the burning dilapidated city in the white mist.

Joey Barton was hit squarely by the Sunlight Ray, falling back onto the water’s surface. All illusions around him vanished, and he struggled to stand after rolling a few times.

The red-haired girl bowed slightly to Shard again before returning to the ice coffin. Exhausted from his efforts, Shard ceased his Maze Lock, standing on the water, looking at the wretched middle-aged man or rather, the child, in the distance.

By the campfire at the shore, Sister Delphine withdrew her hands burnt with blister marks from the flames, hiding them in her sleeves.

Iluna immediately stood up:

“I think it’s my turn now, this fight should be coming to an end.”

She walked to the edge of the muddy shore.

Joey Barton, with a bitter smile, stood under the illumination of the Nether Moon:

“Well… Mr. Hamilton, I didn’t want to do this originally.”

Holding a Roder Card in his right hand, his trembling hand raised it to his right eye. Although Shard didn’t know what he intended to do, he hurriedly swept the Moonlight Greatsword forward, but the eerie darkness behind Barton actually engulfed him.

He seemed to melt into the endless darkness at the edge of the water, even swallowing the light of the Nether Moon.

Silent and still, but Shard’s heart suddenly began to pound violently. He knew something was coming from the deepest part of death.

A skeletal giant hand with a bright gold bracelet slowly emerged from the darkness, striking the water surface. The bony hand bore seven fingers. Subsequently, another seven-fingered skeletal hand, inscribed with runes, also extended from the darkness, hitting the water.

Shard felt his blood pressure rising so high that it seemed his blood might burst from his pores, an intense fear making him realize that this was something mortals shouldn’t encounter.

“What is this?”

[An imprint left by the Old God ruling over death.]

“Huh?”

[Don’t worry, it’s just an imprint, and it’s being borrowed by the power of Impermanence.]

“No one told me there would be such an enemy! How can he use the cards like this? It’s not fair!”

[Because he is the Chosen One. Outlander, what will you use against Impermanence Cards?]

“She” chuckled.

With the two skeletal giant hands pressing on the water, a massive skull wearing a Golden Crown finally emerged silently from the darkness. Golden flames flickered in its eye sockets, and orderly rows of teeth concealed a darkness that seemed capable of devouring everything.

Shard waved his hand, allowing the flying Roder Card Deck in the sky to return to his hand.

“Sunlight Gun!”

A clear and piercing sound came from a great distance. Shard looked up to see hundreds of dark vortexes forming simultaneously above his head. At the high-pitched cry, Iluna dashed forward from the shore, then jumped into the air, her brown hair streaming behind her, with a dark golden balance floating above her head.

The Golden Thunder Spear in her hand was stained with dark gold, its light illuminating her youthful and handsome face as the Sunlight Gun pierced through the dark vortex before her.

Not even death could silence her voice. Amid the explosive thunderclap, hundreds of Thunder Spears appeared above Shard’s head, bombarding the gigantic skeleton that had just emerged from the darkness of the End.

“What a scene this is today…”

The Old Cleric sighed by the campfire.

The skeleton was disintegrating, but still kept its giant mouth open under the barrages of Sunlight Gun, with a black Light Orb rapidly expanding between its teeth. Joey Barton’s voice echoed from nowhere:

“Bestow upon you—the Death of Destiny.”

The black orb shattered, time solidified at that moment, and everything came to an end. The great power, through the Chosen and the force of Impermanence, affected everything around.

But the water remained so tranquil; the black light pierced through Shard, yet he stood unmoved, unscathed.

“Why…”

The mark left by the Old God was shattered by the Sunlight Gun from the Chosen of Balance. Completely exhausted, Joey Barton reappeared under the light of the Nether Moon, kneeling on one knee on the water’s surface, devoid of any strength to continue the battle.

Although the Chosen One’s Talent was formidable, he was ultimately only a First Ring Sorcerer, unlike Daknis, who, even without the Demon and Talent, could still crush Shard.

“First, this is the end of everything; this is Death itself. Instant Death abilities and the power of The End are meaningless here.”

Shard said, extending his hand to retrieve two Roder Cards in front of him. They were [Impermanence: Balance] and [Impermanence: Darkness], cards that Shard could manipulate as if they were extensions of his limbs:

“Moreover, you shouldn’t have used the power of the Impermanence Card to execute that strike.

Only when preparing for direct confrontation did I realize that the Impermanence Card can offset the effects of another Impermanence Card. And your mastery of that card seems far inferior to my control over these two.”

“Impermanence…”

“Where did you get the card in your hand?”

Shard inquired, lowering the [Night Watchman] towards the water’s surface.

“After she died, I took her ashes to many places. In the winter of 1849, I traveled to the New World. Outside of Uhmur Town, a settlement in the southern regions of the New World, I fell into an Ancient Ruins. From the hand of a bronze-colored skeleton, I discovered this. Since then, my Talent has grown increasingly stronger.”

Joey Barton said, clutching the card tightly, before curling up and sobbing:

“It’s still no use. Even though I’ve committed grave mistakes to reach this point, I still can’t see her.”

Sister Delphine and Priest Augustus, seeing that the battle had ended, also stood up by the edge of the shore with Iluna, watching Shard and Joey Barton from afar.

The Nether Moon quietly shone upon the scene. The once-stilled spirits resumed their silent march towards the depths of the water. Everything was soundless, yet profoundly solemn and sacred.

Among the gradually departing spirits, only Shard and Mr. Barton stood motionless. The receding white figures rendered their silhouettes somewhat indistinct.

Everything was over now. Shard did not mind conversing a bit more with his opponent, inviting him to come back to shore:

“Do you so desperately want to bring her back?”

“Yes, even at the cost of everything. My entire life reversed has no real meaning. Only she is my sole radiance, my only happiness.”

He staggered to his feet, not to struggle, but to turn and face the depths of the water:

“This is fine; I’ve made a grievous error; departing from here to seek her might be best… It’s time to end; now I am a child; the next step is moving from this new life into Death…”

He stumbled forward, following the white shadows, but after only a few steps, he fell onto the water’s surface once again.

The deformed man ceased struggling, curling into a ball, hugging his head and wailing in agony. Shard had seen many cry but never anyone crying as pitifully.

“Midshire Fort certainly breeds its share of tragic tales.”

“Ah!”

Joey Barton, wailing in pain, suddenly screamed again. Gray decayed lines began to spread across his body. These lines seemed to crawl up from beneath the water surface, the curse’s power so intense that even Shard felt a chill. Even he could not bear such a curse:

“Where is this curse coming from?” freewebnøvel.com

The water below, glimmering with traces of Silver Light, harbored no curse power beneath its surface.

[Outlander, you have gleaned some information from Death.]

[The Chosen of Death, defeated in death by a mortal using other powers. You may consider it the curse of the Ancient God of Death or the curse of this very Death itself. He has been rejected, utterly stripped of his status as the Chosen, and this curse is irremovable by any means.]

“I still don’t understand why the Grim Reaper cursed him?”

“She” chuckled softly:

[He should never have been here. Losing to you.]

Shard swiftly turned his head, feeling a breeze of whispered words by his ear, but behind him, there was nothing:

“Is that so? This is the price he pays for everything he has done.”

Shard slowly thought to himself, no longer looking at Mr. Barton curled up on the water surface.

He grasped his own sword, raising his head to gaze at the Nether Moon that shone from his own Dream. The moonlight was so pure, so enchanting. He relished this moment.

[Someone is coming.]

“What?”

Mr. Barton, enduring soul-wracking pain and tears, leaned on the water’s surface, barely lifting himself. He meant to leave with the departing souls, but upon looking up, he saw a pair of translucent boots before him.

They were brown ladies’ short cloth boots, with decorative laces in black. Ascending further, the boots attached to translucent legs, followed by a black floral skirt, a white blouse, adorned with a locket necklace holding an encased photo around the neck, and then…

Mr. Barton knelt on the water surface, tears blurring his vision as he gazed at that face; Shard, one hand in his pocket, sighed as he watched the pair ahead; on the shallow shore, the three observed the figures on the water with varied expressions.

Everything was so peaceful, the Nether Moon bathing the scene, though dim, not warm, but very gentle.

Over the dark waters, star-like glimmers shone, illuminating the path, guiding the souls and those staying behind towards the end of everything.

Though this was Death, Shard found the environment exceedingly beautiful.