Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 837: The Return of the Priest

Chapter 837 -837: The Return of the Priest

Priest Augustus departed from Tobesk Station at the beginning of autumn, and returned to Tobesk Train Station on a Sunday morning in late autumn. Although Shard knew that Priest Augustus had experienced many dangerous events in Midshire Fort, comparable to the dangers he himself faced during the Milestone incident.

But when Shard put his hands in his pockets and joined the welcoming team from the Dawn Church, seeing the old man smiling and carrying a suitcase as he descended from the steam-jetting train, he almost thought the priest had gone on a vacation.

Of course, the priest’s luggage wasn’t limited to just one suitcase; his other large pieces of luggage were stored in the cargo car and would be delivered to the Dawn Chapel by a dedicated person.

The weather at the turn of autumn and winter was still quite pleasant, but the city was still shrouded in a polluted fog. The chaos of the platform made this very mundane scene appear hazy and surreal, but at least Priest Augustus had truly returned.

A total of seven local old clerics returned with Priest Augustus, all from different denominations of the Church of the Five Gods. Although their faces couldn’t hide the fatigue of the journey, everyone was very happy to return to the northern pearl, Tobesk City.

“Even the smell of pollution in the air feels so familiar.”

Priest Augustus even said this, and then he coughed from the choking, as the level of air pollution in recent days had indeed been extreme. Midshire Fort, nestled against the mountain, also had the steam industry, but its overall air quality was far better than that of Tobesk City.

On the dimly lit and gloomy platform, filled with travelers carrying luggage and with strange odors lingering in the air, the Church of the Five Gods held a very brief welcoming ceremony for the returning old clerics, after which everyone returned to their respective churches.

Priest Augustus certainly wouldn’t follow Shard to No. 6, Saint Delan Square, but he did knock on Shard’s door at two that afternoon.

“Welcome back, Priest Augustus!”

Shard said with a smile as he opened the door, and the old man outside also had a face full of smiles:

“Yes, Tobesk is still the best. I won’t be traveling far again. Oh, your gift.”

The gift Priest Augustus prepared for Shard was a black hat with colorful feathers inserted into it, feathers dyed with pigments.

Shard, holding Mia, led Priest Augustus upstairs to have a talk. Tea had already been prepared in advance, and the first thing Priest Augustus said was a question:

“Have Joey Barton and Mrs. Marilyn Handel already left Tobesk?”

“Yes, the last time I saw them was seven days ago at the Tobesk Public Cemetery.”

Shard answered. The priest nodded and did not ask any more about them:

“While I was in Midshire Fort, I promised you I would tell you about my wings. Detective, you already know that those wings belong to an angel, but perhaps you don’t know that the angel is…”

“The First Angel, the world’s first angel, the Death Angel.”

Shard supplemented, signaling to Priest Augustus to take a seat. The priest sat on the short sofa, looking at him with surprise:

“It seems you know more than I thought. Well, that’s good, I don’t have to go into too much detail. Of course, I am human, just able to borrow the Angel’s power… Well, a long time ago, due to an accident, I acquired part of the Death Angel’s remains, including the wings.”

“Remains?”

Somewhat surprised, but not exceptionally so, because compared to other possibilities Shard had considered, such as Priest Augustus being an angel, this answer wasn’t particularly outlandish:

“That angel, did it die?”

The priest shook his head and smiled:

“It seems you don’t know everything, or else I’d think… Angels, although not created by the Great One, have an almost immortal life, existing above humans and mortal creatures. Most angels left with the Ancient Gods, but the Death Angel left its shell in the material world. That shell disintegrated, and when I was young, I accidentally fused a portion of the remains, including the wings.”

The story from Priest Augustus’s youth should be the Tobesk 0-Level Relic Out-of-Control Incident that the Academy had mentioned. But the priest still hadn’t explained why everyone else died while he not only survived but also gained power. This is obviously a secret the priest is unwilling to share.

Fortunately, including Shard, everyone has secrets, so he wouldn’t be overly inquisitive.

“So the right arm bone implanted into Joey Barton by the Truth Society is…”

Shard raised an eyebrow.

“Detective, you’re very perceptive. Yes, the Angel’s remains granted me part of the Death Angel’s power. With this power, I am incredibly sensitive to death and can continually gather other remains to perfect that power.”

The priest extended his right hand, and some gray mist danced on his palm.

“Meow~”

Mia instantly bristled, letting out a low, threatening growl at Priest Augustus, startling both Shard and the priest.

Shard soothed his cat and hesitated for a moment:

“But you don’t seem like someone who seeks power either, sorry, I mean, usually when such extremely hard-to-collect items are gathered together, unimaginable things happen. Priest Augustus, why do you need the Angel Remains? I’m worried that once you’ve collected them all… the angel will… revive within you.”

The Outlander had read many similar stories.

The Priest shook his head:

“Detective, do you think the departed Ancient Gods would easily return?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why would the angels that left with them return easily?”

The Priest said, and Shard was reassured. It made sense:

“So why are you collecting these remains?”

“They are very dangerous, extremely dangerous. Don’t be fooled by me looking like an ordinary person now. I’ve paid a considerable price to suppress the Death Angel’s power. This is power that should not linger in the material world, so I want to seal them myself. Besides, with the return of this power, I can also learn more information, ancient gods’ information.”

He glanced at Shard:

“Aren’t you also pursuing this knowledge?”

Shard smiled:

“Yes, I am also pursuing those ancient myths, learning past stories from the dust of history, which is what I should be doing as an Investigator of the History Academy. So, have you found many Death Angel remains over the years?”

The Priest shook his head, took a sip of tea and leaned back:

“I have been searching for this kind of information over the years, but you can imagine the difficulty. Apart from the initial remains and Joey Barton’s right arm bone that I extracted, twelve years ago I accidentally acquired a small leg bone, and three years ago obtained two finger bones. Still far, far away.” freeωebnovēl.c૦m

The Priest took out his pipe but only cleaned it. Of course, he wouldn’t smoke in Shard’s house. Shard noticed that the Priest did not mention how many remains he initially fused with.

“If you’re not worried about the risk of the angel reviving within you, I will also keep an eye out for information on angel remains.”

Shard nodded. Besides demons and flames, he now had one more collection item.

“I knew you would help me, Shard. As the Death Angel becomes more complete, I can also acquire more knowledge and information. I believe that knowledge is more important than power. After all, knowledge is priceless and knowledge is power. I’m willing to share this power with you. For example, this…”

He took out a small glass bottle from his pocket. Shard pushed aside the cat that extended its neck to sniff, picked up the glass bottle, and shook it slightly:

“Holy Water?”

“Yes, I made it myself. In terms of effect, it’s about between Holy Water No. 3 and Holy Water No. 4.”

Shard looked at the Priest in surprise:

“I always thought only the Church of Nature could make… wait, the Church of Nature makes Holy Water using relics of five angel statues from Poet-Level (Level 5) to Angel-Level (Level 1), so making Holy Water involves angels?”

“Yes, Angel’s Power can make Holy Water. Of course, knowledge is also required.”

The Priest pointed to his head and smiled:

“Now, I can produce a lot of Holy Water No. 4, and except for material costs and time, there is almost no extra consume. The bottle you’re holding, which is stronger than No. 4 but weaker than No. 3, is still a bit laborious to make. But in the future, you can buy Holy Water from me at the cost of materials.”

“That would be wonderful.”

Holy Water, this unique magic potion, has effects such as expelling negative energy, removing curses, detoxifying, mental recovery, healing, adding holy effects, and so on. Although the effects of Holy Water No. 4 can’t compare to the two bottles of Holy Water No. 2 in Shard’s drawer, it is still very valuable.

“Besides that, I’ve also learned to make some peculiar alchemical items related to angels and death. The most formidable alchemical item, the ‘Death Horn’, even has a wide-range instant death effect. However, these peculiar items I need to think about before attempting to make, as some materials are hard to come by in the short term. If you’re interested, you can take a look at my Potion Workshop.”

The Priest added, noting that the arm bone had indeed helped him a lot. Unfortunately, Shard and the Priest couldn’t inquire about the origin of that bone from the Truth Society, otherwise, they might find more angel remains from the clues.

Priest Augustus’s offering to Shard of Holy Water and special alchemical items also highlighted the value of the knowledge of those ancient entities. Now that I think about it, Dr. Schneider should also be able to make some very demon-characteristic alchemical items, such as the amulet that allows Shard to use demon power in his dreams.

The reason the Doctor rarely mentioned his knowledge to Shard was evidently because demon power shouldn’t be used lightly. Being discovered by the church using Angel’s Power wouldn’t cause trouble, but being discovered using demon power would indeed bring big trouble.