Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1777 - 1776: Family Roots · United as One
Shard didn’t feel surprised by Iluna’s actions because he had previously come into contact with Sister Delphine’s Dark Gold Scythe. Unexpectedly, when Luviya tried, her hand could pass directly through the center of that Balance.
"As expected, this Balance is essentially a product of Iluna’s soul combined with the might of the Ancient God; I certainly can’t touch it."
While Shard was feeling suspicious, Luviya nodded:
"Iluna, let this Balance float above my head, don’t resist my spiritual power to touch it."
[Because of Divinity, you can touch things related to the Ancient God.]
"That’s what I thought too."
Shard quickly sketched out the ritual, then thought for a moment and revealed the Yggdrasil’s Staff to give it to the purple-eyed girl. Iluna had heard that Shard had obtained another weapon not inferior to the Night Watchman, so she only glanced curiously. As Shard bent down to pick up the cat that had wandered into the room, she made the Balance, symbolizing The Chosen One of Balance, float above Luviya’s head.
"Do we need to use the Philosopher’s Stone to aid the ritual?"
Shard asked again, pulling out a silver pendant from his chest, adorned with the Philosopher’s Stone he had obtained from the Stone Mirror Demon: Goethe:
"Adding this to the ritual should enhance its effect."
"Shard, I don’t intend to divine the world’s future and truth, there’s no need to be so extravagant."
Luviya declined Shard’s suggestion, and Iluna also smiled as if she wanted to say something. Then unexpectedly, the little Mia, who was in Shard’s arms, suddenly thrust her head out, opening her mouth to bite the red stone.
"Little Mia..."
Fortunately, this cat that never angers Shard didn’t swallow the precious alchemical material in his hand this time. Although the cat opened its mouth, it merely licked the stone with its tongue, then meowed with bright eyes at it. It didn’t seem like she wanted to eat it, nor did she seem disinterested.
Shard was frightened and quickly put away the Philosopher’s Stone, deciding it was better not to take such things out in the future to prevent Mia from accidentally swallowing them.
Then it was time for the main task. Luviya held a black Magic Wand in her left hand and stood in the center of the ritual circle on the floor, surrounded by patterns of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, with the Dark Golden Balance emitting a Glimmer above her head, as if sprinkling light upon her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, slightly raising the long staff in her left hand, then struck it on the ground, and the initially unresponsive ritual circle actually lit up with a Glimmer.
The curtains in the room were tightly drawn, and in the pitch-dark room, only the light from the ritual circle on the ground and the Dark Golden Balance shone. Luviya raised her right hand slightly, causing the five Coins placed at her feet to float into the air.
Among them, one Wraith Iron Coin and one Home Coin floated in front of Shard, who caught them, then Luviya flicked the remaining three coins sequentially into the air.
As the coins spun into the air, they emitted a vibrating sound of humm~. The first coin reached its highest point and surprisingly spun in place at that height, until all three coins reached that position and then fell together.
The mottled rust appeared on the metal surface, and as they fell, it gradually spread until the entire coin rusted.
The ashes scattered in the air, and when Luviya opened her eyes, the purple brilliance in her eyes was captivating and seductive.
"How was it?"
"There are results."
After tidying up the room, the three of them returned to the second floor. Luviya took a sip of tea and informed them of the results of this divination:
"It’s not too bad, at least it clarified the biggest question: who exactly is the first candidate for the Chosen of Space this time. Laplace Klein Howard didn’t lie, at least not completely. He indeed is related to the first candidates, and the number of first candidates actually exceeds ten individuals."
Iluna glanced at Shard:
"Besides the Diviner himself, how many of the Edwards family are still alive?"
"That unidentified tentacle man, two witches from the Fifth Generation, the Furen brothers of the Sixth Generation, the brothers from the Mirror Association, and the Green siblings — six people."
Shard replied:
"Including the Diviner, all the living add up to exactly ten."
"Luviya said it’s more than ten, which means greater than ten. So, does this combination include the deceased? Like that little girl Shard mentioned, Laster Edwards?"
Iluna asked Luviya again, and Luviya nodded:
"Including Laster Edwards, it’s eleven. Since it can include one deceased, it suggests it might include more deceased. Remember the family lineage Shard mentioned?"
Shard then reached into the air and retrieved a transparent, starry-hued large book, which he handed to Luviya and Iluna respectively:
"One from the First Generation, two from the Second Generation, and so on. Adding them up, the members with Edwards family bloodline total 1+2+3+4+5+6=21 individuals. The deceased from the Second and Third Generations are all buried on the island, and after that, as the Edwards family declined and Green Lake Town was abandoned, the deceased from the Fourth and Fifth Generations were each buried in different locations."
Iluna took a deep breath:
"Let’s leave aside those buried on the island for now. So, this root family tree is some kind of large-scale ritual? The Edwards Family, rooted in Green Lake Central Island, after hundreds of years, absorbs the island’s nutrients for reproduction, while deeply imprinting the family’s mark on the island, and ultimately, on that island, unifies as one, achieving the ascension of mortal objects? Does this picture really represent some kind of ritual or even a human alchemy diagram, then aren’t the bones and souls of the outsiders’ two generations destined to return... ...or have they already returned?"
Luviya and Shard exchanged glances:
"If this diagram represents the Chosen of Space ceremony that Laplace Klein Howard believed in, then I suspect the bodies of the Fourth and Fifth Generation deceased are already gone from the graves. This didn’t happen recently, it might be that the Edwards who left the island never really left the sight of their ancestors."
Iluna’s face was filled with shock as the diagram, like roots underground, seemed to her increasingly terrifying:
"Six generations, nearly three hundred years, only to achieve united as one and become the Chosen’s identity... Even though we’ve already gone through so much, this still surprises me. What did Laplace Klein Howard see back then?"
"According to the association’s current investigation, the evil object ’Door in the Bottle’ likely contacted him before he defected from the association. He listened to what they called ’the truth’ and was convinced." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Luviya wore a melancholic expression:
"But whether he foresaw the future, spawning the mysterious Edwards family, or whether the fated future deceived him, making him inevitably the family’s starting point, fate and time deserve reverence."
The girl, who had disrupted the completeness of time several times, spoke and asked Shard:
"No rush for tonight, you go to Green Lake tomorrow and confirm whether the bones of the Fourth and Fifth Generation deceased are still there."
"No problem, but I can’t reach the brothers from the Mirror Association, and the bones of the Furen Brothers of the Rosicrucian Society and the Witch’s elders are out of town, it requires time to confirm. Tomorrow, I’ll first check the situation of the Green siblings’ elders."
Luviya nodded:
"No worries, if just one nexus of bones is gone, the others are likely also gone. Though this Chosen situation is rather troublesome, it has benefits as long as we can ensure one doesn’t return to the family, we can prevent the Chosen One ceremony from being held."
That’s right, but no matter who we protect, ultimately we’ll face Laplace Klein Howard directly. Hiding now has no meaning, they’ll inevitably return, it’s not only the prophecy of the Thirteen-Ring Diviner but also the fate of the Chosen.
"I want to share my opinion."
Iluna suddenly said:
"Just as we don’t want Ivan Daknis and Joey Barton to become Chosen, this time, we also need to prevent Laplace Klein Howard from becoming the Chosen."
"Naturally."
Shard nodded:
"He doesn’t seem like someone who peacefully accommodates his offspring but instead wants to devour his blood descendants, such a person is too dangerous. But defeating him, sending him to death, won’t be easy, once you reach the Green Lake Region, then we’ll discuss it."
Iluna nodded, then the three discussed the Edwards Family’s matters for a while, before Iluna asked Luviya:
"Aside from the primary rank, Luviya, did you divine any other insights?"
This time, three coins were consumed.
The purple-eyed girl nodded:
"This is my first attempt to directly divine the situation of the Chosen. This was possible because of the peculiar situation of this Chosen. There are two more pieces of information: First, the subsequent candidates for the position are also united as one, among which a rank’s component includes members of the Edwards Family."
"I can understand this, it symbolizes the subsequent ranks of the Chosen, which are actually interconnected with the first candidate."
Shard said, then thought of Lecia and Dorothy. He could almost confirm they would inevitably get involved in this matter, though there’s currently no information pointing to them, furthermore, the two haven’t even considered visiting the Green Lake Region recently.
"Second, the subsequent candidates are related to the Old God - Twin Gods."
After Luviya finished speaking, she and Iluna looked at Shard together and saw his sigh.
The Old God - Twin Gods, also known as the Guardians of Twins. At the far end of the Fifth Era’s Vampire God’s banquet, the Vampire Duke who favored the Blood Brew guided Helen and Grace to seek shelter from the ’Twin Gods’.
Now, that Old God has long since departed, and its followers have vanished without a trace. What can be confirmed is the power of the Old God - Twin Gods has a deep connection with the Ancient God ’Primordial Rift’, its Holy Emblem is the butterfly. As for Grace and Helen now, being called ’God’s Favored of the Twin Gods’ is not an exaggeration.
In the absence of Shard’s Bygone Era, Grace and Helen mostly died in the last battle of Sicarl, taken away by the Vampire God, thus the ’Bygone Era: Sixth Era’s Chosen of Space mostly has nothing to do with them. Only Shard’s appearance definitely changed the order of emergence of the Chosen—during the Bygone Era, the long-haired Luvia chatted with Ciris in the Night Shrine, mentioning the Chosen of the Earth was the second.
Which means, in today’s Outlander’s ’present world’, the Poem Chapter likely directly points to the still alive and well Red Butterfly Sisters. Getting them involved in the Chosen’s fate is what Shard has always been trying hard to avoid.
