Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 731 - Deep in the Mine

Chapter 731 -731 Deep in the Mine

After glancing at the three Rings of Fate ahead, Shard began to survey the surrounding environment.

The place where the elevator descended was the middle section of a mine shaft, looking like an abandoned tunnel that extended in both directions without end in sight.

The ground was littered with bones, rocks, pickaxes, shards of glass, and other assorted debris. Every now and then, thick wooden supports in the center of the tunnel held up the ceiling, preventing a complete collapse.

The temperature and eerie atmosphere inside the mine were even more dreadful than the desolate village above, while the undead spirits that roamed the area were almost visible to the naked eye of ordinary people. However, the evil spirits drawn by the battle of the Truth Society’s Circle Sorcerers still would not attack Shard and the girl in the black dress; they even actively circled around them.

These evil spirits weren’t merely spiritual bodies; when the Circle Sorcerers of the Truth Society destroyed them, their soul fragments unexpectedly dropped remains of bones and flesh.

Because the black mist in the mine was denser, Shard also tried to inhale a breath of the black mist filtered by the Red Butterfly, so diluted it was almost insubstantial, and thus learned that this black mist had the functions of undead curses, flesh mutation, and soul distortion.

This mountain village did not originate from Sicarl Mountain or even the villages of the Midland in the Fifth Era, yet in this age, it matched the disaster unfolding in Milestone City. If the Relic went out of control and allowed the evil spirits lurking in this desolate village to escape, the church’s sealing ceremony would likely have to be postponed for a long time.

“Professor, are these disgusting things really of research value? We still have samples of the undead calamity from the Fifth Era, aren’t those more valuable than this rotten flesh?”

The young apprentice carried an older woman on his back, with the High Ring Sorcerer at the forefront, while the Inner Ring sorcerers collected the remnants of flesh left behind by the vanishing twisted evil spirits.

“Undead calamity of the Fifth Era?”

Shard heard another new term.

“Everything progresses forward; if one wallows in the glory of past eras, then what truth is there to seek?”

If this group could be a bit more rational on their path to seeking truth, they might indeed bring progress to human civilization.

The Circle Sorcerers of the Truth Society led the way, holding a worn map they appeared to have found in the village, delving deeper into the mine. They seemed to have explored the village thoroughly and solved most of the puzzles.

Shard and the girl in the black dress, protected by the Red Butterflies, followed behind them. Neither of them was just walking, after all; the latter relayed other stories about the village to Shard. Yet she specifically refused to mention what lay beneath the gold mine—the source of the black mist.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know, but that she couldn’t tell Shard.

The girl in the black dress also admitted that her wish to enter this village wasn’t solely for her academic report. It was also because she needed a sacrificial offering from deep within the mine to resurrect her long-awaited relative.

The underground expanse was much larger than what lay above, even dug out like a maze. Time Perception had already detected anomalies in the flow of time, enough to cause a noticeable discrepancy between perceived time and actual time in the physical world.

At five in the afternoon by Sicarl Mountain time, the group finally reached the deepest part of the gold mine. At the end of the mine shaft was an irregularly shaped hole leading to the abyss below, from which the thick black mist rose.

The three from the Truth Society were already exhausted by the time they reached this cavern. The spirits close to the cave were all once the souls of sacrificed children. Because they had been excessively tainted by the power of the black mist, even facing one evil spirit, Shard wasn’t sure he could come out on top.

“This is the place.”

“Professor” lowered his voice at the dim end of the mine shaft, breathing heavily, his once pristine black suit coat’s collar already torn open:

“This is the Relic Core, and after we lose control of it, we’ll use the Interstice to get back to the city. This trip was anything but easy; next time, please don’t assign us to do something like this again.”

With that, he threw the skull lantern he held in his hand toward the seemingly bottomless hole in front of him. The abyss itself seemed to respond to his action, emitting thicker black mist followed by the slight vibration of the ground.

Unfortunately, the skull lantern that could disperse the black mist didn’t fall into the abyss. Red Butterflies passed by, sprinkling specks of crimson light traces from their wings. The butterflies enveloped the ghastly white skull lantern and lifted it from above the abyssal cave.

After passing over the heads of the Truth Society’s group, the Red Butterflies came to Shard and the girl in the black dress.

“Who are you?”

Only now did the three of them notice in surprise that two people had been following them.

Shard glanced at the girl beside him and, seeing she had no intention of speaking, explained:

“It’s like this, we came to this village to conduct some folk studies and happened to encounter you folks.”

More and more Red Butterflies danced around the two, turning the gold mine tunnel crimson. Protected by the Red Butterflies, Shard found the spectacle incredibly magnificent, but the three from the Truth Society sensed a danger to their lives.

“The Whisper of the Red Butterfly, this is…”

High Ring Sorcerer Mr. Johnson’s eyes widened slightly, and he took a step back:

“Run!”

Suddenly, a thick mist enveloped them, but the white fog failed to help them enter the Interstice.

“Spatial Stabilization Aura!”

Having been tricked once by this tactic of the Inner Ring Sorcerer, Shard had learned his lesson:

“The woman you knocked out, she’s one of the four nails resurrected from the Interstice?”

He questioned, seeing the three only looked back at him nervously without responding, then turned to the girl in the black dress and said:

“I might not be able to defeat them.”

“Sir, have some confidence in yourself.”

The cloth wrapped around the [Night Watchman] was removed, and on the silver blade, bright yellow runes [Heartless Clarity, Longsword Slaying Demons] glowed. Dozens of Red Butterflies flew from behind, landing on the blade, adding a crimson trace to this sword made to combat evil.

Shard felt the power.

With both hands on the sword, he stepped forward and swung, creating a red sword trail with forceful chops that left deep gashes on the ceiling and floor of the mine tunnel as they shot out.

“Get out of the way!”

Professor Johnson violently pushed his two companions aside and met the attack head-on. Unless he jumped into the bottomless abyss behind him, there was simply nowhere to hide in the narrow passage. He squatted slightly, with Miracle Soul Runes [Iron Wall][Shield], Desecration Spirit Rune [Sturdiness], and Enlightenment Spirit Rune [Castle] simultaneously flashing with spiritual light behind him.

A towering shield, like a door panel, appeared in his hands. After he slammed it into the ground, the crimson sword trail that Shard had struck was already upon him.

Shard didn’t even see the whole process, as the Arcane Technique cast by the High Ring Sorcerer completely collapsed. Amid the dissipating spiritual light, Professor Johnson’s skin turned into a bronze metallic color, and behind him, the Core Spirit Rune [Ironman] was casting an unknown arcane technique. His physical body collided with the sword trail, flipping it over onto the ground.

Crack~

A clear fracturing sound came from the Ring of Fate; the Core Spirit Rune [Ironman] actually cracked. When the High Ring Sorcerer got up again, his skin had returned to its original color, but blood was flowing from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.

“That strong?”

Shard looked at the sword in his hands in surprise.

“How despicable, to use the power of a Relic!”

The wheezing Professor Johnson spoke, and Shard immediately frowned:

“Didn’t you also use the power of a Relic? Besides, you are three people, and we are two…”

“Are you really ‘two people’?”

He cursed in Carsonrick’s language, without caring about his image, and grabbed his two companions he had tossed behind him:

“Even if I die, I won’t let a despicable person like you survive. Behold my Sublimation Incant…”

Shard swung his sword forward again. Just as he cleaved out another crimson sword trail and prepared to charge forward, the girl in the black dress suddenly pulled him back:

“Be careful!”

There was no Sublimation Incantation. Professor Johnson produced a jet-black seal with a pointed tip from his chest and swiftly pressed it onto his two companions. As their eyes widened in surprise, the Relic had already taken effect:

“Human Bomb!”

With a thunderous explosion, the blast wave nearly knocked Shard off his feet. An explosion in such a confined space sent a torrent of dust and pebbles tumbling from the ceiling, leaving Shard almost convinced that they were about to be buried alive.

This was no ordinary explosion but the complete obliteration of two Ring Sorcerers’ bodies and souls through a mysterious Relic, even more brutal than the Corpse Explosion technique. Despite the protection of the Red Butterflies, Shard still sensed the formidable power of this “bomb.”

Fortunately, this was inside a Relic where the terrain was not so easily altered. Once the dust settled from the explosion, the butterflies illuminated the surroundings, and the figures of the Truth Society trio had all vanished. Two of them were blown to pieces, not even ashes remained, while the High Ring Sorcerer “Professor Johnson” had fled alone.

“Calling us despicable, but he’s even more so, to think that the Sage-Level Relic [Demon Bomb Seal] was actually in the hands of the Truth Society.”

The girl in the black dress explained softly, then frowned as she looked at the intact body of the middle-aged village woman lying on the ground, unscathed at the blast’s epicenter.

“Let him run. I don’t believe he didn’t get hurt at the center of the explosion,” said Shard, brushing the dirt from his hair, then also turned to the uninjured middle-aged village woman:

“The Ancient One said, only death can counter death. The nails resurrected from the Interstice must be sent back using the power of death.”

He summoned [Great Sin Chains], wrapping the unconscious woman like a mummy, carrying her on his back. As for [God’s Gift Box], he could only carry it in his hand.

“Sir, the nuisances are finally gone,” said the girl in the black dress with a smile after Shard had finished, then pointed towards the abyss ahead:

“Please continue our story.

Discovering the village’s sacrificial tradition of the Red Butterfly Twins, they, like us, traveled to the deepest part beneath the mountain village. But even they couldn’t solve the problem here thoroughly and could only seal the village. No existence could leave this place, and the same goes for living people who stray inside. That woman you’re carrying must have also died here by mistake and was then revived by the Interstice.”

“So, how do we leave?”

“It’s simple. This place is the source of all calamities but also the only way out. Sir, do you have the courage to jump down with me?”

She stood by the seemingly bottomless cavern, then turned around and extended her right hand to Shard amidst the Red Butterflies.