Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1943: Special "Resupply" and Red Moon Projection

When Dorothy said this, Shard understood too, but he didn’t have time to destroy the entire town to wreck the symbol of the ceremony. After discussing what he had seen, Shard finally mentioned the purpose of his return this time.

The female sorcerers, Angelina, and the cat all watched him in the flickering shadows of the bonfire. Shard knew that in such a solemn setting, he should say something very inspiring or at least serious. But the purpose of his return this time was not something serious.

"It’s like this."

The empty perfume vial was taken out by him, and then he hesitated, not sure how to express it. Lecia, who was closest to Shard, looked at the bottle and was stunned for a moment before she realized, she smiled and said:

"Seeing your serious and earnest face, I thought you were going to say something important. We are here to do logistics for you; this is your supply point. You’re right to come back this time; if this bottle is full of perfume, we can let you set off at ease."

Spirit is not simply energy; it is information, it is elements, it is energy, it is the sum of everything that Circle Sorcerers understand about the world, and it is one manifestation of the sorcerers’ mental interference with the material. Therefore, it’s difficult to find a way to quickly recover it. Whether there’s perfume that can supplement the spirit is truly important to Shard.

And as Lecia said this, Dorothy also understood the purpose of Shard’s return. Compared to the bold Her Highness the Princess, Miss Writer was a bit shy, blushing as she patted Shard, but she nodded:

"You want to refill this perfume vial?"

"Time is not abundant; just create some perfume inside is enough."

Shard tried to keep a serious expression while saying this, as if he was discussing something truly important:

"Let’s go upstairs."

"Please don’t do that."

But the black-haired Miss Maid stopped Shard:

"We’ve blocked the stairway, no one’s left on the third floor; it’s not safe there anymore."

"I don’t want to do this in front of so many people..."

Tifa waved her hand, and those girls who were not temporarily participating in the battle or in the defense work of the hotel blushed and laughingly gathered around. They held hands and surrounded Shard, Dorothy, Lecia, and the bonfire in the center, their bodies facing outward with their backs to the three.

"Miss Servit, come and help too."

Lecia’s voice sounded, and the black-haired Head Maid also entered the human wall.

"Actually, the upstairs isn’t that dangerous."

Shard was still trying to argue, but Lecia’s voice drowned him out:

"Angelina, don’t come over, turn around and face away, it’s best to cover your ears."

Soon, a Silence Charm was thrown by some girl, and even the crackling sound of the bonfire disappeared.

It wasn’t silent here; the sound of rain outside, the sound of the other two bonfires burning, all seemed so clear on the hotel’s first floor at this moment, because everyone was lowering their breathing sound, trying to listen to some different sound.

No one spoke, the female sorcerers were somewhat nervous, somewhat curious; they tacitly remained silent, yet curiously wondered what the indescribable shadow shifting across the ceiling meant.

Miss Haley Aflora stood blushing by the window, trying to let the outside wind cool her face. Sitting at the table, Angelina hugged Mia and with the wide-eyed amber-eyed cat, watched the human wall formed by the tall girls. She pursed her lips, though feeling a slight pain in her heart, she understood that this was something that must happen now.

Two complex emotions intertwined, and she couldn’t describe her feelings at this moment:

"Elder sister, do you really have such strong vigilance against me?"

She asked herself in her heart, the cat in her arms curiously looked back at her, seemingly hearing two different voices.

Five minutes later, as the effect of the Silence Charm was voluntarily lifted, the girls forming the human wall also blushed and dispersed. Shard wiped numerous lipstick marks off his face with a handkerchief, while Lecia and Dorothy helped him button up his coat, and Tifa handed the perfume vial placed on the ground to Shard.

Shaking the bottle, the pink transparent perfume occupied two-thirds of the bottle’s volume. Given only five minutes had passed, the speed was indeed impressive.

The effect of the vial absorbing "Desire" and turning it into perfume wasn’t known to be effective only for Shard, the relic holder, but also for everyone around. Shard didn’t know if Miss Maid blocking him from going upstairs was also considering this reason. But it must be admitted that in such a dangerous and eerie environment, what they just did... these girls, most of whom Shard couldn’t name, played a major role. Otherwise, relying only on Shard and Lecia alone to restore so much liquid in the bottle in a short time would be absolutely impossible.

"There are so many girls here, you actually don’t need to worry about how to refill this bottle."

Lecia said while helping Shard fasten his buttons, and Shard took back the bottle from Tifa’s hand. There was something he could only say to himself in his heart:

"If this continues, without the temptation of ’Desire’, I might actually fall into the shape she wants. Shard of Shard..."

The "her" beside his ear chuckled gently, and Shard didn’t know if "she" was mocking his actions or his thoughts at the moment.

In any case, the resupply went rather smoothly. After Lecia and Dorothy had tidied up his clothes, he talked about the white light he encountered on the island and the "supplies" within it, then set off again.

However, this time he did not continue to venture deeper into the town but headed toward the dangerous waters Miss Aphrola mentioned. The witches would soon bring new information, and Shard wanted to explore the area outside the dock before returning quickly. Communication between the parties wasn’t always so easily established.

To prevent Shard from missing communication times, Tifa gave him a talisman before he left. Because of the thick fog on the island, even internal communication would be affected, but fortunately, this talisman’s function ensured that once one is damaged, the other will simultaneously be destroyed, allowing Shard to return at the opportune moment.

Reaching the dock from the hotel was much easier than entering the town from the hotel. Having walked through once with Tifa, Shard quickly emerged from the woods this time. During the journey, he once again saw the white light, discovering a bottle of Holy Water No. 3 and a detailed map of the real-world island from within it, which were almost useless to Shard.

Arriving at the lake, the green water surged beneath the dark night sky, with the more distant parts even darker and unknown. Miss Aphrola hadn’t mentioned exactly where the stranded ship was, so Shard had to find it himself.

Because the small wooden boat he summoned could only exist one at a time, Shard had to prepare to step directly onto the water:

"Hope there’s nothing underwater...It doesn’t look like it’d be empty here."

Just as he was about to enter the water, he suddenly felt something and looked up into the night sky.

Clouds and fog obscured all imagery overhead, so typically, no stars or moons could be seen. At this moment, a dim circular red halo appeared behind those clouds and fog, clearly a huge red moon.

"What’s happening? Why is the Red Moon suddenly appearing?"

The moon attempted to manifest more clearly but was unsuccessful. Shard watched it for no more than three seconds before the red halo started to fade bit by bit, almost disappearing in a few breaths.

"It’s from outside!"

Shard immediately understood, raising his hand to try capturing the soon-to-be-disappearing moonlight, but he certainly hadn’t developed the skill to grasp light.

"Red Moon!"

The Ring of Fate materialized behind him, Desecration-[The Red Moon]Spirit Rune faced the remaining thread of moonlight in the rain. The crimson moonlight resonated with the rune’s Spiritual Light, stabilizing the red moon that was about to disappear behind the fog and clouds, causing the red moonlight to grow brighter bit by bit.

Nonetheless, this moonlight didn’t illuminate the sky and earth. It gathered into a beam, shining towards the location of the Spirit Rune on Shard’s Ring of Fate.

Half a minute later, as that beam of crimson moonlight became as clear and defined as a spotlight gathered by a lens on a theater stage, within that beam, the figure of the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer "Red Moon Witch" Danester finally appeared before Shard.

The figure clarified, and Miss Librarian of Saint Byrons surveyed the Shard in front of her:

"I am not physically present; I’ve borrowed the moon’s power. You can understand it as me projecting myself toward the Red Moon in the material world’s night sky, then reflecting that part of myself back here using the Red Moon."

She pointed to the faint Red Moon above the two’s heads:

"I probably won’t be able to stay long; there’s strong rejection against me here. This moon disappears, and my projection will dissipate."

She didn’t waste precious time asking Shard why he was here, and Shard intuitively didn’t bring up this topic either, merely hiding the Night Watchman in his hand behind him:

"Edwards’ Ascension Spell hasn’t started yet. There are many thick tree roots below the island; that Diviner seems to be making final preparations. I heard a prophecy from the Prophet’s Society, saying an important clue was on a stranded ship, and I was about to search for it."

The female sorcerer with rose-colored eyes raised an eyebrow:

"This information was divined just over ten minutes ago... you obviously have other methods to contact the outside."

"Relying on myself alone makes it difficult to operate on the island. I only possess Six Rings; I’m still too weak."