Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Having received Miss Beyas' signal, Shard grasped the two ladies before and behind him and then ignited a Bordeaux Candle. Their voices, heat, and figures vanished as the light from the candle illuminated the path in front of them.

The trio nearly burst out of the tunnel, readying themselves to face attacks from all directions, but outside, no ghastly figures awaited them.

The candlelight lit up the surroundings, and they finally relaxed.

The passageway connected to an underground space, almost the size of Shard's bedroom, barely qualifying as a cubic space. Opposite the wall dug out by the Blood of Mercury was a closed stone door. Apart from the stone door, the place was eerily empty.

This was the official entrance to the ruins, and "spartan" would be the right word to describe it. It was not the vast constructions in the cavernous depths imagined, nor was it the mausoleum of the Ancient Witch Empress of stories, but merely a dark chamber buried deep underground.

"If this place was really built by the last followers of the 'Creator of Innocence', they must have been nearing their end at that time," Miss Beyas remarked, somewhat mournfully, since they too were followers of a Benevolent God who persisted for a millennium after the deity's departure.

They didn't immediately try to push the door open but scattered to observe the surroundings. Shard lifted his finger, earnestly observing the rock walls. Except for the surface with the stone door, all other sides were inscribed with text. Despite the construction of the ruins dating back to the earlier part of the Sixth Era (Chapter 172), the script used was not from that era.

Fortunately, no matter which era the text belonged to, it made no difference to Shard, and he began to translate:

"Common Calendar of the Sixth Era, year 532, Joel Ode Caris, Scarlett Card Guzman, Gina Angela Serwell, jointly sealed the ruins. Our lord has departed, and we will soon slumber. The Order's splendor shone for a millennium, but all things must face Ultimate Death. May our lord 'Creator of Innocence,' on the day of revival, bestow splendor once more."

He read as he looked, drawing the attention of both ladies.

"Do you recognize these characters?"

Shard paused his translation to ask them.

"No,"

the brunettes shook their heads in unison.

"No, I don't mean whether you recognize these characters, but do you know what type of script this is?"

Shard inquired again. Miss Beyas blushed slightly:

"My ancient script grades... the Papacy almost didn't pass me," she admitted.

"Unfamiliar, it must be a rarely seen type of ancient script. Such orders inherited from ancient times like to use rare scripts for internal communication, partly to highlight their ancient origins and partly for security."

Miss Annette explained, aware that Shard could understand all types of script, so she didn't probe further:

"The 'Blood of Mercury' probably couldn't translate this content. Check if there's any valuable information—we need to proceed quickly. Detective, give me the Demon Eye first; I will go up front."

Shard handed over the small vial he carried, then lifted his finger to continue examining the text. These characters conveyed very little information per word, necessitating lengthy descriptions for simple matters, so there wasn't much content remaining:

"Should our lord revive, the oracle will surely guide later generations to excavate the Order's ruins. The last creation of our lord, rated as a Sage-Level Relic by the True God Church, lies deep within the ruins as a Divine Artifact..."

"A Divine Artifact?"

Miss Beyas interrupted Shard, surprised:

"Is the 'God's Gift Box' a creation of the Old God 'Creator of Innocence'? Or does it mean there are more powerful relics within the ruins?"

"Detective, continue translating,"

Miss Annette also frowned.

All three were sweating, and although there was enough oxygen underground, the place was suffocatingly hot:

"Future generations shall not desecrate the master's Divine Artifact but should carry it away according to the Order's rites."

"What are these rites?"

Miss Beyas asked again.

Shard skimmed through the next few paragraphs:

"It doesn't say; it seems they assume the later generations would know the rituals."

"Detective, continue translating. Besides the so-called creation of the Old God, what else is in the ruins?"

"All that the Order had amassed over a millennium, before sealing the ruins, was donated through the True God Church..."

"What?"

The young ladies involuntarily exclaimed in surprise, then covered their mouths embarrassedly, gesturing for Shard to continue.

"Apart from the master's creation, a number of relics were used to construct a defense system, warning thieves. There are additional..."

The traces were somewhat blurred, but they could still be made out:

[Another Order doctrine, the Ignorant's Textbook, preserved in eighteen golden carvings;]

[Another a Divine Statue of the Holy Emblem, slumbering here with we three;]

[Another a Desecrated Relic sealed by the Order, suppressed here;]

Shard suddenly coughed, covering his mouth instinctively, and when he looked down, he was shocked to see blood on his palm.

Miss Beyas and Miss Annette nearby saw the blood at the corner of his mouth and immediately intervened:

"Stop looking, Detective—stop now."

As she spoke, Miss Beyas began to pull Shard away.

"It's okay, there's just one last line."

Shard shook his head, his eyes shifting away from the stone wall, and only then did he feel dizzy. These ancient characters were a force themselves; he hadn't realized it at all. If this had been a longer text, he might have died silently.

[Have you forgotten me? If there is real danger, I will remind you.]

"I haven't forgotten."

He answered in his mind, looking up again, but Miss Annette grabbed his hand, her purple eyes looking at him:

"Be careful."

The female diviner softly reminded him.

[The Order glowed brilliantly for a thousand years, ending by the hands of we three. We slumber here, Spirit—]

The Ring of Fate within his soul vibrated violently, and the Spirit inside him was stirred by the words, reminding him of the previous incident with the Box of Darkness.

Having learned from experience, Shard immediately closed his eyes, forcing himself to forget the shapes of the dozens of carvings that followed. It took him a while to say:

"No, that last sentence is like Spell Words. There are defensive measures here."

Fortunately, he had only read the beginning, so no trouble had arisen. And through the carvings on the three walls, they had learned that aside from the God's Gift Box, there were indeed other valuable items in the ruins.

However, despite the Blood of Mercury being unable to translate these texts, having occupied the place for so long, it was highly likely that they had already scavenged within. Thus, apart from the immovable Sage-Level Relic, the God's Gift Box, there probably wasn't anything left worth taking from the ruins.

Next, they were to officially enter through that door. Although Miss Annette had divined only three dangerous relics in their path, it was clear that the ruins likely held more than just those three relics as obstacles.

It was even possible that the Silver-Eyed One was at the doorway, waiting to finish them off as soon as they opened the door.

Now that they had come this far, there was no point in talking about backing down.

Shard donned the golden necklace and lit a candle to make himself and Miss Beyas invisible. Miss Annette held two jars containing Demon Eyes in her left hand and rammed the stone door with her right arm.

The stone door opened, as if unleashing endless darkness from behind it. The only thing visible beyond the door were two large red light sources, prompting Shard to think of Mia Cat peeking at him through a slit in the darkness.

But the entity behind the door was clearly not a harmless creature like Mia, and even standing behind Miss Annette, Shard still felt terror and distortion emanating from behind the stone door.

An instinctive fear of the unknown behind the door arose, and the two red lights seemed to warn of danger.

Icy layers spread from the crack in the door, and a cold, foul-smelling breeze, resembling the air coming from a lone grave in the wilderness, began to blow. A mysterious sensation was warning Shard not to proceed. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire

In that moment, he suddenly realized that the two large red orbs were likely eyes, and the sheer size of their owner could be surmised from there—Shard had never had a phobia of huge creatures, but the thought gave him goosebumps.

The wind howled fiercely as something from the depths of the darkness charged towards them. Miss Annette and Shard were both stunned, but then reacting without thinking, she hurled the two jars she held directly forward.

The candle in hand only illuminated a small area just inside the stone door, where all three saw the two glass jars, containing Demon Eyes, gripped by a huge hand that emerged from the darkness. The gigantic hand then retracted into the darkness beyond the reach of the candle's light, the icy layer ceased spreading, and the stinking wind stopped.

All three were breathing heavily, having felt an immense danger just moments before. Only after the stone giant's hands had withdrawn did they dare to fully enter beyond the door, Shard raising his hand high, and Miss Beyas summoning several bright yellow orbs of light into the air.

Despite the cramped space outside the door not even resembling a normal bedroom, the space just behind the first door truly felt like an ancient ruin from the stories.

The area was still vast, roughly the size of Saint Delan Square, and its height exceeded four stories; within this vast space stood a giant stone statue, its feet on the ground and head touching the sky, almost directly brushing against the highest part of the stone wall.

The statue had two legs, four arms, and three heads, with a semicircular stone ring connecting the shoulders, tracing an arc over its head.

The large red eyes they had seen were located on the central head, and apart from that, from top to bottom, it was almost densely covered with other eyes. The statue stood as still as if it were inanimate, yet those thousands of eyes continuously opened and closed under the silver and yellow light, their gaze fixed on the "tiny" trio, each eye clearly exhibiting a hint of intelligence.

"Is this a Gargoyle?"

Even though the entity did not move, the mere oppressive presence of it was enough to drive a mentally fragile person insane. It also qualified as the largest Relic Shard had encountered to date.