Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

[Outlander, have you gained a new perspective on death?]

"She" suddenly asked softly.

"Perhaps, death isn't always the worst outcome..."

Shard answered in his mind, then realized the box he was carrying was shaking slightly. It dawned on him that it was already Monday night in the physical world, and even by his body's sense of time, it was well past Mia's dinner time.

So much had happened along the way that Shard had almost forgotten the cat in the box.

Therefore, under the curious gaze of the people around him, Shard dropped the woman chained behind him to the ground, then squatted down to place the box down and carefully slid open the lid. To prevent the Interstice of Life and Death from affecting this still-living cat, Shard pressed his hand on Mia's head inside the box to keep her from rushing out.

Upon looking down into the box again, he saw that the cat was curled up inside, lifting its face, its amber eyes looking pitifully at Shard outside.

"Oh, my little Mia."

Seeing the Red Butterflies fluttering around, he carefully lifted the cat from the box and held it tightly in his arms. Indeed, whether it was the effect of the Red Butterflies or the afterglow emanating from Shard at that moment, Mia was unaffected by the Interstice.

However, when the cat was completely taken out of the box, its tail was hooked with a copper-colored hook tied with a white string.

"Oh, what's this?"

He realized it was this week's "gift," and once again, Mia had "taken" it. The requirement for this gift was to give presents to two different friends this week. The value of the gifts was not required, but they had to be sincere gifts.

"It seems that Deity wants the children to learn how to make friends."

He stood up holding the cat, his heart slightly uplifted after hearing about the Gemini story. Just as he was about to explain to Granny Cassandra why his cat ended up here, his hand had already touched the thin, copper-colored hook:

"Oh? Miracle Element?"

The hook was not a Relic, nor an ordinary item, but rather it seemed like a special material infused with the power of Divine Arts. Before Shard could speculate further, a voice beside his ear provided the answer:

[The material of this metal hook is completely identical to that of God's Gift Box.]

"So it is, this is the leftover scrap from when the Creator of Innocence made the box."

Shard now understood:

"But why give me such a strange thing? Materials have different effects in the hands of different people, in the hands of mortals, at most it would be considered an extremely sturdy, indestructible hook, with Holy Attribute, conducive to conducting Spirit. It..."

God's Gift Box is not "God's Gift Box" because of the material, but because of the maker.

But Shard suddenly furrowed his brows, looking suspiciously at Grace and Helen, who were still in an embrace among the Butterfly Swarm not far ahead, then he opened his mouth in surprise looking up at the sky:

"He, He... is really that bored?"

The astonishment and fear in his heart reached a climax, and then the voice of Granny Cassandra came again:

"Shard, who is this?"

She was asking about the woman bound by the Great Sin Chain.

"Oh, this is one of the four 'nails' that came back to life. In the process of going up the mountain with Miss Helen Black, we encountered members of the Truth Society who tried to make a site-specific Relic go out of control and caught this woman from it."

Shard held the cat, and the cat wriggled in his arms:

"I think it might be better to throw her into that Rift over there, so she can return to death. Only death can fight against death. This is what the Ancient One at the mountaintop said to me."

"This is good,"

Granny Cassandra nodded, she certainly wouldn't pity this innocent woman. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, the dead should not return.

Just as Shard was about to manipulate the chains to send the woman to the edge of the Rift, he paused. It was because Sister Delphine spoke:

"Mr. Hamilton, please allow me to do this. I can use this opportunity to help the Ancient One suppress the Interstice,"

Shard nodded, and then the nun calmly bent down to lift the woman from the loosened chains. Escorted by Shard, she made her way past the embracing figures of Miss Helen Black and Grace White amidst the swarm of Red Butterflies to the edge of the Rift.

The black wind whistled, brushing against Sister Delphine's robe hem and long hair. She raised her arms in front of her, holding the woman who had fallen into a faint from fright. However, the nun didn't immediately throw the woman into the Rift. Instead, after asking Shard to step back a bit, she spoke in an ancient grammar:

"Fire, burn,"

First, it was the back of her pale hands that revealed the glow of the Fire of the Primordial within the Rift. The Rift and the glow then spread over her entire body, creating a red hue on her clothes and skin, similar to Shard's current state of "Divine Afterglow."

However, when the flames touched the woman she was holding, they immediately began to burn vigorously. The crackling sound was so loud it even surpassed the howling wind, and the brightness of the flames momentarily illuminated the surroundings, outshining even the nearby Red Butterflies.

The nun looked serious, but Shard could see that her hands were being burned by the flames. The Light Trace of the Primal Fire stretched back with the mournful wind, as if the nun herself was ablaze.

She did not wait any longer and gently thrust forward, casting the woman into the great Rift atop the mountain.

As the flame consumed the body, it extinguished, and she lowered her arms. Shard saw the burn marks on the nun's hands slowly healing.

"Granny Cassandra brought me here to witness the ritual to pass on a fraction of the warm fire to the Ancient One atop the mountain. In the past, it granted me the Phoenix Fire, and now, I am willing to return the warmth of the Primal Fire,"

Although Sister Delphine was also formidable, she could not open the way here as easily as Helen could.

"Will this be able to suppress the chaos of the Interstice for a long time?"

"It's only temporary; in the end, it is up to the Church's ritual,"

Perhaps noticing that Shard was staring at her hands, Sister Delphine subtly slipped them into the sleeves of her gray-black silk Nun's Robe:

"Granny Cassandra knew you were the one her old teacher was waiting for the first time you came to Midshire Fort,"

She said softly so as not to be overheard by the witches behind them:

"In the Witch Council, if there is one person who will never harm you, it's definitely Granny Cassandra."

After saying that, she turned and left the front of the Rift, Shard following at her side. Now he knew why the Old Witch had been friendly toward him, but he was more interested in why the Spiritual Practice Order had shown kindness to him all this time.

He was certain, at least for now, that none of his past actions had involved the Spiritual Practice Order.

As the group left the Interstice and returned to the top of Sicarl Mountain in the real world, the moon was already hanging in the night sky.

Shard had many things he wanted to discuss with Grace and Helen, who were nestled together, and many questions to ask. But it was already late, and the Whisper Element in the two of them was so strong that it wasn't a good time for talking.

Sister Delphine departed the mountain with the witch and her apprentice, as well as the twins, while Shard turned back to the Ruined Tower halfway down the mountain. Despite being involved in many intense battles himself, with so much having happened today, it was time to go home and rest.

"I could go see Dorothy,"

He thought, holding Mia, as he looked at the moon above the mountain from outside the Ruined Tower:

"She might like this story... No, she hates sadness."