Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 653 - Strengthened Evil Spirit
Chapter 653: Chapter 653: Strengthened Evil Spirit
Chapter 653: Chapter 653: Strengthened Evil Spirit
Carrying that corpse and the black briefcase that had caused more than one murder, Shard did not linger in the city area, but instead left the city and headed into the mountains. For safety, he did not choose to directly head to the underground basement connected to the hidden space of the Ruined Tower, but after deviating from the main road into the mountains, he found a small clearing in the woods.
Ensuring there was no one around, he put on the ring with the moonstone, activated “Tranquil Moonlight” to prevent any unexpected situations, and then restored the corpse:
“Soul Echo.”
As the Arcane Technique was used, a cold wind blew through the evening woodland, and the sun setting behind Sicarl Mountain in the distance turned even more dim. It seemed as if a pack of wolves was howling higher up the mountain, but upon closer listening, it was more like the wind blowing through the treetops.
In the quiet woodland at sunset, Shard frowned as he stood beside the corpse, watching the Soul Fragment appear above the body. Strictly speaking, the necromantic ability of “Soul Echo” was not about retrieving a complete soul, but rather something akin to echoes of the soul.
Hence, the soul that appeared was much weaker than a normal soul, but because of this, they tended to lose a part of their memories.
“Guide to Death.”
A cold gray glimmer appeared at his fingertips, and Shard’s hand touched the surface of the Soul Fragment. He closed his eyes, and scenes flashed before him.
Although still incomplete, that sequence of images essentially corroborated Shard’s guess. The deceased who had been shot a week ago on the fourth floor of the inn, the merchant with two pistols, and the professor himself were all members of the Gray Gloves, albeit not as high-ranking as the “Gray Hawk.” The trio was sent here merely to retrieve the briefcase.
But what was in the briefcase, they had no idea.
Within the fragmented memories, there was also a part about the common codes and passwords used by the Gray Gloves, which, of course, were constantly changed, so they held little significance. Astonishingly, the final delivery location of the goods obtained from the Duchy of Seth, passed through “Gray Hawk” intelligence, and acquired with the assistance of three top agents, turned out to be the headquarters of the Gray Gloves in Velindale City, the capital of Carsonrick, in that gray building beside the Royal Palace.
This indicated that acquiring the item, which the Duchy of Seth had attained and passed through “Gray Hawk” intelligence, with the help of the three top agents, was an order directly from the leader of Carsonrick’s spy organization “Gray Gloves,” or even directly from the Royal Family.
“What in the world is in this alley?”
Shard looked at the briefcase he had tossed beside the body. The briefcase was not heavy, not even as heavy as the four all-metal printing plates in his basement.
“Could it be Fire Jumper Larrus III’s scandalous photo?”
He stood among the mottled tree shadows thinking, but this kind of tabloid news didn’t seem to matter much:
“Or evidence of treason from Lecia’s other brothers and sisters?”
But descendants of the Cavendish Family probably didn’t have so many who wanted to commit treason:
“Or perhaps the blueprints for a new weapon?”
This was indeed very possible.
“Why did you end up fighting each other?”
Due to the effect of “Guide to Death,” the ignorant state of the soul was “waking up” and beginning to dissipate. Making the most of Professor Higgins’ rapidly fading soul, Shard asked again; this was not answered in the earlier scenes.
“Because of betrayal.”
Professor Higgins’ voice was very monotonous and seemed as if it came from a great distance:
“Disgraceful betrayal, one wanted to directly hand over the briefcase to the superiors, while another wanted to give it to Prince Samuel Anjou.”
Samuel Anjou was the oldest prince of the United Kingdom of Carsonrick. Shard knew this person, not because he cared much about foreign news, but because Carsonrick only had three princes and two princesses, unlike Draleon, which had a double-digit number of direct descendants.
“Is that the reason for the internal conflict?”
Shard felt slightly amused:
“Then what about you? To whom did you want to hand over the briefcase?”
“To Princess Margaret Anjou.”
This lady is the second princess of Carsonrick and plans to visit Tobesk City in the autumn or winter as a return visit on behalf of the Cavendish Royalty during Lecia Cavendish’s summer visit to the United Kingdom.
“Haha~”
Shard gave a dry laugh, unable to comprehend how the higher-ups of the Gray Glove had managed to assemble these three people and have them team up for a mission.
“Are you mocking Princess Margaret?”
Professor Higgins’s spirit asked, seemingly misunderstanding the reason behind Shard’s dry laugh.
“Of course not… Wait a second? Since when can you speak on your own?”
He looked at the spirit in surprise, only to see it, which was initially fading into white specks, seemingly reversing time and becoming more tangible. White mist inexplicably poured down from the top of a corpse’s head, engulfing the spirit in a ghastly green glow while endowing it with the power of the “Whisper” element.
“Damn, the spirit is transforming into an evil spirit. It’s the level 0 Relic [Interstice of Life and Death] at work! I knew I should have taken it back to Tobesk for necromancy.”
But this wasn’t something Shard could have anticipated; Iluna had only mentioned that the local evil spirits would become stronger and more terrifying after the earthquake, not that they were more likely to appear.
“I would never mock that beautiful, kind, innocent, and honest Princess Margaret Anjou!”
Shard quickly said out loud, hoping that this would prevent the process of the spirit fragment turning into an evil spirit, but his words only made Professor Higgins’s spirit even fiercer:
“Ah!”
A piercing scream seemed to threaten to rupture eardrums; if Shard hadn’t used the “Tranquil Moonlight” in advance, it might have startled a flock of birds in the woods:
“If you won’t listen to reason, then I’ll make you listen!”
He retreated backward, creating distance, while his right hand traced lightly through the air, sending a curved trail of light towards the front. However, when it struck Professor Higgins’s spiritual body, it only left a horrifying gash instead of cleaving the spirit in two, as it usually would:
“So, the evil spirit’s strength lies in its enhanced defenses.”
Shard thought to himself, touching Extract to his tongue and stepping back to vanish from the spot. Then, wielding his sword in both hands, he stabbed from behind the now-transformed spiritual body.
Clang!
Silver specks scattered everywhere, and the Moonlight Greatsword, striking against a half-transparent, ghastly green light shield on the evil spirit’s back, merely left web-like cracks. The shield, encasing the spirit’s back like half an eggshell, was punctured by the Moonlight Greatsword but had completely reformed before the second sword summoned by the “Blade of Chaotic Time” could strike:
“Isn’t this enhancement a bit too exaggerated?”
He truly felt the extent of the disaster that was about to happen at Midshire Fort.
The evil spirit roared towards the sky, under the influence of white mist from the Interstice, the Whisper element almost corroded it beyond recognition. Its limbs turned completely inside out, and black hands from inside its spiritual body pierced through. Even Shard couldn’t help but shiver at this sight.
What terrified him wasn’t the enhanced spirit but that power from the Interstice, that force of life and death that shouldn’t exist:
“This level of evil spirit could almost be equivalent to a Circle Sorcerer below Four Rings.”
Centered on the roaring spirit, the woodland grass completely withered, even shaking back due to the intensity.
The white mist obscured the view, and through the mist, carrying massive shadows and ghastly green airflows, the spirit extended its hands towards Shard. The semi-transparent shield also tightly clung to the spiritual body, morphing itself, leaving no chance for Shard to break through its defense.
“The Great Sin Chain should be able to penetrate a defense made of soul power, but I don’t want this spirit to become even more deranged.”
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Consequently, his left fist, wearing the Mind Crystal Ring, struck with force, but once again, it smacked against the shield layer. Although the attack was blocked by the shield, the frenzied evil spirit, along with the white mist, green smoke, and the dark faces entwined around it, drifted back into the woods.
