Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1959: Free-for-All on the Canopy (Alliance Hierarch Bonus)

The girls in the inn, amidst the shaking and quaking, looked out the window and saw this scene, their hearts aching for Shard at this moment.

Luviya’s purple eyes clearly saw the entire process of the giant tree growing on the distant hills. Beside her, Lecia and Dorothy, who had never experienced such disastrous scenes, held Angelina’s hand, unable to imagine what Shard was doing.

The cat yawned on top of Angelina’s head, already starting to miss Shard a little.

The flickering streams of light surrounded the giant tree, and the roots rising from the ground infused the blood that would inevitably accompany the Diviner in fulfilling their vow into that towering tree, symbolizing United as One.

Soon, when the blood-red giant tree finally grew to a height of several hundred meters and the growth rate began to slow, the monsters crawling in worship assumed even more violent postures as they again faced the incoming humans.

And at one-third the height of the slowly growing tree crown, dense blood-red branches steadily supported the remnants of the floor. The tips of the branches, like drills, burrowed into the edges of the ruins, with numerous branches wrapping around the stone edges, making the remnants almost completely merge with the giant tree.

On a perfectly level gray surface, the long dining table and the people beside it finally, under the rain, at a hundred meters above Green Island, saw the first sliver of moonlight tonight.

The March rays shone through the gaps in the dispersing clouds onto the giant tree. Moonlight also spilled onto the faces of Laplace Howard, Iluna, and Shard, giving their faces an indescribable glow.

The night wind blew in the high altitude over a hundred meters, with the ’Green Island’ below appearing so small. The growth of the giant tree continued, but even as the branches swayed in the night wind, reaching higher, the banquet venue within the tree crown remained as stable as if it had never left the ground.

The Diviner stood up, raising a wine glass in salute to Shard and Iluna:

"Thank you for everything you’ve done for me tonight, although this is somewhat risky for me, I decided during the ritual to let you help me complete the final node by letting your blood fall onto this land, making this ritual even more successful. You are also the helpers in fulfilling my wish. Even if you extract power from the ritual, it is still worth it. Chosen of Balance, God Summoner, are you satisfied with the venue I chose for my final stage?"

"I will only ask you once."

Shard ignored his topic:

"I don’t care how complex your ritual is, what impact my involvement with this lady beside me has on you, or how you weighed the risks of our participation. Now listen carefully—abandon the Edwards’ Ascension Technique, abandon becoming the Chosen of Space, do you agree?"

The Diviner also seriously answered Shard’s question:

"We walk on different paths, and although we have a common goal, we are essentially not the same. I have many things I’d like to talk to you about, many things I’d like to discuss with you. But I am truly sorry, God Summoner, this world needs my attempt. As I told you before—even if I fail, it confirms a wrong path. The moment this tree stops growing is the moment the Edwards’ Ascension Technique finally activates. If you believe you are right, stop me then!"

Twenty blood-red branches, like long snakes, emerged from higher up in the tree crown, reaching towards the Edwards family’s twenty members on the opposite side of the table.

But before Shard could swing his longsword, Megan, pretending to be unconscious, forcibly tore off the cat-shaped mask from her face. Together with the suddenly rising Cultist Nadia Folan and the Old Ghoul Mr. Green, she waved her hand to sever the branches attempting to pierce above their heads.

Megan grabbed the unconscious Green Siblings beside her and tossed them towards Shard, while the Old Ghoul quickly tore off the masks of the Edwards brothers, and the latter two tried to awaken the Furen Brothers next to them.

Nadia Folan (5th Generation) even opened her mouth and spewed red dragon fire towards her ancestor, only to be blocked by the black flame spewed from the mouth of Gratoni Edwards (3rd Generation).

The tentacled man Sloss Edwards (2nd Generation) launched an attack on Megan (5th Generation), and the two floated in midair, with Arcane Technique and a barrage of tentacles clashing, making it hard to judge who held the upper hand; the Edwards Brothers (6th Generation) were blocked by the Ghoul Triplets (4th Generation), with the Lich and Ghoul Triplets remaining powerful; the Demon Pride Edwards (3rd Generation) lunged at the son of his youngest daughter, Elder Green (5th Generation), but the demon, with almost zero wisdom and driven by instinct alone, failed to suppress the wise ghoul who was also a Circle Sorcerer; Cultist Jarvis Edwards (5th Generation), then reached for the just-awakened spiritual bodies Laster Edwards (2nd Generation) and Maria Edwards (4th Generation), the girl, with a mournful expression, confronted them but still looked around, as if searching for someone.

In an instant, out of the 21 members of the Edwards Family, 17 were embroiled in a melee atop the ruins of this airborne banquet hall, while Shard, after catching the Green Siblings, placed them on the floor and tore off their masks before charging towards the Diviner with Iluna.

Unknowingly, a blood-red, semi-transparent barrier had risen from the edge of the irregularly shaped banquet hall ruins, closing above their heads, isolating the space inside and outside the remnants a hundred meters high, but at this moment, no one cared about this.

"Thunder Spear!"

"Sunlight Gun!"

The silver-white and golden thunder thrown simultaneously were swallowed by a spatial rift cut by the Diviner’s wave of his hand behind the long table. With a light leap, he floated in the air above the table.

Raising his right hand, he forcibly caught the "Night Watchman" falling from the sky out of Shard’s hand. The golden stone-like palm faced the blade of the Angel-Level Relic, only showing slight cracks. Striking forward with his left fist, he clashed with Iluna’s right fist, who was using the Arcane Technique - Sun Fist. The solar light, enough to incinerate organs, only caused his skin to turn an unusual reddish hue, as if steamed.

"Black Moon Insignia!"

In the air, Shard used his right hand gripping the sword as a pivot, pressing his left hand against the head of the Diviner.

"Fireburst Spell - Sunshine!"

Even though her power was weaker than her opponent’s, Iluna still thrust her right fist forward. The sun energy detonated inside the opponent’s right arm.

The Diviner kicked towards Iluna’s abdomen, while a third hand stretched from his back to meet Shard’s fist.

Iluna was kicked flying from the air, but still managed to land steadily. Shard’s Black Moon Insignia only destroyed the Diviner’s third hand, and since he couldn’t gather force in the air, he was also punched aside by the opponent.

Shard tossed the Night Watchman to Iluna, who caught the longsword. The Ring of Fate appeared behind Iluna and quickly transformed into that Dark Golden Balance. Iluna raised the longsword high, the sword and the balance crossed, resonating with their powers. The power of the Chosen of Balance spread in visible ripples across the enclosed space in the air, causing a decline in the Edwards’ powers, except for the Diviner himself.

Lagre Howard, dressed in golden robes and floating in the air, was affected, though only for an instant. Two more hands extended from his back, all four palms targeting Shard and Iluna. Gray light orbs representing the destructive spatial power flew towards the two, and even towards others fighting in the area.

"Edict: Copy!"

The seventeen-year-old girl pursed her lips and swung her sword forward, manipulating the Witch’s Secret Arts learned from the Red-Haired Duchess. Gray sword marks continuously clashed with the gray light orbs.

"Great Sin Chain!"

Two chains sliced through the air towards the man suspended above, but a gray spherical barrier around him flashed briefly, causing the two chains to spark before failing.

Shard embraced Iluna as she wielded her sword, and together their bodies disappeared under the effect of "Lagre’s Leap." The Diviner also vanished above a table, and the three reappeared simultaneously at the right edge of the venue.

Iluna’s longsword was parried by two of the Diviner’s hands. The sunlight glowing on the longsword had clearly formed the prototype of a Sunlight Greatsword. Shard’s silver Moonlight Greatsword, held in both hands, was blocked by a silver shield suspended beside the Diviner. In the next moment, the longsword in his hand disappeared, the blood from his crushed fingertip transformed into a blood-red long whip lashing forward:

"Soul Lashing!"

The suddenly appearing soul of a rat took the hit, bypassing any physical obstruction, on behalf of the Diviner.

The Diviner then brought his middle and index fingers together, pointing directly at Iluna’s longsword. Instinctively sensing danger, Iluna tried to dodge, but her evasive maneuver inadvertently seemed aimed towards the opponent’s fingers—

Buzz~

The finger hit the longsword, causing it to vibrate rapidly, numbing Iluna’s hand. To prevent her weapon from being snatched, she had to retreat once more. However, the dark golden balance above her confirmed it was diminishing the Diviner’s power.

Beside her, Shard faced the Diviner’s punching attack after the rat had intercepted the "Soul Lashing." The punch seemed ordinary, yet Shard sensed the force of spatial impact within it.

Again overwhelmed by the inevitable feeling, he held his breath, borrowing strength with his feet, summoning the sensation of drawing power from the earth, and called upon the power he received from Fiona:

"Power of the Red Dragon!"

The sonic boom that followed drew the attention of everyone amidst the canopy’s aerial wreckage. Shard was almost blasted backwards, halting only after crashing into the edge of the blood-red light barrier. For the first time since the fight began, the Diviner fell back two steps amidst the rumbling, lifting his arm to inspect his bloodied fist, revealing a look of genuine surprise:

"You can actually match this body’s strength with mere human physique. I’m quite certain you haven’t undergone any Human Alchemy experiments. God Summoner, is your race truly still human?"