Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1963: Departures and Sacrificial Souls

The Edwards’ expressions varied at this moment; the two pairs of twins from the sixth generation continued to resist wildly, yet blood thorns still penetrated their chests, causing their bodies and souls to transform into pus and merge into the body of "Edwards";

Mr. Green, the old ghoul from the fifth generation, embraced his mother Maria, as both were pierced by the blood thorns together;

The cultist Nadia Folan from the [Dragon Feast Cult] displayed a helpless expression, but before her soul and flesh vanished, she looked towards the direction where the "God Summoner" had disappeared;

Jarvis Edwards from the [Tyranny Club] trembled all over, yet suppressed the urge to resist;

The three ghoul brothers seemed to regain some intelligence at the last moment, gazing at their sons and daughters, yet unable to escape the fate of being impaled by blood-red spikes;

Despite Pride Edwards, who had birthed the fourth generation of the family, had a completely fallen soul, he still spoke at the end — "Ancestor, you...";

Gratoni Edwards laughed heartily, holding his brother’s hand, finally fulfilling the wish of being together forever;

Sloss Edwards’ writhing tentacles lacked the ability to resist, not even able to return to human form, and transformed into blood water and disappeared.

At this point, besides Megan and Audrey, the Green siblings, and the yet-to-be-seen third-generation firstborn, Envy Edwards, only the firstborn child of the Diviner and the true first offspring of the Edwards family, Laster Edwards, had not been absorbed by the blood-red spikes.

Yet, this was not because her father, who had once killed her with his own hands, showed mercy, but because when the spike pierced her spiritual body, she couldn’t push away Durut Giles, who instead held her tightly, allowing the blood-red spike to pierce him as well.

Enduring the severe pain, the man who was once a tomb robber tightly embraced the soul in his arms. The crying girl tried to push away the dying man, but could not.

"I’m sorry, Laster."

"Giles, I never hated you."

After a simple exchange, their bodies and souls transformed into blood-red in unison. However, when soul approached soul, the two souls, originally linked in strange ways, suddenly showed signs of soul fusion.

At this moment, though the power erupted from the fusion was not strong, it truly slowed the absorption speed of the blood-red spike to nearly a halt.

Even the "Edwards" clothed in blood was surprised and looked on:

"The second candidate? Just a substantial contact can produce such power?"

The soul fusion led Laster Edwards and Durut Giles to genuinely connect spiritually.

One side felt guilt, redemption, and indescribable emotions, making the girl understand what thoughts the man embracing her held; the other side, with intense love, attachment, and affection like blazing fire, made the man aware of the luck he truly possessed.

She wished him to live; he wished to die with her. One wanted to push the other away, while the other wanted to truly embrace the soul he owed too much with his life.

The power of emotion seemed to truly achieve a miracle at this moment. Not even "Edwards" could continue to absorb these souls that were contradictory yet filled each other’s voids perfectly.

The special stance of the twin souls even pushed away the blood mist, suppressing the further operation of Edwards’ Ascension Technique.

"Edwards" spoke to his daughter, revealing words he had long prepared:

"Push him away, I promise to let him safely pass through tonight."

"No!"

Durut Giles’ voice echoed in the girl’s soul; she, teary-eyed, looked at the almost breathless body holding her, struggling to twist her pierced body to glance at her father.

The naive and cheerful girl cried:

"If I had not left this island, if I had not seen everything outside the island, if I had not met him, if I had not heard those stories not belonging to the family. Father, you are my father, I will never betray you."

Her words lacked the innocence of the past, and the face of the little girl always smiling finally, for the first time, showed a sorrowful expression:

"You truly are wrong, even if you spare Giles, how should Giles face the future? This time, I want to choose the future myself, Father, you are truly powerful, but I am really not the tool in your hands."

She, crying, offered a smile to the dying man, then her soul dissipated under the gaze of the two men closest to her in her life. The blood-red spike disappeared from Durut Giles’ body, and he was indeed saved because of it.

Killing Edwards will cause their souls to return to Green Lake Central Island, thus killing them does not deprive the first candidate of becoming The Chosen One; destroying Edwards’ soul, or allowing them to continue "going forward," indeed decreases the critical souls needed for Edwards’ Ascension Technique, yet Shard never had the opportunity to touch the souls of non-allied Edwards.

He once had the opportunity to forcibly send Laster Edwards to True Death, but he could see that the girl was not willing to leave like this, so he never thought of taking action.

And now, among the 21 members of the Edwards family, the first true deceased has headed towards that Eternal Death. The soul chooses to continue on its path, a power of the utmost dignity and compulsion bestowed upon each soul by the ancient deities, the first Grim Reaper.

Durut Giles could not stop her voluntary departure, and neither could "Edwards."

"Please, live well."

The dissipating girl’s hand caressed the man’s face for the last time, then disappeared completely.

In that instant when even the wind seemed to halt, the man in the blood mist under the moonlight let out the loudest cry of the night:

"No!"

"Did you foresee this moment too?"

On the remnants of the banquet hall, firmly held by the treetops, the original stone dining table still existed, but the gold and silverware and food upon it had disappeared after a series of battles earlier.

The Diviner, who had absorbed 15 descendants, found the blood-red robe on his body slowly fading. He heard the question and looked towards the edge of the remnants, where Shard and Iluna had flown up again with Megan.

The question was asked by Shard, and the Diviner gave a response:

"Unexpected yet within reason."

"Without your daughter, can you still complete the United as One ritual? You promised to spare four, and now you’ve lost another, making it the fifth."

Shard asked with wide eyes, and the Diviner hesitated only slightly before shaking his head gently:

"She made the worst choice, but the Edwards’ Ascension Technique will not be affected. The ritual of the Chosen of Space requires completing United as One, but the Edwards’ Ascension Technique does not."

His eyes, faintly turning golden, looked at Megan, whom Shard was guarding behind:

"I promised not to harm the Green Siblings or the witch behind you today, but you must know, there are only over two hours left today. I can complete the Edwards’ Ascension Technique right now and then wait for the stroke of midnight. But you, right now, still cannot call upon the power of the deities."

Shard shielded Megan behind him:

"Two hours, huh, there’s still a lot that can be done.

Remember that night I came to the island searching for Princess Lecia, you said you wanted to discuss many things with me at this family banquet. Now I haven’t even eaten the food you offered, nor tasted a drop of wine. But it doesn’t matter, about that inevitable apocalypse, our communication wasn’t much, but I more or less understood what you meant."

He nodded to Iluna, signaling her not to act yet:

"You chose to create a new space and leave the Material World because you realized there was no way to twist the apocalypse?"

"Edwards" nodded slightly:

"The apocalypse cannot be twisted, only continually delayed. But someone, due to arrogance, made a grave mistake, causing the apocalypse, which still had a chance to be further delayed, to have no means of being postponed anymore."

He gazed at Shard and Iluna:

"I do not know how much you and the Chosen of Balance know about that already destroyed time. But I saw it, I truly saw it, and that’s why I understood that despair, that helplessness, and thus attempted this path for myself and the world. I do not need others to judge whether this is right, but at least, someone once tried."

After speaking, his body gradually floated higher, until obscured by the treetops, allowing Shard and Iluna to only catch glimpses of his form even when looking up.

"Why does it sound like we’re the antagonists?"

Iluna said softly, quite displeased with the notion.

On the island, now entirely transformed into a blood-red hue, Miss Benanis, Miss Galina, Miss Sylvia, Granny Cassandra, and Miss Aphrola had successfully entered the Green Lake Hotel, meeting with the girls inside. The Church and other allied forces’ Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers had partly entered Green Lake Town, while another part, in the darkness at the island’s edge, successfully received hundreds of ships that finally broke through the space barrier after a loud horn sounded.

The Church’s main force successfully entered the island at this moment, with this third wave arriving much earlier than originally estimated. Shard and Iluna’s exploration on the island, research on those strange tree roots, the news Miss Danester brought back about the monsters coming and going from the island, and even the witches’ Seven-Color Mushroom Potion, all contributed in the end.

The appearance of the fleet seemed to completely enrage the green lake. An endless wave of monsters surged from the water’s depths, only to be continually shattered by the light streams from the ships. This wasn’t a battle; this was war. The Church’s force managed to hold back other strange entities on the island, allowing the final battle atop the giant tree’s canopy to proceed without worry.