Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The pink perfume bottle, named the "Perfume Bottle of Desire" by Shard, was carefully put away before he continued walking forward with Sister Delphine.

The two walked side by side on the unfrozen lake surface, made possible by the power of the evil object, progressing through the mist towards the opposite shore. Along the way, they conversed, and Shard reflected on how, in early winter, they had entered Lake Cherub in a similar manner to meet the "Lake Goddess."

It was now deep winter, and once again, they were walking on the lake's surface.

The next destination before Wednesday midnight was the strange cave that connected two spaces, which Shard and Iluna had crossed.

Although the night was dark, "she" fortunately remembered the direction. With Sister Delphine's help, they evaded the church's main base and continued southwest across the lake, soon finding the small campsite where Shard and Iluna had camped on Wednesday night.

Traces of a fire remained on the ground, and behind the campsite was the cave, which Shard knew of, but according to Sister Delphine, she hadn't realized anything was there until Shard pointed it out.

The mysteries of the Great Swamp seemed not to have dissipated despite the defeat of the Pantanal Evil Creatures.

Lighting his fingers for illumination, they passed through the narrow and dark cave, emerging from behind rocks to arrive at the site of the "Swamp Witch" corpse and the Pantanal Evil Creatures' temple ruins.

The great fire and earthquake on the night of the battle had covered the burial ground Shard had excavated with snow and earth, and the defeat of the evil had lessened the curse on this land significantly, but it still wasn't a place ordinary people could approach.

In the nearby Dead Forest, only this abrupt clearing was easily identifiable, so Shard once more summoned a shovel and dug into the ground, revealing the buried corpse.

"Found it."

Beneath the excavated earth, the tangled corpse heavy with the whisper element remained tightly fixed underground by gray plants, which were now the roots of nearby dead trees rather than the tentacles of the Pantanal Evil Objects.

Sister Delphine stood quietly, hands clasped in front of her, watching Shard laboriously dig the grave in the snow. Suddenly, she turned her head to the side. A pale woman's face peeked out from behind a dead tree trunk in the forest, glaring at them with intense malice.

Extracting the corpse inevitably attracted the "Swamp Witch" again. This time, Shard came to fulfill a promise and liberate the soul that had helped him many times.

"Sister, give me a hand."

Sister Delphine nodded slightly, and the eleven-ring life ring emerged from the steam mist, transforming into a scythe with dark golden light.

Meanwhile, Shard scattered bone powder, daringly conducting a necromancy ritual on the humanoid relic's corpse.

The dark light with a curse immediately entangled Shard, but he withstood it with his strong spirit. The "Swamp Witch" had already dashed forward like a beast, barefoot, and Sister Delphine, expressionless, swung the dark golden scythe at the relic:

"In the name of death."

The twisted soul suddenly paused in the snow, and then the more normal part of the soul truly separated.

The remaining broken soul then re-formed into the relic "Swamp Witch," burrowing back into the Great Swamp. The corpse still slept in the earth, but since interacting with the corpse could affect the humanoid relic, Sister Delphine would inform the church of the events here, allowing them to contain the "Swamp Witch" by securing the corpse.

People in future eras likely would never see this humanoid relic again, only uncovering its secrets through the church's records.

In the snow, Shard, trembling completely because of the curse, waved his right hand gently before him, a pitch-black crack extending from the height of his head to the snow surface. The crack opened, revealing a tidal flat illuminated by the Nether Moon beyond. The soul of a nearly transparent woman bowed slightly to Shard and Sister Delphine.

Hailing from the Ancient Era, the soul, dressed in an old linen robe, stood barefoot in the snow, her tangled black hair hanging behind, yet her face restored to that of a normal woman in her twenties. Her soul, nearly destroyed by the power of the evil and the whisper element, could no longer even converse normally.

Yet she did not immediately leave but instead reached out to Shard, pointing her fingertip at him.

Shard hesitated, then extended his hand, his fingertip lightly touching hers:

"Guide to Death."

The curse that enveloped him was absorbed by the woman's soul without harming her. Through direct contact with the soul, the snowy swamp view faded, replaced by a new sequence of color-drained images.

Shard learned part of the weak, broken soul's memories, the events of past eras already blurred; he could only feel the strong emotions of despair and pain. Following this, he saw fully the "Swamp Witch" meeting him for the first time west of Huntington City and her ongoing guidance and assistance to him.

The sensation of viewing himself from a third-person perspective was indeed strange.

In the final fleeting memory of the soul's faded recollection, he increasingly vaguely heard a voice:

"Thank... I curse the man... you're not a man... not a woman... you are... dual-being one..."

The scene of the faded soul memory disappeared, and Shard once again saw his own hand reaching out, and watched as Sister Delphine removed her blindfold to look at the soul, before putting it back on. The nun could read a soul's memory just by using her eyes.

Although Shard had seen Sister Delphine take off her boots at Lake Cherub and she hadn't reacted much, now that he saw her remove the blindfold, a barely noticeable blush appeared on her face.

The Outlander felt that Sister Delphine, with her silver blindfold adorned with intricate patterns, had a mysterious aesthetic; and without the blindfold, her rare appearance possessed a striking, fresh beauty.

As for that transparent soul, after offering Shard one last piece of assistance, it had now floated into the black rift.

Shard and Sister Delphine stood in the normal world, watching through the rift as the soul entered the mudflat illuminated by the Nether Moon. However, the soul seemed unable to cross the calm, deep lake under the Nether Moon like a normal soul.

Fortunately, by the lakeside, an old wooden boat, which appeared after Shard defeated Joey Barton, was now waiting at the edge of the mudflat.

Thus, the soul boarded the little boat and, under the light of the Nether Moon, sailed toward the end of the half-sunken moon, together with countless souls facing away from the mudflat.

The rift slowly closed, and Shard heard "her" soft sigh in his ear:

[Outlander, you witnessed the ancient soul guided by the Nether Moon, finally heading toward the end-point of death.]

[Outlander, you touched upon a miracle. You have gained the arcane technique—Summon Old Wooden Boat.]

[In any large body of water, you can unconditionally summon an old wooden boat. If the boat is destroyed, it can be summoned again. It requires the spellcasting material "any remains."]

"What use does it have, I can walk on water myself... But if I ever really encounter a ship hitting an iceberg, I could actually save a few more people."

The new spirit rune is connected to the "True Death" and "Silvermoon" spirit runes.

Shard, with both hands in the pockets of his coat, ignored the snow covering his shoulders and instead said to Sister Delphine:

"Sister, why do those good souls always suffer?"

The nun, who had put her blindfold back on and let her silvery hair cover her ears, stood there and softly replied:

"Hero of the Flame, I am just a mortal, too."

Shard nodded and glanced again at the corpse in the tomb:

"Sister Delphine, happy year-end festival in advance. I won't prepare any extra gifts for you; the flame of the Primal Fire and that evil object should be enough."

By the time he looked up again, there was a smile on Shard's face. The nun nodded slightly and asked:

"What gift should I prepare for you?"

"No, no need for any gifts; the help you've given me is enough."

Shard shook his head. Sister Delphine stood beside him, hesitated for a moment, then reached out to remove the silver blindfold again, allowing her gray hair to brush against its edge. She bent over, placing the blindfold on the snow at her feet, then turned to Shard with a serene smile and said:

"Happy year-end festival, Shard."

He almost felt like his heart stopped beating at that moment.

The nun and the church currently cooperated, so she wouldn't stay long on Heart Lake Island. She would spend next week's year-end festival in Midshire Fort City with Granny Cassandra, Helen, and Grace.

Leaving Heart Lake Island, Shard temporarily parted ways with the nun. On Sunday noon, he walked out of the White Valley Vineyard carrying his cat and arrived once more in Huntington City.

At that time, the three witches had not yet left, but Miss Galina would return directly to Tobesk with the help of Miss Sylvia and the power of the council this evening, and Miss Sylvia would also later travel back to Velindale with Margaret on the steam train. The princess needed to participate in the various royal year-end events promptly.

As for Miss Aphrola, her business was also busy, so she wouldn't stay long in Huntington City. Thus, today was Shard's last chance to see them in Huntington City.

Because Sister Delphine had notified the three witches in advance that Shard would be visiting today, the witches were all waiting for Shard in the private property of the Aphrola Family, Wisteria Manor.

A maid led the way in front, guiding Shard, who was carrying the cat, to the lounge on the second floor of the manor. The room was filled with the fragrance of incense blended with perfume, and the curtains were drawn back. The three witches were sitting on the sofa, discussing plans for after the year-end festival.

When Shard walked in, they stopped talking and all looked at him.