Steampunk: Sixth Era Chapter 1289: The Four Seasons

Chapter 1289: Chapter 1289: The Four Seasons

The badge had long indicated the location of the Shard Witch, so Shard was not surprised at Tifa’s appearance.

He nodded to Dorothy, the sowhat shy girl voluntarily entered the room. And as Shard walked toward Tifa, Angelina followed behind him.

"Good evening, Miss Galina."

In the bright lounge, the Duchess stood by the window with a glass of wine. The window was open, letting the chilly night wind blow through her long red hair.

"Good evening, Shard."

She spoke as she turned around and saw that Angelina was also there:

"Angelina, why aren’t you entertaining the guests? You’re the main character of today’s banquet, you can’t be absent for long."

"I wanted to thank you, thank you for coming today."

Angelina said a bit awkwardly:

"Your presence at my birthday party ans my father will be more cautious about my marriage. Anyway, thank you for coming."

Miss Galina does not attend every birthday of royal lineage, in fact, her presence today was a surprise to most, but they believed it was because Miss Galina had just returned to Tobesk. This Duchess with real power in Tobesk carried significant weight.

"You know, I’m only here because Shard is also here."

She spoke casually, looking at Shard who seed about to speak, and raised an eyebrow:

"Shard, no need to interject, I know what Angelina is thinking and I know you want to help her. Just go ahead and do what you think is best, whatever decision you make, I will support you."

The Little Princess showed a surprised expression, the Duchess laughed and said:

"I’m not planning to get involved in the political struggles of the royal heirs, after all, it doesn’t concern

much. But if Shard asks for my help, I am willing to lend a hand."

Saying this, she waved to Angelina:

"Go entertain the guests, Diana will be worried if she doesn’t see you."

Angelina lifted her skirt, bowed in thanks, then hurriedly turned and left. Tifa closed the door, and Shard took two bottles of red wine out of his pocket and placed them on the table:

"Drink mine, but I don’t recomnd too much drinking."

Miss Galina shook her head:

"I didn’t co to discuss this with you. News from Benanis, the action of the True God Church to round up Evil God followers basically ended two hours ago, the result... can’t be called great, but it’s not bad either."

"Then let’s hear the good news first."

Shard sat down on the sofa, and Tifa bent over to pour him tea.

"The good news is, the cultist you ntioned with the [Power of the Earth: Stone Avatar] was killed on the spot during the church’s round-up."

The Duchess sighed slightly:

"A Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer specially transferred from another place to Randall Valley personally dealt with him, and Benanis was also secretly preparing to intercept his escape. It was expected to be very troubleso, but it turned out to be quite simple, suggesting that he was not the Chosen of the Earth. Past experiences show that only a Chosen can kill a Chosen... or you."

Shard smiled awkwardly, but with the exclusion of the Circle Sorcerer with "Stone Avatar," the suspicion on the Undead form of Mr. Lathis and Mr. Thomas Granger increased.

"The ritual for learning the Arcane Technique [Power of the Earth: Stone Avatar] was copied by Benanis before the cultist’s stronghold was breached. Now both the Council and the Church possess this unique Arcane Technique, though the learning conditions are extrely demanding and require possessing artifacts that inherit the power of the earth."

Miss Galina spoke, which indeed was good news.

"What is the bad news?"

"Don’t rush, the good news isn’t over yet."

The red-haired witch continued:

"Didn’t you say that the ceremony for the Chosen of the Earth requires a combination of three different God Summoning Rituals? The church obtained a large number of docunts from the cultists this ti, among which was partial information on the [Ritual: Contact the Stoneheart Demon]. That part of the information was mixed with other docunts, Benanis only glanced at it before she had to retreat. The ritual is incomplete, currently, it is only known that three offerings are needed: a flower, a stone, and a soul."

"Speaking of which, the [Ritual: Contact the Thousand-Eye Illusion Butterfly] requires offerings of a leaf, flower, and fruit. ’Flower’ is a repeated elent, suggesting that when the [Feast of the Earth Mother Goddess] is split, both deities took this elent. But the soul..."

"Summoning rituals for Evil Gods, though originally derived from Ancient God’s rituals, doesn’t an they entirely belong to Ancient God’s rituals. Each of the three deities must have incorporated their own elents into their summoning rituals. So, piecing together the final Chosen One Ceremony requires not just filling in the missing parts but also identifying the excess parts. In my view, sacrificing a soul belongs to the excess parts."

Miss Galina spoke cautiously, but this was just a guess. To be safe, they must prepare a soul in advance, which is a very taboo move.

"Flowers, stones, and souls must relate to the symbol of ’autumn.’ They cannot be ordinary objects, but they don’t necessarily have to be powerful objects. They need to be mysterious and symbolic, that’s the key."

Miss Galina added, and Shard frowned slightly:

"Interesting, the ritual to summon the Old God, the Butterfly God, requires sothing symbolizing ’spring.’

"The Earth Mother Goddess is originally a deity of the four seasons, this ancient deity influences the earth’s seasons, and in ancient tis was also known as ’The Lord of the Seasons.’ Besides the earth and keystones, Her most famous authority indeed is the seasons."

The witch explained to Shard, and then she and Shard thought of the sa thing:

"What’s the season represented by the last of the three earth deities, the Old God of Earthquakes, the Earth-shaking Worm?"

Shard asked, noting that Miss Aphrola is currently actively communicating with the last priest, Old Mrs. Ilal (Chapter 457), who lives near Hercules Town, to obtain the God Summoning ritual.

"Sumr, I heard Hevy ntion it at the last eting."

Miss Galina confird and thereby deduced:

"Spring, sumr, autumn, then perhaps the missing part of the ritual is the power representing winter, the Old God symbolizing winter I rember is..."

She glanced at Shard:

"Let’s first collect all the materials for the three rituals. Besides, in my view, our preparation might be completely unnecessary. Look at the four Chosen who have already conducted rituals: Balance Iluna, Dark Ivan Daknis, Death Joey Barton, Knowledge and Wisdom Lakin Prisia, didn’t each prepare everything by themselves? They didn’t use anyone else’s help, fate guided them, conducting the ritual was just a process they had to go through, much like pushing open a door before entering."

After a pause, she added:

"Shard, I’m not saying your preparations are useless, it’s just..."

"I understand what you an, but after all, we still need to do so things. Moreover, we must guard against the Chosen failing due to accidents, and be prepared to conduct the ritual ourselves to purify the earth. This ritual is not only the Chosen’s ascension but also for the earth of the material world."

Shard emphasized. Miss Galina placed her wine glass on the windowsill and sat beside Shard:

"That’s why I like it when you talk about things so earnestly."

Looking at Shard up close, Tifa standing behind the sofa where they sat watched the scene unfold, as Shard reached out, hugged the dear lady, and then initiated a kiss, her smile growing even brighter.

"Since this is good news, what’s the bad news?"

Shard hadn’t forgotten about this matter.

"Oh, are you talking about that? Benanis said that although the cultists’ local base was destroyed, and several were arrested and killed, allowing the local church to seize a lot of information, the total number of cultists confird is much lower than imagined."

"Did they escape?"

"They probably went into hiding, and during this action, there was no sight of any mbers of the Blood Spirit School whatsoever, which is quite strange. The Randall Valley Parish’s current engagent with the Blood Spirit School is limited to the skirmish from a week ago when you plunged into the black mud, so neither the church nor Benanis can figure out what role the Blood Spirit School played this ti."

Listening to Miss Galina’s description, Shard increasingly felt that the night’s events in the Randall Valley were suspicious. The church, even though it mostly achieved its objectives, seed only to have obtained key docunts. anwhile, the real enemy has once again gone into hiding, waiting in the shadows of Spring City for another opportunity.

They continued discussing, talking about how the Three Major Academies were handling the Randall Valley incident, and the current situation of those in possession of the Power of the Earth. However, the conversation didn’t last long, seeing Shard looking like he wanted to leave, Miss Galina proactively said:

"Then let’s stop here for now. I wouldn’t want Little Lecia to think I’m deliberately keeping you here to waste her ti. You were supposed to... What was the excuse?"

She asked Tifa, who was tidying up the tea set on the carpet beside the coffee table, who replied with a smile:

"Reading the manuscript of the Sumr Night Collection."

"Yes, she did schedule you to read the Sumr Night Collection together, didn’t she? And there are three of you reading together."

The Duchess shook her head, stood up herself, and pulled Shard up, giving him a little push:

"Such an important date, as a gentleman, you absolutely must not be late."

With that, she even helped Shard adjust his collar.

At this point, Shard couldn’t say much more, kissed the Red-Haired Witch lightly once again, and then took his leave. The witch returned to the window, sipped her wine, and after gazing at the night view outside for a long ti, asked Tifa:

"Should I be more proactive? Like Lecia?"

The dark-haired Miss Maid just stood there, not answering, knowing that the question wasn’t directed at her. Of course, in Tifa Servet’s mind, acting like Princess Lecia might be a bit too hasty.