Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 772 - : City of Trembling

Chapter 772 -772: City of Trembling

After that abrupt earthquake, the white fog on the streets became even denser, as if the air was draped with thin gauze. Just moments ago, the houses across the street were visible from the window, but after the earthquake, only a blur of fog could be seen.

The concentration of Whisper Elements in the thick fog had exceeded the intensity of a Poet-Level Relic, prompting Sister Michelle to urgently organize people to seal the doors and windows, especially the cracks in the windows, to prevent the white fog from seeping in.

Meanwhile, both the Midshire Fort City Hall and the church were taking action. Police holding lanterns rushed through the streets, shaking their bells and loudly reminding citizens not to go out until dawn the next day. They even went door-to-door, knocking to remind residents to timely seal off the gaps in their doors and windows.

Given the size and permanent population of Midshire Fort City, it was likely that not only the local police were engaged in this reminder work, but also the Draleon Royal Army stationed atop Sicarl Mountain.

The lanterns in the police’s hands were no ordinary items; when Sister Michelle opened the door to speak with the police, she noticed the Dawn Emblem on the metal base of the oil lamps. These were Divine Alchemical Items made by the church to protect the ordinary people walking through the fog.

On a late autumn afternoon, with the fog spreading, Shard, anxiously waiting, stood at the third-floor window looking outside. He couldn’t see anything but was also aware that something important must have already happened on Sicarl Mountain, within the Interstice, all within the space of an hour.

Priest Augustus, Sister Delphine, Miss Aphrola, and even Iluna may have already begun battling some dangerous foe, and all of this happened within a mere hour.

Around 2:20 p.m., the earthquake struck again, this time with more intensity, even making Shard, who had stood up, feel somewhat unstable. Fortunately, the two earthquakes that occurred this month had already accustomed the city’s residents to such events, so no one panicked and fled outdoors because of the quake.

Sister Michelle appeared even more tense, as the blind nuns had senses even sharper than an average Circle Sorcerer. She found Shard on the third floor, hoping he could stand guard at the first-floor entrance, and of course, Shard would not refuse.

As he and the nun descended, the sound of a huge bell tolling came from the center of the city. The middle-aged nun gestured for Shard not to speak and quietly counted the number of bell tolls. Only after the bell had finished tolling did she say to Shard, with a worried expression:

“It’s not time for the hourly chimes; seven bell tolls are the sign of a city emergency. Oh, you are an Outlander, you might not understand. Our border cities need such early warning measures.”

“When was the last time the bells tolled seven times?”

Shard asked. ƒreewebɳovel.com

“At that time, the full-scale war in the Old Continent hadn’t ended yet.”

The Outlander might not understand the meaning of the city bells, but the citizens living in the city certainly do. The white fog teeming with Whisper Elements was seeping into every corner of the city. If one fails to seal doors and windows in time, those who are weaker will certainly not make it through the day.

The church’s manpower was being disbursed to every corner of the city. On the lamp posts of side streets unnoticed by Shard, symbols of Divine Rituals lit up in sections, creating a Base Formation for the ritual with the core city area at its center, attempting to counteract the fog.

This was truly a major move, almost transforming the entire city into a “Sanctuary.” Moreover, this was just the first preparatory step before the sealing ritual “Holy Tree Scar” could begin.

And yet, this fog would certainly claim many lives in this city.

The overlap of the Interstice with the material world was becoming increasingly severe. After the second minor quake, Shard acutely sensed the abnormality in space. And just as he feared, at around 2:40 p.m., Sister Michelle told Shard that the nuns monitoring the fog from the high floors had spotted an Evil Spirit within the fog.

This was quite serious; it was daylight, and the street where the House of the Blind was located was also considered to be a busy city district. The presence of an Evil Spirit here at this time meant that Evil Spirits could appear throughout the entire city.

The True God Church had not failed to anticipate this situation, but now their hands were tied, spread across three passageways, and had to attend to both the real world and the Interstice; hence they were unable to promptly cleanse every corner of the city.

But this time, the church was truly well-prepared. Twenty minutes after the first Evil Spirit was detected, a clear bugle call emanated from the center of the city. It was as if it were the ancient tribes sounding the charge against their enemies.

As a Circle Sorcerer, Shard could see a golden glow rising from the city’s center through the first-floor window. Shortly thereafter, a huge golden silhouette wearing a Diadem of Thorns appeared in the fog, raising a horn to its lips to play.

The golden radiance quickly spread across the city, but it did not disperse the white fog. Shard felt that the energy was more like an Incantation to expel Evil Spirits, only its coverage was frighteningly extensive.

Ordinary people couldn’t even hear the sound of the horn, and only Circle Sorcerers with keen perception could actually see the golden Spiritual Light of the Divine Arts. The horn continued to sound for a full half minute before it ceased, and the city fell quiet once more.

Indoors, Shard could still catch the lingering golden luminescence in the air. Sister Michelle told Shard that the bugle that had just sounded was an Angel-Level Relic (level 1) called the “Twisted Holy Sound” housed by their parish. The use of this Relic had major side effects; while its sound could drive away malicious Spiritual Bodies, it also had the potential to awaken some Evil Objects sleeping in the Subspace.

Only the True God Church could dare to use it with confidence, in conjunction with Divine Arts.

According to the standard operating procedures of the True God Church, as Shard learned from Iluna, after using such wide-range Divine Arts, the next step was to dispatch teams of Circle Sorcerers for targeted clearance.

But Midshire Fort, the Mountain City, is so large, and even with Circle Sorcerers from surrounding parishes called in for support in recent weeks, Shard still felt anxious about the city’s prospects.

He was still waiting, this waiting, more restless than waiting for Daknis to come to Tobesk.

After the sound of the horn, the city remained quiet for a long time, with only Shard anxiously waiting for news in the House of the Blind. As the time approached half past three, a distant explosion, resembling thunder, startled Shard, and according to Sister Michelle’s judgment, the sound came from somewhere near the summit of Sicarl Mountain.

The nuns, who didn’t rely on vision for many years, had even keener hearing than Shard.

The sound of the thunder indicated that a battle had erupted on Sicarl Mountain, and one of the parties must be from the True God Church, because Sister Delphine recognized that sound as the distinctive call of thunder when the Sage-Level Relic known as the Thunder Hammer, harbored by the Natural Parish of the church, was invoked.

It was said that this Relic was related to the Evil God known as the Fury Storm, which was one of the deities worshipped by the triad of evil gods in Coldwater Port.

Using such a Relic rashly suggested that the battle on Sicarl Mountain was far from simple, yet neither Shard nor Sister Michelle could guess who the other party was.

At this time, the laypeople in the House of the Blind had begun to panic, especially the blind visitors who had come in the dense fog that day. They were eager to return to their own homes, but for safety reasons, Sister Michelle could not let them leave, which caused some of them to nearly hysterically cry out.

Ordinary people, who had never experienced such events, were inherently frail in spirit and were even more susceptible in a city enveloped by the Whisper Element. Although the church’s Divine Ritual had a calming effect on the spirit, it was not omnipotent.

As time neared four in the afternoon, the eerie situation in the city continued. Although the sun had not yet set, the light intensity in the entire area had dropped to almost pitch black. In the blurry fog, it was as if large crowds of people were moving, but those facing the street could not see the faces of those figures.

No one knew how many people were silently praying at home, nor how many, upon occasionally witnessing the bizarre sights on the streets, gradually descended into madness.

Even without leaving the house, Shard could feel the anxiety and unrest of the city and could sense the ominous signs of a great calamity approaching.

And at this time, the door of the House of the Blind was knocked on insistently, the urgent and powerful knocking nearly frightened Mia, who was napping in Shard’s arms.

“Who would knock at this time? Does a nearby neighbor want to take shelter here?”

Taking a few steps closer to the door, the Night Watchman in his hand immediately began to vibrate.

Shard frowned slightly, instructed the people behind him to inform Sister Michelle, and then boldly peeped outside through the peephole. Standing in the dense fog was a man, hunched and ragged, who appeared to be a beggar. His face was indistinct, his head lowered as he stood at the door.

“Mr. Watson, who has come?”

By then, Sister Michelle had also approached, and Shard described the features of the person knocking. The nun shook her head:

“He’s not an acquaintance of ours.”

“He’s probably not a beggar coming for help either, I didn’t see his shadow, it’s an evil spirit in the fog.”

Shard concluded, not sensing a strong presence of the Whisper Element against the door, which indicated it wasn’t a Humanoid Relic. Such an evil spirit, though not powerful in itself, could still cause trouble if not carefully dealt with.

Telling the nun to be ready to act, Shard asked through the door:

“Who is knocking?”

“Sir, could you spare me some food?”

The hoarse and aged male voice came from outside, causing Shard’s skin to crawl with its eerie tone:

“What do you want?”

“Food, anything to fill the stomach will do.”

“To fill the stomach?”

Shard summoned the clearly frightened servant and got a bowl of water, lightly touched it to make the water surface glint with the silver light of desecration. Then, pressing against the door, he cautiously opened a crack.

But before he could hand out the bowl, a greenish hand with prominent veins and elongated, muddy fingernails reached in first. Shard was very close to the hand, clearly seeing the mottling and death spots on the back of the hand and feeling the chilling coldness it emitted.