Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Shard blinked his eyes:

"Sorry, did you just say three dragons are heading towards Moon Bay?"

"Yes, at least that’s the intelligence we have so far."

She looked deeply worried:

"The Dragon Feast Cult having dragons is no surprise. They absorb and devour the power of dragons through those strange and evil rituals at ancient ritual sites. But as long as they haven’t lost their minds, they should understand the principles of sustainable development... Even though the Dragon Feast Cult has dragons, they have never dared to let dragons fly to the Old Continent in the Sixth Era. Last year, a green dragon unexpectedly appeared in the Old Continent, and then was killed by the Chosen of Balance. It was later verified that the dragon likely came from the Dragon Feast Cult but only appeared in the civilized world by accident.

As for the three dragons appearing tonight, they should not be ordinary dragons. Moon Bay is an Archdiocese, and the local Dawn Church has a resident Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer. If they were ordinary dragons, they would have been killed over the sea long ago. We only know that the church’s team has been preparing since yesterday, and surrounding parishes have organized support troops. The Church of the Five Gods has made various plans... This is due to the various major events that started last year."

She had probably already planned how to tell Shard these things, so she spoke so much in one breath:

"This sudden storm will conceal the sounds and lights of battle in the Dock Area tonight. To be honest, although the Material World has experienced so many events since last summer, it hasn’t happened around me, so my feelings aren’t very deep. Now... the Moon Bay Parish hasn’t seen such action in a long time."

If Shard was unsure before, now he was almost one hundred percent certain that unexpected events would occur at the Moon Bay Dock during the thunderstorm tonight, and the Dragon Feast Cult likely shared his goals:

"The dragons have disappeared for so many years, they can’t just appear casually. I have some guesses."

"Is it the same as what you plan to do tonight?"

The witch with a crimson birthmark on her brow asked worriedly.

The Dragon Feast Cult is searching for traces of the Divine War from back in the day. Although they can’t find a folklore scholar like Professor Manning, there should be other investigation directions locally. They probably also know the association between thunderstorms and dragon roars.

"If you’re concerned about safety, tonight maybe..."

"Of course, I must go with you."

The Blonde Countess interrupted Shard without thinking, and when the man who was just watching the scenery turned to look at her, the Countess slightly turned her head, hands behind her back, looking to her side:

"Don’t misunderstand, it’s just that Vanessa asked you to help me locally. If something happens to you, how can I talk to Vanessa in future meetings?"

The Blonde Maid behind her kept her face taut, trying not to show a strange expression, thinking her master was somewhat a poor speaker. Fortunately, the conversation did not develop in the direction the maid predicted. The Outlander pursed his lips as he looked at the witch in front of him:

"Tonight’s matters are no joke. Please think it over before following me."

"Yes, I’ve thought it through since I first saw you."

With a faint blush on her face, she stubbornly looked at Shard. Her golden eyes met his. She forced herself not to look away first but tried to see his secrets from those enchanting eyes.

Finally, it was Shard who turned his gaze away first, continuing to look at the city in the storm. The witch’s face finally showed a slight smile; she knew he understood. Meanwhile, the maid behind them felt she might have misjudged her master. Perhaps Bella Belindel was actually very adept at this.

"If there is any danger tonight, don’t worry about me, I have my own ways to handle it."

"It seems I’m the stronger one."

Bella Belindel gently reminded, but found that Shard didn’t respond. She pressed her lips and planned to perform a divination before setting out formally. Her eyes glanced over the two swords strapped on Shard’s back. She recognized one from not long ago and knew it was a special weapon reinforced with rare metal. As for the other long sword, wrapped tightly...

Her gaze merely swept over it, giving her the illusion of the sword’s tip aiming at her eyes. She reached to cover her right shoulder, feeling that the Yellow Moon Orb had recently made her already strong inspiration even stronger. At this time, she felt the sword might be more potent than the Sage-Level Relic within her.

"Speaking of which, I’ve been having nightmares recently, and the dreams are very similar. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with your healing."

She hesitated again, then stepped to Shard’s side and leaned on the railing, looking at the rainy cityscape through the glass together with him.

"What did you dream about?"

Shard was quite concerned, after all, it was his idea to use this method.

"Hmm...I always forget after waking up, but it should be a pair of eyes, a woman’s eyes...what color was it? I remember they were very beautiful, beautiful like no human...golden? Purple? Probably like that."

She hesitated and couldn’t say for sure, but fearing Shard would worry, she emphasized that despite dreaming, her mental and soul status were fine, and she was drinking magic potions on time:

"Those eyes are really beautiful, but even when I think about them now, I feel terrified, as if I’m being watched by some nemesis...a strange dream."

Shard suspected that what she dreamed about was most likely Luviya’s eyes.

The stormy weather made Moon Bay City instantly leap from day into night, similarly, the storm also could well conceal the tracks of Shard and Miss Belindel; tonight Shard didn’t have her bring other girls along, as he probably guessed the events of the night wouldn’t be small.

The curfew wasn’t just for the urban area, of course, it included the dock. To prevent the unpredictable storm from creating a tsunami, partial evacuation of the dock area residents has been conducted; thus, the closer to the dock, the darker it gets, with even only a few gas street lamps lit on this night.

Police erected barriers and sandbags at the street corner near the pier, while assembled church ring sorcerers began setting up a divine ritual, which Shard could sense even separated by two streets. Hence, the ritual likely served to deter other ring sorcerers in the city from meddling tonight. But looking at the current situation, this might instead arouse some people’s curiosity.

Ships docked in the harbor sway back and forth like children’s toys despite having anchors, seemingly about to capsize at any moment amidst the raging waves. And when rumbling thunder rolls from the sky, followed by a flash of white lightning, even the boldest must repent their past sins in their hearts at this moment.

In such a major archdiocese like Moon Bay City, the church certainly wouldn’t lack ring sorcerers. Thus, after Miss Matilda personally drove Shard and Miss Belindel near the dock area, they didn’t rush to breach those reconnaissance, defense, counterattack, detection, and purification ceremonies that had been fully prepared. Hiding at the street corner, Shard sensed for a moment, confirmed there was temporarily no dragon roar heard nor any unusual spirit and elements detected, and then casually used the Key of the Door to open the door of an unlit tavern, entering with the witch to take shelter from the rain and rest their feet.

Through the tavern window, the outside situation could be seen, rain beads sliding down the glass like strings, which didn’t obstruct Shard’s view:

"I expected the dock to board up windows to prevent glass from shattering in this weather."

"That’s the approach for hurricane landings, tonight is just a storm."

The witch softly explained, white lightning flashed outside, illuminating Shard’s profile:

"Now, can you tell me what your real target for tonight is? Surely it’s not to help the church repel enemies?"

"Of course not, I’m looking for something, no, tonight it’s not the Hope Diamond."

Since they were already there, there was no need to keep hiding:

"It might be surprising to you, but in the early Fifth Era, a divine war broke out in what is now the Moon Bay region. Dragons sought shelter from Ocean Gods, but the deity who devoured dragons, Dragon Devourer, actively descended when dragons migrated to Moon Bay, sparking battles between Ocean Gods and the evil deity locally. I have reliable sources claiming that traces of that divine war remain locally and only appear on stormy nights, tonight’s target is these traces."

"While investigating the Hope Diamond and that female corpse in Moon Bay, you can also investigate this? Don’t you have some arcane technique to turn a day into 48 hours?"

The witch was amazed for a moment, then frowned in thought:

"Though I’m a local, I’ve never heard of this matter."

"A lady told me about this, her source is very special; it’s normal you haven’t heard of it. Tonight, the Dragon Feast Cult probably comes for this reason as well; if they reclaim the power left by their deity in the region before The Chosen One’s clues become clear, it would make their actions smoother...I’m not sure who won back then, but likely Ocean Gods. Based on current era rumors, dragons indeed migrated to the ocean depths rather than died in Moon Bay, otherwise, Moon Bay wouldn’t be ’City of Wealth,’ but ’Dragon Graveyard’."

Shard attempted a small joke despite his insufficient humor, while Miss Belindel tossed a coin:

"Tonight, the Dragon Feast Cult will appear for sure."

Shard wasn’t surprised:

"Alright, we’ll wait till the dragons and church fight later before going out, to search for traces on the sea. I still insist on my pre-departure demand, if any mishap truly occurs, don’t worry about me, just leave on your own. Tonight’s matters are important to me, but I can’t implicate you."

"What’s implicate mean?"

She seemed somewhat angry, as Shard turned surprised to look at the witch. At this moment, another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, its instantaneous glimmer illuminating the two in the tavern’s darkness; the witch’s golden eyes seemed faintly glowing.