Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The powerful wind pressure almost made the locked small boat sink into the sea, yet Shard, standing at the bow, seemed completely unaffected. With eyes tightly closed, the resonance with divinity stirred power, and the sense of fatal crisis brought him a brand new breakthrough.

"Time Reversal... Fishing Technique... Force Discharge Spin... Mia’s Tail Flicker... Return of the Sun and Moon."

He drew the longsword from his back, the silver sword light nearly blinded Miss Belindel. The storm had now completely transformed into a blizzard, amidst the snow a streak of black lightning flashed through, amidst the deafening rumble, a frog leg fell toward the sea, and Shard, sword in hand at the bow, leaped upward into the high air.

In such a pitch-black night, compared to the ocean, snowflakes, and that falling black light orb, his silhouette was striking. But when the phantom of that spiral starry sky appeared overhead, no one could ignore the flickering sword light at that moment.

[Night Watchman] raised toward the head, in the illusion of the Star Ocean the stars spun with the movements of the sword dance. Shard, in the air, opened his eyes, finally integrating all his comprehension into the present act, turning the high rank arcane technique created by Miss Adel Isabella only after a lifetime of effort truly into his own power.

[Night Watchman] touched the falling black light orb above, and as his body spun in mid-air, the swinging longsword seemed to absorb the light orb, turning the black light into ink color, with the sword’s spin closely attached to the sword.

Miss Belindel below saw it most clearly, the black light orb had clearly disappeared, and Shard, rotating and wielding his sword in mid-air, instead left a huge oval-shaped ink-colored sword mark in the stormy night sky, visible even from the center of Moon Bay City.

As the rotation ended, Shard once again faced the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer casting spells in the air, his longsword accompanied by the forces of that spin cleaving forward:

"Principle of Return!"

Star River reversed, time rewound, the inverted ink-colored energy nearly turned into thunderbolts, and with Shard’s motions of swinging the sword in the air, struck back toward its original owner.

The spell-casting "Dragon Devourer" never expected his full-force strike to be thusly dispelled, the black light’s incoming power even exceeded when he initially struck. Forced to descend in height trying to dodge, but it was already too late. Amid the muffled sound, the seven giant black dragon heads behind him shattered under the ink-colored sword light, the Ring of Fate revealed in the void, he shrieked miserably, nearly spitting blood falling straight onto the boat below.

The elder in ritual robe stood up to assist him, with the Eleven-Ring Life Ring appearing behind him as well. At this moment, the church members witnessing the confrontation scene surrounding the dock finally realized what had just happened. Having wanted to fly to the sea area to help the unknown swordsman take advantage of the victory, Shard who swung that sword in the air, due to not knowing how to fly and descending, simultaneously shouted loud enough for Miss Belindel to hear:

"Throw me higher up!"

The crimson birthmark trembled with inner excitement, she stood up as Shard nearly fell onto the boat, Eleven-Ring Life Ring displayed, compressed wind allowing the crouching force-discharging Shard, at the cost of the small wooden boat almost being stepped into the sea by him, bounced upward once more into the higher night sky.

Wind blew through his body, snow and silver light moved in reverse. At this moment, almost all gazes concentrated on that figure ascending into the airspace that turned perilous due to the black lightning appearing, the longsword held high, the "Ha~" sound rang out louder than the thunder in the blizzard.

Below, Bella Belindel, the three riding dragons on the docks, and the church ring sorcerers, even the dock and city outskirts, in the Dawn Church’s temporary site of tonight’s action, the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer "Radiant Hand" Joshua Brooklyn also widened his eyes toward the distant night sky above the sea.

These people with similar movements saw the thick black lightning falling in the rain, striking the man holding the longsword.

Bang!

Thunder attached to the longsword, the lightning induced by the deity’s sealing far exceeded Shard’s normal tolerance. Yet in the high air, he still held [Night Watchman] with both hands, after reaching the highest point in the air, exerting all force to cleave it downward.

At this moment it seemed thunder was reborn, the black lightning being drawn by the longsword almost unleashed all power downwards even further.

Apart from the nearby witch, no one could see what happened next clearly. Originally the small boat where Shard confronted the other had completely turned to ashes under this strike. The two severely injured Eleven-Ring Sorcerers then quickly fled following the sea surface, and were grabbed by the descending bone dragon escaping toward a farther distance.

Black electric light still jumped across the sea surface, the Great Witch of Fate even declined to chase the escaping pair, only stood there staring dumbfounded at the scene before her. Subsequently, Shard fell back onto his small boat, his original stance altered due to the black arcs leaping off from him, now kneeling with the sword held at the bow. Yet he was not bothered at all, his face bearing an expression of wild joy:

"Not entirely inverse attack, but redirecting the direction caused an attack power loss, hence letting them escape. But finally, finally..."

[Outlander, you have mastered the arcane technique - Adel’s Principle of Return, corresponding to the [Space-Time] rune. Although not fully mastered yet, you already grasp the core of this arcane technique.]

"She" also seemed pleased with his yet another progress.

"Compared to Miss Isabella, I’m still far behind."

Supporting himself with the sword to stand, the remaining strips still hung on the longsword, swaying with the wind, the strip bearing golden afterglow. The longsword emitted a stable and enchanting silver light, the yellowish rune obscured by the strip, rendering the Great Witch of Fate speechless in shock, able only to see the "Clear" and "Sword Slash" runes.

"You, you..."

She attempted to extend a hand to help support the semi-kneeling Shard, but was intimidated by the black arcs leaping from his body.

"Impressive, right? It’s the lady who taught me that’s impressive."

The black arc crackled by his ear once more, causing a twitch at the corner of Shade’s mouth in pain. Miss Belindel, surprisingly, even though her arm was struck by the black electric light, reached out again, this time truly supporting Shade. Shade smiled as he looked at her and wiped the water off his face.

He wasn’t worried about the Arcane Technique being recognized. After all, even though it was the same technique, his current method of casting differed greatly from that of the Grand Witch of Time. As long as he didn’t use it in front of her, he wasn’t concerned about being found out:

"I know you’re curious, but let’s talk about it after we return. The Dragon Feast Cult has been temporarily repelled, and the Church probably won’t bother us here for a while. I’m heading into the sea to retrieve something; I’ve already sensed it. If I haven’t resurfaced within three minutes, you should leave by boat first."

He turned to jump into the sea, but the witch grabbed his sleeve. This time, it wasn’t to stop Shade from going, but rather to pull him close, wrapping her arm around his neck, and gently pressing her lips to his... At this moment, she could no longer contain the flutter in her heart.

Standing so close, the two of them looked into each other’s eyes, and the golden eyes of the witch still bore that familiar look, yet with some very complex emotions. Shade smiled back at her:

"Don’t worry, I’ll definitely return."

With that, he turned and jumped into the sea. The Blonde Witch instinctively reached out again, but caught nothing.

Above was a raging storm, but entering the water felt as warm as being at home in winter with steam pipes. Hearing the increasingly clear Dragon Roar in his ears, Shade swam aimlessly downward. Just now, by relying on thunder and a momentary insight, he mastered Adel’s Principle of Return. The feeling of breakthrough and joy made his inspiration grow even stronger.

He seized the inspiration in his heart, following the increasingly clear call, gradually closing his eyes, and relinquishing all senses except for inspiration.

Time and Space, during this continuous dive, seemingly ceased to matter. The seawater around him shimmered with a faint glow. When Shade opened his eyes again, he found himself in complete darkness underwater.

There seemed to be nothing around, yet it also seemed to hold everything. Reaching out to feel the pulse of the water, each ripple seemed to recount that ancient war.

"This is no longer that sea."

Shade understood he had found his target; this strange dark undersea world was the remnant of that great battle. He passed through the outskirts of the sealing with the faint attraction of Divinity, and now faced the core of the sealing. This was easier than he expected, but this lightness wasn’t just because of his strong inspiration; it was also because he bore a power that resonated with this sealing.

[So, what will you do?]

"She" asked with a smile, Shade frowned slightly, then looked at his own hands.

Cracks had unknowingly spread all over his body, the golden scars providing a faint glimmer in the water. He extended his right index finger, waving it, as traces of golden light lingered momentarily in the water.

Shade understood what he needed to do; it seemed there was no need to forcibly use the Philosopher’s Stone to unlock "Key of the Door":

"Guardian of the Mermen - Lord of the Crimson Spiral."

The spiral-shaped Holy Emblem appeared.

"God of the Ocean Storms - Fury Storm."

The hurricane-shaped Holy Emblem appeared.

"Lonely God drowned in the deep sea - God of the Deep Sea Drowned."

The terrifying skeleton Holy Emblem in the sea appeared.

The Holy Emblems of the "Coldwater Port Three Evil Gods" appeared before Shade, arranged in a triangular formation. The golden Holy Emblems resonated with each other, and the vibrating ripples spread rapidly in all directions.

"The divine war of that year, these three originally participated."

The trembling seawater even made Shade’s skin feel itchy, but he couldn’t afford to pay attention to that because, from just a moment ago, the Dragon Roar he had continuously heard had completely vanished.

The surroundings hadn’t returned to silence; the bubbling sounds in the water seemed like liquid boiling.