Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The reversed sound waves collided with the energy stirred by the phantom of the evil object, and the earth-shattering explosion even scattered the clouds in the sky. Above the ocean, the silver great dragon, after completing its body rotation, the dazzling silver moonlight in its mouth had also finished its final charge.

But it did not immediately spray out the silver moonlight in its mouth. The dragon raised its neck and head, closed its mouth facing the moon that had unknowingly appeared above its head, and took a deep breath inward.

The dragon’s chest protruded, under the starry sky of the blizzard, silver moonlight, radiant moonlight, uncontrollably shot out from the dragon’s mouth corners, eyes, nostrils, even every inch of its scale gaps. The chest emitted a sound more eerie than the open-mouthed Dragon Roar, and the silvermoon above descended like a phantom until it overlapped with the silver great dragon.

Thus, when the great dragon spread its wings and flew in the silvermoon, under the gaze of the witch below, the church ring sorcerers on the dock, the countless unofficial ring sorcerers in the city concerned about the harbor battle, the dragon roared again:

"Roar!"

Bang!

In front of the silvermoon, the dragon’s wings fully spread as if to cover the entire night sky, and silver moonlight spewed out from the great dragon’s mouth, forming a gigantic silver light pillar on the sea, even splitting the ocean waters apart, revealing the uneven seabed. The sanctified light hit the illusory silhouette deep within the ocean, Ang~ the phantom of the evil object made its last struggle, but that viscous darkness was dispersed by the moonlight before it could coagulate.

The silver light pillar without suspense completely penetrated the phantom, shattering the power of the summoned evil of the deep sea.

Even though this blow ended quickly, the silver light trace left above the sea remained for a long time. The dragon’s wings moved up and down, the moonlight making the silver great dragon, emitting sanctified radiance all over, appear even more holy.

It raises its head and roared at the starry sky:

"Roar!"

The dragon’s head on the neck gazed at the three moons behind the clouds, then lowered its head to look down at the dock of Moon Bay City and the bustling city district further away, still illuminated by gas lights under the snowy night.

Every flap of its wings seemed to whip up a storm, the dark gold glimmer in its eyes scattered like flames in the wind from the eye sockets. The people watched by those eyes instinctively held their breath, standing in place motionless, worried that another strike of moonlight might destroy the city. Fortunately, the great dragon merely glanced down from the sky and then suddenly charged downward.

Its claw grabbed the small wooden boat on the sea surface, before the witch could react, the dragon claw gently flicked, tossing her into the high sky and then dropped her onto the glowing back of the great dragon.

The huge dragon wings flapped, the golden vertical pupils no longer looked back at the dock, but under the moonlight, carrying the witch riding on the dragon’s back, flew towards the depths of the ocean.

Beside the silver great dragon’s ear, "her" gentle voice echoed again:

[Present World: Sixth Era, Common Era Calendar System 1854, midsummer, on a stormy night. The midsummer blizzard unveils a new scene of the drama, yet the great dragon flying under the silvermoon only glimpses the corner of this grand drama. The ancient and prosperous harbor, as per prophecy, welcomes the destined dragon, the family with a millennium legacy will finally face the foretold end. The Outlander, Dragon Slayer, Dragon Eater, Dragon Shaper, and the truly ancient dragon have long awaited behind the scenes. Your roar is the gong for the opening of the seventh act of the drama, and the brightness will eventually descend upon this dark earth.]

The blizzard temporarily paused as the clouds dispersed, the music of the evil object and the roar of the great dragon faded away completely with the departing silver great dragon. Waves still surged, and only the sound of splashing waves against the shore could be heard on the dock again illuminated by moonlight, the unchanging melody of Moon Bay City for a thousand years.

The stirred elements gradually returned to normal, and the light of the divine ritual dimmed one after another after confirming the battle had truly ended.

The strongest ring sorcerers of the Church of the Five Gods in the Moon Bay Parish gathered on the pier in front of the "Princess Trading Partners", four Twelve-Ring Sorcerers together with the somewhat fatigued "Radiant Hand" from using the Sublimation Incantation, gazing at the still surging sea:

"What dragon is that exactly? Although it is silver, it is definitely not a Silver Dragon."

"Is the prophecy of Moon Bay going to be realized? The great dragon will eventually destroy this city, does the Prophet’s Society know something?"

"Though things have settled, I still don’t understand what the Dragon Feast Cult and that silver great dragon planned to do on the dock tonight?"

"Even though it was stormy weather, tonight’s commotion was too big, comforting the populace won’t be easy."

"The Chosen One of Light, might genuinely appear in Moon Bay."

Joshua Brooklyn remarked, and the others all looked at him.

"This is only the prelude, and such a situation has already emerged. Let the church summon the teams to Moon Bay, just us few can’t handle the upcoming situation, moreover... some issues within the Moon Bay Parish itself ought to be resolved."

The other four had varied expressions, compared to other parishes, internal issues within the Moon Bay Region’s church indeed existed.

"That dragon just now, is it related to the Circle Sorcerer who summoned the heavenly lightning before the appearance of the evil object?"

Suddenly someone else asked:

"Could they be the Chosen Ones this time?"

"They might also be ’God Summoners’ from somewhere unknown. The silver moonlight has almost become her namesake now, but I haven’t heard of any ’God Summoner’ using a Transformation Spell to turn into a dragon. Isn’t she specialized in Moonlight and Maze Lock?"

Someone else added.

The five of them gazed upon the sea, while behind them, the busy crowd continued dealing with the aftermath of the battle.

In the distant sea, the Silver Great Dragon still soared with its wings open. The small boat had long vanished on the dragon’s back. Bella Belindel, filled with countless doubts, lifted her head from the dragon’s back, unsure of how tonight had turned out this way.

She guessed what the dragon she was riding was about, but she didn’t know where he intended to go.

Though the speed was swift, the howling wind barely affected her, which she guessed was due to the dragon’s inherent power. Riding on the dragon’s back, she looked down at the sea, up at the starry sky, then back at the Moon Bay Dock that had vanished from sight. It all felt like a dream.

But this flight did not last long; without any warning, the dragon beneath her vanished into thin air, and she plummeted from high above towards the sea.

Plop!

Shard, who had fallen first, transformed into a barely discernible black dot diving directly into the water, and though Bella Belindel couldn’t fly, fortunately, she was proficient in the Feather Fall Spell and Water Walking along with other spells.

Yet, as her feet touched the sea surface, she looked around but could not spot the silver dragon or the man emerging from the water. Growing anxious, she worried he might have paid a steep price for using such power just now. She attempted Divination to locate him but having no results, canceled the spell, allowing herself to plunge into the sea.

The Eleventh Rank Grand Witch, although skilled in Underwater Breathing, disliked the underwater environment. But to find the missing person, she continued struggling downward until she spotted the flashing silver light below.

Suddenly, the dragon emerged at the seabed, and the surging tide pushed her upwards. But the dragon quickly vanished again, giving her the chance to dive further. As she descended, the water temperature gradually rose. When the witch finally saw the dragon disappear, transforming into a cat, and then into a butterfly, she felt the surrounding water temperature was close to boiling.

She tried using spells to resist the high temperature, but with the dragon, cat, and butterfly forms constantly shifting in the light, her own spellcasting was severely disrupted. Yet, the witch didn’t give up but kept struggling downward, eventually succeeding in cradling the cat when the silver dragon turned back into a cat on the seabed.

The surface temperature of the cat had definitely exceeded a hundred degrees, and fine bubbles kept appearing around it. Enduring the pain in her arms, she discovered the spot where her arms touched the cat was gradually melting as if being absorbed by it.

She tried to call out underwater:

"Watson, John Watson! What’s going on here? I knew this couldn’t be your real name!"

She tried to ascend, unwrapping the witch’s golden bracelet to wrap it around the cat’s neck, stopping it from transforming back into a butterfly in the silver light, also halting the cat’s assimilation of her body. In fact, Miss Belindel didn’t know exactly why she put the bracelet on the cat, only that instinct told her it would help.

Her Sixth Sense was indeed accurate; it not only prevented the further loss of control of the Transformation Spell, but even awakened the unconscious "cat," making it open its eyes. The deep sea was illuminated by the light emanating from him, and he saw who was trying hard to lift him. As the body temperature gradually lowered and returned to normal, somehow he knew exactly his current situation and also how dangerous it was for the witch to come in contact with him.

"Oh!"

The blonde lady’s head finally emerged from the warm seawater. She struggled to rise from the water, clutching the soaked silver cat in her arms, chose not to stand on the sea but instead slapped the water, creating a large block of floating ice, and then sat down with the soaked "little thing."

The silver Shard Cat half-closed its eyes, seemingly in a semi-conscious state, but the witch still knew who she held.

"I’m fine, just exhausted."

The cat spat out a few mouthfuls of water, then spoke in a man’s voice:

"Absorbed something extraordinary, coupled with... energy, the Transformation Spell lost control. This is a real mess now."

Away from the Moon Bay waters, there were neither gales nor blizzards here. The sea was exceedingly calm, with the blonde lady entirely drenched, clutching the silver cat on the floating ice. The moon shone upon them, the sea breeze caressed them, and though the night grew late, the story of the night wasn’t yet over.