Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1914: Assembly

Miss Danester at the window whispered in her heart and turned to move her gaze away from the window. But when she looked toward the study again, she saw two girls wearing black and white long dresses standing hand in hand beside the coffee table. Red glowing butterflies were flying around them, the fiery color seemed to set everything ablaze.

Her pupils contracted, and she instinctively wanted to retreat, then she remembered that she was no longer the inexperienced girl who had yet to graduate:

"The Angel-Level Relic [Red Butterfly Twins]... Yes, if you count the years, it’s time for both of you to appear together again."

Some memories of her student days surfaced, and she knew exactly what kind of power the two underage girls in front of her represented. As the top humanoid Angel-Level Relic, even though she was now at Thirteen Rings, she could not easily claim she could defeat them:

"It’s been a long time. This time appearing in Green Lake, you are... Old God - Twin Gods?"

She suddenly understood, looking at the eerily pale-skinned, gloomy-faced, blood-red-lipped twins... considering that when Helen met Shard for the first time in the Sixth Era, she too acted as if she didn’t know him after dressing up, the two sisters’ acting was quite good:

"Wait a minute, you two... humanoid relics, could it be that you also qualify to become the chosen one?"

The red butterflies continued to dance, but the sisters remained silent. The eerie chill gradually covered everything in the room with white frost, and a red butterfly stopped in front of Miss Danester. After the female sorcerer reached out to touch the red butterfly, it turned into a fire butterfly, and a note fell into her hand in the firelight.

The wobbly, childishly written letters formed a complete sentence:

"Follow the red butterfly on Wednesday night."

"Why should I do that?"

She looked up to ask, only to find that the twin girls holding hands were gone. When she looked at the note in her hand again, the crooked letters slowly disappeared before her eyes.

The female sorcerer took a few deep breaths, and then looked back at the rainy scene outside the window. Shard had already walked to the gate of the manor, and the carriage was waiting for him there:

"Red Butterfly Twins, could it be that they want to seize the Chosen One’s qualification from the God Summoner after a mutual destruction?"

Shard certainly didn’t know what Grace and Helen did. Upon returning to Green Lake Hotel, he immediately went home and gave Miss Danester’s ring to Megan and Audrey.

However, when he lent the ring, the other witches were also in the second-floor dining room, surrounding the long table filled with maps and documents to discuss plans. So when Shard took out the ring and placed it in Audrey’s hand, the room, which still had chatter, suddenly fell silent. The ring seemed to have a powerful attraction, drawing everyone’s attention to the two of them.

"Miss Danester promised me that if she saw this ring on Wednesday night, she would protect Megan and Audrey."

He explained, and the witches continued to discuss who would stay here tomorrow night and who would go to the cruise on the Duin River, as if the earlier pause had never happened.

Shard did not stay either, but went through the [Spatial Labyrinth] to Randall Valley.

In the courtyard of the Church of the Forgotten, the flowers planted by the girls from the Golden Dawn Opera House Troupe were now in full bloom. Compared to the continuous rain in the Green Lake Region, Randall Valley, known as the "Spring City," had blue skies and warm spring breezes on this quiet Tuesday, which was Shard’s imagination of spring.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, he left the church for the courtyard, where he called forth the "Guardian." With the earth writhing, the Chosen of the Earth appeared again, taking on the form of Miss Lathis’ father, and came before Shard.

The dappled shadows of the trees fell on both, the beauty of spring in the Spring City after the great disaster was so clear. If it weren’t for the Green Lake Battle tomorrow night, Shard would even want to spend the whole day here in peace, but he knew he couldn’t do that yet:

"Wednesday night, Green Lake Battle. We need your help."

The Guardian nodded gently:

"Gladly at your service."

"The summarized reports are all here."

He handed over the file provided by the witches, of course, this couldn’t have been written by the Grand Witches themselves. It should have been a compilation of intelligence by their subordinates:

"This situation is a bit peculiar, as the spatial barrier prevents most people from joining the battlefield immediately. After you arrive in Green Lake City, you can either meet us at Green Lake Hotel, or if the Church tries to contact you, you can go with the Church’s first batch to the island. The enemy this time is a traitor from the Prophet’s Society, Laplace Klein Howard. He reached Thirteen Rings a century ago and has abandoned his human identity, making him even stronger now."

The Guardian nodded again:

"No problem, spatial anomalies do not affect the power of the Earth. If needed, I can appear in the Green Lake Region now."

"How long can you leave Randall Valley?"

"Shard asked with concern again."

"Not more than 5 hours, that won’t be a problem."

After communicating with the Guardian, it was already Tuesday noon. When Shard returned to the Green Lake Hotel, he unexpectedly found everyone was there.

Not only the Grand Witches and the witch apprentices, but even Luviya and Iluna had arrived. When Shard saw Iluna in the hotel’s second-floor dining room, she was enthusiastically talking about the morning’s events, describing how she used the power of "Balance" to separate the merged spaces, restoring the space to normal.

"Although space has returned to normal, the merged objects and bodies cannot be restored. I cannot reverse time, those who died are truly gone."

There was a hint of melancholy as he said this, but it was an unavoidable situation. The Angel Halo had already shattered, but Iluna returned the [Night Watchman] to Shard. Then, everyone sat down by the long table that had once hosted the Edwards family’s twins and had lunch together.

The Wednesday plan has mostly been finalized. In the end, the witches decided not to have all the Edwards stay at the hotel.

In the afternoon, after Sister Delphine arrived, everyone discussed again and finally decided that Megan, Audrey, Mr. Soren Green, Durut Giles, and Laster Edwards would stay at the hotel, while Ms. Helena Green and Maria Edwards would head to the witches’ yacht.

As for the Grand Witches, apart from Megan and Audrey, Miss Sylvia of the Ten Rings, Miss Aphrola of the Twelve Rings, and Miss Galina of the Twelve Rings would stay here, while Miss Benanis of the Twelve Rings and Granny Cassandra of the Ten Rings would go to the yacht.

Meanwhile, Shard had arranged for Priest Augustus and Dr. Schneider to remain at the hotel, although their primary objective was the remaining skull. Lecia would wait with Dorothy in the room on the third floor tomorrow night, and while initially intending for Grace and Helen to be with Lecia and Dorothy, the Red Butterfly Sisters wanted to go to the yacht with Granny Cassandra.

Since this is their own choice, Shard didn’t object. After all, with the Butterfly Summoning Flute at hand, he could summon the sisters anytime if needed.

"The Edwards brothers of the [Mirror Association] have unknown arrangements, but the Church has confirmed that the Furen Brothers will both stay in the Peace Chapel of Green Lake City."

Iluna also revealed the plan on this side:

"First, attempt to prevent their return to that island; if unsuccessful, immediately prepare the lakeside camp for boarding."

"We are also prepared for boarding after the first phase of our plan fails."

Miss Sylvia introduced. Lunch had ended, the table was cleaned, and papers covered it again. Behind her, a giant water curtain illustrated their plan:

"Shard’s small wooden boat has been confirmed highly likely to be usable, additionally, Hevy brought a Keeper of Secrets Level small boat, although it’s uncertain if it can also be used."

Miss Aphrola smiled; her family specializes in shipbuilding and maritime commerce and had considered the need for vessels before planning to head to the Green Lake Region.

"If the defense of both the hotel and the yacht fails, while trying to eliminate as much of the opposing forces as possible, Shard will attempt to follow Megan and Audrey to the island, while the others will follow Luviya Annette to board the yacht, guided by her on the small boat to the island."

Luviya nodded:

"This will be at least half an hour later than the Edwards, and there will certainly be resistance upon landing. Considering the limited personnel capacity of the two boats, your followers probably won’t be able to join this time. The battle on the island will primarily rely on yourselves."

"If unable to land, have them do what they can in the first defensive phase. This time His Excellency the Speaker approved many supplies, we’ll try to consume them all, showing we’ve given our all."

Miss Galina said, and the others nodded in agreement.

Sitting by the table, Shard asked again:

"Angelina stayed with you, where will you arrange for her tomorrow? Really have her come here as well?"

"Yes, right here, with Lecia."

The Duchess replied, Shard frowned slightly:

"I’m not against Angelina seeing the world, it does benefit her, but do you realize the danger this time? Is it truly necessary for her to remain at the frontline of the battlefield?"

"The times have changed, the Witch Council is not an organization for Grand Witches to gather for afternoon tea and pet unicorns. Look at the other girls, Tifa..."

The black-haired Head Maid in a black and white maid outfit stood gracefully behind her and nodded to Shard.

"Miss Swift."

The young girl with linen-colored hair behind the Old Witch smiled.

"Margaret."

Although she had been Miss Benanis’ apprentice for less than two months, the Blonde Princess still took pride in participating in this operation.

"Miss Haley Aflora."

Miss Aphrola’s young niece held the file in her arms and nodded gently. She’s still shy around unfamiliar people but her file management skills are surprisingly on par with Tifa.

"Leaving Angelina here allows her to learn more. The female sorcerers of the House of Cavendish are not useless, pretty vases."

The word "vase" triggered some memories for Shard, but hearing her say this, he no longer objected:

"Then have Angelina stay with Lecia on the third floor, also having someone to help me watch Mia."