Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1957: The Door and the Keys

Shard and Iluna descended through the sloping corridor and finally reached the end, where they saw the blood-red gate.

The metallic gate completely blocked the passage, with two doors on either side clearly depicting the map of the material world, including the New World, the Old Continent, and the Ocean.

The strange red color on the surface of the gate was not paint, but appeared to be the color of the metal itself. Blood continued to seep from the metal, flowing to the ground, and when Shard and Iluna arrived, the ground before the gate was nothing but a pool of blood.

Roots emerged from the passage’s walls, embedding into the door, merging metal with tree roots. The root patterns encircled the map of the material world in the center of the door, as though the roots reaching out from the void were peeping into the world described by the map.

At this moment, of the thirteen keyholes scattered across the door, eleven keys had already been inserted, the handles parallel to the ground, indicating the turning was complete.

"Look at the location of the keyholes."

Iluna pointed out, and Shard noticed that of these, six keyholes were located at Tobesk City, Coldwater Port, Midshire Fort, Pantanal Lake at the center of Pantanal Swamp, Randall Valley, and the current Green Lake Region.

"The keyholes symbolizing the keys of the thirteen Chosen are all on the stage where the story unfolds, aren’t they?"

The two looked at the positions of the other seven keyholes, only to find that these did not predict the location of the next appearance of the Chosen.

Because the first six keyholes directly landed at the centers of regions, clearly indicating locations. The remaining seven keyholes fell either into desolate deserts, oceans, or primitive forests-like uninhabited areas, or at the junction of multiple cities, obviously unable to indicate precise locales.

Shard and Iluna still noted down those positions, so that once the seventh Chosen appeared, they could verify the correctness of the other locations. Although Shard held the last two keys, he chose to first try using the "Key of the Door" to forcibly open the gate.

The tip of the "Night Watchman" sword pierced one of the keyholes, as Shard activated the Arcane Technique and attempted to twist his wrist. The longsword did not budge, instead, the tree roots embedded in the red metallic door seemed to faintly squirm. As Shard persisted, a rumbling sound emanated from deep underground, making the ground violently tremble in response to Shard’s actions.

Eventually, Shard gave up:

"I feel like I’m prying on the entire island."

He said to Iluna beside him:

"This gate seems to be the core of the entire island, as well as one of the cores of Edwards’ Ascension Technique. Forcing the gate open would destroy everything here, and directly release the sealed island, causing space collapse to directly transmit to the material world."

He took out two keys, Iluna picked up one of them:

"Then let us proceed together and witness it all."

Both simultaneously inserted the keys they held into the last two keyholes, and as they gently turned, the loud click did not echo from within the gate, but from the depths of the earth beneath their feet.

That deafening sound was louder than any sound Shard and Iluna had heard on this island until now. Beyond that sound, Shard and Iluna exchanged a glance, both sensing that the space of the island had fundamentally transformed.

As the last two keys turned, the blood-red gate illuminated with the light from the thirteen keys and keyholes. Then, as tree roots at four corners squirmed and spread over more areas of the gate, they eventually "devoured" the two metal gates, and the roots themselves were also stained by the metal to become a vivid blood color.

Within the radiance, the red metallic gate began to melt. When finally the wood entirely replaced the metal parts, it formed an arch-like structure, commonly seen in ancient ruins, revealing a path for Shard and Iluna to move forward.

The arch, a common symbol in mysticism, typically implies "crossing boundaries" and "dividing spaces." Just like the three ancient arches in the Night Shrine of Randall Valley, it marks the boundary between the divine and mortal.

When Shard and Iluna crossed through the arch at the depths of the passage together, they felt they were still underground at Edwards’ Old House, yet as though they entered another strange space.

"Creation Space."

Iluna softly recited the ritual content of the Chosen of Space, but Shard shook his head:

"Not to that extent yet."

Ahead, although still a tree root-wrapped passage descending into the earth, it grew wider. As the crystal lights on the wall—Shard had only seen similar ones in the Fifth Era—lit up one by one, they saw along both sides beyond the arch scattered stone shelves filled with dense parchment rolls and stone tablets, while normally printed books were fewer.

At the end of that passage was the banquet hall door slightly ajar. The door was of ordinary metal material, only featuring the overlapping imagery of the "Unifier" and "Family Lineage."

The passage beyond the arch was not long; the partly opened door was only a few steps away.

But since this place bore resemblance to a library scene, Shard extended his hand:

"Library Retrieval—books related to the Philosopher’s Stone, Apocalypse, and the Birth of Souls."

Only a parchment roll tied with a ribbon flew into Shard’s hand, with the surface branded with a bright red "Philosopher’s Stone" symbol pattern. Shard opened it for a glance, and saw the first line:

[The Philosopher’s Stone itself can be used to create the Elixir of Immortality, but its original meaning was to pursue the intention of "perfect eternity."]

This was knowledge about the Philosopher’s Stone, and Shard slipped this unexpected joy into his pocket and continued with Iluna towards the door at the end. From behind the door crept a light so bright, it was almost dazzling. Shard asked Iluna:

"Ready?"

The brown-haired girl who was just hours away from her eighteenth birthday nodded:

"I’ve been ready long ago. Isn’t this scene familiar? It’s you and me again."

Her eyes carrying a mix of joy and tension.

"Yes, it’s you and me again."

No more words were exchanged; Shard reached his empty right hand into the door crack, and the door opened.

Prior to this, Shard had speculated several times about what the venue for the ultimate "Edwards Family Banquet" might be like.

Perhaps it would be lavish, like the luxurious venues where grand nobles of Tobesk held their banquets;

Perhaps it would be mysterious, adorned with various strange murals, yet cold and damp underground spaces;

Perhaps it would be situated in the woods, like the open-air venue of two months ago’s "Feast of the Earth Mother Goddess";

Maybe beyond the Outlander’s imagination, in other breathtaking and magnificent locations that exhaust human imagination.

But he was wrong; when that door finally opened, Shard and Iluna saw a rectangular basement with gray stone walls, undecorated, seeing many people settled on one side of the equally stony long table.

Laplace Klein Edwards was seated at the center of the long table, with his descendants sitting on both sides according to blood relation, all facing the direction of the door. The table was covered in gold cups, silver plates, and sumptuous dishes, yet even with the golden candlesticks and the candles emitting a bright glow, it couldn’t hide that the place was truly destitute to the extreme.

Apart from the long table, the food on the table, and the people around the table, there probably was only dust left here. The room was moderately sized, but because it was empty, it seemed extraordinarily spacious.

And counting the people around the table, except for the third generation’s firstborn, Envy Edwards who transcends Space-Time, everyone was here. But apart from the central figure, the Diviner dressed in golden robes with an Ouroboros emblem on the chest, there were only the second generation’s second son Tentacle Man Sloss Edwards, the third generation’s youngest daughter Demon Dragon Gratoni Edwards, and the fifth generation’s Jarvis Edwards who worships the God of Tyranny awake.

However, Gratoni Edwards had a noticeable bruise on her face, as if she had been struck by something rectangular.

These three genuinely vouched for their ancestor, while the others were all unconscious. Shard naturally saw Megan among them. She wore a cat-shaped mask, and like the other unconscious people, she lay flat on the tabletop.

Apart from Megan, the six from the sixth generation all wore masks, just as Shard had seen in the oil painting. Those masks were obviously specially made alchemical items, designed to restrain family members who had never set foot on the island and were controlled by the ancestor.

As for the fifth generation’s Maria Edwards and the second generation’s little girl Laster, their souls certainly did not possess the concept of "unconscious", they just sat there blankly, with no expression on their faces.

Roots, numerous tree roots entwined the tabletop and also wrapped around the backs of the chairs where the people sat. When Shard and Iluna appeared, those sprawling giant tree roots were slowly emerging from the cracks in the wall. The door behind them quietly closed, and the roots quickly sealed it completely.

But Shard and Iluna did not care; Iluna even mocked:

"Even more destitute than I imagined; do you not even have Gold Pounds to install gas lamps?"

The seated Diviner paid no attention to this remark, his brown eyes scrutinizing the two:

"Remarkable indeed; although I had guessed earlier that someone might be capable of impacting Edwards’ Ascension Technique, I did not expect it would be two people."

He did not mention who he initially expected:

"Thank you for all you’ve done on the island. The ritual is about to be completed, God Summoner, Chosen of Balance, please be seated; the banquet is about to begin. This place is not destitute; you will soon understand."

Seeing the two not budge, he chuckled slightly:

"I’m not being polite with you; if you don’t sit down, you might fall over soon."