Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 639 - Departing Guests

Chapter 639: Chapter 639: Departing Guests

Chapter 639: Chapter 639: Departing Guests

Having introduced the rules, the deity in front of the bottle saw the cork pop open automatically. The bottle began to levitate, pouring the scorching, blood-red liquid into a glass cup. After a gentle swirl, the aroma of the drink gradually dispersed, and then He drank it:

“A nice flavor, it’s the blood from that Magma Community.”

After speaking, He gestured invitingly to the five people across the long table.

“Sorry, what would happen if someone chose wrongly?”

Shard asked from the other end of the long table, where nearly everything was blood-red, and the mere decor was enough to cause considerable discomfort.

“Of course, nothing can be wasted. You drink what you pick until you find the correct one. You’re quite lucky to have brought exactly six types of blood. If one less, I fear one person could never leave.”

The deity explained, and Shard looked up at Him:

“So, aside from the blood I brought, the others in the bottles are your collectibles?”

“Unexpected guest, do you think I’m that generous? The others are some rather interesting Blood Brews, not worth collecting for me, but still somewhat amusing. If you wish, you may drink in place of any of them, after all, you want to be a good man, don’t you?”

The deity looked curiously at Shard.

“Which ones are correct?”

Shard asked inwardly.

[I don’t know, but including that bottle used by the deity in front, there are twenty-nine dark bottles in total.]

“So, one bottle short?”

He nodded slightly, saw that no one else spoke, glanced at the dining table, and then pointed to a bottle in the middle of the table, in an ice bucket:

“This one.”

It was not a dark bottle that appeared after the dispersing blood mist, but one that had been on the table before Shard entered the banquet hall:

“Since you said the correct blood could be in any bottle on the table, I assume this one counts too.”

“Yes, of course.”

The deity smiled and nodded.

The bottle flew automatically to Shard. The cork popped open, and the bottle tilted over the glass, pouring the liquid, and the sound of it was truly nice.

He picked up the glass, swirled it gently, and after the aroma had gradually spread, he sipped the somewhat cold liquid. A bitter taste mixed with blood and alcohol reverberated in his mouth, and he also felt a slight burning sensation.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

[Demon.]

Though this bottle was highly conspicuous, it was also the most dangerous among the remaining five types of blood. Having found the correct blood through a trick, Shard had to face the danger of the demon’s blood.

“It seems I am quite lucky, it’s the blood of the Evil Spirit Demon – Devourer Sakatto from the Third Era.”

He put down his glass, his eyes lined with golden cracks as he looked at the deity:

“I think I do not need to drink it all at once, I can slowly sip it while waiting for the others to choose.”

“Of course, but the ceremony can only end once the drink is finished.”

The Saint reminded him.

Shard nodded and gestured to the middle-aged witch, indicating it was her turn to choose. Apart from Shard, the witch was the strongest among the five at this end of the table.

She could certainly watch what the others did first, but nodded after Shard gestured to her:

“This one.”

She directly pointed at the bottle closest to her, while Shard sipped from his glass again, the taste of the demon’s blood being exceptionally terrible even after it had been brewed.

The chosen bottle poured a small amount of liquid into her glass. She picked up the glass, swirled it gently and then looked at Shard:

“Poisonous.”

“I understand.”

Shard turned the toy branches back into real ones, then extended his hand to the witch. She hesitated before seizing his hand, and their palms even trembled as they touched:

“You really are…”

“Yes, I am a man.”

Shard smoothly responded before she could finish her question:

“The deity himself said so.”

The twin sister in a black dress couldn’t help but laugh, and when Shard looked at her, she shrank back slightly towards her sister in the white dress.

The witch said nothing more and slowly sipped the black-red liquid.

“Elf’s Detoxification!”

During this time, Shard continuously used Sorcery to detoxify her, and the Witch herself also had the power to resist toxins, so the first glass of wine she chose was consumed without incident.

Her luck was not bad; under the circumstances of having a 27 to 4 chance of selecting it, after that bottle of unknown poisoned wine, she drunk the wine containing Corpse Plague, the one that forcefully aged the drinker, and the toxic wine deadly to any regular person who had never encountered Supernatural Power, she then chose the “Abyssal Dragon Squid” Blood Brew brought by Shard.

After drinking the blood of a Pureblood Great Dragon mixed with the offspring of an Evil Object from Subspace, she would continuously dream of deep, eerie, and horrifying scenes over the next few nights, and might even gaze directly at the Evil Object source of the bloodline in her dreams. But for this middle-aged Witch, as long as she left Night Manor, she had ample time to think of ways to eliminate these effects.

“Very good.”

The Deity lightly clapped:

“Had there been no unexpected guests, you should have been the only one to leave this gathering intact.”

The grey-haired old man was expressionless, and the twin girls were quite worried.

“So, what is your wish?”

“Deity, I seek to gain even more power. I dare not ask for too great a power, just to break through my current level.”

“The Star Ocean Whale blood you brought was interesting, so your wish can be granted.”

He extended his hand toward the Witch, and behind her, golden stairs automatically appeared, layer by layer—eight in total, representing her Eighth Rank power as a Witch.

After this complete stairway was displayed, the Deity’s fingertip glowed with a blood-red light that tainted the golden staircase, which should have been unaffected by any power.

A ninth red stair, attached to the top of the highest eighth layer, made the stairway even taller.

“Thank you.”

An abnormal flush appeared on the middle-aged Witch’s face; this was not a normal reaction after a power increase.

“With my power comes a price. Before you fully master the Ninth Rank power and transform it into your step, you will contract Bloodlust Syndrome. Until the transformation is complete, if there is even one instance where you cannot contain this craving, the Ninth Rank will collapse.”

This was not to say that the Deity’s power could not enhance hers without cost, but that this Evil God deliberately set such a test:

“Once again, thank you for your generosity, great protector of the Vampire Race!”

The door behind Shard creaked open, revealing the corridor beyond—signifying that the Witch could now leave.

“Sir, please allow me to express my gratitude once more, if I am capable of retaining my memory, I will seek out Miss Mana Feliana.”

The Witch thanked Shard and then took out a piece of paper and a pen from her belongings, handing a note to the twin girl in a black dress:

“Girls, if you are interested in becoming my students, you can find me at this address later.”

After accepting thanks from the two sisters, she once again bowed to the Saint, then quickly walked toward the door and formally left the place.

Compared to the witch who had to choose five times to find the correct Blood Brew, the gray-haired Armored Elder was much luckier.

The first bottle of wine he chose was called “Sick Wine” by the Saint, which, upon drinking, could randomly afflict one with one of thirty-six diseases. The elder contracted sepsis, which, although it sounded quite alarming, was a disease without any mystical properties and could be completely cured provided one could find a willing witch and afford the price.

The second bottle of wine he chose was the correct one, Blood Brew made from the blood of a Rhine Monster brought by Shard. The blood of this Phantom Monster also had a very mild curse, but the elder didn’t mind:

“I’ve long had no family or friends, and I don’t plan to have any in the future, so this blood is ineffective on me.”

To attend the Evil God’s wine banquet, he had brought the blood of an Ice Crystal Butterfly hunted from the Northern Continent. After considering the elder’s performance at the wine table, the Deity did not directly fulfill his wish to “find and kill the poet Von Kriqing,” but gave him a blood-red metal ring full of Desecration Elements:

“Vampire Ring. Chant the Spell Words ‘The interchange of blood and flesh is the sublimation of the Soul of Flesh,’ which can conceptually transform you into a Vampire Kind. Your appearance remains unchanged, but you will now possess a weakened Vampire power, which can help you find the murderer you’re searching for. Using the ring will afflict you with Bloodlust Syndrome. After removing the ring and reverting to human, the intensity of the Bloodlust Syndrome will lessen but still exist. If you cannot endure the thirst for blood while human, or if you continuously use the ring for more than 24 hours, you will complete a full Vampire transformation.”

“I understand, thank you for your generous gift.”

As of the Fifth Era, this ring was not a Relic but a relatively powerful Divine Item, which was indeed useful to the elder. Most alchemical items also needed a Spirit to be activated, and in the Fifth Era, where men couldn’t use Supernatural Power, this ring seemed to be a rare Supernatural Item that ordinary people could use.

Before leaving, the elder also expressed his gratitude to Shard once more. Furthermore, he hadn’t forgotten the twin girls’ help with the Relic [Addict’s Medicine Box], probably due to the [Demon Hunter Ring] automatically attracting demons. Thus, he didn’t give the ring to the girls but instead gave them his address:

“Ladies, if you need anything, you can find me at this address. Although I am only an ordinary person, I believe I can still be of some use.”

Having said this, he bowed slightly toward the Deity at the end of the long table and then left as well.

But Shard did not think the twin girls would ever go to this unnamed elder who almost awakened as witches, and once they became witches, the Transcendents who despised males would hardly seek help from an ordinary person.

“However, when leaving Night Manor, can these slips of paper really retain the information?”

Only after the elder had left did Shard pose this question. If text can record, then the loss of memory has no meaning.

“Of course not, all records will disappear. But, they don’t know this rule.”

The Saint said with a smile:

“That witch might remember some things, but that man, who won’t live much longer, surely won’t remember a single detail from the wine banquet other than the information about the ring I gave him.”

“That’s really a pity.”

Shard shook his head, but he knew that these past events had already happened, and the people he had encountered were ultimately just passers-by.

He sighed and finally looked at the twin girls dressed in black and white dresses. Now there were still twenty-one bottles of Blood Brew left on the table, but only two correct choices remaining for the girls.