Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 1047 - 1047: Demon's "Legacy

"Oh, good afternoon, Shard, my friend, you finally came."

When Shard braved the snow to reach Dr. Schneider's psychological clinic this afternoon, the doctor gave him a rather warm hug.

For today's afternoon celebration, Dr. Schneider postponed the treatment of two important patients to spend time with Shard. He warmly led Shard to the meeting room on the second floor, the room where the group met every Saturday, where the violin case containing the [Night Watchman] was quietly placed on the coffee table.

"Although there were some minor accidents, overall, the action on Sunday went smoothly."

The doctor had already prepared red wine for the celebration, and after handing a glass to Shard, the two shared a toast with smiles.

"But you should also be careful, I have friends on the Church's side. Although the Church has been sidetracked by other matters recently, they certainly won't give up on investigating the Third Era's evil spirit appearing in the city."

Shard reminded as he held the glass, and the doctor nodded:

"I understand, the primary task for the next half month is to prepare for the year-end exams. Oh, detective, as the leader of the group, I bear responsibilities much greater than all of you."

The doctor placed his hand on the windowsill, leaning there with a relaxed posture, the heavy snow falling over the city behind him.

Strangely, even during the snow season, the city still appeared veiled in gray mist, a unique feature of the City of Steam.

"Doctor, what new abilities did you gain after devouring the Desire Multiplying Demon?"

Shard asked while sitting on the sofa, placing the wine glass aside to open the violin case for a look. The doctor hadn't dared to open it since bringing it back, the [Night Watchman] still wrapped in Shard's outer coat.

"Vanny itself wasn't a particularly powerful demon. Now, I can use certain spellcasting methods to assess how much desire a person has in their heart. If I wish, I can also plant a seed of desire in an individual's mind to harvest their desires, though this needs to be combined with my dreaming techniques."

The doctor explained, not hiding this from Shard. Anticipating that he might someday lose control, the doctor planned to inform Shard of his abilities, hoping that Shard could resolve matters on the day of true misfortune, bearing the [Demon Hunting Seal] and wielding the [Night Watchman]:

"Besides, there's also this."

As he spoke, the doctor took a few steps forward and then summoned the Ring of Fate behind him. The brass ring spinning in the steam mist complemented the snowy street scene of the city of steam behind him.

At the end of autumn, with Shard's help, Dr. Schneider successfully ascended to the Six Rings by using the [Forged Philosopher's Stone]. Now there were four more Spirit Runes on his Ring of Fate than last time—

"Desecration-[Heart of Fire], Whisper-[Long Whip], Desecration-[Proliferation], Enlightenment-[Contract]. The first two come from digesting the power of the Flame Demon, the latter two from Vanny's power. The Spirit Runes brought by devouring demons can be any of the three types except for miracles."

The power of the Flame Demon hadn't been immediately digested by the doctor when he was at the Five Rings but was instead used to enhance the Spirit Runes upon reaching the Six Rings (Chapter 681).

The doctor also turned back to look at his Ring of Fate:

"With the power of these two demons, I'm already so close to reaching the Seventh Ring, only a month after ascending to the Six Rings... I still have you to thank, Shard, these two demons were both brought to me by you."

He once again smiled and thanked Shard, while Shard silently admired in his heart that the doctor's unique talent, gained by binding an ancient evil spirit, seemed even stronger than the temporary Spirit Runes of The Chosen One Lakin Prisia.

But this was fair, as fate had already collected its price from the doctor in advance, and he deserved this power.

"But I don't look forward to you encountering more demons, detective. Please remember, never proactively provoke those evil spirits, they... are truly terrifying."

He probably thought once again of Mr. Sherf Tim and Miss Shana Aya, and sighed. The doctor placed his wine glass on the windowsill and walked over to the desk:

"Let's divide the spoils. Including those odd items I found at the Three Cats Inn on Monday, that guy had quite a lot of strange things. But since most of them were demon creations, I kept a few and destroyed the rest."

Shard had no objections to this; demon creations were even more bizarre than relics with fixed rules.

"There are a few items you can use, and these are all yours. No need to refuse, what I gained is definitely more than what you will."

The doctor took out a red box and handed it to Shard. The Flame Demon had been sealed by Miss Violet of the Fifth Era after its defeat and hadn't been able to escape, so it naturally possessed nothing. But the Desire Multiplying Demon, active and dealing in human society, carried quite a few items.

Upon opening the box, Shard first saw a narrow-necked bottle filled with viscous black oil, sealed with an oak cork:

"This is..."

"Demon remains, much like the Heart of the Flame Demon from autumn."

The doctor introduced:

"Devouring a demon's power isn't about eating the demon's entire body. You need to know a basic fact: the Third Era's evil spirit doesn't have a materialized body. The Arsonist fused with the Flame Demon, while Vanny fused with who knows what. What I needed was just the demon's core power; there are always other parts I don't need. This is a concentrated body part of the demon's power, though most of the power has been absorbed by me."

The doctor took that narrow-necked bottle from the box and inspected it carefully:

"The remains of the Desire Multiplying Demon-Vanny, just like the Heart of the Flame Demon, is extremely high-grade and precious material. If you have the courage to find a Master Alchemist to brew a magic potion from it and drink it, I even dare promise you'll gain a Spirit Rune related to Vanny."

Shard hurriedly shook his head, he wouldn't drink such a thing.

As his fingers touched the slender bottleneck, the Primal Fire within him immediately became restless. Although the doctor's absorption took the demon's main power, the Demon Remains were still firewood worth devouring. Shard understood the use of this thing.

"Doctor, I'm not sure if the demon remains of the demons you've devoured before..."

He asked again, and the doctor regretfully replied:

"Do you need it? I didn't know I would meet you back then, so I consumed them as materials."

Besides the piece of Demon Remains, the red box also contained a crystalline block like a sugar cube, a black fountain pen, and a ring.

"Be careful, try not to touch it directly with your hand."

Only the crystalline block like a sugar cube was not a Relic, so Shard reached for it, but the doctor stopped him:

"Crystal of Desire. You can think of it as semi-solidified desire, similar to the Mind Crystal I helped you make last time, but much more polluting."

Although he didn't let Shard touch it directly, he himself picked up the crystal with his bare hands:

"This is a very useful Spellcasting material, Magic Potion, and Study of Alchemy material. The 'Victor's Box' you mentioned is related to this."

The matter of the Victor's Box had already been reported to the Church by Iluna, and the subsequent effects caused by the demon were not their concern.

"Doctor, if you need it you can keep it, I don't have use for it."

Shard suggested, but the doctor shook his head:

"With Vanny's power, I can make the Crystal of Desire myself, so you can take it. I'll recommend a few books for you, go to the Black Raven Library or the Academy Library to borrow them, there are many uses for the Crystal of Desire."

He wrote down some book titles for Shard and also put them into the red box.

As for the remaining two items, although not of high Level, they were genuine Relics.

The black fountain pen was a Scribe-Level (Level 4) Relic called [Itran's Pen]. Once written with this pen, the reader can experience an "immersive" Illusion. However, the Negative Traits are that if you use this pen to write stories about those bizarre entities that slumber in Subspace or are sealed away, there is a certain probability of directly forming a summoning ritual.

The demon used this pen to write stories of desire, luring mortals to sign contracts. But in the hands of a skilled writer, it is a tool to construct those beautiful stories.

On the black pen cap of the fountain pen, runes the size of ants formed a strange sentence:

[A good story shouldn't just be words.]

"If I give this pen to Dorothy, doctor, you won't mind, right?"

Shard toyed with the Relic and turned to ask the doctor, who had returned to the bedside once more.

Although these items were given to Shard by the doctor, if one day the doctor suddenly found this pen in Dorothy's hands, it would inevitably be awkward, so Shard asked in advance.

"They're all yours, give them to whoever you wish."

The doctor waved his hand, secretly contemplating Shard's personal life, and recalled that late autumn day when he was invited to the third floor of Shard house to call upon spirits amidst the eerie Steam Mist, realizing that there were two girls spending the night with him.

"Then I'll give it to Dorothy as a gift for the Year-End Festival."

Shard said with a smile.

The "Year-End Festival" is akin to this era's most important festival for mortals. It resembles the Outlander's hometown's Spring Festival and Christmas, marking the end of the year, a time to finally rest. People customarily exchange gifts and cards with friends on this day, and naturally, the Outlander has prepared for this custom as well.

"Speaking of the Year-End Festival, you don't need to prepare a gift for me, Vanny as a gift is good enough."

The doctor suggested, but Shard would still prepare a gift.

As for the last ring, it was a green wooden ring, set with a Green Gemstone on the band.

The doctor recognized [Itran's Pen] but did not recognize this, so he asked Old John to help identify it.

This was a Poet-Level (Level 5) Relic known as the [Plague Doctor's Ring]. When worn, turning the ring counterclockwise once would activate its Trait, making the wearer immune to the majority of diseases for a certain period.

This included not only common plagues and diseases like the plague, smallpox, and the flu, but also Mysticism-related diseases such as Bloodlust Syndrome and Undead Plague. The demon naturally didn't need such a ring; the Relic was probably obtained inadvertently by the Desire Multiplying Demon, intending to keep it to trade with humans, but now it benefited Shard instead.

Inside the band of that ring, there was a long encrypted sentence in runes. Due to lighting, it was hard to see the characters directly, so Shard rubbed the band with his fingertip and "she" informed him of the ancient runes' meaning:

[The struggle between disease and purity is the forge of Nature's essence.]