Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 997 - 997 The Missing Witches

"Isn't something off?"

The cold fog shrouded the lake surface, and Shard suddenly asked himself.

[Yes, the previous two times, they already threw out the rope to you.]

At this moment, Shard could see the blurred outline of the Heart Lake Island in the mist, but the witches had not thrown the rope to reel him onto the island. The swarm of red butterflies, which dyed the white mist red, continued forward, and Shard couldn't even see the light of the campfire:

"Could it be that I took the wrong direction to the island this time?"

But [Father of the Infinite Tree] had always let him appear at the same spot each time; this time shouldn't be an exception.

The butterflies on the lake transformed back into Shard, and as the twinkling red glows faded, Shard squinted at the edge of the island not far away. He could barely make out the scene at the edge of Heart Lake Island, seeing the extinguished campfire and a camp fenced with a simple barricade, along with tents and living supplies.

Upon finally breaking through the lake's mist and reaching the island, Shard confirmed that the camp was devoid of any witches, they had all vanished.

The camp didn't appear to be abandoned for long; it hadn't entirely blended into the scenery of Heart Lake Island. There were noticeable human traces of habitation. When Shard reached towards the charcoal in the campfire, his frozen stiff hand could still feel the warmth. However, the campfire itself wasn't a normal fire, so he couldn't deduce when Miss Violet's group left based on the temperature.

"Six maids, the Witch Empress, a soon-to-be graduate of Xerxes Higher Medical Academy, and they're all absent?"

The island wasn't completely safe; on Shard's first visit, he faced a massive creature that descended from the sky alongside eight witches, and the second time, he heard that the witches encountered wildly growing plants. Therefore, discovering their disappearance wasn't particularly surprising to Shard; he just hoped in his heart that these ladies were safe.

He warmed himself briefly by the remnants of the campfire, then searched the camp to see if the witches had left any clues before departing. As Shard expected, Miss Violet indeed anticipated his return at any time, leaving him a note weighed down by a gold brick inside the tent.

As for why Miss Violet traveled with a gold brick, that was beyond Shard's understanding.

[Try not to leave the camp; we will return.]

The note didn't indicate any danger they faced or their whereabouts. However, Shard had seen their handwriting in the witches' papers, confirming it was indeed Miss Violet's writing. The letters were extremely messy; the group of eight must have left in a hurry.

Additionally, checking outside revealed they hadn't taken much of the living supplies, suggesting their evacuation from the camp was a sudden accident.

"But I can't afford to wait; half an hour will fly by."

Shard put away the note, bent down and exited the tent, then gazed at the island shrouded in white fog. The last time he visited, the island had gained some rigid thorn bushes; this time, there seemed to be no changes, at least not around the camp.

"I'd better try to find them."

With that thought, his right hand pulled out the Moonlight Greatsword from the air; its Holy Silver blade glowed faintly in the mist. After glancing at the empty camp once more, Shard jumped over the makeshift fence.

[Be careful!]

Landing simultaneously, he thrust the sword into the ground:

"Heaton Seal!"

A dazzling golden spherical shield bloomed in the mist, silently repelling an invisible attack, causing ripples on the shield.

"Silvermoon!"

The shield vanished in an instant, and a silver Light Blade cleaved forward to the left. Silvermoon Slash clearly hit something in the air, and then "She" informed Shard that the enemy had vanished. From start to finish, Shard couldn't see what attacked him.

"Invisible enemies, is it?"

He moved quickly through the thin mist, headed for the spot where "Silvermoon Slash" had struck the enemy, kicked at the ground but found nothing, then bent down to try touching it but still felt nothing.

"Really odd, enemies that can't be seen or heard, leaving no traces when attacking, no corpse after death? So, am I really not fighting illusions?"

Shard mused, but "Her" perception was not wrong. The enemy indeed had a physical form, though it couldn't be sensed by anything other than Sixth Sense. Though these traits made the battle tricky, the enemy's offensive and defense weren't strong; once their position was identified, they could be killed in one blow.

"The suppression of perception in Lost Lake area is strong. I just arrived from a normal environment, so its effect on me is minimal, but Miss Violet and the others have been living here for quite a while."

The soil on the Lost Lake's Heart Island was very loose, leaving clear footprints from when the witches hurriedly departed. Shard followed these prints into the misty island, though the footprints inconsistently disappeared sometimes, fortunately, they broke through the thorn bush very prominently, so Shard didn't worry about getting lost in the mist or 'fogged' due to long exposure to it.

The real danger was the invisible enemy, though few in number; Shard encountered them only four times during his journey.

The counter-attack process was quite simple: "Her" perception sensed the attack faster than Shard, then Shard stabbed the ground with his sword to activate "Heaton Seal," and finally used Silvermoon to attack the enemy during the intervals between attacks, completing the whole counterattack process.

Even on the last encounter, by chance, the golden spherical shield from "Heaton Seal" broke right when an invisible attack struck the shield. The special effect of Arcane Technique triggered, causing the shattered shield to burst into golden Light Trace, killing the invisible enemy instantly.

The opponent's defense was weaker than Shard anticipated.

Moving swiftly forward, at the seventh minute of Shard's arrival at Lost Lake, he saw vague human figures ahead. Following the footsteps forward, he found that it was indeed Miss Teresa and five maids, excluding the head maid.

They were not illusions; the six stood in a circle amidst the thorn bush, each looking in one direction. The witches first saw the glowing Moonlight Greatsword in Shard's hand and then saw Shard himself walking through the mist.

To avoid suspicion, Shard waved the gold brick in his hand:

"It's me!"

He tried to lower his voice, to avoid alarming the other presences on the island. But the mist itself absorbed sound, and the witches could only see Shard mouthing words, fortunately recognizing the object in Shard's hand.

Shard could not hear the witches' voices either, but from their expressions, he could see they were very tense. Miss Teresa made a gesture warning him, and as Shard approached, his direct perception of those invisible creatures also quickly increased. Without needing "her" reminder, Shard sensed that at least six invisible creatures were prowling nearby.

"Even though we can't directly see them, why not use something like the Light of the Witch for a range attack to counterattack?"

Shard was curious about Miss Teresa and her group's actions, but there was no time to think about it. Probably because he had made a sound, those invisible creatures were converging toward him.

"She" quickly informed Shard of the location of all enemies, and combined with Shard's own direct perception, the positions of the six creatures immediately became clear in his mind.

Those enemies of unknown form attacked with some materialized "Flesh Arrow." Although the witches could not pinpoint the location of each monster like Shard, they were at least aware that the attack had begun.

Miss Teresa knew the danger of invisible attacks; she wanted to open her mouth to warn him anxiously but at this moment, the Moonlight Greatsword had already been stabbed into the ground, and a Golden Shield bloomed in the white mist.

The silent attacks stirred ripples on the shield; within the Golden Shield, Shard, as the sixth attack struck the shield, ended the spellcasting by releasing the hand seal, and the exploding golden radiance, accompanied by a slight glass-shattering sound, obliterated all the enemies directly.

The witches were unsure of the current situation, while Shard sighed in relief, holding the sword and walking over:

"Long time no see, Miss Teresa. The enemies have been eradicated. Where are Her Majesty Violet and the head maid? What happened to you?"

"The 'Children of the Invisible' are all wiped out?"

The Tenth-Rank witch cautiously asked, then added;

"Be careful, come over here quickly. They cannot be perceived by normal human senses, and only when their location is confirmed, can the attack be effective; otherwise, even if you happen to hit them, you cannot eradicate them."

"Can one only counterattack upon perceiving them?"

Now Shard understood why the witches didn't use a range attack.

"A total of six, all eliminated."

Shard nodded confidently. Miss Teresa and the young maids wearing black and white maid outfits and black leather boots exchanged glances, somewhat embarrassedly asking:

"Um... weren't there just five?"

Even though their level was higher than Shard's, dealing with such enemies that require high perception to combat was beyond them even together against Shard.

The attack from the creatures known as the "Children of the Invisible" would rot the victim's flesh into a pulp, resembling soft clay melting at extremely high temperatures. Although Miss Teresa and her group weren't directly hit by those attacks, the youngest maid in the team accidentally got her arm grazed.

Once they confirmed the surroundings were safe, the ladies gathered to help her heal. At this time, a palm-sized area on the upper part of the arm had turned into a wobbly "meat jelly."

The appearance was terrifying, and no treatment could reverse the injury. To prevent the wound from spreading, the "meat jelly" was soon cut out from the arm with a Silver Dagger completely. The girl, having drunk a Pain Relief Potion, lay on her companion's lap, cold sweat on her forehead. Fortunately, after cutting out the infected part, the spreading wound stopped immediately.

The piece of flesh was directly burned, and the maids resorted to spellcasting to attempt quick coagulation. Their spending in Lost Lake was already substantial, so Shard volunteered to assist.

The water treated with "Satiety Food" was poured over the dreadful wound. The Spirit Rune of [Gluttony], made powerful by Shard's twice consuming the Divinity of [Lord of the Blood Feast], was stronger than most of his Runes. The liquid, exuding an extreme Desecration Aura, touched the wound and almost immediately took effect.

The missing flesh did not grow back immediately, but a pinkish flesh membrane wrapped around the wound. Seeing the effectiveness of Shard's Arcane Technique, Miss Teresa immediately took out a pink bottled magic potion she carried with her, and poured it onto the wound.

Sizzle~ After a flash of white smoke, the nineteen-year-old young girl almost scratched through her companion's stockings from the pain.

Luckily, once the white smoke dissipated, the arm was already normal, although the skin color at the site of the previous wound was a bit pinker compared to other areas.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and noticing Shard staring at the maids' long socks, Miss Teresa laughed and said:

"These are garments made from Ice Silkworm Silk, crafted by only the top-tier needleworkers. They are very expensive but beautiful, with great elasticity and breathability. Only someone like Her Majesty Violet... I mean, someone so generous, would afford to give each maid a pair—haven't you seen them before?"

The Outlander had seen finely knitted long socks in this world, a product of the Steam Revolution and mechanization, popular among ladies. Both Princess Lecia and civilian writer Dorothy had similar garments. However, they lacked elasticity, requiring garters and elastics to prevent slipping down, and were not particularly excellent from the Outlander's perspective.

But at this moment, the socks worn by the maids were very similar to those textiles from his hometown, which Shard saw for the first time in this world. It seemed that the technological level in Year 1853 of the Sixth Era was not comparable to Year 5177 of the Fifth Era.