Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 84 The Truth Behind the Brick Wall

"Crush it!"

"Crushing it could save Deming!"

"You will have no regrets!"

These voices continued to spread and amplify in Suren's mind.

Suren's eyes were tightly closed, and her hand, gripping the crystal, was trembling as if she might crush it at any moment.

Ellie, standing to the side, stared wide-eyed at Suren. Her eyes were no longer filled with tears, but rather with a strange longing.

"But I refuse."

A firm voice rang out, echoing in the stairwell.

Ellie, standing to the side, was stunned. At this moment, Suren had opened his eyes at some point. His eyes were no longer confused. He was quietly watching her, and his voice echoed around them: "You are too deliberate and too impatient."

Besides, you simply can't simulate the operating logic of ghost stories, right? That's why such abrupt scenes appear.

As Suren's voice rang out, the surrounding environment shattered like a mirror, first the corridor, then Deming, and finally Ellie in front of him.

Only Suren remained in the entire space. He stood quietly in this empty space, his mind still replaying the scene of Deming's death.

Deming's death was indeed a past that Suren could never let go of. He took a deep breath, but suddenly a smile appeared on his face.

"There's nothing to be resentful about. The regrets of the past should be left in the past." Suren seemed to be talking to someone, or perhaps just talking to herself. "Letting go of obsessions, accepting the regrets of the past, and facing the future with the will of the departed is what I really need to do now."

As he spoke, he closed his eyes, and the flood of resentment in his heart gradually subsided.

When he opened his eyes again, he was still sitting in the chair, not moving an inch. Looking at the familiar room in front of him, Suren smiled gently.

Since entering the illusion, Suren's memories have been suppressed, leaving his memories stuck on that tragic mission.

Fortunately, the illusion was not 100% perfect. It seemed unable to create the illusion according to logic, and could only influence Suren with emotions. Therefore, the strong sense of incongruity allowed him to seize the flaw.

Of course, most importantly, Suren made peace with herself, using facing her regrets to dispel the resentment in her heart.

If Suren still harbors resentment in the end, she will likely remain lost in the illusion forever, and the real Suren will be completely controlled.

He composed himself and stopped thinking about it. His gaze fell on the magic circle on the table, where the extraordinary materials had disappeared.

Suren raised his right hand and held "Ellie's Tear" in front of his eyes; its appearance remained unchanged.

After the Soul Pact, it seemed to have developed some strange connection with Suren.

Suren closed her eyes, but she could still clearly perceive the location of "Ellie's Tears" in her mind.

He placed it on the table, and then, with a thought, the "Tears of Ellie" on the table vanished into thin air, while a necklace appeared in Suren's hand.

Suren knew that ordinary items could be enhanced based on the strength of the bound user after a soul contract, but the "Aksha Relic" was not an exception; its strength was entirely tied to its own growth stage.

Suren gripped the "Tears of Ellie" tightly, immersing her consciousness in it and feeling its changes.

"Ellie's Tears" has now officially entered the second stage. As for the method of advancement, Suren has no clue yet and can only slowly collect clues in the future.

The evolved "Ellie's Tears" still retains the same abilities, but its strength has increased significantly.

The original elemental explosions have been replaced, and Suren can now create unique abilities based on the four elements, much like magic, freely shaping and adjusting their form and range. The four elements are no longer just single sources of damage; they also inflict corresponding elemental attributes.

As for the original "regeneration" and overtreatment effects, they have also been enhanced, but these will need to be tested in actual combat during Suren's time.

Overall, the current strength of "Ellie's Tears" is no less than that of an ordinary "Awakener", and may even be stronger!

Moreover, after the ritual was completed, the ramblings in Suren's mind disappeared. Although it is unknown whether they will reappear in the future, at least the short-term negative effects have been eliminated.

After putting away "Ellie's Tears," Suren took out his pocket watch and saw that more than four hours had passed. It seemed that time inside the illusion did not flow at the same rate as outside.

Suren stood up and stretched, her bones cracking as a wave of exhaustion washed over her. After all, the soul-binding ritual was quite taxing, and the mental pressure of the illusion was immense.

Suren stumbled to the bedside, too lazy to even take off her clothes, and collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep in no time.

Unaware that he was asleep, a figure was standing in front of his door. The person raised his right hand but hesitated for a long time before finally turning away and leaving.

That person was none other than Karl.

He pushed open the dormitory door and walked along the stone path by the dim light of the gas lamp. He deliberately slowed his pace and did not make a sound.

Before long, he arrived at the "Harp Library". To his surprise, the library had been turned into an ordinary house and the original library had disappeared.

Carl looked around, but there wasn't a soul in sight; it was already close to 11 o'clock.

He hesitated for a moment, then walked to the right side of the house. Looking at the ordinary brick wall, he recalled the peculiar coordinates recorded on that page of paper: (6, 13).

According to his understanding, since the coordinates were marked as being on the right-side brick wall, the clues were on the wall.

Perhaps it refers to a specific type of brick?

Carl quickly came up with an idea. He counted six from bottom to top and thirteen from left to right, and found the brick.

But no matter how he touched it, or even tried to inject "source knowledge", the brick did not budge.

He tried counting from different directions, but the bricks he found were not particularly special.

Karl frowned. Could it be that he had misunderstood something, and that the coordinates actually represented the land beneath his feet?

As he was lost in thought, he suddenly remembered the cursive script at the end of the paper.

Perhaps this is a code?

With this thought in mind, Karl found the brick he had touched first and then recited the phrase:

"The truth of the world has been buried by lies, and truth is the only knife that can give it new life."

As Karl chanted, his "Source Knowledge" was unexpectedly activated and then surged into the brick. As the "Source Knowledge" flowed in, the brick gradually became transparent and finally disappeared.

Inside the empty wall was a roll of paper, dark yellow in color and neatly bound.

Carl took a deep breath, slowly took out the paper, and the words on it instantly came into view:

"The first lie they tell you is that there are gods in this world."

Karl's breath hitched. Before he could think it through, a voice suddenly came from behind him:

"Well done, Carl."

Carl turned around abruptly and saw a gentle and refined figure standing in the moonlight—his mentor, Leonard Esmond.

At that moment, the other person had an ambiguous smile on their face, but it made Karl feel a sense of dread.