The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 154

Chapter 155
“Show me,” Eivass roared.
The leader paused for a moment upon seeing Eivass.
He had expected to be ambushed, but he never imagined that the person ambushing them would be Eivass, who was supposed to be in a wheelchair or deep in a cursed slumber!
But at this distance, his senses were crystal clear. There was no mistaking it.
—Demon Scholar, Second Tier.
…What was going on?
Or was this person not Eivass at all?
Astonishment, apprehension, confusion—in an instant, the leader’s mind raced through countless possibilities. He quickly ran through four or five scenarios, contemplating whether to ambush, curse, or retreat.
According to his combat habits, he should have used [Nightmare Figment] to control this “Eivass” and buy time. However, he hadn’t brought it with him.
It was like an experienced shooter, who instinctively reaches for his gun in a crisis, only to find he left it behind.
Because of this, the strongest among them, the leader, was momentarily hesitant.
But the Demonic Hound that Briden had just summoned showed no hesitation. It fiercely and fearlessly lunged at Eivass.
The other Demonic Hound, which was already dissipating due to its master’s death, joined its companion in a surprise attack on Eivass.
These were not true dogs, but demons with similar forms and habits. Even crouching, they were about a meter tall, clad in crude armor made of scrap metal. Their weathered, red-rusted exteriors had many sharp jagged edges from rough processing. The Demonic Hound’s head was ferocious, flames burning in its mouth, and it reeked of rotting corpses.
Protected within the armor were not bones and organs, but human corpses, decayed flesh.
The Whipping Demon, whose master had been ambushed and killed by Eivass and was now about to be banished, remained motionless. It simply crossed its arms, sneered at the leader and his companions, and said nothing.
This highly intelligent demon had already predicted the outcome of the battle.
Facing the ferocious charge of the Demonic Hounds, Eivass made no move to dodge or flee.
If it were over a month ago, when Eivass encountered “Cerberus” Beck, the second BOSS at the Pelican Bar, he would have been extremely wary of them.
After all, Demonic Hounds had no vital points. Unlike Big Purple, they couldn’t be instantly killed by Eivass shooting them in the head.
The essence of a Demonic Hound was a weak demon in a soul form that could control rotting flesh through curses. Its entire body, including its head, was merely a mecha controlled by it.
Because of this, for low-level Extraordinarys lacking soul-targeted abilities, defeating a Demonic Hound required shattering its metal shell to expose the rotten flesh inside; or breaking its legs, or its head, essentially disabling the Gundam-like creature to defeat it.
It was precisely because of their tenacious life force and their effectiveness against most low-level Extraordinarys that Demonic Hounds became the commonly used familiars for low-ranking Demon Scholars of the Noble Red Society.
But for Eivass now, the situation had completely changed.
The butterfly on his right middle finger flew off, creating space.
As Eivass watched the Demonic Hounds rushing towards him, he simply flipped his right hand outwards, palm facing outward.
Flames condensed in his palm, then transformed into a Flame Butterfly.
This Flame Butterfly was golden, with only the edges revealing red flames.
Its attribute was “Dispel.” Its effects included dispelling some negative statuses from allies, dispelling some shields from enemies, and dispelling undead creatures.
Although Demonic Hounds were demons, they were essentially a form of undead.
Instead of scattering, it directly opened its wings and exploded on the spot—
A brilliant golden halo spread outwards from it, passing through Eivass’s body without causing any damage. However, the Demonic Hound acted as if it had hit an invisible wall, being intercepted by the golden radiance in mid-air and forcefully repelled.
They let out sharp yelps like attacked dogs, crashing onto the grass at the entrance, their metal armor emitting dull thuds.
As the two Demonic Hounds tumbled to the ground, wisps of golden flames evaporated from the gaps in their rotten metal armor.
This was a sign of the curses entwined around the corpses being dispelled.
The Demonic Hounds’ movements visibly slowed and stiffened, then they collapsed to the ground, motionless.
—With just one blow, both Demonic Hounds that had charged in the first moment were defeated!
And with the fleeting light, the leader finally saw the sapphire accessory Eivass was wearing.
Undoubtedly, it was an item used to resist curses. He must have woken up from the sleeping curse due to his resistance before.
But it was just an ordinary sapphire accessory, possessing no extraordinary properties.
Realizing this, the leader no longer felt fear.
He pointed at Eivass and cursed loudly:
“—Die!”
As invisible cursed power spread, several gouts of blood erupted from Eivass’s body.
It was as if three invisible blades had pierced his body, and blood flowed profusely.
But a hastily cast curse could only achieve this much at best. He was, after all, a Demon Scholar, not a Ritual Mage.
Eivass’s body merely swayed slightly as he raised his left hand from behind his back again.
It was a handgun, the same one that had just pierced Briden’s calf.
Eivass didn’t aim at the leader but quietly aimed at Briden, who was moaning on the ground, unable to dodge or too pained to retaliate.
“—Briden!”
The leader cried out in alarm, urgently warning, “Relax your mind, don’t resist!”
Purple Path Radiance bloomed in his pupils, his right hand shining with a hazy violet glow, while his left hand shot out towards Perot’s charred corpse and gripped it forcefully!
As purple radiance pulsed three times on Briden’s body, the leader transferred the remaining triple resistances from the ritual on Perot’s corpse to Briden!
—[Bullet Protection], [Minor Penetration Natural Resistance], [Weak Point Reinforcement]!
Path Power originated from the Dream Realm and acted upon the soul. Therefore, the destructive power of Extraordinarys was significantly greater than their resistance, by more than one order of magnitude.
Before reaching the Fourth Tier and having their life force enhanced by Path Power for the first time, at least two-thirds of all professions could not withstand ordinary firearms. For this reason, various Paths had methods to temporarily increase their resistances.
The means to Transcend a Path was through ritual magic.
A simple [Bullet Protection] was enough to make small-caliber bullets bounce off an invisible shield, as if one were wearing steel armor. Adding [Minor Penetration Natural Resistance] would strengthen the skin, making it impervious even to rifle bullets. It could also resist attacks from spears wielded by First Tier melee Extraordinarys.
Combined with [Weak Point Reinforcement], even attacks on weak points like the eyes, throat, heart, or head would be blocked by a shimmering light shield.
These three rituals were not costly, and the materials were simple.
Performing all three would cost about three to four red candle coins. Each ritual took a few minutes, so all three together would take about ten minutes, and the effect would last for an hour.
In the Lloyd District, as long as one showed their face, these rituals were commonly used to avoid being ambushed or shot.
When they had previously summoned the demons and waited for their apprentices to cast curses, the leader and Fatty Perot had taken the opportunity to cast resistances on themselves.
They had simply not expected that Eivass, who was only First Tier and of the Path of Devotion, would attack like a mage, rendering Perot’s resistances completely wasted!
However, the leader possessed the ability of “Ritual Transfer.” He could transfer the effects of the rituals he cast from one person to another. It was a way to utilize something otherwise useless.
Seeing that Briden had gained complete bullet resistance, the leader finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Do you know why I didn’t aim at you?” Eivass asked softly. “Do you know why I wasn’t in a hurry?”
The next moment, he suddenly pulled the trigger.
A pitch-black line tore through Briden’s head.
His head instantly exploded into pieces, blood splattering everywhere. Briden’s screams abruptly ceased.
The Demon Scholar team of four, along with their four demons, had three-quarters of their members killed by Eivass upon their first encounter!
“Because I wanted to see your Blade Demon.”
Eivass’s lips curved slightly as he aimed the handgun at the leader. “Now that the pesky ones are gone.
“—Show me, or I’ll kill you.”