The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 186

Chapter 187
Counterattack Ritual: Shadow of Avalon
…The Silver Crown Dragon mentioned me?
That couldn’t be good news!
He still remembered.
The first time he was noticed by the Silver Crown Dragon was because he swore he wouldn’t use members of his own race as ritual materials… and that was due to Old Moriarty’s instigation. After all, who knew that a constraint as simple as a “mere oath” would summon the lofty Silver Crown Dragon.
Thinking of this, Eivass’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
—Could it be that the Silver Crown Dragon thought I knew about the Sin of Heavenly Calamity?
That has nothing to do with me; that’s entirely Old Daddy James’s problem!
Eivass immediately felt guilty: “What did that Majesty… say about me?”
The Silver Crown Dragon was a Pillar God of the Path of Authority, the God of Kings. Therefore, directly addressing him as Majesty was acceptable.
As for Her Majesty the Queen, Eivass’s heart paused for another moment: “He said you are a natural Transcendent, reminding him of himself in his youth.”
—My goodness!
In that instant, Eivass realized that his cover might have been blown.
If the Silver Crown Dragon praised him, it was highly likely that he had been seen performing in the advanced dungeon of the Transcendent Ritual. Eivass wasn’t surprised by this, as the ritual was presided over by Gawain, an Apostle of the Silver Crown Dragon… It was normal for the Silver Crown Dragon to mention Eivass’s performance to him afterward.
However, Eivass never expected the Silver Crown Dragon to be so talkative—why would the Nine Pillar Gods chat with humans?
Even the Candlemaster, who had a good temper, never heard of him chatting with people about such things.
Since the Silver Crown Dragon could mention this, it meant at least Her Majesty the Queen likely knew that he was a parallel practitioner of the Path of Devotion and the Transcendent Path.
Therefore, the lie he had spun about “Miss Alistair” could be easily seen through by her.
After all, Eivass chose this codename to commemorate his past.
“Alistair” was a variation of “Alexander.” By changing a few letters and reading it in another language, it would sound like that.
Because in the Iris language, the spelling of Alistair and Alexander was completely different, Eivass didn’t worry about any Iris people seeing through his identity. After all, he had seen his biological father’s face during the ritual, and he bore a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to him. If anyone knew him, they might recognize Eivass’s origins at a glance.
—Simply put, it’s like the joke “Dae-sha-ho.” The more an Iris person heard it, the less they would understand Eivass’s joke—while people from Avalon might understand.
And since Her Majesty the Queen knew Eivass was also an adapter of the Transcendent Path, she might also know that the Shadow Demon was his Contract Demon. Then, she would naturally be able to see through who “Alistair” really was.
But the good news was that his disguise was blown, but not entirely blown—
Because the Silver Crown Dragon praised him, it meant he had been recognized by the big boss.
At least, his Transcendent Path was now legal. The fact that the Queen could speak to him so directly at this moment implied that she would not cause him trouble.
Before, Eivass had worried about encountering court ritualists if he came to the Silver and Tin Hall.
Although he had never seen one… the court ritualists that Avalon kept must be at least Third Tier, no matter how you thought about it. Once he got close, seeing through his identity would be easy.
The good news now was that Eivass wouldn’t be dragged out and hanged for revealing his identity as a Demon Scholar.
The bad news was that the Grand Guardian beside him was already looking at him with a thoughtful gaze.
—Grandma, go easy on me! George and David are listening!
…Or, was this statement directed at George?
Fortunately, the Grand Guardian intervened at this moment, shifting the topic that Eivass couldn’t possibly respond to: “What happens next, Your Majesty? Is it the same as before?”
The same as before?
Eivass, who had been silently observing, felt his heart stir as he took in the Grand Guardian’s words.
“Yes, that number is sufficient.”
Her Majesty the Queen nodded: “Whether Albert can survive or not… At worst, count me in; I’m dying soon anyway.”
What was she talking about?
Eivass felt a pang of doubt but dared not ask. He could only analyze that it might be related to some sacrificial ritual…
Fortunately, David spoke up confusedly at this moment: “Dad, Your Majesty… what are you two talking about?”
—Good boy, you also have a Transcendent heart!
Eivass praised David in his heart.
This kind of topic was clearly top secret, and I didn’t dare to ask. You actually dared to ask in person!
I’ll have to praise you fiercely when Miss Alistair sees you again!
But Eivass also belatedly realized that the Queen wasn’t sad, and it didn’t seem to be related to her habit… but for other reasons.
Because Her Majesty the Queen looked at David, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. She seemed very pleased that he had asked this question.
Nor did the Grand Guardian scold David, merely asking him in a low voice: “Can these things be told to these children, Your Majesty Sophia?”
“These are the pillars of Avalon’s future,” the Queen said with a light laugh. “Tell them, these secrets will be passed on to them. The curse should have ended anyway.”
Eivass was suddenly taken aback.
The key was that she was actually right…
The Queen had guessed it?
This was information Eivass had never encountered in the game.
This had nothing to do with Eivass not following the plot, as even players who followed the plot didn’t know what this curse was.
Eivass only knew that the last person to die from the curse was Prince Andrew, who was here now. From him onward, no one else died.
Logically, after the Queen’s death, the throne should be inherited by Prince Albert, Isabella’s father. He was the first successor.
But unfortunately, he was utterly useless—at least in terms of royal status, he was useless. However, he was a good person.
In the game’s plot, before the Queen was assassinated… when he heard that he might inherit the throne, he directly fled in secret.
Of course, “fled” might not be precise.
Specifically, he went traveling.
Like Isabella, Prince Albert lacked the adaptability of the Path of Authority. Therefore, although he was nearly fifty years old, he only possessed Second Tier Authority.
He had no interest in the throne. He preferred to carry his custom-made guitar and travel across the country like a Bard.
He was a rather accomplished luthier, having modified the shape and sound of his guitar. This was his proud creation.
He had long since given up his claim to the throne.
However, according to the game’s plot, after Prince Andrew’s death, there were only three successors left in the royal family:
Prince Albert, with Second Tier Authority and Third Tier Wisdom; Princess Isabel, with Third Tier Path of Beauty, timid and reclusive; and Prince John, who was less than three years old.
—Obviously, even if Albert clearly renounced his claim, his words wouldn’t count at this point.
So he just ran away. He disguised his appearance with magic, adopted the alias Bard “Yunus,” and traveled across the country earning tips and performance fees, helping the poor and unfortunate. After Avalon fell, he also went to the Church. Whenever he met Isabella in the party, his voice was very exaggerated, like he was singing—he was quite a popular comedic character at the time.
It wasn’t until a later side-quest that players discovered that “Yunus” was actually Prince Albert. He wanted to rescue Isabella, who was in danger, but because he was too weak, he inadvertently caused more trouble—this was already a zero-level plot, and Isabella was almost level forty, while Yunus was not yet level thirty.
After the quest was resolved, he revealed the truth.
After fleeing, he realized that what he had done wasn’t quite right. But he didn’t dare to go back, so he did his best to do good deeds and help others to alleviate his guilt for escaping his responsibilities. When Avalon was restored, the popular support he had accumulated played no small role.
Because of this, Eivass had not even considered the possibility of Albert ascending the throne.
—Upon learning that Andrew was dead, he immediately knew that Isabella would become the next Queen. So Eivass was actually quite happy at the time, but he didn’t dare to show it in front of the Grand Guardian.
“The situation is not complicated.”
The Grand Guardian said to the two young people: “You should know that the ancestors of the twenty founding families are now Apostles of the Silver Crown Dragon, right?”
Eivass and David nodded.
This was common knowledge to them.
“However, His Majesty Lancelot, also one of the founders, did not ascend to the Dream Realm to become an Apostle of the Silver Crown Dragon.”
At this point, the Grand Guardian’s words made Eivass suddenly startled: “He is still alive, because he could never let go of everything in the Material Realm. His body is preserved in St. Genevieve’s Chapel, and his soul is being trained in the Shadow Realm… a kind of Phantom Demon. Occasionally, he can meet his former colleagues who have become Apostles in the Dream Realm.
“As long as twenty-one individuals with Du Lac’s blood die by assassination, their ancestor can be resurrected. He will descend again into his own body, wielding the Holy Sword Arondight, awakened and unsealed by blood—he will become Avalon’s invincible blade. If anyone at this time believes that our Avalon is weak, or chooses to betray Avalon… they will be met with a surprise.
“In fact, we don’t know who the curser is… because our ritualists sealed off all possibilities of curses without contact three years ago, forcing them to use catalysts. And to kill someone instantly, leaving us no time for rescue, a large amount of catalyst would be needed to set up a long-term ritual. From then on, we pretty much knew where the problem lay.”
Curse catalysts—that is, blood, hair, nails, personal clothing, and the like.
“Because even if they were deliberately destroyed, someone who could obtain large quantities of catalysts from royal family members over a long period of time would most likely be another member of the royal family. This is why the royal family has never conducted a thorough investigation. Because some people were indeed poisoned…”
The Grand Guardian said meaningfully: “If the curser’s goal was to exterminate Avalon’s royal family, or just to have Princess Isabel ascend the throne, then they should have gone for the easier targets first. They wouldn’t have skipped the easy targets and used poison to kill those who were difficult to curse—for example, Prince Cornet, who shaved his head to prevent curses, was poisoned to death.
“Meg has always insisted that the person might be Prince Andrew—in fact, she has no evidence, just a gut feeling that something was wrong with him. And we all had our suspicions… For instance, I once suspected Prince Albert. However, it seems Meg’s guess was accurate.”
“After all, Andrew died of a ruptured heart…”
Her Majesty the Queen sighed: “I don’t want it to be him, but there seems to be no other possibility.”
Eivass also suddenly realized… a ruptured heart, this was a symptom of the Heart-Piercing Curse.
This curse required fingertip blood, specifically from the middle fingers of both hands.
Normally, this was very difficult to obtain. It was usually used as a punishment for oath-breakers in contract clauses, with the curse being branded into the contract when the fingerprint was taken.
This was probably why most people weren’t very sad… some became solemn, while others became relaxed.
After all, everyone knew that it didn’t make much difference who among the remaining three inherited the throne.
Prince Andrew’s cause of death was essentially proof that the curser had betrayed their collaborator and thoroughly erased the evidence.
Eivass also understood why, after Prince Andrew’s death, the questline to investigate the curse in the game was closed; even after the Queen was assassinated at a banquet a year later, the curse was never further investigated and was simply dropped.
It turned out that the upper echelons of Avalon already knew that the curse had ended… and it would be difficult to obtain reliable evidence by investigating further. Since the perpetrator had cursed Andrew to death, they had likely retreated.
“Destruction before construction.”
The Queen said softly: “Avalon’s path was too singular. I’ve been trying my best to change it, but it’s too late… I think they made their move now because I chose to change things.
“In twenty more years… no, at most ten years, Avalon’s ritual and curse technology will be restored. They realized that if they didn’t act now, it would be too late. So they made their move at this time, choosing the most brutal means to weaken Avalon.”
Her expression was earnest and solemn: “But the blood of Du Lac will not flow in vain. We are descendants of dragon slayers—if you wish to destroy us, you must bear our wrath.
“Before this, only three people besides me knew about this. After this, I will tell Meg and Arius… They were both commoners and did not know about the ‘Shadow of Avalon’ ritual.”
It was at this moment that Eivass truly realized… this seemingly kind and amiable old lady was indeed a rational and ruthless monarch.
For the sake of Avalon’s future potential, she could endure the royal family being cursed one by one.
To lure out internal rebels, to allow Avalon to be reborn from the ashes…
Recalling the previous communication between the Silver Crown Dragon and Her Majesty the Queen.
…Could it be that Avalon’s demise was the Silver Crown Dragon’s plan?
Fake death, right?
But in that case, there would be no need for the Queen to be authentically assassinated… Could she have been genuinely assassinated? But who would have known that the Queen was the final step of the ritual…
And, speaking of which.
The Shadow of Avalon was a version that was opened with Isabella’s younger brother as a sacrifice…
Eivass was suddenly startled, remembering another thing.
—He couldn’t let the Queen complete the “Shadow of Avalon” ritual at this time!
Because something went wrong with that ritual, and it wasn’t Lancelot who descended, but Scáthach, the Queen of the Shadow Realm!
Update complete!
Another 7,000+ characters today!
And today’s sacrifice~
Recommending a friend’s new book《Thank You for Praising My Sinful Ways》
P社 player, lighthearted and satisfying novel.