The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 307

Chapter 308
Follower Card: Earthbound Spirit
Hearing Eivass’s voice, the young man at the front desk suddenly startled and woke up.
“Are you… staying here for the night?”
He steadied his gaze on Eivass, then looked at Sherlock, who was wearing a sour face, and the storm outside. He suddenly understood and replied smoothly, “A clean room with dinner for two, a total of four red coins and three copper coins. What name, I’ll register it?”
“Your prices are quite stable?”
“Indeed,” the young man at the front desk nodded. “After so many years, it’s always been this price.”
“When I came here sixty years ago, it was this price. I didn’t expect that after sixty years, nothing here has changed.”
Eivass replied calmly.
Upon hearing this, the young man at the front desk paused in his work.
He then looked up, revealing a look of shock as if he had seen a ghost.
Eivass unceremoniously patted his head, “Am I a ghost or are you a ghost? Call your boss out!”
“The boss isn’t here…”
the young man whispered.
But Eivass interrupted, “No, your boss is here.
“I want to see Alice. I have an appointment.”
As soon as Eivass finished speaking, the young man’s body gradually became transparent.
His expression became indifferent, and then he looked up at Eivass and Sherlock, as well as Liz standing behind them, before slowly drifting backward into the counter.
The oil lamp flickered and then extinguished. The hotel lobby was plunged into darkness, with only the faint light from outside shining in.
“What’s going on?”
Sherlock was somewhat nervous.
In the darkness, he cautiously leaned closer and whispered, “Why did you reveal yourself directly?”
“Because I indeed have an appointment.”
Eivass was not nervous at all.
He took out the prepared cards and various ritual materials from his pocket, arranged them neatly on the hotel counter, and began to prepare to make cards.
“You got one thing wrong, Sherlock. You said ‘Alice is no longer the innocent girl she was sixty years ago.’ That statement is both right and wrong.
“In the last Ascension Ritual, what we experienced indeed happened sixty years ago. That was indeed Alice, who had only recently become an Earthbound Spirit sixty years ago… but in fact, the person playing Alice was the real Alice.
“I had a mission at the time, which was to kill the Earthbound Spirit Alice after she possessed someone. Perhaps in true history, she possessed someone, but she regretted it… so in the Ascension Ritual, she didn’t possess anyone until the end.
“In other words, the Alice at that time was Alice transcending the Ascension Ritual.”
Eivass said softly while busy, “Why was our ritual an Absent Seat Ritual? I thought for a long time, and perhaps there is one reason… and that is that Alice, who intruded into the ritual, occupied one of the positions.
Eivass had told Lily before that in the very distant past, there were no Apostles presiding over the trial grounds. At that time, some Phantom Demons would lurk nearby and intrude into the Ascension Ritual, devouring the souls of the Extraordinary people participating in the Ascension.
“But Alice sneaked in, and she didn’t attack us.”
Hearing this, Sherlock realized, “She wasn’t coming for our souls, but rather…”
“She was asking us for help.
“Because Mr. Priest said that the Earthbound Spirits here are exceptionally powerful, and even Bishops cannot handle them. And since this place was sealed, there have been no missing person records… In other words, besides those desperate fugitives, she hasn’t eaten anyone else’s soul. The swapped sign clearly was changed after that ritual, she was afraid we would be scared away by the sign and not come to find her.
“An Earthbound Spirit is, after all, an Und. If it can’t eat souls and can’t get replenishment from Twilight power, it will eventually perish.
“And as a girl who was pressed into the foundation as a human pillar from the age of literacy, turning into an Earthbound Spirit… then living alone as a ghost for sixty years without any travelers. I think she didn’t want to perish like this.
“So, conversely… how could she enter the Ascension Ritual under Merlin’s nose? Merlin wasn’t unaware of her existence, but he tacitly allowed it…”
Eivass said, completely sweeping the dust off the “Reaper Card.”
A skeleton riding a pale mare, holding a banner of roses. People fell before Him like ears of wheat, their resistance futile.
Everything else was ready and placed there.
Sherlock didn’t know what ritual Eivass was going to perform, and stood there nervously.
And at this moment, the candles that had gone out suddenly lit up again, and then began to flicker intensely.
Each time the light flickered, a golden-haired little girl with a purple-blue face would flicker into existence. And after the light extinguished, she would dissipate again.
Sherlock took a deep breath, his nerves instantly tensing.
Even though Eivass said she had no malice, Sherlock couldn’t help but clench his fists. Four-element mana flowed rapidly within his body, ready to go.
Finally, the firelight completely extinguished again.
And as a bright flash of lightning streaked across the sky, the now semi-transparent girl quietly appeared before Eivass.
She wasn’t playing ball as she did in the ritual.
Instead, she quietly placed a ball of something black on the table, then glanced at Sherlock. As the lightning dissipated and rumbling thunder sounded, she disappeared again.
Eivass reached out to touch it, and the attribute panel appeared before his eyes:
[Corrupted Demon Hunter +3]
[Extraordinary Weapon (Purple)]
[Firearm, Revolver, Capacity Five Rounds]
[9mm Bullets (0/5)]
[Trait: Its bullets become cursed bullets, significantly increasing damage to flesh and blood]
[Corruption Style: This gun has been corrupted and needs to be repaired before use.]
[Module – Fragile Focus: When not taking damage for five seconds, accuracy gradually increases, reaching maximum after fifteen seconds without taking damage.]
[Module – Elegant Aim: Accuracy is significantly increased.]
[Module – Panic Draw: The first shot’s accuracy is reduced, and damage is greatly increased.]
“You like this one…”
A light, ethereal voice sounded, but with a hint of fear, like a child who had done something mischievous but suddenly became very well-behaved and a little timid: “I’ll give it to you. But it might be broken…”
It was clear.
This was Agni’s weapon from sixty years ago.
Unlike Jacob, he didn’t manage to escape. The 0/5 magazine revealed his final fear and despair.
And during these sixty years, Alice, who had nowhere to go, had clearly broken this gun. Its name, traits, style, and modules had all changed subtly, which was proof.
Although in the ritual, she found Eivass very interested in this gun… she couldn’t give him the original gun anymore.
That’s why she was a little scared.
Seeing this very clear friendly gesture, Sherlock suddenly realized.
“I understand… It’s Great Philosopher!”
The dead and yet existing souls had their six great domains stripped away. Generally speaking, the Und had no intelligence or “personality.”
But clearly… whether it was Alice in the ritual or Alice now, both had intelligence. Although not high, it did exist.
Great Philosopher indeed had such a hobby – liking to sign contracts with the Und and bestow wisdom upon them. King of the Wild Hunt was like this, so it was not surprising that he gifted it to Alice now.
But…
“If she just wanted peace,” Sherlock couldn’t quite understand, “what’s the difference between quietly dissipating and being dispersed by someone?”
“Leaving aside the difference between watching yourself slowly die powerlessly and dying quickly…”
Eivass said, while injecting his dark attribute mana into the amber: “Perhaps what she expects is for me to take her away from here.”
The originally golden-red amber turned dark as if it were burnt charcoal at a visible speed.
– A full thirty points of dark attribute mana.
Enough mana to construct the “Field Card: Shadow Cell,” was poured into it by Eivass.
“So you can do it?”
Sherlock asked, “Make the Earthbound Spirit no longer ‘bound to the earth,’ changing the essence of its life?”
“I can, actually,” Eivass said calmly.
He placed the amber, which looked like charcoal, above the Reaper Card, then picked up the “Yellow Springs Water” taken from the swamp in Eagle Cape Village – this was the name Eivass had just given it.
Thirty points of dark attribute mana, if used to seal the Earthbound Spirit, could turn Alice into his temporary summon.
– [Follower Card: Earthbound Spirit].
If she wanted peace, then only twenty points of mana would be used to create the [Spell Card: Nightmare Grasp]. Then, after her power was drained, she would naturally dissipate.
Whether she wanted to leave or live was up to her. Anyway, she wasn’t in Eivass’s build for now.
So, not surprisingly… this should be a test from Great Philosopher.
Eivass had borrowed the power of Heavenly Envoys and Pillar Gods too many times. Although the sheep being shorn didn’t react, it was normal for the smart sheep watching from the side to have doubts after seeing another sheep being shorn.
But it didn’t matter.
The secrets of the Sin Scholar part could be told to them.
What Eivass truly couldn’t reveal were the secrets of the Ouroboros Ring ritual, and the future fall of that Pillar God.
The former foreshadowed the stripping of the Heavenly Envoy’s power, and the latter was the death of a Pillar God.
Compared to this, other things were minor issues. If Old Man Great Philosopher wanted to watch, let him watch.
– Perhaps next time, your name will be invoked.
And so, Eivass’s lips curved slightly, and he whispered:
“I invoke the Amber God, the God of Sacred Number Nine, the God of Peak, the God of Perfect Eternity—”
As he spoke, Eivass poured the “Yellow Springs Water” over it.
But the water did not wet the Tarot Card. Instead, it froze like ice… As Eivass poured it out, the dim yellow water flowed onto the Tarot Card, spreading across the counter. The grave soil also melted into it, condensing with the water into a thin, murky, dim yellow ice surface.
“Alice.”
Eivass stepped back two paces and softly called out, “It’s your turn, choose for yourself—you will understand.”
Soon, the candlelight flickered and lit up again.
The now semi-transparent, illusory little girl silently appeared beside Eivass.
She stood on tiptoe, her hand placed on the Tarot Card.
The card, under the thin ice layer, gradually changed its image.
The skeleton knight who was originally riding a white horse gradually transformed into a skeleton king, as black as charcoal, holding a scythe.
In the lower right corner of the image was a blue scorpion, symbolizing physical death. To the left of the scorpion was a lily shaped like an “α,” and to the right was a lotus looking like an “Ω,” signifying that the physical body exists between the beginning and the end.
On the skeleton’s black crown was an eagle – this symbolized spiritual death.
On the left side of the image was a snake entwined with a fish. This symbolized the death of fate.
Beneath the scythe was a decapitated person. A soul floated out from within…
– This symbolized the death of the soul, and also symbolized rebirth after death.
The Reaper Card represented the end, death. But it also foreshadowed rebirth after death.
Finally, as Alice disappeared, the dark hotel became bright again. The storm outside also vanished.
And the card automatically floated up and flew into Eivass’s hand.
The card’s attributes had already appeared in his eyes:
[Follower: Earthbound Spirit (Reaper)]
[Level: 40]
[Twilight Path, Attribute: Dark]
[Requirement: Dark 3]
[Action: Summon]
[Effect: Designate an enemy target, cause them to fall into illusion, then summon the Earthbound Spirit “Alice” to fight for you. The Earthbound Spirit is considered a summon and lasts for one minute. The illusion immediately disappears after the Earthbound Spirit is killed or dissipates. The duration of the Earthbound Spirit is refreshed after the enemy target trapped in the illusion is killed.]
This is the second chapter of Three Thousand Six Thousand six hundred, sent to you, meow!
Ah, you don’t need to worry too much about the length. If my physical condition is good and the performance is good, I can naturally write more. Three million five hundred thousand is just the outline before writing the book. Outlines are not fixed, they can be changed, meow.
So please support meow more. If I’m well-fed, you can pet meow—