The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 401

Chapter 401
Offering the Wings of Freedom
Avalon, White Queen District.
Eivass, Lily, and Lixia openly entered Griffith’s sealed manor.
“You can only be discovered if the right person is nearby?”
Lixia raised an eyebrow. “Do you know what you’re talking about?”
“Of course.”
Eivass slowly nodded. “I’m talking about Sacred Relics.”
Sacred Relics.
They were a category of extraordinary equipment, relics from Apostles.
If they were a level higher, directly blessed by a Heavenly Envoy or even a Pillar God, they would be Sacred Artifacts of divine level.
In game terms, Sacred Relics were basically deep purple or, very rarely, purple. And Sacred Relic sets were the graduation gear for level fifty PVE classes.
When players reached level fifty and the level cap for the Nine Great Paths was gradually opened with the expansion, it would already be Version 3.0. The Sacred Relic set would be a T6 set—as the name suggests, the sixth version of graduation gear. This was also the set of PVE equipment with the highest power in the old era.
Even top-tier PVP rewards like “Eagle in the Shadow” were inferior to the corresponding Path’s Sacred Relic set in terms of PVE performance.
—The so-called PVE performance was a concept that only appeared in Version 3.0. It mainly referred to the ability to confront descending Heavenly Envoys.
Of course, these things were only obtained by players in game terms.
In terms of story, or rather, setting, these Sacred Relic sets were unique. They were not the same concept as “Eagle in the Shadow,” which was only rare due to lost craftsmanship.
“Griffith actually hid a Sacred Relic.”
Lixia couldn’t help but sigh. “You didn’t decide to kill him just because you heard this news, did you?”
Eivass: “…”
Lixia’s expression instantly changed. “Did I guess right?”
“Not entirely.”
Eivass said calmly, “It was mainly to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys.”
“‘Mainly’…”
Lixia repeated.
“It was also partly the reason.”
Eivass said honestly, “But you see, his collusion with Star Antinomy is a foregone conclusion… So, it wasn’t a wrong kill, was it?”
Lixia wanted to say something, but she sighed. “Forget it, do as you please. You’re a Transcendent, so it’s impossible to make you follow the rules honestly…”
“Little Isha doesn’t have the power of the Path of Authority, so it’s a good thing you can help her smash these old things.”
The young girl spoke with an uncharacteristically mature tone.
Eivass helplessly said, “I was joking, Miss Lixia. You didn’t actually believe me, did you?”
“Then what’s the truth?”
“Because he insulted Isabel and wanted to harm Yulia.”
Eivass’s voice was low.
Lixia’s footsteps suddenly stopped. She turned to Eivass beside her, looking at the fleeting gloom on his rather gorgeous face.
Eivass turned back with a bright and radiant smile. “Ah, did I scare you, old lady?”
“Not quite, kid. I’m not that old.”
Lixia said coolly and resumed walking behind Eivass.
She pondered for a moment and nodded.
This was good. This kid was somewhat protective of his own… or rather, “somewhat” was an understatement.
And Yulia was also the protective type. This way, Isabel wouldn’t suffer any losses.
After Sophia’s funeral, Janis was going to the Church. But even if she left… if anyone bullied Isabel, Eivass would definitely act.
Eivass was not the kind of knight who would noisily demand a duel in the Round Table Hall.
—In Lixia’s opinion, Eivass lacked the heroic vigor of a knight.
He was more like a villain full of dark aura—wearing a gentle smile on his face, and speaking of killing someone. However, compared to actual villains, the “bad deeds” Eivass committed all turned out to be for good.
And thinking of this, Lixia suddenly froze.
She looked up at Eivass, but could no longer see his momentary displeasure. She only saw his gentle, polite, and distant, faint smile.
Because just now, Lixia suddenly realized something:
Eivass’s current modus operandi basically involved two completely opposite strategies—either performing acts of devotion with transcendent actions, or achieving transcendent results with acts of devotion.
Whenever Eivass did something that seemed brutal and viciously evil, he ultimately aimed for good outcomes; and when he did something good like a hero, his ultimate goal was often “transcendence.”
“…What a contradictory and awkward person,”
Lixia sighed softly.
Meanwhile, Eivass was breaking out in a cold sweat.
—Because he wasn’t actually sure if the Sasha set was here.
It was just that the conversation had led him to brag like this.
Logically, Griffith could use this equipment. And he obtained this equipment before becoming the Child of the Moon—which was why he was transformed into a special Child of the Moon with the “Dragon Blood Mark.”
This Sacred Relic was bestowed upon him by his master, Count Leipzig.
Count Leipzig was one of the three leaders of the Rose Cross, a Child of the Moon raised by the “Red Phase.” As the public face of the Red Phase, he had inherited King’s political connections as a founding official. Even in Star Antinomy, where Children of the Moon had no special privileges, he could be considered incredibly powerful and wealthy. A mere Sacred Relic… was something he could easily bestow as a reward.
If Griffith was an important pawn that could be monitored by an Eye Demon, then to ensure the plan’s smooth progress, Count Leipzig, with his generosity, would likely give some good stuff as a deposit.
The Eye Demon, which was the elder brother of the Prince of Giants Wolfram, also had a master who was a “descendant” of the Red Phase.
— “Succubus” Emma, one of the Demon Avatars sacrificed during the Ouroboros Ring Ritual of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy Descends.
If that “Red Phase” figure was used as an intermediary, then Wolfram, the Eye Demon, Emma, Count Leipzig, Griffith… these people could be connected.
Because of this, Eivass was certain that Griffith must have something good.
…If he didn’t find it, he would be ridiculed by Lixia.
While they claimed to be searching for evidence, neither Eivass nor Lixia was particularly diligent. Rather, they wandered around the manor, admiring the imperial-era antiques and artworks collected by Griffith.
Soon, Eivass’s footsteps suddenly stopped.
“Lixia—”
He called out loudly, his voice filled with unconcealable excitement.
“Coming, coming, coming!”
Lixia hurried over with her short legs. “What’s wrong?”
“I found it.”
Eivass stared at the Sacred Statue in the shrine before him and said softly.
Lixia’s expression changed, and she looked up at the shrine.
Inside was a stone statue of a nun, bound in a highly dramatic pose. She looked no bigger than a figurine, her eyes covered with black gauze, her arms crossed and bound in front of her chest with black gauze, but her hands were missing. Her abdomen was also covered with black gauze… This black gauze looked like cut stockings.
If Lixia hadn’t felt a very faint divine aura, she wouldn’t have been able to confirm that this was a Sacred Statue—that this could even be a Sacred Statue.
She squinted and stared for a long time, still unable to confirm.
So, she hesitantly asked Eivass, “Who is this… being worshipped?”
She had some knowledge of theology but didn’t recognize the figure before her.
“This is not a Heavenly Envoy, nor an Apostle. She is the lover of the Banqueter, Sister Sasha.”
Eivass gazed at Her and said softly.
“…Not even an Apostle?”
Lixia naturally knew the Banqueter.
That was Hengwo’s Apostle, a great dragon.
But hearing that she was merely “an Apostle’s Apostle,” she was somewhat disappointed. “Are you looking for her Sacred Relic?”
“That’s right.”
Eivass relaxed and replied with a smile.
The torso part of “Sister Sasha’s Holy Feast” was sealed here—the abdomen, waist, and lower back skin, peeled off by Sister Sasha herself, forming a still-warm, self-twisting, butterfly-like “living skin.”
—Its name was, **Offering the Wings of Freedom**.
Six thousand words, update complete!
Still sleepy, so the update is a bit late…