The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 836

Chapter 835
Altering History is Twisting the Future

If it weren’t absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t have chosen this path.
…But who made him run into that guy?
The old mage Sandro, in the guise of a “Baboon,” raised his staff and left the royal palace of the slumbering lion.
As he walked, he sighed, “What a headache…”
If nothing unexpected happens, that fox should also be an Ascender, and the number one, the “Great Serpent.”
The Host even judged that she was more powerful than himself, holding a staff—
—Considering that the staff he held used a gem from a Geometric Heavenly as its core material!
With this staff that he crafted himself, he was capable of applying suppressive strikes against most Fifth Tier Extraordinary individuals… In fact, the old mage codenamed “Pelican” had already prepared strategies for dealing with being targeted by others if he ranked first. Yet, upon entering, he was stunned… He only ranked third?
Now, by simply identifying a few individuals, one could discern who was who and which Path they followed: he himself was the Path of Wisdom, ranking second, “Sun,” was the Path of Devotion, and finally, the last-ranked “Sour Wine” was the Path of Authority. Along with Laro, the Clown of the Path of Beauty, the rebellious eldest daughter from Master Walter’s household was the Path of Love, and there was a warrior from Black Hawk, a Necromancer from the Spirit Tower… And the Crown Princess from Star Antinomy, she could only be the Path of Balance.
—Although the first-ranked “Great Serpent” said not a word, her identity was already locked in.
She could only be the Transcendent Path.
However, it was clear she did not belong to the Star Antinomy Academy—the Clown Laro harbored no ill will towards her, which meant she hadn’t done anything bad, and no one in the Demonology Academy had clean hands.
Simultaneously, she appeared to be close to “Sun,” the human Archbishop.
Although they hadn’t conversed much, Sandro could clearly feel the lack of distance between them—when one of them spoke to him, the other spoke along with him, and the other showed no reaction.
—This indicated that their relationship must be quite close, at least to the extent of mutual trust. Sitting right next to each other also suggested they were allies participating in the Ascension Ritual together.
A Transcendent, close to and trusted enough by an Archbishop…
Coupled with her being more powerful than himself holding a Geometric Divine Artifact; her presence near Star Antinomy while the Clown Laro did not display hostility nor recognize her; the fact that Miss Walter’s daughter knew she was a Child of the Moon but didn’t know her name; and her own lack of identification with the Children of the Moon, instead showing a clear preference for the Ascender of the Path of Authority… and that noble attire with an Imperial style.
Based on all this, the identity of “Great Serpent” was self-evident.
—She was “Alistair.”
More precisely, she was the Child of the Moon from the Imperial era—Viscountess Beyad.
According to the divination results from the Mage Tower, the first-generation Red Phase was killed by her.
She should also be a Fifth Tier Child of the Moon, but she did not identify much with the Child of the Moon race. Considering her close ties to the Church, she was most likely a “Moonlight Scholar,” a follower of the most traditional Hengwo… And her lover, the current Eternal Pope Eivass, had even prayed for Hengwo’s miracles, all of which aligned.
“Great Serpent” must have advanced herself to the Fifth Tier on the Transcendent Path to complete the legendary “Perfect Being” Great Deed.
Precisely because of this, “Pelican” had not considered the possibility of making an enemy of the Great Serpent.
Even if she was Fifth Tier, what then?
—Could she still defeat the Pope’s Guard?
Don’t be ridiculous—enemies of that caliber were beyond his capabilities.
Viscountess Beyad could even bring an Archbishop from the Church to accompany her in the Ascension!
One must realize, this was a New Moon Ritual with life-threatening danger and individual combat. This was enough to prove her standing within the Church.
…Although the divination indicated the first-generation Red Phase was killed by her, the Church might not have been uninvolved.
Because the divination determined the first-generation Red Phase died fighting against overwhelming odds; yet simultaneously, it stated that only Alistair had injured him.
—These two results were highly contradictory.
The Mage Tower knew that Red Phase possessed the ability to manifest thousands of avatars. During the Shattered Earth War and the critical battle for the Daffodil Duchy’s surrender, they had witnessed this ability. Red Phase had always had the numerical advantage; when did he ever have to fight against superior numbers?
Therefore, there was only one explanation—the Church had dispatched a large number of Cardinals and Archbishops, providing her with incredibly powerful enhancements and buffs.
This meant Alistair was highly bound to the Church. Firstly, she was weaker than her opponent, and secondly, killing her might provoke retaliation, so it was best not to choose conflict with her.
Moreover, during the New Moon Ritual, there were no “teammates” worth mentioning—if “Sun” and “Great Serpent” survived to the end, the one excluded would inevitably be a passerby, so even if he clung to them to survive, it would be meaningless.
The best approach was for him to act as a “staff officer” or “strategist,” quickly securing the vast majority of points from the second painting based on contribution to achieve White Horse’s victory. Then, he would proceed to the first or third painting to assist “Sun” in completing the artwork… helping each of them complete their respective paintings and accumulating the most points to survive.
As long as his contribution exceeded two-thirds, no one could surpass his cumulative score across the two paintings. In this way, he could be eliminated and revived under the special condition of “choose three out of one,” achieving victory through a Special Victory Condition.
In “Pelican’s” view, this was the optimal choice no matter what—as long as the Great Serpent and Sun were intelligent, they would have to and should choose this path.
After all, as an Extraordinary of the Path of Wisdom, he would surely be the fastest in completing such a mission. They formed a team of first, second, and third, and he implicitly assumed he would be the last to be eliminated… Therefore, as long as he didn’t kill anyone, he could prevent anyone from reviving through “choose three out of one.”
Thus, this was a Sure-Win Method—
…But that “Great Serpent” was far more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.
The old mage wanted to communicate with her but didn’t know how to persuade her.
Just then, the Baboon fell into thought.
Speaking of which…
Since this fairy tale blended the secrets of the “Shattered Earth War” and the “Battle of Punishing Heaven,” could it also contain other metaphors?
The ending of “Snow Queen” made him feel somewhat strange.
Undoubtedly, the golden lion was a male lion. And the White Horse was a prototype of the Silver Crown Dragon, so it was clearly male… He wasn’t a Child of the Moon who worshipped the Banquet Master, so why would he capture the “White Horse” to be his queen?
If one were to speak of who most closely fit the title “Snow Queen,” the Baboon would immediately think of the recently ascended “Winter Envoy.” But in this fairy tale, the symbol of Star Antinomy should be the “Young Lion” or “Black Wolf,” which clearly had no relation to the Silver Crown Dragon.
Unless…
“…I recall, there’s another interpretation of that historical event.”
The Baboon pondered, “I seem to have read in some book that the Silver Crown Dragon reportedly had another avatar.”
It was the black and red Calamity Demon Dragon.
It was the residual power of Arthur from his days as the Crown Heavenly Envoy, now sealed by the Silver Crown Dragon.
If this lion king did not solely refer to the Hrasal Empire… perhaps it held another meaning.
—That of the Beast Lord.
If the golden lion king were to be understood as the Beast Lord… then this painting could be shifted towards “Snow Queen” or “Animal World”!
“The Lion King fitting the ‘Shattered Earth War’ part is actually just the point of ‘being undermined from within by the Mole.’ All that’s needed is to kill the Mole in advance, and then… find a queen for the Lion King, and it becomes the story of Hengwo taming the Beast Lord with love!”
The Baboon’s eyes lit up: “This means the ‘White Horse’ isn’t necessarily the Silver Crown Dragon; I preconceived it! It could also be ‘Hengwo,’ and the Lion King could be the Beast Lord, and the Giant Bear could be too! The Mole could be a Child of the Moon ‘hatched from the Hrasal Empire,’ but if the White Horse is Hengwo… then emerging from the body of the dead Beast Lord could also be regarded as the ‘Blood Heavenly Envoy’!
“—Because this is not a fixed story, it’s just a painting!
“The mystery of this Ascension Ritual is… that a painting that has already been created can also be altered to have other meanings. Therefore, history that has already been determined may also be changed—
“Those three answers are not ‘which one is correct’… but rather, each one is correct!
“The choice actually refers to ‘what do you wish for the content of this painting to become.’ Therefore, simply cutting off the parts that do not belong to the ‘future’ you have chosen is equivalent to twisting ‘the past,’ thereby distorting the ‘future’ of this past!”
The old mage had thoroughly grasped the core mechanism of this ritual.
It was like taking a pile of messy texts, crossing out some parts, and allowing the remaining words to automatically form a new meaning.
…So this was how the Pillar Gods changed history?!
Furthermore, “Pelican” confirmed that most people probably had not yet figured out the mission progression. They were likely still searching for the “correct answer,” unaware that this ritual was meant to “distort the world” to “create one’s own answer”!
—Therefore, I am bound to win!
(End of Chapter)