The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 843

Chapter 842
Murder and Loot?

Alistair, in her red fox form, stood on the white horse, playfully tossing the baboon’s staff in her mouth. The staff was too large for her foxy jaws, and it would often fall onto the white horse’s back with a clatter.

“Do you like it that much?” the white horse asked, its voice deep and courteous. “Is it because it’s your spoils of war?”

“I just feel like it’s quite strong…” Alistair mumbled around the baboon’s staff, like a dog with a bone. “But it seems a bit difficult to use…”

The white horse could only continue to carry the fox on its back, gathering their legion. The fox had been stepping on its back the entire time, and despite its words, she wouldn’t get down. It made the white horse wonder who was truly the king of this legion.

Meanwhile, Alistair was engrossed in tinkering with something. Ever since she had dealt with the baboon, she had been studying its staff. Thanks to Clown Laro, this ritual had been revealed from the start, turning it into an open game. When most participants’ identities were leaked, who benefited the most?

It was undoubtedly the ascender on the Transcendent Path.

Both rituals and curses were methods of “overcoming the strong with the weak” that required preparation to be fully effective. When the old mage’s true name was exposed, even just a fragment of it was enough to accurately pinpoint him for a curse. Alistair had her Night Demon cast a curse on him and then tracked the curse’s trail, easily finding the old mage who was trying to remove it.

Theoretically, killing your opponent in this ascension ritual presided over by a Candlemaster was useless. Even if they died, they could still “complete the mission.” This could lead to the deceased stealing one’s contribution points or even completing the mission in reverse, rendering one’s own mission void. Killing someone was detrimental to victory and would only increase the difficulty.

But why should that matter? Just let him complete his mission. If he could truly finish it before her after death, then good for him, Alistair thought.

The reason Alistair *had* to kill the old mage was simple: she knew her own brain wasn’t that capable. Perhaps when the Hourglass was split, more intelligence was given to Eivass, significantly diminishing Alistair’s thinking and strategic abilities. Now, Alistair’s thinking was largely focused on schemes and tricks.

That old mage was too intelligent. If she cooperated with him, she could easily be manipulated. But if she let him go, he might join forces with someone else. After all, he was an Extraordinary from the Mage Tower, and he likely had a deep understanding of ascension rituals. An Extraordinary who could advance from four to five couldn’t be a complete fool. Perhaps something he said could enlighten someone else.

Alistair also possessed Eivass’s theological knowledge, which told her that Candlemaster had a great fondness for the number “three.” There were three paintings here, each with three endings, so the number of ascenders in each painting should also be three.

With her Night Demon, Alistair was undoubtedly the strongest participant in this painting. To prevent this painting’s world from devolving into a chaotic Three Kingdoms-esque scenario, Alistair had to eradicate the possibility of the remaining two cooperating. She killed the old mage not to eliminate him as a competitor, but rather to isolate the other participant. Since the living couldn’t hear the voices of the dead, Alistair effectively separated the other two without having to hear the old mage’s voice.

She didn’t intend to kill the remaining participant and believed that the other person wouldn’t commit suicide before encountering her and her companion. Since death wasn’t true death in this ascension ritual, she decided to view “killing” as “imprisonment” and “isolation.” One dead and one alive would effectively separate them, preventing any cooperation.

The sacred number was three—an incredibly clever figure. But since she had dealt with the old mage, she might as well pick up his equipment.

During ascension rituals, only self-made extraordinary items could be brought in. This was akin to an Alchemist’s potions, a Demigod’s weapons, or a Botanist’s seeds. Some Extraordinary beings were naturally skilled creators, and it would be unfair to prevent them from bringing their tools, making it impossible for ascenders on the Nine Great Paths to achieve balance. It was like Alistair’s Illusion Cards; although they were phantoms summoned out of thin air, they were still “items” in a sense.

And this staff… Alistair recognized a key component. The gemstone embedded in it, if not a fake, was very likely the Fire Tetrahedron.

The Fire Tetrahedron, the Earth Hexahedron, the Wind Octahedron, and the Water Icosahedron, along with the Aether Dodecahedron representing light and darkness—the essence of these five special crystals were actually Heavenly Envoy Fragments of the Geometric Heavenly Envoy. The Geometric Heavenly Envoy had only kept the Dodecahedron as its core and actively dispersed the remaining four polyhedrons into the Material Realm to collect elemental energies (fire, earth, water, wind) over a long period. They typically appeared in the hands of extremely intelligent scientists or scholars. This was the Geometric Heavenly Envoy’s path to ascension.

If it wanted to ascend further to become a Pillar God, its existing power alone would not be enough. Thus, it had long ago chosen to disperse its power, falling into a long slumber in the Dream Realm, using the dispersed Heavenly Envoy Fragments to recruit apostles and accumulate strength. And this was currently the only Heavenly Envoy Fragment obtainable in the Material Realm. If she could collect the remaining four polyhedrons, she would possess four-fifths of the Heavenly Envoy Fragments.

The only problem was that these polyhedrons repelled each other. Without the Dodecahedron, they couldn’t be brought together; otherwise, they would instantly teleport to random distant locations. Forcing them together would cause a violent explosion. Each crystal contained one-fifth of the Geometric Heavenly Envoy’s power. The old mage might not have known its true origin and value, but he certainly knew it was precious.

This mage had clearly discovered its properties: “it instantly escapes upon encountering other Heavenly Envoy polyhedrons” and “it disappears when used by someone with insufficient intelligence.” Therefore, he had treasure it and placed heavy seals and bindings on the staff to prevent others from using it. But this had also restricted its power. Otherwise, the magical damage from such a staff, equivalent to a Heavenly Envoy’s strike, would be too much for the Night Demon’s magical resistance. That was a Heavenly Envoy of the Path of Wisdom, especially the Geometric Heavenly Envoy, who was most skilled in elemental magic.

This was a genuinely valuable item. Although Eivass and Alistair were unlikely to be able to use it, Sherlock might have a chance. Alistair had initially planned to examine its specific properties. However, the seal seemed so effective that Alistair couldn’t see its attributes at all.

In that case, she might as well go to the Material Realm and take a look. Since he had this staff in the ascension ritual, it meant he must have it in the Material Realm as well! Once he died in the ascension ritual, it would become the old mage’s “relic” in the Material Realm, and perhaps she could obtain it easily.

If Sherlock could use this staff, she could give it to him. If he didn’t particularly like it, she could excavate the gemstone and use it as food for the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames. Alistair didn’t particularly like the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames, perhaps out of jealousy or some other reason. As the only Beast of Sin that could participate in Eivass’s ascension ritual on the Path of Devotion and the only summoned beast not yet at the Sixth Tier, thus not bound by the Hourglass, the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames possessed a certain uniqueness. Because of this, Alistair never called her “Leah” but only “Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames,” referring to her as a future colleague. *Leah was the name Eivass gave her, what does that have to do with me?* Still, if it was for Eivass, she could find a way to strengthen the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames. Eivass would never resort to murder and theft, so she would have to take the blame for him.

Alistair pondered seriously. For the Beast of Sin to evolve into its complete form, it needed Heavenly Envoy Fragments of the corresponding attribute. Strength or weakness didn’t matter; the key was the Heavenly Envoy’s law. In the game, it meant a new trait was bestowed upon the corresponding Beast of Sin, usually a key skill of the corresponding Heavenly Envoy. This trait could be overwritten later if necessary. For example, if an Flame Demon obtained the Crown of the Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy, its fire damage would also provide an equivalent healing effect to its allies. If it obtained the Crown of the Xi Celestial Envoy, it would greatly increase its skill range and gain extremely high penetration of fire and light attributes, along with additional light damage.

The Fallen Heavenly Envoy was about to descend. Alistair grew increasingly anxious. In the game, it was a challenging instance with an eight-player dungeon for the first encounter and a twenty-five-player dungeon for hard mode. But in reality, Eivass was alone. And the Fallen Heavenly Envoy wasn’t a fool, nor was it a dungeon BOSS whose memory would be wiped. If he failed the first time, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy would be prepared when Eivass returned. There was only one chance: the initial battle where the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, due to its arrogance, underestimated Eivass. When they met, one of them had to die. And if Eivass failed, it meant absolute death. Given Eivass’s personality, if self-sacrifice was useful, he would do so without hesitation for others. Alistair could not accept such an outcome. If Eivass represented absolute selflessness, then Alistair was absolutely selfish.

The staff of the “Pelican” (Geometric Heavenly Envoy) reminded Alistair of something. As a four-attribute Heavenly Envoy, its Heavenly Envoy Fragments could be considered to have all four attributes simultaneously. If they were separated, could they be consumed four times? Since “Pelican” had a good understanding of the Geometric Heavenly Envoy’s fragments, he likely had information and data on other geometric bodies as well. Alistair remembered that the fragment representing “wind” should be in the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, and the fragment representing “water” should be in some ruins. She could excavate them during future archeological expeditions. “I need to strengthen myself urgently, so I can pass it in one go!”

“It’s decided. Once the ritual is over, I’ll pay your house a visit.” “Blame me if you must—I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to win,” Alistair thought.

(End of this chapter)