The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 1007

Chapter 1006
Meeting the Envoy of Shadow

Undoubtedly, the environment of the Shadow Realm is terrifying.
The pitch-black night, the bone-chilling cold wind, the strange and shrill roars that occasionally echo in the night sky, and the incessant lightning and thunder. It is an inauspicious scene of impending storm, yet the storm never truly breaks.

The Shadow Realm does not have “citizens” in the ordinary sense, so there are no common people to be seen on the roads. In the vast and silent wilderness, there is nothing but various monsters.

The land here is gray or black, and there are trees and bushes around. But their shapes are rugged like skeletons, and all these plants are black. When the lightning flashes in the sky, one could easily mistake them for menacing shadow monsters with a flicker of the eye.

— It looks like a world shrouded in a black and white filter. The entire world consists of only black, white, and gray, with black and gray overwhelmingly dominant, like a somber black and white film, or a dimly drawn black and white comic.

The only things that come “alive” are the warriors of the Shadow Realm, and outsiders like Eivass and Arsen.

The colors of their clothes, as well as their hair and eye colors, are the only hues in this dark world. However, even so, some of those warriors are gradually becoming “black and white”—the price, or perhaps the blessing, of living in the Shadow Realm for a long time is to be gradually dyed by the power of shadows, eventually becoming an elemental life form irreversibly.

Judging by their clothes, skin, pupils, and hair… the more color someone loses, the longer they might have been here. Of course, it could also be due to being too weak to resist the erosion of shadow power. For example, Lancelot is already half-immersed in shadows.

In this shadow realm without day or moon, time also loses its meaning.

But fortunately, these warriors are all extremely cheerful.

They actively dispatched some of them to carry the prey, while the rest gathered around Eivass and Arsen with enthusiasm and curiosity. The warriors shared their “Shadow Brew” with Eivass’s group and asked them about the events in the Mortal Realm. Eivass and Arsen are not taciturn or introverted people; they readily accepted the fine wine and regaled them with stories of the outside world as they drank, eliciting exclamations of surprise from the warriors.

That feeling was quite novel to Eivass, and quite familiar to Arsen—he often visited seniors who had been imprisoned for more than ten or several decades, and similar conversations would occur then. This greatly dispelled his fear of “Phantom Demons.”

— These legendary spirits of the dead, the cruel shadow warriors of the Shadow Realm… they are nothing more than prisoners with a more abundant entertainment life. From what they say, the Shadow Heavenly Envoy is a pretty good boss, but she still doesn’t allow them to leave the Shadow Realm freely—the only place they are allowed to visit is probably the Banquet Heavenly Envoy’s territory.

This is because there are too many bizarre and dangerous Phantom Demons in the Dream Realm. Some of them even possess power that can rival that of a Heavenly Envoy, merely lacking the opportunity to obtain Heavenly Envoy Fragments. After all, Heavenly Envoy Fragments provide a form of enhancement; both the Envoy of Mist and the Banquet Heavenly Envoy are much more powerful now than they were before their ascension. Even powerful Phantom Demons of Queen Titania’s caliber are not too rare in the Dream Realm. Therefore, the Shadow Heavenly Envoy is unwilling to let them wander around the Dream Realm.

Furthermore, due to their loving relationship with the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, which falls under the Path of Love, she is unwilling to send them into the Material Realm. Thus, they are trapped here, living out their days in a sweet prison. They are usually quite happy… but they can only hear stories from witches who return from the Material Realm.

However, witches are masters of deception and often harbor ulterior motives towards them. The stories they tell are half-true and half-false, unreliable, and they deliberately collude to tease them. Now that Eivass and Arsen, two outsiders, are present, they can finally discern the truth from the falsehood.

They strolled leisurely, eating and drinking like students on a field trip.

After what felt like countless bolts of lightning, they finally saw something different.
It was a castle built from black and gray. It stood in a pitch-black canyon rift—unlike many castles that prefer to be built at heights, it was constructed in the center of a sunken basin. Although it appeared quite massive, it was only two stories high in terms of scale, which seemed a bit unfitting for a “Queen of the Shadow Realm” …

“This castle faces downwards.”

Lancelot, with his arm around Eivass as they drank, noticed the meaning in Eivass’s eyes and quickly explained, “It plunges into the abyss like death, much like how shadows are always on the opposite side of sunlight. If the lightning is in the sky, the downward shadow can extend infinitely—that is the Shadow Heavenly Envoy’s ‘Infinite Palace.’ It was once a vast cavern transformed into a palace by Her Majesty the Queen. We usually live there.”

“If that’s the case,” Arsen asked with some doubt, “then why build a second floor?”

“That’s called the Thunder Observation Deck.”

Lancelot replied, “Her Majesty the Queen sometimes stands there and uses the shadows cast by the falling lightning to perform divination or curses.”

“Are there lamps inside the palace?”

Eivass was concerned about this question. Although he possessed night vision, ever since obtaining the abilities of a Child of the Candlemaster, he had developed a peculiar fondness for light. Just being in the Shadow Realm for a short period made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

“—That is natural.”

Before Lancelot could respond, a woman’s voice echoed out of thin air, filled with laughter, “Without light, how can there be shadows?”

As she spoke, the tall, large female giant pushed open the door of the castle and emerged—

That was undoubtedly a pure-blooded giant. Unlike the ugly and brutish male giants who resemble gorillas, female giants are usually extremely beautiful. However, their skin is often less than perfect, with white skin deposits of rocky texture that flake off like peeling paint. They look like giant cracked statues.

But the Shadow Heavenly Envoy was not like that. Her skin was soft and smooth, without any cracks. She was about four meters tall, considered petite among pure-blooded giants, but tall among Priestesses. She had long, silken hair that should have been fiery red, but it had been dyed a dark, wine-like red by the shadows. Her pupils were the same blood-red, filled with countless glittering facets of broken diamonds, like a kaleidoscope. She possessed an elven-like beauty with a hint of heroism—not extraordinarily beautiful and awe-inspiring like Cardinal Galatea, nor hazy and mysterious like the Envoy of Mist.

If one were to ignore her immense height, she would appear as a beautiful woman with a cheerful, generous, and confident personality. At this moment, she was clad in a highly revealing dark red leather armor, with a cloak woven from shadow-like night draped behind her. On her back was a terrifying, blood-red spear covered in thorns, resembling a fish’s spine or some kind of massive harpoon.

—Undoubtedly, this was the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, Queen Scathach of the Shadow Realm.

Before Eivass could even enter the castle, she came out to greet them proactively.

“Greetings, Your Majesty the Queen!”

Arsen immediately knelt on one knee without hesitation. He could hardly imagine—he, a lowly thief, would one day meet a Heavenly Envoy! And see a Heavenly Envoy with his own eyes while still alive! It felt as if he were living in a dream… Oh wait, this place seemed to be in the Dream Realm. But even so, he was trembling, daring not to show the slightest disrespect—this was a genuine Heavenly Envoy! A true god! A god stood about thirty meters away from him!

However, unlike his reaction, the other warriors did not show much reverence towards the Queen of the Shadow Realm. They called out enthusiastically, “Your Majesty, our guests have brought us a great hunt!” “My Lady, Viol and the others can finally wake up now!” “My dear, shouldn’t we be having a banquet!”

The warriors had various ways of addressing the Shadow Heavenly Envoy. Regardless of the term, there was little “awe” and a lot of genuine “love.” These people were combative, greedy, jealous, skilled in combat, and adept in bed. The Shadow Heavenly Envoy did not have adaptability in the Path of Authority, so she did not care how much respect they had for her—they were her possessions, pets, and lovers. As long as the pets did not bare their teeth, no matter how mischievous, they could be forgiven. In fact, if they bared their teeth, it was even better—although the Shadow Heavenly Envoy was a Priestess, she was also a warrior. If someone dared to challenge her, she could fight them heartily. She would gladly accept any duel, anywhere, in any form.

The Shadow Heavenly Envoy smiled and waved her hand, “Drag them away—release your brothers! Then, dismember them and eat the meat! Go and summon those Fairies, my warriors! Ask them for the best wine, and we shall have a banquet tonight!”

“—Oh!”
“Hooray—”

The warriors cheered in delight. They were all tough guys with high execution and straightforward personalities; without anyone dawdling or wasting a moment, they dispersed in a throng. —Even though there was a banquet every night, the warriors always looked forward to the next one. Banquets were originally the prerogative of the Banquet Heavenly Envoy, but the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, jealous of the Banquet Master’s good banquets and many friends, insisted on holding banquets herself to keep the souls she favored.

Once the warriors dispersed, only two remained by Eivass’s side. Ares, the Nationslayer, and Lancelot. After politely bidding farewell to the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, they discreetly withdrew.

(End of Chapter)