Chapter 146
Shepherding: Shadow Essence
When the Art of Pasturing is used within the Path of Devotion, its manifestation is prayer and sacrifice.
However, when this Mystical Art is employed through the power of the Transcendent Path, it transforms into a ritual.
The Ritual Array was once again inscribed on the ground by Eivass and Lily. But unlike before, this time, the eight-pointed star array bore no names of the Nine Pillar Gods. Instead, it was filled with Eivass’s name and its various permutations in different languages.
They prepared a cup of fine wine in the early evening, infusing it with cinnamon. After steeping for half an hour, they brought it to a boil over low heat, then removed the cinnamon.
Following this, Lily introduced the most crucial element.
It was an amethyst, carved by Eivass into an octahedron die.
Amethyst is the guardian jewel of the Transcendent Path. This is because it can balance discordant elements within various rituals, and the core art of the Transcendent Path is ritual. Rituals that were mere inches from completion but failed due to subtle imbalances could now function properly after being harmonized by the amethyst, effectively increasing the ritual’s margin of error.
The shepherd’s method is inherently taboo, akin to making water flow upstream or fire burn eternally. Without the amethyst’s balancing effect, its ritualistic components would inevitably fail.
Once the amethyst octahedron die was placed in the wine, Lily allowed the liquid to cool naturally. When it reached room temperature, the ritual could commence.
Lily knelt before Eivass, who sat in a high-backed chair positioned within the array.
His feet touched the ground, and the Shadow Demon spontaneously flowed into Eivass’s body. This caused Eivass’s entire body to turn pale and cold, emitting a faint black smoke. His eyes were completely filled with dark mist, and his hands appeared as if clad in black silk gloves—the four limbs and seven orifices are the parts where demons most readily manifest outwardly.
“I am your shepherd; you shall not want,” Eivass said softly.
As he spoke, he took out the ritual knife he had used to feed the Shadow Demon previously.
He used the blade to cut his finger, then used his bloody index finger to write his name, devoid of a surname, on Lily’s forehead. Throughout this, Lily gazed up at Eivass as if seeking a blessing.
After inscribing the short name, Eivass let the blood drip down. A trace of the Shadow Demon’s energy infused the blood, making the falling droplet exceptionally thick and black, even carrying a sour, rotten-wood scent.
Lily then lowered her head, holding the ritual wine cup high with both hands.
Amethyst symbolizes Dionysus, and also signifies loyalty and love. Concurrently, it represents two other characteristics of the Transcendent Path—rebellion and contract.
“Here, I bestow upon you grace, hope, and boundless pleasure,” Eivass dripped his blood into the wine, his voice, now merged with the Shadow Demon’s, declared, “Never seeking repayment.”
Lily looked up and drank the wine in one gulp, swallowing the octahedron die along with it.
She then placed the wine cup at Eivass’s feet and carefully spat out the octahedron die from her mouth.
If the ritual was successful, regardless of the probabilities of rolling other numbers, the die would now only show the number 8.
8 signifies infinity and endlessness, cycles and transcendence. It is also the sacred number symbolizing the Serpent Father.
As expected, the die rolled in the wine cup before settling. The tilted face showed the number 8, and to both Eivass and Lily, it appeared as though it had fallen. Thus, it resembled “infinity” even more.
The instant the die stopped, an infinite black symbol appeared beneath Eivass and Lily. Two rings enveloped them separately.
Eivass’s dark attribute mana flowed out at an alarming rate, and the Shadow Demon instantly overflowed from Eivass, flowing into Lily, and then back again.
After a few seconds, as Eivass’s mana depleted, the amount of black mist swirling around them became balanced.
Eivass clearly perceived that the end of his contract with the Shadow Demon now had an additional person—Lily’s relationship with the Shadow Demon became extremely intimate, as if they were halves of a whole. Lily’s authority extended to the Shadow Demon, while the Shadow Demon’s authority was vested in him.
It was as if he had purchased a “family plan” for the Shadow Demon and then shared the child-level permissions with Lily.
“The ritual succeeded,” Eivass replied joyfully.
“It took about half of my power,” the Shadow Demon said in Chloe’s voice before Eivass could ask, “But if I’m fed a bit more, I can slowly replenish it…”
“And Lily?” Eivass inquired of his maid.
Lily lowered her head, feeling the newfound shadow energy within her. Like ink dropped into water, she momentarily blurred and dissipated into the Material Realm, only to reform as if time had reversed.
She looked up, her voice filled with joy, “My relationship with the shadows has suddenly become so intimate! I feel as if I can now stealthily enter the shadows!”
“Naturally,” the Shadow Demon’s voice became stern for some reason. “You are now half a Shadow Demon. However, all the skills possessed by a Shadow Demon must be practiced from scratch. But if you can fully unleash your power, you will be like a Shadow Demon with a physical body… Do not squander the Master’s gift.”
In truth, the Shadow Demon was also astonished by the mystique of the shepherding method. However, it did not want to appear overly surprised in front of Eivass and Lily. Thus, despite its surprise, it maintained an air of nonchalance.
After the ritual was established, a mysterious and firm connection formed between the Shadow Demon and Lily.
It had initially believed that Eivass had merely taken a portion of its power and that Lily would need to seek it out for replenishment once she had used it up. But that was not the case; it was more accurate to say that it had consumed half of its own strength to grant Lily a racial talent.
In a sense, a kinship had formed between them—a connection tighter than a fiend’s possession.
It felt… like a mother.
Lily vaguely experienced this feeling. The Shadow Demon, which she had previously feared, now felt intimate.
She could even vaguely perceive the Shadow Demon’s thoughts and intentions.
For instance, at this moment, the Shadow Demon was perplexed by the power of the shepherding method.
So Lily tenderly said to the Shadow Demon, “I feel like… I can also bear your existence now…”
As she spoke, Lily lightly pressed a finger onto Eivass’s shadow.
Immediately, the Shadow Demon flowed from the shadow cast by that finger into Lily’s own shadow, resting there securely. It was even more stable than within Eivass’s shadow—at least Eivass’s shadow would quiver uncontrollably when he stood still.
“You can really do this?” Eivass asked, slightly surprised.
“Not too far, and not for too long,” the Shadow Demon’s voice came from beneath Lily. “And I feel like I can’t exert my full power when I’m with Lily…”
“Let’s do an experiment. You go out with Lily and see how far you can go and how much power you can exert,” Eivass said, standing up from his chair. “I’ll tidy up things in here first. If you see Oswald, you can also tell him the good news about Yulia’s recovery.”
At this moment, his shadow finally stopped trembling, as if restored to normalcy.
Lily nodded, and silently left with the Shadow Demon.
After the Shadow Demon departed, Eivass murmured softly, “I can finally feel the touch of a cashmere carpet again…”
This was the first time Eivass had been able to stand and walk normally since regaining his past life memories.
When he usually stood and walked, no matter what surface he trod upon, he felt as if he were stepping on something soft and elastic. In reality, it was the Shadow Demon’s body.
The Shadow Demon felt like slightly soft rubber underfoot.
The advantage was that Eivass could run normally on uneven terrain—even in swamps or on sand. The disadvantage was that it was quite uncomfortable to walk on.
It even felt a bit sticky… like half a bottle of cola spilled on a rubber floor.
If Eivass had been wearing leather shoes or boots instead of the cloth shoes of a priest, it wouldn’t have been quite so sticky.
Eivass sighed a couple of times before skillfully beginning to clean up the ritual.
He had cleaned up ritual sites three times that night already… Eivass was now even contemplating whether he should create a basement or some unused room and convert it directly into a ritual chamber. Of course, his own bedroom was out of the question; the smell would be too strong.
Eivass could now faintly smell a blood-like stench that reminded him of slaughtering chickens. He didn’t even know where the smell was coming from, as the room had been exposed to so much blood that night. The floor might even be soaked through with it.
If he sprayed Luminol reagent, Eivass’s bedroom would probably glow like a slaughterhouse.
When the Shadow Demon returns, let it walk on the ground and corrode the blood.
…It just felt inexplicably similar to asking a puppy to clean up spilled food scraps.
To avoid waking Yulia, Eivass’s movements were very gentle. He quickly cleaned up the ritual site, and a shadow quickly flowed across the ground, re-entering his own shadow.
A while later, Lily also returned to report.
“It can go as far as Young Master Edward’s room. Any further and it automatically returns. However, when Miss Shadow Demon is with me, it can only spread out about five or six steps.”
A parent-child router, Eivass thought sarcastically.
And why “Miss”?
Was it because Chloe’s voice had led the formless and genderless Shadow Demon to be perceived as female?
Never mind, it didn’t matter. Eivass couldn’t be bothered to correct Lily.
“If it can reach Edward’s place… that means a radius of about fifty meters. Lily’s five or six steps are only about three meters…”
Eivass muttered to himself.
With a three-meter radius, the Shadow Demon could at most act as a bodyguard, offering little destructive power. But conversely, this trait could be utilized to have the Shadow Demon scout ahead with Lily.
Without the “Field Card: Shadow Den,” the Shadow Demon was restricted.
It could only appear on Eivass’s own shadow; it could not enter any attached shadows. Otherwise, at night, it could travel anywhere.
For example, when Eivass stood at the corner of a wall, the Shadow Demon could not move within the shadow cast by that wall. When Eivass was with other people, it could not enter their shadows.
This was why the Shadow Demon would expand Eivass’s shadow by spreading out its shadow domain like a carpet.
But now, Lily could also serve as a temporary vessel for the Shadow Demon.
With a three-meter radius, Lily could essentially use most of the techniques Eivass had used in rituals.
In a way, this effectively increased Lily’s offensive capabilities!
And Eivass realized the biggest benefit of this development—
“Have Lily raise her hand,” Eivass commanded the Shadow Demon in his mind.
He wanted to conduct an experiment.
Indeed, after about two seconds, Lily inexplicably raised her hand.
Eivass’s eyes lit up. It actually worked!
If the Shadow Demon was his contractor, and Lily was the Shadow Demon’s contractor… then Eivass could now give precise commands to Lily remotely through the Shadow Demon as an intermediary, without even opening his mouth!
In appearance, it was like delayed telepathy. Or rather…
This was squad voice chat!
Thanks to Black Eyes for the Alliance Leader gift~ Thank you, boss~
