The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 333

Chapter 334
I Feel This Victory Settlement (Third Update)
When Lily finished killing the straggling Children of the Moon and quietly crept back into the hall from the shadows, she was suddenly startled.
Why was the floor covered in white ash—
She had left the hall not long ago, and by then, some of the Children of the Moon had already been attacked and killed by Earthbound Spirits.
Lily could guess that this was likely the Young Master’s doing.
Because she had noticed Eivass inquiring about the haunted inn near Eagle Cape Village and preparing materials to seal the Butterfly of Paradox… so she felt that Eivass might have gone ghost hunting.
And it turned out that he had…
But such a death was not complete for the Children of the Moon.
As Supervisor Cornelius had said, Earthbound Spirits could hardly harm the Children of the Moon directly. The Children of the Moon killed by him were usually the newborns who were weak enough. After all, their souls were too fragile… attacking the soul directly bypassed the Children of the Moon’s immortality and turned them into dust.
The rest were basically Children of the Moon killing each other while trapped in illusions.
This kind of killing without a finishing blow was not terrifying—although they fell and lost their breath and heartbeat, as long as their blood had not completely drained, they were not truly dead.
Even if they turned into ash-white statues, they could still be awakened by pouring enough fresh blood on them.
Even if the statues were destroyed by extraordinary power and only ashes remained, new Children of the Moon could be synthesized by combining a certain amount of ashes with the corpses of other Ascenders of the Path of Love. This was also a form of rebirth.
And if the amount of ash was sufficient, they could even be resurrected directly through a ritual… but such Children of the Moon would be a combination of many.
—Only the newborns would be terrified by this.
Because they lacked the common sense of monsters and still saw themselves as the deceased, thus fearing physical death.
To completely kill a Child of the Moon, one must immerse the bone ash in Holy Water from the Path of Devotion, or other liquids from different paths. Or, they must be burned to death by fire and light, or killed by attacking the soul directly—Children of the Moon killed by burning would bypass immortality, not turn into statues, but directly into bone ash, just like the old man who died from being attacked by an Earthbound Spirit.
Such bone ash could not be used to create new Children of the Moon or resurrect them.
Lily had already prepared herself—a large number of Children of the Moon would surely gather in the hall, and their levels would undoubtedly be higher than those who had escaped. This would definitely be a fierce battle.
But in the end, there was only one Child of the Moon sitting alone in the hall.
She was a woman with beautiful, soft black long hair and green eyes, wearing glasses.
She was drinking blood wine alone, her expression indifferent and proud.
And sitting in another spot opposite her was another woman identical to her. Black smoke emanated from her body, and she gazed at them with malice… Her appearance was no different from the other one, except she wasn’t wearing glasses.
She was holding another girl in her arms. The girl was looking at Lily, wearing a gentle, foxy fake smile that Lily was all too familiar with.
Lily, using her senses, recognized the identity of the “other Beyad” without glasses almost immediately.
It was…
—Miss Shadow Demon?
“How could this be…”
The first to fall into confusion and astonishment at this scene was… the Shadow Demon in Lily’s shadow.
Undoubtedly, she also sensed the other party’s identity.
“You’ve worked hard… Alain. You’ve saved me a lot of time.”
Eivass said with a smile, raising a glass to Lily, “Are you thirsty? Want some? This doesn’t have blood in it.”
Her face held a mischievousness that only she and Lily could understand.
Lily quickly reacted.
She walked over helplessly, took the red wine from Eivass’s hand, skillfully opened the bottle for Eivass, and poured two glasses—it was a very rare and expensive type of red wine due to the war in the Empire.
Eivass was probably too lazy to open it herself, so she held onto it, waiting for Lily to find her…
Lily casually asked, “What are you doing, Mr. Gray? Oh, right, the Ban has been killed by me…”
“That’s great then.”
Eivass said lightly, “With this, six people have been confirmed dead—we won again.”
“…Six people?”
Lily was a little surprised, “I thought you… killed them all.”
“One was missed. He ran too fast, couldn’t help it.”
Eivass showed a meaningful smile, “But it’s okay to let him live… he’s also talented. Killing him might damage his talent.”
—Understood, the Young Master’s heart is moved again.
Lily thought.
Lily was now extremely familiar with this expression—Eivass had had the same expression when she went to see Mr. King earlier. It was an intense desire of “I see, I want, I get.”
However, after such a brief contact, the Young Master could directly discern the other party’s true identity… This investigative ability was truly Admirable.
Lily lamented in her heart.
“…As expected.”
The Shadow Demon in Lily’s shadow sighed, seeming a bit lost, “This is an… Ascension Ritual.”
When it heard about the “Ascension Quotas” before, it had vaguely sensed something was wrong. But it was unwilling to believe it.
Now it had truly confirmed it.
The hatred, pain, and confusion in its heart… were all false. And the desire for revenge was also false.
Just thinking about it, the hatred it felt when seeing “Beyad” nearby seemed so absurd and ridiculous.
—Looking at that Shadow Demon, it knew that it had devoured Beyad in the future. Otherwise, the silhouette formed by the Shadow Demon wouldn’t have any color.
If the person it formed had color, it meant it had already assimilated the other party and incorporated them into itself.
In other words, it had already achieved revenge in the future.
Now, there were three Beyads here.
Beyad as a Child of the Moon; Beyad resurrected as a demon; Beyad as a Shadow Demon who returned to the past with her Master…
Past, present, and future. Intertwined, this contradiction and pain made the Shadow Demon feel as if its non-existent brain was emitting a painful hum.
But in that instant, as the desire for revenge faded, a new confusion arose in its heart…
Looking at the terrifying and cold demonic form of her “future self”—compared to the “Beyad” next to her, who looked more like a monster?
“You guys should be leaving soon, right?”
Child of the Moon Beyad suddenly spoke, her eyes filled with nostalgia as she gazed at the girl. “And then we’ll never see each other again.”
“If what you said is true, and you’ve already killed six Ascenders… even the New Moon Ritual should be complete.”
Shadow Demon Beyad let out a low rumble, “Or is there still a mission you need to complete here?”
“There is indeed one more.”
The girl replied.
She looked at the Child of the Moon, a beautiful smile appearing on her face that startled the Shadow Demon.
She slowly walked over and hugged the Child of the Moon from behind.
She whispered into her ear, “My Master…
“—May I kill you?”
Miss Beyad, with her back to Eivass, smiled upon hearing this.
It was a smile of acceptance and peace, as she had long expected it and was prepared for it.
“You may.”
Even without turning her head, Beyad said softly, “We already agreed on this before.”
The Shadow Demon, witnessing this scene, felt its non-existent brain vibrate violently.
It felt as if it had missed something important.
Another “self” appeared in Lily’s shadow at that very moment. She entered so smoothly and naturally that she immediately pushed the Shadow Demon into a corner.
The Shadow Demon finally realized why this person’s shadow was so alluring and why it had instinctively burrowed into it… like a puppy that automatically ran into a new doghouse.
“I have an idea.”
Her future self said, “I know you want to kill ‘Beyad’ once, and so do I. But I can no longer devour her.”
“Didn’t you devour her once already?”
The Shadow Demon sneered, “Do you want to eat me now? But I’m fake, eating me would be like eating air.”
“No,” the other self replied calmly, “I did not devour Beyad.
“In the historical period I experienced, she eventually offered herself to me. Because of this, I no longer used the name Beyad, nor did I use this body often.”
“…What?”
The Shadow Demon was stunned.
“We experienced many things, and eventually even became friends. Her voluntary surrender ended my revenge, and finally quelled the unending anger in my heart. I regained my rationality, but I also removed the Mark of Wrath, and thus could no longer grow stronger.”
The future Shadow Demon said calmly, “However, my revenge never ended properly.
“I think this might be the only chance in my life. The merciful Twin allowed me to contact my past self… and two past selves at the same time.
“Even if everything is fake, the experience gained will be real—I think this is what the Twin meant.”
“…Forget it.”
The Shadow Demon was silent for a while, then sighed, “As you wish.”
It felt itself gradually merging with the other self.
A Shadow Demon was inherently formless, without a body, name, or color. Just a void of burning rage.
But now, it vaguely felt the ice-cold, empty heart of its other self.
However, within it… it now seemed to faintly sense a warmth that should not exist.
It was like flowing blood, or perhaps a golden sun.
It was the deep purple glow of twilight, the freedom that transcended all bonds—
“…That’s good.”
The Shadow Demon sighed silently.
—I envy you.
The shadow beneath Eivass spread out like a quagmire.
The Shadow Demon, transformed into a hound, emerged from beneath the motionless Miss Beyad.
Its dog head, taller than a person, opened its mouth, revealing giant, sharp fangs. The Shadow Hound swallowed Miss Beyad whole and dragged her into the shadow that resembled a black swamp.
This was the “Shadow Hound’s Devour,” the Shadow Demon’s most powerful technique. It instantly devoured and carried away its target—even if the opponent resisted with all their might, they would be taken to the Dream Realm and lose their physical body.
If the opponent’s resistance was ineffective, or if they didn’t resist at all, they would become the Shadow Demon’s food.
—Thus, all missions were completed.
Then Eivass took a sip of the expensive red wine and looked at the Shadow Demon, which had suddenly fallen silent after devouring Beyad, and said calmly, “As for the last person, he should be Mr. Stranger, who was next to me at the time. He was bought by Basil Valentine and is probably still on the carriage discussing Alchemy with him.
“As for the person next to me… she is not Alain, but Gray. I am Alain.
“Is this acceptable, Terpsichore Your Excellency? Does this meet the settlement conditions for ‘Secret Reflection’?”
After a brief silence, a clear and melodious gentle voice sounded:
“Triggering the victory condition for ‘Secret Reflection,’ settling ahead of schedule, ignoring necessary missions—”
A pure white radiance lit up the eyes of all participants, including those who had already died.
It was the radiance of the temporarily constructed dream world suddenly collapsing and disintegrating.
Before everyone’s eyes, a series of ever-changing images appeared:
A youth, eyes burning with rage and bound, cursing loudly;
A youth walking in a secret passage, suddenly having his head pierced by ice spikes from behind;
An indistinct mass being engulfed and devoured by countless scarlet tentacles amidst a piercing scream;
A girl lying dazed on the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices, her eyes hollow;
A youth’s bare body covered in traces of corrosive acid, his face showing a pained struggle;
A girl with a helpless but not panicked smile, calmly being impaled like a sea urchin by a shadow spear;
A girl chatting happily with someone at a wine table, the atmosphere between them cordial and warm;
A youth’s feet entwined with shadows, his smile becoming eerie and terrifying because of it;
And finally, a well-behaved girl sleeping peacefully in the arms of a black-haired woman.
The image froze on the girl’s sweet sleeping face, then the entire scene collapsed and turned into a sea of blood, slowly dripping down.
Eivass immediately lost her composure.
“—Why is it this scene!”
Update complete!
Today’s update was a little late because it was close to nine thousand words—
If I write any more, it’ll exceed ten thousand. I’ll have to post the glossary tomorrow!