The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 346

Chapter 346
Your Curse Isn’t Effective, Bro (Third Update)
At this moment.
Giant Prince Wolfram was performing a cursing ritual in an open space of a nearby village.
Fragments of human corpses were scattered everywhere.
While alive, their skin had been completely flayed. Now, the front of these skins was filled with Eivass’s name, and the backs were inscribed with various sins and causes of death.
These skins were roughly sewn together, overlapping to form a drumhead. Inside the drum were the former hearts of the dead.
Giant Prince Wolfram sat cross-legged on the ground, his eyes closed. He was completely naked.
His hands rhythmically beat the human skin drum, producing an ominous rhythm.
“This is not a curse. This is a divine oracle.”
He spoke in a low voice, “I appeal to the King of Sin and Punishment. This person is guilty and deserves punishment. I pray for a divine oracle with the blood of the Punisher Demon, to deliver a just sentence.”
There were eight skinned corpses, but nine hearts.
This was not Amber’s sacred number “9,” but “8+1.”
This was because the ninth person only had his heart taken, while his body was directly consumed by the Giant Prince, ensuring complete destruction in the Material Realm. This was to distinguish it from the number 9.
—When the sacred number is eight, it signifies the Father Serpent.
Because eight is infinity, a cycle, and just one step short of the limit—for if perfection were reached, there would be no need for transcendence or progress, which is the very foundation of transcendence.
Eight corpses but nine hearts signifies “one more than 8” hearts. This symbolizes the Fallen Heavenly Envoy who once rebelled against the Father Serpent. This cursing ritual signifies elevating Them to a greater existence than the Father Serpent, thereby borrowing the power of the curse to kill other Transcendent beings.
“You are Eivass, you are Human. You are Eivass Moriarty, grandson of Jacob Alexander, son of Giulio Alexander, adopted son of James Moriarty. You were once a sinner, now a Transcendent, and in the future, a demon.
“The moon waxes and wanes, people live and die. Sins cannot be transcended, and fall cannot be transcended—
“I accuse you, with my soul, to the King of Sin and Punishment: you used your own kin as ritual material. This is an unforgivable great sin. If this is true, the divine oracle shall take half your soul; if not, let the divine oracle spare you…”
Wolfram beat the drum, the sound like thunder.
He chanted in a low voice with rhythm: “I accuse you, with my soul, to the King of Sin and Punishment: you used coercive contract power on a demon to make it obey. This is the second greatest sin. If this is true, the divine oracle shall take half your heart; if not, let the divine oracle spare you…”
A chilling wind blew between heaven and earth, and dark clouds gathered—a storm was coming.
The Punisher Demon, observing from the side, suddenly had a flash in his eyes.
He clearly saw a black feather slowly falling from the sky.
This signified that the Fallen Heavenly Envoy had heard Wolfram’s prayer and was now casting their gaze upon them.
The curse had taken effect!
—As expected of a Curse Ritual Mage.
The Punisher Demon’s heart pounded with fear and exhilaration.
It was about time!
That strange butterfly-shaped Phantom Demon was somewhat terrifying…
He had suffered an attack from that butterfly before and was now quite wary of that creature.
The Punisher Demon knew very well that he could be killed by it if he wasn’t careful.
Being able to eliminate him before a fight was definitely better than risking one’s life…
This curse had three stages: “using one’s kin as ritual material,” “using coercive contract power on a demon to make it obey,” and “killing Ordinary Persons with Extraordinary Power.” These corresponded to “taking half the soul,” “taking half the heart,” and “eliminating half the power,” which would be returned on the next full moon.
If none of these were successfully taken, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy would, in turn, punish the curser, randomly choosing one of the three punishments.
For an ordinary Demon Scholar, even the first great sin was devastating.
The excruciating pain of having one’s soul cut would render them unable to resist—followed by the second greatest sin taking half their heart, causing a fatal wound. The third great sin was merely an add-on, but it was almost guaranteed to hit as well.
This curse was so powerful that it was almost impossible to resist.
—Because no Demon Scholar could avoid committing these three great sins!
Not using human materials would mean half of a Demon Scholar’s abilities couldn’t be used; not using contracts would mean the other half couldn’t be used either.
Without contracts, how could demons be controlled? The Punisher Demon, himself now a demon, knew very well that demons harbored malice towards Demon Scholars—if anyone dared to attempt to summon and contract with him, he would also find ways to cause trouble for them.
But in the next moment.
Wolfram suddenly grunted.
The large drum in front of him shattered, bone fragments flying out and embedding in his body, but these were only minor injuries—his face turned pale, he clutched his chest, and fell to his knees, spitting out fragments of his organs. His entire presence visibly weakened.
—Wait, what’s going on?
The Punisher Demon was shocked: “The curse failed?”
“…It succeeded, but it backfired.”
Wolfram gritted his teeth, “How could there be such a monster… Right, it must be that bastard Jacob. He must have warned his grandson about the Great Wizard’s methods in advance…”
“Are you alright?!”
The Punisher Demon was somewhat nervous.
Not out of concern for the Giant Prince’s body, but because he still needed the Prince to distract the King of the Wild Hunt…
In Wolfram’s usually calm and indifferent eyes, for the first time, anger ignited: “Fortunately, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy showed mercy, and only half my heart is missing. It’s not a big problem… Fortunately, I also have Fourth Tier power on the Path of Authority. Losing only half my heart won’t kill me. But I can’t recover from a curse wound like this with rituals, so it’ll have to be like this…
“You go to that village first. I’ll try other curses. I will make him suffer—”
“…Alright.”
The Punisher Demon, with some concern, reminded him, “Try again, and if it doesn’t work, come back quickly. Time is running out.”
“I’ll try one more time. This time, I won’t use a curse with side effects.”
Wolfram was quite stubborn.
On the other side, Eivass felt the pressure on his body gradually dissipate and looked up, saying, “It seems the curse has ended.”
“What did he curse you with?”
Haina asked nervously, “I’ve seen the methods of Curse Masters, they are incredibly bizarre…”
“…I don’t know either.”
Eivass was also somewhat bewildered, not understanding what had happened, “But I do feel that the curse has ended. Maybe he failed.”
“He’s not skilled enough. Or rather, let’s just assume he’s not skilled enough.”
Sherlock replied plainly, “But we’d best not gamble—do you have any ways to evade curses?”
“—I actually do.”
Eivass suddenly had an idea and extended his hand to Sherlock, “Give me the mirror.”
Holding the makeup mirror provided by Sherlock, Eivass sneered.
Perfect disguise, undetectable by any spell, right.
That meant the giant couldn’t use a spell targeted at “Eivass Moriarty” to target Eivass. Otherwise, it would be equivalent to detecting him.
Then let him know what “target lost” means—
Updates complete! Cat needs to go eat lunch, so hungry…
The additional update event has successfully concluded. We’ll return to two updates tomorrow! Time to rest~
Thanks to Super Powerful Jet Battle Cat, Song of the Black Mass, and Czh555 for the generous gifts of overlord status. Thank you! Mr. Key! My honor level has just reached three! All overlords, remember to leave a message with the operator, Guan Guan, to claim your overlord peripheral gift box, which will be sent before the new year!