Chapter 419
Sacred Number is Eleven
He suddenly remembered the impulse to advance to Shadow Demon yesterday.
If it weren’t for his sudden inspiration yesterday, and advancing the Shadow Demon to Night Demon along with the impulse in his heart… relying solely on the Shadow Demon’s power, they might not have been able to scare Emma away.
Moreover, the Shadow Demon, being close to advancement and excessively tired, might even fall asleep right there and then while Eivass was being mentally controlled by Emma. By the time Eivass had changed into Emma’s shape, it might not have been aware of anything.
—That would be too much of a victimized development. Eivass felt a chill just thinking about it.
During the process of advancing to Shadow Demon yesterday, Eivass felt that he might have been too hasty and the preparations too sloppy.
If he had followed his usual caution, he should have prayed to the Candlemaster a few days in advance, determined which Tarot Card to use to seal the Shadow Demon. Then, he should have prepared the cards in advance and stored enough Mana. The issue of insufficient Mana could also be easily resolved… Eivass just needed to allocate his free experience to the Demon Scholar profession a day in advance, which would have raised his level a bit.
He didn’t even need much of a level-up.
He was only short of six Mana points—and the Book of Law could provide five colorless Mana at the time. Pre-crafting the base for a Great Sin Card could save four Mana. Even without leveling up, Eivass would have had enough in the end by pre-crafting the Great Sin Card.
As a result, he was just short, by a single point.
—If it weren’t for the Golden Path Trait given to him by Twin that he suddenly remembered at the time, he might have directly lost an arm.
But if he hadn’t advanced yesterday, he would have been completely unable to resist Emma’s mind control today. And the Shadow Demon had just entered a state of readiness for evolution after receiving the last Art of Pasturing yesterday morning.
Everything was too coincidental.
And it was all just by a hair’s breadth.
He was just a little bit away from being taken away by Emma, just a little bit away from successfully helping the Shadow Demon complete its evolution, just a little bit away from losing an arm…
If the Golden Path Trait was determined by Twin,
then who was responsible for the rest?
Why was the Art of Pasturing Eivass obtained so effective against both the Fifth Tier Shadow Demon and Succubus?
Why did neither Meg nor Emma, these top experts from Avalon and Star Antinomy, know about the Art of Pasturing?
Why hadn’t the Shadow Demon, with all the memories of Child of the Moon Beyad, and the well-traveled Elf Janis, ever heard of the Art of Pasturing?
As early as the First Tier, Eivass could influence the Shadow Demon through the Art of Pasturing; during his Ascension Ritual in the Dream Realm, he even used the Art of Pasturing to evolve the Hooked Demon Jack into a Deformed and housed his consciousness within the Deformed…
And now, at the Third Tier, he could even Charm the Succubus who was most skilled at charming minds—even though this Succubus had not yet hatched.
Eivass remembered the look in her eyes.
The moment he left Emma, she looked startled and heartbroken, as if she had been genuinely moved.
Before, Eivass had either intentionally or unintentionally overlooked the peculiarity of the Art of Pasturing.
But now, in the peacefulness brought by the “Fire Worship” technique… or rather, under the influence of the Candlemaster’s power, Eivass calmly pondered and finally realized something was wrong.
Suddenly, a sentence echoed in Eivass’s mind:
“My sacred number is 11, which is the number of people belonging to us.”
That was what the “Divine Entity” summoned by Jacob had said in the illusion.
Sacred number is eleven?
There were only nine Paths in this World. No matter how the Nine Pillar Gods changed, the sacred number would not change. Because those were the names of the nine great rivers, the fundamental origin of the numbers “1” to “9”. It was the reason why natural numbers possessed divinity.
Even if you included the non-existent number “0”, it would only be ten. Where did eleven come from?
For this reason, Eivass had only remembered the words at the time but had not interpreted them later. Because such a vague riddle, like a prophecy, could be interpreted in various ways, and forcing an interpretation might easily lead his investigation in the wrong direction.
And at this moment, Eivass, who was longing for the Art of Pasturing, suddenly realized something he had subconsciously ignored, something very simple:
3 + 8 = 11.
—The Candlemaster’s sacred number is Three, and Father Serpent’s sacred number is Eight!
The Art of Pasturing requires a balance between the Path of Devotion and the Transcendent Path, neither more nor less, and the Energy Levels must be the same.
The Shepherd initially pastured demons of the Transcendent Path, and in the end, he even dragged a Fallen Heavenly Envoy into the Material Realm…
Then, who else wanted to drag the Fallen Heavenly Envoy into the Material Realm?
—The Ring Heavenly Envoy!
And that Divine Entity was a fragment of the Ring Heavenly Envoy…
“The number of people belonging to us…”
Eivass murmured in a low voice, “People belonging to ‘us’… ‘we’ is plural, and ‘person’ is singular.
“That person… isn’t it the Shepherd?”
Although the powers in the Grimoires were all lost arts, power could not be born from nothing. All extraordinary powers in this World originated from the nine rivers in the Dream Realm…
Then…
—The *Shepherd’s Secret Manual*, was it written by the Ring Heavenly Envoy?
Even if only one Grimoire could exist within a language system, Janis and Emma should not be completely ignorant of it.
Unless the one he obtained was a unique copy from the very beginning…
Or rather, could it be that only the “Divine Entity” could use the Art of Pasturing from the very beginning!
And if that were the case—
Then Eivass also seemed to understand another sentence, why there had only been one “Shepherd” for so many years.
If the first Shepherd was also a “Divine Entity”…
“I am the wine-drunken serpent who bestows knowledge, joy, and glory! If you wish to worship me, you must take my secret medicine, told to me by my prophet, until you are drunk.”
If “knowledge,” “joy,” and “glory” are seen as the strengthened powers of the Phantom Demons, their pleasure, and the improvement and evolution of their intrinsic essence, then this seems to refer to the Art of Pasturing.
But as he interpreted it, Eivass fell into deep thought again.
If wine refers to the blood of the demonized by the Art of Pasturing, His prophet refers to his grandfather Jacob, and being drunk refers to the intoxicated state of the Phantom Demons after receiving the Art of Pasturing…
…Then what about the secret medicine?
Although he had only read it once and destroyed the book, Eivass remembered clearly—the *Shepherd’s Secret Manual* did not mention this part.
If this were the case, Eivass also understood… why he had suddenly had a strong urge to advance to Shadow Demon yesterday.
—Even if Emma herself might not know it, she and he actually had a connection!
Emma was the Demon Scholar mentor of the Prince of Giants and the mastermind behind Noble Red, so she was very likely the master of that Eye Demon Lord. She was a member of the Rose Cross, and the Rose Cross was the organization above Noble Red.
The Eye Demon was the one who informed the Prince of Giants of the “Divine Entity’s” existence, and Noble Red’s initial entry into Glass Island was for this command.
Undoubtedly, the one who gave the command at the very beginning and wanted to find the “Divine Entity” in Avalon was Emma!
The “Divine Entity” should be a fragment of the Ring Heavenly Envoy, and the Ring Heavenly Envoy was also the creator of the Ouroboros Ring Ritual. Emma was a participant and sacrifice of the first Ouroboros Ring Ritual, and the Eye Demon happened to be a survivor and beneficiary of the first Ouroboros Ring Ritual; if the Fallen Heavenly Envoy lost their celestial position, the beneficiary would be the Ring Heavenly Envoy, who also belonged to the Transcendent Path Heavenly Envoys. He did indeed take over the Demon Scholar profession left behind by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, arranging the advancement of Sin Scholar and Lord of Great Beasts onto this career path…
Everything connected.
The impulse that surged in Eivass’s heart yesterday might have been the survival instinct of the “Divine Entity” not wanting to be caught by Emma, or perhaps self-preservation after sensing hostility, which is why the Shadow Demon advanced so hastily… yet so perfectly.
Before understanding all this, Eivass had developed a strong killing intent towards Emma—he hadn’t even considered sealing the Succubus as a Beast of Sin, but directly made her into an Illusion Card.
This meant she wouldn’t even have the chance to return to the Dream Realm to resurrect.
And now, Eivass had figured it all out. His intentions had not changed.
He just had one more goal.
He wanted to ask Emma for clarification about the Ouroboros Ring Ritual, where the “Rose Cross” had found this ritual, why they wanted to summon the Fallen Heavenly Envoy to the mortal world, and what their ultimate goal was…
Without connections in the upper realms, how did they obtain the information that the “Divine Entity” was on Glass Island?
“Shepherd’s Secret Manual…”
Eivass murmured the name.
This Grimoire brought about the initial change for Eivass, leading him onto a completely different path from the original Eivass.
“You shall celebrate my death, you will sing my divinity. You shall hold celebrations, you will raise your scepter…”
Eivass softly mumbled the secret words from the *Shepherd’s Secret Manual*.
Whose death? Whose divinity?
Was it Eivass’s, the Shepherd’s… or, the Ouroboros Ring’s?
—Or, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s?
Born to die, born from death.
Ouroboros Ring, God of Fallen Heavens.
Nourishing the formless with the form, nourishing the form with the formless… thus achieving an eternal cycle.
Cycle…
“…Heh, I should have thought of it earlier.”
Eivass’s lips curved slightly upwards.
He moved his hand away from the extinguished candle flame. His injuries had all healed, and his gaze was bright and confident.
The crow fidgeted uneasily and flew onto Eivass’s shoulder.
He extended a finger and lightly tapped the crow’s head, humming softly.
“I used to wonder if this power, the Art of Pasturing, which seems to come from nowhere, should be used casually… but now, I suppose there’s no need to hesitate.”
His connection with the Ring Heavenly Envoy was an inherent hidden danger that Eivass could never eliminate.
With this hidden danger, it didn’t matter whether he used the Art of Pasturing or not.
It was like combining like terms.
Purple flames ignited in Eivass’s pupils, and he murmured, “Heaven’s favors not taken are burdens instead…
“—I will frankly accept the grace you bestow.”
Update complete!
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