The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 741

Chapter 740
Equipment Card: Death of Desolation
“This is too professional!”
Honey Badger couldn’t help but say, subconsciously looking at the crow in Alistair’s arms: “Are all Contract Demons of Demon Scholars like this?”
“…How is that possible.”
Viness’s ethereal and slightly hoarse voice replied.
But apparently… even Viness herself wasn’t very confident when she said this.
“I’m still good to you.”
Alistair stroked the little crow’s head and said softly.
The little crow nuzzled Alistair—its bird face showed visible, human-like entanglement and confusion.
“My dear Master…”
She suddenly spoke, hesitatingly, “If you wish, I might be able to do this level too. Shall we try it first…”
This Mirror Demon even made Viness doubt herself.
“You don’t have to steal Lily’s job…”
Alistair quipped.
Originally, Lily had signed a nurturing contract with Viness in her Shadow Demon state.
Now that Viness had evolved into a Night Demon, neither Viness nor Lily had brought this up again with tacit understanding. It was clear that their relationship wasn’t too good—or rather, precisely because they were too similar, they somewhat couldn’t stand each other.
If the Night Demon continued to live in the mirror consciously for a long time, becoming Alistair’s butler… Lily, who was still a maid, would likely think Viness was deliberately targeting her.
“Besides, you’re not suited to travel outside in your main body for extended periods… In your travel state, you shouldn’t be able to do this, right?”
Alistair added after some thought.
At this moment, Honey Badger beside them couldn’t help but widen her eyes.
— It was known that Alistair and Eivass were extremely close; after Eivass took office as Pope, he asked her to help “protect Alistair”; Eivass used a card to seal a Perfect Being, and Alistair used a similar card to seal a Sea Monster; the crow in Alistair’s arms was also seen by her from Eivass before.
She remembered that she had clearly smelled the blood of a female Child of the Moon on Eivass at the time—and it was so strong that it didn’t seem like a “rub,” but rather like that of a true Holder.
And now, when Alistair spoke to the Night Demon about “Lily” beside Eivass, she seemed so intimate and familiar. At the same time, Alistair, as a Child of the Moon, showed no trace of the twisted personality and indiscriminate impulsiveness of a Child of the Moon… Although her style of action was full of killing intent and ferocity, as a Child of the Moon, her personality and temper still seemed “too kind.”
Of course, the most crucial evidence was…
— The butterfly-like Phantom Demon that Alistair summoned when she fought the Sea Monster at sea was exactly the same Phantom Demon that Eivass and she used when they fought the Perfect Being before!
The two of them used the exact same summoning technique, and even the summoned creature was the same entity—at the time, on the boat, she subconsciously thought that Alistair had taught Eivass the summoning technique. But thinking about it now, it was entirely possible that it was another different situation…
Numerous complex pieces of information intertwined in her mind, and an unbelievable guess surfaced in Honey Badger’s heart.
Could it be…
Alistair was not Eivass’s lover at all.
— From the very beginning, Alistair was another personality of Eivass!
Perhaps due to a failed transformation, or some Path Trait… When Eivass was a gentle and kind Priest, it was Eivass who appeared; and whenever his madness became uncontrollable, he would turn into the arrogant and unrestrained Alistair!
But…
Was this really possible?
Not only were their personalities opposite, their genders opposite, and their Paths different…
They even became completely split, two individual entities acting independently—
As Honey Badger’s expression kept changing, Alistair had already elegantly sat down to drink tea.
She glanced at Honey Badger and asked with a smile, “What are you thinking about, Ms. Honey Badger?”
…Should I ask?
Honey Badger looked at Alistair with a complicated expression, and after a long silence, she slowly asked:
“I was thinking… are you Eivass?”
Although directly revealing someone else’s secret would seem too intrusive and possibly unpleasant.
But she gradually felt… Alistair’s true personality wasn’t as bad as she appeared. Apart from her overly utilitarian and somewhat lazy thinking, Miss Alistair was more like she was “pretending to be fierce.”
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If Alistair was Eivass, then asking this question would definitely be alright.
When Honey Badger said this, she was already reflecting:
— She performed this action, which was an adventurous act rejected by the Path Adaptation, so smoothly.
Had the long-ingrained behavior of Path Adaptation been weakened invisibly since she defected to the Church?
At this moment, Honey Badger suddenly thought of the appearance of the new profession, “Warrior.”
…Could it be that the principles of Path Adaptation were slowly beginning to change?
“That’s right.”
To her surprise, Alistair chuckled and said briskly, “You’re only just realizing that?”
“…What?”
“I never hid it, Ms. Honey Badger.”
“Then Beyad…”
“Don’t probe too much.”
Alistair in Beyad’s form put her finger to her lips, a slight smile on her lips as a warning.
Honey Badger’s nerves immediately tensed: “Yes, I understand.”
After receiving confirmation, her attitude towards Alistair completely changed—
A young lady from the Child of the Moon ordered by the Pope to protect her, and the Pope’s clone—these were two entirely different concepts!
The former was her nemesis with whom she had grudgingly allied, while the latter was her current big boss, and even someone who had spared her life!
“…Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Honey Badger couldn’t help but ask, “There should be no need to hide something like this from me, right? I’m quite confident in my ability to keep secrets.”
“Just consider it a surprise.”
Alistair closed one eye and tilted her head with a smile, “You were unhappy about forcing yourself to cooperate with a Child of the Moon, weren’t you? But now that you know I’m actually Eivass, doesn’t that make you feel a lot better?”
“…Yes.”
Honey Badger nodded in admission.
— She had to admit that it was indeed so.
After some time passed, black smoke suddenly began to rise from the mirror in the room.
This was a sign that the Mirror Demon was about to return—so Alistair immediately stopped talking.
Three seconds later, the Mirror Demon appeared before the large mirror and placed all the materials on the ground.
“Do we need a Ritual Array?”
Honey Badger asked before the Mirror Demon could.
“No need.”
Alistair said casually, her pupils tinged with purple.
She waved her hand, and the ritual began to operate on its own—
The falling snow mixed together spontaneously, enveloping the flowers; the mud wrapped the snake like a baked mud pie; the eagle ate the scorpion and died on the spot. The crow’s feathers covered the skeleton, becoming a furnace that fused all powers together.
The rotten fish, the poisoned eagle, the suffocated snake, the buried flowers, each fell around the frozen Count. The cross-legged skeleton faced the Count.
— The preparation for the ritual was complete.
Alistair’s expression was solemn, and she placed her hand on the ice sculpture of the Count, chanting softly:
“I invoke Amber, God of Sacred Number Nine, God of Attainment, God of Perfect Eternity—”
Dim yellow power spread from the four corners simultaneously, moving towards the center.
A familiar magic circle unfolded beneath Eivass—one of the two magic circles for contracting a Beast of Sin.
The Winter Demon’s power was continuously drawn out, torn by the magic circle, and pulled to the center of the formation.
The moment the Winter Demon finally awoke, Alistair cried out again:
“I invoke the Silver Crown Dragon, God of Sacred Number Seven! God of Unquestionable Authority! God of Coronation and Sword-Bearing—
“All things are born of water and return to water!”
In an instant, the extreme cold breath froze the air, and the demon’s soul was condensed by the ice—
From the frozen space, a Phantom Card made of pure ice emerged.
As Alistair reached out and grasped it, its name appeared in her heart.
— Equipment Card: Death of Desolation!
(End of Chapter)