The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 761

Chapter 760
Birth of the Banquet Heavenly Envoy!
As expected, the “cordons” driven by the police dared not cross the real cordon left by Alistair.
When Alistair returned to the surface, there was still no one in the dilapidated house.
She cautiously extended her hand, signaling the chatty Mirror Devil to keep quiet, and then drew a rune in the air.
Then, the First Tier simple ritual “Wind Gazing” was activated without material cost, and the sounds from outside drifted into Alistair’s ears little by little. Using this ritual with her Fourth Tier ability, Alistair could easily hear conversations on the street beyond, provided there was no soundproof barrier.
“…Hmph.”
She listened intently for a long time, narrowing her eyes: “These goblins… really deserve to be killed.”
Although she had known goblins were unscrupulous, she was now truly hearing the story of the first person involved.
Alistair once again realized the difference in execution between Avalon and Star Antimony.
Despite the corruption and decadence at the top, the Supervisors and Inspectors under Avalon still believed in the knightly legends of the nation’s founding.
If they encountered such problems, they would charge in with a resolve to die—in fact, many Supervisors had died because of this. To them, dying for the Queen, for Avalon, was a glorious honor. For knights not corrupted by the Lloyd Society, honor far surpassed life.
Even a minister’s son could die to cover the retreat for the people—regardless of whether the death had value, at least their hearts were in the right place.
But for Star Antimony’s police officers, this was just a job. They had no resolve or faith to die for the Queen, merely earning their pay for their work… Because Count Leipzig paid them, they listened to Count Leipzig in everything.
Compared to the noble “people’s police,” these Star Antimony police officers were more like the private guards of local nobles.
Unlike Avalon, the Church, or even the Iris Flower, these police officers had no concept of protecting civilians. Even the youngest female officer, not yet hardened by society, merely wanted to “manifest justice.”
“The Pope is merciful…”
Alistair murmured, repeating the old man’s pious prayer.
For a moment, Alistair was touched.
His Majesty the Pope… was indeed merciful. That old man was right… If Eivass knew about their situation here, he would definitely intervene, Alistair was confident of that.
So Alistair first uploaded this part of her memory, along with the matter concerning Anna Kingsford, to the cloud, intending to see what Eivass had to say.
She increasingly realized that although they were the same person a week ago… the difference had grown significantly.
Fortunately, she had not inherited the name Eivass but had given herself a new name, so she wouldn’t suffer from identity confusion—this allowed her to firmly believe that Eivass had always been a divine soul slumbering at the top of the sacred tree in the Church, not a pleasure-seeker like herself, full of ambition and eager for chaos.
Soon, Eivass’s will was transmitted.
“—Find a way to help them, Alistair. An economic crisis of this scale could spread worldwide if left unchecked. It now seems that the deaths after the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s descent may have also covered up a considerable number of ‘poorly dead’ civilians. This data was masked by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s descent after the war… but since we are here, we cannot let Star Antimony be destroyed again, nor allow one-third of its population to be wiped out.
“Save them if you can—besides those who need protection, these civilians should also be protected as much as possible. Although the upper echelons of Star Antimony once attempted to invade Avalon, these civilians are innocent. Even the capitalists who ran factories are now so poor, how much suffering must the true civilians of Star Antimony be enduring?
“However, that old man was not entirely wrong—let alone humans, even Lizardmen, Dwarves, and Trolls are the same. If you see it and can help, you should not stand idly by. As long as one has a heart, how can one watch them starve to death?
Eivass’s voice resounded clearly in Alistair’s mind: “As for the specific details, you don’t need to report everything to me—I trust you. Just as the secret words of the Twin Mirrors say, you are me, and I am you…
“If you need any support from my side, remember to request assistance at any time, and don’t overexert yourself. The Ouroboros Ring ritual is being prepared, and all Fifth Tier Transcendants in the world are converging on Star Antimony… Even with the protection of the Night Demon, you are safe, but it’s best not to fight in crowded areas. As for Kingsford, you can also contact her if you have time, I’m curious.
“Don’t worry, I will help you. While the Pope’s Guard in the Church may be difficult to mobilize, the entire Church of the Nine Pillars Gods in Star Antimony is at your disposal—do whatever you want.
“No matter what, I will accept you.”
“—Hmph.”
Alistair’s lips curved slightly, and she briskly replied with a “1.”
With Eivass’s words, she had a plan.
Although Eivass nagged on and on like a homeroom teacher giving her a heart-to-heart talk, fearing she would take the wrong path in life, Alistair roughly translated it and understood Eivass’s real order—
—Help the Star Antimony people solve the economic crisis by any means necessary, and you can mobilize the power of the Church.
“I originally thought of not troubling Eivass and borrowing the Child of the Moon’s power myself…”
Alistair sighed, “In the end, I still have to rely on him. How ironic, to have a Transcendent and a Child of the Moon lead the Church…”
However, even as she said this, the power of the Child of the Moon could still be utilized.
Rather, with the deaths of Count Dawn and Alphonse von Piloty, it was likely that the Child of the Moon and the Academy would truly start fighting.
The Academy had already been fighting with the Alchemists for several months, suffering significant losses. Now, they had lost another rare Fifth Tier, and one that was most effective against the Child of the Moon.
Originally, Hong Xiang needed her “children”—such as Emma and Count Leipzig—to infiltrate the Academy and become double agents, known to both sides. But now, it was probably unnecessary.
There were only about five or six native Fifth Tier Demon Avatars in total. Both Emma and Count Dawn were dead. There were only a few left… Hong Xiang would likely move against them.
And taking advantage of this opportunity, Alistair could contact the Church and make her move…
With this thought, Alistair, leaning on the broken mirror, returned to Prince Xiardo’s residence with the Night Demon.
She would have a full day tomorrow to write a detailed action report. Tomorrow evening, she planned to get drunk and enter the dream to chat with Isabel about Star Antimony, about the economy, and also subtly inquire about the bottle of liquid soul.
—If possible, Alistair truly didn’t want to take back what she had given away. Just thinking about it made her cheeks burn… And after all, it belonged to Isabel. If she didn’t seem willing, Alistair would never force her or beg her.
And in this early morning, Alistair had something else to do—
“—Bang!”
She had the Night Demon, Mirror Devil, and Honey Badger guard the door, then set up a protective ritual before carefully opening the crystal ball from Count Dawn’s place.
Although Alistair’s action capability was much stronger than Eivass’s, she was by no means reckless. All attempts had to be made under complete preparation.
The upper half of the crystal ball was shattered, and the murky black blood overflowed, like a broken raw egg. The air was still filled with the scent of strong liquor, which was clearly a sealing ritual using “alcohol” as the core material.
But when Alistair cautiously touched the liver, she still got no reaction—the system panel didn’t pop up, indicating it wasn’t an equipment.
However, when Alistair touched it, she felt a powerful call of strength. This was completely different from the intense urge she felt upon touching Sister Sasha’s eyeball…
To describe it, the latter was like a thirst, several times stronger, of “suddenly wanting to drink iced cola and eat cold drinks”; while the former was like being injected with stimulants, with every blood vessel in her body pulsing forcefully—
No, it wasn’t even a metaphor.
Alistair lowered her head and clearly saw the veins on her arm throbbing rhythmically.
Her body temperature rose sharply, and a drum-like bass resonated in her mind, then the water cup on the table, and then the windows in the entire room began to vibrate. It was as if thousands of troops were parading next door, or as if giants were stomping overhead.
When Alistair’s fingers released, all anomalies instantly disappeared.
If not for the astonished and confused gaze of Honey Badger and the pained cries of Mirror Devil, as if he had twisted something, Alistair would have dismissed it as a hallucination.
Such a powerful force of the Path of Love…
It was far more potent than the holy relics left by Sister Sasha.
—This was the liver of an Apostle, perhaps even a Heavenly Envoy!
But there were so many gods on the Path of Love, whose liver was it exactly? And why was Count Dawn collecting it? Was it related to the ritual he was about to perform?
Suddenly, Alistair let out a belch, and the strong smell of alcohol escaped her mouth. The intense dizziness made her legs go weak, and everything in front of her began to rapidly zoom in and out.
“Thanks, little girl! Hahahaha!”
Accompanied by a hearty laugh in her mind, Alistair suddenly closed her eyes, a smile on her lips, and fell into a deep and peaceful sleep in a beautiful dream. Her falling body was quickly caught by Honey Badger.
At this very moment, the instant Alistair touched the liver.
Eivass, who was slumbering far away in the Church, suddenly opened his eyes.
His pupils held no expression, but were filled with countless lights—
His soul, drifting in the gap between the Material Realm and the Dream Realm, had just felt an incomparably strong and strange power surge past. He felt his soul tingle, floating and unsteady as if drunk, and for a moment, he seemed to lose control. His body briefly lost control of his soul, and the power of the Supreme Holy Crown leaked out.
Eivass barely managed to control his consciousness and regain control of his power. The material Eivass also managed to close his eyes again.
But that momentary intoxication caused the entire Church to experience a momentary power outage. A small wave of chaos arose and then subsided.
And outside the Church, a star in the sky suddenly brightened.
The entire world, all those who were drinking, no matter how much they drank, all fell into a deep drunken state at the exact same moment.
Their spirits entered a state of extreme excitement and madness. As if celebrating something, they shouted meaninglessly at the top of their lungs.
Soon, the Eternal Pope Eivass issued a holy decree to all Cardinals.
“—The Banquet Master has been promoted. The Banquet Heavenly Envoy has been born.”
(End of Chapter)