The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 800

Chapter 799
A Life-for-Life Battle!
—It was a ruthless strike, as swift as lightning.
The Thunderstrike Halberd was a heavy armor-piercing halberd, fierce in its momentum. It wasn’t sharp, and could even be considered blunt—thus, to instantly sever Helchin’s Dragon Lance required all of Alistair’s might.
Any slight wavering… and the strike might fail to penetrate.
Alistair, fighting Helchin head-on, had almost no chance of winning. If her intent to break his weapon were discovered, Helchin might even feign a weakness in response to her attack, setting a trap.
The opportunity was singular; she could not afford to hold back.
—Even if the target of the attack was herself.
And the damage from this strike was immense.
Alistair, already covered in cracks and revealing the slender girl within the “Eivass” shell, had her mirror shell, used for disguise, completely shattered by this blow!
The Child of the Moon’s physical body also could not withstand such a ferocious attack. After the outer shell shattered, Alistair within was already in a near-death state.
Her skin directly erupted with clear purplish-red cracks. Her entire spine exploded, crimson blood splattering at intervals along her back. Her internal organs were also all shattered.
—However.
The purple radiance in Alistair’s pupils grew even brighter.
In an instant, her body completely disintegrated, transforming into countless phantom bats.
Helchin naturally had experience fighting Children of the Moon.
Without a second thought, he swept the Dragon Lance, now a staff with its head broken off, horizontally— Crackling lightning gathered, exploding in a brilliant, fan-shaped surge of electric light!
However, this attack did not inflict much damage on Alistair, who had transformed into bats.
Helchin had suppressed his power to the Fourth Tier—and Alistair currently possessed a temporary Third Tier “Lightning Affinity” trait. Lightning-based damage was, for Alistair, the type she had the highest resistance to!
Third Tier Affinity—this was equivalent to the level of Eivass’s Shadow Affinity when he could first fully accommodate the Shadow Demon’s power!
The next moment, those bats gathered again, reforming into Alistair’s appearance!
Because the “Eivass” mirror had been destroyed, Alistair would not be able to use this avatar again until the end of the month.
However, the newly reformed Alistair had already recovered from her injuries!
Although her life force was still weak, her injuries would not worsen and would not affect her combat or actions!
“The Child of the Moon’s immortality…”
Beneath his sealed helmet, Helchin’s deep, hollow voice rumbled: “Such a nuisance…”
In his lifetime, he had killed many Children of the Moon.
Children of the Moon did not have truly fatal wounds, as they could scatter and reform at any time. If one could not kill all the bats during the bat phase, one could only continuously deplete the opponent’s vital energy through repeated heavy blows until they turned to ash.
Even then, it wasn’t considered killing a Child of the Moon—a Child of the Moon reduced to ash had merely exhausted their vital energy, but was not truly dead.
Only by immersing the bone ash in holy water and delivering a final blow with “purifying” damage could the Child of the Moon’s immortality be truly destroyed.
But if he couldn’t deal with a Child of the Moon in life, it didn’t mean post-mortem Helchin couldn’t.
What Children of the Moon feared most, apart from purifying damage that could truly kill them, were controls like freezing and petrification from the Twilight Path, and any mental controls outside of the Path of Love. For example, fear or phantoms—Children of the Moon, except for resistance to “charm,” had very weak mental resistances to other types.
Riding on a semi-transparent Spirit Pegasus, Helchin slowly exuded a nauseatingly dense, pitch-black aura.
—It was “Fear Aura!”
Alistair immediately felt an aura that stiffened her body and tightened her heart. Her nerves became taut, her movements stiff, and every action required more effort.
That intense fear was like walking alone in a pitch-black alley and suddenly hearing faint footsteps nearby.
Fortunately, Helchin had also suppressed the power of his Fear Aura to the Fourth Tier. Moreover, Alistair had recently experienced Mathias’s incredibly powerful Fear Aura, so it didn’t pose too much of an obstacle to her actions.
Helchin simply lowered his head, gazing at Alistair, and slowly said:
“With such a small body like yours, how do you intend to wield such an oversized halberd?”
It was a weapon used by Punisher Demons, and it seemed a bit large even for Eivass’s main body. It was just right for Origen, the Lizardmen warrior seen in the previous Ascension Ritual.
—And now, Origen was among those King of the Wild Hunt.
Alistair, however, looked at Helchin fearlessly, a slight smile playing on her lips.
“Naturally… I won’t be using it.”
She casually stuck the Thunderstrike Halberd into the ground and leaped back onto the Leviathan, which had returned.
The Leviathan flapped its wings and flew high into the air.
In Alistair’s left hand, Eivass’s Book of Law appeared, its pages flipping rapidly.
“Oh?”
Helchin remained unfazed: “Planning to use magic?”
He slowly raised the Dragon Lance, now headless from being broken, and aimed it at Alistair in the sky.
An intense death aura raged, spreading in a near-black scarlet hue—this was the power left by the “Path of Power,” now refilled with the Twilight Path’s power and the King of the Wild Hunt Tactics.
—Destruction Charge!
This was in stark contrast to the Necrotic Charge, which transformed into an invisible, ethereal form, eerily unpredictable and terrifying.
Destruction Charge, on the other hand, symbolized absolute violence and ultimate destruction!
The semi-transparent white Ghost Pegasus was also permeated by this power, turning dark red.
It gradually accelerated towards Alistair in the sky.
A sharp energy shield appeared in front of Helchin’s spear tip, cleaving the air before him and causing his charge to accelerate.
The dark red energy shield in front of him grew larger, and in the blink of an eye, it covered half his body!
—Even if Alistair used magic, it would be difficult to break through the shield brought by the Destruction Charge!
No matter what was in front of him—be it a barrier, a wall, magic, or arrows—it would be smashed head-on by the “Destruction Charge”!
“Magic probably won’t break through your resistance.”
But Alistair simply laughed: “I’m just creating a new weapon that suits me better!”
The next moment, seven-colored rainbow light bloomed before Alistair.
—Spell Card: Star Ice!
—Enchantment Card: Blade of Shadow!
It could be used to sculpt complex ice carvings, and of course, to shape simple ice spears—and they would be indestructible!
A colorful ice spear materialized in Alistair’s hand, imbued with a layer of highly corrosive shadow.
This was a weapon suitable for her stature!
She charged down from the sky, also using Destruction Charge against Helchin!
After emerging from the Ascension Ritual, Eivass had not found where her “King of the Wild Hunt” profession level was, so she couldn’t manually allocate points, but the knowledge she had already acquired would not disappear.
Apart from “Necrotic Charge,” which could only be used by those with a death-like physique, she still remembered the other three skills!
The Destruction Charge that Helchin possessed, Alistair also possessed!
However, as a latecomer, Alistair’s charge was noticeably weaker than Helchin’s.
Not only was her speed slower… but while Helchin’s dark red energy shield already covered his entire body, Alistair’s shield could barely cover half her body. This was even considering Alistair’s much smaller stature than Helchin’s.
Yet, even so, Alistair showed no fear, accelerating further and further!
It was like two oncoming motorcyclists revving their engines and charging towards each other.
If neither backed down, it would inevitably lead to mutual destruction; but if one backed down first and deliberately swerved, the result would still be defeat.
—Defeat or death?
The deep purple radiance in Alistair’s pupils intensified, and the Power of Transcendence wrapped around the ice spear, turning its tip into a deep, dark purple.
She still chose not to slow down!
Not only that, but she also recalled the Thunderstrike Halberd from the ground and rapidly returned towards the point where the two were about to collide!
The next moment, the two collided fiercely!
Alistair’s energy shield was shattered in an instant by Helchin’s preemptive charge.
She was hit head-on by Helchin, as if struck by a dump truck! This time, at least, her bones weren’t completely shattered, but it did stop her dead!
But at this moment, the ice spear in her hand erupted with radiant light—
This was one of the properties of Star Ice!
[Effect: Summon colorful Star Ice, shape it simply, and let it remain for a period. Anyone who directly looks at Star Ice and attempts to destroy or understand it will fall into increasingly profound illusions; those who fall into illusions due to this effect will be frozen; those completely frozen by this effect cannot voluntarily break free from the illusion, even if the Star Ice is no longer present.]
As Helchin and Alistair collided head-on, the spear made of Star Ice was attacked by him!
In the blink of an eye, a thin layer of ice appeared on Helchin’s body.
However, as soon as it appeared, it dissipated again—
This control was achieved by Alistair using Harmony of Yin and Yang, creating an enhanced ice spear with five times the mana. Its magical effect was easily resisted by Helchin!
However, this enhancement was not entirely in vain… the Spell Card, modeled after a Sea Monster, still had a brief effect after being enhanced, at least preventing Helchin from launching a follow-up attack with the momentum of Alistair’s charge being shattered.
And before the charge collision, the Thunderstrike Halberd that Alistair had recalled also arrived.
Alistair had been severely wounded, and the Leviathan beneath her groaned and retreated. She instantly transformed into bats and immediately reformed, caught by the Leviathan that had flown back, and launched a second charge!
—Destruction Charge!
Alistair fiercely swung her ice spear again, charging towards the nearby Helchin!
Faced with the combined attack of Alistair and the Thunderstrike Halberd, Helchin chose to prioritize the Thunderstrike Halberd.
He flicked his spear tip towards Alistair, stirring up a swirling gray-black vortex that slightly hindered Alistair’s attack.
The black vortex was accompanied by lightning—it completely enveloped the spear shaft, forming a new “spearhead.”
And Helchin directly met the Thunderstrike Halberd with it, deflecting its trajectory!
Next, he lowered the flexible spear shaft, changing the path of the Thunderstrike Halberd and flicking it directly into his own hand!
He gripped the Thunderstrike Halberd in reverse and swung it directly at Alistair.
But just as the Thunderstrike Halberd was about to hit Alistair, it suddenly turned into nothingness.
Alistair’s short-range charge directly hit Helchin.
Her ice spear, augmented by “Blade of Shadow” with shadow, cutting, and corrosive attributes, could be considered an Extraordinary Weapon. It easily pierced Helchin’s armor, inflicting Alistair’s first effective damage on Helchin!
At this moment, Helchin’s headless spear, wrapped in a storm, had also pierced through Alistair’s body!
It had no spearhead, but wasn’t the sharp, blender-like storm blade also a spearhead?
The spear shaft penetrated Alistair’s skin, ground her flesh to bits, and broke her bones—the violent storm blasted into Alistair’s body, like a blower inflating her organs and blood vessels into a mess. The blood-stained spear shaft then pierced straight out of Alistair’s back.
This was a blow that could instantly kill flesh-and-blood beings.
—But for a Child of the Moon, it was still not fatal.
Alistair endured Helchin’s attack and instead pushed the ice spear in her hand further into Helchin’s body!
It wasn’t her exerting force to push it in, but rather letting the ice spear continue to grow inside him!
Accompanied by the creaking sound of ice being chewed, the ice spear reached Helchin’s armor from the back.
Shadow Power spread over his armor, corroding and piercing the dim yellow armor. Even so, Alistair’s spearhead failed to pierce Helchin’s back.
Just then.
As Alistair’s flesh and blood were shattered by the storm erupting from within her body, and she was gradually disintegrating from the inside.
A brilliant ray of lightning, as radiant as the sun, also bloomed from within Helchin!
—Wrath of the Lightning!
From the beginning of the battle until now, the two had been in almost constant mirrored duels, but finally, they had chosen completely different approaches.
And this attack was a mutual destruction!
(End of Chapter)