The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 948

Chapter 947
New Allied Forces, New Heavenly Envoy!
After careful consideration, Eivass decided to inform the Children of the Moon about his plan to rebuild the Hrasal Empire.
He had originally intended to keep it a secret, as Eivass still needed to trick the Children of the Moon into helping him fight demons.
If he revealed his motives at this time, those Children of the Moon who yearned to restore the Hrasal Empire might instead try to stop Eivass.
However, after careful thought, Eivass realized that the opposite was likely true.
It was precisely because he wanted to rebuild the Hrasal Empire that the Children of the Moon had to help him.
The Children of the Moon had always dreamed of having a nation of their own, but it was clear they could not obtain the legal right to it. As parasitic beings of humanity, as evolved forms of humans, they could not be descendants of any human royal family. The only nation belonging to them was the Daffodil Duchy after the War of the Broken Lands.
However, another problem arose. The direct descendants of the Daffodil Duke were still alive, so they could not directly seize power from that little girl. Yet, they dared not kill her, as it would mean the complete extinction of the royal family truly belonging to the Children of the Moon.
Even if one reached the pinnacle of power, like Queen Louise, they would not be able to command respect and would only be a “usurper of power.”
Of course, if one had enough power, like the Eternal Pope, who could overwhelm everything, such matters would not be a concern.
The problem, however, was that they were not strong enough. And their weakness had long been known to everyone.
The strongest among the Children of the Moon was the First Generation Red Phase, but even he had been killed by humans. The reason these Children of the Moon were difficult to deal with was that they had all climbed to the top of various political entities.
Eivass understood this as well; the essence of the Children of the Moon was their nature as political beings. Various political interests formed complex chains. If the Children of the Moon were to be purged, everyone and every faction would be forced to lose benefits. In such a situation, no one was willing to weaken themselves first, as it would mean they might be defeated by their other enemies.
Through such checks and balances, the Children of the Moon could not be simply purged. These resistances all came from within and could be easily dissolved by the socially adept Children of the Moon. Not to mention, the “immortality” offered by the Children of the Moon was a fatal temptation for many elderly people.
However, if the Children of the Moon were to gather in one place and establish a nation purely of Children of the Moon, they would instantly be attacked by all the other human kingdoms.
After all, the Children of the Moon were a treasure trove!
Extremely nourishing!
Because of this, the Children of the Moon fell into a strange paradox. If they wanted to establish a nation, they could not do so only for themselves. They had to ensure that neighboring countries could not send troops to attack them, or that they could not win if they did attack. With the scarce population of the Children of the Moon, who should never become too numerous, they could not defeat humans on the battlefield.
Although the spread of the Children of the Moon was fast, there was an internal limit to their numbers. This was because the Children of the Moon also knew that the union of Children of the Moon could give birth to new Children of the Moon, and humans could also transform into Children of the Moon, while Children of the Moon would not die naturally. In such a situation, once the number of Children of the Moon exceeded a certain level, the human population could collapse instantly.
Nature had already provided proof of this.
Therefore, the number of Children of the Moon was strictly controlled, which was why they had to infiltrate the upper echelons of society and possessed a kind of “strange arrogance.” After all, society was pyramidal. If the population was limited, they had to control the upper levels as much as possible to indirectly control the entire nation.
Given that “they would lose in a frontal war,” they needed to choose another method.
That was to first unify the human empire. This would transform the “external problems” they were not good at solving into “internal problems” they were good at solving.
Therefore, from the perspective of the Children of the Moon’s demands, “rebuilding Hrasal” was actually necessary, while “who would rebuild Hrasal” was not important. They clearly could not contend with the Fallen Heavenly Envoys, and establishing a nation at this time would also provoke human resistance.
Thus, for the Children of the Moon, the best option was for the Pope, who showed them goodwill, to orchestrate the restructuring of Hrasal and have the Pope’s “gentle and weak-natured” sister serve as the Empress!
Although there was not much information about Yulia, it was easy for the Children of the Moon, who had infiltrated the intelligence departments of various countries, to obtain it.
—She was an orphan from childhood, formerly a Phantom Demon Egg. Her personality was timid and reclusive, heavily dependent on her brother Eivass, taciturn, and not good at communicating with others. And she was currently only Third Tier, and even a Conciliator, the most easily compromised. Her affinity for her second Path was known to be that of a timid adapter.
There could be no better puppet empress than her!
Therefore, when Eivass dispatched the Pope’s Guard to deliver his letters to the Children of the Moon of various factions, they quickly responded with great loyalty.
—They were forever an important part of the Hrasal Empire! Therefore, they would send legions as requested by the Pope to rebuild the Hrasal Empire!
The numbers were even greater than Eivass had requested!
Much, much greater!
This was because they were no longer “forced to send their own people under duress from the Pope,” but rather “wanted to earn military merits and occupy high positions in the new Hrasal Empire.”
For this goal, the Fallen Heavenly Envoys had to be killed!
—So what if they were Heavenly Envoys? Once they reached the Material Realm, even Heavenly Envoys would be stuck at Sixth Tier!
The scene of the Children of the Moon, like Star Antinomy, being forced to fall or being hunted down by demons had been witnessed by all Children of the Moon. The Fallen Heavenly Envoys were very wary of these Children of the Moon who were adept at countering demons. If the Fallen Heavenly Envoys were not eliminated, they would all die.
Coincidentally, the Church was taking the lead in dealing with the most troublesome Fallen Heavenly Envoys, an opportunity not to be missed!
Perfect, let them see how strong Sixth Tier truly was!
A few more days passed since the news was released.
April 30th, Avalon.
It was already night.
The legions dispatched from various countries—or more accurately, controlled by the Children of the Moon—had already begun to land and assemble successively in Avalon.
The newly completed western port area of Avalon was perfectly utilized at this time!
Even the Goblins had not expected that the densely populated residential areas they had built, and the first residents other than the workers, would be foreign legions!
“The Iris Kingdom sent the Iris Second and Third Army Legions, a total of 40,000 people. Excluding 35,000 auxiliary troops, there were 5,000 Extraordinary individuals of Third Tier, 300 cannons, sixteen mobile ritual arrays, and 300 mages. In addition, they sent 300 Children of the Moon legions of Third Tier, plus twelve Children of the Moon of Fourth Tier.”
“The Black Hawk Duchy sent the Raven Legion, the Falcon Legion, and the Black Hawk Legion, totaling 120,000 people, all Extraordinary. However, 60% of them were Second Tier, but there were also sixty core combatants of Fourth Tier. My heavens, the Black Hawk Duchy is this strong?”
—The number of Fourth Tier Extraordinary individuals dispatched in this wave alone almost exceeded that of Avalon!
They were indeed faking their fight with the Daffodil Duchy!
Eivass exclaimed and continued reading, “There are twelve Rune Golems. Where did they get their Alchemists? Do I need to find some Alchemists to drive them for them? Uh, and 5,000 Armed Gargoyles and 420 ‘Stakes’…”
Upon reading this, Eivass’s expression changed subtly.
“They sent 500 Children of the Moon legions of Third Tier! And also fifty Children of the Moon of Fourth Tier!!”
…So the Black Hawks had secretly hidden so much strength without anyone knowing!
But it was reasonable. The Black Hawk people were the main force of Star Antinomy after all.
Behind Star Antinomy were all those mage lords. After they became independent, Star Antinomy no longer had a true “army.”
But when compared, the Iris Flower’s contribution seemed too small. Or was it that the Black Hawk’s contribution was too large?
“…It’s to show off their strength, isn’t it?”
Eivass understood.
This was because the Black Hawk Duchy had lost in the “fake battle” during its recent independence.
Now that they were independent, they were eager to prove that the Black Hawk Duchy was not a weak nation. This opportunity served as a “performance,” and they had even sent their ace legion, the Black Hawk Legion. It could be said that the entire nation was mobilized. They were definitely not this capable during the previous civil war!
—Anyway, for these professional mercenaries, war was inherently a form of performance.
“The Daffodil Duchy did not send an army, which is reasonable… However, they dispatched 1,500 mages of Second and Third Tier, and twenty-one Archmages. Hmm…”
Eivass pondered for a moment.
Never mind, he couldn’t ask for too much from the mages.
…Are all these mages apprentices who haven’t graduated yet?
Eivass seemed to envision the Mage Tower forcibly requiring mages to undergo internships, and the internship content was to go abroad and fight demon legions…
“Their Children of the Moon… only 104 people in total? Oh, they are all Fourth Tier Casters, then it’s fine…”
Eivass’s expression was subtle as he looked at the report from the Inspection Department.
Daffodil Duchy… Have all the high-level mages turned into Children of the Moon? And why did so many of these research fanatics come?
With so many people, the Spirit Tower alone would not be enough to accommodate them.
Eivass had originally thought that they could send about 500 people in total, and they could be accommodated in the Spirit Tower.
Now it seemed that Eivass would have to deploy some more “Light of Paradise.”
However, with these people… plus one Paladin legion and three Priest legions from the Church, it felt like…
…This was no longer a simple matter of “holding back the demon army and scattering their attention to buy time.”
Less than a month had passed since the Fallen Heavenly Envoy descended, and his demon level was not yet high enough.
Yet, the combat power of these legions was more than three times that of the allied forces that had previously defeated the Fallen Heavenly Envoy in the original timeline. After all, the purpose this time was no longer to “punish the Fallen Heavenly Envoy” but to “rebuild the Hrasal Empire.”
Eivass even felt that with the “Hrasal Allied Forces”… they might be able to defeat those demons!
“This is excellent. With parity or even an advantage, the casualties should not be as severe as before…”
Eivass breathed a sigh of relief, gaining confidence.
In the game’s plot, these legions would have to attack fiercely in a disadvantageous state to buy thirty minutes for players to fight the Fallen Heavenly Envoy alone. This resulted in almost all of them being wiped out, and a significant portion of the Church’s resources were depleted in one go.
Since the miscellaneous troops could handle the cleanup, Eivass now needed to prepare to face the core combat power of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy.
However, the list of personnel to be recruited would likely be decided tomorrow.
Because today was the 30th, the night of the New Moon.
Tonight was precisely the night of Ascension.
“…Huh?”
Just then, Eivass suddenly felt a strange sensation.
A strange, familiar yet unfamiliar sense of intoxication surged into his heart and lungs.
It was a power that Eivass found quite unfamiliar, and his system remained silent.
In the next moment, all the liquid in the room turned into white mist. The pond in the yard even emitted a plume of steam, rising straight into the night sky, and at one point even obscured the New Moon.
The moist air contained a large amount of Path Power. The entire world seemed to become hazy.
—Under the illumination of the night lamp, the entire world looked dreamlike.
Just by breathing this air, Eivass felt his own power increase.
Undoubtedly… this was an anomaly!
A new Heavenly Envoy had ascended!
—Apart from this, what other power could affect Eivass, who was already Fifth Tier?
Eivass was no longer the Pope, so he could not receive direct notifications. He also could not know immediately who had ascended before the anomaly ended.
In the original timeline, there was no ascension of this Heavenly Envoy during this period!
“…A variable?”
Eivass murmured softly.
…But for some reason, Eivass felt that sense of familiarity growing stronger.
—It was not an illusion; he had definitely come into contact with this new Heavenly Envoy!
(End of Chapter)