Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 122 We shall become shepherds, for you, my lord.
"Snapped!"

The miniature pistol made a very crisp sound, and its tiny size made it look almost like a toy. However, along with the muzzle smoke and flash, it fired bullets that were just as deadly as those from a normal pistol.

In the moment of crisis, his extensive combat experience and Nightmare's superior physical abilities saved Dunn's life. He twisted his body almost instinctively to dodge the bullets.

"puff!"

The bullet didn't hit his heart, but instead lodged in his arm, and blood gushed from the wound with the impact.

Upon witnessing this scene, almost all the employees of Blackthorn Security Company were stunned at the same time. The turn of events was too sudden for them to comprehend, let alone understand the current situation.

The captain was shot?

Why did Al Hassan fire the gun?
"Ah"

The air froze for a moment, stiff and inexplicably still, until Al Hassen spoke again. Seeing that he hadn't hit a vital spot, he merely let out a contemptuous sneer and then waited calmly.

"Well!"

Soon, Dunn clutched his wound and let out a low groan. His expression turned extremely painful, and dark veins appeared on his face. He hunched over slightly, and the hem of his black trench coat billowed up, as if something unseen was supporting it!
Of everyone present, Leonard was the second to react.

He was in the middle of handing over Luze's extraordinary items when the gunshot distracted him. In that brief moment of distraction, the "Night Watcher" opposite him suddenly increased his strength, trying to forcibly take the box that the two of them were holding.

Leonard was both surprised and puzzled, and naturally unwilling to let go. Seeing that Leonard wouldn't let go, the others immediately surrounded him, pulling out dark red daggers from under their uniforms!
Left with no other option, Leonard had to step back, pull out his revolver from his waist, and aim it at them.

After listening intently for a moment, his expression turned extremely shocked. Without further hesitation, he immediately fired his gun.

"boom!"

"Enemy attack!"

As he fired, Leonard shouted, snapping the team out of their daze, "They are the enemy!"

enemy?

Among the crowd, Klein, upon hearing Leonard's words, couldn't help but look at Elhassen and Borgia. These two, along with Lolota who had just left with Cecilia, had come to Tingen when investigating the Antigonus family notes and had even fought alongside them. Why would Leonard call them enemies?

Then, Klein was astonished to see an unbelievable scene:

Al Hassen and Borgia's faces were dissolving, their features shifting and transforming into two faces he had never seen before. One was a middle-aged man with a twisted smile, the other a vicious young man with tattoos on his face; both wore an inexplicable fanaticism.

They are not Night Watchers from Backlund, but enemies in disguise!

"boom!"

Leonard fired again, taking down the nearest enemy. However, the other enemies charged forward relentlessly, their faces filled with ecstasy and devotion.

"The night wind calls my name."

Seeing the critical situation, Leonard dodged the enemy's attacks while loudly chanting a hymn. The power of tranquility emanated from within him, slowing the enemy's movements and even causing them to sink into a dream.

Just then, he saw the tattooed man on his face walk towards him. The tattooed man had already put on a black iron-colored metal glove and pointed at Leonard, saying:

"exile!"

boom!
An invisible yet immense force slammed into Leonard, sending him flying like a leaf caught in a gale, crashing onto the steps in front of the company entrance. By this time, the other members of the Night Watch team had also reacted; Klein, Sigia, and Cohenley all drew their revolvers and aimed them at the enemies below.

The tattooed man stepped forward, extending his arm, gloved with black iron, with his index finger pointing diagonally to the ground, drawing a horizontal line in the air. Then he shouted:
"No crossing allowed!"

His voice suddenly became solemn and grand, and a transparent wall quickly unfolded between them and the Blackthorn Squad.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several men fired their revolvers in succession, but the bullets failed to penetrate the transparent wall. The bullets struck the wall with a loud bang and then clattered to the ground.

The tattooed man glanced coldly at the team members, then used his gloves to continue creating walls, enclosing them on all four sides and forming a square space isolated from the outside. Inside this space, besides his group, was Luze, who was chained up.

"Go away!"

"Luze shouted angrily. These men, who had been disguised as night watchmen, had now dropped their disguises and surrounded him without a word, grabbing his hands and feet. He was more worried about Cecilia's safety than about being afraid."

These people are M's henchmen! My sister is in danger!
"Go to hell! You go to hell too!"

He was both angry and worried, but his arms were bound, preventing him from even performing the blood-drawing ritual. He could only use his ability to speak "filthy language" to mentally assault those who gathered around him.

However, with the space isolated, the Blackthorn Squad could no longer interfere inside. These people had no more scruples and swarmed forward, pinning Lu Ze down and gagging him.

"Stab!"

His shirt was forcibly torn open, exposing his chest to the air.

Lu Ze was initially resisting fiercely, but when he saw his chest clearly, he suddenly stared in shock.

This is that sacred text!

There, on his chest, the missing holy book had completely fused with his skin and become embedded in his body! The open pages of the human skin book fit perfectly against his skin, with no trace of forced stitching except for a slight difference in color!
boom--

Lu Ze stared blankly at the holy book, feeling as if a shackle deep within his mind had suddenly broken, and countless fragments of memory surged forth, forming a series of images. These images were ones he had seen long ago, but had unintentionally forgotten and ignored.

He remembered how he had handled that holy book.

A series of images unfolded rapidly:

Lu Ze saw that when Ms. M handed him the Bible, her arm protruded from her sleeve, revealing bright red muscle texture, as if the skin had just been peeled off.

He saw that Ms. M sat beside him as he read the sacred texts, her golden eyes gleaming with an eerie light. Each time Luze finished reading a page, the page seemed to come alive, detaching from the sacred texts and floating into his chest, while he and Cecilia remained completely oblivious to it.
He also saw that the entire holy book he had read had been transferred to him. During his battle with Ms. M, as she recited her prayers before her death, the holy book resonated with her, until...
Lu Ze lowered his head and saw a human face slowly emerging on the page of the human skin book. The face was beautiful and the eyes were closed.

Ms. M.

Lu Ze's heart stopped for a second, then anger, fear, and resentment surged up at the same time, almost making his head explode.

why!
Why aren't you dead yet!
How long are you going to keep bothering me?!
The crowd that had gathered stared excitedly at the face, and the two leaders, the twisted middle-aged man and the tattooed man, began to take action.

The tattooed man pulled out a dagger and approached his fallen companion, who had been shot by Leonard and was barely alive. Completely disregarding the danger, the tattooed man pressed the dagger against his neck and ruthlessly slit his veins.

"Zizi-"

Fresh blood was immediately pumped violently from the blood vessels, splattering all over the cobblestone pavement of Zotland Street.

"Thank God."

The injured man murmured in a muffled voice and closed his eyes.

The tattooed man emptied the blood from the victim's cavity, tossed the body aside, and then, using the blood as a base, drew a large inverted cross on the ground.

An inverted cross made of blood.

Bloody, terrifying, and carrying a strong and heavy religious connotation.

At the same time, the middle-aged man with the twisted smile turned and went back to the carriage, carefully taking out a bottle of potion. Lu Ze looked at the bottle, as if feeling an inexplicable attraction from the depths of his soul. Even now, shocked by the fact that Ms. M was right there beside him, he couldn't help but look at the potion.

Is that inside?
Then, the middle-aged man took out a ring from the box Leonard had given him—the bright red rose ring that Ms. M always wore on her hand.

"Boom."

The middle-aged man threw the ring into the bottle.

"Thorn-"

The potion inside the bottle quickly began to boil, emitting a piercing and painful scream. A chilling and terrifying aura overflowed from the bottle, as if an extremely hungry monster was struggling inside, filled with an intense thirst for the souls and flesh of everyone around it!

"What should we do now!"

Outside the wall, the night watchmen of Tingen City were thrown into chaos when they saw that the revolver was ineffective and that the spells and rituals could not penetrate the wall in a short time.

"calm!"

Just then, a steady voice suddenly rang out. It was Dunn, who was being supported by Rosanne and Klein. He shouted, "Civilian personnel, organize the evacuation of the entire street and request reinforcements from 'The Punisher' and 'The Mechanical Heart'. All regular team members, come to me first!"

The pain lingered on his face, but he still forced himself to stand up straight.

"Yes!"

Everyone did as instructed. Dunn's voice seemed to possess immense power, quickly restoring order to the panicked crowd. Because they had come out to see Lu Ze off, all the administrative staff were out, so there was no need to go back to the company to notify them. They immediately split into groups; some went to contact the patrol officers to disperse the crowd, while others went to notify other official Extraordinary individuals.

"Come on!"

Before leaving, Rosanne hurriedly called out to Klein and the others.

Klein couldn't give a positive response, or even manage a smile. He, Leonard, Sigia, and Cohen gathered around Dunn, closely monitoring the situation inside the walls.

"What are those things on Lu Ze's body?! What are they going to do to him?"

As Klein watched the scene of "drugs" being made inside, an extremely strong sense of unease welled up in his heart. His "diviner's" spiritual intuition told him that something terrible was about to happen!

"team leader!"

Klein shouted, "We must stop this ceremony immediately!"

".I see."

Dunn observed the situation inside, remained silent for a moment, and then made up his mind. "Klein, Sigia, you two come down with me. I need to retrieve Saint Selena's ashes from behind the Charnis Gate."

"Saint Selena's ashes?"

Upon hearing this, Sigia was taken aback. That was the most crucial item behind the Charnis Gate, suppressing all the strange things behind it. Once it was removed, the extraordinary item behind the gate would immediately go berserk. Even so, Dunn decided to use his captain's authority. Could the situation have become that serious?
"Captain, you'd better go there immediately."

Leonard's ears twitched slightly, then he said uneasily, "I support Klein's opinion."

In his mind, an old voice chuckled with amusement, "Heh heh. This little fellow is about to become a shepherd."

The potion in the bottle had stopped boiling, but the hunger only intensified. It was as if a monstrous beast, its eyes bloodshot from hunger, had been forced into the bottle, about to burst and devour everyone present.

Lu Ze was forcibly dragged by a group of people to the center of the blood-stained inverted cross, as if he were a sacrifice about to be offered up, or as if he were to be placed on a throne and crowned with a laurel wreath of thorns.

Ms. M's face was still asleep on his chest.

"Giggs is dead, so we're one short."

The tattooed man said hoarsely.

"It's alright, God will bless Ms. M."

The middle-aged man spoke with a devout yet distorted expression, holding up the bottle as he walked up to Lu Ze.

The group worked together to release Lu Ze's mouth.

"Go to hell!"

As soon as Lu Ze opened his mouth, he shouted in ancient Hermes language, filled with extreme malice. Blood immediately welled up in the faces of the surrounding crowd, but they still wore smiles. They disregarded the physical harm they were suffering and forcibly pried his mouth open.

"Crack!"

Luze tore at them fiercely like a wild beast, biting off several fingers as blood, its metallic scent filling his mouth and throat, surged into his throat. Yet no one cried out in pain; they chanted prayers of praise, seemingly oblivious to the agony.

His struggles were completely futile, and he could only watch helplessly as the middle-aged man poured the terrible potion into his mouth.

"Ahhhh!"

The moment the potion entered his mouth, it surged into his limbs and bones, wildly and rapidly taking over every cell. He felt his body suddenly fester, turning into a mass of flesh and blood indistinguishable from tissues and organs, with only the human face on his chest maintaining its shape.

Lu Ze's consciousness detached and floated above him, watching his physical body gradually collapse.

After Lu Ze drank the medicine, the others released him. They separated into twos and threes, standing at the end of the inverted cross-shaped bloodstain.

Almost simultaneously, everyone drew a dark red ceremonial dagger from their robes. With expressions of piety and fanaticism, they pressed the dagger against their chests.

"clang--"

At noon, across the street, the bell tower of St. Serena's Cathedral rang. The sacred and lofty sound seemed to come from the heavens, echoing deep into people's hearts and souls.

"We will become shepherds, for you, my Lord."

Beneath the blue sky, above the inverted cross of bloodstains, six men spoke in unison in Hermes. Their fingers tapped their chests four times, from bottom to top and from right to left, forming an inverted cross shape.

"In order to inherit authority from you, and to glorify your name and spirit."

At the center of the blood cross, Lu Ze's body could no longer support its own structure and was almost melting into a lump. At this moment, he exuded a strong sense of emptiness and greed, as if he were desperately craving this flesh and soul.

"puff!"

The six men calmly pierced each other's hearts, and amidst the gushing blood, they walked step by step along the blood trails beneath their feet toward the center of the blood cross.

They were still chanting prayers from ancient times:
"We will faithfully carry out your will, filling this river flowing to you with the spirit of the lamb, until it never ceases to flow."

They walked up to the lump of flesh and opened their arms.

In the name of the Lord.

The mass of flesh writhed and greedily swallowed them all.

　What era are we living in? Why are we still using traditional promotion methods?

　　I'll just bluff my way to Sequence 5 Shepherd!
　　Just kidding, just kidding. The promotions here are mainly for the sake of the plot. The protagonist won't be leveling up rapidly like a rocket later on.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)