Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 165 The Curse of the Evil God
Inside a slightly gloomy house in Backlund, Hillston district.

Essinger Stanton finished his day's work and went to the fireplace. The renowned detective, his hair now gray, slowly settled into the rocking chair, letting out a comfortable sigh.

October in Backlund was cold and damp, which was quite unbearable for someone his age. Fortunately, he had a warm fireplace to keep the chill at bay. By the light of the fireplace, he filled his beloved pipe with tobacco, preparing to enjoy a few minutes of peace.

"Buzz!"

Just as Isengard was about to relax, the space in the living room suddenly distorted, a blurry, illusory door appeared abruptly, and two figures tumbled out from it!

"who!"

With an agility beyond what one would expect from a middle-aged man, Eisinger leaped into the air. He swiftly drew his revolver, his other hand reaching into his vest pocket, seemingly grasping something inside. The entire sequence of movements was rapid and powerful, rivaling even the most skilled fighters.

Only after he was fully prepared for battle did he have time to look at the uninvited guests who had broken into his home.

"...Is it you?"

When Isengard saw the two people's faces clearly, he was taken aback.

It turned out that the two women were his previous clients, Miss Fors Wall and Miss Hugh Deercha. At this moment, the two ladies looked rather disheveled, as if they had just escaped a chase. Hugh, in particular, had a gruesome wound covering her shoulder, her eyes closed, and she was unconscious.

The wound was horrific, more than just a simple injury. New granulation tissue was sprouting from the exposed flesh. As the flesh writhed and distorted, it exuded an extremely malevolent, cursed aura. This aura affected the unconscious Hugh, turning her face ashen, as if she were consumed by pain and madness, on the verge of losing control.

"Detective Isengard!"

Fors, her frail body straining to support Hugh, collapsed to her knees. Her brown curly hair was disheveled, and she looked frantic and helpless. But when she saw that the other person was someone she knew, her eyes lit up with hope. "Please help me!"

With the help of Isengard's young assistant, the unconscious Hugh was carried to the bed. The wound on her shoulder spread rapidly in a short time, the flesh and blood throbbing and constantly draining Hugh's life force, as if trying to devour her from the inside out.

At that moment, Isengard, whose temples were gray, reached into his vest pocket and took out a beautifully crafted ring.

The ring was set with countless tiny diamonds, constantly refracting shimmering light. These diamonds clustered around a central emerald green gemstone, perfectly round and subtly shaped like an eye. Fors only glanced at it before feeling a headache coming on, unable to look directly at it.

Isengard solemnly placed the ring on the middle finger of his right hand, then closed his eyes.

"brush!"

The emerald green ring quickly turned golden and radiated a dazzling light, as warm and pure as sunlight, filling the entire room. The previously rampant, deformed flesh and blood appeared somewhat timid under the light.

"Expulsion!"

Golden light gathered on the ring, becoming increasingly pure and powerful. Isengard pointed to Hugh's wound with the hand wearing the ring, solemnly declaring...

"Zizi!"

The light shone down and landed on Hugh's wound, causing the distorted, writhing flesh to rapidly recede, turning to ash like cotton being ignited by flames.

Hugh's complexion gradually improved.

However, deep within that flesh and blood, the black aura of the curse remained, locked within the body no matter how much light shone upon it, impossible to remove. When Isengard stopped, the curse became active again, beginning to affect the flesh and blood at the wound site. If this continued, it was likely that new mutations would appear again after some time.

Isengard quickly removed the ring, a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Um"

When he saw the flesh and blood begin to mutate again, he frowned and turned to look at Fors.

"The aura of the true creator... So, the Lanluus you're investigating really is possessed by an evil god?"

Hugh and Fors had given Isengard information on Lannister before, hoping the detective could analyze his behavioral patterns. "How did you know? Uh, yes."

Fors was initially puzzled, but then honestly answered under the other person's direct gaze.

She never expected that this detective was actually a learned and powerful Extraordinary Being. Although she had modified the part involving Extraordinary elements after giving him the information, since he was an Extraordinary Being and a great detective with extremely high reasoning ability, he must have already discovered the anomaly.

Therefore, it is not impossible that Isengard could guess that Lannüs possessed divinity.

However, since Lanius's curse carries a divine quality, it cannot be eliminated by relying solely on the collections he possesses.

After a moment's thought, he approached Fors, whose face was full of worry.

Do you want to save your companion?

"Of course!"

Fors said without hesitation.

Just moments ago, when they encountered Lannuus, it was Hugh who overcame her fear and charged at the powerful and terrifying enemy, giving Fors the opportunity to create an escape route. After that, Hugh was injured, and Fors used the remaining gems on her bracelet to open the "door" and escape with her, which is why they ended up in Isengard's house.

"So, are you willing to pay the dangerous price for this?"

Isengard asked seriously.

".willing."

Fors hesitated for a second before answering seriously. If it weren't for Hugh, they would have both died long ago. If it could save her, paying a dangerous price was only fair.

After receiving her affirmative reply, Isengard used the ring again to draw up a "contract" for the two of them. Through this contract, Fors shared a portion of the curse, alleviating Hugh's corrosive influence.

“These are prepared ‘holy waters of the sun.’ Drink one bottle every now and then to suppress the curse.”

Eisinger handed several bottles of liquid to Fors.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Isengard. I had no idea you were an extraordinary being.”

Because of the curse, Fors became somewhat weak, and she accepted the holy water.

“My treatment is not free. Besides, these can only temporarily relieve the symptoms and cannot cure the disease.”

Isengard shook his head. "If you really want a complete solution, you need to find a 'Secret Prayer' with the Sequence 6 of the 'Mystic' pathway, or a 'Rose Bishop', or a 'Sun' pathway Sequence 5. However, Rose Bishops are all madmen who believe in the true Creator, and the 'Sun' pathway comes from Intis, which is hostile to Rune. Finding these two sequences is extremely difficult."

"I understand, I'll figure something out."

Hearing him say that, Fors's heart, which had been somewhat relieved, became heavy again.

Go find Miss Audrey first; she might have a solution.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the eastern district.

Lu Ze picked up his pen and stared at the blank letter paper, lost in thought.

What kind of content should I write for that Sherlock detective?
　Thank you to reader Orison_H for the 100 Qidian coins!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)