We Shall Become Shepherds, for You, My Lord

"Smack!"

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 just as deadly as those from a normal pistol.

In the moment of crisis, his rich combat experience and Meng's powerful physique saved Dunn's life. He twisted his body almost instinctively.

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 development of events was too sudden, leaving them completely unable to understand it or grasp the current situation.

The captain was shot?

Why did Al Hassan fire the gun?

"Oh...""

The air froze for a moment, inexplicably, until Al Hassen spoke again. Seeing that he had missed a vital spot, he merely let out a contemptuous sneer and then waited calmly.

"Ugh!"

Soon, Dunn clutched his wound and let out a low groan. His expression turned extremely painful, and black 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 Luther's Beyonder Item when the gunshot distracted him. In that brief moment of distraction, the "Nighthawks" 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 behind him immediately surrounded him, pulling out dark red daggers from under their uniforms!

Left with no other option, Leonard had to step back, draw 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.

"Bang!"

"Enemy attack!"

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

Enemy?

Among the crowd, Klein, upon hearing Leonard's words, couldn't help but look at Al Hasan and Borgia. These two, along with Lorotta who had just left with Cecilia, had come to Tingen while investigating the Antigonus Family Notebook and had even fought alongside them. Why would Leonard call them enemies?

Then, Klein was shocked to see an unbelievable scene:

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

They are not Nighthawks from Backlund, but enemies in disguise!

"Bang!"

Leonard fired again, taking down the nearest enemy. However, the other enemies charged forward fearlessly, 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 Dream Infiltration.

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 Nighthawks team had also reacted; Klein, Siga, and Kenley all drew their Revolver and aimed them at the enemies below.

The tattooed man stepped forward, extending his arm, clad in a black metal glove, with his index finger pointing diagonally to the ground, drawing a horizontal line in the air. Then he shouted:

"Passage Forbidden Here!"

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

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The men fired their Revolver one after another, but the bullets failed to penetrate the transparent wall. The bullets made a loud bang upon hitting the wall 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 Luther, who was locked up.

"Get out of here!"

"Luther shouted angrily. These guys, who were disguised as Nighthawks, had now dropped their disguises and surrounded him without saying a word, grabbing his hands and feet. He was more worried about Cecilia's safety than about being afraid."

These people are Ms. 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 "Language of Foulness" 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 Luther down and gagging him.

"Sizzle!"

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

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

This is... that Holy Bible!

There, on his chest, the missing Holy Bible had completely fused with his skin and become embedded in his body! The open pages of the human skin were perfectly aligned with his skin, with no trace of forced stitching except for a slight difference in color!

Luther stared blankly at the Holy Bible, feeling as if a lock deep within his mind suddenly broke, 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 Bible book.

A series of scenes unfolded rapidly:

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

He saw that as he read the Holy Bible, Ms. M sat beside him, her golden eyes gleaming with an eerie light. Each time Luther finished reading a page, the page seemed to come alive, detaching from the Holy Bible and floating into his chest, while he and Cecilia completely ignored it;

He also saw that the entire Holy Bible he had read had been transferred to him. During his battle with Ms. M, as she recited her prayers before her death, the Holy Bible responded in kind, until...

Luther 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

Luther'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 Distortion 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 slashed his veins without hesitation.

"Sizzle--"

Fresh blood was violently pumped from the veins, splattering all over the cobblestone pavement of Zouteland Street.

Praise the Lord.

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, dipped it in the blood, and drew a huge inverted cross on the ground—an inverted cross made of fresh blood.

Bloody, horrific, and imbued with a profound and heavy religious significance.

At the same time, the middle-aged man with the Distortion smile turned around and went back into the carriage behind, carefully taking out a bottle of medicine.

Luther stared at the bottle of potion, feeling an indescribable attraction from the depths of his soul. Even now, overwhelmed by the fact that Ms. M was right there on him, he couldn't help but look at the bottle of potion.

Could it be 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.

Thump.

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

"Sizzle-"

The potion inside the bottle quickly began to boil, emitting a piercing and painful scream. A chilling and terrifying feeling 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 do we do now?!"

Outside the wall, the Nighthawks of Tingen City were thrown into chaos when they saw that the Revolver was ineffective and that the spells and Ritual 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 Rozanne and Klein, shouting, "Civilian personnel, organize the evacuation of the entire street and request reinforcements from 'The Mandated Punishers' and 'The Machinery Hivemind.' 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 the panicked crowd to their senses. Because they had come out to see Luther 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.

"Keep it up!"

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

Klein couldn't give a positive response, or even manage a smile. He, Leonard, Siga, Kenley gathered around Dunn, closely observing the situation inside the walls.

"What's that thing on Luther?! What are they going to do to him?"

As Klein watched the scene of "drugs" being made, an extremely strong sense of unease welled up inside him. His "Seer's" Spiritual Intuition told him that something terrible was about to happen!

"Team leader!"

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

"".. I see."

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

"Saint Selena's Ashes?"

Upon hearing this, Siga couldn't help but acknowledge it; that was the most crucial item behind the Chanis Gate, used to suppress all the strange entities guarding the gate. Once it was retrieved...

The Beyonder Item behind the door will immediately go berserk... Even so, Dunn decides to use his captain's authority. Has the situation really gotten 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... this little fellow is about to become 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 break free and devour everyone present.

Luther 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 Throne and crowned with a laurel wreath of thorns.

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

"Jiggs is dead; we're one short."

The tattooed man spoke in a hoarse voice.

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

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

The group worked together to release Luther's mouth.

"Go to hell!"

As soon as Luther opened his mouth, he shouted in Ancient Hermes filled with extreme malice. Blood immediately welled up in the faces of the people around him, but they still wore smiles. They didn't care about the injuries they were suffering and forcibly opened his mouth.

"Click!"

Luther 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.

"Aaaaaah!"

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 Flesh indistinguishable from tissues and organs, with only the human face on his chest maintaining its shape.

Luther's Consciousness detached and floated above him, watching his body gradually collapse.

After Luther 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 Ritual 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 Saint Selena Cathedral rang. The sacred and lofty sound seemed to come from the horizon, echoing deep into people's hearts and souls.

We will become Shepherd, 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.

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

At the center of the blood cross, Luther'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 was extremely craving this Flesh and soul.

"Puff!"

Six people calmly pierced their hearts, and amidst the gushing blood, they followed the blood trails under their feet, step by step, 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 soul 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 Greed devoured them all.