The Shepherds Are Dense

Chapter 146. Nurturing: Shadow Essence

When the Nurturing (Essence) skill is used in the Devotion Path, it manifests as prayer and sacrifice. But in the Transcendence Path, it becomes a ritual.Aiwass and Lily inscribed a new eight-pointed star array on the floor, but unlike before, no Nine Pillar Gods’ names were written. Instead, Aiwass’s name and its variants filled the array in different languages.

Earlier that night, they prepared a cup of fine wine, soaking cinnamon in it for half an hour before simmering it over low heat and removing the cinnamon. Then, Lily added the key element: a purple amethyst carved by Aiwass into an eight-sided die.

Amethyst, the guardian gem of the Transcendence Path, balanced discordant ritual elements, enhancing success rates for near-complete but unstable ceremonies. Without it, the forbidden nurturing ritual—akin to reversing water’s flow or sustaining an eternal flame—would inevitably fail.

Once the amethyst die was added, Lily let the wine cool to room temperature, signaling the ritual’s start.

Lily knelt before Aiwass, who sat in a backed chair placed within the array. His feet touched the ground as the shadow demon flowed into him, turning his skin pale and cold, faint black mist rising. His eyes filled with dark fog, his limbs cloaked in a black silken sheen—demons often manifested through extremities and orifices.

“I am your shepherd; you shall not want,” Aiwass intoned softly.

He drew the same ritual dagger used to feed the shadow demon, slicing his finger and writing his first name on Lily’s forehead with bloodied finger. Lily gazed up at him, as if seeking divine favor.

As blood dripped, infused with the shadow demon’s essence, it turned thick, black, and acrid, smelling of decayed wood. Lily lowered her head, raising the ritual wine cup.

Amethyst symbolized the wine god, loyalty, and love, but also the Transcendence Path’s dual traits: rebellion and contract.

“Here, I grant you grace, hope, and ecstasy,” Aiwass declared, his voice merging with the shadow demon’s as he dripped blood into the wine. “Without expectation of return.”

Lily drank the wine, holding the die in her mouth, then placed the cup at Aiwass’s feet and carefully spat out the die.

If successful, the die would show 8, regardless of probability—8 symbolizing infinity, eternity, cycles, and transcendence, the holy number of the Serpent Father.

As expected, the die rolled in the cup, settling on 8, lying flat, resembling the infinity symbol to both Aiwass and Lily.

Instantly, a black infinity mark appeared beneath them, two rings encircling Aiwass and Lily. Aiwass’s dark mana drained rapidly, the shadow demon surging from him to Lily and back.

Seconds later, as his mana depleted, the black mist balanced between them. Aiwass sensed a new connection: Lily joined his contract with the shadow demon, their bond now intimate, like halves of a whole. Lily held authority over the shadow demon, which retained authority under Aiwass.

It was like buying a “family plan” for the shadow demon, sharing “child access” with Lily.

“The ritual succeeded,” Aiwass said, elated.

“It took about half my power,” the shadow demon added in Chloe’s voice. “But with more feeding, I can recover…”

“And you, Lily?” Aiwass asked his maid.

Lily, head bowed, felt the new shadow essence within her, like ink in water. She blurred, briefly vanishing from the material world, then recondensed as if time rewound.

Lifting her head, she beamed, “I’m so close to the shadows now! I feel like I could slip into them!”

“Of course,” the shadow demon said sternly. “You’re half a shadow demon now. You’ll need to train its skills from scratch, but if mastered, you’re a shadow demon with a material body. Don’t squander the master’s gift.”

The shadow demon was privately shocked by the nurturing ritual’s power but feigned nonchalance before Aiwass and Lily.

Post-ritual, a mystical, unbreakable bond formed between it and Lily. It had assumed Aiwass merely lent power, to be replenished later, but instead, it sacrificed half its strength to grant Lily a racial trait—a kinship tighter than demonic possession.

Almost… maternal.

Lily sensed this, her fear of the shadow demon turning to affection. She vaguely perceived its thoughts, like its current confusion about the nurturing ritual.

“I feel I could host you now…” Lily said gently, touching Aiwass’s shadow.

The shadow demon flowed from her finger’s shadow into hers, settling more stably than in Aiwass’s, without the constant trembling.

“It works?” Aiwass said, surprised.

“Not too far or long,” the shadow demon replied from Lily’s shadow. “And I’m weaker here…”

“Let’s test it,” Aiwass said, standing. “Lily, take it outside, see how far it goes and how much power it retains. I’ll clean up. If you see Oswald, tell him Yulia’s healed.”

His shadow finally still, Aiwass felt normal. Lily nodded, leaving silently with the shadow demon.

Alone, Aiwass murmured, “Finally feeling the wool carpet again…”

Since regaining his past-life memories, this was his first time walking normally. Usually, he felt a soft, elastic surface—the shadow demon’s body, like soft rubber. It let him run on uneven terrain, even swamps or sand, but was sticky and uncomfortable, like walking on cola-spilled rubber. His cloth priest shoes helped, unlike stickier leather.

Sighing, Aiwass began cleaning the ritual site—his third that night. He considered converting a basement into a dedicated ritual room; his bedroom reeked of blood, the floor likely soaked.

Spray luminol, and it’d glow like a slaughterhouse.

When the shadow demon returned, it could corrode the blood—a strange feeling, like a dog cleaning food scraps.

To avoid waking Yulia, Aiwass moved lightly. Soon, a shadow darted across the floor, merging into his. Lily returned, reporting:

“It reached Edward’s room before returning automatically. With me, it can extend five or six steps.”

A sub-router, huh? Aiwass thought, amused. And “Miss” Shadow Demon? Lily must’ve assumed its gender from Chloe’s voice. He didn’t bother correcting her.

“Edward’s room is about fifty meters. Your five or six steps are roughly three meters,” Aiwass calculated.

A three-meter radius limited the shadow demon’s destructive power to a protective role, but it could scout with Lily. Without the Field Card: Shadow Vault, the shadow demon was confined to Aiwass’s shadow, unable to enter others’ or extend from cast shadows, like those on walls.

It spread a shadow domain to enlarge Aiwass’s shadow. Now, Lily could act as a temporary host, enabling shadow-based techniques Aiwass used in rituals.

This effectively boosted Lily’s offensive capabilities.

Aiwass realized a key advantage. “Lily, raise your hand,” he thought to the shadow demon.

Two seconds later, Lily raised her hand, puzzled.

It worked!

With the shadow demon as his contractor and Lily as its, Aiwass could issue precise orders remotely via the demon, like delayed telepathy—or a team voice chat.

(Chapter End)