The Shepherds Are Dense

Chapter 136. Vanguard Spear Rhongomyniad

Aiwass’s death this time felt entirely different from his prior Devotion Path advancement.Though killed by the shadow demon, his consciousness didn’t detach from his body. His perspective neither rose nor sank into darkness.

It lingered within his lifeless shell.

Despite being dead, Aiwass felt the agony of being cooked.

It was as if he wasn’t killed and thrown into the magical cauldron but boiled alive.

The cauldron, nearly three meters tall and over six meters wide, resembled a low crucible or a massive bowl.

Its dark golden surface bore the anguished faces of various races, as if gold had been poured over them to mold masks or tormented souls struggled to escape, their faces bulging outward.

Their eyes were garnets, like dried blood beads.

Barton, watching from below, saw the garnets flare with light as Alastair entered the cauldron.

Aiwass’s corpse curled into a fetal position, as if sleeping.

Invisible heat flooded Aiwass’s body through every orifice.

His skin felt steeped in scalding ginger or chili juice, warming briefly before turning unbearably painful.

His flesh seemed to melt or solidify under the heat. His bones, hottest of all, traced burning lines within him.

When the heat reached his chest and brain, the world fell silent.

As if burned to ash, a furious flame ignited in his chest.

His stopped heart began to throb abnormally, muscles writhing and swelling.

More intense, more ferocious.

Footsteps approached the door as a roar erupted from the cauldron.

A cry of pain or a warrior’s charge.

A dark-red giant, three to four meters tall, rose from the cauldron, clothes shredded, chest exposed.

A gaping hole pierced his heart—where the shadow demon had struck.

Unhealed, it pumped steam, his ember-like heart making this giant “Alastair” seem less human, more monster.

A creature of the Authority Path’s red glow, revived from death, reeking of vegetable broth, silent.

He’d lost the ability to speak.

“What’s happening?”

A low, muffled female voice sounded—a beautiful, human-like Valkyrie, ten meters tall, barely reaching the red-furred giant’s chest.

Her fiery red hair framed a resolute face. Fresh from bed, unclothed, her muscled abdomen and thighs were vine-like, without fat.

Yet her skin was dry, rough, pale as waxed bark or plaster, gleaming under the light.

Focused on Aiwass in the cauldron, she didn’t notice Barton cowering in the corner.

“An escaped slave!”

She roared, realizing the situation, and lunged for her weapon by the bed.

To humans, her steel axe—nearly two meters long, mismatched with the temple’s bronze—was a giant’s weapon. To her, it was a light handaxe.

But black liquid shot from Aiwass’s hand, snatching one axe and pulling it to him.

He swung at the cauldron, but it didn’t dent, though the axe’s blade chipped.

Aiwass roared, the shadow demon retracting and reaching for the Holy Lance.

In human combat, its spiral spear was massive; against giants, it was a mere thread.

Yet it sufficed as aid, denying the giant one weapon.

As Aiwass grasped the Lance, information flashed before him—its name and attributes:

Vanguard Spear Rhongomyniad

Divine Weapon (Candlekeeper): Forged by the Candlekeeper, wieldable only by those aligned with His ideals.

Lance, Heavy, Resilient, Sharp, Piercing, Adaptive

Divine Trait: Ignores resistance bonuses from “Divinity,” “Corruption,” or “Force Field” categories.

Supernatural Module—Challenger’s Courage: The wielder remains unshaken against stronger foes.

Divine Module—Life’s Devotion: Sacrifice 99% of maximum health to activate its mythic form, .

Divine Module—I Am the Vanguard: Without allies, all attacks with Rhongomyniad gain maximum advantage; immune to flanking; damage increases with more enemies in range.

Divine Module—No Retreat: You cannot retreat; enemies attempting to leave your attack range trigger a divine counterattack. Counter damage scales with your health percentage—lower health, higher damage. If the counter kills, excess damage heals you equivalently.

Mythic Rhongomyniad: Channels the Candlekeeper’s power to bless the Eternal Vanguard. When facing a lethal attack, automatically enter a three-second state.

Eternal Vanguard State: All damage is absorbed and converted to equivalent healing; effect cools down three seconds after ending.

“I am the Eternal Vanguard of the Stag, unyielding, unretreating, undefeated, undying.”

As the giant-sized Aiwass gripped the Lance, it shrank to fit his hand.

Undoubtedly a true divine artifact.

A temporary divine weapon card!

Crafted by the Candlekeeper for His beloved —a twenty-meter-tall, reclusive giant apostle who once lived in this temple—it was tailored for him.

Aiwass understood why only this Lance could harm the giant couple or destroy the cauldron.

As apostles of the Supreme Sky with His divine artifact, only a weapon ignoring “Divinity” resistance could shatter it.

Even a first-tier transcendent, bolstered by the cauldron’s warrior body and this Candlekeeper-blessed Lance, could face a giant apostle head-on.

Though many traits were unusable, its mythic form, if used well, was essentially a health lock!

Aiwass thrust the glowing Lance downward.

It smashed the cauldron like a hammer on a clay pot, shattering it effortlessly.

The endless food and splashing broth vanished like ash with a sizzling sound.

The garnets, unstruck, shattered too, releasing white souls that mingled with the steam, chilling the room.

“—Karstenning’s Lance!”

The female giant exclaimed, recognizing it.

“How did you wield it?!”

She hesitated visibly but didn’t falter. Roaring, she charged Aiwass.

Her roar alone made Barton bleed from his orifices, his head ringing, overcome with nausea and imbalance, unable to stand.

The temple’s divinely reinforced walls couldn’t withstand her.

Her ten-meter frame moved with feline agility, stirring gales. Her axe slashed viciously at Aiwass’s head.

A sonic boom erupted, winds howling outward, devastating the room like a typhoon.

But Aiwass’s Lance blazed with divine light.

Black, hollow thorns sprouted from the grip, rooting into his arm like tree roots. His blood dyed them red.

Fueled, the Lance ignited with white flames, warping the air.

Surging heat set cloth and paper ablaze.

Struck by the axe, Aiwass didn’t retreat or falter.

White flames burst from his eyes, restoring him instantly.

He roared, thrusting the flaming Lance at the giantess.

A silver scale appeared on his left hand.

Authority—Silver Scale: Grants +1 advantage (Divinity) when attacking oathbreakers.

The Silver-Crowned Dragon’s mark, proof He watched Aiwass.

It confirmed the giantess was an oathbreaker, despised by the Dragon.