The Shepherds Are Dense

Chapter 62: I Call Upon the Candlebearer, God of the Sacred Number

After Edward left to rest, Aiwass still couldn’t shake his concern.He made his way back to Yulia’s side and performed another round of both physical and spiritual healing. He once again felt that strange surge of magic within himself. This time, his right arm became half-congested with the energy.

However, as Yulia’s condition stabilized, the sensation of magic pulling back subsided when Aiwass cast the Light Magic. With her falling into a deep sleep, the furious power in his arms began to fade. The throbbing and swelling quickly lessened.

It was confirmed—the power was from the , the phantom inside Yulia’s body.

Once the Inferno Butterfly fell into slumber, its power dissipated quickly, like floating weeds without roots.

Much like when Aiwass couldn’t use the shadow magic before reaching affinity with it, the Inferno Butterfly’s power was just as lethal to him. He had no affinity with fire. The magic returned to him during the healing process, a side effect of the “shepherding magic,” much like blood flowing back after a needle pierces a vein.

By the current rate, the swelling should take about an hour to fully subside.

For now, sleep was out of the question.

Aiwass frowned, covered Yulia with the blanket, and wheeled himself back to his bedroom.

He sat at the desk and lit a gas lamp, gazing into the flame as his thoughts raced. He tried to piece together his memories.

In the original timeline, Yulia had never lost control so early. She had been a sickly, but sweet, little sister—nothing more, until the final, self-induced violent outburst.

There had been in the past, up to the fourth incident. After Yulia’s death, the explosions ceased.

At the time, the investigations had led to the —but that may have been a misdirection orchestrated by his adoptive father, Moriarty.

In that original timeline, Moriarty hadn’t left Avalon at this point. With him around, it was easy to suppress the matter.

“Could this be the butterfly effect from James’s departure?” Aiwass murmured to himself. “‘Forgetting the seal’—is that believable?”

He trusted Edward. But could he trust that James hadn’t tricked Edward?

Aiwass had no evidence—only a hunch. As a final BOSS in version 6.0, it didn’t seem like Moriarty would forget such an important task.

He also sensed Edward might suspect something. Edward was likely telling him the truth, but the worry lingered—he might be covering for his father.

But it seemed unlikely James had planned this. After all, Edward had been called away unexpectedly. James hadn’t known that Sherlock would take Edward to Lawhe District, nor could he have predicted that Yulia would lose control that night.

Edward was right—had everything gone as planned, Yulia’s outburst wouldn’t have reached this near-death level. Edward would’ve arrived on time to seal the power.

This was a .

Still, this situation served as a wake-up call for Aiwass.

Nothing went according to plan. Unexpected events would always create chain reactions.

Therefore, Aiwass decided to start preparing blank tarot cards ahead of time.

Luckily, with the “Flame and Radiance Vessel” affinity trait he’d chosen during his advancement ritual, his fire power had reached 44 points. He needed just 2 more points to craft a fire-based blank card.

According to his calculations, he needed to reach level 13 to hit 46 fire power. That wasn’t difficult. Even without using experience points, he just needed to raise three mystical skill levels by one each.

If he didn’t have to let the Inferno Butterfly recover its strength, he would’ve used experience points to level up right away—he couldn’t seal the butterfly’s consciousness into a blank card if it hadn’t fully rested. If any residual essence remained in Yulia’s body, that would be a disaster.

Time to act.

Aiwass decided to create a prototype tonight.

He picked out the right tarot cards to seal the Inferno Butterfly, then infused them with four points of magic and stored them. He planned to save time, in case there was a rush later when the seal needed to be completed quickly.

But he wasn’t sure which card to use.

He knew that “Shadow Demons” could only be sealed with the [Moon] tarot card. After all, they were commonly summoned late in the game. But the Inferno Butterfly was an unfamiliar entity. In the original timeline, Aiwass hadn’t sealed it into a tarot card—it had gone into a necklace. The game hadn’t provided the “Inferno Butterfly” as a summoning option, and of course, Aiwass didn’t want to turn his sister into a pet.

Before proceeding, he needed a quick test to determine which card was best suited to seal the Inferno Butterfly.

Blank cards required two different tarot cards—one for the base, the other for the binding. These two cards fused together to create a “blank” card.

The base card represented the essence of the phantom, while the top card would symbolize one of the nine pillars of the gods—the one best suited to suppress or control the entity.

By using the power of the gods, the phantom could be contained, turning it into a “Great Beast” bound under the gods’ dominion. This technique wasn’t just useful—it was also a crime.

Theoretically, such tests should be done by the person directly involved or by a forbidden scholar using their secret arts. However, Aiwass had absorbed some of the Inferno Butterfly’s power during Yulia’s healing process, so he could take a shortcut—.

Though Aiwass wasn’t adept at foresight, this wasn’t about seeing the future—it was about asking the gods themselves.

He could simply ask the for guidance.

A prayer ceremony was itself a ritual. A forbidden scholar’s enhancement to such rituals could increase the chances of success.

And luckily, the Censor had a rather agreeable temperament. A little window knock wouldn’t upset him...

Aiwass opened a fresh tarot deck, shuffled it quickly, and laid it face down in a line. He lit a new candle, clasped his hands in prayer, and offered silent thanks to the Censor.

Next, he drew a ritual knife, passed it through the candle flame to purify it, and then used it to cut his left thumb.

Hot, scalding blood poured out, much like the warmth of a radiant sun.

Aiwass smeared the blood across each of the tarot cards, from the first to the last. He didn’t heal himself yet, choosing instead to keep the blood flowing as he shuffled the cards carefully.

“I call upon you, O noble thief of fire!

The god of three sacred numbers, the god of bound thorns, the god who burns to chase away the dark—!”

His eyes glowed golden-red as he chanted: “I beseech you, descend upon the flame!

I am but a novice in the Path of Devotion, a priest of the Nine Pillars! I am Aiwass Moriarty!

Grant me the light of wisdom, as you guard all the candles of the world.

I offer my blood in search of true knowledge. I swear this blood is for the benefit of others. Please, Censor and your apostles, respond to me…”

A pause.

A strange dizziness overcame Aiwass, a sudden sensation of being watched. A chill ran up his spine, and his heartbeat skipped a beat.

His palms cracked open without injury, and fresh blood poured out, completely soaking the tarot cards.

Yet Aiwass remained calm.

This was proof—the apostle had descended into the material world.

He couldn’t see the figure, but the signs were clear—.

Without hesitation, Aiwass continued: “Please, enlighten me: the essence of the phantom’s power in my blood.”

“Please, enlighten me: the essence of the phantom’s power in my blood.”

“Please, enlighten me: the essence of the phantom’s power in my blood.”

Since the Censor was the god of three sacred numbers, Aiwass repeated his request three times.

At the end of his prayer, he drew a card from the top of the stack.

The Censor would give him three answers, represented by three cards.

These cards would serve as the foundation for the blank card, but the strength of the power would vary.

End of Chapter 62