The Shepherds Are Dense

Chapter 124: Cooperation and Betrayal

Aiwass’s vision blurred as if veiled by faint white gauze.When his sight cleared, the surroundings had turned pitch black, impossible to discern.

Yet he could clearly feel himself bound.

It wasn’t with handcuffs or shackles meant to restrain prisoners.

Instead, a tough rope, thicker than an adult’s arm, wound tightly from his shoulders to his ankles.

It wrapped him like a rice dumpling.

Aiwass sensed immense strength coursing through this body, far stronger than his own.

But alongside that power came an overwhelming hunger and a sense of weakness.

He needed food.

He tried to break free with brute force, but the rope wouldn’t snap.

It seemed to have a strange elasticity, absorbing his efforts to break it.

At that moment, a low, raspy, magnetic voice echoed in his mind.

Aiwass stopped struggling, focusing intently on the dungeon introduction that would play only once.

“You awaken with a headache, your name forgotten.

But that doesn’t matter.

Your sparse remaining memories recall why you’re here.

This is your second day locked away.

You nine are strangers, lured into a trap while seeking the Holy Lance.

Captured by the giant couple, the Pancodes, as their winter rations.

Your only commonality: you’re all robust warriors.

The giants have split you nine into three storage rooms.

In one hour, they’ll visit one room and choose someone as their ingredient.

The selection is entirely random.

But if they find someone already dead, they’ll cook and preserve all the deceased.

In the giants’ display cabinet lies a powerful Holy Lance, a trophy from slaying a Devotion Path apostle.

They also possess a magical cauldron, blessed by the Supreme Sky, that resurrects and enlarges dead ingredients.

Even though humans are small to them, one can feed them for a day.

Though you’re all strong, fighting the giants is impossible.

Protected by the Supreme Sky, they can only be harmed by the Holy Lance.

But the giants fear the cold, so unless disturbed, they stay in their bed.

If they hear a noise, they’ll investigate.

This is all you know.

You don’t know if you can escape, but you want to survive today.”

The next moment, the ritual’s tasks appeared before Aiwass’s eyes.

[Main Task—]

[Survive (Points: None)]

[Optional Tasks—]

[Unnecessary Killing: Kill another participant (Points: 300 per person)]

[Escape Danger: Leave your storage room (Points: 500)]

[Stay Hidden: Avoid detection by the giants until the end (Points: 500)]

[I Am the Saint!: Hold the Holy Lance (Points: 50 per minute)]

[I Can Be a Saint Too: Kill the Holy Lance holder and take it (Points: 500)]

[Feeding Machine: Ensure the giants cook someone you killed (Points: 1000)]

[Transcendent’s Nature: Attack a giant and deal effective damage (Points: 1000)]

[Successful Escape: Find the key and escape the Pancode Temple (Points: 2000)]

[No More Supreme Sky: Use the Holy Lance to destroy the magical cauldron without being detected (Points: 1000)]

[Courage to Defy the Strong: Use the Holy Lance to kill a giant (Points: 3000)]

Aiwass narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

Clearly, these tasks were tailored for the Transcendence Path.

They differed completely from the style of his previous advancement tasks.

Perhaps because these were set by the Serpent Father, unlike the Lord of Scales and Feathers from his last ritual.

The main task was mandatory—failure meant elimination.

Since everyone shared the same main task, it carried no points.

The optional tasks, however, reeked of murderous intent.

While unclear about others, [Escape Danger], [Stay Hidden], and [Successful Escape] were likely universal.

Their task names had a distinct textual style compared to the others.

From this perspective, cooperation was possible.

After all, only one key was needed to escape, regardless of how many fled.

In other words, without special victory conditions, three people could escape together.

Nine people split into three storage rooms—three per room—made natural allies.

Losing even one person would reduce a team’s efficiency compared to others.

This ritual differed starkly from Aiwass’s previous Full Moon Ritual.

If the last one focused on narrative, this one was all about strategy.

The plot was deliberately vague—Aiwass didn’t even know the name of the body he inhabited.

There was no role-playing requirement.

All he knew was that this place was called the “Pancode Temple.”

Their goal was to stay quiet, avoid making noise, and find a way to escape.

…No, wait.

Aiwass suddenly realized—this wasn’t a Full Moon Ritual but a competitive Crescent Ritual.

If everyone escaped, it was as if no one did.

Points didn’t matter in themselves; rankings determined advancement.

Only three could advance, yet there were two special victory conditions.

Thus, only the top point-holder was guaranteed to advance.

Second and third could be overtaken.

Unless the special victory conditions were claimed by the first and second, third place might slip through.

In a three-person team, pooling points together was risky.

No one knew each other’s tasks or saw a live leaderboard.

Even if three stuck together, their points would vary.

It clicked.

No wonder the first task was called “Unnecessary Killing.”

Killing wasn’t required in this ritual.

It wasn’t a gladiatorial deathmatch but demanded some cooperation.

Yet, ignorance of teammates’ points and tasks bred suspicion, tempting betrayal.

The two special victory conditions made three-person teams unstable, as slots could be stolen.

The more efficient and cooperative the team, the more likely a final betrayal—because shared tasks meant higher teammate points.

This was a ritual of cooperation and betrayal.

‘Help me, shadow demon,’ Aiwass called inwardly.

Thick shadows seeped silently from his body, effortlessly corroding the ropes.

With a tug, he broke free and sat up.

He wore little, just a clean linen cloth without fasteners.

From an ingredient’s perspective, it was less a robe and more a diaper.

The room remained pitch black, with no light source.

Aiwass could see nothing.

But then, a faint blue glow sparked in the darkness, catching his attention.

He soon discerned it came from intricate phoenix tattoos covering someone’s body.

The next moment, flames surged from the tattoos, burning away the ropes without touching the linen cloth.

Using the light from this human torch, Aiwass recognized the figure.

It was the silent monk from before.

Though this body had hair and clothes, the monk’s quiet demeanor gave him away.

The monk glanced at Aiwass, who had escaped silently, and nodded slightly.

He slowly raised his right hand.

The flames on his body flowed like liquid, gathering in his palm.

He became a lamp, illuminating the lightless storage room.

Aiwass’s eyes adjusted to the dark, and he surveyed his surroundings.

He felt impossibly small.

The massive bronze door loomed about thirty meters high.

By this measure, the giants were likely over twenty meters tall—roughly half an Ultraman’s height.

Far too massive.

To warriors, they were indeed an unbeatable foe.

To the giants, humans wrapped in linen were probably the size of a crepe.

How could the magical cauldron enlarge a human enough to feed giants of this size for a day?

The third person in the room, seeing both others free, called out urgently.

“I’m Red! Help me!”

Aiwass turned to see Red, not in a female body but a muscular male warrior’s, like theirs.

Red was still bound like a dumpling, but she didn’t seem panicked.

Unlike Aiwass and the monk, she either couldn’t or wouldn’t use transcendent abilities to escape.

Aiwass leaned toward the latter.

Hiding her strength from the start?

‘Then you might as well die here,’ he thought.

“Alright, Lady Red,” Aiwass said, using his own voice, not the shadow demon’s.

“I’m Alastair…”

But before he could approach, the monk raised his other hand to stop him.

“Don’t help her,” the monk said curtly.

“Kill her.”

His voice brimmed with killing intent.