Chapter 111: Their Mission
Everyone in the group clutched their heads, Cillian included. Even though he was still confused about how the information had been transmitted to the group in Hensel Hospital, it seemed that he, despite not knowing how it worked, was also informed.
He noted Troy’s words about the shepherds’ dead status not working inside the gate and about Cillian killing a shepherd.
’Why the fuck does it give pain though?!’
Cillian clicked his tongue and quickly tried to figure out how the information was being passed around as he looked around.
And then he saw it. The three shepherds he was with were looking in his direction. Their suspicious gazes beneath their robes were apparent as the pain in their heads slowly subsided.
Cillian tilted his head.
"Why are you looking at me that way?"
He tried to calm the situation first, but one of the shepherds immediately demanded to know who he was.
"Can you bring down your robe for a second? We want to see your face."
Seeing that they were getting ready and realizing that Cillian might not be part of them, the three shepherds readied their abilities. They had acquired photos of Cillian from when he had just entered the academy, but the recent ones they had tried to gather were always blurred for some reason.
Even so, they would definitely know if he was the person they were trying to find by looking at his face. They might be able to find similarities, unlike Troy, who should’ve pointed them out earlier.
After all, not too long had passed.
But Cillian had carefully thought this through.
[Mimicry Activated]
[Mimicry Failed]
[Mimicry Activated]
[Mimicry Failed]
Cillian removed the robe covering his head, revealing himself to the three shepherds. They saw a man in his twenties with smooth skin, black hair, and dark blue eyes. His lips were dry, as if he had not drunk water in a long time.
It was a different kind of youth from Cillian Sparrow.
It was Raymond’s face.
"Done now?"
[Mimicry Activated]
"Yeah."
[Mimicry Failed]
’God damn it.’
The four shepherds continued their journey as usual, as Cillian was unable to mimic the abilities they had prepared, even though they were openly available for copying.
...
There was an exploit involving Faceless that Cillian continued to use, one that he had utilized a while ago. He had especially relied on it during his one-on-one fight with the summoner shepherd. Since then, he had been using it as the "walls" he built around himself to make his opponents lower their guard.
What exploit is that?
It was the fact that he could simply not say "mimic" or "sleight of hand" every time he used Faceless’ abilities. The reason he uttered those words was to trick his opponents, as his enemies would eventually realize he was capable of copying their abilities.
Cillian wanted them to think that he had to mutter "mimicry" every time for it to work.
The only time he spammed this exploit without speaking was when Cillian was covered with Squidler, merely seeing the summoner shepherd with his one eye again back at the academy.
One eye was all it took for him to attempt the copy. However, Cillian still had to be moderate about spamming it too much, lest he found himself on the verge of losing control.
That’s why saying it through his mouth is a way to limit himself from using it every second. However, it is different now when he’s forced to copy everything he needs to get out of here.
’I want to copy more good abilities and reserve them in my storage. Then, I want to at least grab some good Pieces that totally fit my skill set, which is as busted as my Faceless or similar. If I can’t have them, I might as well transform them into Artifacts I could use. I mean, I’m greedy. I don’t mind hoarding the good stuff."
His train of thought, which was filled with ideas of stealing and gathering powerful Pieces and Artifacts, soon came to a halt once the group resumed their search. They split into pairs and searched the hallway they were in.
Cillian carefully observed the person he was paired with as they searched the room one by one, their weapons in their hands.
’This is the perfect time to gather information from them. The difficult part is figuring out what I should ask. Heh, after all, I don’t want it to be obvious that I’m not part of their group, but my questions should still be enough to not raise a suspicion.’
Then, a thought came to mind. Since the person he was paired with appeared to be someone of a low rank within their group, Cillian found the right question to ask.
After opening the cabinet right in front of him, Cillian asked in a confused tone, wanting answers.
"I just came to this land recently, but I wasn’t sure what Arthur had to do with our mission given to us."
He said it in a way that made it seem like he belonged to another group of Black Shepherds working under different White Shepherds, using the information from Mouthful Eye about them. He presented himself as someone who wasn’t paying very close attention to the recent news since he belonged to another group under different White Shepherds.
"Oh? I see."
The Black Shepherd gesture of understanding as he answered.
"Everything happened so suddenly, so the White Shepherds of Viola are rushing to acquire as much reinforcement as possible. Which family did you come from? Well, I mean, the closest ones are Xesie and Hanetry. So you must be someone stationed somewhere between the two."
’Hmm?! Why are the other families being mentioned by this guy’s mouth? Wait just a moment, does that mean the Shepherd’s influence had already reached the entire continent of humanity? Aiden! You said Black Shepherds are just working for White Shepherds, and it varies! How come is this dude mentioning a renowned family like it’s nothing?!’
Cillian considered that information plenty, but he was still confused and left full of questions, guessing that the Shepherd’s influence as an ancient organization is becoming truer.
Cillian merely answered with a word.
"Xesie."
"I see. You really must’ve come here recently."
The Black Shepherd sighed as he continued searching around carefully while keeping his ability ready to use at any moment, in case Cillian suddenly popped out of nowhere.
"The mission right now is very important as it is something that the Brown Shepherd had explicitly ordered for White Shepherds near this land and the White Shepherds directly operating here. It had something to do with Arthur’s summoning ’God’."
This was something Cillian already knew after the extensive research he had done to reach this conclusion. What he wanted was more information.
And it seemed this dude was more than what he appeared to be.
"The mission right now is simple. Let Arthur summon a ’God.’ Just as it is about to be fully manifested, kill it and deliver its ’soul’ to the Brown Shepherd. Mind you, doing this carries a risk, and I’m not aware of how the White Shepherds planned this out. Well, everything carries a risk, but this is much more dangerous than you can imagine.
"In this current age, it is rare for ’Gods’ to be summoned into this world because of sorcery. But with a few preparations crafted over the years, it is manageable. Though everything is kind of rushed right now because of Arthur’s sudden actions."
’Brown Shepherd... Killing a ’God’.’
Cillian managed to get hold of important intel from the Black Shepherd, albeit it was somewhat underwhelming.
After all, if he explained how they would kill the ’God’ and more information about this Brown Shepherd, that would’ve been perfect information to possess.
Alas, Cillian can only be satisfied with this for now.
’All good, I will try to learn more about it the more I encounter Black Shepherds who might hold important information. Should I try doing it to Troy, who, by their words, is the leader of this operation?’
Cillian pondered before finally deciding how he would continue forward.
He glanced at the Black Shepherd as he moved closer. Silently, Cillian grabbed the blade from his inventory.
The moment he was close enough, Cillian sliced the enemy’s throat in one clean swipe while trying to cover his mouth.
"!"
The Black Shepherd’s eyes quivered before he felt two more strikes delve deeper into his throat. The life in his eyes underneath his robe instantly disappeared.
Once the shepherd was dropped down, Cillian unveiled the robe and looked at his face before he muttered under his breath.
"Mimicry."
[Reserved mimicked Storage: Jack Trade’s voice, [Buddy [Two]: Buddy Hop], Eve Salme’s Voice, Cale Hentuse’s voice, Orion... Troy Kisher’s voice... Khaleed Fesa’s Voice.]
Cillian looked through the screen of his mimicked storage and spotted the name of the man he had killed, Khaleed, whose voice he had been able to copy earlier. Right then, he put the robe back over his head, allowing the blood to flow from his neck.
If it wasn’t for the fact that he had copied his voice, Cillian wouldn’t have done this action since he had to make it look convincing enough that this was a self-defense attack coming from ’Raymond’.
The voice was enough to pull the job he was currently thinking about.
’Accurate, not perfect. Accurate, not perfect.’
The mantra Cillian always abided by was that there was no need for perfection when doing things, but rather accuracy, since it would become perfect in its own way.
With a plan in mind, Cillian used Khaleed Fesa’s voice and shouted. His voice desperate.
"HELP ME!"
[Khaleed Fesa’s Voice: [2:00]]
[1:59]