Chapter 114: The Voice Nearby
’I think I’m not that unlucky.’
Cillian had this thought while roaming around Hensel for almost thirty minutes already. During this time, he tried to hunt more Black Shepherds that had lost their way from the pack. Unfortunately, his number of kills remained the same, as he became even more certain that they had already gathered around the entrance.
Roaming around Hensel carefully and methodically proved that.
Eventually, Cillian managed to reach a spot where he could safely observe what was happening at the entrance from a distance. Still, just to make sure he wasn’t caught, Cillian only needed to take three peeks to form an image in his mind of how the Shepherds had positioned themselves.
’I still think I’m not that unlucky. It’s a so-so level that makes me lose my shit sometimes and at the same time, glad that I have this luck.’
Cillian continued thinking while formulating a plan in his mind, a frown forming on his face at the same time.
’Those are corpses, isn’t it?’
They were corpses that seemed not to belong to the Shepherds at all. They were all wearing normal clothes.
’Were these other people from outside who had entered Hensel? Were they killed by the Shepherds? I mean, people would eventually come here to look for their families who are here.’
Even though this was supposed to be something that happened naturally, people would eventually notice that something was wrong within Hensel. The absence of guards protecting the arch portal was enough proof of that.
However, what if the reason people started entering Hensel was that the situation outside was already happening exactly as Cillian had envisioned?
Authorities are moving and are on their way to detain Arthur, while people are being tasked with evacuating.
It would’ve been great if they could also send someone to Hensel, but Cillian found it unlikely for now because there was no reason for Arthur to do anything to Hensel.
Unless they are Cillian, who somehow disrupted this guy’s plan and made him be hasty about his actions.
After all, even he was surprised by why there were no people left in Hensel when he entered it.
"Ancient Ruins from the previous era. The Guilds are probably on their way to stop him. Ah, right, I forgot to mention the Black Shepherds that are probably rampant around Viola..."
How had a simple discovery of Arthur’s true identity led to this?
Cillian’s lips twitched.
Mouthful Eye rolled underneath the black robe he was wearing before appearing right on his shoulder.
"Hey, what’s the plan? Am I needed here?"
Cillian rested his back against the wall, his face looking up at the ceiling. His eyes carried traces of exhaustion, but there was also a teensy bit of excitement within them.
"I’m currently thinking, Aiden. Don’t worry, I’ll come up with something soon."
Cillian needed to get out of here by dealing with the wall blocking his way. He had to consider various possibilities since he didn’t know what powers they had.
They would know some of his abilities if those White Shepherds had been paying close attention while watching him back at the Academy.
’I should probably consider that they know that I can copy abilities and change faces right now, something they were unsure of earlier. Tricking them into thinking that I’m a survivor who had survived Cillian’s attack is not going to work. Is the choice left to fight them?’
Cillian knew how dangerous it would be if the Black Shepherds were given an advantageous position. It would be the same way as how his Death Flag Probes in the Academy had turned out.
Additionally, the reason he attempted to kill three shepherds in a group earlier is that the situation favors it.
Now, however, there’s a batch of them, and nine are gathered all around the area like a solid team
For him to escape, there’s only one solution needed.
Cillian just needed to be on the upper hand while they were fighting. That would be the key to success.
"Hmm..."
Suddenly, an idea popped into Cillian’s head, and he couldn’t help but look at his shoulder.
"What?"
Mouthful Eye couldn’t help but ask as he thought Cillian was looking at him until Cillian answered him.
"Not you."
Mouthful Eye tried to tilt himself but failed to do so until he realized that it wasn’t really him Cillian was looking at, but the robe he was wearing.
"I got an idea."
...
The nine remaining Shepherds positioned themselves around the entrance of the Runic Gate, watching for Cillian, who might suddenly appear out of nowhere.
But they were already ready for anything.
All they needed to do was to wait for Cillian to show himself and attack him, whether he appeared with a different face or not.
According to what they knew and had confirmed, the one thing they would definitely report once they captured him and escaped the Runic Gate was that Cillian Sparrow could copy faces and abilities.
It was an absolutely busted ability that made them think it was his [Zero], while his spatial ability was believed to be his [One].
Those who were all Improper Ruiners and couldn’t properly begin because they lacked information regarding the [Zero] Pieces all felt jealous of Cillian, who had managed to obtain two of them and was already on the right path.
After all, 90% of Ruiners were already failures just by not knowing the [Zero] Pieces. The other 9% happened to know about it but were already too late to start again. While the 1%, well, there are already a few of them.
Those 99% of people, even if they started at [One] and properly built their sequences up to higher sequences, couldn’t return to building them up again by starting at [Zero].
Most White Shepherds are like this.
That’s why the Black Shepherds with broken sequences had to put their jealousy aside for the time being and focus on the task given to them.
Troy, who was in charge of this task and hoped to gain the attention of the current White Shepherds present, as well as the Brown Shepherd, clenched his fist tightly.
’This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity given to me. If I fail here, being promoted to the next rank is going to be out of reach.’
This was one of the type of missions that rarely comes from Black Shepherds, unless they are captains.
His role as the leader of this operation meant that the White Shepherds saw him as a potential Captain.
Once he reached those ranks, he could potentially become part of the White Shepherds, something every Black Shepherd sought throughout their entire lives.
’Then, I might be able to catch you, brother. But...’
Even so, his first important mission was already turning into a mess. It wasn’t because he was a bad leader, nor was it the White Shepherds’ fault that they had formed this team hastily. It wasn’t because they were weak either, or that they had underestimated the mission.
Even so...
’Cillian Sparrow had already killed six of my men? The first one should’ve been successful already since Oer is invisible and Cillian didn’t have any detection skills. Is it the eye on his shoulder? But even if that’s the case, he killed three more in one room. Can changing faces and copying ability do that? What’s the limit of his copy anyway?’
Troy immediately disregarded the last two Shepherds who still hadn’t returned after almost an hour had already passed.
He already considered them dead and gathered information about who they were in case Cillian had also copied their abilities.
Countless things confused him, and many questions lingered in his mind. However, all of his thoughts came to a halt when he heard a voice somewhere within Hensel Hospital.
"Cillian Sparrowwww!"
This voice screamed as if it was drawing its last breath.
Troy shivered, finding that voice eerie.
’What the fuck?’
And the voice was almost similar to his.
No, not similar.
It was his true voice.