Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 1312 A Long-Awaited Reunion

It was less of a piercing and more of a devouring.

Those sinful thorns burned like dry tinder, turning into black smoke.

The clam shell, like a pump, continuously sucked in the black smoke. This suction further fueled the flames... and the giant formed from the sinful thorns was gradually twisted and contorted within the vortex of suction.

After inhaling a certain amount of water, the clam suddenly expelled the water.

The water fell to the ground, but instead of spreading and flooding the town, it shot into the earth like cannonballs, forming jets of water!

Like insects scalded by boiling water, countless sinful thorns quickly emerged from it, baring their fangs and claws.

As soon as they crawled out, Aiwas, using the authority of the Sin Beast, captured them and dragged them onto the Sin-Spinning Giant. Immediately afterward, the water on their bodies was dried, and they were then added to the fire.

The information was decompressed in the fire, turning into murky yellow-black smoke.

And just then.

"—Are you really going to do this, Aiwass?"

Suddenly, a voice that was both familiar and unfamiliar rang out from the void.

That was definitely not an illusion.

Even Lily couldn't help but widen her eyes.

This is a miracle that only she can witness and understand—

As the black smoke gathered, a hazy, intangible human figure gradually materialized.

That was some kind of information released when Aiwass burned the Sinthorn with the First Flame.

However, this information did not belong to Yuan Tian Si...

"……Ugh."

A sigh rose from the smoke.

As the flames burned, the human figure became increasingly clear.

"Saving the world is no easy task; it requires pushing the limits of the impossible. And the most important thing is to avoid reversing the means and the goal along the way..."

An aged, reserved, and elegant voice rang out: "I hope you still remember these words."

It was an old man.

An elderly man wearing a top hat and holding a cane.

That is……

"Professor Moriarty."

Aiwass murmured, "No... Father."

This is Moriarty, whose original soul was transformed into a thorn of sin, then devoured by Aiwass and thus transformed into magic!

After being devoured, he did not become part of Aiwass. Aiwass neither gained his memories nor merged with his soul. Instead, this information was stored within Aiwass in exchange for magical power capable of withstanding a meteorite that could destroy a nation.

Now... with the remaining power of the Heavenly Division, along with its authority, being released by Aiwass, and with a much larger amount of magical power, this part of Moriarty's existence has been "redeemed" again!

Looking at the professor, now just a blurry silhouette, Aiwass's eyes welled up with tears.

When they defeated Moriarty in the past, they were in a "either-or" confrontation between good and evil. Aiwass had to use every means to defeat the powerful and oppressive Moriarty before he could take down the Fallen Angels. He could not possibly let Moriarty go.

Moreover, at that time, Aiwass did not yet possess all the truth...

After that, he didn't even have time to grieve before he had to prepare to face the Fallen Angels.

Because Aiwass had no time to stop.

He had no time to shed tears, no time to grieve. He couldn't even stop for half a step; even a half-day of rest was a luxury.

—And now, the ceremony of connecting the two rings has come to a close.

Until the arrival of the Celestials, there will be no further changes; and Aiwass has already learned of the Celestials' plan to use himself as a vessel for nothingness.

Now, Aiwass only needs to wait for the day of the final battle.

...That's why, when he sees Moriarty again now, he feels a sense of nostalgia and sadness.

Now they no longer have any conflicts based on interests, positions, morality, or ideals; all that remains is nostalgia itself.

"Don't cry."

The old man's face hardened, and he feigned sternness: "You're practically a demigod now, how can you still act like a child?"

"...Of course I won't cry."

Aiwass took a deep breath and gave a sincere smile: "It's just a pity that you won't be able to see my wedding with Isabel."

No, I saw it.

Professor Moriarty smiled.

He even tilted his head slightly, took off his top hat, and gave Lily a distant bow.

His smile was so bright and sunny, so much like Aiwass, and even his voice momentarily transformed into Aiwass's clear, youthful voice: "'Because we are one.'"

The echo of that sound contained the voices of countless beings, as if thousands of living things were speaking at once.

"……This is?"

Aiwas was deeply shocked, and his mind was in a state of confusion.

He was certain he had never eaten so many people before—

...No, wait?
really not?
"It was once a sacrifice offered to the Yuantian Division."

As if guessing what Aiwass was thinking, Professor Moriarty spoke up, "No energy in this world is ever created out of thin air, nor can a soul be annihilated out of thin air. Even I, who have become the Thorn of Sin, am still within your body, aren't I? Part of my soul became magic power, and part became pure information..."

"Similarly, the souls sacrificed to the Heavenly Division are also like that. These souls did not return to the Source River, so where did they go?"

The professor spoke earnestly.

"...So, that's why you stopped me from absorbing the information from my eldest sons?"

"Because there may be contaminated information in it... I think we should not be careless."

Professor Moriarty said in a deep voice, “I originally didn’t plan to come out. But seeing your reckless actions, I couldn’t help myself. I think it’s better to completely annihilate these sins that have been compressed by our ancestors—some things are not worth remembering. If you are unwilling to bear the great sin of ‘parricide,’ then let me do it.”

"……it is good."

Aiwas felt a pang of anxiety and realized that he might have been a bit arrogant.

Perhaps because he became a true earthly god in a very short time, he even felt that he was somewhat omnipotent—this arrogance was the very sin of Aiwass.

Because in a sense, "believing that miracles will happen" is itself a kind of arrogance that refuses to accept reality.

Professor Moriarty's appearance reminded Aiwass of the mechanism by which he devoured and transformed the Sin Thorn—the fact that the Sin Beast cannot revert if its transformation rate is too high might itself be hinting at something.

I never imagined that it would be my adoptive father who would remind me of this...

Professor Moriarty, clearly realizing that Evans had regained consciousness, nodded with satisfaction and pride: "I know you're very intelligent, Evans. Just one sentence is enough for you to understand everything..."

"...Now it seems that the 'end of the world' I saw was probably just the world frozen by amber. It's ironic that the evil god I've always wanted to defeat is actually the one who sacrificed himself to save the world."

Professor Moriarty, now, is also learning the buried truth along with Evans.

"What are your plans after this?"

Aiwas asked earnestly, "Do you need me to throw you into the River of Origin? Now that I have borne the sin of impurity, you are ready to be reincarnated or become a celestial being."

The old man neither agreed nor disagreed, but simply laughed heartily: "Don't you already know the answer to that question yourself?"

—Yes, Aiwass actually knew that too.

Professor Moriarty never bothered to dwell on his own life and death. As for reincarnation, the afterlife, or even the riches and glory after death, they were all fleeting clouds to him.

Now that he knows the origin of the apocalypse and sees Aiwass on the path of eliminating nothingness, this "failed savior" has no more obsessions.

Looking at Aiwas, who still hadn't made a move, he suggested, "You can seal them up and bury them at the bottom of the sea. Consider it as giving them a new grave. Now that the authority of the Abyss Heaven Division is in your hands, it means that no new Abyss Heaven Division will be born in this world... Sealing them up with forbidden remnants is just right."

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Aiwass nodded and responded softly.

But just as Aiwas lost his focus, Professor Moriarty vanished again.

There was no goodbye, no hug, and he didn't say where he was going. Just like every time he left home for a long journey.

If Lily hadn't seen him too, Aiwass would have thought it was just his imagination.

"……Ah."

Suddenly, Aiwass let out a sigh of relief, his eyes shifting from the arrogant indifference of a god to a clear and gentle gaze once more.

...In front of my father, I will always be that ignorant child.

With a casual pinch, Aiwas separated the yellowish smoke from the black smoke and condensed into irregular pieces of Star Ice!

Other sin thorns were also continuously extracted and burned by Aiwass, who then used forbidden power to freeze and seal the information within them.

Compared to the previous generation's technology, "Sin Thorn," "Star Ice" is a technology developed by the Great Abyss that belongs to this era!
A thought suddenly flashed through Aiwass's mind:
perhaps……

This desolate world, devoid of anything, was able to attract an outer god like the Candle God because the Sin Thorn attracted the Sin Beast, who feeds on the Sin Thorn!

If this world is destroyed again, what will the Star Ice bring?
The fragments of the Heavenly Bureau of the Abyss are far more powerful than one-fifth of the fragments of the Geometric Heavenly Bureau—by constantly absorbing and expelling the magical power left behind by the Great Abyss itself, the "pearl oyster" continuously spews out more and more water, forcing out more and more sinful thorns.

As the smoke continued to rise, rain clouds gradually gathered in the sky!
Then, rain, as precious as gold, silently poured down from the sky above Anxi.

It is neither violent nor filthy, but as gentle as silk, with a slight sea smell.

People knelt on the ground, praising this miracle. But they didn't know where it came from... nor what they would see when they woke up the next morning.

Aiwas had been busy from noon until late at night until all the sins had been removed.

All preparations for the miracle are complete.

"—It's about time."

Aiwas murmured softly.

(End of this chapter)