Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 336 "Abyss" Card
"I'm sorry, Cons."

"Viscount Lisson" said with a regretful expression, smoothing the hair of the two heads on the plate with his fingers to make them look more presentable.

The mansion was deserted; the usually busy servants had all vanished. Apart from the two headless corpses on the seats, only the "father and son" remained.

"you"

Constance's body was stiff, his feet felt like they were nailed into the ground, unable to move. He couldn't understand the situation, couldn't accept what he was seeing, and felt as if he were trapped in an incredibly real nightmare from which he couldn't wake up.

He could only stand there helplessly, staring at the corpses of his mother and brother, and at his "father," who had become utterly unfamiliar and distorted, listening to his usual incessant rambling:

"According to my original plan, we were supposed to maintain a familial relationship for a long time. But I would secretly manipulate the people and events around you, causing you to encounter various difficulties and setbacks in your career and interpersonal relationships. For example, I would make your colleagues look down on you, and make the noble lady you secretly admire date other people."

"Viscount Lierson" said nonchalantly, "Then, I will appear in the form of a mysterious being and make a pact with you. I will grant you the power to change the status quo, but I will also guide you little by little, making you betray the god you believe in and the organization you are loyal to."

"And as you gradually fall into painful contradictions, I will discover your changes as your father, and in the midst of an argument, I will be accidentally killed by you in front of the other family members, thus making you completely desperate."

In other words, everything that "Viscount Lisson" originally planned to do was to completely break Constance's spirit!

"Why."

Constance's head was buzzing, and he asked almost instinctively.

"because."

The Viscount was about to explain when he saw that the other party was still standing there, so he changed to an apologetic tone, "Oh dear, how rude of me, you should have sat down first. Please sit down, Cons, sit next to your mother and brother."

Constance was naturally reluctant to sit down, but some unseen force propelled his body to the table and make him sit down.

"That's good, a family should be all together like this."

The Viscount gave a word of praise, then continued the previous topic, saying, "Don't misunderstand, we have no grudges against each other. I did this entirely for the sake of the role."

"Playing a role?"

“That’s right, I play the role of Sequence 4 ‘Devil’,” the latter chuckled. “By making contracts with humans, deceiving and manipulating them until they are utterly desperate and willingly offer up their souls.”

At this point, he showed a regretful expression again, "But unfortunately, because of that person's request, I have to interrupt this role-playing. Even though I just advanced in rank and it's very important for me to quickly play the role of digesting the potion, I still decided to do it. After all, the reward that person offered was just too generous."

As he spoke, he took out a playing card from his person and showed it to Cons.

The card depicts a gigantic demon with ram's horns, bat wings, and animal hair covering its lower limbs. One hand is raised, while the other holds a torch downwards. A man and a woman stand at the demon's feet, seemingly enslaved by it. The other end of the chains around their necks is bound to the altar where the demon crouches, and they also exhibit demonic physical characteristics.

Tarot cards?
Cons, who had some knowledge of the occult, immediately recognized the card as one of the Tarot cards invented by Russell: The Devil!
Surprisingly, the demon's face on this card isn't that of a typical goat, but rather replaced by Roselle's own face. Above the card are a few words—

Sequence 0, Abyss

“This is the ‘blasphemous card’ invented by Russell.”

"Viscount Lisson" said, stroking the card with burning eyes, "Such a generous reward, even an advance payment, is simply impossible for me to refuse. So, I'm sorry, Cons, our family relationship has to end here."

He reached out and stroked Viscountess Lissen's face. "My dear, don't you think so too?"

The so-called family members were just a facade, a mere formality to fulfill a certain ritual.
"Who are you!"

"Just a low-key demon," Cons couldn't help but exclaim.

The latter chuckled, “I come from an ancient demon race, the North family.”

You are not my father.

"Of course not."

“Viscount Lilson,” no, “the Devil” North chuckled, “I merely replaced your father.”

As he spoke, he pressed his hand to his face. With a "rip," a crack appeared on his face, like an insect molting, emerging from Viscount Lisson's shell.

Before Constance stood a strange young man with pale green eyes, a thin face, and meticulously combed hair. The father Constance had believed to be was now a shed skin, lying on the ground.

"You didn't even notice during the time I was pretending. I don't know whether to be glad or feel sorry for your father."

The young man shook his head.

"asshole."

Seeing this scene before him, Cons murmured.

He should have been angry, and he certainly felt angry. But for some reason, his emotions remained strangely calm, as if an invisible hand had forcibly suppressed his emotional fluctuations. This pent-up anger was driving him to the brink of madness!

"Okay, don't be so angry."

Cons heard the devil speak casually as he walked around the other side of the table. He wanted to resist, to fight him to the death, but the difference in their levels was simply too great, an insurmountable gap.

"The House of Lords' regular meeting is the day after tomorrow, right? That's perfect, the Duke of Negan will be there too."

"The Devil," North asked, reaching out to press on Cons's shoulder, causing the latter to tremble. "I need to use your body to blend into the crowd and carry out the assassination."

Is he going to kill me?
Cons couldn't help but think.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I won't skin you alive like I did your father. There are detection devices in the House of Lords, so I plan to just infiltrate your body."

"The devil," North said earnestly, "I am merciful and will try to minimize harm while achieving my goal."

"lie."

Cons stared at the other man and squeezed out two words through clenched teeth.

As the distance closed, he could clearly see that the devil's eyes always revealed a look of pleasure, as he carefully observed his own subtle changes and became increasingly pleased.

That bastard is having a blast.

"Hehe, you found out?"

North couldn't help but laugh, then reached out and placed his hand on Constance's chest.

(End of this chapter)