Shepherd Wizard

Chapter 116

Translator: Pai_

When Solif climbed above the prison and faced the wizards of Varaha who surrounded him,

Turan was meticulously scanning the inside of the prison where Solif’s parents had been confined using tracking magic and telekinesis magic.

The original principle of using a medium in tracking magic is to designate a specific 'target'.

It was much easier to specify the same strand of hair than to designate a person using a hair as a medium, so the process was swift.

Having thus processed all the traces left inside the prison, Turan planned to expand the range of the tracking magic while Solif spread chaos outside, intending to eliminate all remaining traces within the temple.

Since House Varaha was relatively close to House Zahar, there was a possibility that they had gathered potential mediums separately to seek their power.

At that moment, Turan sensed five powerful wizards descending into the prison from above.

‘They’re splitting up the pursuit team? Do they have that much leeway?’

Regardless, he could not ignore enemies who were targeting the escapees, so Turan concealed himself and approached them.

Since both sides were moving toward each other, it took only a few seconds for him to encounter the pursuit team.

‘Two mid-tier, two high-tier, and one top-tier... hmm?’

Turan barely had time to admire their considerable skills before he noticed the symbols within them and widened his eyes.

Each of the five bore the symbol of Zahar, an eye within pitch-black darkness.

He had only a brief moment to be puzzled before he discerned the identity of their leader through their conversation.

One of the three heir candidates of House Zahar whom he had learned about in the past at the trade city of Comad.

The woman standing before him was Alma Zahar, said to be the fifth cousin of the family head.

‘Sending an heir candidate here and strengthening the security to this extent, does that mean House Zahar and House Varaha are much closer than I thought? Or is there something else they are secretly communicating about?’

He had no time to organize his rising questions. The wizards of Zahar discovered the underground tunnel and immediately began their pursuit, prompting Turan to follow them in concealment.

Fortunately, no one lit any illumination, making it easy for him to stick close behind them.

‘Subdue or eliminate... Alright, elimination it is.’

If one of them was a possessed vessel of Zahar’s god, attempting to subdue and interrogate them would only provide the enemy with information.

He had no means to capture a god’s soul as it returned to its base.

If left alone, they would undoubtedly pursue Meisa’s group.

The conclusion was simple.

They had to be taken out instantly, without them even realizing who or how they were attacked.

Turan swiftly formulated a plan. First, he scattered the Spirit of Fire onto the ceiling, causing an explosion that threatened the Zahar nobles.

As expected, caught off guard by the sudden attack, they hid in the corners, observing the situation while remaining concealed.

A perfect setup for an ambush.

Turan activated the function of his sacred relic, channeling his Berserker Bloodline, and heightened his emotions to draw out his power.

As he tensed his muscles, heat surged to his head, and a low growl escaped from deep within his throat.

Had it not been for concealment magic, he would have already been exposed at this point.

Clenching his teeth to suppress his excitement, Turan approached Alma, who was sitting still, wrapped his arms around her neck, and twisted it.

Crunch.

With a crunch, her neck rotated nearly 180 degrees, stretching to almost twice its normal length.

‘Got her.’

Judging by the stronger-than-expected resistance he felt in his grip, it seemed she had an artifact similar to Turan’s Guardian Magic Artifact.

Ordinary defensive artifacts were specialized in blocking projectiles or direct attacks but had no resistance against physical contact like this.

Before Alma’s lifeless body even hit the ground, Turan immediately struck the back of the second enemy’s head with his fist.

A blow delivered purely by the impulse of the Berserker, devoid of any complex calculations.

With a wet splatter, the head burst like a watermelon, and as the concealment wore off, blood and brain matter sprayed in all directions.

“An enemy!?”

“What the hell!”

“Lady Alma!”

They had anticipated an attack after the explosion, but suddenly, one of their comrades was dead.

The Zahar nobles cried out in shock, but unfortunately, their voices did not reach one another.

This was because, while in concealment, their voices could not be transmitted to each other.

Moreover, the second victim’s death had been so gruesomely dramatic that they failed to even recognize Alma’s corpse lying in the corner.

Then, when another of their own suddenly collapsed with a gaping hole in their chest, revealing themselves, they finally realized that their enemy was one of their own kind, an incredibly powerful noble.

By that point, however, only two of them remained alive.

“It’s an ambush! Concealment, no- light!”

A contradictory situation where the nobles of House Zahar, who thrived in darkness, had to summon light to detect their enemy.

As one of them hastily dropped their concealment and attempted to illuminate the tunnel with an unfamiliar light magic, he too were struck by an unseen foe, his upper body crushed diagonally.

The last survivor, still in concealment, fled silently toward the tunnel’s exit, sobbing internally.

Praying that the unknown enemy would overlook him.

Of course, that hope vanished within seconds, as his spine was crushed by a sudden impact.

Having eliminated the final survivor, Turan panted heavily, stomping on the body multiple times, pulverizing it before tearing it apart into two halves. Only then did he finally regain his sanity.

Hurriedly shifting his sacred relic’s function and taking deep breaths, the surging rage within him finally subsided.

‘The Berserker Bloodline… as I’ve felt it before, but it’s truly dangerous. When fully unleashed, I go mad in an instant.’

Of course, his physical abilities allowed him to rip apart nobles like they were mere humans, but this ability was still too risky to use recklessly against an opponent of equal or greater strength.

If he charged into battle against the Great Sea Serpent in this enraged state, he would end up split in two just like Meisa.

After taking a brief moment for self-reflection, Turan absorbed the magic power of the deceased Zahar nobles.

The others wouldn’t contribute even a sliver of power, but Alma, at least, might provide a slight boost to his growth.

Next, he made sure to collect their magic artifacts.

Back when he raided the underground labyrinth, he had left them behind for fear of being tracked, but now, he could simply ask Meisa to modify their appearance and function while retaining their power to evade detection.

It was a privilege of those who had a skilled enchanter as an ally.

Meanwhile, Turan recalled what he had briefly glimpsed earlier in his heightened state.

‘As expected, one of the Zahar nobles was a possessed vessel. And it wasn’t the leader, but one of the subordinates…’

After killing Alma, he had been too overwhelmed and struck the high-ranking noble. At that moment, he saw a soul escape from the corpse and fly off somewhere.

It was fortunate that the second one he killed had been the possessed vessel.

Since he had struck Alma down in a single blow before she even collapsed, she likely had not even realized she was dying.

Naturally, she wouldn’t have been able to guess the identity of her attacker either.

Additionally, he had learned that possessed vessels were not particularly remarkable unless they consciously used their powers.

This meant that even those possessed by gods within great noble houses were no more than ordinary nobles when caught off guard.

While organizing his thoughts, Turan turned his gaze to Alma’s corpse.

Her body lay sprawled on the ground, her neck twisted into a spiral, an ignominious death for a high-ranking noble.

Considering that her magic power had been comparable to Solif’s before the Great Sea Serpent hunt, and even slightly stronger than Turan’s, it was even more striking.

Of course, when faced with a much stronger opponent who had drawn upon madness to amplify their physical abilities to the extreme, allowing them to land the first strike, this outcome was inevitable.

*

After cleaning up the underground in a short time, Turan emerged to the surface and immediately checking on Solif’s condition.

Seeing that Solif was still leading hundreds of wizards around without suffering major injuries, it seemed he would be fine for at least a few more hours.

Of course, considering that his pursuers could rotate shifts to recover their stamina while Solif had to keep moving and fighting, a prolonged battle was a guaranteed defeat.

They had to finish their objectives and escape before that happened.

Turan changed into the clothes of a dead Varaha knight, altered his face, and used tracking magic to search the temple for any remaining traces of the couple.

While concealment magic might work underground, on the surface, the sunlight radiating from the temple walls interfered with it.

Fortunately, since everyone was busy chasing Solif, the buildings were practically deserted, and he was not interrupted.

The few people he did encounter merely glanced at his attire and passed him by.

Not long after, Turan found a handful of hair stored in what appeared to be a hall and burned it, confirming that no traces remained.

Just in case, he also searched for any traces of Solif, but it seemed they had not even kept any in the first place.

‘Alright, this should be… No, just to be safe, I should check the mansion again on my way back.’

Normally, there was no need to be this cautious about tracking magic using hair.

Unless one was a high-ranking noble at the level of a quasi-family head like Turan, an ordinary Zahar noble would not be able to locate someone thousands of meters away using a strand of hair.

But in this situation, even the Zahar family head personally joining the pursuit would not be surprising.

It was necessary to prepare for all possible scenarios.

After making one last sweep of the area, Turan moved toward his final destination.

‘Alright… Let’s go.’

The Varaha family head’s residence, like those of other great noble houses, was located deep within the Temple of the Sun.

As Turan was about to enter, he frowned at the presence he sensed.

‘Even in this situation, someone is guarding this place?’

And not just any ordinary guard, but a top-tier noble.

Right now, every available hand should be focused on capturing Solif.

Which, ironically, meant that whatever was inside had to be something that must not be seen by others.

Since the building itself was part of the temple, the walls would not break, and with no windows nearby, sniping was impossible.

After a brief moment of consideration, Turan decided to approach directly.

Noticing his approach, the gatekeeper spoke.

“Halt. Who is it?”

The gatekeeper was an old man who appeared to be around sixty years old.

He was likely one of Varaha’s elders.

Turan lowered his head and stammered as if nervous.

“E-Elder…”

“Labo?”

At the elder’s words, Turan’s eyes widened in surprise.

Dressed as nothing more than a knight, he had not expected to be mistaken for someone familiar to the elder.

However, his momentary shock quickly gave way to swift calculations, and his mind instantly crafted a response.

“Yes, I am Labo. Elder Ason has urgently sent me to retrieve a magic artifact from the family head’s residence to capture the traitor…”

“Then hurry and find it.”

Elder Ason was one of Varaha’s high-ranking elders, whose name Turan had previously heard from Solif.

Since he looked different from the elder standing before him, he was likely outside, pursuing Solif.

Receiving permission from the elder, Turan bowed respectfully and slowly approached, before suddenly reaching out with his hand.

In that instant, a golden spike shot out from the elder’s back, clashing against a brilliant white spear of light extending from Turan’s hand.

“Tch.”

Despite the sudden attack, Turan remained unfazed.

He had already sensed from the emotions radiating from the elder that he had been identified as an enemy.

In reality, the brief clash just now had been a silent exchange between two people who both knew the other was an adversary.

The elder let out a dry chuckle and spoke.

“Apologies, but ‘Labo’ was just a name I threw out. I figured there’d be at least one rat trying to sneak in amidst the chaos. Besides, Ason isn’t the type to entrust something like this to a mere knight.”

“I didn’t realize. How clever of you.”

Turan responded sarcastically while inwardly feeling relieved.

At the very least, it seemed that the rumors about an unidentified Mimic wreaking havoc within House Aravion had not yet spread to Varaha.

At that moment, the elder seemed to sense the magic power emanating from the spike and frowned as he asked,

"I didn't expect an intruder to be this strong. Just where did you come from? A face I’ve never seen before, yet you possess this level of power…"

Instead of answering, Turan immediately conjured a longsword of light and charged at the elder.

Although he possessed far greater magic power, engaging in a firepower battle by using ordinary light magic against Light of Judgment would be highly inefficient.

Turan intended to rely on his superior agility and reflexes to settle this through close combat.

The elder, upon seeing this, wore an incredulous expression and spoke.

"You dare to use light magic in front of the Sun bloodline-"

However, before he could even finish his sentence, he realized that Turan’s speed was far too fast, and his eyes widened in alarm.

In that moment of crisis.

Turan noticed two additional symbols emerging within the elder.

‘A possessed vessel!’

The newly revealed bloodlines were Fighter and Guardian.

The raised fist gripped the handle of a shield, raising it as if to block out the sun.

Simultaneously, the elder swiftly transformed his Light of Judgment into dual longswords, intercepting Turan’s strike.

The force transmitted through his grip made Turan involuntarily grimace.

‘Even considering bloodline abilities, this strength is abnormal…’

It was not just the synergy of two close-combat bloodlines, there was something more.

His hands trembled as if about to lose grip on his weapon, an impending sense of crisis washing over him.

It was likely some unknown technique similar to what Ymir had previously demonstrated.

There was no time to think further. Turan quickly transformed his longsword into a massive greatsword to block the elder’s follow-up attack.

Now that they were within striking distance, there was no room for unnecessary words.

Weapons of gold and white clashed violently, sending explosive noise and heat reverberating down the corridor.

The elder had superior physical abilities and weapon quality due to Light of Judgment, but Turan countered with vastly stronger magic power and exceptional reflexes.

If he revealed his Berserker Bloodline here, he could completely overpower the elder…

‘I don’t want to expose the use of multiple bloodlines in the presence of a god’s gaze. How can I finish this without revealing my true capabilities?’

Using the Earthmover Bloodline was impractical since there wasn’t much around that could be considered earth.

The Carmine Bloodline was also out of the question due to the dry surroundings.

The Nagin Bloodline would be utterly useless.

And, of course, utilizing the power of either the Zahar Bloodline or Aravion Bloodline would be tantamount to suicide.

At that moment, an idea struck him, and Turan swiftly took a step back to create distance.

The brief reprieve allowed the elder to open his mouth, intending to engage in psychological warfare.

But what came out instead was a gasp.

"You- That is…!"

Light of Judgment.

The power exclusive to the nobles of House Varaha manifested behind Turan, causing the elder’s eyes to widen in disbelief.

Moreover, the deployment of the halo was as skillful as someone who had trained for over decades.

Turan shaped Light of Judgment into a spear and shouted,

"Inform the family head! His son has returned!"

His improvised plan was to pose as the illegitimate child of the Varaha family head.

Of course, given the strict bloodline management of great noble houses, the truth would quickly unravel, but at the very least, it could cause confusion.

However, contrary to Turan’s expectations, the elder’s reaction showed far more turmoil than he had anticipated.

His expression was as if he had seen a ghost.

"That line… Could it be?!"

Before the elder could finish, a golden spear infused with immense power hurtled toward him.

***

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