Shepherd Wizard

Chapter 231

Translator: Pai_

In a ruined section of a subway line.

Turan dragged his broken leg as he walked.

In front of him was a deer, trembling with its head crushed.

As befitting a beast that had once nearly become a god, it was still maintaining a degree of consciousness even in that state.

[Sa...ve me... please...]

Barely able to string words together, it had, just moments ago, been a transcendent being wielding the lives of countless people.

But now, it was nothing more than a dying deer that had lost almost all its power.

Feeling the brain matter leaking from its shattered skull soak his feet, Turan spoke quietly to the creature.

"Pull yourself together."

[Huh?]

“You don’t want to die like this here, right? Break the spirit barrier. Return to our world.”

[Ye, yes. Then... No, I can’t.]

The Monarch, whose brain had been crushed, seemed unable to maintain coherent thought, repeatedly denying the thoughts that surfaced, and then finally released the spirit veil.

To someone of this world, it looked like a body vanishing like a ghost.

But Turan could perceive that it was transforming from a physical entity into a form of essence and flying off somewhere.

Just as the essence that had once been the Monarch was about to disappear from this world, Turan reached out with an invisible hand and seized it.

“Got it.”

It kept squirming, trying to return to its original world, but before long, it was absorbed by Turan.

It was, in a sense, a kind of cannibalism.

Not just devouring the body, but consuming the soul and everything else as well.

Just like when he had absorbed a soul fragment of Cadrum in the past, Turan's consciousness was drawn to somewhere beyond time and space.

***

Doo Seok-hoon's life had been off-track even before he was born.

His parents divorced before he was old enough to understand, and the grandmother who half-heartedly took him in saw him as nothing more than a nuisance.

From a young age, meals were instant foods like cup noodles, and his only friends were a worn-out smartphone and YouTube, too outdated to even play games properly.

Naturally, his school years were far from enjoyable.

Who would like a kid with a dirty appearance, scrawny build, greasy unwashed hair, and smelly clothes hastily thrown on?

What followed was a story so cliche it was almost boring.

He became a daily punching bag, then locked himself in his room refusing to attend school, playing games all day. During that time, he gathered a bunch of military otaku like himself and formed a guild.

There were times he pulled off a few scams and nearly got sued, managing to smooth things over by posting a picture of himself bowing naked on a forum...

‘Enough.’

‘Huh?’

‘I don’t care about your pathetic life. Shut up and just give me what I need.’

Along with the unknown voice, Doo Seok-hoon felt his personality being split in two.

It wasn’t an even split.

The other side was far larger and more powerful, while this side was nothing more than a tiny fragment in comparison.

‘Ah-’

With that brief gasp, Turan completely crushed Seok-hoon's personality, leaving only his power while separating the memories and emotions.

Back when he absorbed a soul fragment of Cadrum, he had become overly immersed in the soul, to the point of harboring hatred toward the family of someone he had never even met.

Compared to that, this time he only resonated briefly at the beginning, and then was able to separate the empathy quite easily with adaptation.

It was possible because Turan’s spirit form overwhelmingly surpassed that of the Monarch, Doo Seok-hoon’s.

Taking a moment to compose himself, completely detaching from the memories just experienced, he pushed all unnecessary memories of Earth into a corner.

These were key components of the being's personality, and he planned to use them later when needed.

The research data accumulated after crossing over into their world was categorized into a separate storage space.

Upon careful study, they could become keys to unlocking countless secrets the man had researched for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.

Lastly, the most crucial part was assigning all of the being’s spiritual rights to himself.

Among them was dominion over the puppets as well.

‘Did it work...’

Turan felt his spirit form binding with something from that faraway, other world.

This was precisely why he hadn’t finished off the Monarch outright but had instead induced his return and then devoured him.

If he had simply killed him, then all of the Monarch’s puppets, including Keorn, would have died as a result of the death verdict.

However, by omitting the process of death and instead absorbing him, Turan inherited all the spiritual contracts the Monarch had originally possessed.

He could even now detect when people from that world mentioned the Monarch’s name or spoke certain related words.

That was because the ownership of contracts once cast over the world in ancient times as a Lawmaker had now transferred to him.

“Bije, are you there?”

-Yeah.

Bije, who had given up all her power, still seemed weak.

Even so, by using a small amount of essence, she was able to materialize to about the size of a fist.

Turan placed her on his chest and closed his eyes.

“You did well. Let’s rest a bit.”

-Sleep well...

***

March 28, 2034.

The disaster that suddenly began in San Francisco brought unimaginable chaos to the world.

In truth, thanks to the periodic appearances of “wizards” that had occurred in recent years, Earthlings had already developed a much more open mind toward superpowers and aliens.

So much so that they might even accept it if, one day, a bunch of robed wizards suddenly showed up en masse.

However, this invasion was far from the rosy encounter they had imagined.

[I haven’t been able to contact my mother who lives in San Francisco for three days.]

[Have any new survivor lists been released for the San Jose area?]

[Because of this incident, all my family members except me, who was studying abroad, died. I resent the world. I wish I had just died with them.]

The estimated death toll caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, and the attacks of two-headed beasts exceeded 50,000.

It was damage comparable to the Türkiye-Syria earthquake.

What made it worse was that this was no natural disaster, it was a clear act of invasion.

And even more terrifying, it was an invasion by unknown alien lifeforms whose identities and powers remained a complete mystery.

“So that’s the conclusion? No countermeasures?”

“Yes, sir.”

The President of the United States, the old man wielding the world’s greatest power, let out a low sigh and bit down on his cigar.

Whether it was the highest-grade Cuban cigar, banned from being imported into the U.S., didn’t matter.

Right now, something like this was necessary just to relieve the stress.

His aide, looking at him, made the sign of the cross and spoke solemnly.

“Based on comparisons between satellite imagery and some video footage… it seems more appropriate to call them gods. If they are beings that cannot be harmed by any modern weapon and can freely cause and calm natural disasters, shouldn’t we call them that?”

On the internet, all sorts of rumors were circulating about the beings responsible for the San Francisco incident.

Things like it being a bioweapon leaked from Area 51, or apostles sent by God to judge humanity drowned in greed.

They were all such laughable nonsense that, if you listened too long, you'd either be dumbfounded or start crying.

What kind of method could possibly create such unbelievable creatures?

“At least the 2HB (Two-headed Bird) has been identified as a targetable creature. It can’t be dealt with using personal firearms, but with continuous high-powered attacks such as napalm-”

“Forget it. We already know that the damned nuclear missiles are our only option.”

Of course, the moment he became the first President to deploy a nuclear weapon on domestic soil, his approval rating would undoubtedly plummet through the floor.

But considering they were facing unidentified alien lifeforms, shouldn’t this be taken into consideration?

Unfortunately, voters weren’t exactly rational beings.

If the monsters were mostly rampaging through urban areas, the moment he launched a nuke there, his party wouldn’t hold power again for the next hundred years.

Though frankly, that had probably already happened anyway.

“Forget those things. What about the other two?”

“Still unconfirmed.”

At the aide’s response, the President’s face contorted.

The deer and the golden eagle, now designated Alpha and Beta, were disasters beyond comparison to the likes of the 2HB.

Transcendent monsters that caused earthquakes and tsunamis, descending to the surface with heat energy as hot as the sun.

If those things started moving again, America was finished.

And to the man, that wasn’t much different from saying the entire world was finished.

“However, based on the consolidated accounts from survivors, it seems Alpha and Beta aren’t cooperating entities.”

The aide gave an explanation while handing the President a related report.

It was filled with cases of people claiming they had been saved by magical forces just before death struck them during the disaster.

Most of the stories described how danger came with the appearance of the deer, and salvation followed with the golden eagle’s arrival.

“So, Alpha is the evil beast that harms humans, and Beta is the kind beast that saves them? Making such assumptions is dangerous. You understand that, right?”

“Of course. We still don’t even understand the basic principles behind its behavior. However…”

The aide trailed off for a moment, then added,

“The story has already spread widely, so it’ll be difficult to control.”

There were tens or even hundreds of thousands directly involved, and 8 billion people across the globe indirectly watching.

Even America couldn’t control that.

Not to mention, even a report drafted within the White House had been leaked.

And so, the tale of the evil deer and the human-aiding golden eagle spread across the entire Earth.

***

“…Ah.”

Several hours of dozing off.

When Turan came to his senses, he realized the essence that he and the Monarch had scattered across Earth had fully returned.

No, it hadn’t just returned.

The essence that now filled his inner being was in a far more perfectly controlled state, empowered by a massive amount of presence.

Turan realized that this presence had originated from here, Earth.

‘Just how exactly did the story spread here…?’

Although he had a superficial understanding of things like cell phones and the internet, it was hard for him to fully grasp the scale of the internet’s influence.

That meant he had no way of knowing that the presence given to him came from the majority of the 8 billion humans who had access to the online environment.

Regardless of the reason, becoming stronger was no bad thing.

Having consumed a small amount of essence to heal his body, Turan was reminded that he needed to return as soon as possible.

Their world, weakened by the loss of most of the essence that served as a barrier, could be vulnerable to other intruders at any time.

Of course, there was one thing he had to take care of first.

It likely wouldn’t take much time, and while it wasn’t something he had intended, it could be called waste from their world, so cleaning it up was the right thing to do.

“I’m counting on you, Bije.”

-Yep!

Turan ascended to the surface through the connected space and immediately transformed into a massive golden eagle.

Having fully absorbed even the essence the Monarch had possessed, his form now reached a size that could no longer exist in reality.

While nearby humans were either screaming in shock or taking photos of the reappeared golden eagle, Turan used Tracking Magic to locate the two-headed bird.

-Let’s go.

Even though this place was clearly part of the physical world, Bije moved at a speed that transcended physical limits.

Having quickly found his target, Turan spotted the monstrous bird rampaging through a shopping district.

‘As expected, Earthlings have no means to suppress these things.’

He was glad he’d looked around before heading back.

If he’d just returned in a rush thinking the situation was urgent on the other side, Earth might’ve been reduced to ruins by the time he came back.

Before the bird could even notice him, Turan swooped in fast, snapping both of its necks beneath his talons and piercing through its heart with his beak.

Of course, he didn’t forget to protect the nearby people by pushing them to safety with Telekinesis Magic in the process.

[Kyaaak, Kek, ■◆▲●-]

Babbling in an unknown language and thrashing about, the creature was absorbed by Turan, now in the golden eagle’s form, in an instant.

So effortlessly that it made the Monarch's struggles against dozens of similar birds seem like a joke.

Naturally, that was because Turan now not only wielded greater strength but could control it far better, using more than twice the power with ease.

Just as Turan was thinking he could wrap things up quickly and return, he sensed a human approaching him.

A man in his fifties wearing a green hat waved at him and shouted,

“Thank you for your help, black bird! May God bless you!”

He had expected fear, he never imagined someone would thank him for helping.

Feeling a bit sheepish, Turan responded with a light nod and then took off into the air.

Of course, he had no idea that all of this was being recorded.

***

It took about thirty minutes to clean up all forty-seven of the monstrous birds.

Subduing and absorbing one or two at a time barely took any effort; most of the time was spent moving between them.

Once Turan had finished dealing with them all, he immediately broke through the veil of souls and let the world's gravity pull him in.

Perhaps because his spiritual scale had become much larger than before, the gravity of the world seemed to struggle in pulling him, but it still managed to transport him somehow.

‘If I get any stronger, I might be able to ignore interworld gravitational forces entirely.’

Wondering what that would allow him to do, even if just for a moment, Turan decided to investigate something while he was traveling.

The research data from the Monarch's memories.

It would surely contain information on the identity of those monstrous birds.

Consciously closing his eyes and imagining his inner world, he saw a vast library.

In it, Turan selected a few keywords with just his thoughts and retrieved the information he sought.

If Earthlings saw this, they would probably praise him for having created a search engine on his own.

‘Found it.’

Before long, Turan learned what they were.

Uruka, mid-tier beasts of the Phantom Beast Realm. Serve as vanguards that open closed worlds...

‘Phantom Beast Realm? What is that?’

As the question formed, the Monarch’s research records began spitting out answers.

The Phantom Beast Realm. One of the alien dimensions inhabited primarily by transcendent beings in beastly forms.

It is home to the Beast Queen, her four offspring born there, and various other divine beings...

Knowledge that the Monarch had likely gained through breaches continued to unfold.

According to the information, aside from Earth and the world where Turan was born, countless worlds existed in the void.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

Most of those worlds were so-called “closed worlds”, sealed off for various reasons, but some were open.

These open worlds naturally interacted with other worlds in various ways.

They exchanged, or they invaded...

Naturally, the weaker worlds were mostly destroyed, so an open world either had a powerful transcendent being behind it or was backed by a civilization strong enough to stand against such forces.

‘So those monstrous birds called Uruka are basically scouts. They hover near other worlds and invade the moment one opens up.’

Those things had likely been lurking around for a long time, possibly even before Turan was born, and the moment the boundary thinned due to Turan and the Monarch draining their essence, they invaded immediately.

Among them, the ones targeting the Monarch did so because he had more presence.

Likewise, the moment they reached Earth, they discarded the Monarch because Earthlings were a direct source of immense presence.

Though there were many worlds, it was rare to find one with billions of intelligent beings and no transcendent entity protecting them.

In other words, to those creatures, the presence gained through intelligent life was a tantalizing resource.

“Ha…”

-Why are you sighing, Turan?

“Feels like I might’ve opened up a honey pot that’s way too big.”

According to the Monarch’s research, Earth was originally a closed world, with the only existing link being the world Turan lived in.

And Turan’s world was protected by a powerful veil of essence.

In other words, his world had long served as a gate, blocking otherworldly invasions from reaching Earth.

Now that the wall had collapsed, it was certain that all sorts of alien forces would rush in, trying to interfere with Earth through Turan’s world.

That Earth had no means to resist was made painfully clear by the recent incident alone.

-Then what do we do? Should we run away?

“How could we?”

By the time Turan responded to Bije’s question, their world came into view.

Originally protected by a veil of essence and appearing as a white oval, it was now almost stripped bare, closer to a translucent ellipse.

Fortunately, there were no signs that the Uruka or other vanguards from foreign worlds were currently interfering.

Perhaps it was because the region had been under their control for hundreds or even thousands of years, maybe longer.

Still, it was only a matter of time before they noticed and came swarming in.

As Turan entered the boundary of the world, he felt that even the small amount of essence remaining there came under his control, thanks to the overwhelming presence he had brought from Earth.

At this moment, he was, quite literally, the ruler of nearly everything in this world.

But that wasn’t entirely a good thing.

Even the sea of spirits, where the souls of the dead were meant to circulate, was being drawn into him.

At this rate, the world’s proper cycle of reincarnation would be disrupted.

"I'll have to protect it, somehow."

With that resolve, light rose from Turan’s hand.

The light of creation, to reconstruct this world so that it could be protected from external threats.

*****

For more chapters, you can check out my Patreon here –>https://patreon.com/Pai_

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊