Shepherd Wizard

Chapter 93

Translator: Pai_

The first thing that became visible was a gigantic humpback whale, roughly thirty to forty meters in length, the transformed form of the merfolk king.

Unlike the other royals, his magic power had become even stronger after his transformation. At this moment, even Meisa would have difficulty guaranteeing victory in a one-on-one battle against him.

Normally, one would be in awe of the sheer size and power of that enormous whale, but now was not the time for admiration.

The presence of the monster approaching from behind was far more overwhelming.

'Great Sea Serpent...'

Back when he had obtained the Mimic Relic, Turan had seen the corpse of a Great Sea Serpent alongside a man presumed to be of the Preah God Tribe. He had been astonished by its grand stature.

However, the sight of a living, moving Great Sea Serpent now made that past memory seem utterly insignificant.

Being in awe of natural landscapes like lakes and mountains was one thing, but witnessing those landscapes come alive, move, and surge forward was an entirely different matter.

Moreover, the appearance of the Great Sea Serpent was quite different from what he had seen back then.

Unlike in the past, when its body was covered in moss, it was now entirely enveloped in dazzling silver scales. In places where damage had occurred, something akin to swirling greenish winds, presumably created by undead spirits, was filling in the gaps.

And finally, there was the immense magic power radiating from its body, which Turan could sense through the sacred relic.

Its quantity was on par with what he had once felt from the head of the Lavitas family.

That was likely to be the greatest prize of this hunt.

"Fucking amazing…"

When Turan turned his head, he saw Solif grinning widely as he murmured.

Given his deep obsession with ancient myths and legends, the realization that he was about to confront a truly mythical monster seemed to genuinely thrill him.

"Let's go!"

With that shout, Turan took off into the air alongside Meisa, heading toward the Great Sea Serpent.

Solif, slightly behind, grabbed onto Bije’s leg and soared up as well, while the merfolk royals approached the Great Sea Serpent through the sea.

As they drew closer, the sheer size of their target became even more daunting, sending a shiver down their spines, albeit only briefly. Turan then came to a halt and conjured a wind path.

The violent whirlpools swirling in all directions made it more difficult than usual, but he managed to create it nonetheless.

With that in place, Turan reached into his pouch and pulled out his secret weapon.

It was a slingshot similar in design to the ones he had used before, but its size was on an entirely different scale.

The length of the cords and the size of the pouch holding the stone were drastically larger.

Whereas his previous slingshot had been designed to launch stones about the size of an egg, this one could accommodate rocks as large as a human torso.

Turan placed a large rock he had prepared in advance onto the slingshot and began spinning it.

'It still feels a bit awkward...'

He had no shortage of strength, but throwing a stone of a completely different size than what he had used all his life naturally felt unfamiliar.

Though he had trained with it for the past few days, that could not compare to the instincts honed over a lifetime.

Thanks to his magic-enhanced strength, the slingshot held firm without breaking, and the massive rock spun smoothly, gaining centrifugal force.

Moments later, the rock was released, riding the wind path at a speed several times faster than sound, hurtling toward the Great Sea Serpent's head.

[□-----■-----□-----!]

The monstrous beast, cutting through the sea as it approached the island, twisted its massive body and let out a piercing scream.

For a creature of such enormity, it was no different from a human being hit by a pebble. However, the immense magic power contained within the rock amplified its impact far beyond its physical size.

Naturally, the Great Sea Serpent’s scream did not end as a mere cry of pain from a single animal.

The gaping mouth spewed forth a wail, perhaps even a roar, that sent shockwaves and tidal waves surging outward.

If any ordinary humans had been nearby to hear that sound, they likely would have died from the sheer force of it alone.

Even Turan had to furrow his brows and cover his ears with both hands.

"Kuk..."

The Great Sea Serpent, having let out its scream, then locked its bizarrely glowing yellow-green eyes onto Turan and immediately launched a counterattack.

A waterspout rose from the sea, and several towering columns of water surged erratically before hurtling toward Turan.

He swiftly dodged one or two with Flight Magic, but there were well over a dozen of them flying at him.

Considering that Flight Magic was not structurally the most stable technique, a single direct hit would be enough to send him plummeting.

At that critical moment, Turan quickly detonated a handful of the Spirit of Fire beside his body.

With an impact akin to someone striking his side, his body was instantly propelled away, allowing him to escape the range of the water columns' attack.

"Whoo…"

One of the water columns that missed Turan struck the coastline of the island behind him, and the result was nothing short of catastrophic.

A trench dozens of meters long and several meters deep was carved into the sandy beach.

A single hit might not be lethal, but it would undoubtedly cause significant damage.

While Turan was distracting the Great Sea Serpent, attacks from other directions had begun.

"Aaaaaah-!"

Thanks to the thick storm clouds overhead, Meisa could now unleash Lightning with virtually no magic consumption. She relentlessly scorched the Great Sea Serpent's entire body, while Solif, hanging from Bije, moved around its massive frame, burning and scraping away its scales with his golden whip.

Meanwhile, below, the merfolk royals, who had transformed into various sea creatures, tormented the Great Sea Serpent using their respective specialties, gnawing at its body. Among them, the most striking was undoubtedly the merfolk king, who had taken the form of a gigantic whale.

When the massive whale rammed its head into the Great Sea Serpent’s side, a thunderous crash echoed like mountains colliding.

"Hah…"

Compared to Rowena, whom he had fought recently, the difference in magic power was not tens of times greater or anything like that. Yet, the sheer size alone allowed for such overwhelming force, it was astonishing.

Then again, even if the whale's total length was not even half that of the Great Sea Serpent, its body was far thicker.

In terms of overall weight, there probably was not much of a difference.

Perhaps thinking that its tormentors in the sea were easier to grasp than those flying in the sky, the Great Sea Serpent let out a roar and coiled its long body around the whale.

A jellyfish, which had latched onto the serpent’s scales and was discharging electricity in an attempt to break free, was struck by its tail and instantly crushed.

'That one's dead.'

At the sight of the first casualty, the merfolk royals visibly hesitated.

When the Great Sea Serpent opened its massive maw to bite into the whale's side, Turan rushed closer, hurling the Spirit of Fire directly at its face before igniting it.

However, contrary to his expectations, there was no grand explosion.

The black powder had been caught in the storm and soaked with moisture.

While he could prevent the powder from getting wet if it remained close to his body, keeping it dry after launching it a distance away was much more difficult.

"Damn it…"

He had known that the Spirit of Fire lost much of its explosive power upon contact with water, but he had not expected it to fail completely.

Though momentarily flustered by the unexpected outcome, Turan quickly erased the failed tactic from his mind and instead hurled a stone at the serpent’s enormous, fixed eye, which was locked onto the whale’s side.

Due to the urgency of the moment, he did not use the massive rocks he had thrown earlier, but rather the smaller stones he was accustomed to using.

To a creature of such colossal size, the attack was barely a speck.

However, just like any human reacting to an eye being struck, the Great Sea Serpent twisted its entire body violently, thrashing its tail against the ocean’s surface.

Dozens no, perhaps hundreds, of water columns erupted simultaneously, churning the sea across hundreds of meters in every direction.

"Watch out!"

Turan quickly used Wind Magic to project his voice, but Solif and Bije, who had been flying around tearing into the serpent’s body, had not yet managed to escape the attack range.

Through the raging storm, he barely glimpsed the two staggering in midair before they were ultimately engulfed by one of the water columns and dragged down into the ocean.

'Damn it…'

The one fortunate thing was that, thanks to the Mimic Relic, Turan could maintain his vision even amid the raging storm.

Flying in immediately, he saw Solif manipulating the water to propel himself out of the sea.

"You okay?"

"I am! But Bije’s wing looks broken!"

Turan grabbed both Bije and Solif and carried them to the coastline of the island behind them.

Solif looked at Bije, who was whimpering in pain, and spoke in a self-reproaching tone.

"Damn it, if it weren’t for me, she would have dodged easily."

One of the chronic weaknesses of flying Magical Beasts was that their physical durability was often lower relative to their magic power.

Of course, as a high-tier Magical Beast, Bije could withstand most attacks without much trouble, but the enemy before them was literally a monster of mythical proportions.

Even now, it was thanks to the Magic Artifact Turan had obtained from the remnants of House Varaha and tied around Bije’s neck that she had not suffered a more serious injury or even died.

Turan carefully adjusted Bije’s broken wing and gave her a healing potion.

"Are you feeling any better, Bije?"

Bije nodded as if to say she was fine, but through their Soul Bond, Turan could still sense the pain she was experiencing.

Considering that flight required an immense level of precision and that a wild storm was raging all around them, it would be difficult for her to rejoin the battle immediately.

After instructing Bije to stay further inside the island, Turan placed Solif on the back of a nearby sea turtle merfolk.

Though it would be difficult to approach the battle directly, providing support from a distance would still be helpful.

Upon returning to the battlefield, where the struggle against the Great Sea Serpent continued, Turan frowned at the worsening situation.

Though only a short time had passed, two more merfolk royals had died, and the giant whale was now bleeding from multiple wounds.

["Are they okay?!"]

Meisa, who had been attacking the Great Sea Serpent, sent her voice through Wind Magic, likely having seen Bije and Solif get struck down.

Turan signaled that they were fine before pulling out another massive rock, creating a wind path, and hurling it.

With a loud crash, the Great Sea Serpent staggered.

"It looks like it took some damage, but…"

The problem was that the merfolk royals had started to become noticeably passive.

Unlike Turan’s group, who attacked from the sky, the merfolk were in the water, right within the Great Sea Serpent’s striking range. It naturally prioritized them as targets.

Having suffered significant casualties, the merfolk royals were now retreating rather than fighting aggressively.

Turan was sure they were thinking the same thing he was.

If they suffered too many losses and the balance of power shifted, Turan’s group might decide to eliminate them after the battle.

With three of their own already dead, the merfolk royals would not be willing to take further risks unless Turan’s group also faced similar dangers or casualties.

'No choice, then.'

Turan placed a large rock into his slingshot and began spinning it while flying around the Great Sea Serpent’s head to draw its attention.

Just like before, the serpent attempted to create whirlpools to swat him down like an annoying insect. But every time, Turan used the Spirit of Fire to propel himself away at high speed, narrowly avoiding the attacks.

After repeating this process multiple times, his entire body ached as if he had been beaten all over.

'This is killing me...'

However, his efforts were not in vain, seeing Turan’s relentless assault, the merfolk royals, who had become passive, once again took on an aggressive stance.

From a distance, Solif also fired Arrows of Light and conjured spears to hurl at the Great Sea Serpent, further drawing its attention.

As for Meisa, for some reason, she had switched from using Lightning to employing physical light-based attack magic, similar to Solif.

Perhaps she had realized that Lightning Magic was not as effective against the Great Sea Serpent as she had initially thought.

Thus, the fierce battle continued for tens of minutes.

Turan realized that his magic power had visibly decreased and took a step back to steady his breathing.

Seeing this, Meisa stepped in to take over the role of distracting the Great Sea Serpent, just as Turan had been doing.

'It's starting to weaken… When will it finally fall?'

According to the sacred relic’s perception, the Great Sea Serpent’s magic power had dropped to less than half of its original amount.

Its body, too, had been severely damaged, with many parts now replaced by the swirling storms typical of undead spirits.

While undead were structurally far more resilient than living creatures, they were not truly immortal, meaning the damage was taking its toll.

The problem was that Turan’s group and the merfolk royals were also just as drained.

Among the nine merfolk royals who had originally joined the battle, three had already died, and within Turan’s party, Bije had been rendered unable to fight while Solif was struggling to participate actively.

Considering how precariously balanced the situation was, a single misstep could easily turn the tide of battle against them.

'Should we give up?'

The thought briefly crossed Turan’s mind, but he quickly shook his head and dismissed it.

They had come too far to abandon the fight now.

Victory seemed just within reach, if they could push a little further.

'If only it weren’t for this storm, things would be much easier.'

If he could launch a large quantity of Spirit of Fire from a distance and detonate it, the battle would have been much smoother.

Using the slingshot as a medium for attacks was already an effective way to conserve magic power, but it still fell short of the sheer destructive force of an explosive attack with the Spirit of Fire.

If he could either stop the storm or somehow enclose the Spirit of Fire inside or onto the surface of the Great Sea Serpent without exposing it to the wind and rain, he might be able to deal a significant blow.

In fact, if he could trap the explosion in a confined space, the force would be amplified even further…

As he pondered, a sudden realization struck Turan like a bolt of lightning, his eyes widening.

'The slingshot’s pouch protects from the rain, and when exploded, it creates a strong repulsive force.'

At the same time, he recalled the old magic artifact used by dwarves, a device that shot metal fragments using the principle of liquid expanding into vapor.

What if he applied the same concept to launch a rock using Spirit of Fire?

If he filled the inside of the slingshot pouch with Spirit of Fire, placed a rock on top, and detonated it at the moment of launch…?

The idea struck him instantly, and without hesitation, Turan grabbed several handfuls of Spirit of Fire and placed them inside his large slingshot.

Then, he placed a massive rock on top to shield the Spirit of Fire from the falling rain, fixing its shape in place with Telekinesis Magic before soaring into the sky.

[□--■---]

It seemed the Great Sea Serpent had grown familiar with his face after being struck several times, as it now glared at Turan with open hostility, momentarily ignoring Meisa, who had been provoking it nearby.

It knew that he was the one who had dealt it the most painful blows.

Meanwhile, the merfolk royals fighting below were visibly encouraged by Turan’s return to the battlefield.

If the merfolk king, who had withstood the Great Sea Serpent’s charges time and again, was their greatest defender, then Turan, who had repeatedly struck its head with massive boulders, was their strongest attacker.

Seeing the Great Sea Serpent warily eyeing him, Turan smirked.

Then, in one fluid motion, he launched the rock and detonated the Spirit of Fire at the same time.

A wave of scorching heat brushed against his hand as the boulder shot forward, faster and more powerful than ever before.

Its target, the Great Sea Serpent’s head, the very spot where the previous owner of the Mimic Relic had once driven his hand.