Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Discord
For the past several months, the Carmine family and the Giant Sea Serpent merfolk clan had been locked in a fierce and relentless war.
After transforming into Giant Sea Serpents, the merfolk controlled magical beasts to devastate every coastal city and village belonging to Carmine. They even followed rivers inland to attack cities deep within the continent.
This cycle of violence only ended recently, after one of three merfolk who had gone to track down Armani (using information obtained from a kidnapped Carmine noble) managed to return alive.
[He killed the other two?]
[Yeah. I barely made it back. Father, you’ll avenge us, right?]
Upon hearing the words of his only surviving child, the Merfolk King let out a deep sigh.
To make another enemy when they already had Carmine as a foe?
Of course, Turan was also a human and would eventually become an enemy, but there was an order to these things.
‘I expected this, but it’s worse than I thought.’
The transcendent power gained from the Giant Sea Serpent’s corpse was not without its price.
Some lost their minds entirely and had to be killed. Others, like the prince before him, became mentally unstable. Some, like the king himself, grew more violent.
‘And then there are those who haven’t changed at all.’
The Merfolk King remembered Armani-the young prince who had fled with the clan’s treasured artifact.
He was the answer their people had hoped for, the one with the greatest potential, the child they believed must become the heir of their race…
But that child turned his back on them simply because he didn’t want to fight a single human.
Now, for the sake of retrieving their treasure, and to prevent the location of the Giant Sea Serpent’s lair from being discovered, they had no choice but to kill Armani.
The problem was how to do it.
After the last clash, the Parsha family had completely evacuated the area near the coast.
No matter how powerful the Giant Sea Serpent merfolk were, their strength was greatly diminished on land, making it difficult to launch an attack.
And, as previously considered, they were still in the midst of a war with the Carmine family.
So, for several months, the merfolk king gathered his kin and waited in a state of uneasy peace.
Then, a messenger from the Carmine family arrived.
Possessing the Ripple bloodline, the envoy entered the underwater palace with ease, ignoring the deadly stares of the merfolk royalty as he delivered his message.
[A strategic alliance?]
[Yes. What you want is the Turquoise Crown, right? If we have it, you might one day lose the power of the Giant Sea Serpent and become our vassals again. We’ll return it to you, but in exchange, let’s forget the old grudges and cooperate.]
After all the years Carmine had oppressed the merfolk, to demand they forget their grudges in exchange for returning the crown?
The surrounding merfolk shouted for the envoy’s body to be torn apart and devoured, but the king stopped them.
Surely, they wouldn’t make such an offer without something more.
[Let’s hear the details first.]
[You’re aware of the Parsha family, right? We want your help dealing with them. In return, we’ll give you a yearly tribute of humans-use them as food or slaves, as you wish.]
If this had been during the height of the war, it would have sounded like nonsense. But now, it couldn’t be dismissed so easily.
Since learning of Armani’s existence, the merfolk had begun gathering intelligence from the human world through their pirate underlings. They knew Turan’s power was not to be underestimated.
Turan had planted agents in the eastern Baraha family, forged an alliance with southern Ravitas, and grown his power to frightening levels.
If he grew even stronger and sought vengeance for the destruction of his port and the deaths of his people…
[How do you plan to attack?]
After much deliberation, the Merfolk King accepted Carmine’s proposal.
Of course, the humans were their sworn enemies. They could never forgive or truly trust them.
But if forced to choose between an old enemy who could be dealt with later and a new, growing threat who might one day devour them, it made sense to eliminate the latter first.
After all, Turan had shown no hesitation in slaughtering their kin. Reconciliation was impossible.
And with Armani’s long-term hostility now revealed, all secrets had likely been spilled.
Most importantly, if they destroyed the Parsha family, the merfolk would gain a major advantage Carmine knew nothing about.
‘I must recover the Jade Mirror from Armani before others learn what it really is…’
The true nature of Parsha’s spatial travel ability had not yet been exposed, but in time, someone would realize it was the merfolk’s ancient treasure-the Jade Mirror.
Not only was it a practical artifact allowing free travel between the Northern and Southern Seas, but as a relic of the ancient Giant Sea Serpent, it also held immense religious significance.
Upon the king’s acceptance, the Carmine envoy smirked.
[Baraha will soon invade Ruban. If you attack Parsha at the same time, their main forces-including the family head-will be away and unable to respond.]
Of course, the absence of the main force also meant there would be little to gain from attacking, but for a great family, losing their stronghold was a blow beyond mere numbers.
[But don’t they have a way to cross space? What if they just come back?]
The Merfolk King already knew Turan had linked a pair of Jade Mirrors between Parsha and Baraha, allowing instant travel.
At this, the Carmine envoy clicked his tongue.
[That’s accounted for. We’ve arranged things with Ruban. They’ll keep Baraha’s army occupied, maintaining a tense standoff-if Parsha tries to return, they’ll chase; if not, they’ll follow. With the enemy right in front of them, they can’t just leave.]
It sounded plausible.
With the Jade Mirror, Parsha’s forces couldn’t easily abandon the battlefield.
And the merfolk’s weakness on land could be mitigated with Carmine’s help. The Ripple-blooded nobles could move vast quantities of water inland.
All in all, it was an offer the merfolk couldn’t refuse.
They’d get the troublesome Turquoise Crown, a steady supply of humans, a chance to recover the Jade Mirror, and a chance to punish the traitor Armani.
Even those who had initially protested were now listening intently.
The only concern was that Carmine might betray them mid-war.
Just as the merfolk wanted to eliminate both Parsha and Carmine, Carmine would surely want to get rid of both Parsha and the merfolk.
[Fine. But we won’t deploy all our forces. If Parsha’s main army is gone, we won’t need that much strength.]
The safest plan would be for both sides to attack with full force, but trust was lacking.
If the other side betrayed them, they needed to limit their losses.
[That’s fine. We won’t send our family head either. But don’t just make a token effort.]
[Understood. One more thing-I want a hostage.]
[A hostage?]
[Bring us your heir-the one you intend to use as your leader’s next body. Once we confirm you didn’t betray us after Parsha falls, we’ll return him.]
The envoy scowled at the Merfolk King’s demand.
How dare this arrogant fish make such a request?
But the king remained expressionless.
After a moment, the envoy sighed and nodded.
[Fine, fine! We’ll add that condition.]
The king was surprised by how quickly he agreed, but didn’t show it.
After a few more details were negotiated, the king asked one last question.
[Why go to all this trouble?]
[What do you mean?]
[As far as I know, you haven’t even clashed directly with Parsha yet. Why risk so much to destroy them?]
He didn’t expect a straight answer, but the envoy grinned and nodded.
[I wonder that myself. But there’s someone out west who really, really wants to crush them.]
* * *
The Giant Sea Serpent merfolk and Carmine’s elite mages landed at the port near Ofen and marched swiftly southwest.
Speed was the key.
They had to inflict maximum damage before Turan and Parsha’s elite noticed and returned.
On the way, Carmine’s mage commander handed the merfolk royalty several portraits.
“Remember these faces. They’re from the Berk family-the core of Parsha’s magical device production. Eliminate them all.”
“They’re not with the main army in the east?”
“Right. No one sends their top artisans to the front lines unless the family is about to fall. And this woman-she’s likely still here and is as strong as a family head. Be especially careful…”
Her name was Jemel Carmine, if he recalled.
The merfolk royalty exchanged glances at the portrait-her long hair and beauty were familiar.
“She’s the one, right?”
“Yeah. She was tough.”
Jemel, noticing their reaction, asked, “What, you know her? Met her before?”
“Eh…”
“Don’t mind it, you idiot demon.”
The merfolk mocked Jemel’s question.
Even if they had formed a temporary alliance, their old grudges remained.
And they’d been warned by the Merfolk King not to reveal anything that could be used against them.
Letting slip that they’d met Meisa was already a mistake, but they decided it was harmless.
Jemel, annoyed, forced a smile and changed the subject.
“Anyway, you’ve brought quite a force.”
“They breed like rabbits. Honestly, we needed to thin them out anyway.”
Behind them trailed thousands of merfolk soldiers.
Individually weak, but in numbers, they could overwhelm a knight.
At the vanguard were a hundred Carmine mages, three merfolk royalty who could become Giant Sea Serpents, and dozens of merfolk nobles to command the army.
Even if Parsha’s main force were present, it would be a fight. Without them, the odds were even better.
For three days, the combined army advanced southwest, avoiding major cities and moving stealthily.
This was possible because Jemel had obtained a detailed military map of Parsha, including the locations of signal fires and the range of their watch.
But with such a large force, it was impossible to remain hidden forever.
When they were about a day’s march from Kalamaf, someone spotted their approach and lit a signal fire.
“Is that a wildfire?”
“No, that’s a signal fire. News will spread fast. We need to move even faster.”
Colored smoke and flames appeared and vanished, likely conveying information about the enemy’s size and type.
“Move faster!”
The merfolk soldiers screeched as their noble commanders whipped them into line.
The hardest part of the march had been keeping the hungry merfolk from attacking their human allies or wandering off in search of food.
If Carmine hadn’t provided ample rations, they would have been impossible to control.
Now that their presence was known, the army moved with even greater speed, no longer worrying about avoiding cities or signal fires.
After sacking a small village for food, the merfolk army finally reached the outskirts of Kalamaf-where a human army awaited them.
Only about three hundred strong.
Jemel laughed in disbelief.
“What, they think they can stop us with that? They’d have been better off defending the city or fleeing…”
Normally, you only sally out to meet the enemy if you’re confident in your strength and want to avoid damage to your base.
If you’re weak, you run or rely on defensive terrain.
But for Parsha, supposedly committed to a major campaign in the east, to take such an aggressive stance was baffling.
Just three days ago, Jemel had received word that Baraha’s main army was facing off against Ruban in the east.
“Attack. Crush them.”
But as he looked closer at the defenders, Jemel’s eyes widened.
At their head stood Meisa Arabion.
He’d expected one powerful mage to be left behind for defense, so her presence wasn’t surprising.
With three Giant Sea Serpents and four Carmine vessels, they could handle her.
But beside her stood a young man with short silver hair and a compact, muscular build, clad in silver armor-
“Solif Baraha?”
“Have we met before? Ah, I think I remember you.”
As Solif replied, a massive halo rose behind him.
Its overwhelming size and brilliance left no doubt: this was the real head of Baraha, standing here in person.
“How…?”
Had Turan gone east while Solif came here?
His shock was short-lived, as behind Solif, halos appeared above the other Baraha nobles.
The very nobles who should have been facing Ruban in the east were here.
‘Could it be… the army in the east is a decoy…?’
As Jemel’s chilling realization dawned, the merfolk royalty behind him transformed into Giant Sea Serpents in alarm.
To avoid being trampled, Jemel conjured an ice platform and leapt skyward-just as a streak of blinding light split the allied army in two.