Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Discord
From the half-elves of Baraha to Harun, the family head of Zahar, there were quite a few who considered Turan to be the reincarnation of Night Hunter Otas.
Of course, he had always maintained an attitude of “I am just myself, that’s all,” but he couldn’t help being conscious of it.
When they said he resembled him in everything from appearance to behavior and personality, how could he not pay attention?
However, now Talis brought up words that shattered the premise that had been somewhat firmly established.
While claiming that Turan was not the Night Hunter’s reincarnation.
Contrary to expectations, instead of arguing back that he was talking nonsense, Harun kept her mouth tightly shut at those words.
Perhaps interpreting that silence as denial, Talis quietly added:
“I confirmed it directly with Badal. That there’s already nothing beyond the sea of spirits. Not just Otas, but Pudding, Mike, Tool, and Mev too – all of them.”
Turan frowned at Talis’s words.
He had directly confirmed beyond the sea of spirits?
The sea of spirits wasn’t like an actual existing space.
It was just a virtual place spoken of in soul magic, where the substance of dead souls crossed over and disappeared, and where the raw materials that would become spirit forms came when life was born.
Alternatively called the other shore, hell, or heavenly palace, but that was its essence.
‘Monarch was said to be a master of soul magic… but could he grant even his close associate Badal the ability to experience such things?’
If that was really the case, there was a high possibility that his understanding of souls and the world was deeper than Turan could imagine.
No, more importantly was the content of those words.
That the souls of the gods no longer remained beyond the sea of spirits?
If those words were true, then the foundation of the Night Hunter reincarnation hypothesis that Harun had revealed to him would disappear.
Her hypothesis had been that the Night Hunter’s soul, wandering the sea of spirits due to his abnormally enlarged soul vessel, had taken residence in him.
“Just because you couldn’t confirm it doesn’t mean it’s not there?”
“Right. You’ll understand when you see it directly later. The outside of this world isn’t a space where even our souls – no, even souls stronger than ours – can survive intact for thousands of years.”
While saying this, Turan felt that Talis was glancing at him.
Turan could tell that his opponent was gauging his reaction while bringing up this topic, wanting to guess how much he knew.
Probably bringing up a story he hadn’t mentioned to Harun before was also for that reason.
Then, Badal from behind gripped Talis’s shoulder tightly.
“That’s enough. You’re talking too much.”
Badal, who said quietly that even if they were going to kill him anyway, it was better if he knew less, glared at Turan.
Precisely, at both him and Harun beside him.
The emotions contained in those eyes were all on the negative side.
Jealousy, inferiority complex, hatred…
He could guess that, if no one else, he absolutely would not let the two of them go, that he would chase them by any means necessary.
“Give me a little time. We already proved we’re willing to follow you by capturing Caesar, didn’t we? Just torturing her moderately as persuasion was already a big concession on our part.”
Before Badal could respond to what sounded like genuine grievance, Harun spat bloody saliva and spoke.
“Stop that pathetic acting, Suzaku. Unlike your name, you’re not very talented at it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Quit the obvious good cop bad cop strategy. We didn’t know you’d torture this much so it’s not our fault, so become a breakwater to fight against that fraud like before on our behalf – isn’t that the kind of scheme this is?”
At the rapid-fire words, Talis kept his mouth shut instead of responding.
The way his rich expression sank in an instant was somewhat chilling to see.
“Did I get caught?”
“We haven’t just been together for a few decades, and as I’ve said before, you’re shallower than you think you are.”
“It doesn’t usually get caught by other people though…”
Talis smiled bitterly and shrugged at Badal.
From that attitude, it seemed they had some prior understanding.
Badal would break her spirit with torture, then Talis would say he didn’t know it would be like this while comforting her and making her their asset.
That meant even Harun, who had lost her body and only had an ordinary person’s body left, had some use in their plans.
Of course, the sadism and hatred shown to Harun wouldn’t be fake, but even that could be used as a tool because someone who perfectly controlled Badal existed.
Having finished calculating in his head, Turan asked Talis:
“Could I hear about that plan in a bit more detail?”
“Hmm? Sorry, but that won’t work. Actually I’m fine with it, but that friend doesn’t like it very much…”
“I already heard roughly. You’re returning to your homeland, right? Taking your current bodies with you.”
Both Talis and Badal showed surprised expressions at Turan’s words.
“What, you heard all of that too? Hey, how did this happen? I thought you just came and kidnapped her?”
“I did wash her body in the bathroom. Probably had a secret conversation during that time.”
“Oh, it was a much steamier relationship than I thought?”
Turan could feel that while the two were chatting casually, they were solidifying their killing intent toward him.
At that moment, he brought up the lines he had prepared:
“So speaking of that, if that story is true, do we really need to fight?”
“Hmm?”
“What?”
“If all of you cross over to that world, this world would practically be mine, wouldn’t it?”
If everyone from Monarch’s Nagin and Arabion gang to Zahar’s gods crossed over to the gods’ world together, only the Lawyer’s Carmine gang would remain here.
Strictly speaking, there would be a few more Giant Sea Serpent merfolk, but they could hardly be seen as a long-term major threat.
If Turan grasped the Zahar family, whose top leadership had all disappeared, with bloodline authority and set up just one suitable proxy, he would indeed be no different from the world’s ruler.
Badal, who had been listening quietly, spoke mockingly:
“But for that, an important prerequisite is needed. You’d have to return my daughter’s body.”
As he said, they needed Meisa’s body for their plan.
Naturally, they didn’t think Turan would give up his strongest ally and lover.
The reason their relationship had been like parallel lines from the beginning was also because of this.
However, Turan brought up something Badal hadn’t anticipated:
“What if there’s a substitute?”
“A substitute?”
“Right. It doesn’t have to be Meisa specifically, does it? I don’t know exactly what you need it for, but if it’s a body that powerful, we could make more.”
Talis, who had been listening quietly, sighed:
“This is a bit different from my expectations. I thought you’d jump up and down asking how we could dare do such a thing.”
“Why did you think that?”
“Otherwise, why would you be frantically trying to kill us? Obviously it must be because you think it’s wrong to freely manipulate and devour human souls like Otas.”
So they had believed without doubt that because Turan had the same values as Otas, he wouldn’t forgive their actions, and also wouldn’t do the same things they did.
It was an attitude opposite to what he had just shouted about not being the Night Hunter’s reincarnation.
“Fighting and killing each other requires great sacrifice on this side too. If we could resolve it otherwise… I might be able to accept some sacrifice.”
“I don’t know if that lie is real, but if so, it might be worth hearing. What do you think?”
When Talis glanced back, Badal looked between Turan and Harun with a displeased expression, then snorted.
He had expected him to shout “no way” like before.
Though he held the initiative, this Talis, called Suzaku among the gods, seemed to have some speaking rights as well.
Perhaps Monarch had told them not to push too hard since he needed their help.
Or maybe he had some ability to communicate separately with Badal somehow, indirectly reporting and listening from this place…
“First, I’d like to know how you plan to make a body like Meisa’s. You know it’s not easy, right?”
“Can’t we just take any noble’s fetus and use it?”
“It’s not impossible, but the efficiency would be terribly bad. To raise an ordinary noble child to that level would require grinding up about a quarter of the world’s people, no joke.”
Apart from the cruelty, Talis shook his head saying it was absolutely not something to do in terms of manpower.
Well, to collect and handle souls required at least minimal knowledge and ability in soul magic.
Moreover, considering that soul prisons requiring Ruler bloodline power were also not easy things to make, it would be difficult to have subordinates accomplish it.
To this, Turan brought up what he had thought of earlier, but words that made him feel dirty just voicing them:
“Then we could use my child.”
“What?”
“Meisa would have little possibility of getting pregnant and too much attention from people, so it would be difficult, but if I impregnate several useful women among other commoners or knights, at least one useful body should emerge. It wouldn’t take more than thirty or forty years at most, and that’s practically an instant for you, isn’t it?”
At Turan’s words, Badal, Talis – that is, Suzaku – and the other Zahar gods looked at each other.
If that proposal was sincere, it wasn’t a particularly bad proposal for them either.
Since Turan’s forces had already grown threateningly large, they too were no longer in a state where they could crush them like killing bugs as before.
They even couldn’t trust their immortality if they were caught wrong, since that side had mastered soul magic and even seized a ‘labyrinth.’
One of the reasons gods feared Monarch was precisely because he could strip other gods’ spirit forms of their immortality with such abilities.
“Hmm, it seems we need to seriously discuss this… should we return to Aksum first? It’s also unseemly to chatter like this on the street.”
“Let’s talk here. Trust hasn’t built up to that extent yet.”
More than anything, the reason they couldn’t simply ignore Turan’s words was because everything he said was true.
If one was a god of Zahar bloodline, they could use the skill Eye of Truth.
At least among Turan’s words until just now, there had been no lies.
“Good. So say you provide that body… even so, there’s still a bit of a problem.”
“Hey.”
“It’s fine. That guy’s not an idiot either, and he probably knows everything anyway.”
Suzaku, having made Badal step back, pointed at him and said:
“As you know, this friend doesn’t have much time left, right? He got a bit healthier this time using some tricks, but still has a high probability of dying within two or three years. It would be troublesome if you changed your mind then.”
It meant it would be troublesome if he attacked as soon as Badal lost his body after getting through this situation.
This was also a method he had thought of for a long time.
If Badal inhabited one of the few remaining upper-tier nobles’ bodies in Arabion, his power would be much weaker than before.
“So, do you want a hostage or something?”
“I’d like to, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone to ask for. You have no other family, and you won’t give us Meisa even if we ask.”
“Of course not. Or there’s also the method of capturing Carmine’s successor and using them as a new body.”
“Hmm?”
“Of course, since they were raised to fit the ‘Lawyer,’ the soul compatibility won’t match and the bloodline they have will be wrong, but at least the talent itself would be successor-level. Plus, if we feed them the Lawyer’s magical power, even if not as much as now, they’d be worth one family head.”
To offer Carmine family’s successor’s body, which was still intact, as compensation?
The answer to the question of how to capture them was remarkable:
“If we join forces, would Carmine and such be able to resist? No, just if you don’t interfere, I could probably capture and offer them myself.”
At the unimaginable statement, Suzaku burst into laughter.
“No, really… I’ve felt this from before, but you seem more like me than like Otas.”
“Not at all.”
Though Turan expressed denial, he thought his opponent had already noticed his lie.
As the opponent said, he had long felt he had many similarities with the man before him – precisely, the god wearing that body.
From that persistence and cruelty to calculating aspects.
Surely the physical qualities he got from him were merely inherited from the person called Talis Zahar, so why was it so?
“Anyway, if the discussion goes like this, it’s not a bad conclusion… but we still have to return Caesar. We also need insurance on our side.”
Of course, since the method of crossing to the gods’ world itself was led by Monarch, they had no choice but to be dragged along by him, but at least after crossing over, they had no intention of just playing subordinate roles.
For that, they also needed appropriate military power, and the strongest force Zahar’s side could present was exactly her.
She was the only being among the remaining Zahar gods who could draw out complete Night Hunter power.
“Do you really believe she’ll become your ally? After backstabbing like this?”
Turan knew indirectly as a torture expert how much that destroyed a person’s mind.
The hatred born from experiencing such things wouldn’t be resolved even after a thousand years – on what basis did they believe Harun-Caesar, who had returned to them, would become their ally?
“She may look like that but she’s soft-hearted, so if we bow our heads and beg, she’ll give in quickly. After all, we’ve tortured each other more than once or twice. Caesar only takes your side because she believes you’re Otas’s reincarnation. Probably her thoughts will change a bit once she directly confirms that’s not the case.”
“I was curious about that too. How exactly did you directly confirm the sea of spirits?”
At Turan’s question, Suzaku once again glanced at Badal as he had before.
However, the old man of Arabion bloodline was now watching their conversation leisurely with his arms completely crossed.
An attitude of letting them handle it themselves, as if saying you guys figure it out.
It seemed that as Turan came out cooperatively, he also felt this flow wasn’t bad.
“Well, I don’t know the details myself so I can’t explain… but have you ever gone outside the world? Beyond the Sky Mountains or the Snow Cloud Zone. Since you’re from that area, you’ve probably seen it at least once.”
“I’ve tried to attempt it.”
“But you couldn’t get across, right? This world’s providence blocks it.”
Turan didn’t reveal that he had crossed over there, and thus seen bizarre sights beyond it.
Thanks to speaking vaguely, the Eye of Truth didn’t judge this as a lie either.
The words “I tried to attempt it” had a nuance of “I failed” but didn’t have clear meaning.
“That beyond is exactly the sea of spirits. A space where all things are converted into ‘information’… anyone can understand that a mere soul can’t endure it if they go there directly.”
“I see.”
Turan also nodded and agreed with his opponent’s words.
At that time, Turan too had directly seen and felt his entire body being dismantled there, everything becoming records.
“Then my resemblance to that person is just coincidence?”
“Well, maybe some tiny fragment entered. But if that’s reincarnation, then there wouldn’t be any Zahar nobles who aren’t Otas’s reincarnation. There would probably be several people who are my reincarnations too.”
Since souls ultimately come from the sea of spirits, Suzaku muttered quietly.
Just as he was nodding, Turan looked at his opponent, sensing presences felt around them.
“Something’s approaching in quite large numbers, probably your side?”
Dozens, hundreds, perhaps over a thousand people.
An enormously huge encirclement that had been closing in from several kilometers in all directions was gradually tightening.
Probably tactics considering Turan’s detection abilities.
Hearing this, Talis chuckled and said:
“Well, you roughly knew, didn’t you?”
At the words asking if they hadn’t both been buying time with their own schemes, Turan nodded.
This seemed to be the card they had prepared.
An army composed of Zahar nobles and knights stationed in Aksum, armed with all kinds of magical devices.
Just now they had been unable to counter the enemy who had suddenly struck in the middle of downtown and had been helplessly pushed around, but the situation would be different now.
A mage who clearly recognized the enemy and was prepared to fight couldn’t help but be a burden, even if just a knight.
Especially if Badal and Zahar’s gods created opportunities to attack while keeping him in check.
“So, with that in mind, do you have any thoughts of surrendering? Then we can treat you quite well too. I actually thought your idea from earlier wasn’t bad. Even if not Meisa, the more good bodies the better.”
Suzaku spoke in a teasing tone, saying they’d let him enjoy all kinds of luxurious living in Aksum and freely indulge in any women he wanted.
Turan, who had been listening quietly, confirmed that the encirclement was approaching close enough to be visible and nodded.
“People who like that would like it, but it’s not really my taste.”
“Oh dear, what a shame…”
Talis, who was about to finish by saying “too bad,” saw Turan lightly stomp the ground with his foot.
As an experienced mage himself, he knew that was a motion often used to easily cast earth transformation magic.
But why would he use such a method now?
Even if he could bring the power of Earth bloodline with Mimic’s power, it wouldn’t be enough to break through the situation.
The moment he thought that, with one stomp, the ground over several hundred meters sank down.
A huge cavity swallowed everyone up.