Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 39

Chapter 39

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While Ferga’s group battled the monsters, Turan helped them with full power from invisible positions.

While hidden, he mixed his attacks with others’ magic, engaged in close combat with small monsters using daggers, and even took some dangerous attacks in their place by activating the guardian magical device.

This was necessary as otherwise the noble side would have been completely overwhelmed.

But despite such efforts, the nobles died one by one during the fight.

Though they might have fared differently in normal condition, with vision blocked by darkness and fatigue from long underground life, they could barely exert half their usual power.

After fighting thus for a while, only Turan and Ferga survived.

As the opponent also gained some breathing room with all small monsters dead, Turan contemplated how to take down that creature while watching Ferga face the huge monster one-on-one.

[Die!]

Though the labyrinth leader had lost one arm, crushed leg, and numerous other injuries, it still displayed overwhelming vitality.

How could he defeat that thing…

First catching his eye were magical devices left by dead nobles, particularly weapons.

Bow, staff, dagger, and axe.

Among these he first excluded the bow.

Besides being unfamiliar and inefficient, arrows were hard to find, and above all it didn’t seem much stronger than his sling.

The staff appeared to be a defensive magical device based on how its user wielded it, so this too was excluded.

The dagger enabled use of pyromancer bloodline power but seeing its user die while wielding it directly, its daily usage limit was probably exhausted.

Finally the axe had already proven sufficient power earlier but-

‘Too heavy.’

Secretly trying to lift it, it was impossible to properly wield.

Given its excessive weight for its size, the magic imbued likely related to that.

Someone with close combat bloodline aptitude could probably lift and swing it properly.

Just then he recalled what the door’s eyeball had said earlier.

That the ability of Turan’s holy relic was ‘Imitator’.

Combining that information with the warrior bloodline magic power contained in the item led to one conclusion.

‘Probably can imitate warrior bloodline power using this liquid.’

He had roughly guessed how to use this liquid since first seeing it.

Just lacked confidence so postponed it.

Click, opening the lid Turan immediately drank down the swirling pale green liquid.

‘Ugh.’

First feeling was icy coldness flowing down his throat.

But that soon burned flame-hot throughout his body, until finally tremendous power he had never felt before surged up.

Not increased magic power, but pure physical ability enhancement.

‘So this is warrior bloodline power.’

Grip, clenching his fist brought fear his hand might be crushed by its own strength.

Just then, perhaps from depleted stamina, Ferga finally failed to dodge the labyrinth leader’s attack and had chest and abdomen pierced by hook claws.

Seeing this, Turan grabbed the huge axe and immediately leaped toward the monster… Though slightly off course from weapon weight shift and increased leg strength, fortunately the axe still reached a vital point.

[You! Fake night hunter-!]

As expected, like its kin this monster too easily saw through Zahar invisibility.

Turan dropped invisibility to save even small magic consumption while swinging the axe.

Thunk, with heavy sensation transmitted to his hands, the giant axe embedded over halfway through its neck.

‘Damn, still not enough to kill in one hit.’

[Die!]

Perhaps because its left hand already impaled Ferga, the labyrinth leader swung its severed right arm to strike Turan hanging from the axe.

He was thrown back faster than his leap speed and crashed into the labyrinth wall.

“Kugh…”

Though his whole body ached, unlike being hit by monsters before it was fairly bearable.

Thanks to both guardian magical device power and physical enhancement from warrior bloodline power.

Of course this was just from being hit by a severed arm – taking those claws wouldn’t have ended so simply.

Seeing Turan stand up fine, the labyrinth leader threw aside Ferga’s impaled body and charged.

[Fake! Die!]

Despite fierce shouting, its limping approach wasn’t very threatening.

The flames visible inside through the holy relic had long weakened far below before.

Judging by blood gushing from where the axe had embedded and been pulled from its neck, it would clearly self-destruct if left alone.

‘But can’t end it that way.’

Besides not needing to fear one already too injured to move properly, the door eyeball’s escape condition of “slaying the labyrinth leader” criteria was also concerning.

What if it didn’t open the door considering death by excessive bleeding as the leader dying on its own?

Turan accelerated thought with Arabion technique while watching five hook claws slowly flying toward him.

‘First dodge…’

Using brief footwork learned from Haram in close combat, the claws barely grazed past his face.

Finally its left side was exposed.

Instead of targeting the torso, he swung the axe up hard crushing half the labyrinth leader’s forearm with a thunk.

[It hurts!]

‘Won’t work in one hit.’

Then just do it multiple times.

Turan pulled out the embedded axe and quickly struck down from above before it could raise its arm.

Like chopping a tree left and right once to fell it, the arm struck up and down in the same spot was severed.

[Hurts! Bad! My children! All killed! Night hunter! Fake!]

Perhaps completely insane, the labyrinth leader babbled nonsense while thrusting its last remaining weapon at Turan.

Saw-like teeth.

Naturally biting was a dangerous act exposing the head, every creature’s greatest weakness, so when Turan threw his body sideways the labyrinth leader ended up face-planting… A perfect posture for severing its neck.

Thwack! One axe strike to the glistening liquid-covered neck.

Though its body went limp from damaged nerves below, life remained intact.

Turan struck the created mark with the axe two, three, four times in succession.

[Fa…ke…my…chil…]

However tough it was, it still spoke somehow even with neck half-dangling.

Though perhaps “spoke” wasn’t right since it wasn’t opening its mouth but projecting voice mentally.

But when he finally struck with the axe completely severing the neck, the magic power flow throughout the labyrinth leader’s body stopped.

Only seeing this could he be certain that monster was truly dead.

“Whew…”

Turan threw down the heavy axe with a deep sigh.

Perhaps from tension releasing, his whole body felt drained of strength-

No, focusing consciousness inward showed the warrior bloodline magic power flowing inside was actually fading.

Judging by speed, probably would take about thirty minutes for all power to disappear.

Well, no matter how amazing a holy relic, permanently gaining bloodline ability this way would be unreasonable.

Just being able to store and use power like this made it an incredible item.

Swallowing some regret, Turan approached the final survivor sprawled far away.

Ferga Zahar.

He was blankly staring at the ceiling while coughing up blood.

‘One lung… one near the heart. He won’t survive this.’

Though magicians had superior vitality to ordinary people, surviving such injuries would be difficult.

Of course he could save him by absorbing healer bloodline power from a noble like borrowing warrior bloodline power earlier, but there was no reason to go that far.

“You, you are…?”

Ferga’s gaze turned to Turan but his eyes were clearly severely unfocused.

He probably couldn’t even recognize if Turan was human, let alone see his face.

“Shall I ease your passing?”

Though supposedly a much older relative, he felt no inclination to use honorifics.

Having seen corpses of knights and vagrants dying miserably while exploring the labyrinth these past days.

They probably wanted to live as much as Ferga, perhaps even more.

“Save me…”

“That’s a request I can’t grant.”

Though Turan shook his head, Ferga seemed not to understand as he kept mumbling to be saved.

Shortly after, the holy relic’s sense felt flames remaining throughout his body fade and gather.

‘Dead.’

Turan stood and looked behind.

Over a hundred small dead monsters, dozen nobles, and the labyrinth leader.

Setting aside personal gain, if he didn’t want to see them all revive as death spirits, it was time to harvest.

* * *

Turan first absorbed magic power from the small monsters.

Since stronger magicians find absorbing weaker ones’ power meaningless, absorbing from weakest to strongest was most efficient.

As expected, despite absorbing 145 total, his power barely grew.

Their magic power was small compared to ability, barely between knight and noble level, so it couldn’t be helped… Next were the dead nobles.

The holy relic’s detection could see dead ones’ magic power too, so he could absorb sequentially without separately remembering who was how strong in life.

As he absorbed nobles’ power, the holy relic also began separately absorbing and storing magic power.

Barrier maker, illusion, berserker, healer, hunter…

The liquid containing magic power from each bloodline separated in layers inside, easily isolatable by magic control.

What would happen drinking multiple bloodline powers simultaneously?

Though curious, considering times of real need it seemed unwise to experiment carelessly.

With each absorption thus, Turan’s flesh and soul were tempered stronger.

Five were much weaker offering little help.

But four were slightly weaker or similar level providing sufficient boost.

The finishing touches were the labyrinth leader and Ferga Zahar.

When he absorbed all magic power from these two with about twice his power each, intense pleasure struck his mind.

This was completely different from temporarily gaining warrior bloodline power earlier.

Focusing consciousness inward revealed slightly less than double the magic power from when first entering the labyrinth.

This was power level ordinary nobles would take decades to centuries to accumulate outside special situations like war.

Of course most would hit growth limits before accumulating this much.

‘Come to think of it, I might be approaching my growth limit soon too.’

Typically magic power growth limits were several to dozens of times innate amount.

Though not remembering exactly his magic power level while staying on Hisaril Hill, roughly estimating his current power seemed between eight to ten times that era.

Seemed about time for that locked bloodline to open – surely it wouldn’t require becoming strong as a great family head?

After brief consideration, Turan shook his head and stood.

Time to leave this labyrinth.

‘Must abandon the magical devices of course.’

The ones investigating these deaths would be none other than Zahar specialized in tracking.

Having used much tracking magic himself, he knew that while finding any magical device was impossible, finding specific types was possible.

When dozens of Zahar nobles searched everywhere, he would be caught within days anywhere in the Enril Desert.

Unless planning to flee forever, there was no choice.

Afterward, Turan wandered the empty labyrinth using tracking magic repeatedly to find and remove all traces from his body like hair, blood, and more.

Finally he headed to the door with the eyeball.

“I killed the leader.”

Though he spoke, the eyeball didn’t answer.

Perhaps its functions stopped as the door opened wide.

Turan tried speaking several more times before shaking his head and entering.

“Oh.”

The room inside was like a great hall, with a pitch black whirlpool space like the entrance appearing in the center.

That was probably the exit.

Instead of escaping immediately, Turan decided to look around more.

‘Mostly useless decorations… no, something’s up there’… A small book lay beside something like a throne chair.

Though it looked more like just some papers sewn together with thread…

A somewhat rough title written on the first page caught his eye.

[Night Hunter Class Change Process Recreation Experiment]