Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Discord
The first thing Turan thought upon seeing a dwarf directly was a mole.
Eyes half-crushed as if proving their blindness, pointed protruding nose and front teeth, sturdy muscles with hair thickly covering their entire body.
These ugly creatures emerging from all directions aimed threatening magic devices they had seen earlier in visions at the Arabion army and shouted.
Based on the Imitator Holy Relic’s senses, it didn’t seem to be real magic devices since no magical power was detected.
“Kill them-!”
[“Kill theeeem!”]
Along with the dwarves’ characteristic crushed pronunciation, there was a hissing sound of air escaping as countless metal pieces rained down on the Arabion army.
However, unlike the previous completely surprise attack, they now had experience with what this meant.
They each used defensive magic devices to cover themselves or crouched down to take cover.
“Ugh!”
“Are you okay?”
“Not fatal!”
The casualties were at most three or four, with injuries about double that.
At the front, Turan activated the Guardian magic device, blocking five or six metal pieces while gauging their power.
‘At this level… getting hit directly would hurt quite a bit.’
When you take a hit, you should return the favor.
Now it was the Arabion army’s turn to counterattack with magic.
First, white lightning burst forth from Meisa’s hands at the front, engulfing the dwarves.
[“Kyarararak-!”]
“Demon! Demon!”
Only those at the edges of the magic’s range screamed.
The dwarves at the center were already burned to death without making a sound.
Considering how the creatures’ bodies weren’t even affected by average knights’ magic, one could guess how powerful the lightning just now was.
If she had weakened the power to spread it out, she probably could have wiped out thousands of normal humans in one strike.
Following her, Arabion’s nobles and nobles of other bloodlines also used their suited powers to attack the dwarves.
“Kill them all-!”
“Filthy mole b*st*rds!”
Fire, lightning, light, ice spikes and rocks showered everywhere, crossing paths with the continuously fired metal pieces.
The dark elves who led the Arabion army here also joined the battle.
A dark elf male taller and more slender than his kin.
Judging by the silver crown on his forehead, he must be the self-proclaimed Lich King.
“It’s the Lich King!”
“Lady Meisa!”
Responding to someone’s cry, Meisa immediately struck lightning at the Lich King, but over ten undead appearing before his body took the hit while burning their bodies.
Then he summoned undead in beast and human forms one after another to overwhelm Meisa, with numbers and power far beyond the necromancer Turan had fought before.
The other necromancers also summoned their undead and charged them at the human army.
Perhaps because they were mostly born from Arabion mages, all the human-form undead were wrapped in lightning and wind.
[We-will-kill-you-!]
“Block them!”
As the undead charged at the nobles with their characteristically strange echoing voices, about ten each, the knights blocked their path to buy time.
While the two forces were entangled in chaos, Turan used the Imitator Holy Relic’s senses to precisely identify the necromancers.
‘First target is… that one.’
A stone that had been spun several times to accumulate sufficient magical power cut through the battlefield and precisely sniped one necromancer’s head.
Like the necromancer he fought before, the target had undead wrapped around his body, but unlike before, Turan’s stone easily pierced through and instantly crushed his head.
It was due to the difference in magical power contained.
After smoothly crushing the heads of the second and third targets while under the knights’ protection, Turan took out more stones from the high-capacity pouch.
Since he had put plenty of egg-shaped stones formed using earth manipulation magic, he wouldn’t have to worry about running out of stones anymore.
[Kaoooo!]
Just then, three beast-form undead suddenly surged up from the side targeting him.
Had they noticed the consecutive sniping?
Turan immediately raised his thought speed and stabbed his sword into the head of one that looked like a bear.
[Kueong-!]
Despite physical attacks not being very effective against undead, it writhed in pain and rolled on the ground.
He could see the magical structure of the stabbed undead collapsing.
If there was more time he would have liked to satisfy his curiosity about how this was possible, but being in battle, Turan immediately set it ablaze turning it to ashes.
Then he threw another stone at the necromancer who sent them, crushing their head.
“Die!”
Just as he killed another one with no time to catch his breath, this time the dwarves who had been shooting magic devices from afar charged in.
Seven in total.
Despite their grotesque appearance with bodies smaller than humans, they charged at surprisingly fast speeds despite their seemingly sluggish bodies, swinging spears in their hands.
More precisely, they weren’t spears but magic devices with blades attached to what had been shooting metal pieces.
“Kek!”
A normal noble would retreat in this situation using knights as shields while casting magic, but Turan had a well-trained body, strong magical power, and combat skills.
He easily dodged the first attacker’s strike while crushing their head with a kick, cut the second one’s throat with his sword, and smashed the crown of the third who got close with his elbow.
Meanwhile they also stabbed his back and sides but only left light scratches thanks to the Guardian magic device.
“Hard?”
“Demon… not pierced…”
Seemingly puzzled why their attacks weren’t working, the dwarves mumbled in broken speech before getting beaten to pulp by sword and fist.
And the last one had a slightly different magic device, from which flames suddenly erupted.
“Ugh!”
Turan quickly raised the Guardian magic device’s power while piercing through the flames to stab his sword through the dwarf’s head.
It was quite hot – without the flame resistance ring he probably would have gotten light burns.
‘What is this that has such power without any magic… could have been dangerous in the past. Is this really a magic device?’
While he could one-sidedly kill them now as one of the strongest nobles, it would have been dangerous before meeting Asiz.
Proving this fact, a young noble went rolling with a boom.
“Young master! Young master! Are you alright?”
“Huk…”
Whatever he was hit by, the noble’s chest was caved in as if his ribs were crushed.
Looking over, he saw what looked like a larger version of the magic devices the dwarves were using earlier.
He quickly made and shot several fireballs, causing steam to erupt from the magic device with a boom, engulfing the dwarves.
“Kaaaaa!”
“Hot!”
Looking back at the fallen noble from earlier, surprisingly he was healing his own injuries.
For a healing bloodline noble, shouldn’t he be protected in the very back of their formation?
Looking around while thinking this, Turan realized the formation had long since collapsed.
‘Well, with no one commanding… even I just got swept up in battle moving as I pleased.’
The commander Meisa was engaged with the Lich King, and the vice commander Kadram was also tied up with three powerful necromancers.
Naturally the Arabion army fought chaotically entangled with the dwarves and dark elves without anyone commanding them.
Of course, that didn’t mean the battle situation was unfavorable.
Most of the enemy forces consisting of dark elves and dwarves were already being swept away, and few necromancers remained.
That’s when an enormous flash of lightning struck from afar, signaling the end of the battle.
* * *
“Whew…”
Unlike other nobles who just recklessly used their bloodline abilities, Meisa Arabion fought utilizing all sorts of magic befitting a genius.
She repelled ordinary dark elves coming from all directions by instantly manipulating earth to create stone spikes.
When dwarves approached, she clapped her hands to amplify sound attacking their sensitive hearing, and when large undead attacked, she slightly floated her body dodging with wind.
All while continuously striking necromancers with lightning to wear down their defenses.
Even attacks that occasionally broke through this system couldn’t inflict fatal wounds.
After all, the clothes wrapped around her body were top-tier defensive magic devices that the head of the Berk family spent two whole months creating.
After fighting for a while, Meisa burned away the undead and struck a bolt of lightning into the Lich King’s head.
Just as even the strongest mage is merely human without magic power, even a strong necromancer is just a dark elf without undead.
Only a silver crown remained on the charred corpse.
‘Ah…’
The moment she confirmed victory after the long battle, familiar dizziness swept through her head.
A signal from her body weakening from malnutrition.
Just then, someone grabbed and supported Meisa’s staggering wrist.
“Are you alright?”
Realizing the one supporting her was Turan with gray hair and eyes, Meisa let out a relieved sigh.
The first person she met with talent matching her own.
And whether he truly didn’t know his bloodline or was hiding it… someone who had cared for rather than killed her when she was defenseless before.
That alone was enough for Meisa to deeply trust him.
At least more trustworthy than the trash who threatened her after killing her mother and sister, trying to blame everything on Zahar.
Meisa desperately needed allies outside her family’s influence.
“I’m fine, just a bit dizzy… how’s the battle? I couldn’t see while focusing here.”
“Almost over.”
True to his words, the battle was entering its final stages, with dwarves and dark elves being one-sidedly slaughtered while some knights were even collecting human corpses.
Soon after, an Arabion noble approached Meisa with excitement from battle still on his face to report.
“Great victory, my lady!”
“What are the casualties?”
“Still counting but compared to last time it’s not even a quarter! Two nobles and about thirty knights confirmed dead!”
“Why did those two die?”
“One was hit by a large magic device and the other fell to undead. Ah, but my lady…”
“What?”
Following his gaze to her side, Meisa just then realized she was naturally being supported by Turan.
“Ah, sorry. I forgot.”
“It’s fine.”
Turan was about to say she was so light it didn’t matter, but stopped himself.
It might sound like mocking her emaciated body.
Standing on her own, Meisa gave orders as if nothing happened.
“Don’t forget to capture some alive. Especially dwarves, ones that look smart.”
“Understood.”
“Check whether they learned to use those magic devices themselves or if someone taught them. And collect all intact magic devices.”
After the noble left with his orders, Turan looked at Meisa holding her head as if still dizzy and asked.
“I heard those were ancient dwarven relics.”
“Did Keorn tell you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s right. Long ago dwarves weren’t blind like now and were skilled enough to make such things. Now they’re closer to beasts.”
“Did the gods do that?”
Meisa turned to look at Turan in surprise at his words.
It was a thought that would never come from someone who normally worshipped the Frea gods.
Even she wouldn’t have dared imagine such without reading related content in her family’s secret archives.
“…Why do you think that?”
“I learned by chance before. That gods could create entirely new creatures if they wanted. Naturally they could blind eyes or make things stupid too.”
“Don’t say that anywhere else.”
Turan nodded while staring at Meisa.
Thanks to her words just now, he could be certain that great families held many secrets about the gods.
* * *
Shortly after, the Arabion army finished cleaning up the battlefield and treating the wounded before proceeding with rewards and punishments.
While the dark elf and dwarf corpses were trash to be burned away, the magical power from undead and dead mages had to be absorbed right away.
Especially the mage corpses from the last battle hidden deep in the ravine needed quick handling before becoming undead.
“First Meisa, you defeated the Lich King so you’re first but…”
“It’s fine, uncle. These small fry are meaningless.”
“True.”
The stronger a mage becomes, the harder it is to grow from low quality magic power.
While the Lich King’s undead were quite powerful, they held little meaning for a mage of Meisa’s level.
For her current level to grow, she needed to absorb power from mages of equal or higher level, or magical beasts.
Either kill several mythical beasts, or wait for her father the current family head to die and absorb magic power during his funeral.
Either way would take at least a hundred years.
“Then since it’s hard to sort out the rest of the achievements, we should distribute based on magic power level and injury severity. I’ve already reached my growth limit so it doesn’t matter much, so next…”
“Then I’ll give up my captured undead to Turan.”
All the Arabion nobles stirred at Meisa’s words.
While they were small fry to an overwhelmingly powerful mage like her, the Lich King’s undead were nutrients that could instantly boost magic power significantly for ordinary nobles.
Yet she was giving up the right to absorb such things to a mercenary who wasn’t even family, despite being brought by the heir herself?
Since nothing was mentioned about him before battle, they naturally thought he wouldn’t participate in magic power distribution, so this felt like being backstabbed.
If Turan had said he would participate in magic power distribution, at least half the nobles would have opposed his involvement.
“Didn’t you set conditions excluding magic power absorption when bringing him? No, you didn’t promise magic power as compensation did you?”
“How else could I bring someone of his skill? More importantly, I’m just distributing what would have been my share so it doesn’t matter.”
“Still that’s different… you should have at least said something beforehand.”
Kadram sighed and whispered quietly to Meisa.
“Think carefully, Meisa. It hasn’t even been a few hours but already rumors are spreading that you’ve lost your judgment falling for that man.”
“Thank you for your concern but it’s not like that.”
The two had a brief staring contest, but eventually Kadram shook his head and backed down first.
Turan was distributed six of the Lich King’s undead with the strongest magic power.
Even though they were all ones that burst apart from just one of Meisa’s attacks so not much help, just being able to grow from this level was enough reward.
“Then let’s start absorbing magic power.”
Turan absorbed the magic power from the ashen remains of the undead with a bitter smile at the fierce hostility he felt from behind, along with the sharp gazes of three others absorbing magic power with him.
Since one of the undead was an Arabion noble, he had secretly buried the Imitator Holy Relic underground.
The sight of some absorbed magic power dispersing would definitely be noticed.
One, two three, four, five…
Turan’s eyes narrowed while absorbing the sixth and final undead’s magic power.
Though it might have been his imagination, for some reason he thought he heard something click inside his body.