Shepherd Wizard-Chapter 173.2

Translator: Pai_

Turan, the head of the House Parsha, was perched on a tree, a golden eagle resting on his shoulder, looking down at them.

Next to him stood a person in a pressed-down mask, with a somewhat small frame, unclear whether it was a man or woman.

Though the Parsha wizards did not know Armania’s true identity, they were aware of his presence, and several of them glanced at him with expressions that seemed to ask, “Why are you here?”

“It's noisy, so don’t raise your voice. Where is Solif?”

“He’ll be here soon.”

As if to confirm the words of a Varaha noble, Solif appeared from beyond the mirror not long after.

With that, the Parsha–Varaha allied forces had perfectly assembled beside Slon, the capital of the House Ruvan.

“You’re late.”

“Sorry, I was taking a dump.”

“Spare me the filthy talk... anything unusual?”

“Nothing. You?”

“Nothing at all.”

It was an overly casual exchange for two heads of great noble houses, but that was just how it went between friends.

Though in fairness, the age gap between the two was quite large to call them peers.

"Arn had a harder time than me. Bije doesn't like carrying him, so I had to carry him on my back."

“Seriously.”

The mermaid boy called Arn, Armania, fidgeted as if he wanted to say something, but sensing the attention around him, he kept his mouth shut.

Aware that his manner of speech was unusual, he avoided conversation when many unfamiliar people were around.

“You did well, kid.”

This Ruvan invasion was unfolding in the exact opposite way from the last time.

Back then, Varaha had made all kinds of noise, announcing the offensive with a grand show. But this time, they hadn’t even informed the family nobles until the night before the raid.

Even on the Parsha side, who had received the news earlier, extreme confidentiality had been maintained.

A few days ago, the wizards, fired up after receiving medals, had been gathered under the guise of joint training and kept in the underground of the Varaha residence for several days.

During that time, Turan had ordered Armania to retrieve Parsha’s Jade Mirror, then flew directly on Bije to install a new mirror beside Slon, thus opening a direct spatial passage from Varaha to Ruvan.

“This time, we need to finish things once and for all. If the fight drags on, it’ll reveal that our main house is in a vulnerable state.”

Of course, half the summonable army and Meisa remained at the main estate, but it was hard to confidently say they could hold off the enemy if attacked with full force.

Turan had told Meisa to flee if things really became dangerous, but he wasn’t sure if she would follow his instructions.

Even though she lacked an innate protective instinct for ordinary people, she surely knew how much Turan would feel crushed if he failed to protect his flock.

“I’ll grow calluses on my ears listening to you. Don’t worry. Based on our last fight, if you and I coordinate, that bastard’s nothing. Let’s finish this fast and get back.”

Solif shook his head in exasperation at Turan’s nagging.

Of course, despite his words, there was no doubt he would carry out the mission with the same diligence as always, so Turan returned to the Parsha troops and gave them a brief explanation of the plan.

In truth, it wasn’t anything complicated enough to be called a grand strategy.

“From here on, we advance straight forward, scale the walls, break through, and raid their base. Those who surrender will be taken as prisoners, but if you don’t have the hands to spare, kill them.”

“Yes, family head!”

No one asked how they were supposed to scale the walls of Slon.

That was naturally Turan’s problem to solve.

At the very least, their family head never overestimated his subordinates’ abilities by assigning them impossible tasks.

On the Varaha side, a few questions and answers were exchanged, and although they couldn’t fully agree with Solif’s “it’ll work out somehow” assurance, they still nodded their heads.

A short while later, the allied army of the Parsha and Varaha families emerged from the forest where the mirror was installed and began marching toward Slon.

Though it was late at night, over a thousand people moving across a field with only sparse alpine grass typical of cold climates could not go unnoticed.

“The moon is too bright, damn it... At this rate, we’ll be spotted in no time, huh?”

As a Varaha noble muttered softly, he suddenly noticed that the bright moonlight above was strangely dimming and let out a surprised gasp.

Before long, they all realized that a semi-transparent black shroud was enveloping the entire army.

The Varaha wizards, startled by the unfamiliar sight, tried to tear it apart with light or run away, but calmed down upon hearing a sharp command to stay still and seeing the Parsha wizards watching them with amused expressions.

At the front of the formation, Solif looked back and whistled.

"Is this one of the new skills you learned? It's my first time seeing it directly."

“That’s right.”

Veil of the Night.

This skill, born from the fusion of the Zahar bloodline, in simple terms, cloaked a specific object and granted it the power of concealment.

While it didn’t prevent all traces from being inferred like the concealment of Zahar itself, it still blocked not only form but also sound, making detection through ordinary means extremely difficult.

If there had been even one Zahar wizard capable of using this skill in the previous Carmine–Mermaid army, perhaps they wouldn’t have realized their base at Kalamaf was being raided until it was already too late.

Of course, since the two families’ armies were already stationed there, the difference would likely have only been in increased civilian casualties.

As the armies of the two houses, under the protection of the black veil, arrived unnoticed before the walls, Turan manipulated the sacred relic hung on his chest to draw upon the power of the Carmine.

Fortunately, in this cold region, even with spring, the snow had yet to fully melt, leaving plenty of usable resources.

Srrk- magic-infused snow gathered to form a tall ascending path reaching the several-meter-high wall.

It was wide enough for dozens of people to cross simultaneously.

While the wizards of the two houses crossed the wall in awe, Solif glanced to the side and murmured.

“You’re not using too much magic power, are you?”

“This much is nothing. With all the snow here, it didn’t use up any power at all, so don’t worry.”

Had he tried to gather and freeze a large amount of water from nothing to create a path, even Turan would have had to prepare for major depletion. But creating a path using accumulated snow was a far more “reasonable” feat.

Soon, having descended down a slope, the wizards of Parsha and Varaha looked around the silent city and murmured among themselves.

“It’s insanely quiet.” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“Still, it’s a major city. I thought at least some taverns would be open at night...”

“Probably because it’s a cold region. I heard in hot places, people stay in during the day and come out to party at night because of the heat.”

“But not even a single guard patrolling?”

While one who had studied explained, the others responded with exclamations of understanding as the armies of the two families passed through the empty main street and safely arrived in front of the House Ruvan’s castle walls.

“This is it.”

Though it wasn’t surrounded by mines or built like a fortress of light like Aravian’s, this place had at least minimal countermeasures against stealth intrusions.

Which meant that even the Veil of the Night had fulfilled its purpose.

Turan used wind magic to transmit his voice clearly to all wizards positioned behind him.

“In five seconds, I’ll dispel the veil and create an opening up front. We attack through there.”

As he mentioned five seconds, everyone immediately tensed up, and Turan pulled a familiar item from his coat.

A magic-imbued slingshot and metal balls.

As the two items, which had become virtually synonymous with the head of House Parsha, began to spin together. Then, with a crack, an invisible path of electricity burst forward, followed by a flash and thunderous roar.

It was a sound familiar to those who had participated in previous battles and to the Ruvan wizards who had recently retreated south toward Varaha.

With the boom of the railgun, the massive front gate of the House Ruvan shattered, marking the beginning of the war among the three noble houses.

*****

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