Shepherd Wizard-Chapter 183.1

Translator: Pai_

Turan’s attempt to escape may have appeared impulsive at a glance, but that judgment was actually based on fairly complex calculations.

First, it was difficult to wait and observe any longer because once he left this place, there was a high chance he would not have another opportunity to make contact with Haroon.

Given that this was an extremely busy time, the identity he was disguising himself as, Faol, must have had some responsibilities. Simply neglecting those duties would arouse Talis’s suspicion.

Although it was not highly probable, it was also possible that they had already been discovered and someone was rushing this way.

And once it was known that someone had infiltrated by disguising themselves as his subordinate, they would not allow such a thing to happen a second time.

Especially considering that this current infiltration had succeeded in large part due to luck.

So did he come up with a safe way to escape?

If asked that, Turan would answer that it was about fifty-fifty.

He could not guarantee success, but he had at least thought of a plan that seemed worth trying.

Of course, the probability was far too low to gamble someone’s life on it, but considering that there was practically no chance of survival without attempting it, there was no reason not to try.

"You bas-tard!"

The moment Turan soared into the air with Haroon, the floor exploded and Badal’s enraged roar echoed.

In that brief time, he realized that the one disguised was Turan and that he was trying to rescue Haroon.

Badal, who burst out from underground, saw that a window on one side of the bathhouse had been shattered, and Haroon was flying far off into the distance.

As she, hanging from something invisible, passed through the barrier in the air, a shrill noise echoed.

‘How dare you-’

Badal immediately activated the symbol of the Thunder Lord and used magnetism to levitate himself in pursuit of the fleeing Haroon.

Was it because Haroon, now merely an ordinary human, was with him?

Their escape speed wasn’t particularly fast.

At full power, he could catch up within three seconds at most.

However, just before taking off, Badal felt a strange sense of incongruity and paused for a moment.

‘Why is he concealed?’

At a glance, it looked as though Haroon was flying alone, but she shouldn’t have the ability to fly on her own. Obviously, Turan must be concealed and either carrying or supporting her body.

But in such a situation, what reason was there to waste magic power to hide his appearance?

After all, concealment did not apply to Haroon’s body, so their escape was fully visible.

At the same moment he thought that, an attack flew in from right beside him and struck Badal’s face.

"Kuk-"

A slingshot attack with maximum force delivered from a concealed state.

Since Badal, of the Aravion bloodline, had the ability to sense electricity, Turan could not reinforce it with magnetism, but even so, it was enough to pierce through the protection of the magic artifact and shatter his cheekbone.

As Badal staggered from the direct hit at close range, Turan, who had been hiding in a corner of the bathhouse, immediately pressed a sword against his neck.

It was the penetrating longsword he had previously lent to Berit.

‘Got him.’

The one who had flown off holding Haroon a moment ago had actually been Bije.

Turan had only pretended to take her away at first, then immediately concealed himself and hid on one side of the bathhouse to wait for an opportunity.

Thanks to that, he was able to deal a solid blow to Badal, who had completely let down his guard.

If he could now stab the incapacitated opponent with his sword and deliver the finishing blow.

‘Hm?’

But strangely, the longsword that was thrust toward the exposed temple tilted and tore the scalp rather than piercing the head.

As though it had struck a solid iron plate.

It was too strong to be just defense by a magic artifact. Was it a sacred relic? Or a defense ability triggered under certain conditions?

In an instant, Turan’s mind entered rapid analysis mode.

The slingshot attack had broken through and struck earlier despite being blocked by something. Then why didn’t the sword work this time?

After a short deliberation, he immediately switched to the Varaha bloodline and activated the Light of Judgement, wrapping Badal’s entire body in a golden whip.

"Kyaaaak-!"

Along with the scream, the smell of burning flesh stung his nose.

He must have prepared some kind of defensive measure on this side as well, because unfortunately it didn’t cut the body, but it was still enough to inflict significant damage.

Full-body burns were no small injury even for a noble.

At that moment, Badal’s body, which had been screaming, began to glow brightly.

Turan immediately switched the sacred relic to the Ruvan bloodline, activated the Guardian magic artifact, and retreated backward.

“Die-!”

Kwa-rung! With the old man’s roar, a violet lightning bolt erupted from his body and scorched the entire residence of the House Zahar’s head to the ground.

Nothing remained except for the outer walls made of bricks ground from the bones of giants.

“Ugh.”

Even though he had pulled back as far as possible to minimize damage, his whole body tingled.

Now he had nearly the same level of magic power as Badal in his normal state, but with the Thunder Lord’s symbol activated, the gap had widened somewhat.

Moreover, that violet lightning bolt itself was a skill of the Thunder Lord.

“Turan, how dare you-!”

“I didn’t live recklessly enough to deserve hearing 'how dare you' from a fool who clings to a grudge over being rejected by a woman for thousands of years.”

Not only had his facial disguise mocked Badal once, but his old vulnerabilities had also been exposed, causing Badal’s face to flush red.

Turan, who had once seen this mighty god as an insurmountable wall, laughed as he provoked him.

“Well then, goodbye!”

With his farewell, a bundle of gunpowder he had prepared in advance exploded.

With a tremendous boom, Turan shot through the shattered window and soared outward, clutching his aching abdomen to suppress the pain.

He had used several times more gunpowder than usual for emergency evasion, so the impact was not insignificant.

Of course, thanks to its dramatic effect, he managed to exit the residence of the family head in an instant and gain over a hundred meters of distance.

If he now used magnetism to accelerate...

‘Ah-’

Only then did Turan realize that the clothes he was wearing belonged to the Zahar noble Faol, and therefore were not equipped with any device to assist high-speed movement using magnetism.

It was an oversight from a hastily conceived plan.

Badal, who was furiously chasing from behind, would not give him time to change clothes.

After a brief moment of consideration, Turan pulled out an iron ball used for throwing, gripped it in his hand, and activated magnetism.

As the ball shot forward under magnetic force, Turan’s body, which held it, was also dragged quickly along.

Though the movement lacked grace, and he couldn’t use one hand, it was a fairly acceptable method.

‘I thought of everything else but forgot this, still, I managed to cover it somehow, thank goodne-’

Just as he was about to feel relief, Turan sensed something chilling and swiftly raised his arm.

With a squelch, the sound of flesh being pierced rang out, and the arrowhead shot through his forearm and stopped right before his face.

If he hadn’t instinctively blocked it, it would have pierced through his eye and shredded his brain.

‘A sniper?’

The short arrow, less than half the length of a normal one, had flown with lightning speed.

He wasn’t sure if he could block it even if it came again.

When he turned his gaze toward the direction the attack came from, he saw a man who appeared to be around thirty to thirty-five by human standards, holding a bow fitted with a strange tube.

It was a face he was seeing for the first time, but he recognized who it was from a portrait he had seen in the past.

Zahar’s heir and Berit’s father, Rahman Zahar.

From his body emanated a formidable power, though not quite at Haroon’s level in the past.

It was proof that he had successfully inherited the power of the family head.

He was also Turan’s uncle, and as he formed a twisted smile, his lips moved.

[That was a very cheeky stunt you pulled, grandson.]

Because the distance was easily more than five to six hundred meters, his voice couldn’t be heard, but the movement of his lips allowed Turan to infer his words.

Seeing this, Turan realized that the one occupying Rahman’s body was his grandfather, Talis.

It wasn’t too surprising, as he had already anticipated the possibility...

‘But this is faster than I expected.’

It hadn’t even been ten seconds since he attacked Badal and began his escape.

Even if Talis had been working nearby, his appearance was unusually fast.

And he was already fully armed, with a magical beast suitable for pursuit standing beside him.

Turan realized that Talis had already sensed Faol’s irregularities in some way, recognized that the impostor was Turan, and had come to subdue him.

In other words, if he hadn’t acted immediately, it would have been the last chance to save Haroon.

"Kugh..."

Such thoughts lasted only a moment. As his vision blurred, a scorching wave of heat surged from the spot where the arrow had struck him earlier.

Dizziness, high fever, paralysis, and a headache.

It was clear the arrow had been imbued with deadly poison through an alchemist’s skill.

Staggering as he descended to the ground, Turan swiftly switched his sacred relic to the Lavitas bloodline and activated the abilities of the Purifier.

He felt all the negative sensations clouding his mind rapidly disappear.

Then, quickly pulling out the arrow and healing the wound, Turan raised his head and looked up.

Badal Aravion, his entire body scorched, was looking down at him.

"I almost let you get away."

Badal said with a sneer. Despite his already aging body being covered in burns, there wasn’t a hint of fatigue on his face.

His physical condition was clearly incomparable to how it used to be.

And then, from the surroundings, Turan sensed one by one the presence of people with magic power far too powerful to be mere nobles.

Sensing the gods of Zahar rapidly closing in, Turan once again gripped the iron ball in his hand and attempted to flee.

“Not a chance.”

With Badal’s shout echoing from a distance, the iron ball guiding Turan’s body trembled erratically.