Shepherd Wizard-Chapter 230

Translator: Pai_

[Keugh!]

[Hurry up and get this thing off me!]

The unidentified monstrous birds that suddenly invaded from outside the world bit into anything that existed along the boundary, regardless of who or what it was.

Naturally, the ones who mostly suffered damage were the numerous Monarchs and other false gods.

Under normal circumstances, ordinary magical beasts couldn’t possibly stand a chance against those who had gained the ability to wield essence. Yet, the primitively crude bioweapons of these creatures seemed capable of inflicting damage even upon those who had become virtually akin to gods.

Perhaps it was because the fundamental principles of their existence were entirely different?

Of course, a few of them latched onto Turan as well.

He immediately processed his essence and rotated through spells of fire, lightning, stone, and frost to analyze their weaknesses.

‘Their physical defense is strong, and they have considerable resistance to fire. But they’re weak to frost. Were they living in a hot region?’

He instantly created dozens of massive ice whips and wrapped them around the monsters, emitting frost. He could feel their activity decrease rapidly as they froze, unable to withstand the cold.

It seemed the Monarch faction also realized this fact through Ymir’s attack and began using frost-based attacks as well. However, their proficiency in magic was still lacking compared to Turan.

After freezing and killing two of the monstrous birds, Turan discovered an unexpected truth.

‘These things... they contain power inside?’

It was a source energy entirely different from the essence that formed the foundation of their world, yet at a level that could interfere with it.

That power contained within the bodies of the monstrous birds was instantly converted into essence by the rules of this world and became Turan’s strength.

After killing the last one and absorbing its power, Turan flew straight toward the monstrous birds oppressing the false gods and began his attack.

More accurately, it was closer to a rampage where he didn’t care whether the targets were the birds or the false gods.

[Augh!]

[Watch where you’re attacking, you bastard!]

Ironically, they mistakenly thought Turan had formed a temporary truce and was rescuing them.

That was probably because, back when they lived as fallen gods, they were accustomed to constantly switching factions whenever a common enemy appeared.

Turan ignored whatever they were saying and continued killing the monstrous birds to bolster his power, while also attacking the false gods whenever an opportunity arose, damaging their essence.

Only then did they realize that he was not someone who had suddenly appeared to cooperate with them against an external threat.

[Hey! Cut it out already and cooperate for now! Do you even know what those things are.......]

Turan disregarded the Monarch’s babbling and continued to charge through both factions relentlessly.

There was no reason to listen to the side at a disadvantage.

[You asshole!]

The enraged Monarch also began targeting Turan, but unfortunately, the monstrous birds seemed to particularly favor him.

Compared to those that clung to Turan or other false gods, he was overwhelmed by dozens more in sheer number.

Trying to escape by transforming into a small deer, the Monarch couldn’t endure and soon changed into an even larger deer, wielding overwhelming physical strength just to barely hold on.

[Get lost-!]

Thanks to that, Turan, now unrestrained, actively hunted the monstrous birds clinging to the false gods and the Monarch.

In the process, he could also plunder the essence formed from the feeble sense of presence they had built up, killing two birds with one stone.

Before long, they completely lost their essence, unable to even maintain the form of a false god, and began to scatter.

[N-No.......]

[I don’t want to die! Please, please!]

Their pitiful pleas for their lives to Turan were grotesquely pathetic and miserable compared to the devoted surrender of the great gods earlier.

Of course, since Turan retained roughly the memories of the great gods, he knew their pasts weren’t much different either.

All of them had once aimlessly drifted through the sea of spirit forms, screaming to be killed out of endless loneliness and tedium, only to become half-enlightened.

Unlike the fallen gods who had indulged in life on the surface, becoming one with Turan was closer to salvation.

“Farewell.”

Turan absorbed the essence dissipating from their bodies and crushed their spirit forms, scattering them into the nearby sea of spirit forms.

The shattered spirit forms were torn to pieces and reverted once again into essence, which would be molded into the barrier protecting this world and into new souls.

Having dealt with the enemy's underlings, Turan’s next target was, naturally, the final objective.

The Monarch, who was fending off dozens of monstrous birds alone using his horns and hooves, hurled curses at Turan as he watched him pick off his subordinates one by one.

[Damn, fuck, you fucking bastard!]

Spewing such vulgar curses that even Ymir might enjoy was a clear sign that the bastard was starting to get desperate.

Instead of targeting the Monarch immediately, Turan flew around picking off the monstrous birds that had been left nearly dead after being struck by the Monarch, continuing to build up his power.

At the time of their first clash, the difference in power between the two had been at least double. But now, their strength was nearing parity.

And in a fight where power was equal, everyone knew Turan would have an overwhelming advantage.

"How about surrendering? Then I’ll send you back to the Sea of Spirit Forms without trouble."

[Don’t fuck with me!]

The Monarch screeched and charged forward, dragging along the monstrous birds clinging to him, his response a spiteful rejection of Turan’s earlier offer, now returned in far worse terms.

Turan’s eyes narrowed as he saw the direction the Monarch was heading.

‘No way…?’

[This is where you wanted to go, right? I’ll take you there! So get the hell off me!]

The place the Monarch was heading toward was Earth, a place Turan and Meisa had once visited during their travels.

-Let’s follow him, Bije!

-Okay!

At Turan’s request, Bije immediately moved her body to pursue him.

A glance behind confirmed that there no longer seemed to be any monstrous birds attacking their world.

Whether it was because the closest ones had all been killed, or because all the invaders had perished and new ones were unable to enter, Turan wasn’t sure.

***

As before, their bodies were sucked up at astonishing speed as they ascended the gray branches.

As before, they passed through the supercluster, the galactic clusters, the galaxies, and the planetary systems in an instant, descending rapidly onto Earth.

Turan could see that the Monarch and dozens of monstrous birds had already arrived at a location slightly ahead.

‘Is there no boundary on Earth?’

He didn’t have time to voice the thought that suddenly crossed his mind.

Because the monstrous birds that arrived on Earth suddenly began speaking through the snouts of dogs and cats.

Unlike earlier, when it had sounded more like the roars of beasts, this time he could clearly understand what they were saying.

[We’ve arrived! We’re here!]

[The gate is open!]

[The Queen of Beasts will be pleased!]

[We were the first to arrive!]

They excitedly shouted and soared into the air, as if they no longer cared at all about the Monarch.

Naturally, the humans in this unknown port city where they had descended were half in a panic at the sudden appearance of these monstrous lifeforms.

“What, what the hell is that!?”

“Oh my God......”

“Call the police, quick! No, with this many, we need the military-”

What followed was utter destruction and slaughter.

The monstrous birds with dog and cat heads joyfully killed passersby and smashed buildings.

[Yahoo! Yahoo! Yahoo!]

[This is fun-!]

And the Monarch, who could be said to have brought about this entire catastrophe, let out a sigh of relief and began healing his body.

[Damn it, I almost died... urgh!]

But he didn’t have time to relax either.

Turan, who had briefly turned his attention to the rampaging monsters, now launched his attack.

The Monarch was struck near the eye by the talons of the gigantic Golden Eagle, and as blood streamed down his face, he shouted.

[Shouldn’t you be dealing with those things first!? People are dying, how can you ignore it!?]

[If you want to cure the disease, you have to uproot the cause.]

Turan replied as he dodged the horns swung by the Monarch and stepped back, observing the environment.

This Earth was a world that, unlike the boundary of their own world, didn’t contain an overwhelming amount of essence.

In other words, manipulating matter and phenomena to a nearly omnipotent level like before would be impossible.

Instead, this place, just like their material world, was overflowing with the byproducts of essence separation.

Matter, energy, and information.

They called the technique of combining essence with those elements to manifest power "magic".

It was one of the things Turan did best.

[Die.]

Fortunately, the place where they had descended was a port city adjacent to the sea.

Having infused essence to gain control over a large volume of seawater, Turan drew it up and turned it into massive spikes, which he drove down with force.

[Kugh!]

The Monarch, just as Turan had done earlier, tried to resist by generating fire to melt the ice. But the resulting heat was absurdly insufficient for the task.

Common sense dictated that the air around a harbor would not be low in moisture.

It was a basic fact that any decently skilled wizard would have naturally considered, but expecting such quick thinking from a bookworm was asking too much.

Pierced repeatedly by ice spikes that hadn’t fully melted, the Monarch screamed and consumed essence to heal his body once again.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Run! It’s a tsunami!”

Naturally, the clash between the two caused enormous damage to the surrounding area.

The heat from the Monarch’s flames instantly killed everyone within several hundred meters, and the water channel Turan summoned to form the ice spikes caused a tidal wave that sucked hundreds of people along the coast into the sea.

Realizing this, Turan clenched his beak tightly and ordered Bije to move and attack the bastard.

-Got it!

While Bije handled the combat, what Turan focused on was rescue.

The people who had been swept into the sea by the sudden tsunami, convinced they were about to die, trembled at the miracle of suddenly being pulled up by the seawater itself, something they had never experienced in their lives.

Coughing and spitting up seawater as they stood atop it, something only Jesus was supposed to be able to do, they soon realized there were hundreds of others like them all around.

“What in the world is this...?”

“God has shown us a miracle!”

"Allahu Akbar!"

“How can we be standing on flowing liquid? At this point, fluid dynamics textbooks need to be rewritten...”

While people tried to analyze this miracle in their own ways, the Monarch also picked up on the phenomenon.

As befitting a deer, the bastard’s round eyes gleamed slyly with malice.

[Oh ho, so you're letting those things run wild but don’t want people to die?]

[Worry about yourself.]

[Well, well. Shall I give our soft-hearted friend a little gift?]

The moment the Monarch shouted and stomped the ground, a massive earthquake slammed into the entire city.

By magnitude, it was at least over 11, among the most powerful earthquakes in all of human history.

“Kyaaaa!”

“Mom! Mom!”

"Please save us!"

For people who had taken refuge in buildings to escape the monstrous birds, this was nothing short of a catastrophic disaster.

At least tens of thousands of buildings collapsed.

As for the number of people dead or injured, there was no doubt it would be beyond count.

‘This wolf bastard...’

Watching the Monarch’s actions, Turan felt his rage breach its threshold.

From his perspective, humans were powerless sheep, just like any other lifeform without magic power.

And this bastard, who had ascended to such a high position that even nobles capable of wielding essence were like mere sheepdogs before him, was now taking out his frustration on these weaklings?

On top of that, wasn't he originally of the same race as them?

But even in his fury, Turan didn’t lose control or lash out.

His experience had taught him that one’s head must remain cool in battle.

There had only been one time when Turan lost himself to rage, when he had activated the Berserker bloodline and fought in the past.

‘I will save them.’

There was no need to ask “how”.

His senses, expanded through essence manipulation, had developed to the point where he could grasp exactly how the city was collapsing and how people were dying.

The transition from his will to magic happened in the blink of an eye.

The trembling crust was counteracted by applying force in the exact opposite direction, halting its motion, and the collapsing buildings were either reshaped or forcibly maintained by fusing them with nearby structures.

Finally, the oncoming waves generated by the sudden tremor were neutralized by creating counter-waves to clash and cancel them out.

While such vast and precise magic was being executed, all combat involving the physical body was delegated to Bije.

‘It’s done.’

Had Turan ignored the massive earthquake and attacked the Monarch instead, he could have firmly secured the upper hand.

The bastard had already consumed essence to cause the quake, and if Turan had launched a magical attack during that window, he could have further damaged the Monarch’s essence.

But instead of doing so, he chose to save what was likely millions of human lives.

Because his essence was that of a Shepherd.

To kill a wolf, he could abandon the sheep that were beyond saving, but he could never forsake those he could save for his own convenience.

[Like I said before, I’m not going to let you die peacefully.]

[Do your worst!]

Perhaps overwhelmed by the sheer scale of magic Turan had just displayed, the Monarch shouted back in a slightly subdued tone, kicking off with his four hooves and fleeing.

He ran inland, away from the harbor.

It seemed he had judged that fighting Turan here, where he could manipulate water freely, was completely unviable.

***

What followed was, quite literally, a one-sided chase.

The Monarch kept fleeing, trying in every way to inflict damage on civilians to divert Turan’s attention. Meanwhile, Turan chased after him, repairing the damage and attacking him all the same.

In the process, the amount of essence consumed by both was roughly equal.

Though Turan needed more resources to clean up the destruction caused by the Monarch than the Monarch used to create it, the advantage he gained from that effort was usually lost when he got hit in the subsequent chase.

Naturally, there was nothing the Earthlings could do.

Fighter jets that approached a few times were shot down before they could do anything, and tanks were flipped over with a mere gesture.

Missiles and tank shells didn’t even tickle them.

Eventually, even a nuclear missile, the ultimate last resort, was launched, but neither of the two transcendent beings was hit.

The moment they perceived something flying from a distance, they simply crushed it mid-air, causing it to explode harmlessly.

In the end, the Earthlings had no choice but to admit they were powerless and began evacuating civilians from the affected areas as quickly as possible.

The Monarch pursued those evacuating, trying everything to force Turan to expend more power.

But how long could he keep rampaging like that?

Eventually, the Monarch realized a problem he hadn’t anticipated.

With the essence he had left, it was no longer possible to cause the kind of large-scale destruction he had before.

‘Maybe I should retreat now... No, that won’t work.’

Since they weren’t native to Earth, they could easily return by simply breaking their spiritual anchor.

But if he did that, he would lose most of the essence he had scattered during this time, permanently.

Though he held control over it, and it might eventually return to him with time, that only applied if he remained on Earth.

If Turan chose not to follow and instead seized control over all the remaining essence here, the battle would effectively be over.

Even if the Monarch returned to their original world and absorbed all the essence remaining there, it would still pale in comparison to what remained on Earth.

[Damn it......!]

On top of that, after causing such chaos, there was no way the Earthlings would sit back quietly.

If he expended all his essence and another nuclear missile like before was launched, he wouldn’t have the strength to block it, and he’d surely die.

So the plan the Monarch came up with was to flee in the opposite direction, to where there were no people.

Taking Earth’s satellites into consideration, he dove into the subway system of a city, collapsing tunnels behind him as he tried to shake off Turan.

Smashing, repairing, clashing, all of it repeated dozens of times.

Once capable of causing earthquakes and tsunamis with a mere gesture, their power had now dwindled to the point where they could barely destroy a single subway station, then just a passage, and eventually only break a door in half.

At last, their strength gave out in a sealed section of an abandoned subway line.

“Stubborn to the bitter end, aren’t you...”

[That’s what I should be saying. Damn it, why the hell are you so obsessed with seeing this through?]

Covered in blood, Turan muttered as he stood no longer in the form of the Golden Eagle, but as a human.

Even the essence required to maintain a transformed state was now too precious to waste.

Bije, too, had converted all the magic power she possessed into essence and passed it to Turan, barely remaining by his side now only as information residing within his body.

“Because you’re the wolf that must die.”

[What kind of bullshit is that?]

Turan mocked him with a metaphor the Monarch couldn't understand, then calmed his breathing and turned inward in contemplation.

The power of essence, which had once allowed him godlike strength, had been scattered across Earth over the course of the long chase.

It would return on its own if he rested long enough, but for now, he couldn’t use it.

The current Turan had only as much strength left as he did in the weakest period of his life, as a boy whose magic power had not yet fully matured.

The only fortunate thing was that the Monarch before him was in a similar state.

The problem, however, was that unlike Turan, a human, the Monarch was a deer-type magical beast and possessed a superior physical build.

[Anyway, I won and you lost. Ha... When I get back, I’ll start by playing with your family and your followers.]

Even when threatened with the prospect of Meisa, Luska, Solif, and all the others being grotesquely transformed and fused in the most vile ways, Turan showed no anger.

Just enduring the overwhelming pain that made his entire body feel as though it would shatter, resisting the urge to cast healing magic, was already taking everything he had.

Clenching his teeth, he pulled a slingshot from within his clothing, and the Monarch, growling, stepped forward, then stopped.

[What... ]

With his magic depleted and his physical strength greatly diminished, the projectile loaded was not a heavy steel ball, but one of the countless pebbles he had used to the point of exhaustion.

As the Monarch charged, seemingly realizing something, Turan whispered an incantation.

In the distant past, he had only known it helped and used it blindly, but now, he understood the principle clearly.

Essence was composed of matter, energy, and information.

And clear information was, in itself, essentially power.

“Harden, speed up, pierce - target the head.”

Even with only noble-level magic power, he could feel a tiny bit of power added, small enough to be almost meaningless, yet unmistakably there.

Releasing the finger holding the slingshot, the pebble shot forward and pierced through the deer beast’s head.

*****

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