Chapter 148

As the thousands of throwing spears created by Osel Lavitas surged forth, the faces of the wizards from Varaha turned pale.

It was indeed a display of power that warranted such a reaction.

Even if they had been ordinary throwing spears launched by a common man, the sheer quantity and speed would have been painful. But in this case, it was an attack hurled by the head of a great noble house, using the power of a sacred relic.

If they took that assault head-on without any countermeasure, it might be enough to wipe out the entire Varaha army.

Naturally, the Varaha side didn’t just stand by and watch.

At the front of the army, a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty raised a shield in his left hand with a solemn expression.

Amazingly, a translucent barrier formed, encompassing the entire Varaha army of around a thousand soldiers, absorbing the rain of spears.

Tututung, the sound of spears striking the barrier was like the pounding hooves of a heavenly army descending from above.

“Family head.......”

“The family head is with us! Do not be afraid!”

The head of House Varaha, Reshion Varaha.

While hiding his body with the Concealment spell, Turan keenly observed the enemy commander he was facing for the first time.

What stood out first was the blond hair, slightly longer than Solif’s, and reddish-brown eyes.

He wore a suit of silver metallic armor that emitted a subtle glow, and held a shield in one hand and a longsword in the other.

Just from the appearance, he didn’t seem like a noble of the Sun Bloodline but rather someone specialized in close-quarters combat.

“He came fully armed too, huh.”

Each item that man possessed was a sacred relic passed down in House Varaha, Solif murmured softly.

Well, it would be ridiculous to try to conserve treasures when the family head himself was participating in battle.

“Osel-!”

With a sharp cry, the family head of House Varaha swung the longsword he held, and the Light of Judgement that had floated behind him wrapped around the blade and, following its inertia, shot out.

As the golden flash flew toward him and Osel prepared to defend, Solif stepped in front of him.

“Well then, let’s test this out.”

The cloak wrapped around Solif’s back shone brightly, entwining with the Light of Judgement and transforming into a whip.

Magic Artifact, Sun Cloak.

It was a tool that could take the form of any object its owner desired, useful in close combat and capable of amplifying the power of the Sun Bloodline, just as it did now.

When Solif’s massive golden whip clashed with Reshion’s strike, light and heat exploded in the middle of the plains, instantly scorching the greenish sprouting weeds into charred black.

It was the moment when the once vibrant field turned into the heart of hell.

Perhaps it was because of the intense exchange of blows just moments earlier?

Unlike before when it seemed like they would charge at any moment, the atmosphere had turned stagnant. Reshion was the first to speak.

“Sol... my son, it’s unfortunate that we meet like this.”

“Son, my ass. Who the hell is your son?”

Rather than having no ties at all, it was seen as preferable for the rights of a house to be passed from parent to child. Thus, it was a tradition for successors who were not biological children to be adopted as a formality.

As such, since Solif was Reshion’s adopted son, that term of address was not technically incorrect.

Of course, no one in their right mind would see someone who tried to take over their body in such a light.

To the harsh reply, Reshion responded with a gentle smile.

“Oh dear, you seem to have picked up bad manners since leaving the family. I don’t believe I raised you that way.”

Archaic speech and graceful gestures.

The head of the great noble House Varaha, contrary to having carried out a vile ambush, had a calm and refined demeanor.

In fact, Solif said that when he stayed at the main house, he was always taught to maintain such composure.

But it had clashed so violently with his true nature that it made him feel unbearably tormented.

"By the way, I expected you to come alone, but where did you gather an army from? What trick did you use?"

At Reshion’s words, Solif narrowed his eyes and stared intently at his opponent.

That attitude, as if he had known Solif would come...

There was no one within House Parsha who could have relayed the fact that he would be dispatched as reinforcements. So most likely, the information had leaked from the Lavitas side.

Seeing this, it made sense why Reshion showed no sign of being shaken by Solif’s presence and instead carried himself with the air of someone who had found a golden opportunity.

The other side had also anticipated Solif’s participation and prepared a counterstrategy accordingly.

As that thought crossed his mind, Reshion’s gaze turned to Osel, who stood beside Solif.

“You’ve recovered, I see. It couldn’t have been easy.”

“It hurt quite a bit. I almost died. Seems like you barely managed to recover, too.”

“Regrettably, I’m still not fully healed. The side I was pierced through back then hasn’t quite healed.”

As they exchanged words, Osel lightly brushed his hand over his stomach.

The agony from the white flames that endlessly consumed everything, summoned by the man now standing before him, was still vivid in his memory.

“No need for further words, I suppose.”

“Indeed. At this point, there’s no meaning in pretenses. Let's dance until death comes."

As Osel threw the spear in his hand and Reshion swung his sword, thousands of wizards let out war cries and clashed atop the plain.

Cries and screams, and explosions of magic echoed in all directions, filling the once-quiet plain.

The only way to guess the strength of the enemy before them was by appearance alone.

Shoulder to shoulder with comrades, they unleashed their magic artifacts and fired attack spells they were accustomed to, praying their enemies were weaker than themselves.

Sometimes, they faced weaker opponents and killed them instantly; sometimes, they met stronger foes and were killed.

The lucky ones ended up facing someone of similar skill and drew out the fight.

Compared to that, duels among high-ranking wizards were more elegant.

They would seek out opponents of similar caliber to engage with, and surprisingly, the number of Varaha’s high-ranking nobles didn’t fall short compared to Lavitas.

Considering how many high-ranking Varaha wizards Turan and his group had killed in the past, it should’ve been impossible.

‘Reinforcements?’

The high-ranking nobles of Lavitas soon realized that some of their opponents were exceptionally skilled in close combat, beyond ordinary levels.

The identity of such individuals was obvious.

A great noble house that carried both the Fighter and Guardian Bloodlines, the nobles of House Ruvan...

Whatever method had been used, it was clear Varaha had succeeded in mobilizing the forces of House Ruvan.

Could they have made a promise to cede some of their territory?

This was the move Reshion had prepared.

His calculation was that while Varaha overwhelmed Lavitas in the high-ranking nobles’ duel, if Reshion could hold his ground against both Osel and Solif, their faction would gain overwhelming superiority.

“You bastards, you’re from Ruvan-!”

“Bring it on!”

Before he could even respond, one Lavitas noble was caught in close combat and instantly stabbed and pummeled, reduced to a bloody mess.

In a moment of crisis, two nearby comrades managed to pull him out, and he was quickly healed by recovery magic.

This was the privilege granted on the battlefield to a great house of healers.

Though their offensive power fell short of other combat-oriented bloodlines, as long as their magic power remained intact, they could return to the front lines with help from their comrades.

Even as injured fighters rapidly returned, the tide of battle did not shift in Lavitas’ favor.

There were simply too many reinforcements sent from Ruvan. The number of mid-to-high-ranking nobles was almost double.

“This is dangerous...”

“Just hang on! If our family head can suppress theirs-”

Trying to boost morale by encouraging comrades, he suddenly fell silent at the sight before him.

One of the attacking Ruvan nobles suddenly collapsed, coughing up blood from his chest.

And that wasn’t all.

As if a hidden god of death were passing through them, nobles of both Varaha and Ruvan were suddenly falling one by one, holes opening in their bodies as they collapsed helplessly.

“No way...”

Only then did they realize, they hadn’t seen the famous head of House Parsha, Turan of the Zahar Bloodline, for some time now.

*

Bang! With a thunderous roar, Solif’s whip collided with Reshion’s longsword.

The heat bursting between them sizzled his cheek, but the wound vanished almost instantly.

It was thanks to Osel, who stood right behind him casting Healing Magic on Solif.

And Osel’s role didn’t end there.

He continued using 'Whale Hunter' to hurl spears in suppression, and also unleashed vines from the ground using the 'Life Acceleration' spell Meisa often used, constantly binding Reshion’s legs.

Of course, no matter how much power of a family head the plants contained, they were still plants. When swept by 'Light of Judgement', they burned away in an instant. Still, each time the tempo was broken like that, it was fatal in close combat.

“Hah, one against two.”

Even so, did Reshion perhaps feel the situation was manageable?

The moment he shouted with confidence, Meisa, hidden within the formation, suddenly appeared above and struck down a bolt of lightning.

And it wasn’t just any lightning.

It was a skill created through fusion with the Storm Bloodline, 'Blue Lightning'.

The surroundings were bleached white in the flash as a piercing blue lightning bolt slammed straight into the top of Reshion’s head.

"Argh!"

The armor Reshion wore was a powerful sacred relic that could shrug off most lightning attacks, but not enough to block a skill unleashed by a powerful noble like Meisa.

As his whole body trembled, Reshion’s composed expression twisted, and he hastily raised his shield to block the follow-up assault.

His metallic armor crackled loudly with static electricity.

“You- how are you... here?!”

To think that two of the three strongest would show up here.

Had House Parsha gone completely mad?

What if, while all of them had come here, House Aravion launched an invasion back home?

Worse still, Reshion had secretly and swiftly gathered intel through Zahar not long ago.

He had heard that although Solif had disappeared, Turan and Meisa were quietly remaining within the family.

And yet, if Meisa was here now...

Quickly healing himself with recovery magic, Reshion turned his head and scanned the surroundings.

He saw his high-ranking noble allies, who should have been overwhelming the enemy, being cut down.

There was no need to even question who the culprit was.

“TU-RAN-!”

Throwing off all his elegance, Reshion roared as he raised his longsword to the sky.

Fwoosh! The halo that wrapped around his back blazed into a silver sun, and in an instant, the area for several kilometers around lit up like midday.

Turan, who had been silently massacring Varaha and Ruvan nobles while hidden, clicked his tongue and deactivated his Concealment.

“Tch.”

In his hand was the longsword he had used for assassinations earlier.

A magic artifact specialized in penetrating all types of defensive abilities.

With Turan’s magic power added to it, even the Guardian’s defense could be pierced with ease.

Of course, even with just a slingshot, he could easily breach a Guardian’s defenses, but not as discreetly or as one-sidedly as he had just done.

The more powerful the force used, the more widespread its aftereffects tend to be.

“Th-the head of House Parsha...”

“Since when was he-?!”

As the few remaining high-ranking Varaha wizards reeled in shock and retreated, Turan joined those facing Reshion.

He had already judged that this side had a clear upper hand.

“You’ve done well.”

“Can’t say it was that hard. A shame, though, if I had just a little more time, I could’ve wiped them all out.”

Of course, even the damage Turan had inflicted up to now was more than enough to be called catastrophic.

He had taken the lives of five mid-tier, six high-tier, and three top-tier nobles.

Among them, four were possession vessels.

Those who had been frantically wielding god's magic to destroy didn’t even know how they died and were left with nothing but hollow corpses.

By now, they were likely dreaming of resurrection somewhere in the heartlands of Varaha or Ruvan.

“Did you capture it?”

“No. Conditions weren’t ideal. I’ll settle for taking him down for now.”

To the question about whether he had captured the soul, Turan shook his head.

Even now, having trained Soul Magic to a considerable depth, the drawback remained the same, capturing a soul form left one's physical body defenseless. It was still difficult to attempt such a feat in the middle of a chaotic battle.

Besides, once they won this war, they planned to track down the enemy’s base and capture them all anyway, so it didn’t matter much.

As he looked at Turan’s group chatting nonchalantly, Reshion asked with a bewildered expression.

There was no trace of his earlier graceful demeanor left on his face.

It was as if his true self had finally been revealed.

“What... what are you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“How could you abandon your base and come here?! That bastard won’t just sit still...”

“That’s exactly why I plan to head back quickly.”

At Turan’s words, which the others recognized as a signal, Solif and Meisa launched their attacks immediately.

The golden whip formed from the Sun Cloak and the crashing lightning strike descended.

Reshion deftly maneuvered his shield to block both attacks, but just then, a whirring sound was followed by a ball slamming against the air near his face with a loud bang.

“So that’s why you’re not wearing a helmet. You’ve got some kind of defense system protecting your head too.”

Clicking his tongue, Turan focused his awareness into Reshion’s inner self.

Just like Badal once had, Reshion’s inner being was composed of four bloodlines intertwining and interacting with each other.

What first caught Turan’s eye were the glowing twin hands of the Illusionist Bloodline and the round fireball of the Pyromaniac Bloodline.

The fireball intertwined with the glowing hands, transforming into a silver sacred flame.

Beside them were symbols of the Guardian and Healer Bloodlines, a shield and a staff entwined with two white serpents, respectively, each now gripped by the hands wrapped in sacred fire.

According to previously gathered information, these perfectly matched the four symbols of the 'Silver Sun'.

‘But strangely... since a while ago, he hasn’t been using any skills at all...’

Except for the light magic he used when he noticed Turan earlier, Reshion had only utilized abilities tied to his role as the head of House Varaha.

It was just like how Badal had behaved before.

As if he had read Turan’s thoughts, Reshion gritted his teeth and pointed his longsword at him.

“No matter what it takes, I will kill you.”

"Let's see you tr—"

Turan was about to respond casually, but he flung himself to the side in shock at Reshion’s sudden charge, as fast as light.

The longsword, carried by a silver flash, sliced through all of Turan’s defensive magic artifacts and tore a gash from his collarbone to his side.

If he hadn't exploded the Spirit of Fire to move his body, his upper body would have been split in two.

"Block him!"

With an urgent shout, Osel quickly aimed 'Whale Hunter' and launched a spear, while simultaneously rushing toward the retreating Turan.

Combining his own healing magic with Turan’s strength, the large wound began to heal at an astonishing speed.

“That just now... was that a ‘skill’?”

“Yes. It seems he’s decided to reveal his true power. Please be cautious.”

In the brief moment of their exchange, Reshion had already crushed Solif and Meisa, who had tried to block his path.

The white flame that flared from the hand which had thrown away the shield stuck to the 'Sky Guardian' that protected Meisa’s upper body, and the longsword split into over a dozen illusions, all of which pierced Solif’s body.

“Th-this crazy...”

Staggering back, Solif hastily transformed the 'Sun Cloak' into the form of a shield, shocked by the overwhelming force.

Now that Reshion was fully using his skills, his combat strength was on an entirely different level from before.

Even this level of power was still weaker compared to Badal Aravion from their earlier battle, but at the very least, it was on a completely different scale from the ordinary family head-level strength Reshion had shown just a moment ago.

Judging by that, if Reshion had used his skills freely when he ambushed Osel, Lavitas would have been destroyed that very day.

However, as Turan watched Reshion fighting with all his might, he noticed that Reshion’s complexion wasn’t exactly bright.

‘As expected. Just like I thought. For some reason, he can’t fully wield his powers, just like Badal.’

If that was the case, then all they needed to do was buy time.

After entrusting Osel with Solif’s healing, Turan gripped his longsword and charged at Reshion head-on.

With a loud clash, Reshion staggered back several steps, his face filled with shock as he looked at Turan.

“You... it can’t be...?”

The impact was unbelievable for something displayed by a noble of the Zahar Bloodline.

Judging by the amount of magic power his opponent possessed, there was only one way this level of strength could be explained.

Either he had pushed the power of the Berserker Bloodline to its limits, or

“The power of Ruvan isn’t too bad either.”

Turan smiled as he spoke, having just replaced his Berserker Bloodline with that of a Ruvan noble he had killed earlier.

And that wasn’t even the end of what he could do.

Having awakened his Spiritual Perception, Turan combined the Storm emblem and cast an acceleration spell on himself, dodging the crimson beam that shot from Reshion’s hand.

The beam traced a long, narrow line across nearly a kilometer of land where Turan had just been, carving deep into the earth.

“You’re using Soul Magic too?!”

“I thought you already knew.”

It had been a known fact for quite some time among the gods of Aravion and Zahar, but it seemed they had chosen not to pass that information along to Varaha.

To be fair, the rumors surrounding Turan had become so muddled and chaotic that without direct communion with the gods, it would have been difficult to obtain accurate information.

From the half-truth that he was an illegitimate child of Zahar, to the full truth that he was a hybrid of Zahar and Aravion, to more bizarre tales, like being a Varaha hybrid and Solif’s half-brother, or a child born from the head of Lavitas and Zahar, the rumors had spread wildly.

Sometimes having too much information was more troublesome than having none at all.

The ensuing battle, unsurprisingly, began to tilt overwhelmingly in Turan’s favor.

He hurled slingshots and splashed 'Water of Death' to bombard the enemy, and whenever Solif was injured, he used the Ruvan Bloodline to take the front line while Solif healed.

Despite Reshion unleashing every skill he had to his name and fighting fiercely, he was no match for four-on-one odds.

Dragged around like a bull facing matadors, Reshion finally screamed in a tired, desperate voice.

"Why, why do you resist so much... We are your fathers! We created this world! If we hadn’t come, you’d still be living as livestock!”

“You can’t say we’re not livestock just because the owner changed.”

Despite having Solif, one of the would-be victims of that ‘ownership’, standing right next to him, he still had the nerve to spew such nonsense.

Was it a lack of empathy, or a lack of intelligence?

Perhaps he was just so cornered that anything came spilling from his mouth.

In any case, it would be best to continue this conversation somewhere more discreet.

After all, knowledge of the gods' true identities was something only a few high-ranking individuals in Parsha and Lavitas were privy to.

As a blade of wind from Meisa’s hand sliced through Reshion’s now-powerless neck, Turan pulled the jewel box from his robe and closed his eyes, releasing his soul form from his body.

The massive silver spirit that rose from Reshion’s corpse greeted him.

*****