Translator: Pai_

At the time when the fallen gods including Badal and the Phoenix were pretending to converse while secretly forming an encirclement, Turan too was fiercely contemplating how he could escape from here.

First off, grabbing Haroon and flying away on Bije was, for the same reason as before, a poor option.

No, it would be even more reckless now given that many of the gods of Zahar who were skilled in long-range attacks were deployed around the area.

In other words, it meant that he had to disrupt their focus somehow, even if only for a brief moment.

As he contemplated the strategic advantages he possessed, Turan soon recalled the answer.

Flight ability.

Since most of the enemies could not fly, gaining the high ground would at least make a one-on-one confrontation with Badal feasible.

Of course, if he simply soared upward, he would be suppressed just like earlier.

Then what if he changed his thinking and instead removed the ground to turn this space into the sky?

Fortunately, Turan had just the means to do that.

Water of Death.

A liquid that could melt even bricks made by grinding the bones of ancient giants.

Of course, there wasn't much left after boring through the basement of the Red Fortress, but in any case, Turan didn’t need a large amount.

While standing still and pretending to talk on the outside, Turan stealthily manipulated the Water of Death from inside his clothes to begin creating a hole in the ground.

‘Good, it’s working……’

Luckily, the noble attire of Zahar that he wore was in a shape like a skirt that reached the ankles and wrapped around the legs, so letting the liquid flow onto the ground wasn't very noticeable.

The smoke generated from the melting earth was all sucked into the large-capacity pouch using wind magic.

This method also blocked noise, making it a doubly effective tactic.

Of course, there's a high chance that the hydrochloric acid vapor would severely damage the items stored inside, but he couldn't afford to get caught sneaking around, so it was a necessary sacrifice.

Thus, after diligently digging a hole into the ground, Turan soon reached his desired target.

The magic-infused Water of Death made contact with the underground water vein that extended from the nearby lake in the city of Axum to this location.

Thanks to activating the Carmine bloodline, he was able to immediately mix the little remaining Water of Death into it and seize control over the groundwater.

‘If I cut off the flow of the groundwater and send its contents toward the desert……’

In truth, handling groundwater located hundreds of meters underground was nearly an impossible feat, even for a noble of head-of-house caliber possessing the Carmine bloodline.

The only reason this was possible was because he was a wizard who had reached a master’s level in both fluid manipulation and earth transformation.

The depth of skill Turan acquired during the time he developed the reclaimed land in the south was on another level from that of other wizards.

What happens when a genius, capable of mastering in less than a day what takes others weeks or months, devotes months or years to a single field?

Turan recalled the basics of magic he once learned from Keorn.

Bloodline.

The magic he was now performing was the very fruit of that.

After freezing part of the groundwater to block what was flowing in from the lake, Turan forcefully pushed it all toward the desert.

Naturally, the disappearance of the water created a hollow space and weakened the ground.

If it were the desert, the sand would have instantly collapsed, but this place, still not far from the city of Axum, had fairly firm soil, so that didn’t happen.

In that state, Turan used the geological engineering knowledge he had acquired through past reclamation work and mining to shape the ground.

It could barely withstand for now, but would collapse in a chain reaction the moment it received a significant shock.

The seemingly transcendental display of magic that caused a radius of hundreds of meters to collapse all at once with a single stomp actually involved this kind of intricate backstage work.

***

"What......!?"

"What is this!"

As the ground suddenly sank with Turan’s stomp, the gods of Zahar could only fall into chaos.

What had just been seen was not only an unbelievable level of magic, but also something they had no ability to counter in the first place.

At least a few among them who had steadily practiced magic with their current bodies managed to levitate using levitation magic, but those who could not had no choice but to fall dozens of meters helplessly.

Of course, none of them would be seriously injured from falling from such heights, but even so, they could not attack mid-fall, so they were, for the time being, removed from the battlefield.

While the gods of Zahar were temporarily incapacitated like that, Turan, of course, immediately flew north on Bije with Haroon.

Naturally, since he had to consider Haroon who was an ordinary person, he couldn’t accelerate quickly. Because of that, Badal, the only one among the enemies unaffected thanks to being able to use flight magic, opened his eyes wide.

"Don't even think about it!"

The giant hammer, Divine Punishment, the symbol of the Thunder Lord, swung down and a violet lightning bolt shot out.

Unlike before, when he was still showing restraint, did that mean he no longer cared if Haroon was hit by the attack and his soul shattered?

But Turan had already prepared one of his hidden trump cards to counter this.

He hadn’t used it earlier to preserve the element of surprise, but in this kind of situation, it was a viable option.

‘Go!’

A magic artifact, the Green Shield, obtained from a wizard of Varaha in the past.

A powerful magic artifact that blocked all attacks using the owner's magic power stood against the violet lightning fired by Badal.

Of course, this was an incredibly inefficient act.

It would be better to activate the Guardian magic artifact, which could endure a few hits, but if he used this one to attempt defense, it would consume over half his magic power just to block a single blow.

So Turan decided not to expend that much magic power.

When he cut off the magic power flowing into it midway, the Green Shield, which had been blocking the violet lightning, let out a warped screech like a scream and then shattered into pieces.

While sacrificing one such powerful magic artifact, Turan was not idle.

He released all the toxic smoke that had been created just a moment ago when he carved the ground with the Water of Death.

The money and other items inside the large-capacity pouch were half melted, and the even blacker and fouler-smelling smoke poured out, obscuring vision like a smokescreen.

"Urgh......!"

Of course, for Badal, a powerful wind wizard, this was something he could sweep away with a single wave of his hand, but the time gap created by even that one action was important in this situation.

Thanks to exploiting that gap, Bije was able to reach an acceleration level that wouldn’t burden Haroon’s body.

Just when they began to feel relieved having widened the distance, Turan saw Talis, who had fixed himself midair using levitation magic below, load a short arrow into a grooved bowstock.

Aegisal, pyeonjeon, mazra, or solenarion, an ancient weapon known by many names.

The arrow it fired flew through the air, imbued with a magically cursed poison that was no different from a hex.

'This time I'll block it!'

Just like earlier, he focused briefly to defend against the terrifying speed, but then Turan realized where the attack was aimed and cried out urgently in his mind.

-Bije, shrink your body!

Unfortunately, the arrow's speed was such that Turan’s warning couldn’t even reach Bije in time.

-Ack!

As the arrow pierced Bije’s body precisely, she let out a scream and fell straight down, and Turan quickly used purification magic and healing magic.

Fortunately, the arrow had dug into her right side and exited through the left side of her neck, so there was no need to pull it out.

-Ah, it hurts. It hurts so much.

-Just go inside and rest for now. Thank you.

Since Bije was still a fairly powerful magical beast, it wasn’t easy to heal a wound that had torn through her body all at once, so after performing emergency treatment, Turan pulled her into his body and grabbed Haroon again before speeding up.

Just in time, they encountered the Zahar army that had been closing in while forming a siege, but there was no need to worry.

“How are we supposed to attack that!?”

“I don’t know either! Just shoot anything!”

The Zahar army could only be effective against targets that were either walking on the ground or flying at low altitudes.

Although they had fallen briefly, the height Bije had soared in a short time was close to a hundred meters, making it difficult for them to do anything.

Unless it were an ordinary bird, there was no way they possessed the skill to shoot down Turan, who was flying through the sky with metal spheres infused with magnetism in his hands.

Having smoothly broken through the encirclement, Turan let out a sigh of relief.

‘Good, for now, I’ve put some distance between us……’

After carrying out all sorts of schemes, he had finally succeeded in distancing himself from the gods of Zahar, but it was still too early to say he had fully escaped the pursuit.

That was because Badal Aravian was still chasing them with fire in his eyes.

Due to the increased distance, he couldn’t interfere with the effect of the magnetism like before, but even just in terms of flight speed alone, the other side held a slight edge.

At this rate, they would be caught within one or two minutes.

If they were caught and engaged in close combat, the Zahar army would also soon catch up.

“Haroon nim. I believe I must kill the body here and at least recover your soul.”

Though it wasn’t a pleasing thought, considering that this body originally belonged to someone who lived in the Enril Desert, there was no helping it.

Handling a living body was several times more difficult compared to moving a soul stored inside the jewel box.

Of course, he would also have to think about how to deal with the pursuing Badal during the time it took to kill her and store the soul in the jewel box, but that could be figured out later.

In response to Turan’s words, Haroon, who was in his arms, replied faintly.

“No, leave me.”

Perhaps because her lungs were being compressed from the continued high-speed movement, her voice sounded as though she was forcing it out.

Turan shook his head.

“If I were going to leave you, then why would I have gone through all this trouble?”

“I’ve seen the person I wanted to see. Living for thousands of years is long enough. Besides, I’ve told you everything I needed to.”

Perhaps because her breath had recovered slightly, her speech now sounded smoother.

Turan understood who she was talking about.

“Earlier, Talis…… and the Phoenix both said I wasn’t a reincarnation of Otas.”

“That might be true. But it doesn’t matter. If someone thinks the same way and acts the same way as that person, then they’re no different from a reincarnation. At the very least, you could be called a true successor."

Upon hearing those words, Turan realized the origin of the affection Haroon had shown him.

From the start, she hadn’t seen Turan as a man and held romantic feelings toward him.

Rather, she regarded him as someone who shared something emotionally with the person she had loved, a child, a successor of that man.

She might have considered Turan as a child born between herself and Otas.

Catching her breath as if steadying her lungs, Haroon took a few deep inhales and exhales, then looked back at Badal who was chasing from behind.

“With that guy…… even if I can’t kill him, I should be able to at least bind his limbs.”

“Don’t do it.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s something I have to decide.”

The moment her face, smiling brightly at him, turned pale, Turan instinctively activated his spiritual perception.

He saw a spirit form emerging from between Haroon’s brows.

A woman with vertical pupils like a cat, scattering black dust around her body, her hair swaying like green liquid, and a cloak that looked like it was made from the night itself.

Was she in her late teens to early twenties?

That face, with slightly narrow eyes and faint freckles, must have been Haroon’s appearance back when she was human.

When the spirit that had emerged grabbed the body, magic power began to be felt from her body.

From a barely knight-level amount to lower-tier, mid-tier, and even exceeding that to near top-level nobility.

Just moments ago, she was nothing more than an ordinary person, yet in an instant, she had acquired the immense power of a noble.

“No, how……?”

“It’s not like they were the only ones who researched how to use souls. I never thought the day would actually come when I’d use this though.”

From the way Haroon’s spirit form was gradually dissipating, it wasn’t hard to guess the cost of that power.

Soul extinction, or rather, complete disintegration.

Her essence would scatter and return to the sea of spirit forms, becoming unrecognizable to anyone.

As a price for the power she had just shown, it was far too cruel.

“While I hold him off, you keep flying and return home. Even if the two of us join forces here, it’ll be difficult to finish off that stalker before the enemy reinforcements arrive.”

Turan couldn’t respond to Haroon’s murmured words that this would be irreversible once used, and that it was better than being captured and tortured again like before.

As she said, even if the two of them combined their strength, it was hard to guarantee they could bring down Badal quickly.

Especially considering the power wouldn’t last very long.

And once the fight dragged on, the gods of Zahar would arrive again, and the situation would return to what it was earlier.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Turan loosened his grip, and she gently descended onto the desert below.

The woman who now held a makeshift shadow rifle in one hand waved the other hand in farewell.

[Take care.]

Moments later, he could feel a clash behind him between violet lightning and pitch-black shadows.

Turan did not look back and kept flying forward.

***