Chapter 149
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 149
When Turan had captured Kadram, the previous vessel of Arabion, he had confirmed that the opponent's possessed form was human in shape. It had been no different from his own spirit, or those of Solif and Meisa.
Because of that, he had assumed that Resion, whom he was capturing now, would also look human—that even the mighty Frea divine clan, once stripped of their shell, would be no different from them.
[You... how—how did you—!]
However, the true form of Resion that was now revealed was far from human by any standard.
The first thing that caught Turan's eye was a mouth that was perfectly smooth, lacking even the parting of lips. His entire body was as white as polished marble, and his eyes lacked irises or pupils, looking instead as if golden jewels had been inlaid into the sockets. Furthermore, his ears were exceptionally long, drooping down like tentacles.
Had it not been for a few features like the flaming hair, the white halo, and the golden scales, Turan would not have believed this was Resion’s spirit.
Resion was supposed to have only one additional bloodline—the Healer bloodline. Why was there such a vast difference between him and Solif?
[Aaaaaagh!]
As that doubt crossed his mind, a woman’s sharp scream rang out right beside him.
[Meisa?]
[My... my head...]
Meisa had stepped out in her spirit form to join the spiritual battle with him just moments ago. The dozens of needles still embedded in her head—which they hadn't had time to remove due to their recent busy schedule—were vibrating violently.
[Go back for now! Hurry!]
Turan pushed her back into her physical body as she collapsed, unable to even steady herself from the pain. Then, he lunged forward to pursue Resion, who had tried to flee in the interim.
Fortunately, the creature hadn't managed to get very far, as it was already locked in a fierce melee with Solif.
[Help me, quick! This bastard is too strong!]
A few remaining needles were vibrating in Solif’s head as well, but he seemed relatively able to endure it, though his face was twisted in pain. Perhaps it was because he didn't have as many needles embedded in him as Meisa did.
Turan rushed in, and together they beat down Resion’s spirit, weakening it before shoving it into the jewelry box.
Just as Solif had said, Resion's spirit was nearly twice as powerful as Kadram’s; even Turan would have found it difficult to fight him alone.
After Resion’s screaming spirit was finally sucked into the jewelry box, Turan turned to Solif, who was clutching his head with a grimace.
[How’s your head?]
[It hurts a bit, but I can manage.]
Solif muttered softly that the pain from the needles had vanished once the spirit disappeared from his sight. He then returned to his own body.
To think those needles would act like that in spirit form.
When they had suppressed Kadram, Solif and Meisa hadn't reached the level where they could project their spirits, so they hadn't known.
Feeling his curiosity about the needles grow, Turan returned to his body and immediately checked on Meisa. She was still frowning from the aftereffects of the headache, but she looked much better than before.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I am now... But just a moment ago, when I looked at that thing and thought about attacking, my head suddenly started throbbing."
Meisa whispered, her voice tinged with fear, that it felt as if hundreds of needles were churning through her brain. Clearly, the pain she felt was incomparable to what Solif had experienced.
"So, did you catch Resion?"
"For now."
Turan lifted the jewelry box to check again and nodded. Inside a prison area he had intentionally made large, Resion’s inhuman spirit was trapped, looking exactly as it had moments ago.
"How is the battle going?"
"It’s safe to say it’s mostly wrapped up."
As Meisa said, the moment Resion’s head fell, the Baraha army had already lost its will to fight. Only a few of his most loyal supporters continued to resist until they were killed. The majority either knelt in submission or fled into the distance.
In particular, those mobilized from vassal families rather than the Baraha main house surrendered quite readily. To them, it didn't really matter whether Resion or Solif became the master of Baraha; seeing that defeat was certain, they decided to switch sides immediately.
Thanks to that, the Lavitas-Parsha Allied Forces could focus more on pursuing the fugitives than on managing prisoners.
Among the pursuers, the most conspicuous was none other than a giant golden eagle. Bije, who had been hiding within Turan’s body during the battle to avoid being a distraction, had judged the situation for herself when her master went into spirit form to fight Resion. She had emerged on her own to hunt down the fleeing enemies.
"A—A golden eagle—"
"It’s the Parsha Family Head’s bird! Scatter!"
Since her fame had spread widely after her exploits in several previous battles, the Baraha nobles didn't even try to face the mythical magic beast. Instead, they scattered, desperate to be the one who got away.
However, for most, it was a futile effort. Even the Arabion nobles, who could fly, didn't dare try to outrun Bije; what could those who had to walk on the ground possibly hope to achieve?
While Turan treated the wounded alongside the nobles of the Lavitas main house, Bije killed or suppressed dozens of influential nobles and returned to her master.
Having shrunk back to her small size, she perched on his shoulder and chirped proudly.
"You were amazing, truly."
Feeling the bird, who had seeped back into his body, dancing with pride, Turan gathered moisture from the air to create water and washed the blood from his hands. Most of it was the blood of Parsha nobles and knights.
More died than I thought...
According to what he had confirmed while treating them, about twenty people from the Parsha family had died. Considering there were 136 people excluding Turan and his two companions, roughly one in six had lost their lives.
Of course, compared to Baraha, which had lost nearly half its forces, it wasn't a massive loss, but for Parsha, which had few mages to begin with, it was a staggering blow. If Meisa and the other enchanters hadn't strengthened their forces by creating magic devices, the damage would have been even worse.
As he silently mourned the dead, Solif approached, rubbing his head.
"It’s over, finally."
"I don't know. It might actually be just the beginning."
From the post-war cleanup to how the other Great Families would react to this incident, Turan's head felt even more cluttered when he thought about the future. Of course, it wasn't a fight they could have avoided, so there was no point in debating whether they should have fought or not.
"Well, it’s over for now, isn't it? I wish wars always ended this easily after one big fight."
"That’s because... we were lucky."
As the past war between Arabion and Zahar had shown, wars between Great Families didn't usually end with a single clash. They often turned into tedious wars of attrition, slowly eating away at each other's territories, or involved cowardly attacks on each other's home bases.
One didn't even need to look back decades; Arabion and Parsha were also at war. Both families were simply staying quiet because they judged they didn't have the strength to invade and finish the other off.
In contrast, this war ended quickly because both sides were convinced they were far superior and could crush the opponent in a single decisive battle. Looking at the result, it wasn't hard to see whose belief had been correct.
*
After the post-war cleanup, the distribution of rewards naturally followed. This was especially important in battles between mages, as one could grow stronger by absorbing the mana of the fallen.
First, according to custom, the remains of the allied dead were taken by their respective families. In the case of the enemy, the mana went to the person who confirmed the kill; otherwise, it was distributed according to military merit.
Turan didn't forget to report the share of the Ruban noble he had hastily absorbed during the battle, deducting it from Parsha’s portion. It would be a nuisance if a dispute arose from trying to find the culprit, and even without that, the Lavitas side had been quite generous in their concessions.
"Thank you for the concessions, Osel."
"Don't thank me. You came all this way to help, so this is the least we can do. If it weren't for Parsha’s help, we would have surely lost. It's only right."
Osel shook his head at Turan’s thanks. As he said, the blade that was the Ruban family reinforcements hidden by Baraha had been incredibly sharp. If they had only sent Solif as originally planned, they would have been lucky to escape with a horrific defeat; otherwise, they might have been annihilated.
Considering they had avoided that and succeeded in their revenge, this level of advantage was well-deserved.
After the mana was distributed to everyone from the knights to the high nobles, the final prey—the corpse of the Baraha Family Head—was brought out. The value of the mana contained within was enough to be traded for an entire region.
In truth, the reason a head of a Great Family could enjoy such transcendent power was that this immense strength was passed down from one head to the next. It was no exaggeration to say the head was the core of a Great Family.
"Just the four of us?"
"That works."
To absorb Resion’s mana, the three people from Parsha who had directly participated in the battle took their places, along with a young girl from Lavitas who was a relative of Osel. Osel himself had already inherited the previous head’s mana and reached his limit, so he had chosen a child with great potential from within the family.
"Begin."
At the signal, the four of them began absorbing Resion’s mana simultaneously.
The growth of Turan's mana, which had been stagnant for a while after he consumed the Great Sea Serpent, began to rise steeply again. A stronger body, sharper senses, and the aftereffects of power surging like waves within him—Turan realized that his pure mana had leaped another level. He was now at a point where even Osel, standing right next to him, was a peer.
Finally...
Though he was still slightly weaker than Badal, he now possessed power that truly lived up to the name of a Great Family Head.
Just then, he heard a small gasp of surprise from beside him. The mana being absorbed into Solif’s body was losing its direction and scattering.
"Tsk. I guess this is as far as I go."
The Limit Reaching Phenomenon.
It was something that every mage who steadily absorbed mana would eventually encounter, and it had finally come for Solif. However, unlike an Arabion noble Turan had seen in the past, Solif didn't fall into deep despair. He simply let out a short sigh and shook his head. It was as if he had expected this.
"Don't look at me like that. Well, I can't say I wasn't hoping for more... but this is plenty."
In truth, Turan had hoped that if Meisa or Solif accumulated mana beyond a certain point, they would awaken a fourth bloodline just as he had. He expected Solif, as a descendant of the Silver Sun, to awaken the Healer bloodline, and Meisa to awaken the Strength-bearer bloodline.
Of course, Solif was now as powerful as Resion had been in life, so it wasn't something to complain about.
"Enough of that. Hurry up and take my spot."
"Bije. Put Bije in."
Meisa, who was absorbing power beside them, called out softly. Since the Parsha nobles were all possessors of a single bloodline, their mana had already reached or was near its limit, so they wouldn't see much effect from absorbing Resion’s mana anyway.
Following Turan’s instruction, Bije, who was inside his body, began to absorb the mana as well. Since most of it had already been taken, she only received the remnants, but even that was a huge help to the current Bije.
Her mana, which had been around the lower end of the top tier, instantly rose to the middle of the top tier, reaching the same level Solif had been a few years ago. Had she absorbed it fully, she might have even surpassed that.
After the absorption was complete, Turan gathered the mana within his body and checked the achievements of the others. Meisa was now slightly stronger than an average Family Head like Osel or Resion. Turan was next, and Solif, who had reached his limit halfway through, was last, though he was now on par with Osel or Resion.
"It seems we are finished."
"Yes, thanks to your consideration."
Osel nodded at Turan’s thanks and turned to the Lavitas girl.
"Alu, what about you?"
"Thank you, Family Head! I will never forget this grace!"
The Lavitas girl who had absorbed mana with them had also instantly gained top-tier mana, a far cry from the mid-tier she had possessed moments ago. Hadn't they said she was a talent that appeared once in a century in Lavitas history, born with the mana of a lower noble? Since Osel was still young, perhaps Lavitas would have two head-level powerhouses in the future.
Finally, after the distribution of magic devices was complete, the Allied Forces began their march toward Helio, the capital of Baraha, leading the prisoners.
As they passed through small villages and cities near the capital, the commoners also learned the outcome of the war.
"Look at that."
"My god, could it be...?"
"Should we run away?"
"Just stay still. Whether those high and mighty people change or not, it makes no difference to lowly workers like us."
The news that mages wearing the crest of the Baraha family were following behind in a wretched state would soon spread throughout the Land of the Five Lakes.
After marching for about three hours, the Allied Forces arrived in Helio. The Lavitas mages marveled at the towering walls and well-built structures of the city.
"Is this the capital of Baraha?"
"It’s magnificent."
"The buildings are so tall. I guess it's because the ground is firm and not soft."
"So that’s the Sun Temple!"
Their behavior was very much like country bumpkins, and the commotion only died down after one of the high nobles sharply told them to shut their mouths.
Upon arriving in the capital, the Allied Forces split into three main groups. One group occupied key institutions that affected the commoners, starting from the City Hall to the police stations. Another group monitored the bound prisoners outside the city walls. And the final group occupied the Baraha stronghold, the Sun Temple, and suppressed the few remaining stragglers.
"We lost?! Don't talk nonsense!"
"It’s a lie! Those people are just a diversion; the main force is still fighting! Don't be shaken and hold your ground!"
A few nobles remaining in the main house shouted at the appearance of the Allied Forces, but no one joined them. Even if they had, what could they have done? Baraha had committed its full strength to the battle on the plains; the only nobles left in the Sun Temple were those on the verge of death from old age or young children who had just awakened their mana.
"Surrender quietly, and I will spare your lives."
"Solif, you traitorous bastard..."
An elderly Baraha noble, who had been growling, fell silent when he saw the scale and heat of the halo rising from Solif’s back. It was a majestic sight, as if a small sun had risen, reminiscent of the late Baraha Family Head.
"Did you... devour the Family Head?"
"Yes. I am the Head of Baraha now. Accept it or die. The choice is yours."
There wasn't a hint of boasting or pressure in Solif’s voice. He spoke with a calm attitude, as if merely stating a natural fact. Perhaps that struck deeper into their hearts, for the last survivors looked at each other, let out long sighs, and lowered the flag flying atop the Sun Temple.
It was the first time in the eighteen hundred years since the Baraha family was founded.
*
"Ugh, I’m dead tired."
"Tell me about it."
That evening, Turan’s group gathered in the head’s quarters that Resion had used. It was the place in the Sun Temple where they could meet most smoothly without being disturbed by others.
Ordinarily, it would be improper for Solif, a guest of the Parsha family, to take the seat of honor, but it was possible because he was certain to be the next Head of Baraha. Additionally, Solif, as the Head of Baraha, had agreed to take responsibility for the previous ambush and transfer a significant amount of wealth and rights.
With everyone gathered, Turan carefully placed the jewelry box on the desk.
"If everyone’s tired, should we check tomorrow?"
"No, do it now. I’m dying of curiosity. Besides, we’ll be busy with other things starting tomorrow."
"Right. Turan, you have to head back to Parsha too, don't you?"
"It doesn't take that long to get there."
"True!"
After the battle ended and they entered the Sun Temple, Turan had Armani reinstall the mirror leading to Kalamaf in the tunnel inside the prison where Solif’s parents had once been confined. The plan was to maintain this for the time being, allowing them to respond actively if an enemy attacked either Parsha or Baraha.
"I just hope he can give us some good answers this time."
"It won't turn out like Kadram last time, will it?"
"If it does, I’ll just destroy both and investigate the remains. It’s better than letting him stay silent."
There were so many things he wanted to ask Resion. What were the spiritual thorns embedded in Solif and Meisa’s heads? Why did his own spirit look like that? Why had he suddenly attacked Lavitas?
Opening the jewelry box, it was time to find out the truth.