Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 168

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 168

At that moment, someone blocked Cesar’s path.

“Your Excellency.”

Cesar and Penandel’s gazes collided in midair.

The whites of Cesar’s eyes visible through the mask’s eyeholes weren’t completely blackened yet, but the signs weren’t good.

When the whites turned pitch black, demonic beast transformation would progress, changing even the body’s external appearance. Once that happened, even House of Baluashten’s abilities couldn’t reverse it.

Penandel cautiously asked with his hand resting on his sword hilt.

“Do you recognize who I am?”

Cesar stared at Penandel for a moment, then showed something resembling a sneer.

“What a dull thing to say, Penandel.”

“Fortunately, you can still speak like a human.”

Penandel removed his hand from his sword hilt as if relieved. However, the following words made him clench his jaw.

“The demonic beast has been dealt with, so go back. Something urgent came up that requires me to go to the Royal Capital.”

When Cesar was alone with Penandel, he would never refer to Theodor as a ‘demonic beast,’ even by mistake.

In other words, Cesar was so tainted by the demonic beast’s curse that he couldn’t even maintain that level of judgment.

Penandel blocked Cesar’s path as he tried to take a step.

“I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible. Don’t we have a ‘plan’?”

Still feigning composure, Penandel drew his sword.

“Your Excellency’s destination isn’t the Royal Capital, but The Forest behind you.”

Cesar calmly observed Penandel pointing his sword at him, then showed a clearer sneer than before.

“I had forgotten there was a military law stating that breaking the principle of absolute obedience must be paid for with death.”

Clang.

Cesar also drew his sword without a moment’s hesitation.

As Cesar’s sword was imbued with a freezing aura like killing intent, Penandel’s sword also blazed with hot flames.

Then the steam created by the collision of flame and freezing auras began to spread thickly like mist throughout the area.

* * *

A few minutes before reaching Barrier Forest.

“I acted noble talking about an adjutant’s duty and all, but honestly speaking, I cannot kill Your Excellency.”

Lord Penandel, who had made this unexpected confession when I asked about the plan, continued with a voice mixed with respect and despair.

“Your Excellency is monstrously strong, you see. The same goes for Lord Theodor—both of you surpassed the strongest knight of the North who bears an adjutant’s duty long ago.”

For that reason, only Lord Cheri could kill Theodor who had become a demonic beast.

However, the reason Lord Cheri hadn’t been able to do anything about Theodor until now was because killing Theodor had to be carried out near Barrier Forest.

“Your Excellency’s and my plan is this: Once Your Excellency confirms Lord Theodor’s end, I will somehow push Your Excellency into the nearby Barrier Forest. The Forest doesn’t let anything imbued with demonic energy leave, so as long as Your Excellency harbors demonic energy from the curse, you won’t be able to escape The Forest. Then Your Excellency can buy time to purify the demonic energy without harming people.”

Trapping Lord Cheri in a forest full of demonic beasts and waiting for the curse to weaken didn’t sound like a very good solution.

“What if, what if Lord Cheri ultimately fails to purify the curse and becomes a demonic beast…?”

“I’ve coated my sword with poison in preparation for that.”

“What?”

“It’s a magical drug that gradually petrifies the body over ten days. Poison doesn’t work on demonic beasts, but it should be effective on Your Excellency whose body parts are gradually transforming into those of a demonic beast. In the end, Your Excellency will face one of two outcomes: either purify the curse within ten days, escape The Forest and drink the antidote, or die from complete petrification before becoming fully transformed into a demonic beast.”

Lord Penandel, who had been driving his horse forward with ruthless focus, glanced back at me and asked.

“That’s my plan—what solution do you have, Marquess?”

Lord Penandel’s was an extremely meticulous plan that prepared for both cases: whether Lord Cheri purified the curse or ultimately became a demonic beast.

Compared to that, mine was…

“I’ll tame Lord Cheri with my ability. Then I’ll tie him up so he can’t move until he purifies the curse.”

It was so simple it was almost crude.

“…Your faith in His Excellency is remarkable.”

Lord Penandel, who had politely rephrased what was essentially calling my plan reckless, didn’t refuse my accompaniment.

He just added this with a guilt-ridden expression.

“There’s only one chance. If you fail, you must immediately mount your horse and leave that place.”

“Why do you assert there’s only one chance? I can try several times…”

“Marquess, the demonic beast’s curse is extremely cunning—it immediately recognizes what the host’s weakness is. Then it stimulates that weakness to lead the host to corruption.”

Lord Penandel’s gaze lingered on me briefly when mentioning weaknesses, but I had no time to interpret that meaning.

Because I could see the pitch-black foliage of Barrier Forest in the distance.

From then on, I hid behind cover as planned, watching the fight between Lord Penandel and Lord Cheri while waiting for a sniping opportunity.

‘I’ve made all the preparations I can.’

I gripped the pistol, cold as a block of ice, tightly with both hands.

Originally, my ability was to tame creatures possessing demonic energy.

And due to his demonic beast transformation, demonic energy had accumulated inside Lord Cheri.

When I encountered the demonic beast in Siren’s dungeon, I confirmed that demonic beasts could be tamed, albeit briefly, so there was no problem with the theory that I could tame Lord Cheri.

‘Besides, over the past year I’ve fired shots hundreds of times using work stress as an excuse.’

I had even purchased and was wearing a paid item that eliminated presence—the ‘Brooch of Feather-light Existence’—using up my last remaining coins.

So all I needed was the composure to demonstrate my usual skills.

Finally, using Cerberus joining the fight as my signal, I crouched and raised my pistol.

As I counted backwards to calm my rough breathing, the tension and trembling disappeared and all my senses focused on the gun barrel before my eyes.

I quietly held my breath and waited for the right moment.

Treating the pistol not as a tool but as an extension of my body, restricting even the slightest tremor, I simply endured and endured again.

And finally, the moment Lord Cheri entered the center of my imaginary target, I no longer needed a fairy’s blessing to hit my mark.

Bang!

The instant I pulled the trigger, I had an intuition.

This bullet would definitely hit Lord Cheri.

My presence perfectly concealed using the item.

A straight shot fired from close range.

Even Cerberus wouldn’t be able to dodge it.

As I expected, the magic bullet flew straight toward Lord Cheri.

I jumped up from my position and was drawing up magic power in preparation for magic chains to bind Lord Cheri when it happened.

Ting!

The bullet that had been flying precisely toward Lord Cheri’s head was caught and extinguished in his grasp with pathetic ease.

“How is that even…”

“Damn it, run away, Marquess!”

I heard Lord Penandel shouting at the top of his lungs.

I bit my lips and gripped the pistol tightly.

Lord Penandel said there was only one chance, but I still had plenty of magic power.

The cold I hadn’t felt while adrenaline was pumping suddenly covered my entire body, but I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing.

I mustn’t be impatient. I need to wait for the right moment and seize another opportunity for a surprise attack.

After whispering to myself several times, when I opened my eyes again.

“Lady Blanche, I knew you were there.”

“…!”

Lord Cheri was standing leisurely in front of me, looking down at me. I stared up at his blood-splattered iron mask and asked in a daze.

“How…”

“What hurtful words. There’s no way I wouldn’t notice the Marquess’s Daughter’s presence.”

Lord Cheri’s lips bore a languid smile I had never seen before.

For some reason, feeling chills run down my spine and all my body hair standing on end, I instinctively stepped back and looked behind him.

I don’t know what happened while I was briefly distracted, but Cerberus had lost their flames and were separated into three, scattered here and there, and Lord Penandel was…

“It’s fine. I didn’t kill him since the Marquess’s Daughter would be sad.”

“…You beat him up that badly and say you didn’t kill him?”

On the white snow, blood that clearly seemed to be Lord Penandel’s was splattered everywhere.

When I was about to approach him to confirm whether he was really alive.

Lord Cheri blocked my view with his body, then whispered to me in a somewhat upset tone.

“So that the Marquess’s Daughter no longer worries about Penandel’s safety, I’d like to completely snuff out his breath—would you permit me?”

Ironically, Lord Cheri spouted insane words in the most human voice I’d heard from him.

Thanks to that, I realized that Lord Cheri truly wasn’t in his right mind.

Taking another step back, I properly registered the fact that I was fortunately still gripping the pistol in my hand.

Lord Cheri only watched me move away and spoke gently.

“If the Marquess’s Daughter could peer into my mind, you would surely be disappointed in me.”

Taking another step back, I tensed my fingertip so I could pull the trigger at any moment.

“And Lady Blanche’s disappointment would tear my organs to shreds.”

The final step—the moment my back touched the massive tree trunk of the Barrier Forest.

‘Now!’

I aimed the pistol I’d been letting hang as if I had no intention of attacking toward him.

“Ugh!”

However, my confident attack was suppressed all too easily.

With both my hands caught in Lord Cheri’s right hand, I was firmly pinned to the tree trunk like a mounted butterfly.

I looked down at my only weapon rolling to my feet, then realized his hand was colder than frozen snow and muttered in despair.

I thought I understood how Lord Cheri had caught the magic bullet and remained unharmed by my ability.

“Lord Cheri, don’t you think wrapping your hands in aura is cheating?”

Even at my words, Lord Cheri only smiled silently.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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