Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 143

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 143
“Truly, you show no mercy.”
“There is no reason to show mercy.”
I inwardly clicked my tongue at his blade-sharp coldness. However, Auredhian seemed to have caught the flaw in his own words before I could say anything.
“Ah… that won’t do. I cannot allow you to be sent back underground while inhabiting that body.”
He was right. My body—nothing more than a hollow shell—would not last even a second underground before dissolving or crumbling to dust. So Soleia’s plan to sever her summoning contract with Hades and immediately banish him back underground held no practical value whatsoever. It might be fortunate for Soleia, but it was the worst possible ending for me. My head throbbed with increasing pain.
Then how on earth could I reclaim my body while sending Hades away…?
[This is such a headache…]
Even if I followed Soleia’s guidance to where Hades was, the question remained of how to separate him from my body. And after separating him, there was the problem of what to do with him.
Mountains upon mountains, an endless vast sea.
Soleia muttered in a passing tone.
“If the Princess could just keep her wits about her, finding your body wouldn’t be impossible.”
But that remark was hardly something to let slip by. I lifted my head and looked at Soleia.
[What do you mean by that?]
“Hades cannot perfectly control a human body.”
Soleia answered readily.
“It took nearly two years just to adapt to my body, so controlling the Princess’s body—which was once purified—would be even more of a burden.”
Hearing those words, a vague question surfaced in my mind.
[Then… the way you suddenly returned down there just now…?]
The method by which Soleia, pressed down by Hades, had regained consciousness. Soleia smiled captivingly.
“Willpower.”
[Pardon?]
I was momentarily taken aback. Soleia spoke matter-of-factly.
“I kept trying. From the moment I sensed that Hades would break his promise with me.”
[I see…]
“And then the Princess struck precisely at my weakness.”
Indeed, the careless words I had uttered seemed to have been the key that awakened Soleia. She continued.
“So if the Princess enters the body that Hades took, and pushes him outside the realm of bodily control just as I did…”
[…]
“Then the body and Hades would be splendidly separated, wouldn’t they?”
“What are the risks?”
Auredhian asked sharply. Soleia shrugged.
“I wouldn’t know. But I thought, perhaps it might be possible for the Princess—who was not even affected by my nightmares.”
Now that I thought about it, she was right. I do have a rather diamond-like mental fortitude, don’t I? I nodded quickly.
[Good. So first we track Hades’s traces and find him, and then… oh, wait.]
As I thought that far, a forgotten fact suddenly surfaced. There was no need to find where my body was… I muttered to myself.
[Back then… for a moment, my body did return.]
And the moment I spoke, I understood like a lightning bolt.
[Ah, that’s right.]
My body did return. Back then, two years ago, when I was summoning Raulus at the Barishard Temple! I quickly grabbed Raulus and shook him.
[Lari, Lari.]
[Hm?]
[When I first summoned you. Back then, in that Barishard Temple.]
[Yes.]
[My body definitely returned for just a moment, didn’t it?]
Raulus seemed to be searching through his memories blankly, then nodded his small head up and down.
[Yes. That’s right. That’s why you threw that worthless earring at me.]
Two years ago, when my soul was ejected from my body, there were exactly two moments—brief as they were—when my body returned to me. When Raulus’s manifestation descended for a short time. And when I stepped into the Imperial Palace where Auredhian’s divine power was raging fiercely. When that potent holiness flowed into me…!
[….]
My head turned of its own accord. Toward the man whose gaze still could not leave every corner of my body. My mind raced. The pieces were clicking into place one by one.
A soul integrating with the body. The narrowing gap between body and soul. Powerful divinity acting as adhesive. Then what comes next? If I pull my body back to this side and extract Hades from within me, then what?
[If I could just manifest properly, I’d be a match for that bastard. This fight is fundamentally too disadvantageous for me. He’s the original, and I’m just a fragment. It’s not that my dignity is lacking or anything like that…]
Raulus muttered something, but I could no longer hear him.
[Ah….]
What corresponds to Udeta is Remordi. What corresponds to Hades is Raulus. Raulus’s manifestation… My thoughts were moving with unusual clarity for the first time in ages. I muttered frantically.
[Summoning… reverse summoning… medium. Summoning ritual….]
The summoning and reverse summoning of an absolute being. …And re-summoning. Auredhian seemed to have noticed the same thing.
“Once Raulus properly manifests on the Surface, would it be possible to send Hades back down beneath Remordi?”
It was Raulus who answered that question.
[The heavens and earth would shake a bit. We’ve fought like that before.]
Ah. Even I, who didn’t know better, could tell this wasn’t a good method. I sighed and relayed Raulus’s words to Auredhian.
[Apparently they’ve fought before. If they clash properly, it doesn’t seem like it’ll end quietly.]
“Before… Could you possibly be referring to that ancient creation myth of Udeta and Remordi?”
Auredhian immediately frowned. He looked down at Raulus directly and spoke.
“That won’t do, Raulus. According to the records, during a war that lasted thousands of days, the Surface was destroyed beyond recognition.”
[It, it wasn’t that bad!]
Raulus shook his head vigorously, but the way he hurriedly burrowed toward me made it obvious to anyone that he was caught. Auredhian murmured as if he understood.
“So you fought Hades like that back then. No wonder the ancient texts never mentioned who you clashed with…”
[Yeah. I completely erased that bastard’s name from human history. I didn’t want to see him talked about for ages to come.]
As Raulus chattered away excitedly, Auredhian questioned me with a glance. I relayed Raulus’s words with an awkward feeling.
[Um… He says he erased it from history, Raulus did.]
“That’s not something to boast about.”
Auredhian cut him off with cold precision.
“If that’s your intention, it would be better not to manifest at all.”
[…!]
Raulus seemed shocked. The small, adorable wolf cub crawled up onto my head and barked sharply at Auredhian.
[Why! You’re capable of it! There’s still some time before the formal summoning ritual, but you can still try!]
“If you intend to repeat ancient mythology, I won’t summon you. I understand it took hundreds of years just to restore the Surface back then.”
[It only took hundreds of years.]
“Yerenika, we should think of another method.”
It was certainly strange—one side couldn’t hear the other’s voice at all, yet the conversation continued seamlessly. How peculiar. I watched their exchange with fascination for a moment, then turned my gaze toward Soleia, who observed their verbal sparring with eyes identical to my own. And when I looked back at Raulus once more… I suddenly grasped something.
[Perfect….]
In a way, it was an undeniably perfect combination—one that subtly compensated for the other’s weaknesses. If Soleia simply reversed Hades’s summoning, he would return beneath Remordi, but my body would perish in the process. Moreover, there was no guarantee Hades wouldn’t ascend to the Surface again afterward. Even if I pulled Hades’s body here and then expelled him from it, there would be no way to deal with him—a futile effort. And if Auredhian summoned Raulus’s incarnation from the Barishard Temple, it would likely trigger a catastrophic collision that would shake the world itself.
Neither option was ideal.
But what if I combined all three….
“Then do it this way. Immediately after you reclaim your body.”
Auredhian pointed at Soleia with his finger.
“That woman reverses Hades’s summoning.”
“Why would I…?”
“And after I resummon Raulus, Raulus will seal Remordi.”
Auredhian spoke as if he had read straight through my thoughts. It was a lucid conclusion. I nodded blankly.
[Yes…. That should work….]
“There’s no shortage of risk, but for now, that’s the highest probability… Yerenika?”
He trailed off mid-sentence, calling out to me with concern. I turned my head, my expression still dazed.
“Why do you look like that?”
With only fragmented information at his disposal, this man had woven together every circumstance in a single stroke to forge the optimal path forward. He hardened his gaze and studied me carefully.
“Are you alright? Is something wrong…?”
[…No.]
I answered slowly.
[It’s just that I seem to have chosen a good man.]
“…?”
A smile gradually curved across my lips. I stroked Raulus’s silver fur and laughed softly.
[That method is flawless.]
Theoretically, it was perfect. Though I harbored some lingering unease about the purely theoretical nature of it, I couldn’t conceive of any other alternative.
The final plan was complete.

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