Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 144

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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 144
Ch 11. Through the Long Night and into Dawn
To summarize, here was the plan: First, we would go to the Barishard Temple—the only sanctioned place where an Absolute Being could be summoned—and temporarily reclaim my body from Hades.
Next, we would find the earring that served as our medium and destroy it, severing my contract with Raulus. Then Raulus would return beyond Udeta. Immediately after, Auredhian would summon Raulus again through proper ritual.
Then Soleia would counter-summon Hades and send him back beneath Remordi, and once Raulus manifested fully, he would seal Remordi away.
I would reclaim my body properly, Hades would be sealed, and I could deal with him while recovering safely. On the surface, it was a flawless plan.
If one ignored a few minor complications.
“You’re essentially telling me to die.”
Soleia spoke without inflection. I glanced back at her. She wasn’t wrong. Counter-summoning Hades from the temple—the one I had called forth—carried considerable danger for her. My plan required some sacrifice on her part. Soleia smiled enigmatically and murmured.
“The revocation of summary execution authority and my life… That’s a terrible bargain.”
“You seem to be laboring under a misunderstanding.”
Auredhian growled. Now he had abandoned even the barest courtesy, his tone utterly contemptuous.
“Do you imagine you have a choice? I’m offering you the chance to pay even the smallest fraction of your debt.”
“If I’m going to die either way, shouldn’t I at least choose where?”
Left unchecked, they would clash again. In fact, they already were.
“Bold words for someone wearing a sacred restraint.”
“Call it a final struggle.”
[….]
This time, I didn’t intervene. Instead, I quietly withdrew, cradling Raulus and whispering my question.
[Raulus, about the re-summoning. Are you truly certain about this?]
Raulus tilted his head slightly.
[If you’re asking whether I can guarantee it—then no, of course not. It won’t be a proper summoning ritual.]
Three years still remained until we could conduct a formal summoning ceremony. I pressed down my anxiety and asked.
[Does that mean the summoner could be in danger?]
[I doubt it.]
Raulus tapped my chin gently with his snout as he spoke.
[Among all my children, this one distinctly inherited my power in concentrated measure. I cannot guarantee success, but the odds are favorable.]
[Ah….]
Those words eased my worry somewhat. Yes. That would suffice.
“Not guilty.”
“You’ve truly lost your mind.”
“Then the summary execution decree is completely abolished. Forever, with no possibility of revival.”
Auredhian and Soleia were still arguing. Both were barely restraining themselves for my sake, but now a different kind of spark flew between them. Crimson eyes and pitch-black pupils clashed in the empty air. Soleia lifted her chin brazenly.
“Only if you concede that much will I help the Princess more earnestly.”
The fact that she wouldn’t say she’d help even unto death proved Soleia was still Soleia. I sighed and spoke to her.
[Soleia, you won’t die that easily anyway.]
“….”
[Stop exaggerating.]
If she truly believed this task could cost her life, she wouldn’t be so brazenly adding conditions. I spoke flatly.
[Besides, I’m wagering my remaining lifespan on this too. You should bear similar risk. And is this something done solely for my benefit?]
“….”
[Eventually, I’ll have to sever the summoning contract anyway. Hades won’t just leave you alone after helping me.]
If the contract isn’t severed, Hades will kill her. So Soleia Elad never had a choice to begin with. She knew it too. She threw out the condition knowing full well. Soleia Elad regarded me with an inscrutable gaze.
“…You’re truly formidable, Princess.”
I knew it. I clicked my tongue and turned my head away. Then the remaining problem was singular. Could I actually endure it?
[….]
Every step of the plan had to unfold within mere minutes. So I only had to hold out for a few minutes. Calculating Raulus’s unsummoning and resummoning time, at most ten minutes. The crux was whether I could withstand Hades inside my own body for those ten minutes.
I spoke with indifference.
[I have to, don’t I.]
“Don’t say it so lightly.”
And Auredhian Belgot couldn’t match my indifference. I tilted my head.
[Light? It’s not. I meant I’d stake my life on it.]
“Your tone makes it sound like you’re saying it’ll be fine if it works, and if it doesn’t, there’s nothing to be done.”
[That can’t be. I couldn’t close my eyes in death if I left you here.]
I quickly discarded my expressionless mask and broke into a radiant smile. I spoke with cheerful vigor.
[How could I die with such grievance? I’ve already coaxed you into this with all my might.]
“….”
[And you should know—I’m rather exceptional when it comes to willpower! Without that, I’d be nothing but a corpse.]
Auredhian Belgot regarded me with conflicted eyes, then released a deep sigh.
“I’ll be quick. As fast as possible.”
I nodded earnestly.
[Of course. You’re a walking sacred factory. Something like this should be child’s play for you.]
[Hmph, little one. No matter what, you shouldn’t treat my summoning so casually….]
Raulus lifted his head stubbornly in protest. I gently pressed his head back down.
[I summoned you with just a small earring by borrowing someone else’s sanctity. What are you….]
[Trivial, how irreverent!]
[Be quiet, will you.]
Only after receiving a flick on the head from me did Raulus finally settle down. Auredhian Belgot looked down at Raulus with eyes full of suspicion.
“…No matter how I look at it, a sp….”
[A sp…?]
“An untrustworthy creature.”
[….]
“I trust everything you say, but regarding that—I can’t. Has Raulus always been somewhat….”
Auredhian Belgot didn’t finish his sentence. But somehow I could sense the words he’d swallowed. A bit pathetic-looking, Lari….
[Little one, that one’s looking at me with such disrespect.]
[….]
Raulus narrowed his eyes into slits and burrowed toward me with a whimper. Poor Raulus…. To be treated so trivially by his summoner. I stroked Raulus with a hint of apology.
And it was only after we’d completely emerged onto the surface that Raulus regained half his dignity. I blinked blankly at the problem I hadn’t foreseen.
[Ah. Now that I think about it….]
How do we get to Barishard Temple? That was truly an unforeseen obstacle. Yet it was also the most fundamental problem. I am a spirit without substance. A spirit tormented by the wind that stirs the leaves.
[Ugh…!]
[Oh dear.]
A sudden gust of hot wind swept across me, and my body swayed helplessly. For some reason, the memory of that grueling journey two years ago—rushing from the Imperial Palace to the Temple—came flooding back….
[D-déjà vu….]
I grabbed Raulus before Auredhian Belgot could turn to look at me tumbling away, barely managing to steady myself. An involuntary whimper escaped my lips.
[At this rate, I don’t think I’ll ever make it to the Temple…. We’re at the southernmost tip of Belgot.]
[Ouch. Don’t pull my fur, little crumb.]
Raulus whined as I gripped the scruff of his neck. I looked down at Raulus, still no larger than my fist, and suddenly blurted out a thought.
[Should I grow you?]
[What?]
[Come on, let’s grow together, Lari.]
[What are you trying to do?]
Raulus blinked his sky-blue eyes blankly. I held Raulus firmly and planted my feet properly on the ground. The only thing that could truly touch me in this state was Raulus, bound to me by our souls. The memory of two years ago—when Raulus had bitten me and leaped across the void—remained vivid. I grasped both of Raulus’s tiny front paws in my hands and focused my will.
[Grow, now!]
[…?]
The divine essence I had absorbed from Auredhian Belgot flowed entirely into Raulus.
[Ah. You’re telling me to grow?]
By the time Raulus finally understood what I meant, he was already growing.
[Oh….]
Pure awe burst forth. Lustrous, smooth silver fur. A fully mature wolf. Eyes that sparkled with crystalline clarity in that sky-blue hue. It was just like the day I first summoned him, borrowing the name of the first Emperor. I gazed up at the now-massive Raulus and marveled anew.
[Auredhian Belgot’s divine essence truly is remarkable….]
If merely borrowing it could yield this much power, then if he summoned Raulus directly, wouldn’t it be possible to even manifest Raulus’s true form? I thought absently and reached out to gently stroke the bridge of Raulus’s snout.
[Can you move properly?]
[You’re the one, little one. If you grow me like this, the divine essence consumption will be enormous, won’t it?]
[The charger is right next to me, so what does it matter? It should be fine….]
I trailed off mid-sentence and turned around, bewildered by the gazes I felt upon me.
…Huh?
[Why are you all looking at me like that?]
Auredhian Belgot, of course, along with Diego Schmart and Soleia Elad, the Holy Knights behind them, the Dark Mages in restraints, and even the survivors from the Underground being treated by the priesthood—they were all staring at me. Or rather, they couldn’t tear their eyes away from Raulus, now grown to the size of a house.
[Huh?]
Their gazes felt burdensome. Raulus, receiving the full brunt of those stares, felt it even more acutely.
[Little one, they’re looking at me like I’m some kind of oddity.]
[Y-yes, they are….]
“…Everyone, look away. That’s an imperial command.”

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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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