Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 86

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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 86
Before I could even marvel at the fact myself, my body was seized by a relentless crushing pressure, and a groan escaped my lips.
[…Gasp.]
It felt exactly like the first time I set foot in the Temple. It resembled the divine power that Auredhian had first unleashed explosively in the Imperial Palace—raw, unrefined sanctity in its purest form.
Without sensation came the absence of pain, yet the oppressive weight of being crushed beneath an absolute being drove me forward relentlessly. As I gasped for breath, unable to compose myself, Raulus clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“You summoned me without even knowing my weight. There’s no way you could withstand this. Here, take this first.”
A whistle of air. Something flew toward me. Even as I bent over and struggled to catch my breath, I somehow managed to catch what Raulus had thrown with remarkable precision.
[What is this….]
A small silver cross, no larger than a single finger joint, gleamed brilliantly. The purple gemstone embedded in its center sparkled like a real human eye.
The moment I received the earring, the weight crushing me vanished instantly. My body, which had been on the verge of shriveling, suddenly felt air rush in, expanding again as though inflated.
[Wow, this is really, seriously no joke….]
My vision spun dizzily. At least I succeeded, right? As soon as I adapted to the faint oppressive weight that remained, I lifted my head sharply. Raulus stretched his neck forward, examining me from every angle.
“So that’s what you look like, little fragment.”
[Wait, what. You spoke as if you’d been seeing me all along….]
“Quite beautiful, actually.”
I didn’t think I was in any position to hear such words right now…? I stood there with my mouth agape. Now that I looked properly….
[Beautiful….]
Wow, absolutely stunning. A beauty so exquisite it was almost frightening.
I pressed my hand against my chin to keep my mouth from hanging open. The face was so beautiful it was impossible to determine whether it was male or female. Not that it mattered either way. With such beauty…! There was someone even more beautiful than Tezebia and Soleia Elad…. I let out a groan. The world truly is vast, and beautiful people are plentiful…!
“I’m aware I’m beautiful.”
A white sleeve fluttered through the air, and Raulus leaped down from the altar. What landed before me was no longer a beautiful figure. A massive silver wolf, easily five times my size, growled before my eyes.
[Aaaah!]
I gasped in terror and stumbled backward. The beast’s head was right in front of my face! The wolf’s eyes were the same sky blue as mine. Despite startling me, the wolf lazily shook its head once. Its lustrous silver fur shimmered, scattering points of brilliant light as it swayed.
[It’s better to remain as a fragment rather than my true form. I was summoned so carelessly, after all.]
[At least give some warning, or…!]
My heart pounded wildly. I pushed against what I assumed to be the wolf’s snout or muzzle. Strangely, my hand didn’t pass through but made solid contact. The moment we touched, the divine power that had filled me to the crown drained away rapidly. It was clear that summoning Raulus consumed my divine power. The silver wolf rumbled lazily.
[You shouldn’t be so leisurely right now, little one.]
[What?]
[If we delay much longer, that child will destroy her entire home….]
Destroy what? Only then did the situation I’d briefly forgotten come rushing back. I bit my tongue to stifle a scream. Oh, oh! Soleia Elad! Auredhian!
The wolf before me, which had lowered its posture, slowly rose to its feet.
[Wouldn’t it be better to return before that child discovers your body? Judging by how your body lies there in that state, it seems she’s truly lost her mind.]
And my body too…! I gasped and bolted upright alongside Raulus. Everything I’d forgotten while distracted by Raulus’s manifestation came flooding back. Auredhian had definitely shattered that enormous glass window.
There was no way Soleia Elad would stay still, so it seemed entirely possible the Imperial Palace would be completely destroyed. Moreover, my body, afflicted by Leria’s dark magic, might simply die in a matter of moments. If that happened, I’d truly become a wandering spirit between heaven and earth!
Raulus seemed to be thinking of something different. A growling voice transmitted directly into my mind.
[That damned fool doesn’t seem likely to return obediently beneath Remordi, so I’ll have to step in personally.]
The moment those words ended, Raulus flicked me lightly with his snout. My vision spun in an instant, and my body soared through the air. Then it landed softly upon the silvery fur. I grasped at my dizzy vision and barely managed to ask.
[Beneath Remordi….]
[That fool broke the taboo first. Did you think I’d stay idle knowing that? Especially while you’ve summoned me like this.]
I barely understood half of what Raulus was muttering. That fool. So there was something more beyond Soleia Elad after all….
My thoughts fractured there. Raulus, who bore me upon his back, reared his front legs and leaped into the fathomless night sky above Barishard.
* * *
Crash!
Sharp, successive explosions tore through the Grand Hall. Windows that touched the ceiling of the vast banquet chamber shattered one by one, cascading downward. Glass shards that glinted like needles, reflecting the chandelier’s light with razor-edged brilliance, scattered through the air like snow. Yet the moment those threatening fragments touched the silver-gleaming curtain of power, they melted away, leaving only glimmering traces of light in their wake.
That formidable sanctity Soleia had always yearned to grasp in her hands now filled every crevice without gap. A power she had desired to possess since earliest childhood—and yet Soleia could not simply rejoice in it. The overwhelming pressure drove her body back toward the entrance of the Grand Hall.
The man approaching her with leisurely steps, tightening his encirclement, possessed the eyes of one who had already cast away reason. Soleia bit her lip with a touch of anxiety. She had known it would come to this. Exactly as she had predicted—by rushing so recklessly, that man would surely abandon all rationality.
Why had she hurried so? Soleia’s sharp gaze fixed upon the churning mass of black mana spiraling in the center of the Banquet Hall. Now she truly had to meet that sanctity head-on. Could she suppress that man using only her own strength, without borrowing further power from her contractor?
It was not impossible. That man had said with his own mouth that she held no remaining cards. But then again…
“Leria.”
At the name she uttered, she saw Auredhian Belgot’s expression stiffen slightly. He would know that name. Soleia twisted her lips into a smile. For those within his circle, he would offer everything the world possessed. He would have thoroughly memorized the roster and personal information of all his attending servants. He was a man of such meticulous precision.
Soleia opened her eyes that had been connected to the dark-haired maidservant. The landscape of the room wavered into her field of vision.
“Leria.”
She had commanded not to kill her, only to keep her breathing. With circumstances having developed thus, it seemed not unwise to test exactly how far this man could abandon his reason.
“Leria. My beautiful doll.”
Soleia hummed as though singing. Mana wove densely through the empty air. That man, whose expression twisted into savagery, could never feel it—a malevolent aura standing at the opposite pole from sanctity, spreading like a spider’s web to expand her domain. Soleia met his eyes, burning with a reddish-violet flame, and curled her lips upward.
“Bring her to me, that lovely Princess.”
The completed dark magic was punctuated.
* * *
[Ugh, aaahhh.]
Raulus was swift. And he showed no consideration whatsoever for me, a mere fragment of soul.
[Geez, this is really…]
In truth, I was hardly in a state deserving consideration. Raulus, carrying me carelessly in his mouth, let out a stifled groan.
[No matter how long it has been since my feet touched the ground, I have never felt so strained.]
You’re strained too, Raulus. I twisted my head away, straining with all my might not to peer into Raulus’s mouth. Since I kept getting swept away by the wind, Raulus eventually simply clamped his jaws around me. I deliberately avoided imagining what it looked like—a massive wolf, almost bestial, carrying some pathetic soul fragment loosely in its mouth. Even if every breath he exhaled was suffused with sacred aura, after all, he was still a wolf…!
Even if every breath he exhaled was suffused with sacred aura, after all, he was still a wolf…!
[Perhaps because you are not in your normal state… or because this is an improper summoning.]
Soft. The wolf’s large, gentle front paw landed softly somewhere. I barely regained my senses and looked down, nearly fainting at the sight. The place where Raulus had lightly descended was the highest point within the Imperial Palace itself—the very apex of the South Gate Spire.
The Training Grounds appeared no larger than the palm of a hand from such a vertiginous height. A fall from here would leave not a single bone to recover. Raulus shook his snout gently, and my paper-thin body fluttered and trembled.
[Ahhh, what are you doing!]
I’m, I’m insane. I felt my liver shrivel to the size of a bean as I squeezed my eyes shut. Even in this spirit state, I had no desire to plummet from here! Raulus completely ignored my screams and spoke.
[Feel it, little fragment.]
[Feel what?]
[The malevolent aura.]

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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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