I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 165

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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 165
* * *
Nero and Morcatus tore across terrain that should have taken days—without rest, through a single night.
Rushing headlong northeast, they realized somewhere along the way that something had gone terribly wrong.
The Northern Wall had collapsed, and the Demonic Energy pouring from it was rapidly expanding its reach.
The mountain ranges at Lombard’s northernmost edge—including Barg Mountain and all the surrounding terrain—had transformed entirely into the Black Continent.
“Meow, meow-ow!”
[Damn it, yes I know! I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole life!]
The Black Continent harbored a phenomenon unknown in the human world.
The Demonic Energy twisted the very axis of the earth, condemning anyone trapped within to wander endlessly.
Only creatures native to that cursed land—or humans with extraordinarily powerful Mana transcending Demonic Energy—could break such a twisted axis.
Mother possessed no such ability. She was surely lost in this labyrinth by now.
At least the pheromones Morcatus had buried so carefully would protect her from most monsters’ attacks. But fate was nothing if not cruel, and certainty was a luxury the living could ill afford.
Humans were fragile, dying so easily. A mark was no guarantee of safety.
“Meow, meow-meow-meow.”
[Should we track the pheromones Mother carries?]
Morcatus could not be certain.
If the distance were short, perhaps—but with no way to know where Mother wandered in the Black Continent’s vastness, it was like searching for a needle in a desert.
Yet there was no other choice.
Nose to the ground until it bled, they combed every inch of that desolate place.
Desperation had reduced them to chasing such gossamer threads of hope.
“Berry?! Berry, where are you!”
And then the miracle came.
From impossibly far across the horizon, they heard Mother’s desperate cry.
Her form was saturated with the overwhelming Demonic Energy of a Great Demon, and keeping their distance from it, they spotted lesser monsters snarling and prowling.
[Found her.]
A body vast as a shadow compressed itself into the small frame of a cat.
Ordinarily, Morcatus shrinking to such insignificance in his own domain, the Black Continent, would be unthinkable.
The pride of a Great Demon simply did not permit it.
But years of coexistence with Nero had worn his thinking smooth, and Morcatus shrank his monstrous form without hesitation.
The sudden transformation unleashed a rebound that crashed through his entire body.
Bones splintered, muscles tore—agony lanced through him—but Nero and Morcatus gritted their teeth and endured.
The Demonic Energy still had to be channeled, so eyes that shifted to violet could not be hidden.
They only hoped Mother would not notice, and they cried softly.
“Meow!”
Mother, limping and wandering without direction, froze.
Disbelief flashed across her face as she opened her eyes wide, but the moment she saw the golden ribbon hanging from Nero’s neck, she broke.
“Oh, merciful heavens…….”
“Meow-ow-ow! Why-meow, why-owww!”
Elisia collapsed to her knees and scooped Nero into her arms.
The rebound still sent ghastly pain lancing through him, but the moment he felt Mother’s embrace, none of that mattered anymore.
Nero clung to her and wept.
A miracle. They had found her.
In this life, I will protect Mother. Even if it costs me everything.
* * *
This could not be real.
No nightmare in the world could be as horrible as this. Nero falling into such a terrible place.
I couldn’t understand what had happened, but Nero’s condition was tragic.
Her nose and the bridge of her nose were scraped raw and bleeding, and several of her claws had been torn away.
I wanted to weep at the sight of my kitten’s broken state, but I simply opened my cloak instead.
“Sweetness, are you cold? Come here.”
“Meow-ow…….”
Nero hesitated, frightened, before creeping softly into my embrace, and the sight of it threatened to shatter my heart all over again.
Unlike usual, Nero’s body was ice-cold. Like the corpse of something lifeless.
I held her tighter and murmured to myself.
“Sigh. Where do we go from here?”
Every attempt to find water led only in circles. Every attempt to build a fire to restore warmth revealed not a single stick of firewood anywhere near.
We were surrounded on all sides.
Then Nero tapped my arm with her front paw, pointing somewhere.
“Hmm? You want to go that way?”
Meow.”
“I tried walking, but we just kept circling the same spot.”
“Meow, meow!”
Nero scratched at my chest with his front paws, clearly exasperated.
Not that I could feel much through the layers of clothing—just the silky texture of the jelly pressing against my skin.
Since nothing else seemed to work, I decided to follow Nero’s lead and just move forward.
* * *
Parched earth, dust swirling beneath my feet, endless wasteland stretching beyond the horizon.
The sun never rose. Night stretched on forever, without end.
In that dreamlike desolation, I held Nero close and talked to him about anything and everything as I walked on without direction.
A howl echoed in the distance.
The sound drifted from far away.
No northerner grew up without learning the calls of beasts, but this eerie wail that shook to the bone was something beyond my experience.
I clutched Nero tighter and quickened my pace.
Then, at some point, my eyes flew open.
“Wait…?”
The landscape around me had changed.
Not into a forest—the ground was still barren, dust still blowing across the bleak expanse—but something had shifted.
Instead of endless flatland, mountains and canyons rose around me, along with dizzying cliffs.
There was no living growth, no trees, but there were far more places to hide than out in the exposed wasteland.
And for some reason, the biting cold had lessened.
Wondering if I was imagining things, I pulled back my cloak slightly—and no, the air truly held a faint warmth.
“Meow?”
“Yes, it’s warmer. Much better than before. Our Nero’s the best.”
Whether it was just wishful thinking or not, it felt as though Nero knew exactly where to go, guiding us toward safety.
Well, that was probably just my imagination.
“I’m too exhausted to keep walking. Let’s rest for a moment.”
I stumbled into a hollow beneath the cliff and collapsed onto the ground.
Every inch of me ached from rolling, falling, and striking stone.
My ankle especially—the same one I’d injured once before in Bellamare—had twisted again in the chaos and was so swollen my shoe no longer fit.
“Mew……”
Nero’s nose gently touched the ankle just visible beneath my dress hem.
Though he looked no better himself, bedraggled and worn.
I pulled him close and held him firmly in my arms.
“I’m so glad you’re here with me. I can’t tell anymore if this is reality or a nightmare… but no matter what happens, I’ll protect you.”
“Mew……”
“It’ll be all right. Everything will be all right……”
I hadn’t eaten or slept properly in what felt like forever, wandering lost and exhausted.
With the cold fading and a sheltered place finally found, my tension dissolved, and drowsiness crashed over me.
As my eyes began to close, Nero slipped from my arms and took position at my feet, as if to stand guard.
His ears pointed upward, his body rigid and alert, he stared into the darkness.
I had no time to say anything. Sleep claimed me like unconsciousness.
* * *
Edwin led his forces northward, receiving information that poured in hour by hour.
The exact extent of the Northern Wall’s damage, the cause of its collapse, and the fact that Nigel and Rosalind orchestrated it all.
Their goal was the complete annihilation of the Lombard Faction, which meant rescue would never come from that quarter.
“We change horses here and depart immediately.”
Edwin issued the command upon discovering the last supply base before reaching the Northern Wall.
The Elite Forces had ridden without rest from Lombard Castle all the way to the Northernmost Continent, yet not one soldier voiced a complaint about the relentless pace.
They all understood.
The fate of Lombard rested in their hands.
“My lord!”
As they were changing mounts and preparing to depart again, someone came rushing out from within the station.
A green flag—the symbol of the Barg Mountain garrison—was clutched in his hand.
“Disaster, my lord! My lady—my lady has been swept up in a landslide and gone missing!”

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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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