Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 45
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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 45
“Fay Martin!”
Dylan’s voice reached out before mine could.
The maned wolf beast opened its jaws wide.
“Wait!”
I cried out and spread both arms wide for Spatial Illusion Magic.
There was no time. My eyes stung as mana drained from me in an instant.
The smaller beasts nearby fell under the illusion, their movements turning rigid as they raised their heads and let out wretched cries.
Some stumbled clumsily and fell flat on their faces.
Toward the beasts still unaffected by the illusion, I extended my other hand, and Thorn Vines shot out around me with solid, rapid force.
As they tore through the space between the knights toward the beast at breakneck speed, the knights who noticed just in time scrambled aside.
The target was the wolf beast standing directly in front of Fay.
Screech!
The vines flew up like an uppercut to the beast’s snout, wrapping around its gaping jaws and front legs.
The illusioned beast staggered and flashed its eyes toward me.
In that moment, I unfurled Spatial Illusion to blind the beast’s eyes for a few seconds.
With nothing but the resolve not to cause casualties, I deployed multiple abilities I rarely used simultaneously, and my mind swam.
I shouted to the knights even closer than myself.
“Hurry!”
“Flare!”
Fire erupted from the hands of the mage chanting Fire Magic.
Boom, whoosh!
Flames raced along the vines coiling and constricting the beast.
In mere seconds, the wolf beast turned to ash, its body reduced to a heap of black cinder.
Fortunately, Fay Martin didn’t have a single hair out of place.
“Ugh…”
My eyes stung as though I had severe dry eye, tears threatening to spill over.
Meanwhile, the knights mercilessly cut down the beasts slowed and dulled by the illusion.
A little breathing room opened up. As I steadied my breath and pressed my eyes with my palms, my heated eyelids felt heavy with fatigue.
They weren’t doing it on purpose, and they couldn’t even use illusions—so why did they rush recklessly to the front?
If I wasn’t going to deploy Spatial Magic from the start like now, an illusionist moves more easily from behind the knights.
My eyes might have been wrong, but it seemed like they deliberately stepped in front of the beast.
I felt a tiredness like a homebody who’d ventured outside for the first time in ages, and suddenly wanted to hurry home.
Noah, Kailus—right now I just wanted to go home and rest.
Boom!
What?
With a sound of claws striking the earth, my body suddenly lifted about knee-height into the air.
“Hazel—!”
I had failed to notice that a beast had moved in my direction while I was busy saving Fay.
My body tumbled backward like a leaf caught in a typhoon by the impact and wind from the massive paw striking the ground.
I only landed on my rear, but I’d narrowly escaped being crushed flat.
If I’d noticed any later, something far more embarrassing might have happened.
“Ow, ow, ow…”
Pain aside, my vision was filled with dust.
Great, I’m going to die trying to save someone.
If I’d only had a Protagonist Buff, I wouldn’t have landed on my rear like this!
I’m not a knight who trains daily to build Intellect-Virtue-Body—how am I supposed to dodge everything?
“Are you all right?”
Dylan, who’d split a beast cleanly in two in the blink of an eye, approached and helped me up.
The knights were handling the remaining large beast and smaller ones.
“Seriously. You should’ve—you should’ve stopped it faster!”
I vented my frustration on Dylan.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Now go finish off the rest—”
What?
I trailed off mid-gesture toward the remaining beast.
Through the settling dust, I could make out at least five massive dark forms.
“Deputy Commander!”
A cry rang out, and shouts of alarm erupted all around.
I froze in place.
My mouth fell open of its own accord.
This isn’t… seriously insane, is it?
Five enormous Magical Beasts emerged from between the crumbling walls in pursuit.
Including the one still remaining, that made six in total—easily over a dozen more if you counted the smaller ones.
I’d never encountered this many large Magical Beasts at once, even on actual Subjugations.
Of course, I’d hardly ventured out on any Subjugations since arriving in this body, but watching the other knights stiffen in shock told me they felt much the same way I did.
This wasn’t in the original story at all.
What in the world is this?
Dylan’s face hardened as he shouted.
“Everyone, reform the line! Now!”
Fay Martin snapped back to attention and withdrew, while the knights swiftly realigned themselves.
This was no longer a matter to treat lightly, even in jest.
Something had gone seriously wrong.
Dylan moved quickly to the front.
Luxe, drawing closer to me as she shifted into formation, asked quietly.
“You alright?”
My rear end throbbed, but it wasn’t unbearable.
More than anything, being sent flying like a paper doll was slightly humiliating.
“I’m fine. Just a bit embarrassed.”
“Don’t worry about it. You looked like the Goddess of the Wind.”
“Stop.”
Luxe flashed an impish grin.
“Stay behind me for now. You’ve burned through a lot of power.”
“I’ve done worse back home.”
“That was then. You’re a civilian now. If you hadn’t been here… I’m telling you, that was close. Really close. Come visiting and this is what happens.”
“Tell me about it. You’d better know what you’re doing.”
“Yes, sister.”
Despite being the same age, Luxe teased me once more before her expression turned serious, drawing her bowstring taut.
“Now watch what your brother does.”
Brother? Hardly.
Sister one moment, brother the next.
I stepped back, watching Luxe’s form over my shoulder with narrowed eyes.
Whoosh!
A pair of arrows flew with terrifying force, striking true—one embedding itself perfectly in each eye of the large Magical Beast.
Hitting her target precisely with a pair of arrows was Luxe’s specialty.
The accuracy was almost inhuman.
With a piercing shriek, the beast convulsed.
Its form, which resembled an enormous pile of mud, was one thing—but the stench was overwhelming.
Every time it bounded about, chunks of mud the size of a human head dropped from its body.
I had no desire whatsoever to come close to this thing.
Luxe nocked another pair of arrows.
Another direct hit, as expected.
I was marveling at Luxe’s skill when the knights around us began to falter and murmur uncertainly.
Watching their thoughtless movements, I furrowed my brow.
Why weren’t they pressing forward to finish it? What were they doing?
It was something they should never have done before the beast was fully dispatched.
Soon enough, I understood why everyone had stopped.
The appearance of the newly emerged Magical Beast froze even me—I couldn’t think to deploy Illusion Magic, my body locked in place.
Swish… swish…
Swish… swish…
The creature that appeared, moving with a sound like cloth dragging across stone, wore the form of something that should never have existed.
A vivid Purple Mana Stone embedded in its forehead.
A body shaped like a human’s, draped in a robe.
Between them, malevolent crimson eyes gleaming.
It was a Follower.
……
I was speechless.
Luxe and Dylan seemed equally stunned.
What in the world is going on?
Something has to be catastrophically wrong.
Or maybe the world is ending tomorrow?
That was my first thought.
If not, then there’s no way two Followers should have appeared in a single day.
I haven’t even confirmed whether the creature that showed up at dawn was truly a Follower’s Magical Beast.
“This is inside the Imperial Palace, right?”
I spoke to Luxe while watching the Follower manipulate the Magical Beast from behind.
“…I have no idea either. What is happening today? At this rate, you must have brought this one with you.”
“Ugh, this wretched popularity.”
Luxe burst into laughter at my quip.
It wasn’t the laugh of someone enjoying the chaos.
As she laughed, Luxe was already nocking her next arrow, and I stood beside her, reading the knights’ movements and timing my next Illusion Magic.
Tension hung thick in the air around us.
“This isn’t the Imperial Palace anymore—it’s a complete battlefield. Where is the Crown Prince? Someone get word to His Highness immediately!”
Now that I thought about it, Dylan had said he’d spoken with the Crown Prince, yet there was no sign of him anywhere.
Shouldn’t the protagonist be the one handling this spectacularly?
Isn’t that the protagonist’s job?
And yet he never shows up when it actually matters.
I was grateful not to have seen his face until now, but this was clearly a moment when the protagonist needed to step forward.
“He has already departed toward Lady Deioice and the Western Wall!”
A knight’s cry came from somewhere in the chaos.
I ground my teeth.
I couldn’t fault him for going to the scene. What choice did we have?
“We’ll wrap this up quickly!”
Dylan’s booming voice rang out, as if reading my thoughts.
The knights rallied with renewed vigor, pressing their assault against the Magical Beast.
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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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