My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - Chapter 76

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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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Goosebumps broke out across my entire body.
The terror of that surreal sight was overwhelming.
Even the fake monk’s voice, which had been nothing but lazy and drawling until now, carried a sharp edge of gravity.
“Six hours left. More than half of them will hatch within that time.”
Demonic beasts are born fully matured.
And those monsters were currently writhing inside eggs as large as houses.
“All of—all of those are going to wake up? There look to be at least three hundred of them!”
The strength drained from my legs.
Shan caught me, steadying my weight as he questioned the fake monk.
“What happens then?”
“Demonic beasts are creatures born for slaughter. No, even the word ‘creature’ is too generous. True animals are beings molded by the authority of Bartes. Those things are simply monsters.”
“What happens if there is no life left in the forest for them to slaughter?”
“They will head for the nearest village. They instinctively move toward signs of life. With numbers like these, it won’t take even an hour to wipe out every living thing in the forest.”
The nearest village was the one we had just departed from.
Glenmoor.
A tiny settlement with a population of barely two hundred people.
It meant the villagers there were in mortal danger.
If that man was right, it would take a mere seven hours for the demonic beasts to hatch, reduce the forest to a wasteland, and reach the village.
For us to return to Glenmoor would take four hours.
Abandoning our luggage might cut that down to two.
Yet there was no telling how many hours it would take to convince them.
Few people truly believed demonic beasts existed, and the villagers had hardly been welcoming to us.
Going back meant dying alongside them.
Even succeeding in convincing them posed a problem. Evacuating such a large crowd would inevitably drag down their movement speed. They would almost certainly be overtaken and slaughtered by the monsters.
Even if they managed to escape by some miracle, they would only end up luring the demonic beasts toward a more heavily populated town.
It was far better to head for Kleins, deliver the news to the Grand Temple, and request aid from the Kleinheits Knights.
I was just about to tell Shan that we should turn back.
Rip.
A wet, tearing sound echoed through the air.
It was the sound of a membranous egg splitting open.
The house-sized egg burst apart, spewing out a creature I had never seen before along with blood-tinged mucus.
It possessed the body of a wolf, but its talons were as razor-sharp as a bird of prey’s, and its entire form was armored in reptilian scales.
“What in the world is…”
The demonic beast flicked a serpentine tongue before snapping its head upward.
“……!!”
The moment our eyes met, it slammed its paws down so violently that the earth dug away.
The beast, larger than a wardrobe, dug its claws into the cliff face, bounding up the wall in an instant before lunging forward.
“Lin!”
Shan wrapped his arms around me and threw us to the ground.
He drew a dagger from his breast and hurled it, but the blade failed to leave so much as a scratch on the monster’s scales.
“Growl.”
Drool dripping from its jaws, the demonic beast glared at the three of us with eyes that burned with a blood-red light.
Then, noticing the fake monk, it hesitated.
Flicking its tongue as if gauging whether a piece of meat was rotten, the monster turned its head away.
…It was heading toward the path where the rest of our party had been left behind.
Shan lunged toward the dagger lying at the beast’s feet.
“No! Shan!!”
The monk’s prayer intermingled with my scream.
“O Bartes, my Lord. Grant that this ferocious flesh, brought forth by the touch of a wicked servant, may be severed by Your grace…”
Dodging the demonic beast’s forepaw, Shan raised his dagger and aimed straight for its throat.
Thrust.
“Skreeeech!”
As the blade pierced its throat, the demonic beast thrashed its head, unleashing a horrific shriek that sounded like wire scraping against glass.
Yet it did not fall.
Staggering though it was, the beast spun around and bounded toward its original destination.
Shan hoisted me over his shoulder, ran toward the horses, and threw off the reins. He hoisted me onto the mount, vaulted up behind me, and spurred the animal into a gallop.
The monk followed close behind, riding with an agility that made it hard to believe he was the same man who had slept the entire day away.
“Ahhh!”
“Argh, what is that! Get away! You monster!”
Almost the exact moment the screams erupted, we reached the rest of our group.
Leaving the prayers behind him, Shan leapt from the horse. He snatched a sword from the ground, flung the scabbard aside, and charged into the fray.
Just before the demonic beast could crush a mercenary’s back and tear out his throat, Shan’s sword impaled the creature.
While the monster reeled, the mercenaries drew their weapons in unison.
Even as arrows buried into its torso and blades carved through its flesh, the demonic beast gaped its massive jaws, trying to bite anything it could until its final breath.
The pale-faced mercenaries fell back.
Some collapsed to the ground, weeping, while a few had already fled into the woods.
Fortunately, no one appeared to have died.
Nothing but the ragged, terrified breaths of the survivors echoed through the forest.
A bizarre silence hung over the clearing.
After a long pause, the Mercenary Captain spoke up.
“What on earth was that?”
“A demonic beast. More will hatch soon. We must warn the villagers, so we are turning back.”
Hearing Shan’s words, my heart felt as though it were plummeting into the earth.
Stumbling off the horse, I rushed over to him.
“Don’t be ridiculous! You saw that thing, and you still want to go back to Glenmoor?”
“I do.”
I blocked his path as he tried to head toward the baggage carriage, dropping my voice to a sharp whisper.
“There isn’t enough time. If we go there, everyone… everyone is going to die.”
My voice trembled miserably, breaking apart as it spilled out.
Shan placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a single, firm squeeze, before he began pulling anything that could serve as a weapon from the carriage.
Treasured swords and daggers I didn’t even remember purchasing lay revealed.
Among them was the Dagger of Grand Duke Yulisian.
He drew that very dagger from its sheath, inspected the blade, and tucked it into his tunic.
He was entirely serious.
I hurried after his brisk steps.
“Don’t do this, let’s just go to Kleins. If we ride hard, it will only take a day. We can just bring back reinforcements!”
“In that time, the villagers will all be dead.”
“But that is the best option!”
“No. The best option is to go back and protect even one more person.”
“Stop talking about such foolish illusions!”
I grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn and face me.
“What do you even gain by doing this? Who is going to care if you die fighting those monsters in a remote place like this? No one will ever know! You’ll just be throwing your life away for nothing!”
“I am not doing this because I want someone to care.”
“Then… what is the point of it all?”
“I am doing it because it is the right thing to do.”
I was struck utterly speechless.
“Then what about Papilion and Tristan? What about your goal to stop Kildian? Are you going to cast all of that aside just to die here?”
“My goal is to act in accordance with what is right. Stopping Kildian is merely a means to that end. And even if I die, they will not waver. They will do what must be done in their respective places.”
“Do you think this is some heroic novel? That is nothing but a delusion.”
“It is not a delusion, Amarynthis. It is faith.”
He was unyielding. The conviction he called faith was so absolute that neither reason nor logic could pierce through it.
If things continued like this, I was going to lose him. My heart thudded frantically against my ribs, and tears welled in my eyes.
I clutched at his clothes, practically begging.
“Aren’t you even afraid? Do you really not fear death?”
“If you fear death, you cannot protect the things that are more precious than life itself, Amarynthis.”
“…There’s no such thing. What could possibly be more precious than one’s own life?”
“There are things. They do not exist for everyone, but they are real. The dying wishes of someone you respect, justice, loyalty, the things you are responsible for, a sense of duty. Or…”
His hands came to rest gently on my shoulders.
“It could be someone precious to you.”
He drew me into a brief embrace, then released me to address the stunned mercenaries, servants, and maids.
“Is there anyone who will come with me?”
The fake monk was the first to move.
He silently guided his horse over to stand beside Shan.
From among the twenty or so mercenaries, a mere two stepped forward.
Shan did not reproach the others, nor did he try to coax them. He simply looked back at me.
“Please head to Kleins and report the situation here.”
Reporting it wouldn’t change anything.
Even if I did, it would be too late.
There was no way a man like him hadn’t calculated that fact.
Yet he spoke those words anyway, undoubtedly to alleviate my guilt. For my sake, as I sought to flee alone out of a desire to survive, he had assigned me a duty so that I wouldn’t hesitate.
Unwittingly, I reached out and clutched his clothes again.
I thought I had gripped tight, but the fabric slipped through my fingers with agonizing ease.
The rest of the group began to move, as though time—which had ground to a halt—was finally flowing once more.
“Move fast, that monster might come back! Tend to the wounded!”
Someone shouted over the noise.
I needed to leave, but my body refused to budge.
Shan did not look back even once.
He moved without a shred of hesitation, like a man who stood tall upon death itself.
The absolute core of my terror—the very fear I had succumbed to, dreaded, and been bound to like a slave my entire life—was to him nothing more than a stepping stone to prove his convictions.
Even so, I wanted to hold onto him.
“What do you think you can achieve with just a few decorative weapons and four people…!”
I screamed after him, but he still didn’t turn around.
His retreating figure as he walked away was so unbending.
So much so, that I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

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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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