Surviving as the Wife of the Swordsmanship Clan’s Troublemaker - Chapter 130

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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 130

The harsh clatter of hoofbeats ceased, stirring up clouds of dust.
Docheop leaped from his horse and lifted his face—streaked with sweat and demon blood—to gaze upon Bloodmere Castle at last.
‘Hallara.’
This had never happened before the regression. Docheop was about to stride toward the castle gates, sealed shut with anxiety, when—
The sky suddenly began to tear open.
Docheop’s footsteps froze. The Bloodmere Knights standing guard around the castle cried out in alarm.
“What… what in the world is that?!”
“The sky… there’s something wrong with the sky!”
Docheop’s eyes snapped upward. The clear heavens fractured like glass, and a gaping black void suddenly appeared.
He immediately recognized what it was.
“The Demon Realm.”
It was the same sight he had witnessed just before the regression. But before he could even recall the past, a demon’s arm thrust through, and a grotesque visage forced itself into the world.
[SCREEEEEECH!]
A colossal demon shrieked, drool dripping from its maw. Docheop tilted his head at the sight.
‘…Johannes?’
Only he possessed the power to summon demons. Which meant he was here.
As long as the Bloodmere Family remained intact, there was no way he could have pierced the barrier and escaped.
The demon’s crimson eyes gleamed as it spotted prey and lunged at Docheop. Its blunt, massive fist rose high into the sky, intent on crushing him flat.
“Dodge, my lord!”
The Knights’ voices rang out. The demon’s shadow swallowed Docheop first. Without retreating, he slowly drew his sword.
“You’ll die!”
The guards were certain Docheop would perish.
Though he had undergone a dramatic awakening recently, he lacked any real combat experience. Moreover, Docheop was exhausted from dealing with demons on the outskirts.
“Where have Helbeorn and Nikolai gone?!”
“This is a battle we cannot win. If we attack recklessly, disaster will strike!”
Despite their anguished cries, Docheop pushed off the ground and soared into the air.
CRASH!
The demon’s colossal fist collided head-on with Docheop’s blade. Yet the demon’s power, erupting from the abyss of the Demon Realm, transcended imagination.
“Ugh.”
Docheop’s body was sent flying backward. His feet dug deep furrows into the earth, kicking up clouds of dust.
As he was relentlessly driven back, the overwhelming demonic aura of the house-sized demon crashed down upon him. Bone-crushing agony consumed him.
“Go to the castle at once and request reinforcements!”
“My lord, please!”
Seeing Docheop being overwhelmed so brutally, the Knights rushed about in panic. Blood trickled down his lips. The pain came in endless waves. At this rate, he would be crushed to death helplessly.
Yet even as he was driven backward, drenched in blood, Docheop’s gaze remained fixed on the castle.
‘If I give ground here, everything ends without accomplishing anything.’
If Johannes had truly appeared, then everything would be finished.
Docheop barely managed to brace his retreating feet. One misstep and his ankles would shatter. But he could not retreat. He gathered his sword energy with desperate determination.
It happened in that instant.
The demonic beast lunged down upon him.
“Ugh.”
The crimson sword energy, already wavering at its limit, shattered instantly. Black demonic aura engulfed his body.
“Nikolai!”
The anguished cries of the Knights atop the castle walls were swallowed by the deafening roar.
Yet in the heart of that suffocating despair where all held their breath, the center of the pitch-black demonic aura that had consumed Docheop began to distort ever so slightly.
Soon, a brilliant golden light erupted from within the darkness like an explosion.
​
***
Elise collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. The blue light of the magic circle meticulously drawn across the ground flickered and died with a crackling sound.
‘To kick away my chance to escape with my own feet.’
Elise could not fathom Hallara’s stubborn obstinacy.
From the start, getting entangled in this mess reeked of something foul. Hallara must have sensed it too, yet….
Elise shook her head.
‘Right. Since she insisted on staying and holding the line, I should trust her word and wait. All I need to do now is complete this massive gate as she asked, no matter what.’
She steadied her resolve and tried to draw upon her mana again. But she was already exhausted beyond measure.
“Is my power still insufficient?”
As Elise wiped the sweat from her brow and pouted her lips, it happened.
The door burst open urgently, and Eva rushed into the room.
“Stepmother?”
Elise startled and quickly threw a carpet over the magic circle. Eva approached, gasping for breath, and seized Elise’s arm.
“Elise, no time for talk—pack your things and hide now. The Duke is searching for you to send you back to the Southern Empire!”
“What? What are you suddenly saying?”
“Hallara asked me to secretly smuggle you out so you could safely remain in this castle. Hurry!”
But just as Eva was about to lead Elise out of the room in haste.
“I wondered where everyone had gone.”
Duncan entered with a hoarse voice. His sharp gaze swept back and forth between the tense Eva and Elise. They were a moment too late.
Duncan opened his mouth with a rigid expression.
“Elise. Stop spouting nonsense and pack your things at once. Prepare to return to the Southern Empire.”
“What? I’m not going!”
At the sudden command, Elise jumped from her seat as if her feet had been burned.
“I’m staying here to help!”
“Help with what!”
“I’m close with Hallara!”
“With your temperament, you’ll both end up captured. Go quietly.”
“Father!”
Elise clung to him, but Duncan was resolute. It was a rational judgment befitting a thorough head of household. Moreover, the aura pressing down upon the entire castle since earlier was far from ordinary.
Duncan’s body trembled faintly at this strange sensation he had never felt before. He felt it would ease his mind to send Elise away first.
“You’re right.”
Unexpectedly, Eva stepped forward to take Duncan’s side.
“Stepmother!”
“I’ll have Elise loaded into the carriage and sent back right away.”
When Eva, who had promised to help her escape beforehand, suddenly changed her stance, Elise’s eyes widened. Meanwhile, Duncan offered a faint smile of relief at Eva’s words.
“Thank you. Just pack Elise’s things and send her off.”
“Don’t worry about it. You have work to do, after all.”
“No. I should at least confirm that Elise leaves safely myself.”
At this, Elise cried out with a betrayed expression and began to struggle. But Eva firmly grasped Elise’s arm and blocked Duncan’s path.
“I’ll change Elise’s clothes first. She can’t travel far dressed like this.”
“Very well. I’m grateful.”
Duncan nodded without suspicion, closed the door, and left.
The moment his footsteps faded completely away, Elise, still fuming with betrayal, glared at Eva and opened her mouth.
“How could even you do this to me… Mmph!”
Eva quickly covered Elise’s mouth and brought her index finger to her lips in a gesture for silence. Then she pushed the struggling Elise into the wardrobe in the corner of the guest room.
“Step… stepmother. What are you doing?”
“Shh! Don’t you dare come out. Hide here quietly and stay out of the Duke’s sight.”
Eva whispered quickly to the bewildered Elise.
“But what about the carriage?”
“I’ll handle everything perfectly. You stay absolutely still as if dead until I call for you. Understood?”
Eva tapped the firmly closed wardrobe door once, then hurried out of the room.
Trapped alone in the darkness, Elise couldn’t close her gaping mouth in confusion.
What on earth was this scheme?
She had no way of knowing what her stepmother intended to do outside while keeping her locked here.
‘Actually, even if I took the carriage, I could escape with teleportation. Though I’d be discovered immediately, of course.’
Besides, she had to remain here to complete the magic circle.
Elise decided to wait for Eva first.
How much time had passed?
Creak—she heard the door open carefully.
Elise peered out through the wardrobe door crack, holding her breath.
Eva had entered.
And someone else had followed her in. The moment Elise recognized who it was through the gap, she let out a shriek and burst out.
“No way!”
Walking into the room was none other than Elise herself.
Green hair.
Large, drooping eyes.
Even the pouting lips, swollen with discontent, were perfectly identical to her own—a fake standing with an expressionless face.

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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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