The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 141

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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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The Forsaken Prince’s Ghost Bride — Chapter 141

“Lucian!”
“…Lia!”
At Lia’s desperate cry, Lucian’s expression twisted with urgency.
The moment he saw Lia bound to the chair, a fury rose up inside him that he couldn’t suppress.
“That insane bastard! Where does he think he’s putting his filthy hands!”
Kaiser’s voice cut through without restraint. Leon had his hand resting casually on Lia’s shoulder.
At Kaiser’s outburst, Leon’s eyes narrowed to slits, and he let out a meaningful sound.
“My bride is mine to touch. I don’t see how it concerns you, boy.”
Leon’s hand moved to grip Lia’s cheek, and he pressed his lips to her face.
Lucian’s eyes widened in shock, and Kaiser’s form crackled with flames as he bared his teeth.
-That’s as far as you go, Leon.
“…What a familiar face this is.”
At Carserin’s voice, Leon’s eyes widened before curving upward in a crescent smile.
Yet his pupils held something deeply ominous.
Carserin’s figure emerged fully from the shadows, now more clearly visible.
In Leon’s gaze fixed upon him swirled anger and contempt.
“If not for you, Lia and I would have had a long and happy time together. In the end, you ruined everything.”
-Let’s speak plainly. It was you who dragged our relationship through the mud.
Leon’s lips twitched. The two stared at each other in silence, then moved as one, neither giving the other ground.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
Lucian quickly raised both arms to block the oncoming tempest.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Carserin intercepting the Dark Magic pouring forth from Leon.
“Gah! You madman, stop it!”
Kaiser, standing nearby, staggered and collapsed.
Lucian wondered how this mere phantom could exert such power, until he realized Kaiser must be drawing upon his own strength.
The battle unfolding before them was utterly beyond human comprehension.
Carserin was formidable, but what struck Lucian most was Leon’s power pressing down on him—it made him swallow hard.
-Hey, kid.
Carserin called out to Lucian at that moment.
For some reason, it felt as though he were speaking to Odel instead.
-I’ll handle this one. In the meantime, get Lia out of here. The fact that she’s been sitting still all this time suggests Leon’s done something to her.
“…I was thinking the same thing.”
-…You’re different from that Odel fellow. I’ll back you up. Go!
Carserin switched from defensive posturing to the offensive, baring his teeth at Leon in earnest.
Leon clicked his tongue as he parried Carserin’s attack. The tide of battle shifted in an instant.
The Diamond Hall—vast enough to accommodate every nobleman in the Empire.
The hall, symbol of the Imperial Palace and the Emperor himself, could not withstand their assault and began to crumble, collapsing in places.
Boom—!
Lucian dodged the debris falling from above and, using Leon’s blind spot, crept quietly toward Lia.
As he reached the dais where the two stood, Leon’s gaze, which had been fixed on Carserin, suddenly locked onto Lucian.
It was only a moment, but Lucian felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and immediately fell back.
Bang—! Crackle—!
Sure enough, black lightning erupted in the direction Lucian had been heading.
The power was several times stronger than what Lucian had endured when breaking the Barrier.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice you sneaking around like a rat?”
“Lucian! Don’t come!”
Even though Lia, knowing Leon’s strength, urged him back, it only made Lucian more determined to press forward.
As Lucian moved again, flames ignited in Leon’s eyes.
His hand began to reach toward Lucian.
“Not happening!”
With a chilling Dragon’s cry, Kaiser threw himself at Leon’s form.
Leon clicked his tongue and withdrew to the side; Kaiser pursued him relentlessly.
Meanwhile, Carserin continued to press his assault on Leon with stubborn persistence.
Carserin handled ranged attacks while Kaiser closed in for melee.
Seeing his chance, Lucian quickly made for where Lia stood.
“Lucian…!”
“Lia, I’m sorry. That took too long.”
Lia stifled her trembling lips and shook her head. Soon tears welled in her eyes as she smiled.
“No, I’m glad you came.”
Lucian pressed a relieved kiss to Lia’s brow, then tried to break the mysterious force binding her.
“Because of this, I can’t put any strength into my body.”
“I’ll free you in a moment.”
What bound Lia was a mysterious substance resembling black Mana. It could be felt, but whether physical force would work against it remained uncertain.
Still, Lucian drew the sword at his waist and moved behind the throne. Then, with all his strength, he slashed at the Black Tether.
The Tether dispersed like smoke, but soon coalesced again, looking completely unharmed.
“Then…!”
Lucian drew forth his Mana to its limit and wrapped it around his blade.
Slice—
This time he felt it cut cleanly. Seeing the regeneration slow, Lucian cut through it repeatedly.
Yet it still refused to come free.
“Ugh!”
Then, from somewhere distant, a cry of pain echoed.
“Kaiser!”
Lucian looked up to assess the situation. Kaiser, struck by Leon, lay sprawled on the ground.
“You’re no human, I suspected as much, but a Dragon… so you’re Carserin’s descendant?”
Leon and Kaiser had never met before.
‘If Leon learns that Kaiser is Carserin’s reincarnation, it could be dangerous.’
Because Carserin’s phantom stood before him, he could not bind the two souls together.
Lucian was worried about Kaiser, but seeing him growl defiance gave him some reassurance as he returned to freeing Lia from her bonds.
-Gah! Lucian, move!
But not long after, a warning came with Carserin’s cry.
Leon was rushing toward them in the distance. Behind where he had been stood only the fallen forms of Kaiser and Carserin.
“Lucian!”
“Damn it!”
As Lia cried out urgently, Lucian mustered his last reserves and swung his blade.
As Lucian’s sword touched the Black Tether, white light blazed forth.
A refreshing energy enveloped his entire being, and everything around him began to flow slowly. At this strange phenomenon, Lucian’s eyes widened.
Yet he could instinctively understand why it was happening.
‘…Thank you, Odel.’
He felt Odel’s presence in the Black Tether. A trace of Odel’s power must have lingered within Leon’s creation.
As if Odel were lending his support, the Black Tether became dust and vanished.
The moment the Tether disappeared, time returned to its normal flow, and Lucian found Leon nearly upon him.
Lucian gritted his teeth, moved before the throne, and raised his blade.
Clang—!
An immense force and pressure bore down on him, buckling one of Lucian’s knees.
It felt as though he might be driven back and topple.
“…Lucian!”
But he could not fall back. Lia was directly behind him.
Lucian forced his trembling arms to steady themselves and thrust his head forward.
Thud—
His forehead met Leon’s. Lucian met those mad golden eyes unflinching.
Leon sensed the shift in momentum and his brow furrowed. The deadlocked struggle of strength had begun to turn in Lucian’s favor.
As his power began to wane, Leon’s eyes widened in shock.
“Tch.”
At last, Leon clicked his tongue and withdrew.
“Huff… huff…!”
Lucian breathed hard as he looked down at Leon below the dais. Soon he steadied his breathing and raised his head with arrogance.
“You will not lay a finger on Lia.”
Seeing the blade pointed at him, Leon’s brow twitched.
“A wet-behind-the-ears brat like you…!”
A sinister and damp aura began to emanate from Leon’s entire being. Lucian sensed an even stronger force approaching and took a defensive stance.
Whoosh—! Boom—!
A spear formed entirely of violet Mana shot from beside Lucian, fired directly at Leon.
The attack was too fast to follow with the eye; Leon couldn’t evade and was impaled in the abdomen, hurled against the distant wall.
Lucian, along with Carserin and Kaiser rushing up nearby, stood in stunned silence.
“You bastard. Who do you think you’re touching…!”
Lia, now free, glared at Leon with veins pulsing across her forehead.
Although Lucian had seen Lia angry many times before, he had never witnessed her rage so unfiltered. Everyone present felt their spines chill.
-…So this is what they mean when they say a witch is always a witch.
Carserin let out a hollow laugh.
This was Aria’s true self.
When they had begun in earnest to reclaim the Lord’s Castle and devour the corrupt nation, three had stood at the vanguard, annihilating enemies.
Leon, Carserin, and Aria.
She wielded Magic with uncommon skill, befitting a witch, and had continued to learn from Carserin, expanding her magical arsenal.
For this reason, Aria became a terror to her enemies, rivaling Carserin himself.
-Which was genuinely the case.
After spending a year on the battlefield and returning, Carserin had sparred with Aria once; her growth had been so startling it chilled even his blood.
And now, she had lived for over three hundred years. The knowledge and experience accumulated in that time could not be dismissed lightly.
“Cough, cough…!”
As the dust settled, Leon staggered to his feet.
He coughed up viscous blood and clutched his abdomen. His eyes, burst with blood vessels, fixed upon Lia.
“Your affection is overwhelming, Lia.”
“Affection? Spare me. I have no affection to spare for you.”
Lia naturally took Lucian’s hand. And Leon witnessed it clearly.
“Lia, I told you to be careful with your actions in front of me, didn’t I?”
It was a threat dripping with killing intent. Perhaps at first she had felt fear at such malice, but not now.
Lia snorted and thrust her thumb downward.
“Go to hell.”
It was a clear refusal. Leon, who had let Lia’s words go in one ear and out the other all this time, felt her rejection truly pierce him for the first time.
Lia and Lucian standing side by side. And before them, Kaiser and Carserin standing as if to shield the two.
The scene was reminiscent of three hundred years ago, in those peaceful times.
Aria, Carserin, Leon, and Odel. When the four came together, there was nothing to fear…

‘Brother….’

At the sound of Odel’s voice—a voice Lucian thought long forgotten—reaching his ears, Leon could no longer contain the turmoil within him.
Leon’s golden eyes, which had clung to a thread of hope in that strange love spanning eons, grew steadily colder and lost their light.
“…Enough.”
His words, as if relinquishing all, caused everyone to tense. Lucian especially felt dread crawl up his spine.
“If I cannot have her, then no one can have Lia.”
Leon’s eyes transformed to black. Simultaneously, black veins crept across his face, and tears of black blood dripped from his eyes.
“…Madman.”
All present could only agree with Kaiser’s murmur.
Leon’s appearance at this moment was as if a demon had descended upon them.

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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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