The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 110

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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 Husband Who Should Have Died Returns – Episode 110
Stones tumbled down the mountainside, and screams pierced the air. Cherez watched the chaos unfold, his cold gaze sweeping through the forest.
The traps I had set buried some of the assassins beneath the rubble, while others plummeted into deep pits.
Even if they survived, it would take considerable time to escape.
‘Thirteen remain.’
Cherez exhaled and drew his blade. The sword slid from its sheath without a whisper of sound.
“Damn it! Nobody said anything about this! Guide, you bastard!”
“How was I supposed to know! This wasn’t here before!”
The man who had led them here as instructed immediately fled down the mountainside, and the two guides who had been watching his movements bolted after him. Their pockets were heavy with the coin Ryukan had paid them.
“Leave the dead ones! Let’s see what’s up there that’s causing all this commotion!”
“I heard it’s the Duke of Bereidan. Is this really wise?”
“They say he crushes Demons with a single hand.”
“You still believe such nonsense! No matter how formidable he is, one man against thirteen? Impossible! If we attack with the resolve to die, we can take his head!”
As the assassins spat curses and prepared to advance upward again, the one leading emerged between the trees—only to find Cherez already standing behind him. He severed the man’s neck with surgical precision.
In that instant, something writhed deep within Cherez’s mind.
[You are no different from me, Cherez. Don’t you crave the scent of blood?]
Cherez’s brow twisted, but this was not the moment to heed that voice. The assassins who had sensed his presence surged upward as one.
Cherez exploited the mountain’s terrain with ruthless efficiency. He evaded a blade from the left, kicked an assassin from the right so that two of them tumbled down the slope entangled, then drove his sword up beneath another’s jaw.
Those who witnessed Cherez’s ghostly movements let out silent screams.
“R, run…!”
He cut down the one who turned to flee, moving through the forest with absolute fluidity. Every motion was economical, without waste. The problem was that with each swing of his blade, the voice in his head grew louder.
[You walk the same path as me. Consume all the Demons, become me, inherit my power! You will devour this world! You can fill the emptiness in your belly with whatever you desire!]
“Silence!”
Cherez gritted his teeth and roared.
The space behind his eyes burned with heat. The edges of his vision slowly stained crimson, and with it came the Demon Lord’s laughter spreading through his mind.
‘I told you this wasn’t the end. Demons exist everywhere. Even within you.’
Such words seemed to echo. Cherez’s breathing grew ragged. He felt as though he might shatter his own skull.
He eliminated even those assassins who abandoned their objective and fled. Cherez had already transcended human limits. The terrain itself posed no obstacle to him.
If only it weren’t for the voice originating from within his skull and his vision growing steadily more crimson. His heart thundered.
The last assassin pressed his back against a tree, trembling as he cried out.
“P, please spare me! I’ll tell you anything!”
The voice in his head grew louder.
[Kill him! Don’t hesitate! Kill him! Savor his blood!]
He exhaled deeply, suppressing the surging murderous intent through sheer willpower.
[Why do you stop? There’s no need. Slaughter everything that stands in your way. Dye this world crimson with blood.]
“Can’t you understand when I tell you to shut up? You damned fool.”
Cherez spat the curse through gritted teeth. The Demon Lord laughed once more in his mind.
The assassin trembled violently, scrambling backward. Cherez drove his fist into the tree the man leaned against.
“Hah…”
Cherez pressed his palm to his forehead.
“You’ll do anything I say?”
“Y-yes….”
A filthy stench of blood emanated from the Assassin.
Cherez straightened his posture and sheathed his sword. Turning around, he saw blood everywhere. He took several more breaths, then struck the surviving man’s temple with the flat of his blade.
In that moment.
“Hiccup.”
Cherez lifted his head with a cold expression. Hadn’t everyone but this one been dead? Or was there someone else remaining, or perhaps.
Cherez pushed through the undergrowth and advanced. What emerged before his formidable presence was not an Assassin at all.
“Whimper….”
A small child stood trembling with her hand clamped over her mouth. Her tiny face, streaked with tears, was contorted with fear. The child’s large eyes met Cherez’s. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Anna….”
Cherez exhaled the name like a sigh.
Hayden’s friend. Cherez ran a hand through his hair and reached toward the child. But upon noticing the blood on his hand, he withdrew it again.
Cherez laughed awkwardly.
“I’ve frightened you terribly, haven’t I?”
Anna squeezed her eyes shut and trembled violently. This was certainly no sight for a young child to witness. I couldn’t fathom why Anna was here or how she’d come to be in this place.
Cherez scratched his chin with a perplexed expression.
“Your Grace! Duke!”
Mila’s voice that rang out then was nothing short of salvation. Cherez turned with a brightened expression. Mila and Dorpin were rushing toward us.
Dorpin opened the Warehouse door behind the Villa. He bound the captured Assassin, gagged him, and threw him inside. Then he closed the Warehouse door and barred it shut.
Roana rushed out from inside the Villa.
“Are you alright?”
Roana looked Cherez up and down. She examined his tattered clothes and let out a sigh.
Cherez answered quietly.
“I’m fine.”
Cherez’s gaze turned behind him. Roana followed his eyes. Anna was nestled in Mila’s arms, sobbing quietly.
Cherez’s expression grew troubled.
“She must have witnessed the fight. It wasn’t something a child should see. I didn’t know what else to do, so I brought her here.”
“Oh my.”
Roana took Anna into her own arms. Anna burst into tears as she clung to Roana. Roana, flustered, gently rubbed Anna’s back. The children from the Town should have been under Gania’s protection.
“Anna, why did you climb the Mountain alone? Where is Gania? Has something happened in the Town?”
At the commotion, Jake also rushed out from the Villa. He looked back and forth between the blood-stained Cherez and the weeping Anna, then covered his mouth with his hand.
“Oh, oh.”
“First, we should help the child calm down. Let’s go inside. And Cherez.”
Cherez nodded as his eyes met Roana’s.
“Go quietly upstairs, wash up, and come back down. Change your clothes too.”
If I went inside looking like this, Hayden would burst into tears as well.
Cherez smiled bitterly. There would be far more blood on his hands than this. The reality of it suddenly struck him. Roana must surely feel fear toward someone like him….
“Thank you for coming back alive, Cherez.”
Roana spoke in a soft voice. Her face, as she held the child close, was resolute. There was no hesitation in her gaze toward him. Cherez’s eyes widened.
“Thank you so much for coming back to my side.”
Roana offered a faint smile, and the sunlight streaming behind her was so brilliantly radiant it hurt to look at.
Roana would never know—this vast, bottomless emotion Cherez felt now, so akin to despair. A quagmire from which there was no escape.

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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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