The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 81

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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 081
A month prior, Carencia had collapsed entirely. The war raged on, and the Southern Region lay isolated.
Driven mad by fear, the people rose in rebellion, and civil war erupted at last. Carencia became one of its casualties.
People abandoned their homes and livelihoods, fleeing in desperation. Save for the occasional soul we encountered by chance, the town had emptied almost completely.
As a result, we could not venture down the mountainside to forage for sustenance.
I left our Safe House and Hayden in the care of Yureain and Dorpin, then set out to scour the Forest.
“Truly nothing caught in the nets? Not even a single bird?”
Mila nodded with a dejected expression. The fishing nets lay equally barren.
Farming was not all I had learned from books.
We were all novices—hunting, fishing, everything learned from the pages of texts.
Sigh… returning to rural life was not something anyone could simply do.
*Growl.*
My stomach was just as empty as theirs.
“…We did find some medicinal herbs, though.”
Robin spoke in a hesitant voice.
I exhaled deeply and replied.
“Let us dig those up and make a salad. At least we had the foresight to stockpile emergency provisions.”
Though even those were dwindling. We had been sustaining ourselves on bird eggs stolen from nests. Hayden needed to eat far more to grow properly. I had to devise some solution.
What was I to do?
What could I possibly do?
I was not merely worried about supplies for Cherez—I had to concern myself with my own survival first.
In truth, the original narrative contained no mention of Carencia’s collapse, so the blame for failing to anticipate this catastrophe fell squarely upon me.
As a port town, I should have foreseen such turmoil, yet I had rashly withdrawn a fortune in currency.
Unaware that money would lose its worth.
“What shall we eat tomorrow? I wonder if there are any mushrooms left for breakfast.”
As I muttered to myself, Mila, who had been walking ahead, let out a sharp, startled cry.
“Mila?!”
“Wait just a moment there, my lady!”
Mila bent down to examine something. Robin quietly retreated behind me. I turned to look at him.
“I did not come here for this sort of thing, my lady.”
True enough—what could he accomplish with wrists as thin as his?
“I shall protect you, so stay hidden there.”
I gripped the stick I had been holding for digging. I took a deep breath and widened my eyes.
Then Mila turned her head toward us.
“Robin! Come quickly!”
“Me… me?”
Robin poked his head out cautiously.
“Yes, Robin!”
As Robin approached slowly with a bewildered expression, Mila shrieked.
“Ah, you’re making me lose my breath! Will you only come after I’ve died?!”
A person? You say a person?
Robin’s pace quickened.

* * *
Eight months had passed since the war began, yet the Gate of the Other Side showed no signs of closing. The bell’s destruction was undoubtedly to blame. Still, their ability to endure thus far owed entirely to the aid of the Evelik Kingdom.
The ten thousand knights Chloe had brought and the continuous supply of provisions sustained the front lines.
Cherez stared at the Gate of the Other Side with cold eyes. Once that gate ceased pouring forth its demonic beasts, they too could have time to regroup. They would treat the wounded, bury the dead, and then face the next wave.
Today was that day.
The crevasse above the horizon began churning anew. A murky light—a mixture of violet and black—swelled upward.
Cherez drew his sword.
“Prepare for battle!”
“Raaaaaaagh!”
The knights, now possessed only by malice and resentment, roared. They all bore the same face, the same expression. Their sword-wielding hands had thickened with calluses, their flesh wasted away, their cheekbones prominent.
Black masses began falling from the crevasse. A familiar sight.
“Commence battle!!!”
At Wills’s command, the knights charged toward the demonic beasts. Repeated combat had dulled their fear, replaced by rage and anguish.
And as always, Cherez stood at the vanguard. For eight months, he had never once relinquished that position.
The demonic beasts fell before Cherez’s blade like autumn leaves.
“Something is amiss, sir! Be cautious!!”
Wills cried out. The air was indeed turbulent, as Wills said. A different sound mixed with the familiar ones.
Cherez’s head snapped upward swiftly.
“Damn it.”
A curse escaped through Cherez’s teeth.
Among what fell from the crevasse were winged creatures. Bat-like wings tore through the air as they soared high into the sky. Their bodies were thin and elongated. Two antennae protruded from their heads, and their tails ended in sharp spines.
As the war prolonged, more diverse species of demonic beasts crossed over. And at the end of that progression would come creatures never before witnessed—true calamities.
Cherez clenched his teeth. That transformation was already beginning.
The flying demonic beasts began circling above the coastline. With their razor-sharp claws, they snatched people from below and tore them apart mercilessly in the air. Blood and corpse fragments rained down like precipitation. They were far too fast.
One demonic beast dove sharply. Its tail spine pierced through a knight’s shoulder as it soared upward. Blood sprayed into the void.
“Aaaaagh! Die, just die already!!”
The knights swung their swords at empty air, but they could not connect.
Cherez surveyed the battlefield. His gaze fixed upon the end of the coastal cliff.
The rocky cliff rising from the coastline appeared to be some thirty meters in height. It matched nearly the altitude at which the flying demonic beasts circled.
“Wills, you take command here!”
Cherez ran forward, sword in hand.
“Sir?!”
With all excess flesh burned away and only muscle remaining, his body ascended the coastal cliff at tremendous speed. Cherez gritted his teeth and reached out, gripping the rough stone wall. He had long since transcended the limits of humanity.
Cherez increased his pace further. His palms tore open and bled, but he had no time to feel the pain. As he climbed higher up the coastal cliff, the fierce sea wind lashed against his cheeks.
Cherez reached the summit. Standing at the cliff’s edge against the howling wind, he looked down. The entire coastline lay before him. Knights grappled with demonic beasts, their black and red blood scattered across the sand, staining even the sea.
The flying demonic beasts circled around the cliff. Cherez narrowed his eyes, gauging the timing.
The moment a flying demonic beast approached.
Cherez lunged forward.
“Your Excellency!!!!!!”
Thirty meters below lay jagged rocky cliffs. A piercing scream tore through the muffled silence of my ears. Yet Cherez did not falter.
My body collided with the back of the airborne beast. The impact sent the creature reeling. Even as I slid across its surface, I thrust out one hand and seized the tip of its antenna. The beast shrieked in agony.
I tightened my grip on the antenna and hauled myself up onto its back, gasping for breath.
“Hah.”
“You absolute madman!”
Wills’s curse echoed from below. I pulled my lips into a grim smile. I gripped the antenna like a rider’s rein.
“Kieeeeeek!”
The beast shrieked and thrashed, but I remained unmoved. Using the antenna as a rudder, I steered the creature with precision.
Once my position stabilized, I raised my blade and slashed the wing of another beast circling nearby. The creature plummeted with a wail, one wing severed clean away.
I manipulated the antenna to pivot toward the next one. Wind tore at me with such ferocity that I could barely keep my eyes open.
I bisected the waist of the creature that raised its tail spines toward me. Viscera spilled forth, and bodily fluids rained down like a torrent.
Exhilaration kindled in my eyes.

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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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