This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 246

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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 246

After reviving the spirits, I ventured into another passage and lost my way. During a brief rest, I encountered a phantom raven whose nature remained a mystery.
I tensed immediately, recalling how Black Libia had dealt with a monster in the sea before.
‘It attacked like a bullet back then…….’
Zing.
Serch fired a beam first, but the phantom raven dodged the attack and took flight at once. Its wavering black feathers fluttered down to the ground.
‘Is it a monster wandering inside the Gate?’
These monsters seemed to lack aggression.
But I soon discovered that assumption was wrong.
“Heart! Serch!”
“Camen! Come here!”
Bloden’s voice called out the spirits’ names in succession.
Heart’s eyes began to sparkle with light. Its tail started wagging rapidly back and forth.
“Squeak.”
Serch spun in circles, scattering light, while Camen drew a smiling face in chalk.
We followed his voice.
But this time, we didn’t recklessly charge out like before. We crept forward cautiously, peering outside. Yet the moment we glimpsed out, Iturn detected Serch’s light and unleashed a Breath attack.
“Oh no!”
The Ring’s Protection Magic activated without fail, and we quickly retreated, but the Ring’s protection ultimately ran out of power.

* * *

“Hailey!”
“Where are you!”
“Nuna!”
“Serch! Heart!”
Bloden’s voice continued to echo through the passage after that.
Heart, which had been stretching its neck to listen, instead of moving toward the sound or answering, simply lay down flat with its head pressed to the ground.
“Squeak.”
There was no strength in Heart’s voice.
Now we couldn’t even bring ourselves to investigate.
“It will be alright.”
I stroked the despondent Heart gently.
“You don’t have to follow the voice. If we avoid the sound and find the Main Gate entrance, we’ll be fine.”
“Squeak.”
Heart nodded at my words and began moving again.
But shortly after, we came upon a vast passage where large monsters swarmed.
Soon combat erupted between the three spirits, ourselves, and the monsters pursuing us.
Even as Camen attacked the monsters, it wrapped stone walls around me on all sides as it always did, protecting me. Meanwhile, I pulled the Lamp and Compass from my Pocket Dimension to check our direction.
North was where the large monsters were.
‘The Ring’s protection is gone. Now I need to be even more careful, move deliberately. Avoid confrontation whenever possible.’
The immediate task was to find a northward route that avoided the large monsters.
Having decided this, I made a request to Camen once the battle ended.
“Camen, would you leave behind some mineral that sparkles when light touches it? I think it would be good to mark places we’ve already been.”
Camen immediately dropped an unrefined Crystal Cluster. It was large enough that it glimmered whenever even a hint of light touched it.
“Good. From now on, let’s try to find paths with as few monsters as possible.”

* * *

Finding the way north was not easy. Yet while riding on Heart and moving about, I discovered hope.
I caught a glimpse of a large passage we’d just come upon and spotted something astonishing.
Of course, we were chased away by monsters and had to retreat quickly. But there, stacked high like a mountain of monster corpses, planted alongside a large torch, was unmistakably the Emperor’s Flag.
At first I thought I’d seen a mirage, it happened so fleetingly, but before long I spotted the same sight elsewhere. Inside the Gate where not even a whisper of wind blew, I found the Emperor’s Flag again.
Though we couldn’t get close enough to pierce through the monsters, the moment I saw it, strength surged within me.
“Everyone! His Majesty has come! He’s really here to rescue us!”
“Squeak! Squeeeeak!”
When I spotted the third Emperor’s Flag, we still couldn’t venture outside, but I could confirm that a battle was raging in the distance. If all went well, we might be able to signal our location and call for a rescue team.
“Serch, can you let them know we’re here?”
Serch spun in dizzying circles, weaving swiftly between the massive monsters and heading toward where we stood. The surroundings had grown pitch-black, yet Serch shone so brightly that I could see exactly where it was.
‘This time, Bloden will come for sure.’
Thump!
I was waiting with anticipation when suddenly the world before me went dark.
“Roar!”
“Squeal!”
Heart suddenly moved, pulling away from its position, and without Serch’s light, I couldn’t tell what was happening. I immediately pulled a lamp from my pocket dimension and examined the area around us.
A massive monster was wedging itself into the passage Serch had gone through. Soon its enormous body completely blocked the way.
‘Why? Why would it do that?’
It was utterly incomprehensible behavior, yet it didn’t take me long to realize this was Nelloa and Iturn’s scheme.
Every path we could have taken was now blocked by monster corpses.
“Hailey!”
“I’m here!”
Now the only way for the two spirits and me to move was along the passage where Bloden’s voice echoed.
“Ah, this doesn’t look good.”
It appeared we had to go through where Iturn was to get outside.

* * *

“Damn it.”
Bloden cursed, feeling the limits of his strength. It was fine that he’d severed Iturn’s second head with all his might, but eleven heads still remained. Moreover, his attacks weren’t even reaching the creature’s torso.
‘I need a different approach.’
Bloden retreated. Iturn’s breath followed in its wake, but the attack range wasn’t wide and came in a straight line, so dodging it was trivial.
But immediately after, something happened that sent Bloden’s rage soaring.
“Hailey!”
“Hailey!”
Iturn had begun calling out Hailey’s name in the exact same voice as his.
“That bastard!”
He wanted to turn right back and cut through every neck at once, but Bloden’s stamina had already taken a severe toll.
‘But calling her name like that… that means she’s alive, right?’
Bloden tried summoning Heart faintly. When he felt rejection come back, he was able to relax just a little.
Still, given the circumstances, he couldn’t help but worry whether Hailey had been hurt.
‘If anything happens to her… if anything at all…’
Just imagining it felt like the world was collapsing beneath him.
That’s when it happened.
—Compose yourself, Your Majesty.
Raven’s voice reached him from the Imperial Palace.
—Hailey will be waiting for you.
Kimarise had wavered under the influence of Bloden’s emotional state. Raven, sensing this, immediately sent her voice through.
—Tell her I know.
Through Kimarise, Bloden sent his reply to Raven and steeled his heart.
‘I’ll have to go directly through the passage that connects to the small passage.’
The small passage wasn’t marked on the map, but now it was the only way to find Hailey.
Yet monsters began swarming in, blocking access to the small passage.
No matter how many he cut down, there seemed to be no end—it felt as though every monster inside the gate was gathering under Iturn’s command.
‘A war of attrition.’
There was plenty of food Hailey had packed for him, but it was being consumed quickly. Prolonged attrition served no one but his enemy.
‘And now she won’t be able to trust my voice anymore.’
After thinking it through, Bloden ordered the commanders to stack the monsters they’d slain into a mountain. Then he planted a massive torch on top and unfurled the Emperor’s Flag so it would be clearly visible.
He needed to show Hailey that he was here.
If she saw it from a distance and sent any signal at all, he would pour all his strength into that direction.
Bloden’s judgment proved sound. Serch came flying toward him in the midst of battle.
But at the same time, his plan failed. Monsters swarmed from every direction, crashing against the wall, and some even squeezed into the small passage, blocking it with their bodies.
As Bloden studied the gate map Raven had prepared, he realized that the only path left for Hailey to escape was through where Iturn was.
After a moment’s deliberation, he dumped all of Hailey’s food from his pocket dimension and distributed it to the commanders.
Once all the commanders had recovered their mana, Bloden mounted Crockel’s back and issued an order to Dantarion.
“Command the commanders to draw that creature’s attention. While you do, I’ll go through the passage and rescue Hailey.”
Dantarion’s voice carried concern. “It’s a sound strategy, but we can’t defeat that thing, and it will summon more monsters.”

“Time is inevitably limited, and I’m concerned whether your sister will answer the master’s call. If she’s delayed, both of them will be in danger.”
“I know.”
Bloden clenched his fists.
“Still, there’s one way left to call Nuna.”
“Really? How?”
“I’ll call her name.”
“Her name? But that creature is calling out names too. The problem was we couldn’t tell the difference between that thing and His Majesty, wasn’t it?”
“There’s no confusion possible. So hold on as best you can while we get out of here.”
At Bloden’s resolute expression, Dantarion clenched his fists too and nodded firmly.
“We will burn our lives without reservation. No matter what happens, the master must survive and escape with your sister.”
As Dantarion spoke with grim determination, Crockel beside him let out a scoff and addressed Bloden.
—Master, that thing gets funnier the more I look at it. Even if a Commander dies, you can just summon us again, right?
“Master, I suddenly want to kill that mutt. What the hell did that mutt just say?”
As the two growled at each other, Bloden’s tension broke and he let out a short laugh.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.”

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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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