This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 247

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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 247

Dantarion, wearing Bloden’s face, stood at the vanguard and barked orders at the Commanders.
“Advance! Tear that filthy monster’s head to shreds!”
“Roaaaaah!”
The roar of the Demon Lord’s Army echoed deafening through the passage.
Iturn unleashed his Breath toward the oncoming Commanders. But none of them fell to it—Bloden had taught them the evasion patterns well enough.
As the Commanders rushed in as one, Nelloa, who’d been resting on Iturn’s head, startled awake.
“Oh no, what do I do! There are so many of them!”
-Don’t worry. This won’t even leave a scratch on me. No need to summon the other Monsters.
Iturn tore into the Commanders with his other heads while his main one carried Nelloa, thrashing his necks like whips to fling them aside.
Once reassured, Nelloa settled back to rest—then her eyes snapped half-open.
“Iturn, is that really Bloden? Where’s the wolf?”
-What?
Iturn scanned the surroundings carefully. Sure enough, the real Bloden, riding his wolf and trailing light, was leaping into the Small Passage.
“Where are you looking, you jellyfish bastard!”
In that instant, Dantarion’s blade drove into Iturn’s neck.
-Ugh! A feint attack!
Enraged, Iturn summoned a swarm of Monsters to his aid.
“Roaaaaah!”
“Kwoooooh!”
Soon a chaotic melee erupted, Commanders and Monsters mixed together. Iturn unleashed Breath at the Commanders, tearing through them, all while screaming continuously into the Small Passage.
“Nuna!”
“Hailey!”
Iturn’s shouts, woven through the Breath and carnage, began to echo like reverberations down the Small Passage.

* * *

“I’ve come to rescue you!”
“Hurry and come out!”
Bloden’s voice carried through the passage, echoing again and again.
‘It really could be Bloden.’
I knew he was coming.
Still, I couldn’t rush out recklessly. I stayed seated, leaning against Heart.
The only way out was where Iturn was fighting, so for now, the wisest choice was to wait until Bloden found me.
“Squeeeek.”
Heart, watching in the direction of Bloden’s voice, plopped down onto its belly, and Camen lay flat as well.
How long had we waited?
“……ing!”
At a voice calling from far away, I lifted myself up.
“Squeeeek?”
“Shh.”
Waiting quietly for a moment, Bloden’s voice rang out several times over.
“Nuna!”
“Answer me!”
“Hailey!”
“Where are you!”
“Sojung Kim!”
At that last name, a tremor raced through my entire body, and I jumped to my feet and cried out.
“I’m here!”
“Squeeeek!”
Alarmed, Heart quickly shook its head in denial, while Camen frantically drew an X on its body in chalk.
They were worried—if I shouted loud enough here, smaller Monsters would swarm in.
But there was no time to think further.

‘What’s your name?’
‘Sojung Kim.’
‘Sojung Kim? That’s an unusual name.’

There was no way Iturn could have known that name. No matter how perfectly he mimicked Bloden’s voice, it was a name only Bloden himself could speak.
“Sojung Kim!”
Bloden’s voice rang out again.
“I hear you! I’m here!”
Holding back my tears, I answered and began moving toward the direction of his voice, following it through the darkness.
“Nuna!”
“Hailey!”
The voices calling for Nuna and Hailey tangled together, and tears kept streaming down, blurring my vision. But I paid no mind and pursued only the voice calling out Sojung Kim’s name.
Bloden was close. He was near.
“Sojung Kim!”
“Your Majesty!”
We called back and forth to each other, and by the time I thought the distance between us had grown quite small, it happened.
“Gruuuurgh!”
“Kyrik!”
Monsters swarmed at the sound of my voice, countless numbers converging from all sides—but Serch appeared just in time, and the area blazed with light.
“Shrieeee!”
Heart, wreathed in fierce flames across his entire body, began incinerating the monsters. Camen, his form enlarged, crushed them beneath his weight.
“Craaagh!”
Crockel appeared from nowhere like an arrow and began lashing out at the monsters with vicious strikes.
In the same moment, my gaze shot upward.
Bloden, springing up from Crockel’s back, cut down all the monsters that had been charging at me in a single, sweeping arc.
What followed was the feel of his enormous hands and the solid warmth of his chest.
“Hailey! Hailey! Hailey!”
He pulled me into a fierce embrace, his voice breaking with tears, and pressed his lips frantically to my forehead and hair.
My breath caught as if my lungs might burst, but it didn’t matter.
“Bloden! Bloden!”
I clung to him just as fiercely, sobbing his name aloud.
“Woof! Woof!”
At the sound of Crockel’s bark, I became aware of my surroundings—Crockel and the spirits had already disposed of every monster that had swarmed toward us.
Only then did I reach out and touch Bloden’s face. He offered me his tear-dampened cheek and asked gently.
“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“And you, Your Majesty?”
We checked each other carefully for injuries, then climbed onto Crockel’s back.
“We need to get out of here, quickly.”
“Shreep.”
Heart and Camen shrunk back to their smaller forms and clung to Crockel’s neck.
Crockel bolted forward, and we emerged from the passage.
Until that moment, I believed we would escape through the Gate safely, together.
But I was wrong.
The instant we emerged into open space, Bloden pulled me close, and everything went dark before my eyes again.

* * *

“We found Hailey!”
When Kimarise burst out the words in Bloden’s office, tears of joy streaming down his face, Raven let out a breath of relief.
‘Finally, everything will be resolved.’
He then began working through a hundred different plans to resolve Bloden and Hailey’s false marriage situation as quickly as possible and have them properly married again.
‘It’ll take time to change the law and hold a state wedding, so I can use that window to eliminate Anna Beldenburo and her conspirators, right?’
But moments later, Kimarise’s demeanor became strange. He rose abruptly from his seat, his face draining of color as his lips began to tremble.
“What exactly…… is happening?”
“What’s wrong?”
Raven’s casual question received a response that set off every alarm.
“Our lord has lost consciousness.”
“……What?”
Raven sprang to his feet.
“Lost consciousness? What do you mean by that?”
“I’m not sure. We made it out of the passage where Iturn was, but suddenly our lord’s consciousness cut out.”
“Since you’re still here, he can’t have…… He passed out? He just lost consciousness?”
Even as Raven spoke, confusion gripped him.
A Commander would never speak in such terms merely because Bloden had fainted or fallen asleep. Death or a coma—only something of that magnitude warranted saying his consciousness had been severed.
But if his majesty fell into that state, his commanders would naturally scatter and return to the Abyss Realm. If Kimarise’s words were true, he shouldn’t be standing before Raven at all.
“Hey, check properly. Are your senses intact?”
“How could I be mistaken about that?”
At Kimarise’s bewildered reply, Raven’s heart sank.
“I should be gone by now. So why am I still here?”
Kimarise, who had been running his hands over his head and body, suddenly turned to Raven with urgency.
“I’m going to the Main Gate!”
“Wait, hold on—”
Before Raven could even grab him, Kimarise vanished.
……
Raven wanted nothing more than to rush north himself, but he clenched his fists and bit down on his lip.
‘Stay calm. His Majesty entrusted me with a duty.’
No matter what happened, he had to protect the Imperial Palace.
If anything befell Bloden and he abandoned his post, Anna would seize the throne without hesitation.

* * *

Damn.
It had gone well enough—holding back Iturn’s countless heads and dispatching the monsters.
But the one head stationed directly above the passage Bloden had entered, its jaws gaping wide, he couldn’t reach.
That head managed to swallow Bloden and Hailey whole as they emerged from the Small Passage.
Dantarion had thrown everything at it to stop it, but only managed to wrench Crockel free from its teeth.
Yelp! Bark-bark!
Crockel’s silver back ran red from Iturn’s fangs, but the creature paid no mind and charged at Iturn again.
Growl! Bark-bark-bark!
Serch, Heart—who had swelled to enormous size in an instant—and Camen all lunged for Iturn’s heads.
But their attacks did nothing. Iturn’s head, repositioned in place, clung tight to the body like a turtle retracting into its shell.
Soon, Durahan and the other commanders began scattering into the void one by one.
‘Damn. Even if I reverse time, His Majesty won’t survive.’
Seeing unmistakable signs that Bloden had lost consciousness, Dantarion felt despair wash over him and pressed his forehead.
Attempting Time Reversal again was impossible no matter how he thought about it. So he had no idea what to do.

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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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