Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 188

“Nooooo!”

A sorrowful cry echoed.

But Ruatisha was no longer visible.

The resonating magic disappeared as the defensive barrier shattered.

Duke Paeraton forced his magic back in, stronger and more desperately.

The intense magic seemed to scorch the space, stirring the wind and shaking the air.

Large beads of sweat streamed down Duke Paeraton’s forehead, showing how much magic he was expending.

His face, which had remained composed even when facing dozens, even hundreds of monsters alone on the battlefield, was now a mess of contorted emotions.

I would gladly die right here.

So please, just one more glimpse of my daughter’s face—.

Please.

But nothing happened.

Since there was no magic resonating with his on the other side, it didn’t matter how much magic he mustered here.

“……”

Duke Paeraton’s lips parted.

But no sound came out.

No weeping, no groaning, not even his beloved daughter’s name.

He simply gasped for air, as if he had forgotten how to breathe.

– I love you.

His daughter’s last words echoed in his mind.

What must she have been feeling when she smiled like that?

She was scared, she was afraid, she had looked so frightened just moments before.

Yet she smiled so brightly, without a hint of darkness, dazzlingly—.

“……”

The tendons in Duke Paeraton’s jaw stood out.

That child was only thinking of others even at that moment.

Thud!

Ixion, who had been thrown out of the gate, approached it again.

“I told you to wait,” Ixion muttered, reaching out towards the gate.

Thud!
Ares once again caught Ixion as he was thrown back.

“……?”

Ixion looked up at Ares with surprised eyes.

Ares avoided his gaze and walked towards the gate, saying,

“Because I said I would definitely go.”

“I will find her,” Zeon murmured, reaching out towards the gate.

Duke Paeraton watched his sons, then rose from his spot.

His face was filled with a firmer resolve than ever before.

“Yes. I must go to her.”

No one said it, but the family shared the same thought.

Even if the child had already passed away, they would go to retrieve her body.

They would not let her die alone.

“……”

Sidrian stared at the gate beyond the backs of the Paeraton men.

Having always lived with despair, the boy was all the more composed within it.

The despair and pain shown by the Geumji [a clan or group known for their stoicism] could only be waited out until they disappeared.

There was no other way but to endure.

But now, at least, he could move his own body as he pleased.

Sidrian clenched his fist tightly.

The backs of the Paeraton family were clearly etched in his eyes.

– I love you.

That last word.

It wasn’t meant for him.

So—.

‘I will definitely send her back.’

Into their arms.

The massive crimson sphere was already only half the size it had been when he first saw it.

It was shrinking slowly, but steadily.

“A gate that has swallowed a sacrifice will never open again. Now, it can only close…….”

‘There isn’t much time left.’

Once that closes, the connection to the other side will have to be re-established.

This is a gate that Muriel Shavonne opened at the cost of her own life.

Muriel, who is already almost out of breath, will not be able to open the gate again.

So, he had to enter before the sphere disappeared completely.

* * *

At that moment.

Inside Ruatisha’s room in the Paeraton mansion.

The petals of the flower, neatly placed in a potion bottle, fluttered.

‘Mama!’

A faint, echoing sob.

At the same time, the flower bloomed.

The fully bloomed petals scattered with a rustling sound, spinning around.

The petals, which resembled delicate fresh flowers, hard and sparkling jewels, and soft animal fur, danced in the air.

The petals, which seemed to float freely, gathered and scattered repeatedly, connecting spaces, and soon gathered in one place.

The sphere formed by the gathered petals had the shape of an egg.

Thump, thump.

A pulsating egg.

The next moment, the gathered petals scattered in all directions.

Whoosh!

A shower of petals covered the surroundings.

“Kyaung!”

With a small cry, a tiny figure burst through the shower of petals.

For the first time in hundreds of years, a mythical beast’s egg had hatched, and a new mythical beast was born.

The mythical beast raised its head amidst the fluttering flower rain.

“Mama!”

A desperate cry.

With that, the mythical beast’s form blurred.

* * *

“Mama!”

At the childish cry, the Paeraton men and Sidrian turned their heads—towards something that had appeared out of nowhere.

‘An animal? No.’

‘A doll?’

‘A monster?’

‘A chimera?’

—Something was rushing towards the gate.

If one had to categorize it, it looked most like a divine beast [a creature of immense power and often associated with gods or spirits].

‘But there’s no way such a young divine beast could exist.’

“Mama!”

But why is it going to the gate while calling for its mother?

‘Could it be.’

The mythical beast’s egg that had been presented as a tribute at Duke Paeraton’s coming-of-age banquet was being cared for by Ruatisha.

The Paeraton men stared at the bizarre creature with horrified eyes.

“A mythical beast?!”

Bang, bang!

The mythical beast struck the gate with its thick forepaws.

“Mama! Mama!”

The power was immense, but its whimpering made it look exactly like a motherless cub.

They were briefly taken aback by this sudden sight, but they soon realized the most important fact.

‘It’s damaging the gate?’

The gate, which had absorbed all attacks and repelled everyone who touched it, was being directly hit by the mythical beast’s forepaws.

Bang! Bang, bang! Bang!

Whimper, whimper, pant, pant.

The mythical beast licked its injured forepaws and then unleashed its forepaw strikes again.

Bang!

“It can inflict damage, but it doesn’t seem to be able to enter.”

“……But the gate has stopped shrinking.”

Listening to the conversation between father and son, Sidrian quietly watched the gate and the mythical beast.

In his eyes, the faint red evil energy leaking from the damaged gate due to the mythical beast’s attack was reflected.

* * *

“Huff, huff.”

I was gasping for breath.

It was already strangely difficult to breathe, but now I wondered if I would die from suffocation rather than being killed by a monster.

‘No. I won’t die.’

I gritted my teeth.

Without even looking back at the eerie energy, I rolled my body.

Kwaaaang!

A mace the size of a pillar slammed down exactly where I had been.

Without checking anything, I immediately got up and ran.

I had no feeling in my legs, and my head was dizzy from lack of oxygen.

‘It’s okay. No need to think. Just move.’

I’m moving even though I have no feeling, so that’s enough.

But I also know.

No matter how much I run, I’ll soon be caught.

– Mama! Mama!

Again.

The word ‘Mama’ had been echoing in my head since earlier.

‘Are those things calling me Mama?’

Ugh, disgusting.

“I’ve never had children like you. Find your mother somewhere else!”

But there’s no way a monster would listen to me.

It was then.

Thud!

The tree in front of me swayed and began to fall.

As I dodged this way and that, they attacked the tree to block my escape route.

‘Damn it!’

I turned to avoid the falling tree.

But.

“Ah!”

My legs, which were already beyond their limit, couldn’t keep up with the sudden change in direction.

Thud!

If I stop, I’ll die.

I tried to get up straight away while still lying on the ground.

But a pitch-black shadow had already fallen over me.

When I turned my head, a monster with a decaying corpse-like appearance was looking down at me.

Behind it, a monster with ten eyes was grinning with all its eyes wide open.

‘I won’t die. I absolutely won’t die. I can’t die.’

I absolutely can’t die when I think of my dad and brothers.

‘Ixion is such a glass cannon [someone powerful but easily defeated].’

If I die, Zeon won’t be able to live among people again.

And Ares is subtly causing accidents that scare other people, so I have to keep a close eye on him.

And, and.

Dad.

Our dad—.

Tears welled up.

‘Dad, Grandpa, Zeon, Ares, Ixion.’

I bit my lip tightly.

The monster is in front, and the fallen tree is blocking the back.

A straight tree is on the right, and a cliff is on the left.

The monster, seeing my gaze, shook its mace.

Without hesitation, I rolled my body off the cliff.

Kwaaaang!

Just before falling, I saw the scene of the mace splitting the tree that had been on my right.

“Keuh! Ugh…….”

I tried to protect my head as much as possible, but when a protruding rock struck my waist and back, I could barely breathe.

Fortunately, it was a low cliff, only about twice my height, and there were bushes below, so nothing broke.

‘But I sprained it.’

I limped to my feet.

The monster probably didn’t think I would fall off the cliff.

Creak, creeeak.

The spider-legged monster, looking down at me from above, laughed at the decaying monster.

I bit my lip and ran again.

But.

Thud!

The decaying monster, which had jumped off the cliff, blocked my path.

It was hard to tell its expression with its face melting, but it seemed quite angry.

‘Damn it…….’

The reason I’ve been able to survive until now is that these monsters haven’t been trying to kill me seriously.

They treated me like a toy that they could kill at any time, a good toy to play with.

But now, they seemed to be getting tired of this game.

‘I can’t……escape.’

Am I going to die?

Like this?

It was then.

– Pioneer…… I was just going to watch…….

– Hundreds of years…… the baby is …… crying, so I can’t help…… it. I will…….

‘What?’

At the same time, a notification window appeared in front of me.

[The Spirit World is requesting contact with the reader.]

[A price is required.]

[Do you accept?]

A price?

But whatever it is, I had to accept it now.

‘Accept!’

[You have accepted contact with the Spirit World.]

[The Spirit Aktsheraken is contacting the reader.]

At the same time as that notification, the buzzing voice became clear.

– You’re still alive there, flower thief.

Flower thief?

No, that’s not what’s important now.

The monsters stopped moving at the light that radiated from me along with the contact notification.

But this light was fading.

‘They’ll attack me again when the light disappears completely.’

I was desperate.

“Um, are you a Spirit? Can you get me out of here?”

– Impossible.

– Once a gate is opened, it must devour a sacrifice.

– And what the gate has swallowed is you. You are the sacrifice, so there is no choice.

“Then…… then what can you do for me?”

The Spirit laughed at my words.

– What can I do? That’s a bold question.

– It’s presumptuous for a human to dare ask me for anything. Can you bear the price?

“I can bear it. Anything. Because I have to go back.”

The Spirit was silent for a moment at my words.

I swallowed the words I was about to urge, suppressing my anxious heart.

– I can share my power. To survive a little longer.

– But in the end, the result is the same. For humans, that place is like inhaling poison just by breathing.

– The reason you’re barely holding on is probably because of the faint aura of the Evil God flowing through you.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

In the end, dying here is the same?

– Choose, Pioneer.

– To die in an instant, or to prolong your life painfully for a little longer and then die.

I got up again and again, countless times.

When even the hope that came at the last moment disappeared, it felt like the ground was collapsing under my feet.

A dizzying sensation of falling into an abyss.

The faces of my family came to mind.

And two more faces.

– That choice is entirely up to the Pioneer%*#$*(@

What?

[Error!]

[Interference has occurred in the contact system!]