The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 162

#162.

Zakari’s face darkened noticeably at the mention of Hebel.

“Of all places, Hebel. This is going to be difficult. I doubt pheromones will work properly there.”

“Why not just force your way through? If you tell Father, one of the families will help. Even if you can’t use pheromones, you can overpower them, right?”

Rachel growled as if she would form a force right away. Cersia shook her head and said firmly,

“No. It’s even more dangerous to let the Others gather there. The opponent is a corrupted Saintess who has lived alone for a thousand years, so she knows a lot.”

Immediately after returning, she had confirmed something through Ella: the conditions for accepting Others in Hebel, which had become the last line of defense.

‘They demanded pheromone stones containing the pheromones of each tribe.’

‘Pheromone stones?’

‘Yes. They wouldn’t accept anyone who didn’t have a certain amount of pheromones stored.’

I wondered why they were handing out pheromone stones.

Why is Hebel collecting the pheromones of all the Others?

It’s hard to call it mere collecting, since pheromones are useless in Hebel.

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, the conclusion was inevitable.

That might be the condition for Ebensebe to use the Saintess relic.

“Zerachiel is brainwashed by them right now. He’s going to be used to forcibly collect the pheromones of the Others and do terrible things.”

It was fortunate that the Ruby of Binding could only bind one Other. If there were no restrictions, Ebensebe wouldn’t have waited until now.

Zakari said,

“Then what are you planning to do? There isn’t an Other on this continent who can stop my son.”

“I can reverse it. It seems my original pheromones have the property of neutralizing the pheromones of the Others.”

“Neutralizing?”

Zakari asked back with a face that said he had never seen such a pheromone. Cersia scratched her cheek and replied,

“Actually, when I first encountered Zerachiel, his pheromones didn’t affect me much. It was the same with Erhaden later.”

“That can’t be.”

“And… after the last seizure, I felt like the limitations on my power had disappeared. If it’s inside Hebel, I might be able to cure Zerachiel’s madness.”

“I suppose so. If the power that healed me has become complete, then even more so.”

Zakari murmured, recalling when Cersia had healed his madness. He was relieved to hear that Zerachiel’s madness could also be cured.

He had always worried that he might have taken away the only chance his son had to live.

Then Cersia said,

“So, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”

“Anything. I’ll do whatever it takes to help, as far as my power reaches.”

He looked like he wanted to help in any way possible. But the more he did, the more resistance was expected to what she was about to say. Even so, it was something that had to be overcome once.

Cersia said with a firm face,

“I’m thinking of going to Hebel before they use Zerachiel.”

“Okay. Let’s go together.”

“No. I mean, I’m going alone. You two have other things to do separately.”

“What?”

Zakari blinked at the unexpected words. Then Rachel was startled and joined the conversation.

“Dear, that’s out of the question! Didn’t you just say that what they want is you and Riki?”

Rachel’s reaction was natural.

The opponent already knew that she was the reincarnation of Larien. Only Larien could see the White Door.

So, going into the tiger’s den on her own seemed foolish.

But she couldn’t be swayed by Ebensebe’s plans forever. If it was inevitable, she needed to stir up the mud like a catfish and overturn the board.

Meanwhile, Zakari did not readily object and watched Cersia. He was trying to gauge what she was thinking.

In his opinion, Cersia didn’t say anything unnecessary. Rather, her firm face showed determination.

Stopping her would only delay the time. At times like this, he had no choice but to trust his daughter-in-law like a father-in-law.

Zakari said,

“Judging by how confidently you’re speaking, you seem to know a safe way to get in.”

“Of course.”

“What are you planning to do after that?”

Rachel butted in, furious at the smooth progress of the conversation.

“Zakari! You’re not really thinking of sending our daughter-in-law, are you? Tell me no, quickly!”

“Our son is captured. Is there any other Other here besides Cersia who can save him?”

“But Cersia is too small and weak! How can she with those pebble-sized hands… !”

“No, she’s not weak. It was her power that freed me from madness. At that time, I felt overwhelmed by that child.”

“But…”

“Either way, there’s no other way. We should at least trust her so that Cersia feels better, right? If we oppose her too, it will only make our daughter-in-law feel more difficult.”

Rachel still couldn’t agree, but she turned her head away, looking at the stubborn couple. She knew what they meant, but she couldn’t help but worry.

“Do as you please.”

In the end, she also expressed her intention not to stop them. Cersia brought up the next main point only after seeing that the situation was roughly settled.

“So, while I’m in Hebel, there’s something else I’d like to ask of Father and Mother.”

She began to speak solemnly, as if this was what she really wanted to say. Naturally, Zakari and Rachel also began to feel nervous.

* * *

After consulting with Zakari and Rachel, I immediately grasped Zerachiel’s location.

Knowing that I and Zerachiel were bonded, the opponent changed Zerachiel’s location from moment to moment.

As if wanting to confuse me. And the last location I identified was, of course, inside Hebel.

From then on, I couldn’t feel Zerachiel’s location at all. Probably evidence that he was trapped in a space that even the bond couldn’t detect.

Even though I knew it was an obvious lure, I ended up leaving for Hebel.

‘There are already quite a few madmen I’ve encountered on the way to Hebel.’

I tried to suppress my anxious heart.

Since the purpose of this journey was to infiltrate Hebel secretly, only Ella and Heathcliff were with me.

And the fastest way to Hebel was through the unprotected area ruled by Kanehri.

As soon as we entered the area, surprisingly, several madmen began to appear. It seemed they were already trying to work under the surface.

Ella muttered, slitting the throat of a madman,

“They must have spread the epidemic from the most vulnerable places.”

“Come to think of it, they said they lost contact with Kanehri.”

When arriving in Sarvan territory, Zerachiel entrusted Kanehri with the distribution of Alru, which would stop my seizures.

They were exchanging contact almost every day and concluding a stable distribution.

Suddenly, contact was lost from Kanehri’s side, and a messenger was sent the day before I had the accident.

‘Ivan said that there was no contact after that. The messenger didn’t come either.’

Then something must have happened here where Kanehri is.

“I think I should go to Kanehri before going to Hebel.”

With those words, we headed to Kanehri’s base.

And the situation we saw was like a siege.

“What is that?”

The gate of the base was tightly closed. And in front of the gate, there were swarms of madmen.

A scene like watching a horde of zombies. Just in time, Kanehri’s subordinate, who was shooting arrows from the ramparts, recognized us.

“Oh!”

When I waved my hand, the subordinate quickly hid and brought Kanehri.

As soon as Kanehri saw us, he shouted loudly.

“Are you okay?!”

Judging by the fact that he was checking our condition right away, this situation had been going on for quite some time.

I made a megaphone with my hands and shouted,

“As you can see!”

“I can’t open the gate now! So, dig a tunnel yourself… !”

While Kanehri was shouting, the gate began to crack with a creaking sound.