The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 168

#168.

Before I could stop him, Ebensev plunged her sword into Zerachiel’s abdomen. It happened in the blink of an eye.

“No!”

I let out a sharp scream and squeezed my eyes shut. The moment I opened my trembling eyelids, tears burst forth.

“Gasp.”

‘Is she really crazy?’

His blood pooled beneath the altar. Whether it was an illusion or not, I needed to check if Zerachiel was safe first.

I jumped up as if I had never hesitated.

“Ha—! I’m going, I’m going!”

I stormed out of the secret chamber and ran towards the Mishr River. Even as I ran, I checked to make sure the Insulation Dagger was secure in my pocket.

I was prepared to stab her if things went south. My life is precious too, after all.

Outside, the sun was already setting. As the time to meet Ella and Heathcliff approached, the invisibility was about to wear off.

“Kirin! Go to Ella!”

At those words, Kirin’s jewel disappeared. Then, Tabi’s jewel sparkled.

— Calm down. A Black Lion won’t die that easily.

‘Some comfort that is…….’

She seemed worried that I had fallen for Ebensev’s provocation.

I glanced at Tabi even in the urgent situation.

“I know. I know, but I can’t help but worry.”

— …….

“And I’m not going without a plan. You know that, right?”

— ……If it seems too dangerous, I’ll take you and run away.

“Sounds like a good idea?”

— Ugh!

Tabi didn’t try to stop me any further.

Thanks to that, I was spared the nagging and hurried to Mishr.

Then, I immediately reached out to Zerachiel on the altar.

“Zerachiel!”

It wasn’t an illusion after all. The moment I realized that, I felt relieved by my choice.

Without hesitation, I used pheromones to heal Zerachiel. Only after his wounds healed did I collapse with trembling legs.

“Haa, damn it……. I thought I was going to be late.”

Seriously, the Black Lion is always so much trouble, now and then.

I stroked Zerachiel’s cheek and let out a sigh of relief.

‘How did I fall for such a good-looking guy?’

I must not be normal either.

“Ugh, what is all this?”

I hurriedly untied the ropes binding Zerachiel’s hands and feet.

But I couldn’t untie the rope around his neck. The collar-like shape was already connected to the altar.

“Um, how do I untie this?”

I tried to use force to untie the collar, but it was no use. In the first place, I was a ferret far from having any strength.

There was no way I could do what Zerachiel couldn’t.

With no other choice, I started shaking Zerachiel to wake him up.

“Wake up, Ricky!”

Now is not the time to be sleeping!

Slap, slap.

I even slapped his cheeks, but he showed no signs of waking up. It seemed he wasn’t just asleep.

Then, I heard a voice from behind.

“You’ll never wake him up that way.”

“Ebensev…….”

Turning around, I saw Naaman by her side. Judging by their attire, they looked ready to perform a sacrifice.

‘Surely the sacrifice isn’t me and Zerachiel, is it?’

As I was thinking that, Ebensev said.

“He’s already in a deep sleep. If you leave him, he’ll never wake up.”

At Ebensev’s appearance, Tabi stood guard in front of me, on high alert. Protected by Tabi, I confronted Ebensev.

“What did you do to Zerachiel?”

“I just made him obedient because he kept resisting.”

Ebensev covered her mouth with her sleeve and smiled slyly.

“He’s probably having a very long nightmare. How pitiful.”

“If I let you lure me in as you wanted, shouldn’t you return him to his normal state?”

“I said I’d tell you the truth, but I didn’t say I’d wake him up in perfect condition. If you want to wake him up so badly, why don’t you do it yourself?”

Ebensev reached out her hand.

“Choose. Will you obediently give me your body and wake him up, or will you lose him before your eyes and have your body taken?”

“Either way, it’s a win-win for you, isn’t it?”

“Even if that’s the case, isn’t that all you can do?”

“You won’t get what you want even if you take my body.”

I won’t let you.

I stalled for time, letting her get closer. Fortunately, she seemed to think it was just bluffing from me, cornered as I was.

“We’ll have to see about that.”

At that moment, Ebensev came right up to me. It was the moment she was about to kiss my forehead as if blessing me.

Without hesitation, I plunged the Insulation Dagger into her chest.

Right then.

“How annoying.”

“!”

Before I could be surprised by the familiar voice, Zerachiel stood between me and Ebensev.

For some reason, his energy felt extremely ominous.

* * *

When Zerachiel fell into a deep sleep due to Ebensev.

He had a strange dream. A dream of watching a woman every day.

The woman had silver hair and golden eyes. As soon as Zerachiel saw her, he recognized her.

Saint Larien.

At the same time, he realized that he was in the form of Vasily, the first patriarch [founder of their clan].

“Hello, Babi?”

Larien seemed quite fond of the Black Lion. She couldn’t humanize, so all she could do was communicate by writing with her front paws.

Seeing that, Zerachiel suddenly realized. This was the memory of Vasily Bjorn Zabisi, the first patriarch of Zabisi.

And the reason he was reading that memory was simple. He was the reincarnation of that first patriarch.

‘So that’s what happened.’

Zerachiel smiled helplessly.

He had guessed that he was somewhat related to that person since he had power comparable to the first patriarch.

But he never imagined that he would be the first patriarch himself.

Now that he had read Vasily’s memories, he couldn’t deny that he was his past life.

Besides, there was another strange thing.

He saw Chelsia in Larien. They clearly had different faces. Strangely, he felt the same attraction as when he first met Chelsia.

Her stroking touch, the scent lingering at the tip of his nose, even the way she walked towards him.

Even then, Zerachiel didn’t realize that the two were the same being.

Rather, he was just trying to find a way to wake up from this ridiculous dream.

After all, the past was just the past. It wasn’t the time to be listening to the love story of a crazy Black Lion who fell in love and poisoned his descendants.

But even waking up wasn’t something he could choose. Zerachiel felt helpless.

Was this karma? How funny it must be to see him suffering, trapped in the madness he created.

He had to wake up from this ridiculous spell and find Chelsia. He didn’t know where or how she might be in danger at this very moment.

No matter how hard he struggled, it seemed there was no way for Zerachiel to wake up from the dream on his own. Rather, he became more and more assimilated with Vasily as time passed.

The name Chelsia became distant, and he spent more and more time purring on Larien’s lap.

* * *

Back in the era before the formation of clan-based families.

Unlike the beasts that roamed in packs, the Black Lion Vasily was always alone before he met Larien.

Everyone avoided him. It was rumored that he was a madman who would chase you to the end of the continent and bite you if you bothered him.

Vasily was more comfortable with no one by his side. He liked being alone.

Larien was the first to let him into her life.

In fact, the Black Lion was quite strong even before inheriting power from Larien. Unlike other beastmen who received pheromones from the divine beast, he had pheromones from the beginning.

So there was nothing to fear. He also had no reverence for the divine beast. In fact, he was so uninterested in worldly affairs that he only learned later that the origin of pheromones was the divine beast.

Just a repetition of a boring daily life. Just when he was tired of it, he happened to hear a rumor about a beastman living in a place called Hebel.