The Strongest Daughter-In-Law Of The Black Lion Family [EN]: Chapter 174

#174.

At that moment, Naaman began to chant in an ancient language.

“[From this moment, I reclaim the power of the Divine Beast from the beginning of time…]”.

The ground shook violently. The collar around Zerachiel’s neck tightened, and the chains connected to the altar began to shorten.

Clatter, crash!

“Kuh.”

Zerachiel, pressed tightly against the altar, struggled to loosen the collar. The more he struggled, the tighter it seemed to become.

Eventually, not only the collar but also the altar began to glow with golden light. I grabbed his hand.

“Zerachiel! Don’t touch it! Moving will only make it worse!”

Zerachiel stopped moving, but his face remained contorted in pain.

I quickly placed my hand on the altar.

Ebensev’s actions made everything clear.

She had been deceiving everyone, pretending to be Larien all along. Her goal wasn’t simply to chase traces of the Divine Beast.

She wanted to *become* Larien.

She harbored the insane idea of reuniting with the Divine Beast by becoming the Suin [a mythical creature or being] he loved.

That’s why she was recklessly pushing forward with this ritual.

But even if she succeeded, she couldn’t become me.

It seemed her plan was to forcibly return Zerachiel’s pheromones to me and then steal my body.

‘There’s no way you can meet the vanished Divine Beast again with such methods!’

If he were to return, he wouldn’t have left in the first place.

I couldn’t understand my sister’s insane thoughts. I had no choice but to intervene in this crazy ritual.

I began to release my original pheromones, not the ones I received from Ella, into the Mishr altar [a sacred place or object used in rituals].

Silver chains began to wrap around the golden altar. A pillar of pheromones erupted explosively.

Boom!

“Cher, sia, ah…”

Zerachiel grabbed my hand, his expression pained.

“Don’t, do it…”

Even in his pain, he seemed to want to stop me from doing something dangerous.

But I couldn’t allow it. If I let my sister have her way, something terrible would happen.

“It’s okay. Everything will be alright.”

With those words, I released all of my pheromones for the first time.

Snap.

I felt something breaking inside me, even stronger than when I stopped Zachari’s rampage.

“Ugh.”

I vomited blood. At the same time, Naaman coughed up blood and collapsed.

“Cough!”

“No, no! Get up, get up!”

Ebensev shook Naaman, but the light had already left his eyes.

My intervention had disrupted the ritual, and now I held the initiative.

“Cough—!”

I clutched my chest and collapsed onto the altar. I needed to stop the ritual quickly, but it was more difficult than I had anticipated.

“Cherish!”

In my fading consciousness, I heard Zerachiel’s voice, filled with anguish, as he held me.

I wasn’t even dead yet, but his reaction was extreme. Zerachiel was reacting so strongly because the past trauma of Larien dying in place of Vasily had been triggered. But I had no way of knowing that at this moment.

“I’m okay… Ugh.”

The more I spoke, the more nauseous I felt. I couldn’t explain anything and was just panting when something unbelievable happened.

“Larien! Please!”

Did I hear wrong?

I wanted to ask again, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak. I had no strength left.

Haa, it would be so unfair to die like this…

But I’m so sleepy.

With such trivial thoughts, my eyelids slowly closed.

The roar grew fainter.

Then, I saw pheromones exploding, but I didn’t know whose they were, and I fainted.

* * *

Zerachiel hugged the unconscious Cherish and wept.

The moment Cherish used pheromones to intervene in the ritual, golden heterochromia [having different colored eyes] appeared in her eyes, just as when she had suppressed Zachari’s rampage.

Zerachiel felt danger instinctively.

He felt like Cherish would die if things continued like this.

He couldn’t lose her again, helplessly, in front of his eyes.

Zerachiel’s eyes, filled with madness, turned to the altar glowing with golden light.

Mishr Altar.

A space to offer pheromones to the Divine Beast.

A terrifying rumor existed: anyone who recklessly tried to offer sacrifices would have their pheromones taken away.

So much so that even Hebel’s head was only allowed to enter the sacred ground at permitted times.

Zerachiel recalled the rumor and smiled bitterly.

It wasn’t a confirmed story. It might have been a false story created to warn those who tried to enter Mishr recklessly.

But at this moment, that was all that filled Zerachiel’s mind.

He had no intention of having his power taken away.

He would rather get rid of this wretched power himself.

Zerachiel began to pour his pheromones into the altar.

And at that moment, an anomaly occurred.

* * *

Zerachiel was once again drawn to an unknown place.

This seemed to be the Divine Beast’s memory that he had only heard about.

The Divine Beast was accepting his pheromones.

Zerachiel naturally thought that the Divine Beast would reject his pheromones, or even take them away, thinking he was resentful.

Because he had driven Larien to her death.

But the Divine Beast was leading Zerachiel in an unexpected direction.

The Divine Beast’s memory was showing him the story of his past self, Vasily.

Even from the moment Larien died in his arms.

He didn’t know why he was being shown such memories.

Zerachiel fell deeply into the painful memory.

* * *

The unwanted time had come. He knew this day would come, but he hoped it wouldn’t be today.

Vasily swallowed his tears.

Six years of living with Larien.

Last night, Larien passed away in Vasily’s arms.

‘I was happy.’

Larien returned to the embrace of nature with a peaceful face, leaving behind him and her son alone.

The soul’s other half leaving first caused a more intense pain than he had imagined.

When night came, he couldn’t sleep because he thought of Larien. It wasn’t easy to chew and swallow food or drink water.

Like a withering flower, Vasily withered away. The place he visited was Hebel.

Thanks to the power he received from Larien, he was able to maintain human form even in Hebel. Recognizing that fact made Vasily even more miserable.

Because it was he who killed Larien in the end.

“What’s going on?”

The Divine Beast did not refuse his visit. Taking this as an opportunity, Vasily knelt down and begged.

“Please save Larien.”

“Are you going to reverse that child’s choice?”

“I have never needed such power. I just…!”

“You’ve taken everything and now you don’t need it.”

The Divine Beast looked down at him coldly. But he couldn’t just blame him. In a way, the Black Lion in front of him was also a victim.

The Divine Beast looked at the Black Lion, who had become emaciated in a few days, and sighed lowly.

“You foolish fellows.”

The Divine Beast was also saddened by Larien’s death, just like him. And he knew very well that Ebensev was the one who urged her death.

Was it because they shared the same sadness of parting? Or was it because of the golden eyes that resembled Larien?

The Divine Beast, whose heart had weakened, uttered words that he didn’t have to say, purely out of impulse.

“I shouldn’t have allowed someone like you to stay by that child’s side in the first place.”

“You’re right. So if you’re going to punish someone, it should have been me.”

A blue light flickered in Vasily’s eyes. He looked like he would do anything to save Larien.

The Divine Beast said to him.

“You said you wanted to be punished.”

“…Yes. So let me meet Larien again. Please.”