The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Household Wants A Divorce-Chapter 122: Showing Their True Colors

“We’ll evacuate. Margrave, can you accept that?”

“Abandon the Malidan Barrier and run? I swore I’d rather die first.”

Uldiran clicked his tongue. In the previous life he had indeed died here, and even now he was ready to do the same.

But the situation had shifted, if only a little.

“There’s a separate exit in the underground. The prison was relocated down there too, so the passage should still be intact—though I can’t say where it lets out.”

He added that the tunnel might well have collapsed midway.

None of the northern soldiers so much as flinched; they already knew. Even with death at their heels, the idea of retreat apparently never crossed their minds.

“Then let’s head there.”

With the destination set, they hurried below.

Whether cowed by the cold or by Uldiran’s aura, no transcendent creatures blocked the deserted first floor.

“...Hold on.”

Rihanna frowned and raised a hand. Halfway down the stairs the party stopped.

A faint murmur drifted up from the darkness—and to Rihanna’s ears it was all too clear.

“They’ve spotted us.”

She spoke flatly, hefting her greatsword and taking the lead. The footsteps below grew louder, closer.

What emerged was—

“Black-haired dual-bladeeeeer!”

Heukgyeon bared its enormous fangs and howled, its killing intent blazing with a last, desperate resolve.

Its eyes were locked on Isaac, but Rihanna stepped forward, greatsword rising.

Vengeance burned on more than one side.

“Didn’t have my sword last time—”

She had been driven back by this beast before, but she’d lacked her greatsword then.

Now she thrust, for the narrow stairs left no room to swing.

Vwoom!

Heukgyeon leapt to the ceiling, scrabbling along the wall with its one remaining arm. For an instant its murderous fixation sent a chill down every spine—

—but a crimson leash snapped tight around its neck mid-air.

“Not happening.”

Rihanna jerked her blade forward like a spear, yanking the beast back. It ripped free of the ceiling and crashed to the floor.

“KYENG!?”

The rest was up to the others. Northern warriors, waiting for just that moment, drove their spears into the fallen monster with all their might.

The beast finally closed its eyes.

“Stubborn creature.”

“They must’ve loosed it from the underground prison,” someone muttered.

Because the beast had already lost one arm and been half-wrecked from its time in the underground prison, bringing it down was—comparatively speaking—easy.

“These are the really creepy ones.”

Sharen hopped past with a grumble. Isaac silently agreed; foes driven by that kind of obsession could smother you with sheer momentum.

A handful of Transcendents who’d set the Heukgyeon loose charged up from below, but Isaac, Rihanna, and Sharen held them off. Their numbers made the fight drag on—until Uldiran stepped in and swept them aside in an instant.

“Kuh-hak! cough, cough”

The moment he moved, he hacked up blood and earned a sharp smack between the shoulder blades from his wife.

By the time they reached the lower level, a familiar old man shuffled up to Isaac.

“Looks like you’re putting them to good use.”

“Antonio….”

Blacksmith Antonio was the master who had forged Isaac’s two sabers.

“I’m glad you’re unharmed.”

“Hah, in times like this all I can do is hide behind the soldiers.”

Having no need to fight had helped him survive.

Mixed in with the group were several non-combatants, among them Vivian, a mage from the Tower. When Isaac’s gaze lingered on her, Antonio nudged him with an elbow.

“There’s no mana down here. She’s burned through what she had stored inside, so now she’s… ordinary.”

So that was why she looked so down.

No mana at all—then Rihanna’s and Sharen’s crimson auras were mana-based as well; he’d have to warn them not to burn power recklessly.

The chill was even deeper in the passage below. White mist slid between gray bricks, and clear ice already crusted the gaps.

“This corridor was meant to evacuate civilians,” Uldiran muttered, clearly uncomfortable. “Using it feels like a soldier’s disgrace.”

“That’s not the point,” his wife said. “First we stay alive.”

Uldiran fell silent—part agreement, part sheer fatigue.

The passage was pitch-dark.

“Should I light it with crimson aura?” Sharen offered, stepping ahead and letting a soft red glow blossom in her palm—a level of restraint rare for any Helmut. Gone was the girl who once trembled in the North; she kept things upbeat, not out of childishness, but because it made enduring easier.

‘She’s grown a lot’ Isaac thought, watching her lead without flinching.

Then a massive boulder loomed into view.

“A boulder?”

Someone’s mutter echoed down the tunnel. Isaac glanced at Uldiran; even he looked baffled. Had something blocked the corridor when the dimension shifted?

“I’ll just cut it down.”

Rihanna strode forward, greatsword ready to cleave stone—

“Hoi?”

The voice was new to them all. Its deep timbre could have sounded solemn, but the casual tone stripped it of weight.

Everyone wore the same stunned expression: the voice had come from the boulder itself.

Tap-tap.

“E-eek, that tickles!”

Isaac rapped the stone lightly with the back of his hand, and it answered immediately.

“Mmm… In this world, there are hardly any magical beasts we know. Instead, there are far stranger, more peculiar ones,” Silverna explained, gazing up at the rock.

“This is a beast?” Isaac asked—a stone so huge five or six grown men couldn’t have budged it.

“Probably…?”

“What if a mouth suddenly pops out and bites us?” Sharen whispered.

The boulder grinned at the puzzled Sharen.

“That’s my butt, you know.”

“…”

Sharen’s face soured as if she’d bitten into soap, and she took a wary step back.

While everyone else traded confused looks, Rihanna stepped forward.

“Move.”

Her cold voice sliced through the atmosphere like a knife—exactly the sort of moment that made Rihanna so reassuring.

“Hehe, nope. Feels nice and cool with my butt wedged right here.”

“…”

Talking to a literal rear end was getting disgusting fast. Rihanna finally drew her blade again.

“Then I’ll just carve you in two.”

“…”

The thing clamped its mouth shut—apparently frightened.

If it could talk, there was no need to start chopping. Isaac lowered Rihanna’s sword arm and cut in.

“Why not scoot aside before you get split down the middle? We don’t actually want to hurt you.”

“Oh, what a wonderful voice.”

“…”

“A wonderful voice is soooo enviable. Can you sing, too?”

“Not rea—”

“He can,” Rihanna cut in smoothly. “Isaac sang for me once.”

Isaac turned, staring at her; Rihanna pretended not to notice and kept her eyes fixed on the creature’s… backside.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Ku-UNG! Kuuu-uu-UNG!

Its butt shifted. A gust of outside air poured through the gap like a wave, thawing their frozen limbs.

“Pretty boys have it easy everywhere,” Sharen snickered.

At least the thing was willing to talk. After a few more shuffles the boulder finally rolled out of the way, and the dark sky outside welcomed them.

Though they’d begun in an underground tunnel, they emerged halfway down a mountainside.

Maybe the ritual spell had warped the passages together—either way, the escape was smooth.

“…It really is a rock.”

Outside, a gigantic stone figure loomed over them—arms, legs, even a face of solid stone, yet it all looked strangely natural.

“Thanks for the he—”

“A-ah-ahh, f-forgive meeeee! I-I didn’t recognize Your Excellencies!”

The boulder flopped facedown—if a rock could flop—and trembled like a leaf. Absurd as it looked, that’s exactly what their eyes reported.

“…Kinda cute,” Sharen murmured with a suppressed laugh.

Even in the sheer randomness of the moment, the rock kept begging for its life.

“I-I’m so sorry I failed to recognize you Transcendents! Sorry for making you talk to my backside!”

“Huh?”

“Spare me, please! I swear I wasn’t trying to play tricks! I don’t want to end up as a brick! I’m not nearly hard enough! I’d make a terrible wall!”

Isaac’s gaze slid naturally to the two women—Rihanna and Sharen. Helmut said to carry Transcendent blood; the boulder had clearly mistaken them for the real thing.

‘We can use this.’

Quick-thinking Isaac shot them a look. Play along.

Rihanna nodded—then hesitated. How exactly do you ‘act’ like a Transcendent…?

No time; Sharen pounced on the role.

“Hey, you lump! Didn’t I tell you to bow properly? Face in the dirt until you’re buried to the neck, got it?!”

– – The End of The Chapter ––

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