The Monster Duke Mistook Me for His Wife Chapter 131

“……Ha, haha.”

To think all of this was an illusion, a trap set up just to capture him.

“F***! Let go! Ria, you can’t do this to me! Of all people, you?!”

Had his thinking dulled after taking over Dante’s body?

Coma thrashed about like a child throwing a tantrum.

Even as blood dripped from cuts made by the sword, he glared at Ria’s back and screamed.

But despite his final desperate struggle, Ria didn’t spare him even a glance.

She was only looking up at the platform.

“Schumann.”

At Ria’s call, he took off his mask.

In that instant, his brown hair turned into a lovely shade of pink.

“Phew, I thought I was going to suffocate.”

Schumann, shaking out his messy hair, glared at Ria.

“Ria, if I catch you kissing someone again in front of me, I won’t sit still.”

Grinding his foot into a shadow, Schumann muttered.

“It’s a miracle Mei didn’t see that. Otherwise, there’d have been a duke’s funeral instead of darkness.”

Schumann approached and casually patted Ria’s head.

“You did well.”

“How did you get here?”

“You got kidnapped out of nowhere, so I rushed over.”

Schumann recalled the message he had received that morning.

‘Where’s Miss Mei?’

‘Why are you suddenly calling? Mei’s out. Is it urgent?’

‘Then the Tower Master. You come.’

‘Ha, what am I, your servant? Come when called, leave when told?’

‘Ria’s been kidnapped.’

‘What? Explain properly.’

‘Come to Tarren Street in the Arrest territory.’

‘What? Hey, hey!’

That was it. The call was abruptly cut off without any more explanation.

If it were anyone else, he would’ve thought the guy was messing with him, but the caller was Dillian Synaise.

He wasn’t the type to joke around, and definitely not someone who would lie about Ria.

So he had rushed over, only to be told to act as the auctioneer.

‘I wondered why they went through such trouble. It’s because of that kid.’

Each time Coma struggled, the wounds on the child’s body deepened, and Ria flinched.

“You’re too kind for your own good.”

Schumann threw Rexter into the center of the hall and flexed his hands.

‘The sacrifice is ready. Just need to draw the magic circle.’

Schumann drew a large circle on the floor. As he began drawing, the people stepped away from the circle.

The only ones left were Aina, who was restraining Coma.

“……What are you doing.”

Feeling threatened, Coma thrashed and shouted, but no one answered.

“I said, what are you doing!”

His eyes, burning red with anger, glared at Ria.

“Ria! Are you really abandoning me?! Like that time? You’re going to betray me twice—mmph!”

A white hand reached out and covered Coma’s mouth.

“Always poisoning Ria’s heart with nonsense, weren’t you?”

Aina coldly murmured above him.

“Keep quiet and stay still.”

“Mmph, mmph.”

Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked up at her. His trembling gaze was pitiful, but Aina wasn’t one to be fooled.

In her second life, she wasn’t naïve enough to mistake real from fake.

“Even if you try to evoke pity with those eyes, it’s useless. Unlike Ria, I have no connection to this child.”

Her words were icy, but she did pity the child whose body had been taken.

She wanted to save the poor, unfortunate child.

But if it came to choosing between Dante’s life and the empire’s peace, Aina would choose the latter without hesitation.

Protecting the empire was her mission.

‘Ria could never do it. That’s why I’ll do it. With my own hands…….’

She planned to atone for sending the poor soul to the gods for the rest of her life.

If she had to be punished, she would accept it without complaint.

Aina silently made that vow over and over.

“It’s done.”

No sooner had Schumann spoken than light burst from the completed magic circle.

Golden light surged from the edges, quickly engulfing Rexter and Coma.

At that moment, Coma’s struggling stopped.

‘Something’s wrong.’

At a glance, it looked like the magic had succeeded.

But Aina, who was in direct contact, could tell.

Coma hadn’t given up.

“I’ll admit it. You pushed me into a corner. Even if I’m reborn, Lysandro, you’ll still be a thorn in my side.”

A sinister energy exploded out, making Aina shrink back.

“Ugh.”

“That’s why I want to kill you.”

The words he spat were boiling with rage.

“I’ll tear you apart and throw you to the beasts.”

Twitch—Coma’s body jerked violently. Aina tried to hold him down, but it was no use.

‘No. I won’t hold. He’ll escape before the magic finishes.’

Aina swiftly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve.

‘I have to end it here—!’

The dagger shot toward Coma’s neck.

But just before it struck—

A shadow, like a whip, lashed out and wrapped around Aina’s wrist.

“How…?”

“Aina. Don’t tell me you forgot? This is my fortress.”

Even weakened, Coma had the perfect battleground.

It was a fortress crafted to his liking.

With a sneer, Coma raised his hand and swung it downward.

At his motion, the shadow binding Aina slammed her into the ground.

“Ugh!”

“Here, I’m king—and god.”

Crush. Coma’s foot pressed down on Aina’s head.

As if to return the humiliation he had suffered earlier.

Aina quickly tried to summon divine power, but Coma wasn’t about to let her.

Reading her pattern long ago, he grinned and stabbed her hand with a dagger.

“Ahh!”

“Shh, Aina. Look over there.”

Coma grabbed her head and forced her to look.

Something was writhing beneath the floor, slowly rising.

Its body jerked like a broken puppet as it turned and faced Aina.

[Body, body, fresh body, healthy body……]

Its hollow, gnawed-out eyes fixated on Aina, reaching for her.

“It wants you.”

His giggling laughter crawled into her ears.

“This can’t be…….”

Even though the weight pinning her was gone, Aina couldn’t move.

‘Why is the same thing happening again…….’

As she blankly stared at the creature, a strong hand grabbed her arm.

“Aina, snap out of it!”

“Lord Cassis…….”

“Get up!”

Cassis quickly lifted Aina and sliced at the monster rushing toward them.

A rotten arm fell to the ground.

[Your Highness, Your Highness.]

“……Winter?”

Cassis, who was about to strike the monster’s neck, froze at the familiar voice.

[Your Highness, please, please kill me…….]

He was one of Cassis’s men, consumed by darkness during the war.

[Your Highness, please…….]

But there was no trace of the human he had once been—only a grotesque shell.

Sticky, tar-like lumps dripped from him, and a foul stench filled the air.

It was inevitable—his body had long been dead.

“How do you like it? Impressive, right? These are all the people I’ve consumed.”

As Coma approached, the monster bowed its head.

Satisfied, Coma patted its head.

“They’re my loyal servants now.”

“You’re truly the worst.”

“A compliment, for a curse.”

Coma tapped the monster’s arm and whispered.

“Don’t leave a single one alive. Kill them all.”

The moment his order fell, the transformed monsters attacked.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

From the huge hole torn open like a sinkhole, monsters came pouring out.

There were countless people Coma had consumed until now, and those reborn as monsters attacked people according to Coma’s orders.

“Miss Ria, please don’t leave my side.”

“You don’t leave mine either, Lord Dillian.”

With their backs against each other, Dillian and Ria fought off the rushing monsters.

Ria shot arrows to purify the charging monsters, and Dillian slashed down the ones that attacked her.

The two of them were a perfect pair.

But with the monsters pouring in endlessly, they too began to grow exhausted.

“We have to seal that hole.”

If they could just block the hole Coma had created, they could stop this meaningless battle.

“Lord Dillian.”

“I’ll hold them off here.”

At this point, they didn’t even need to speak much.

Dillian instantly understood what Ria wanted and cleared a path for her.

Running through the path he opened, Ria dealt with the monsters targeting Aina’s back and approached her.

“Aina!”

Facing her, Aina looked somehow uneasy.

Her trembling eyes seemed as if she were about to cry.