Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: 53-4. Relay Race Where If You're Caught, You Die.
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Staring at his own wretched reflection in the shards of glass, Locke let out a sigh.
It wasn't the stubbornness of an emperor, but that of a father—and an ugly sight at that.
No matter what the world offered, he couldn't exchange his precious daughter for anything. Yet he'd imagined her wearing a choker, the mark of a married woman, or sharing a bedchamber for their union.
Recalling such outrageous thoughts, he'd gone too far in his attack.
'Our Pine has her eye on a pretty decent guy, huh.'
Like a chrysalis emerging as a butterfly.
He liked how the gloomy boy had shed his shell and now bared his wolf fangs at him.
Lost in sentiment, Locke Granasia gazed at the scattering glass shards.
Reflected in them, like sparkling jewels, was a single girl with snow-white hair.
"Why... are you... not fighting anymore...?"
It laid bare the raw emotions of a certain boy.
Trembling hands, left arm bound tight.
Even if he'd held back to avoid killing him, getting up in that state was impossible.
"...You're full of surprises, Black Knight."
A hero from another world.
Locke had assumed he'd give up easily.
They were travelers, after all. Once their goal was met, they often returned to their own worlds without a second thought.
The Hero Cult was the same—proxies chosen by the gods to slay the Demon God.
But some fell to become Demon Kings in the process.
He'd seen heroes who possessed others' bodies and souls yet pretended to be the original owner.
And others who crossed time axes, obsessed with lost pasts.
That's why Locke Granasia felt compelled to test this man named Lee Soo-hyun.
His soul-sight vision.
Lee Soo-hyun's soul was unnaturally murky black.
It was hard to judge him easily.
"Looks like I've grown old too. All that's left in this old body is stubbornness."
Locke looked down at him steadily as he spoke.
Had he over-relied on his eyes? He'd missed something crucial.
Now, a single pure white star twinkled in Lee Soo-hyun's soul.
"You must live long, Your Majesty."
A light like a stigmata illuminating the darkness that had shrouded his soul moments ago.
At this point, even Locke couldn't help but grow curious.
"These glass shards... they're all our daughter."
Their feelings were mutual, plain as day. Why had he been so frustratingly obtuse?
For a moment, unmanly thoughts surged, tightening his grip on the axe—but then...
"That's right, Your Majesty."
Seeing the boy's awkward, bashful smile calmed him.
This freshness was a privilege for the young. Old folks had no business meddling in youth's romance.
"Bellin would scold me endlessly if she knew..."
Locke spread his palm to catch a glass shard, speaking bitterly.
It melted like snow, not cold but warm to the touch.
He knew it well, having fought alongside the Heavenly Demon in war.
Manifestation of the heart painted one's emotions onto the world.
"Black Knight, did you perhaps pass Tarden's trial?"
Locke examined Lee Soo-hyun closely as he began to speak. A man like this would have passed with ease.
"How did you..."
For another race to be recognized as Inlang, the condition was simple yet profound.
To love only one person for life.
Had he failed that, things wouldn't have come to this.
"I see it now. Your soul has grown wolf ears and a tail, Black Knight."
Opposite to Pine's, a jet-black wolf soul rippled within him.
Allowing a pair without such qualification could spell disaster.
Inlang could grow stronger or weaker than anyone for their beloved.
If Lee Soo-hyun abandoned Pine to return to his world...
She might weep through life and go mad.
'Many Inlang have done just that...'
Some even ended their lives following their mates.
Locke was no different.
When Bellin was endangered by the Hero Cult, he'd unleashed wind pressure with his hand axe.
He should have talked more.
"What is it about our Pine that's so captivating?"
"Uh, well... her smile is pretty, for starters..."
Lee Soo-hyun gasped for breath as if it might snap any moment, yet brightened when speaking of Pine.
Absurd. He'd expect resentment, at least.
"Who asked such an obvious question, Lee Soo-hyun?"
The emperor withdrew his anger and approached slowly. A glow formed in his hand.
"Let's talk properly now."
Four holy white wolves conjured by divine power lunged, licking Lee Soo-hyun's wounds.
"...Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Where'd that 'father-in-law' bravado go?"
The Black Knight's body rapidly healed. Direct kin to Pine's mana circuits.
The wolf pack looked like one family.
Unlike his past ordeal, they mended wounds this time.
"...Wolves are solitary by nature."
Locke supported the boy clutching his sword, helping him stand.
"I didn't want to leave such a world to my precious daughter."
Locke Granasia sighed deeply, killing intent fully gone.
"As long as Demon Kings live, this world won't know peace—even after I'm gone."
Wolves needed one alpha per pack.
They sacrificed self for family, losing emotions over time.
They calculated meticulously, preying on the weakest in the herd.
To such a wolf, this Black Knight was anomalous.
"Why worry about that already, Your Majesty?"
He resembled Locke, yet retained a purity that shamed onlookers.
"I got badly hurt fighting the Demon King of Might. This body's not what it was."
Locke could candidly bare his weakness.
"Does Pine... know you're injured, Your Majesty?"
"No, don't tell her."
He grimaced, continuing. An emperor hiding pain.
"So, knowing all this, you still want to marry our Pine?"
One none coveting absolute power would never see.
"Even with such a foul-tempered father? Son-in-law."
Two wolves scarred on the face.
Locke met Lee Soo-hyun's eyes as he spoke.
"...Does that mean..."
Still impossible to bequeath a lonely throne to his daughter.
Then why not seat another?
"Slay all the Hero Cult's Demon Kings, and I'll permit the marriage."
At those words, life sparked in his son-in-law's eyes—not despair, but glimpsed hope.
"Really...?"
"Of course, first she must face her feelings for you."
Locke nodded faintly.
Like Pandora's box, her heart remained unseen until opened.
Love, affection, jealousy—who knew?
I stared at the status window's Love Meter floating before my eyes, feeling something off.
Permission to marry, and it's only 35 percent?
Unlike Nex's case. Maybe because Pine doesn't like me definitively yet.
Friends-plus, lovers-minus.
It had jumped nearly 20 percent, but as a person, I felt a pang of regret and sighed.
"Why the sudden sigh? Regretting our unfinished fight?"
Locke spoke with acknowledgment. Like testing my fit as Pine's mate.
"...It's nothing."
I shook my head. Two fights with him, and I wouldn't have a body left.
Come to think of it, was the relay race pointless now?
The sports festival's purpose—to hide me from Locke Granasia—was gone.
Still, losing here might disappoint Pine.
'...She's got a strong competitive streak.'
Her drooping wolf ears and tail, soaked like in rain, flashed in my mind.
I picked up Pandora's box nearby, noting the lid slightly ajar.
"...This."
Golden light poured from the black box. The 1% chance buff had triggered.
「Last Hope.」
Muscles surged with power. Body light as a feather, heart pounding to leap out.
Running now might reclaim the lead—hope bloomed, then Laplace's voice rang.
Kainel had struck first. Damn, any way to catch up?
Even running now, passing the box to the next runner would be too slow.
"Seems I've caused you trouble."
A deep voice from beside. Locke Granasia eyed the obstacle course ahead.
Right, him.
"Father-in-law, could you launch me way up there?"
Crazy idea, but feasible. Fighting him mid-course didn't count as cheating.
"...You truly don't value your life."
"If we lose this race, Pine will be sad."
I hated seeing the kindest girl pout.
"Satisfactory answer."
Locke held out his axe blade sideways—an invitation to mount.
Thud-gagagak—!!
Mounting it, I soared forward on his immense swing—
Forests we'd passed blurred by.
"...Licht?"
"Pine!! Catch!!"
I promptly handed the box to the white glass knight.