I Didn’t Tame The Beastly Duke!

“You made me like this!”

The yelling that Michael did sounded like a monster. Celia thought that Leonis was different because she had never seen him before.

The amount of patience and perseverance that he possesses is unmatched by Michael.

“What kind of eyes are those? Who are you thinking of in front of me?”

Celia glanced at the wizards and knights on one side of the cave as she moved her steps away from Michael, who was approaching and talking.

The wizards had an unexplainable fear of the beings that they had brought into existence.

Perhaps they knew the despicableness of what they had done, and they were afraid that the monster knight with intelligence would harm them.

So did the knights. Even though they had the appearance of humans, they were reluctant to eat human flesh with the strength of a monster.

‘I am.’

I can bring that fear to the surface.

“Agh!”

Michael, who had his upper body lowered like a reptile scurrying after food while driving Celia, suddenly turned around. In the interim, she put some distance between herself and Michael.

The limestone cave was very wide, and it seemed to be connected to the secret passage of the imperial palace that she had entered last time.

“That monster…!”

“You’ve finally revealed yourself, monster!”

The knights who had never been on the receiving end of an attack, drew their swords and charged the monster knight. The monster knight, who was not allowed to attack them, bared his teeth and threatened, but it was useless.

“What are you doing? Chase that bitch―! Ugh……”

Raising his voice at the knights, Michael felt a growing headache and frowned. When he looked up, he saw a monster coming at him that had the heads of three lions and the body of a serpent. It was controlled by a wizard under his command.

“What are you doing…!”

Michael, who barely avoided it, glared at the wizard with anger. The wizard screamed as he poured mana into the magic stone embedded in the end of his weapon.

“If you weren’t a fake, things wouldn’t have gone this far!”

“This cheeky bastard…!”

There was a consciousness that something did not match reality, but the madness of the curse made it difficult to think properly. The word ‘fake’ had already aroused Michael, and uncontrollable anger was brewing.

“I am the emperor! The throne is mine! I won’t let those who treat me fake live!”

✦ ✦ ✦

In the meantime, Celia was running away to a fairly far distance. The cave was still wide, but now it was approaching something like a wide hallway.

“He is not following me, right?”

It was fortunate that there were not only Michael, but also other humans and monsters.  In particular, it was relieved because it was humans who controlled the monsters.

The wizard and the knight think that the monster knight and Michael are insane and are out to get them, and Michael must be the opposite.

They must be having a vicious quarrel, pouring out resentment against each other, but Celia thought the outcome of the fight would not be long.

Because Michael’s flame belonged to a divine beast.

Aside from Celia’s power not working against artificial monsters, Michael’s flame was lethal to monsters mixed with monsters.

So in the end, Michael will survive, and after his anger cools down, he will find out what happened.

‘And they’ll get angry and chase me.’

Celia thought that Michael was here because, as Leonis guessed, he had set a trap. It seemed to be connected to the secret passage of the imperial palace, so the trap must have been in the imperial palace.

Or, it could also be the main palace.

Celia hurried her steps, assuming that the door was closed there and the monster was pushed in. Her powers doesn’t work against artificial monsters, so it would be a big deal if they ran into her, but it was the same even if she ran into an enraged Michael.

‘The trap is probably set in the main palace, so I just need to stay away from the main palace.’

The place that Michael thought was most useless was the concubine’s or the third prince’s palace. Wherever she goes, she just needs to avoid the main palace and hide there.

She started running, believing that she would be able to meet people who came to save her.

✦ ✦ ✦

It sounded faint but clear. It was Celia’s voice.

The divine beast, who fell to the roof of a mansion surrounded by demons, instantly transformed into an adult form and emitted divine energy.

―These filthy things!

Kyaaaagh!

The bodies of the monsters clinging to the divine beast’s body were all scattered in all directions while being burned by the divine golden flame. The divine beast flew away in the direction of the scream.

He didn’t have time to open the window, so he broke it open and saw what looked like a wizard in a grey robe.

He could feel the power of another god, but it was overflowing with unpleasant dark energy.

―You are not human! Show who you really are!

The wizard, who was heading somewhere with his things, kicked his tongue when he saw the divine beast appearing. At the sight of the man running away quickly, the divine beast tried to bite off his head in the shape of a giant tiger.

― This divine dog!

The wizard, who instantly turned into a giant snake the size of the divine beast, tried to wrap around the divine beast’s body. The divine beast shrunk his body to avoid him and ran away quickly to get away from him, then grew again and bit the back of his head.

―Where did you send the saintess, you bastard snake!

The divine beast’s sharp teeth dug into the back of the snake’s head. The snake squealed and twisted its body with a grotesque scream.

Leonis was so incredibly strong that his teeth didn’t go in, but the divine beast was that strong!

‘No wonder, he is such a strong person!’ 

The divine beast shook off the feeling of being flattered and bit the wizard’s neck bone at once.

The snake writhed frantically at the sound of a woodpecker.

― Ugh, ack! You crazy dog!

―Who is the mad dog? I’ll make you a snake skewer!

Even if the god’s family is destroyed like this, they don’t die easily. Even if the body was completely destroyed and the person died, the god would just take the person’s soul and turn it into another being with the same characteristics.

The divine beast has encountered this current family of destruction several times and has almost won.

Since the Goddess of Destruction didn’t pay much attention to it after it was originally created, a lower god related to darkness would take over her role and make this body instead.

He snapped his neck in a fit of anger, as if his body had finally stopped moving. Feeling that the soul had escaped from the body, the divine beast, who triumphantly threw him away, felt regret.

―Saintess! He should have told me where he had sent the saintess!

The divine beast regretted it, so he shrunk back down and started flying around him in all directions. He regretted that he hadn’t snapped his neck first out of his temper.

―Oh! That’s it!

The divine beast, who was flying anxiously, saw an unusual gate pierce through the floor. The divine beast, convinced that Celia was there, rushed into it.

✦ ✦ ✦

Since the transparent blue bird was made of magic, it could move much faster than a normal bird, as long as it did not lose its magic power. Not only that, but it passed through thick walls and doors as well.

It didn’t matter to the bird-tracking side. 

So long as there was a way past what was blocking their view, the person with the sword would step forward and use swordsmanship to make an entrance. Of course, they were about to get out of the underground quickly, so they went close to the underground cave.

“Kyaaagh!”

The knights were startled by the screams they uttered with all their might. They were originally not afraid of anything, but they were bound to react to the screams of the weak.

Who is it? Can we reach it before it’s too late? Before the thought had crossed his mind, Leonis, who had hardened his expression in horror, overtook him.

“It’s Celia’s voice.”

His deep voice baffled the knights. Why is the Duchess here when she is supposed to be in the Duchy of Cardian? Could Michael have seen the chase and set a trap for them?

“Duke! It might be a trap!”

Zeppel, who followed, shouted, but Leonis was already a long way away.

Leonis knew that it might be a trap. But what if that’s real?

Even though it wasn’t a trap, he had to check it out, even if it meant getting stuck somewhere worse than a trap.

‘Celia!’

The scream that he heard while waiting for her in the banquet hall was not the same as this one. It was a scream she screamed to call people, as if to be heard.

Nevertheless, it had torn Leonis’ heart, and the scream was now real. This time, it was the voice of someone who was in real danger.

The sound of his footsteps penetrating walls and doors could be heard throughout the corridor. Someone was cussing, and he could almost make out the sound of a woman’s rapid breathing.

It was Michael’s voice.

The sensation in his head was the same as if he had been doused with ice water, and he felt a fire start up in his chest. Michael, clad in his black flame, was seen pursuing her as if he were going to kill her.

“You cheeky bitch!”

She never stopped looking behind her and saw that Celia was stumbling as she ran away from him. She began to hurriedly run away, but she was terrified and seemed to have her legs injured.

After that, seeing that Michael’s fist was about to be stabbed, Leonis swung his sword without delay.

“Ahh!”

Even though the sword strikes with sword skills flew away, Michael was not cut in half. The sword just flew away and landed somewhere in the cave.

Celia raised her head with a sweaty face.

“Le… Leon? Ah!”

In an instant, Leonis approached her and pulled her into his arms. He could feel her familiar, soft warmth and scent.

Leonis gritted his teeth, found the divine beast flying late, and clenched his teeth.

Grinding. When the divine beast heard the sound of his teeth breaking, he felt the fur on his body stand on end. Leonis glared at the divine beast while holding Celia with one arm.

“Why, Celia……Are you here?”

The word ‘dangerous place’ was an omitted question. The divine beast averted his eyes. 

―That….That’s!

Celia also felt the danger of the divine beast and grabbed Leonis’ arm.

“The monsters invaded the mansion, and I was helpless to stop them! It’s not Popo’s fault!”

At Celia’s earnest words, Leonis’ expression softened when he saw her, but he became terrified when he saw the divine beast.

When Celia showed up, Zeppel and the knights, who had just gotten there, were really surprised.

“Madam? Even the divine beast……”

“Isn’t that Michael?”

Leonis was asking the divine beast questions while Michael, who had finally come to his senses, ran away. People said that Celia could do something strange, but he was an easy opponent while Leonis was not.

Unlike the banquet hall, where there were numerous nobles who could be taken as hostages, Celia, the most important hostage, was in Leonis’ arms.

‘D-Die!’

He could tell by the blow just now. The only reason he couldn’t do his best in the battle at the banquet hall was because Celia was there.