I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!-Chapter 173: The Foe or Allies? (2)

Thin lines of dim light appeared between the moving walls, as if the maze was splitting open.

At the same time, a howl echoed from somewhere ahead. It was short, but it came again and again. The bell began ringing faster in the same rhythm, as if the two sounds were guiding them, telling them where to run.

It was a confusing situation, but Roxanna knew better than to just stand still where she was. She dashed forward with Calen and their hands were still tightly intertwined because they wanted to make sure no one was left behind. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"W-what’s that?!" Roxanna gasped when the darkness in front of her suddenly disappeared. Two massive walls moved toward each other, slowly closing the path ahead.

When she glanced back, her heart dropped because the other paths were closing too.

If they didn’t get through in time, they would be trapped. Worse... if the walls fully shut, they might be crushed inside this twisted maze forever.

"Hang on." Before she could react, Calen lifted her with one arm and threw her over his shoulder like he was holding a sack of potatoes.

Right after that, he ran so fast that everything around Roxanna blurred. The air rushed past her ears and her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

She held her breath as he charged toward the narrowing gap. The walls kept moving closer and closer. The space grew tighter, so Calen had to turn his body slightly just to squeeze through.

"Should you just put me down?" Roxanna asked in panic. At this rate, they might have to turn their bodies completely sideways, so he wouldn’t be able to carry her like this.

"Don’t worry," Calen said quickly. "I can already see the way out."

Since Roxanna’s head was behind his back, she couldn’t see what was ahead. Even so, she believed his words, and she felt relieved.

Just as she let out a small breath, something shocking happened.

Calen suddenly dropped his axe to the ground so he could lift Roxanna with both hands. Before she could even understand what he was about to do, he threw her forward, straight toward the narrow opening.

The rough walls scraped against her skin as she passed through. Pain burned along her arms, and she felt warm blood trickle down, but it was better than being crushed.

Her body fell to the ground face-first as soon as she passed through. She groaned softly because her whole body ached. Even so, she forced herself to get up. She lifted her head, only to find something even more shocking than what Calen had just done.

"Azul?!" Roxanna’s mouth fell open when she saw her missing husband standing right in front of her.

No, wait. He wasn’t standing.

Something black—something like a living shadow—was pinning him against the wall. It wrapped around his body, holding him in place. One shadowy shape like a hand covered his mouth, stopping him from speaking.

It seemed like he had stopped trying to break free when he realized his efforts were useless. But the moment he saw Roxanna right in front of him, Azul began struggling again.

"Mhmm—! Mhmm—!" He tried to speak, but his voice was muffled by the shadow.

His blue eyes desperately kept shifting between Roxanna and something behind her. At that exact moment, she felt a cold wind blowing against the back of her neck, followed by a low growl.

She held her breath before asking in a shaky voice, "The monster is behind me... isn’t it?"

Azul tried his best to nod. He even tried to shout, but the shadow still covered his mouth, blocking every sound.

Roxanna swallowed hard and summoned the spear that had originally been meant for Azul. She wasn’t skilled with weapons, but holding something sharp in her hands made her feel a little braver. At least she wouldn’t be completely defenseless.

The system had asked her to tame the monster, but if things went wrong, of course she would have to handle it the hard way.

Gripping the heavy spear with both hands, she turned her whole body around, only to be met by a massive black dog.

Wait. No. Not a dog.

It was a huge black wolf!

Ah, but it seemed that "wolf" wasn’t the right word to describe it either. After all, its body was so large that Roxanna could barely see its eyes.

Maybe... it was a Fenrir?

When the Fenrir lowered its head, its golden eyes stared straight at Roxanna. The moment their gazes locked, she suddenly couldn’t move, as if invisible nails had pinned her to the ground.

"A-Are you Mr. Fenrir?" she asked softly, her voice almost trembling.

She might not die easily, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t scared. Standing face to face with a giant Fenrir was completely different from hearing stories about one.

The huge wolf only snorted, as if her question amused it.

Before she could gather her courage to speak again or even attack it, the creature suddenly turned around, the monster suddenly turned around and ran straight toward the closing walls.

The Fenrir’s body shrank slightly, just enough to slip between the narrow gap. Then, without warning, it opened its jaws and bit down on Calen’s head and pulled him out.

Everything happened so fast that Roxanna couldn’t even scream.

The next second, Calen was thrown out of the gap just before the walls slammed shut with a loud crash. The sound echoed through the maze.

"MY HEAD! MY HEAD GOT EATEN BY A BIG DOG!"

Calen immediately grabbed his head the moment he landed on the ground.

Then he paused as he was able to touch his hair, his forehead, and his face. "Oh... wait."

His shoulders slowly relaxed. "It’s still there."

The moment Calen pushed himself up and sat on the ground, Roxanna rushed to him without thinking. She practically threw herself into his arms.

"Calen! Calen! You’re alive!" she said breathlessly, her words tumbling out one after another.