If there was something fortunate in all this…

Ding!

The status window that appeared with a cheerful sound.

It was Haniel’s combat skill rising very smoothly.

Her combat skill proficiency had already reached 46.

‘Going from 2 to 46 in two days isn’t bad at all. The speed is definitely much faster than when raising other skills.’

Perhaps because her skill kept increasing, she seemed less tired than usual despite moving around a lot.

And that wasn’t all. What about all those Rift materials that had naturally flowed into her inventory on the way here? With her storehouse so full, Haniel felt like she wouldn’t need to eat for weeks.

But what made even that satisfying feeling pale in comparison was…

“Regan, are you okay?”

Haniel placed her hand on Regan’s body.

Hot. It was too hot.

Heat like touching a rock heated in a furnace and a pulse throbbing within. But Regan, soaked in blood, either didn’t feel his burning body or knew but didn’t care, as he only answered with bright eyes.

“No problem.”

No problem indeed!

Haniel carefully felt the man’s chest with a bewildered expression.

Regan might say he was fine, but from her perspective, he was anything but.

‘It’s because he’s fought too much.’

Even though he had become stronger, no one could avoid fatigue after hours of continuous battle.

Regan’s initially orderly behavior and fighting style had become increasingly disheveled, messier, and more violent as time passed, even to her eyes.

And strangely… hadn’t his torso swollen more? His fur also seemed thicker. Of course, that was probably just her imagination.

Haniel said with evident concern in her voice:

“We should rest here for a while. You have a very high fever.”

“Hume warriors… wolves, do not collapse even after fighting for three days and nights.”

“What? Really? No, that’s not what I…”

Were Hume warriors combat machines? There was no need to remind him how softly humans had evolved… Thinking this, Haniel shook her head and searched her inventory.

“Then… here. At least drink this.”

What she took out from her inventory was a fever-reducing potion.

“I made this just in case, using only ingredients that won’t harm your body. I put ice flower extract in it, so it will definitely help. You’ve really overdone it.”

“…No, the heat in my body is not from overexertion.”

Regan said this as if he already guessed the cause of his boiling body condition.

He looked down at Haniel, who was holding out the glass bottle with a confident expression, with an intense gaze.

His blue eyes, which at first glance seemed filled only with the killing intent and fatigue from numerous battles, were actually boiling with a different heat.

He already knew well what was causing this heat. It was the kind that rose from deep inside his body. It was that familiar yet persistent heat that had been tormenting Regan the entire time he had been in this territory.

The heat of mating season.

‘D*mn it… why now of all times.’

Regan gritted his teeth.

Lava-hot blood was flowing and pulsating in his two arms, part of his upper body, and legs that had returned to his true form. With that, a realization flashed through Regan’s mind like lightning.

Power. Using his increased strength was the problem.

This form similar to Haniel was also Regan’s, but the more essential one was still the giant beast, the wolf form.

The power he used was also connected to that more powerful essential form, to say the least.

In other words, the more Regan used his increased strength, the closer he got to his instincts, and the restraints on his barbaric desires that he had forcibly tied down were also becoming looser.

The ferocious desire for his mate engraved deep in his soul.

The barbaric instinct that wanted to pin her down right now so she couldn’t move, thr*st his member into her womb until it felt like bursting, and bite her nape to engrave his ‘mark.’

Regan licked his lips irritably.

‘…And, not just that, this d*mn Rift must be affecting me too.’

Regan speculated that the erupting heat of mating season might be influenced not only by his use of his true form’s power but also by the Rift.

At first, he was convinced that Haniel’s presence and power completely suppressed the Rift’s effects, but as time passed, he felt as if the air of this place was gradually seeping into his interior as well.

And with that touch that entangled and mixed everything as it pleased, it was completely stirring up Regan’s insides too.

Regan slowly moved his arm, which had swollen more than usual.

He turned his gaze to stare at Haniel, who was full of concern.

An unusually ferocious impulse was precariously urging Regan’s limbs.

Let’s rest.

Why did her suggestion to rest feel so seductive?

That much would be… enough to mark her. The human Haniel, full of openings. Even now, he could snatch her unsuspecting body, crush her to the ground, and when she couldn’t even judge what was happening, insert his body into the narrow gap and sink his teeth into her nape.

And then he would let her know, as she writhed in unfamiliar fear and overwhelming ecstasy.

Just as I am yours, you too are eternally mine. We have become bound together even in soul.

Regan, who slowly licked his pointed teeth and lips with his tongue, reached out to Haniel.

Not knowing what conflict was clashing inside him, Haniel, whose gaze was absently caught by the man’s red lips, only noticed when his hand as large as a pot lid approached right in front of her.

“…Huh? What did you say? No, I was just wondering if there was something on your mouth…”

Embarrassed at being caught staring, she blurted out words that hadn’t been asked.

D*mn it! Of course something would be smeared there when he was covered in blood! Some excuse this was…

But Regan didn’t seem to mind and only growled in a somewhat suppressed voice.

“No. On second thought… I think it would be good to drink that after all. Especially since you made it yourself.”

“Hm? Oh, here. Yes, good thinking!”

Regan trampled down his desire that had nearly been unleashed, and carefully took the potion bottle from Haniel’s hand.

Though his heart felt like it would burst inside… not here. Not in this cursed place where his mate’s life hung in the balance.

Gulp. The potion that looked as big as a water bottle in Haniel’s hands appeared as small as a perfume bottle in his, and Regan downed it in one go.

Ice flower extract, she had called it. The liquid flowing down his throat felt like ice fragments.

Regan roughly wiped his face, wet with blood.

He could only hope this coldness would serve as a temporary measure.

“Let’s go.”

Regan said, extending his hand with black fur bristling.