“Erin!”

Ferdin grew anxious. Where on earth had she gone in this situation?

As he frantically looked around, his face turned pale when he glanced toward the dense forest.

He spotted Erin luring the werewolves deeper into their territory. This had happened while the other knights were fleeing.

“Ferdin, what are you doing! Come quickly! What the—why is Erin Liserth over there again! Is she truly insane? Is she determined to die?”

Derek grabbed Ferdin’s arm with a horrified expression as he looked in the direction Erin had gone.

The danger level differed dramatically between entering werewolf territory and staying outside it.

Going in there meant certain doom.

Werewolves were notorious for never letting humans who entered their territory escape.

“Ferdin, many lives rest on your shoulders. I’m sorry to burden you with this. But promise me. No matter how painful life becomes, you’ll find a way to survive…”

His mother’s words came back to him. That was one reason Ferdin had endured his hellish life until now. If he faced multiple werewolves with his skills, he might not return alive.

Perhaps he would be taken hostage by werewolves and become a troublemaker for the Empire. If that happened, the Emperor would gleefully tear him apart even more.

This was foolish. Ferdin knew intellectually that this was something he shouldn’t do. Would anything change if he followed Erin into that land?

No, nothing would change. Just like how his life hadn’t changed despite his desperate struggles against fate.

‘But Mother, I have a strange feeling. A feeling that I’ll regret it if I don’t go now.’

His deliberation was brief. Ferdin clutched the simple necklace around his neck. He shook off Derek’s restraining arm and ran into werewolf territory without hesitation.

* * *

“I hate you.”

Erin recalled the past. Not long after Ferdin died, Lilia had come to see her.

At that time, she had left Ferdin’s knight order saying she couldn’t bear to see Erin anymore, and had made a name for herself as the youngest 5th Circle mage in the magic tower.

Her life was full of a brilliant future. Erin thought Lilia might someday come to take revenge on her.

So she calmly waited for that time.

After Ferdin’s death, Erin had lost all meaning in her life. However, she couldn’t bring herself to end her own life.

Ferdin’s plea for her to live happily remained in her heart, preventing her from letting go of life’s edge.

So on that day when Lilia came, Erin felt a small glimmer of hope. Finally, she could escape this hell.

And she thought only that she would meet Ferdin in heaven.

“I’ve thought about it dozens of times. How I should kill you. How I could ease my mind.”

Lilia said this as she wrapped her hands around Erin’s neck.

She offered no resistance. She only hoped to close her eyes with minimal pain. But Lilia didn’t apply pressure. She just stared at Erin for a long time before turning away.

The next day, news spread that the youngest 5th Circle mage had taken her own life. Lilia had chosen to kill herself instead of Erin.

Erin’s eyes turned bloodshot. Recalling that moment, her steps involuntarily slowed. The numbing emotions made it difficult to breathe. But she couldn’t stay like this.

Erin closed her eyes and sensed the presences around her. She could feel the werewolves closing in behind her. She had deliberately entered werewolf territory to lure them.

It was a choice made knowing their obsession with their territory. At that moment, her delicate brow furrowed.

‘Ferdin?’

She sensed someone who shouldn’t be here. Why was Ferdin here?

Erin felt puzzled. But now wasn’t the time to be distracted.

The five werewolves seemed to have noticed Ferdin too. Seeing them pause, they appeared to be conflicted.

They were probably deciding whether to chase after Erin or target the newly arrived Ferdin.

After a brief deliberation, she sensed the werewolves moving toward his location.

‘How dare they…’

Erin’s eyes grew heavy.

She launched herself forward lightly. Her speed was on a completely different level from her earlier running.

“You…!”

A werewolf tried to shout upon seeing Erin’s sudden appearance. But she was faster, slicing through his neck.

Blood splattered across Erin’s face as she dispatched the werewolf in an instant.

Following that, she drove her blade into the abdomen of another werewolf attempting an ambush.

After a few more sword swings, the remaining two werewolves collapsed without even screaming.

“Who… who are you! Human, no, are you really human?”

Tension was evident on the face of the last one.

He had realized at a glance that the human woman before him was someone he couldn’t handle.

Originally, Erin had planned to quietly lure them while making her way to where Lilia was, but circumstances had changed.

“I won’t kill you. I need someone to deliver a message.”

The werewolf backed away at Erin’s words.

Though she said she wouldn’t kill him, her aura was fierce enough to suggest she might behead him at any moment.

The werewolf felt fear.

Those who had just fallen were outstanding warriors even among werewolves.

Yet they had been brought down in an instant by this human woman.

Werewolves were a race that valued strength. He felt his body trembling as he looked at the woman before him.

Instinctively, he sensed her power. The human woman’s eyes were chilling. Darkness seemed to sleep within them.

“Tell your chieftain. If you harm the humans you’ve kidnapped…”

Erin said this while bringing her sword close to the werewolf’s neck. The cold blade dug into his neck, drawing blood.

The werewolf unconsciously held his breath at the terrifying blade.

“You’d better be prepared for the consequences.”

* * *

“Ferdin.”

Ferdin, who had been running frantically, turned his head at the voice calling him. Erin stood on a tree, looking down at him.

Ferdin was momentarily surprised, but soon let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. At least she hadn’t been captured by werewolves.

Somehow, she seemed to have escaped from the werewolves chasing her.

“Why are you here?”

“Lady Erin, why did you come this far yourself?”

At Ferdin’s question, Erin remained silent. She had no excuse to offer him. How could she say she planned to defeat the werewolves alone and bring back Lilia and Amon?

Instead of answering, she jumped down from the tree and stood before Ferdin. Then she stared directly at his face.

‘Why is Ferdin here? Could he have followed me after seeing me enter?’

That’s impossible. Erin smiled self-deprecatingly at the thought that had suddenly occurred to her and said:

“Go back.”

Ferdin’s expression hardened at her calm words.

“What about you?”

“I have something I need to do.”

“You didn’t come all this way to rescue Lilia and Amon, did you? And alone at that?”

Erin couldn’t say anything to Ferdin’s question. She wasn’t good at lying, so when faced with moments requiring lies, she often chose silence.

After staring at Erin silently for a while, Ferdin stood beside her.

“If you have something to do, we can finish it together. Don’t think about going alone.”

Erin frowned in difficulty. She hadn’t expected him to say something like this.

Ferdin didn’t know she was a Sword Master.

If an ordinary person had seen her entering werewolf territory, they would have thought her insane.

So Erin had expected Ferdin to insist they leave immediately. She had planned to somehow persuade him to let her stay…

In a way, this might be for the best.

Though they were in the most dangerous situation, paradoxically, now that they had entered werewolf territory, being by her side would be the safest place for him.

With this thought, Erin began to walk. Ferdin silently followed behind her.

Erin kept track of the werewolf she had sent away.

She moved without hesitation, skillfully pushing through the undergrowth. After traveling for some time,

Erin stopped when she saw the sun setting.

“Let’s rest for a bit. We need to conserve our energy.”

Her body was still excessively weak. To fight properly in the upcoming battle, she needed at least a little rest.

Ferdin agreed with her.