‘Please please.’

Sweat began to form in her clenched fist at the tension.

From a distance, the two knights’ skills seemed on par. Both the attacker and the defender were showing perfect swordsmanship, without any flaws.

Herietta was well aware of how powerful the Black Knight was. A person who single-handedly slayed a pack of gray wolves. She was greatly surprised and admired Bernard who was able to stand up to him on an equal footing.

‘Then, for His Highness Bernard, there might be some possibility…….’

Herietta was trying to hold her hopes out, rubbing her quivering heart. The posture of one of the two knights who were in a tense confrontation suddenly got noticeably disturbed.

“Ack!”

Herietta screamed unknowingly.

The balance collapsed, and with that, the Black Knight’s fierce attack continued that it seemed almost one-sided.

‘No. No.’

Herietta watched the scene without blinking, her eyes fixed solid as stone. Her brown eyes flickered dangerously. Even the slightly parted lips trembled as if they were in the cold.

Herietta stopped her breathing as the Black Knight’s sword drew a long curve and cut through the knight in silver armor. And the moment she saw the knight, who had stumbled precariously on his horse, fall to the ground, her heart also plummeted into a deep abyss.

It felt like her eyes were dazed and her blood was flowing backwards. Her circuit of thought was suddenly cut off.

Her body moved before her head. Without realizing what she was doing, Herietta had descended from the walls and ran towards the gates.

Next to the gates, the walls collapsed by the catapult were visible. Many Velician soldiers were busy repairing the walls.

“Huh? Miss Herietta?”

Jonathan, who was leading the soldiers, recognized Herietta.

“What are you doing here…… ?”

Jonathan asked with a puzzled face, but Herietta did not answer. She passed Jonathan without even a word. She then picked up a helmet and a sword, as well as the bow and quiver, which were scattered on the ground nearby. She then jumped onto a horse, which stood free beside her.

Seeing this, Jonathan’s face was greatly taken aback. No way, the moment his suspicion crossed his mind, Herietta, who had put the helmet on her head, kicked the horse hard with her foot.

Whiiiieee!

With the sudden command, the horse neighed loudly, raising its forelegs high. Then it started running forward at high speed. Drap, drap, drap. The sound of horse’s hooves echoed across the hard stone ground.

“Hold, hold on!”

Jonathan, who belatedly grasped the situation, hurriedly ran and tried to block Herietta’s way. But it was impossible. No matter how fast he was, he couldn’t keep up with a galloping horse.

“Miss Herietta!”

Jonathan shouted Herietta’s name as she passed by. Unfortunately, his voice did not reach her and only echoed in the air.

The horse, carrying Herietta, jumped over the collapsed walls and disappeared into the chaos of the battlefield.

* * *

Herietta rode the horse through the battlefield. Could it be because of the fighting spirit and the struggle of the soldiers who risked their life? The atmosphere of the battlefield was extremely hot, and the heat that filled it was as hot as in the desert.

Crossing the middle of the battlefield, Herietta kicked the horse’s side once more. It was a strange thing. Even though she seemed to be blocked in layers, she had no trouble running her horse. Even though there seemed to be attacks from all sides, not a single arrow came flying.

Everything on the battlefield looked black and white. Her hands holding the reins, the legs holding the horse’s torso, and even the lips exhaling quickly. It all seemed like it wasn’t hers. Thousands of soldiers were tangled together to kill each other, so it would be noisy, but the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own breathing.

Not too far from the fortress, there was a dense group of soldiers. They enclosed the center of the space. It was where Herietta was supposed to go.

As she neared the destination, Herietta did not slow down her horse. She drew an arrow from the galloping horse and put it on the string of the bow.

The soldiers fled in astonishment when they saw a rider on the horse running towards them with terrifying speed. The path opened naturally, and the two knights’ figure could be seen between them.

A knight lying on the floor and another knight about to stab him with a sword.

There was no reason to worry, no time to think.

Herietta threw her arms back and drew the bowstring. Then, without hesitation, she let go of the bow the moment the arrowhead was aimed at the target right in front of her.

* * *

Edwin watched Bernard lying on the floor with cold eyes. As he fell off the horse, his helmet came off, so Edwin could see Bernard’s face.

He had jet-black hair and a calm, masculine face. He didn’t look as lighthearted as rumors had it, nor did he look like a drug-ridden addict. A blaze flowed from his eyes, which Edwin expected to be blurry, and from his tightly bitten lips, he felt strength, not weakness.

Bernard did not shy away from Edwin’s gaze. Even with the sword pointed at his throat, he showed no sign of fear. No. Far from being frightened, Bernard looked rather proud.

Even if I die soon, I will never bow down in front of you. His straight eyes said so.

‘What did I expect?’

Edwin laughed silently and self-deprecatingly.

‘That this man, Bernard, would have an ugly face like a monster? Or that he has the pathetic and ugly impression like the circulating rumors?’

Bernard looked straight at Edwin, as if he had no shame under the sky. Edwin’s heart was twisted at his gaze.

If there’s a terrible, hideous monster out there, it’s you, Edwin. A cunning voice, now unknown to whom it belonged, whispered in his ear.

‘I will pierce that neck once and for all.’

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