CHAPTER 47………………………………….
‘Damn it, we’re screwed.’
Alexis swallowed a curse.
The situation wasn’t just bad—it was awful.
To be fighting Neferdia and a Stone Spinner at the same time…
The entire subjugation squad could use aura, sure, but the problem was that these particular beasts were extremely troublesome.
Alexis had managed to cut off one of the Stone Spinner’s legs.
Its sheer size alone made it impossible to handle by himself.
‘Well, His Grace the Grand Duke is a different story.’
Alexis glanced toward Arsen.
Arsen was swinging his sword with an expression utterly devoid of emotion.
With each stroke of his blade, a Neferdia’s head flew off and its core shattered.
The beasts must have sensed instinctively that Arsen was the strongest one, because they were slowly backing away from him—though there was no chance Arsen would simply let them.
At that moment, the Neferdia in front of Alexis swung a massive leaf.
Unable to dodge in time, Alexis was struck and rolled across the ground.
Not missing the opportunity, the Neferdia opened its mouth wide.
Alexis quickly raised his sword to block its jaws.
The aura-coated blade didn’t melt in the acidic saliva, but the jaws kept pressing harder as though ready to swallow him whole.
Gritting his teeth as he barely held the Neferdia back, Alexis looked around.
There was no one nearby who could help him.
Which meant he had to deal with this on his own—somehow.
He was racking his brain, trying to figure out what to do, when suddenly the Neferdia screamed in a chilling, high-pitched shriek and twisted violently.
Then, it began to burn.
Its core must have been destroyed—there was no regeneration, and it burned pitch-black at frightening speed.
Alexis was bewildered, unable to understand what had happened, when he saw another arrow shoot past at incredible speed.
He snapped his head up.
‘An arrow?’
He turned toward the direction it had come from and spotted a glimmer behind a tree.
Every arrow struck exactly where the beasts’ cores were located.
Any beast whose core was pierced collapsed instantly, leaving the struggling knights staring in confusion.
It didn’t take long.
Before they knew it, the last beast fell, and only the sound of rough breathing remained.
Just then, someone leapt out from between the trees.
Arsen frowned, sheathed his sword, and rushed toward that person.
“Ivelina!”
The word that came out of his mouth made the knights’ eyes go wide.
It was a name they absolutely did not expect.
The knights glanced at each other, whispering in shock.
“Ivelina… isn’t that the Grand Duchess’s name?”
“Yes, if I remember correctly.”
Even if they didn’t know her face, they at least knew the name of the mistress of the Grand Duke’s household.
Arsen, apparently unaware or unconcerned with their confusion, hurried straight to Ivelina.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No. I stayed behind the tree the whole time.”
Ivelina shook her head and removed the hood she’d been wearing.
Only after taking it off did her expression seem to loosen a little.
Arsen’s face had gone pale.
After hesitating for a moment, Ivelina said,
“Sorry for jumping in out of nowhere.”
“…My heart nearly dropped. If you weren’t careful, you could have drawn the beasts’ attention.”
“Oh…”
She hadn’t thought that far.
She simply assumed she’d be safe hiding between the trees—but judging by Arsen’s reaction, she was clearly wrong.
Even after she insisted she wasn’t hurt, Arsen checked her closely himself.
Only after confirming with his own eyes that she was perfectly fine did he exhale in relief and smile.
“Still, that was incredible.”
“Huh?”
“Not anyone can destroy a beast’s core in a single shot. But you did it—effortlessly. Thanks to you, the knights survived.”
“Oh…”
Ivelina’s cheeks turned pink at Arsen’s praise.
The knights, who had been hesitating in the background, rushed over all at once.
The Grand Duke’s knights were all former mercenaries.
Arsen had built rapport with mercenaries beforehand just in case, and when he received the grand ducal title, he had brought those he knew into the Grand Duke’s knight order.
Because of that, they had little sense of decorum—tall, burly, rough-looking men, all of them.
With dozens of such men approaching, Ivelina reflexively flinched.
Noticing her alarm, the knights stopped at a respectful distance.
Alexis bowed deeply and shouted,
“Thank you for saving our lives!”
The others followed, thanking her in unison.
Ivelina panicked, unsure of what to do.
She shot Arsen a pleading look, but he only shrugged.
As if accepting their gratitude was the most natural thing in the world for her.
“I-I didn’t do anything that amazing…”
“What do you mean? Destroying a core in one strike is extremely difficult. You can’t even see it—you have to rely solely on instinct.”
The knights looked at her with genuine awe.
She had never been looked at that way in her life, and it made her flustered.
She had merely done exactly what she had trained for.
“Anyway, we should move. More beasts might come.”
Their earlier battle had been noisy—other beasts might have heard.
Arsen whistled sharply.
At once, the horses that had fled earlier came galloping back.
With a curious expression, Ivelina patted the horse she had ridden.
They set off again, but soon the snowfall began to worsen.
Looking up at the sky, Arsen spoke.
“The snow is getting heavy. We should find a cave. Otherwise we might get caught in a blizzard.”
He shouted the order back to the knights.
They quickly headed toward shelter.
Before long, they found an abandoned cave and went inside.
It was spacious and cozy.
The knights went outside to gather wood.
But the branches were too wet from the snow, and they struggled to get a fire going.
Then, Ivelina approached cautiously.
“Um… I think I can do it.”
“Eh?”
A knight stepped aside in confusion.
Ivelina placed her palm above the stacked branches.
A faint silvery mana flickered—and the wood caught fire instantly.
“Ohh…!”
“Amazing!”
The knights’ eyes lit up.
They had been struggling all this time, so this felt miraculous.
One knight tilted his head and asked,
“How did you light that? You didn’t do anything…”
Ivelina hesitated, then answered with an awkward smile.
“Ah… I can use magic.”
She felt embarrassed—it sounded like she was bragging.
The knights looked at her with pure astonishment.
In the Empire, the only mages were imperial court mages; mercenaries rarely, if ever, saw one in person.
To think someone right in front of them was a mage—it was incredible.
With the fire lit, the chilly cave grew warmer.
Outside, snow was falling so heavily they could barely see, so they decided to wait awhile.
Arsen busily laid down thick blankets on the cave floor and fussed over her.
“Are you uncomfortable anywhere? The ground is hard, so I put down the thickest blankets we had—hopefully it’s enough.”
“I’m fine. Arsen, sit next to me. It’s cold.”
Ivelina smiled faintly and patted the spot beside her.
Arsen didn’t hesitate—he immediately sat down.
“Are you cold?”
“I’m not cold when I’m with you.”
Ivelina gently leaned her head on his shoulder.
Arsen stiffened for a moment, then adjusted himself so she could rest more comfortably.
The knights, seeing Arsen show consideration for someone for the first time in his life, exchanged looks of utter shock, as though the world were ending.
Ivelina lifted her gaze to look at him.
And that’s when she noticed the cut on his cheek.
Straightening up, she took his hand.
“Arsen, your cheek is hurt.”
“Hm? Ah… a bit of stone from the Stone Spinner must’ve grazed me.”
Arsen touched his cheek with his fingertips.
But the moment the wound opened slightly and a bit of blood flowed, Ivelina flinched and looked ready to cry.
Her expression made it seem like she had been hurt, not him.
She carefully placed her hand over the wound.
There was a soft glow—and the cut vanished completely.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
“Yes, it doesn’t. Thank you.”
Relieved by his answer, Ivelina exhaled softly.
After some time, the heavy snowfall began to calm.
They packed up and stepped outside.
In the distance, a wolf’s howl echoed.
“Winter wolves. Be careful.”
Ivelina nodded faintly.
She knew winter wolves very well.
They had been the final test beast she faced—and the one that gave her the most trouble.
Their vision, hearing, and smell were exceptional, and they were incredibly fast—destroying their cores was extremely difficult.
She had thought the howl was far away, meaning there shouldn’t be any nearby—but she was mistaken.
Ivelina scanned their surroundings, pupils trembling.
Around ten or so winter wolves had circled them.
One, in particular, stood out—their leader, easily two to three times larger than the others.
“Is that wolf the pack leader?”
“Most likely. If we kill that one first, the rest will be much easier.”
Ivelina swallowed hard and gripped her bow.
A winter wolf’s weak point was its tail.
Strangely, all its nerves seemed concentrated there—cutting the tail drastically reduced its senses.
But despite being fur, it was unbelievably tough, nearly impossible to sever without immense strength.
Naturally, Arsen and Ivelina would take on the pack leader.
The wolf growled and charged forward with stunning speed.
Arsen grabbed Ivelina by the waist and pulled her back, dodging the attack.
A massive paw slammed into the ground where they had just been standing.
The wolf’s yellow eyes met Ivelina’s.
