The horses of the Cromwell barony were galloping at an incredible pace, kicking up dust in the air.
All the soldiers had grim, serious expressions on their faces. Hans, who was leading the charge, kicked his horse quite hard; the force was so powerful that the horse shrieked in pain and bolted forward with all its might.
"At this pace, I'll overwork the horse, and it will become extremely tired," Hans furrowed his brows in worry as he glanced at the horse running at full speed, its eyes filled with pain.
It had only been an hour since they left the Armstrong Duchy, and although they had covered a considerable distance, they were still far from reaching the Cromwell Barony.
Behind the galloping horses, there was a carriage. This was one of the carriages belonging to the Cromwells. Inside the carriage was a beautiful light-skinned girl with raven hair and an enchanting pair of chocolate-colored eyes.
She was the only one occupying the fairly large carriage, which was capable of accommodating five or more passengers. This girl was, of course, Serena. After seeing the beast tides like Cole, she had also insisted on returning to the barony to help out.
Serena gently touched her heart, her mind recalling the moment Nox had shown up in a princely manner. "It has been over a year since I last saw him." Serena's cheeks turned slightly red. "He has grown taller and more handsome."
After he came out of the mystery realm, Serena had really wanted to run and hug him, but the arena was too crowded, and before she could make a move, Nox had long blended into the crowd because of the alarm, disappearing from her view.
Still, Serena knew that saving the barony was much more important. As painfully as it hurt, she had no choice but to follow her father and Hans back to the barony, prolonging her reunion with Nox.
At that moment, Serena frowned as she stared outside at the world flying past her.
Just then, she heard a thunderous voice: "Beast ahead! Everyone get ready!"
Serena jolted from her seat with an anxious expression on her face. "That voice... it belongs to Uncle Hans."
A moment later, even her carriage came to a halt.
Then the sound of weapons and growling beasts filled the air.
"Stay in formation!" Hans shouted. "Two to one, beast!"
While the outside was chaotic, inside the carriage was quiet. Serena was silent, her fists shaking and her eyes filled with anger. A few moments ago, as if knowing something would happen, Gordon, her father, had instructed her to stay indoors no matter what.
She hadn't thought much about it then, but now that the clear sounds of fighting outside were ringing, things now made sense.
"I have trained with Nyx in the dimensions," Serena thought, balling her fists hard. "I can fight. If I'm not going to fight, what is the reason for coming in the first place?"
As she thought about this, Serena couldn't help but recall her promise back at the Mountain of Ascension when she was about to awaken her class.
"My body hurts; I just want to take a nap. Ugh!"
"Hey, why did you do that?" Nyx had said with a tight frown on her beautiful face as she helped her friend up. Although there was a frown, she was deeply worried that Serena might have exhausted and pushed herself to the limit.
"Maybe because I don't want to be left behind," Serena said, looking to the side. "I also want to protect others like you and Nox, not be the one who always needs protection."
In the present, her eyes burned intensely as she got up. "I'm sorry, Father." She summoned her bow, the quiver already on her back, filled with arrows. "But I also want to protect others."
Saying this, she jumped out of the carriage and found herself face to face with a red-eyed wolf who immediately leaped at her.
Without even a hint of panic in her eyes, she expertly retrieved an arrow from the quiver, then, with lightning speed, the arrowhead blurred towards the red-eyed wolf and buried itself deep in the wolf's eye.
The wolf howled in pain, making it easy for Serena to deal with it as she continuously bashed the beast's head until it eventually cracked open.
"Tsk, stupid wildlings," Serena spat on the beast and raised her head, only to be met with her father's angry gaze.
"Young lady... you disobeyed me," he started calmly.
"I had to," Serena retorted. "I... I can fight too. I'm an Awakened, don't you remember? I've been training a lot with Nyx in the past year."
"I know... but you see, Nyx is built differently... she's special," Gordon said. "These beasts... they're unusually powerful. You can't—"
At that moment, Gordon trailed off as he suddenly saw his daughter retrieving an arrow with calculated ease and placing it on the string. Then a sharp silver light passed through her eyes as the arrow shot forward.
Gordon felt the arrow pass his cheek, almost grazing it, and then he heard it stab into something, followed by a painful howl.
His daughter's action had been too fast, and for a moment, he even thought she was aiming at him. He turned around hastily and saw a red-eyed wolf lying on the ground in its own pool of blood.
The wolf had tried to sneak up on Gordon but had paid dearly with its life.
"That accuracy," Gordon stuttered, his gaze still lingering on the beast. "That calmness... usually kids her age would be terrified, but this girl, not only was she calm, she also reacted with quick reflexes." He looked up at his daughter. It felt as if he was looking at someone else entirely.
Serena displayed a smug smile as she said, "Who said I can't fight them?"
"I..." Gordon tried to work his jaw, lost for what to say.
Then, at that moment, Hans, who had watched everything unfold, chimed in: "If she can fight, let her."