“wyyyyyyy!!”

With a sharp long cry, a huge creature that completely stunned Seraphina emerged from the ground. This snake-like creature, made entirely of red crystal-like material, was at least fifty meters long! On its body were wing-like structures covered in crystals. It soared into the sky, opened its huge mouth, and greedily swallowed the massive ether vortex into its belly.

The storm it stirred up when absorbing the ether even pulled Seraphina hundreds of meters away. The girl didn’t even have time to be shocked before she was shivering from the extreme cold air it spread when it flapped its wings.

Boom!

After devouring the ether vortex, the Blazing Ice Viper fell to the ground. The heavy roar was like dozens of cannons firing at the same time, the tremor of the earth transmitted to an incredibly distant place.

“This big guy… this is really…”

Seraphina was shivering all over, from the cold, from excitement, but absolutely not from fear.

The wolf’s eyes ignited with an incredibly fiery light: “This is the real extraordinary… this is, this is the opponent I want!”

Beasts crave food, beasts crave battle, but beasts are not stupid creatures that disregard their lives. Seraphina… why would she show such intense battle intent towards that monster, the ether monster at the peak of the fourth stage?

“Ansel!”

She turned to look at Ansel, the passion and expectation in her eyes were not at all false.

The girl opened her arms to him, although her cheeks were still red, but she said without any stammering, without any hesitation or retreat:

“I’m going in, Ansel, kiss me!”

“…” Ansel looked at her blankly, unable to speak.

“You naughty thing, you love it so much usually, and now you’re dazed!”

The wolf girl’s cheeks were red as she complained like this, then she tiptoed, hugged Ansel’s neck tightly, and without hesitation, kissed Ansel’s lips.

Just a few seconds later, she let go of Ansel, stepped back a few steps, and a confident brilliant smile spread across her face:

“Watch me, Ansel, this time, from now on, I will never let you down!”

Seraphina jumped down the small hill without hesitation, that tiny figure, ran towards the huge monster lying on the snowfield.

Absolutely no confusion or hesitation.

“Wait… wait!”

“Seraphina!”

Ansel, who had come back to his senses, didn’t even realize his voice was somewhat out of control: “Didn’t you notice, the ring of the pact head didn’t work, you didn’t advance to the third stage.”

“Ah?” Seraphina, who had already run some distance, turned her head and looked at Ansel, asking loudly, “What?”

“You haven’t yet…”

Ansel’s figure flickered and appeared beside Seraphina, grabbing her wrist, “You haven’t advanced to the third stage yet…”

The young Hydral lowered his head slightly, and after a moment of silence, he spoke in a slightly hoarse voice: “For now, let’s stop.”

“Blazing Ice Viper, I’ll handle it. Seraphina, you shouldn’t—”

“What are you talking about, Ansel?”

Seraphina looked at Ansel with a strange expression, interrupting him.

“At this point, you want me to back down? Are you afraid I’ll die?”

Ansel composed his expression and emotions, speaking in a tone as gentle as possible, “Now, there might be some situation with you, so the best choice is, of course—”

“Of course, it’s to charge forward like this.”

Seraphina interrupted Ansel again, “Is there a better choice than this?”

“Seraphina… listen to me—”

“Ansel!” Seraphina’s voice rose slightly, and she reached out with both hands to cup Ansel’s cheeks, her voice softening again.

“Listen to me.”

The young girl gazed at the face before her, one she was incredibly familiar with and saw in her dreams every night.

“You always smile like this.”

She touched the corner of Ansel’s lips with her thumb, whispering, “Like a mask, making me unsure whether you’re angry or sad, happy or heartbroken.”

“But I haven’t really cared, after all, Ansel, you wouldn’t deceive me.”

“I’ve only been with you for a short time, and although I already like you very much, we still have a long time together, so I have plenty of time to understand you.”

“Seraphina…” Ansel tried to steady his tone and emotions, “I think we should now—”

“Ansel!”

Seraphina, somewhat annoyed, pressed her hand against Ansel’s lips, “I told you, you should listen to me now.”

She gazed into his sea-blue eyes and chuckled:

“Actually, I know now. I know what you said, the thing I can’t accept, what it is.”

Seeing his eyes tremble slightly, her smile grew brighter, and her tone held no resentment or sadness.

“Yesterday, ah, no, the day before yesterday, I talked a lot with Marli, and when I went to bed that night, I told her about the day we went hunting… including what you asked me about, regarding the beasts.”

“At that time, Marli seemed to have a lot on her mind. Then last night, just before you arrived, Marli told me about the transcendental element.”

“…”

“Ansel.”

Seraphina stared into Ansel’s eyes and said:”You think I’ll betray you.”

“You believe I’ll always be a wild beast that can’t be tamed, right?”

“…Seraphina.”

Ansel’s voice was dry and hoarse, “That’s not what I think, but it’s a fact—”

“It’s okay, Ansel.”

There was still no dissatisfaction in Seraphina’s tone, “Although I was very unhappy at the time, after thinking about it, you were right to think I couldn’t accept it, which means that even then, you were considering me.”

“So when you came, I didn’t show any anger, and I successfully deceived you.”

She smiled and smoothed Ansel’s furrowed brow, her eyes full of happiness and peace.

“Then, your performance after you arrived made it even harder for me to be angry.”

The young girl grinned mischievously, “You hesitated, you felt guilty, and you couldn’t make a decision, right?”

“It means… Ansel, you care about me so much that even though you know I’ll betray you, you still can’t make a decision. If it were someone else, they would have been done for, right?”

“So, I’m very happy, super happy.”

Seraphina hugged Ansel tightly, proudly declaring with immense joy, “I must be the most special person to Ansel, so there’s nothing to be sad about, so—”

She let go of Ansel and confidently raised her chin:

“I’ll make you believe in me, Ansel. I don’t know why I haven’t become a pact head, or if it’s because of the beast element, but I’ll make Ansel believe in me.”

“…So.”

Ansel looked at Seraphina’s unhesitating and unclouded dark red eyes and asked softly, “So, in this situation, you still choose to face the Blazing Ice Viper alone?”

“Of course!” Seraphina answered without hesitation.

“…Seraphina, don’t be foolish.”

The young Hydral closed his eyes and slowly exhaled, “Let’s go back and find a solution. I admit… I can’t have absolute unconditional trust in you, but we can—”

“There’s no other way, Ansel.”

Seraphina refused Ansel, speaking lightly, “Or rather, I don’t accept any other methods.”

The young girl placed her hand on her heart, speaking with unwavering determination: “You know, Ansel. If we back down now, from now on, there will only be calculations and suspicions between us.”

Ansel stared at Seraphina, speaking in a somewhat wooden tone:

“You’ll die.”

“Die? How could I?”

Seraphina laughed heartily, “Ansel, I’m the chosen one, after all. Maybe I won’t die, and I’ll become even stronger through some strange means, right?”

“wyyyy—!”

The sharp, piercing howl came again, and Seraphina turned to see the Blazing Ice Viper beginning to move across the ground, heading in the direction of… a city.

“Oh, that big guy is on the move. We can’t let it get too far. Ansel, I’m going.”

Seraphina took two steps back, then turned and sprinted toward the direction of the colossal creature.

However, after running only a short distance, the young girl suddenly stopped, turned her head to look at Ansel, and shouted exuberantly:

“Ansel!”

“Ansel!”

She waved her fist vigorously.

“I’ll definitely live until the moment you’re willing to trust me!”

And so, the tiny wolf charged toward the monstrous creature created by the heavens and the earth, fearless and blazing with determination.

While the true terrifying monster stood in place, staring blankly at her receding figure.

In his mind, only the girl’s passionate and confident words echoed.

—I’ll definitely live until the moment you’re willing to trust me.

*