The bullet fired from Ibnel’s gun hit exactly Evore’s right eye. As the core shattered, the stones forming the demon beast’s body crumbled beyond recognition.

The eye was the only part not made of stone, allowing her to take it down, but their bodies were so hard that even special bullets could not easily penetrate them.

“This is bad. Except for the one I took down, the cores of the other three are hidden behind thick stones. But it was written that Evore doesn’t usually come down this far.”

“That’s right. They normally inhabit deep in the forest.”

Shuher was equally perplexed. Encountering Evore during a subjugation was clearly an unusual situation.

Moreover, Evore was a high-level demon beast, on a completely different level from the ones they had faced so far.

‘In this situation, the only one who can take down those demon beasts is.’

Ibnel stared at Shuher, or more precisely, at the sword he was holding, and said,

“Only Your Majesty’s power. The only thing that can pierce those hard bodies.”

No, there was one more person.

“Wouldn’t Hibre’s spirit technique also be possible?”

She spotted Hibre among the people, but just like before, he was only desperately defending with his sword, frozen stiff.

Even with power, it seemed impossible to face the demon beast in that state.

“That’s unlikely.”

“Aaargh!”

As Evore swung its stone arms wildly, the knights were instantly knocked away. With each step it took, it felt like the heavens and earth were shaking.

The two decided to move without delay.

“Bind the demon beast’s limbs!”

The imperial knights calmly moved according to Shuher’s instructions.

Ibnel also took on the role of covering him and the knights from behind. Rushing to the front would only be a hindrance.

As black sword energy rose from the sword Shuher was holding, he nimbly avoided Evore’s attacks while accurately targeting the cores that Ibnel had pointed out.

As the number of injured increased, the Evores fell one by one. Fortunately, as Shuher’s power and Ibnel’s ability combined, the tide of battle gradually turned in their favor as time passed.

As Ibnel discarded the cartridge and loaded bullets, one person stood out in the chaotic situation. It was Hibre, still trembling where he stood.

‘It would be dangerous to leave him like that.’

As she tried to approach him, the last remaining one suddenly changed direction and charged towards where Ibnel was, as if making a final resistance.

Ibnel shot at the shining light on its right shoulder, but it only scratched the stone. Of course, she had expected that, and hadn’t attacked with the intention of taking it down in the first place.

‘I shot here, Your Majesty.’

Seeming to understand the meaning, Shuher, who had blocked in front of her, cut off the demon beast’s two arms and then precisely pierced his sword through the mark Ibnel had left. The last one collapsed, losing its form.

Silence finally fell in the space that had been deafeningly loud. Only the traces left on the ground spoke of the fierce battle that had taken place.

Everyone finally relaxed and tended to those who were injured.

At that moment, Demil approached Shuher’s side and reported on the damage.

“There are some who are seriously injured, but not to the extent of being life-threatening. Considering that Evore appeared, fortunately, the damage is not too great.”

When Shuher looked towards Ibnel, she answered by shrugging her shoulders. Her body was tired and she had minor injuries, but she felt fortunate that it was only this much.

Ibnel approached Hibre, who had sat down weakly, while watching the others assess the situation.

“Are you alright?”

He was so shocked that there was no response. Soon, he looked at the injured knights and hung his head low.

“As I thought, I shouldn’t have come here.”

Hibre said that while tightly gripping the bow slung over his shoulder. Just as Ibnel was about to say something, that ominous feeling she had just experienced was felt right beneath her feet.

‘No way.’

Without time to think, she wrapped her arms around Hibre and threw herself forward. At that moment, an Evore sprang up from the spot where they had just been.

One much larger than those that had appeared earlier.

Its eyes, full of killing intent, fell upon the two people who had fallen. And immediately, it raised its enormous hand high.

“Run!”

Ibnel lifted up the panic-stricken Hibre, barely avoiding the attack, then grabbed his hand and started running. The Evore followed right behind the two, not even glancing at its surroundings.

“Quickly, chase after them!”

Shuher, noticing that the Evore was targeting the two, quickly pursued.

Ibnel changed direction and entered a dense forest, but the demon beast was smashing through the trees without slowing down, still in pursuit.

But that escape soon came to an end. Despairingly, what appeared before the two was a cliff.

‘Of all places.’

With the Evore right behind them, their escape route was completely blocked.

Ibnel hurriedly aimed her gun, and she could see Shuher approaching from behind. But at that moment, the demon beast raised both arms high and slammed them down hard on the ground.

A crack formed in the solid ground, and the ground beneath the two began to crumble towards the bottom of the cliff.

At the same time, the bodies of the two fell downwards.

In that moment of falling, Ibnel raised her gun and fired one last shot at the Evore. And in an instant, they disappeared from Shuher’s sight.

Shuher tried to hurry towards them, but the demon beast blocked his path. He unconsciously gripped his sword tighter as he looked at the collapsed ground.

That’s when something caught his eye. The bullet mark left on one side of its body, that was the location of the core that Ibnel had tried to indicate until the very end.

‘Until the very end.’

At that moment, a sword energy incomparably stronger than before rose from Shuher’s sword, and with a single strike, he completely split the Evore in two, core and all.

“Your Majesty, Lady Ibnel…”

Ignoring Demil’s question, he went to where she had fallen. Due to the fog, the bottom of the cliff was completely invisible, making it impossible to confirm their fate.

“Your Majesty, what should we do now?”

Shuher had to make a decision. After several battles, the group was completely exhausted. If they encountered demon beasts on the way to rescue the two, it could lead to even greater casualties.

And most importantly, there was no way to know if the two were alive or dead.

As if predicting such a situation, Ibnel’s words came to mind.

[“But if someone else and I are in danger at the same time and you don’t save me, I won’t resent that.”]

Shuher couldn’t think rationally as usual. Something kept making him hesitate.

Bang!

That’s when it happened. A single gunshot was heard from beyond the fog at the bottom of the cliff.

‘This sound, could it be.’

The owner was clearly Ibnel. And with that gunshot, she was conveying. That she was alive.

Shuher, without realizing it, felt relief and began to think about how she would move. He could come to a conclusion on that part without hesitation.

That she would find a way to survive no matter what.

With that single gunshot, his complicated thoughts were cleared at once.

“Raul.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You go now and quickly inform Count Renel of this situation. The knights of the Perti family will return with the seriously injured, and we will head towards the entrance from that cliff.”

Shuher set off on the path where he expected her to come. Strangely, his heart became urgent.

[This is the timeline separator]

“What are you doing now?”

Hibre couldn’t help but ask, seeing Ibnel suddenly firing her gun towards the sky.

“I’m letting them know. That we’re safe.”

Saying that, Ibnel wrung out her wet clothes and hair as much as possible.

“We were lucky. The cliff wasn’t as high as we thought, and there was a deep pool of water like a lake below it.”

It wasn’t that it didn’t hurt, but surviving without major injuries was enough for now.

“Are you injured anywhere?”

“I’m fine too, except for being wet.”

Ibnel confirmed that even her bullets were safe and stood up.

“Then let’s go.”

“Weren’t we going to wait for them to come rescue us?”

Hibre couldn’t help but be surprised, as he had naturally thought they would wait here for the group to come. But she firmly shook her head.

“We don’t have time to wait. It will be dark soon. There’s a path from here towards the entrance where we came into the forest, right?”

“That’s true, but.”

“Let’s go that way. His Majesty will surely have headed in that direction too.”

That’s why Ibnel had informed Shuher of her survival. But Hibre couldn’t hear that voice at all.

He was literally in a state of panic.

“This area is particularly narrow and treacherous. We have to climb steep slopes, and we might also encounter demon beasts.”

“That means you know the way, young master.”

That was more important to Ibnel. This was an unexpected situation, so she didn’t know the geography of this area. So she absolutely had to go with Hibre, who knew the detailed terrain and where the demon beasts inhabited.

“They might gather after noticing there was a battle, so it’s better to move quickly.”

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Hibre raised his voice.

“Stop saying such nonsense! There are only two of us. How can we go through that forest to the entrance by ourselves?”

He looked bewildered, as if he had already given up on everything. But Ibnel couldn’t afford even the time to argue like this.

“You know better how dangerous it becomes at night, young master. And the subjugation team is also injured. We need to move too.”

“No matter what, it’s impossible with just the two of us.”

“You’re also a member of the Perti family, aren’t you? Don’t you have the same power as His Majesty?”

That’s why Ibnel thought it would be alright. With his power, they could somehow make it through.

“My power is nothing compared to His Majesty and my father. I can’t…”

“Stop whining already!”

Having held back for so long, she finally exploded. Hibre looked at Ibnel in surprise at her shout.