The sound of the horses' broken hooves through the dense forest, the black-clad "crows" galloped by, the moonlight shone through the gaps in the leaves, and the branches of the trees swept quickly beside them and whistled sharply.

The roads in the forest were narrow and rough, and the knights had to carefully steer their horses to avoid colliding with tree trunks.

Sometimes bent over and bowed, sometimes chest up, nimbly adapting to the changing conditions, sweat dripping from under the dark veil, but they did not stop, their keen eyes quickly searching their surroundings for Cesare's traces.

At this time, Cesare had no trace of mycelial entanglement, but he also knew in his heart that the infection had not been removed so easily, and those evil spirits were temporarily hiding in the deeper parts of his body, ready to make a comeback at any time......

And now he has completely lost his strength, he feels that there is no blood flowing in his body, and his heart is just jumping boringly, trying to support himself not to die like this.

I wanted to rest, but the sound of the horse's hooves chasing behind me was getting closer and closer.

There was no intuition in her legs, trying to remember what it should be like to walk, and trying to make corresponding movements, but in fact, every difficult movement was Anya dragging herself forward.

Looking at the girl's mutilated left hand...... The delicate and lovely palm was now missing the ring finger and little finger, and with the only three fingers left, he dragged Cesare's tattered cloak and dragged him forward.

The bandage was wrapped around Anya's hand, the spiritual comfort was greater than the actual effect, and the blood was still flowing non-stop, which was really distressing just looking at it......

Originating from ancient beliefs, it is believed that there is a "vein of love" on the ring finger of the left hand that leads directly to the heart, so young girls will wear wedding rings on this finger to symbolize the eternity and loyalty of love.

Cesare remembered this allusion out of guilt, Anya is such a beautiful and agile girl, at her youngest and most beautiful age, but there is no longer that beautiful finger to wear a happy wedding ring......

Cesare felt unable to breathe as he looked at Anya's strong smile and felt no comfort in his heart, wanting to open his mouth to care but not having the guts.

He knew who those two fingers were missing, and what qualifications did he have to care about Anya......

The road in the forest is bumpy, and the branches of the trees are intertwined to form a labyrinth with no end in sight, and the young people cling to each other and choose the way back tacitly.

But for the pursuing horses, even if they used up what little strength they had left, it was still too slow.

The neighing of the horses approached in their direction, and they had no strength to flee or dodge, and they could hear the rustling of leaves, and they could see something approaching in the darkness beside them.

A knight's form was like lightning, and he sprang out of the darkness of the forest, immediately blocking the way of the two.

Cesare looked up wearily and saw the moonlight illuminating the knight's silver hair, and saw Ilona, a familiar adversary, riding a brown fiery horse in front of him.

The blade shrank with cold light, and its sharp eyes revealed an unshakable determination.

"Ilona ......"

Cesare's voice was so weak that he could barely hear himself. Cesare's call not only didn't reach Ilona's ears, but it also made her body even weaker.

Ilona's sudden appearance seemed to form an insurmountable barrier, causing everyone to stop in place and the air around them to freeze.

Her silky silver hair fluttered gently in the wind, and she sat quietly on horseback, clutching the sword in her hand, her eyes cautiously resting on Cesare's body.

It seemed that what Ilona saw was different from what she had thought before she came, and the complex emotions kept changing on the girl's face, and in surprise she couldn't tell whether it was sadness or joy.

The monster that had been in the Count's bedroom before was gone.

At this time, Cesare was just an ordinary black-haired teenager, without any mycelium on his body, and this kind of thing was in Ilona's cognition...... It's simply impossible.

Although numerous experiments have shown that the substance of sterling silver can temporarily inhibit the growth of mycelium, the anomaly occurs again after the silver band is already worn......

There has never been a precedent for recovering one's body by one's own willpower, and this kind of thing sounds like a phone call story but is simply unrealistic.

Ilona thought of her own brother who was stabbed to death by her own sword, and the emotions in her heart were indescribably complicated.

She had obviously spent so much time making herself ruthless, convinced that there was no cure for the infected, but now why did the gods play tricks on herself, so that she could soften her heart and feel the pain again.

Seeing Ilona blocking the way, she didn't speak for a long time.

Anya took a deep breath and bowed slightly in greeting, tired but playful.

"I'm sorry dear ma'am...... You seem to be getting in our way, can you get out of the way a bit? ”

Anya's voice immediately drew Ilona's attention, her eyes were much more fierce than before, and her attitude towards Anya was obviously completely different from that towards Cesare.

"Where are you going to take Cesare? The Count will soon return, and until then the infected must be placed in the care of the crows. Ilona's voice was fierce, but she lost the confidence she had in the castle, and seemed to be trying to keep her resolve unshaken.

She held the reins tightly, seemingly stabilizing the steed beneath her, but more often than not, she was forcibly keeping her inner composure.

Facing the cold glow of the blade in Ilona's hand, Anya did not flinch but protected Cesare more tightly, as if silently expressing her firm position, Anya would never hand over her companions to anyone.

"But you just wanted to kill Cesare, and I don't think you took him away for the family's evening tea party."

The corners of Anya's mouth smiled, but her hand had slowly touched the saber again, even if she no longer had the physical strength to survive two rounds, Anya still chose to persevere.

Hearing Anya say this, Ilona turned her gaze sideways and didn't know how to defend herself for a while.

"That's just what I had to do......" Ilona explained in a low voice, to Anya and even more to herself.

The images of the past replayed in my mind, remembering what happened to me as a child and later my life with Cesare...... Cesare then coughed a few times in pain, and the sound seemed to be hammered into the girl's cold heart, which made Ilona feel distressed......

Was it really the right thing to do to bring Cesare back to the family...... Will the Count really cure Cesare, or will the rest of the crew really let him live until the Count returns? Ilona wasn't sure that as a knight of the crows, she shouldn't have thought about it at all.

But the cold inside is slowly melting, becoming soft and fragile, Ilona doesn't know what to do, and the other "crows" will soon find it.

Obviously, she has absolute authority at this moment, but Ilona doesn't dare to look directly into Anya's eyes, let alone look directly into her shaken heart.

And when the scene froze, Cesare, who had been hanging his head all the time, spoke weakly.

"Ilona ......!" He tried his best to make his voice farther, but it was only at a volume that the other party could barely hear.

Ilona was startled the moment she heard her name, and the thoughts in her mind fled in an instant, looking at Cesare like a frightened kitten who had only done something wrong.

Cesare sighed weakly as well, and continued to speak something indistinct.

"Letters, I actually wrote a lot...... From the day I left, I've tried to show you what the school looks like......" Cesare said apologetically.

"I'm sorry...... I didn't know you didn't receive the letter I wrote, I thought... You just didn't write back to me, I've always missed you, Ilona......"

After saying it in fits and starts, Cesare just breathed hard and lost his voice.

Ilona, on the other hand, stared at Cesare for a long time.

The girl's shoulders shrugged slightly, as if under great pressure, and the only right eye no longer had the calmness just now, but became aggrieved, her eyes were slightly moist, and tears were about to flow out at any time.

The tip of the small nose twitched again and again, and the delicate lips were tightly pursed together.

Ilona knew that the other party might just be currying favor with herself, how could an inexplicable explanation resolve the misunderstanding for so many years, and where did the so-called missing letters go.

There is no credibility at all.

But even if it's ...... Even though she knew it was a lie, Ilona couldn't help but want to believe it.

The girl sobbed aggrievedly, she had lost so much in her life, and Ilona longed for a comfort, even if it was a lie.

Over the years, he has accumulated cold protection for his heart, wrapping his weak side layer by layer, and almost forgetting that he was just a little girl who longed to be cared for.

Without saying a word, Ilona actually cried, and after a long, long time, Ilona almost forgot the feeling of crying.

Time passed little by little, until Ilona made her decision......

Soon after.

The pursuing crows searched very closely, around the castle without missing any corners, but because there were still too few people, the speed of the search was also limited.

By the time the other knights arrived, the moon had already set over the horizon.

It's almost dawn.

The forest is no longer as dead and silent as it was before, the terrible things have passed, and the birds are singing happily as if to welcome the sun.

But they didn't see Cesare or Anya, but saw a dejected girl walking towards them in a relatively empty meadow.

Mr. Ander, the leader, raised his hand and motioned for the others behind him to pull on the reins and stop, and he watched the silver-haired girl walk alone in the forest, and her horse was nowhere to be seen.

Ilona's eyes were slightly red and swollen, and there were obvious tears on her face, and she watched as her fellow crows arrived without speaking or raising her eyes at them.

Just walking alone, ignoring everything around him, walking in the opposite direction of the crows.

"Ilona? What happened? Where's your mount? ”

Mr. Endel asked suspiciously, and Ilona stood still, and the girl's shoulder twitched a few times with a brief sob.

"Dead...... Or something else, I don't know......" Ilona got up again, as if she had lost her soul, and walked past the crow knights. "I'm so tired of Mr. Indel right now...... I'm probably going to go back to rest, sorry ......"

Ilona came alone, and walked alone in the direction of the castle.

Everyone looked at the girl who had lost her soul but didn't know what had happened to her just now, as if something very important had been lost in Ilona's world.

But in the blink of an eye.

Ilona lost it again.