No job: Check the cards, Loki, are there any problems with the cards?

She had mentioned that place a few times when she met him before, saying that it was a place where true swordsmen should go, her tone tinged with a hint of defiance.

Upon arriving here, his first action was to activate the Transparent World and conduct a comprehensive search for the missing person.

Meanwhile, deep within that forest, beneath the waterfall.

The rushing water plunges down the cliff, crashing into a deep pool shrouded in cold mist at the bottom of the valley.

Nina was huddled behind a moss-covered rock, shivering from the cold.

Three nights ago.

When she was being chased by the snow dragon beast, she had nowhere to retreat but to leap off the waterfall.

The water flow cushioned the impact of her fall, saving her from death.

But that's about it.

Her left leg was severely fractured when she landed, and her entire leg was swollen and purple. Even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain.

The sword at his waist had fallen somewhere during his fall, and he had nothing left except a thin swordsman's uniform and a few pieces of dry rations.

During these three days.

She barely survived on limited rations and water seeping from the cracks in the rocks, but hunger and cold were like two invisible chains, dragging her little by little toward death.

She had hallucinations more than once, seeing campfires in the distance and figures approaching, but each time she struggled to climb closer, those hallucinations would dissipate like mist in the wind and snow.

"Do not……"

"I can't give up yet..."

Nina gritted her teeth and used her still-intact hands to pry her way forward inch by inch through the snow.

Her lips were cracked and bleeding, and her consciousness was beginning to fade, with only that last bit of obsession still holding her together.

"I want to surpass him... I want to defeat that guy... I can't die here like this..."

"I want to go home, I must survive!"

In a life-or-death situation, Nina unleashed an astonishing will to survive.

But just then, a rustling sound came from the bushes.

Nina looked up abruptly, her pupils suddenly contracting.

A wolf peeked out from the shadows, its greedy eyes locking onto her, drool slowly dripping from its mouth.

Its size wasn't particularly large; in the past, with her Sword Saint strength, she wouldn't have taken it seriously at all.

But now, he has lost his sword, broken his leg, and is frozen stiff, unable to even stand up.

"It's over... I'm doomed..."

Nina's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible; a profound despair welled up from the bottom of her heart, and her body trembled instinctively.

She even felt a warm sensation on her trouser leg, and she was so scared that she peed herself again.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

It slid down with the dirt and ice on my face, leaving two muddy streaks on my cheeks.

She tried desperately to back away.

With his broken leg, he couldn't exert any strength and could only watch as the demonic wolf approached step by step, its sharp fangs gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

regret.

I feel an unprecedented sense of regret.

She had never regretted anything as much as she did now.

If it weren't for secretly competing with that person, if it weren't for the fact that I had just wielded the Blade of Light, I would have insisted on running out to hunt monsters to prove myself.

She wouldn't have encountered the Snow Dragon Beast, wouldn't have jumped off a cliff and broken her leg, and wouldn't have ended up being driven to the brink of despair by a tiny demon wolf.

The image of that face with its always slightly squinted eyes flashed through my mind, as did the silhouette of him relentlessly wielding his sword in the moonlight.

"Damn it... I, Nina, am so unwilling to accept this!"

She slammed her fist into the snow, blood seeping from her frozen fingers, and cried bitterly, "I haven't beaten him even once yet, I really, really don't want to die."

"Ugh... Someone, please save me! Anyone, please! I just want someone to save me, I don't want to die..."

"Ow!

The wolf growled and pounced through the air.

then.

At this critical moment, a loud shout rang out: "This is the end of it all."

Swish.

A streak of snow-white sword light suddenly shone through the swirling snow.

It was as fast as moonlight itself transformed into a sharp blade, precisely slicing across the wolf's throat.

Pfft

Warm blood splattered all over Nina's face.

The wolf's body froze in mid-air for a moment, then fell limply to the ground, its limbs twitching a few times before it remained still.

Nina stared blankly at the figure blocking her way.

The man had his back to her, his figure mostly obscured by the wind and snow, and the sword in his hand gleamed with a cold, silvery light under the moonlight.

The blade is thin and long, with a translucent luster like water.

who is it?

Who exactly saved me?

She tried to open her eyes to see the other person's face, but she couldn't make out the person's features.

The wind and snow were too heavy, and the moonlight was too dim.

Her vision was already shattered by tears and exhaustion, and she even began to doubt whether this was a hallucination she was experiencing before she died.

"you……"

Nina opened her mouth, her voice so hoarse she could barely utter a sound, "Who...are you?"

………………

The person on the other end was silent for a moment, then did not answer.

The wind rushed into the gap between the two, making the figure in the distance even more blurred.

Nina tried to sit up to get a better look, but the weakness from not eating for three days, the excruciating pain from her broken leg, and the icy coldness that had frozen her body all rushed over her at the same time.

The world before my eyes began to shake violently.

She strained her eyes, trying desperately to remember what that figure looked like.

But the other person never turned around.

Then, she felt completely exhausted and could no longer hold on, so she fainted.

Before she lost consciousness, she had only one thought in her mind.

So who exactly saved her?

P.S.: Thank you. I was only able to keep going thanks to your free little gifts, otherwise I would have already failed.

Chapter 61 Nina initiates the team fight, and all her teammates surrender.

"Uuuuuuu..."

When Nina woke up again, she didn't know how long she had been unconscious.

The first sensation upon regaining consciousness was cold, so cold that my bones were trembling, followed by an intense feeling of hunger.

She struggled to open her eyelids, and what came into view was a cave.

It wasn't big, but it was big enough to shield us from the wind and snow.

A crack in the ceiling let in blinding sunlight, casting a bright white beam of light onto the ground.

She instinctively looked around and found the cave empty.

All that remained on the ground was a pile of burnt campfire ashes, the warmth long since dissipated, with only grayish-white charcoal residue bearing the marks of being licked by the flames.

Nina struggled to sit up, the aches and pains all over her body making her gasp.

She began to try to recall...

I was rescued.

In her most desperate moment, a figure appeared before her and killed the demonic wolf for her.

Although she was already in a daze at that time, she remembered the feeling very clearly: the person's back, the sword light, and the outer robe that fell on her, still warm from his body.

"Have they... already left?"

She murmured softly, a sudden, inexplicable sense of loss welling up inside her.