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The cold blooms into the eternal winter, blossoming out of the barren lands of the snow-covered plains. There, a young woman walked ever so lonely through the fields with only a single sword in hand, frozen at its core.

"Hah... Hah..." As her breath hushed through the clouds of ice, she continued to press forward. "Everyone... Please... Survive..." Muttering out under her breath as if it was her last words, the young woman's movement slowly stopped as the world around her began blackening into darkness.

...

Was this fate? Or was it the upbringing of my own decisions?

Time and time again, I had desperately attempted to find the path that I had set off to take.

To see what I was meant for, in this lonesome world called barren.

Yet... Was it all for nought?

The ties that I've made... Everything was but futile in the means of judgement.

...

-[ (Side Story) Barren Lands of Winter Surgence ]-

...

The Barren Lands, Bareth's Plain—Snowy Hills Outskirts [ Day / Clear ].

The evening sun shone down deep into the forest as the hail cleared away in the sky. On the pathways of the plain, a young woman laid down on the snowy hills as she was seemingly asleep.

"..."

With her eyes soundly closed and her body laying rest against the snowy grounds, a figure of a man silently approached from behind the sleeping woman. In the next moment, picking up a small handful of snow from the ground, the man swiftly threw down the chunk of snow onto her face, abruptly waking her up.

"...a-ack!" With the sudden snow falling on top of her, the woman's body frantically moved upwards, thus lifting herself off the ground. Soon after, the woman angrily turned around as she glared at the one who threw the snowball at her. "Renryth! What was that for?!"

"You were so soundly asleep, I couldn't bear the thought of kicking you," the grey-haired man who was dressed in a robe, Renryth—spoke out nonchalantly. "So I decided to make a snowball and drop it down on you to wake you up."

"S-Seriously...?" The woman coughed whilst proceeding to wipe away the remaining snow off of her face. "Ahem... Anyways, why did you wake me up? You interrupted my perfectly needed sleep!"

"Eh... You sleep too much," Renryth shrugged. "But in any case... Sanke's done with resources gathering for the day. So, it's time for you to use up all that saved up energy into cooking whatever he gathered for rations."

"Huh... He's done already?" Stretching her body as if to rid away from the fatigue, the woman began to let out a tired yawn. "Well... If that's the case, then I'll get right to it!"

"Hurry it up before Sanke ends up complaining that you're slow," Renryth sighed through his breath whilst noting that the woman was beginning to make her way into the woods. "...hah. Honestly, how do you have so much energy after being on the run these days? Being so laid back and free..." Shaking his head, Renryth's gaze soon fell onto the snowy clouds, cleared from the haze. "Sigh. Well, that's Lier for you. Even after that event a few days ago... You still find it easy to keep going forward."

...

Three days? Or was it four? We've been on the run ever since the cold struck our old village. Terror... Defeat... Abandonment. Who wouldn't be faced with such emotions when one saw that their hometown was destroyed in under one night?

I sure wouldn't.

But... She was different. Lier—the Knight of Shimmering Winter.

Even after witnessing all that first-hand at the frontal lines of battle—Your carefree spirit never fails me. I just didn't understand at that time. For why did you bring this upon yourself? The pain and suffering... Which led to the incidents today.

...

The Barren Lands, Bareth's Plain—Pinewood Forest [ Day / Clear ].

"Mhm~" Skipping through the dirt paths of the forest, Lier steadily made her way over towards the small camp that was set up by Renryth and Sanke. "I wonder what I should cook this time around? Fish? Nah... They might get sick of it. Boar meat tendered by berries? Hmm... That sounds nice! Though... Did Sanke even hunt a boar?"

Continuing down the pathway, Lier, who only had a plain commoners shirt and with a sheath by her side, abruptly stopped at her footsteps. "...?" Slowly moving her hands over to the hilt of her sword, she muttered out. "Who goes there?" Her free-spirited attitude soon turned into that of a serious one upon hearing the rustle from the bushes nearby. "Monsters of Twilight? No... They would have jumped at me by now. Then who...?"

With the course of her attention going towards the bushes, Lier slowly made her way over to it. Step by step, she slowly reached towards the shrub-covered in snow, prepared to attack at any time.

"..." Her left hand that was free moved over to the bush upon reaching towards it. With a sword ready to strike at her opponents, she peeked through the bush. "...!" However, what greeted her wasn't that of a monster.

"...help..." In front of the woman, was a young girl, perhaps a child—sitting helplessly by the grounds. Seemingly bruised and injured, the child with white-silver hair could be seen in tears. "Someone... Please..."

"..." With her shoulders slightly relaxed, Lier hurried over towards the child. "Hey! Are you alright?!"

"H-Huh?" Still, in tears, the child looked over towards the direction of the sound, noting that a white-silver haired woman much as herself was rushing towards her. "M-Mommy...? Wahh...!!"

"A-Ack... I'm not your mommy..." Lier coughed as she proceeded to check the wounds of the child. "Damn... The injuries are bad..." Her face grew dire as she noticed that the bloodied wounds ranging from blue-black to open injuries were all over her hands and legs. Unbeknowst to her, she theorised that it could've been a monster attack. "Hey... Calm down for a bit, alright? I'll get you treated and—" as she wanted to continue her sentence, it was soon cut short.

"Grr..." From the nearby area, a loud growl could be heard resounding through the forest. "...prey...must..."

"Ugh... Are you serious?" Lier stood up with an annoyed tone of voice whilst unsheathing her sword. Tinted in holy light and seemingly steeled upon the finest ore in the land, it was a beautiful and elegant blade. However, with her shabby appearance—it was none too complimentary. "...Twilight monsters at this time... I guess that's where you got that wounds from."

"M-Mama..." The child gripped onto the legs of Lier.

"..." With a sigh, the woman prepared herself in a battle-ready position. "My armour is back at the camp... But it's fine. These guys seem to be on the lower spectrum of the Twilight Race," muttering out in thought, the howls of the wolves grew louder as the mobs revealed themselves. "One, two... Ten wolves? And..."

Ting...

Behind the corrupted wolves were that of purple ice elementals. It seemed that there was about six of them.

"...ice elementals too," she frowned. "This... I-Isn't going to be easy..."

"Prey..." With a small mumble among the twilight monsters, they leapt forward as they charged over towards Lier in a frenzy. In the next moment, as they closed the distance between Lier—she hurriedly swung her sword in a circle, swiftly pushing the monsters back.

"...hah." Soon after, letting out a deep breath, Lier protruded out her sword in the sky. "In means of the shimmering winter... Dance by my palms in the snowy battlefields—" Chanting out a spell from the tip of her blades, the monsters heeded no patience as they continued to rush forward through the snow paved grounds. "—My arts that is colder than ice, come forth!"

[ Lier's Sword Technique - Icy Confinement ]

With icy spikes suddenly protruding out from the ground, the tall and sharp icicles pierced through the monsters that were frantically making towards her. In the next moment—Lier followed it up with another skill.

[ Lier's Sword Technique - Dance of Hail ]

Waving her sword in a smooth yet skilled movement, her sword meticulous struck at each monster respectively, as if they were hit by a hail storm. Seconds later, she dealt the final blows against the first few waves of mobs without injuries.

"Phew... The first wave is done, but..." Noting that the pierced monsters had turned into grey-ash, Lier now averted her gaze to the rest of the incoming monsters. "—There's still a lot left..."

Lier had only dealt against two or four monsters with two skills. It seemed that she was in for a long battle if she hoped to end it without any wounds inflicted by the twilight monsters.

"...if I had brought my armour I could be a bit more reckless..." She was lacking sustain now as she didn't have any sort of defences besides her commoner's clothing. Why hadn't she brought one with her? it was on the line of leisure training for her. "Ah... That doesn't matter right now. Focus Lier!" Despite being in the deep forest known to be infested with monsters, she knew how to defend herself with a sword even without armour. But, never would she have expected a situation like this.

"...Lier!" A loud shout protruded out from the distance as Lier slashed at an enemy. "O' gale, move forth!" following that, a small windy breeze rushed forward towards the enemies aiming for a pincer attack on the woman.

"...Renryth?" Noting the too familiar wind, Lier's worries turned into that of a smile. "You're here!"