The "resurrected" wolf led the way ahead, while the knight led his horse through the woods beneath the setting sun.
As the intense sunset gradually dimmed, Shade ventured deeper into the forest.
Time and space seemed to have become chaotic here. The rippling light made everything in the forest seem coated in strange radiance. In his daze, Shade felt as though he had stepped into the light and shadows of the Old Era. Like a true knight, he carried his sword and led his horse, pursuing all that he desired.
He focused on the wolf. As the trees grew denser, it finally slipped into the undergrowth in the depths of the forest and vanished. Shade instinctively quickened his pace. When he led his horse out of the bushes, he saw a lake amid the woods, its surface rippling beneath the last ray of sunset, and Lake Heart Island at its center.
The wolf stood by the shore and went no farther. Shade opened his mouth in astonishment, hearing the horse behind him snort impatiently and stamp its iron-shod hooves against the ground.
He stared wide-eyed at the scene before him. The last sunset on the distant horizon reddened Shade's face, yet he could hardly believe that he had found this mysterious lake under such circumstances.
"But why would the Swamp Witch lead me here?"
He released the reins and, sword in hand, instinctively walked toward the shore. But at that very moment, the mysterious lake beneath the sunset suddenly wavered like a projected illusion. Then the image of the lake gradually faded, revealing the forest's true appearance.
The sharp-eyed Shade had already sensed the shift in space. He knew that it was because the lake only appeared during the day, and night had now arrived.
The wolf, which was closer