Illya recalled that forest again, surrounded by beasts and stained with blood.
Her mother's death, her father's abandonment, the ideas drilled into her over the years—Illya had long since been exhausted.
Then the Einzbern Household had forcibly demanded that she summon Berserker.
When Berserker had first been summoned, their relationship had not been like this.
At first, even the slightest movement of Berserker's fingers caused excruciating pain throughout Illya's body.
Illya hated Berserker, because he was the source of all that pain.
Yet back then, Berserker could only rely on Illya's magical energy to remain in the present world.
So, in order to make Illya adapt to Berserker, the Einzbern Household had done many inhuman things.
The most dangerous time was when they threw Illya and Berserker into the Winter Forest and left them to fend for themselves.
A pack of wolves surrounded them. Illya's tiny body held a branch, trying to scare the wolves away.
But she could not frighten them off at all. The wolves easily bit the branch to pieces.
As for Berserker, without an order from his Master, he stood still like a puppet.
Facing the wolves closing in step by step, Illya tried to fight back with her small body, only to be subjected to merciless bites.
Blood flowed from Illya's body, staining the snowy ground of the Winter Forest.
Berserker merely stood there without moving, allowing the wolves to bite him.
First his head, then his body, then his arms and legs—his entire body became a bloody mess.
Seeing Berserker being gnawed beyond recognition by the wolves simply because she had not given him an order, Illya was deeply moved.
In the end, Illya gathered all her remaining strength and shouted, "Berserker!"
Berserker, who had been like a puppet, had red light flare in