Suddenly, the girl spoke, her voice as cold as her gaze.

"Are you human?"

The question bewildered Camila.

In the middle of all the chaos, with wolves still lurking around, the last thing she expected was to hear those words.

She gasped, trying to regain her composure, but couldn’t form a response.

Why was she asking that?

And more importantly, who really was this girl?

Before Camila could answer, the girl spoke again, this time pointing her sword toward one of the wolves that was dangerously close.

Camila barely had time to react before the girl moved with surprising speed.

A single, clean, precise cut sliced the wolf in half, its body falling heavily to the ground, blood splattering around it.

The blade of the sword sliced through flesh, bone, and skin with an almost inhuman ease.

Camila, wide-eyed, couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed.

The girl had cut the wolf in two as if it were a mere piece of paper.

The remaining wolves, which until that moment had displayed unstoppable ferocity, began to retreat.

It seemed that the girl’s presence, or perhaps her overwhelming strength, had completely changed the situation.

One by one, the wolves began to flee, disappearing among the trees with fearful growls.

Camila, barely managing to stand, watched everything with a mix of disbelief and relief.

But something in the air remained tense, something strange that she couldn’t quite identify.

Suddenly, she heard Aiden’s familiar voice approaching quickly.

"Camila! Are you alright?" he shouted, but before she could respond, the adrenaline that had kept her on her feet began to fade.

A metallic taste filled her mouth, and suddenly, everything went dark for a moment.

She coughed violently, and a thread of blood spilled from her lips, followed by a spasm in her chest.

Her legs trembled, and finally, her body gave out, collapsing to the ground with a dull thud.

Barely conscious, Camila felt the weight of fatigue overwhelm her.

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She knew she was injured, she knew her body had reached its limit.

Amid the chaos, she felt someone approaching.

With effort, she lifted her head just enough to see the girl kneeling beside her.

The golden eyes continued to observe her with that disconcerting coldness, as if none of what was happening truly mattered.

"Are you human?" the girl repeated, her tone just as indifferent as before, as if Camila’s critical condition was just another detail.

Camila, barely conscious, gasped out a weak response:

"Y-yes..."

The girl showed no visible reaction.

She simply stood up and, with a swift gesture, stabbed her sword into the ground, right beside Camila’s head.

"Make a contract."

That phrase deeply confused Camila.

A contract?

What was she talking about?

The pain kept her barely alert, but her mind couldn’t process what the girl was asking her to do.

Before she could ask, the sound of several footsteps announced the arrival of Aiden and the others.

When they got close enough, Aiden, Thorne, and Darius came to an abrupt stop at the sight before them.

The wolves were gone, and in their place, they found Camila lying on the ground, covered in blood, and beside her, the white-haired girl, small but unsettling.

The black sword was still stabbed into the earth beside her, and the coldness in the air made them hesitate before moving closer.

"Who is she?" Aiden asked, clearly surprised by the girl’s appearance.

Selena, who had followed the group closely, walked past without paying attention to the question.

She quickly knelt next to Marta, who was still immobile and crying in pain.

As she began to whisper healing spells over her, the healer murmured urgently:

"Hold on, Marta... Please, hold on a little longer..."

But Camila’s pain was also intense, unbearable.

She could feel the blood pooling in her mouth, and her body was starting to lose control.

She could barely breathe. As her eyes slowly closed, a cold, distant voice broke into her mind, as clear as crystal:

[Are you aware that you’re going to die if you do nothing?]

The voice didn’t belong to anyone around her, not even to the girl in front of her.

It was someone else, a presence that seemed to be inside her head.

Unable to move her lips, Camila tried to respond from the depths of her mind.

‘I know...’ she thought, as tears began to well up in her eyes.

She knew her condition was critical. There was no escape, no possible relief. Desperation began to overwhelm her.

[The healer is busy treating the other girl. Both of you are gravely injured. If you don’t do something soon, you won’t make it. Make a contract with me.]

Camila blinked through her tears.

The voice was reading her thoughts, which confused her even more.

Suddenly, a memory flashed through her mind.

Isuke used to talk to Eleonora this way, without moving his lips.

‘Eleonora... is that you?’ Camila thought.

[Yes, it’s me,] Eleonora responded calmly.

Camila let out a nervous laugh, her body trembling involuntarily.

The reflex caused her more pain, and blood filled her mouth again.

Despite the strangeness of the situation, what more did she have to lose? She was already on the brink of death, and if that voice really was Eleonora... maybe there was a chance.

‘What do I have to do... to make the contract?’ Camila asked, as pain and uncertainty clouded her mind.

[You must reach out and touch me. Say my name and ask this sword to accept you as its contractor.]

Camila heard the instruction clearly.

With a titanic effort, she stretched one of her trembling hands toward the black sword the white-haired girl had stabbed into the ground beside her.

Her fingers weakly brushed the cold blade, barely touching it, and despite the other voices around her... she decided to bet everything on this.

‘I am Camila Clark... a priestess who... asks you, please, to accept me as your contractor...’ Camila thought as she fought to stay conscious.

Eleonora, upon hearing that declaration, seemed to smile within Camila’s mind, though she couldn’t see it.

[Not bad...] Eleonora murmured with a note of approval in her voice. [I accept your request for a contract, Camila Clark. From this moment, you are my candidate.]