"How is he?" Theresa asked as she turned to Onean with a concerned expression.

"I can't tell exactly what type of poison was smeared onto the arrowhead," Onean replied with tightly furrowed brows. At this point, she had already examined Erwin's wound. Just like Yuho on the previous occasion, Erwin was also suffering from poisoning. The poisoned blood flowing out of his body was completely black, so it was clear that the poison was extremely potent.

"Go back to Fort Breeze right away and fetch me the following magic potion ingredients," Onean instructed as she turned to Theresa.

Theresa had heard from Erwin that Onean was an expert potions master, so she immediately did as she was told.

"Also, all of his subordinates are at Fort Breeze. Get them to send some troops here to guard this cathedral so that no other mishaps arise," Onean instructed right before Theresa's departure in case there were going to be more assassination attempts to come.

"Got it," Theresa replied, then hurriedly rushed out of the cathedral.

"Is Brother Erwin going to be alright?" Christine asked as she stroked Erwin's cheeks while tears continued to flow down her face.

Onean was feeling extremely uptight and ready to snap, but she couldn't get angry at a crying little girl, so she could only adopt a gentle voice as she reassured, "He's not going to be killed by a couple of low-tier assassins. Don't worry about him, he'll be fine for sure."

A short while later, Lanyon arrived on the scene with a small group of troops before surrounding the Great Hansen Cathedral. Erwin had told Theresa about her past, so she knew that Lanyon, Sherry, and Georgina were his most trusted subordinates. Of the three, Sherry and Georgina weren't in Newfando at the moment, so Lanyon was the only one that she could turn to.

Standing at the entrance of the cathedral, Lanyon took a glance at Erwin from afar, and his brows immediately furrowed tightly with concern. He knew that Erwin had to have suffered an extremely severe injury, given the grim look on Onean's face. However, he didn't enter the cathedral, choosing to remain outside the building after taking a look at Erwin instead. Lanyon was an extremely cautious person, and he knew that it was best to keep the news of Erwin's injury a secret as much as possible.

"How do you plan to cure him?" Theresa asked with a concerned expression as she looked at all of the magic potion ingredients that had been requested by Onean. Having only recently returned to the cathedral, Theresa was sweating profusely from the trip.

"I'm going to transfer the poison in his body into someone else," Onean replied in a grim voice as she stared at the wound on Erwin's chest.

"You can do that?" Theresa and Christine were both quite surprised to hear this.

"If I'm not mistaken, the arrowhead was smeared with several types of extremely aggressive magic potions that are already rapidly entering his internal organs. If I don't adopt some drastic measures, the poison will enter his heart soon, and if that happens, he won't live past the night," Onean said.

Christine and Theresa's hearts jolted violently upon hearing this, and only now did they realize just how dire the situation was.

"Alright, then let's cut the chit-chat and get started," Theresa said as she quickly rolled up her sleeves. "How does the poison get transferred?"

Onean was silent for a moment before replying, "It requires a woman to make a sacrifice."

"What type of sacrifice?" Theresa asked, and Christine was also looking on with a perplexed expression.

"It requires a man and a woman to... be together in order to force out the poison." Even though Onean hadn't made it explicitly clear what she was referring to, the deep blush that had appeared on her face was a clear indication of what "being together" meant in this context.

The three women exchanged a few glances with one another, and none of them said anything. Theresa and Christine knew that there was no way Onean would be making a joke at a time like this, so her proposed method for curing Erwin had to be the best one available to them.

Christine turned around and lowered her head as she bit down onto her lower lip. She thought of everything that had happened between her and Erwin thus far. Erwin had saved her life, so it was only right for her to make this sacrifice for him. Thus, she made up her mind and decided that she was going to be the container for the poison.

As for Theresa, her face was turned to the side with a conflicted expression, and it was unclear what she was thinking about.

"We can't hesitate any longer. If we leave it too late, he'll be beyond saving," Onean urged.

"I'll do it. Brother Erwin has saved my life, and he's the only man I'm ever going to love, so I'll be giving myself to him sooner or later anyway," Christine said in a feeble voice, with a deep blush on her face.

Onean's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "But you're not a martial artist or magician, and on top of that, you're a frail little girl. I'm worried that if I transfer the poison into your body, you'll die on the spot. You'll be able to save him then, but..."

It was an extremely urgent situation with no time to waste, but Onean still couldn't bring herself to put a little girl in life-threatening peril without informing her of the danger first.

"It's alright, I can handle it," Christine argued in a stubborn manner.

"I'll do it," Theresa interjected with a determined expression. "You're just a little girl who doesn't know anything. Besides, I'm his slave, so it's only right that I make these sacrifices for him."

Christine wanted to argue further, but Onean picked up her hand as she said, "I didn't tell you this earlier, but if the poison can be successfully transferred into your body, then everything would be fine. However, if some type of mishap were to occur during the process and you're unable to endure to the end, then he'll die anyway. I'm sure you don't want to take that risk."

Christine bit down onto her lower lip upon hearing this, and she was doing so with such force that she was drawing blood. She hated herself for being so weak and useless in these dire situations.

Onean then made her way to Theresa's side before suggesting, "How about I tell you how to use the magic potion and I'll be the one to..."

"That's a terrible idea," Theresa immediately said, cutting Onean off mid-sentence. "I'm nowhere near as proficient as you when it comes to magic potions, so there's a greater chance that I'll accelerate his death than save him. Having said that, you better not be jealous after the event that I got to taste him first."

Onean paid no heed to Theresa's joke. Despite the strong front that she was putting on, the concern in Theresa's eyes was plain to see, and Onean knew that they were both extremely concerned for Erwin's condition.

"Alright, then let's begin," Onean said, then swept a hand through the air, releasing an array that encompassed the entire interior of the cathedral.

Prior to beginning her treatment on Erwin, Onean instructed Lanyon to guard the cathedral at all costs and ensure that no one was allowed to enter the building. Lanyon was naturally aware of the gravity of the situation and departed to carry out her orders.

"Can I stay?" Christine knew that she couldn't help Onean with anything, but she couldn't bear to part with Erwin in his current condition. Hence, she could only turn to Onean with a pitiable expression, hoping that Onean wouldn't chase her out of the cathedral.

"You can stay if you want. I just so happen to be missing an assistant." Onean was aware of Christine's feelings toward Erwin, and she certainly wasn't so cold-hearted that she would kick Christine out at a time like this.

"It's fine, I don't mind if you want to watch," Theresa said, and a deep blush immediately appeared on Onean and Christine's faces upon hearing this. Of course, Theresa was also blushing furiously herself.

...

At this point, two layers of woolen blankets had already been laid out onto the sermon platform. These were the capes worn by the women, but they were being used as makeshift bedsheets here.

Erwin was still in an unconscious state, and his complexion was terrible. His brows were tightly furrowed, and it was clear that he was suffering immensely from the effects of the poison.

Theresa had laid down next to him, and she was carefully watching him, entranced by the curvature of his eyelashes, which were even finer and more delicate than a woman's.

Meanwhile, Onean was working with a large vial of bright green magic potion, pouring it into a smaller magic potion vial and a glass beaker that was around the same length as her arm.

She then turned to Theresa before instructing, "Help me get his mouth open."

After that, she turned to Christine and said, "Take off all of his clothes and rub this magic potion all over his body."

She then thrust the tall glass beaker toward Christine.

"Find some cloth to cover your nose and mouth with. Otherwise, the scent of the magic potion is going to be too much for you to bear," Onean cautioned.

Christine quickly did as she was told, and Theresa took a curious glance at her before turning to Onean as she asked, "Why is the scent of this magic potion giving me a sense of dizziness? Isn't this the smell of myriad peach blossom? I recall that the ingredient has the effect of accelerating one's circulation, right?"

"It is myriad peach bloosom, but I added another magic potion to it," Onean said while pouring the magic potion down Erwin's throat.

"Why is that?"

"I put in the fruit of the intimacy tree," Onean replied.

A deep blush appeared on Theresa's face upon hearing this, and she immediately fell silent. In her urgency to get back, she had forgotten all about this, but thinking back now, the fruit of the intimacy tree was indeed one of the ingredients that Onean had asked her to fetch.

Meanwhile, Christine was taking off Erwin's clothes with an embarrassed expression, and she asked what the fruit was in order to alleviate the awkwardness that she was feeling.

"It's an extremely potent aphrodisiac," Theresa answered in a quiet voice.

The three women immediately turned away from one another and became engrossed in their work again. Of course, Theresa didn't have anything to do at the moment, so she was lending Christine her assistance.

Soon, Erwin was completely stripped down in front of the three women.

"It's all up to you now," Onean said as she took a subtle glance at Erwin before quickly looking away. She was naturally speaking to Theresa here.

Theresa's heart was thumping in her chest, and she was feeling too nauseous to speak, so she could only give a feeble nod in response.

Meanwhile, Christine had her chin buried into her own chest, and it looked as if she wanted nothing more than to anywhere else than in this cathedral, but at the same time, she also couldn't bear to leave Erwin's side.

All of a sudden, Erwin abruptly awakened. His eyes were wide open like those of a feral beast, presenting a horrific sight to behold, particularly in the empty cathedral at night.

Patches of green and red were roaming over his skin, looking much like two bursts of energy that were clashing together. They were constantly tearing against and struggling with one another, and the dark green was the poison from the arrowhead, while the bright red represented the animalistic urges that had been evoked within Erwin by Onean's magic potion.

With alarming speed, Erwin rose up into a standing position, and looking at his movements, it was impossible to tell that he was a man that was on the brink of death. He then threw his head back and howled to the heavens like a werewolf who was about to undergo their transformation under the full moon, and his eyes were filled with boundless darkness. It was clear that he had completely lost all semblance of sanity in his current state.

"Get back! Hurry!" Onean could see that Erwin's animalistic urges were about to take over, and she hurriedly grabbed Christine before ducking down with her beside the sermon platform so that they were out of Erwin's line of sight.

Christine was peeking out at Erwin from behind a pillar, and she was feeling very sorry for him.

Erwin's eerie black eyes swept over the surrounding area, upon which he discovered that there was no one around him. However, he then lowered his head to find a beautiful woman seated by his feet. She was looking up at him with an intimate expression that was intermingled with a slight hint of fear, and Erwin immediately pounced onto her life a starving wolf.

Soon, all of the clothes on Theresa's body had been torn to shreds.

...

While Erwin was "busy at work", Onean snuck behind him silently, then opened a vial of green magic potion with her thumb before pouring it all over his back.

As soon as the magic potion made contact with Erwin's back, white smoke began to rise up as if it were scorching his skin, and he began to howl with pain. At the same time, he was becoming more aggressive with his movements, causing even more anguish for Theresa. Despite this, Onean refused to become sidetracked and gathered her magic power in her hands before extending them toward Erwin's back, upon which the dark green patches on his skin began to flow toward her palms. As more and more of the dark green color began to accumulate on her palms, she knew that the time was right, and she began to draw a series of symbols onto the dark green poison with her fingertip. Her finger was like a miniature golden dragon that was dancing through the air, fiercely battling the sinister poison. Soon, sweat was beginning to pour down from Onean's forehead, indicating that she was expending a great deal of magic power.

A long while later, the golden symbols finally fused as one with the dark green poison, and Onean was very relieved to see this. As soon as she relaxed, she immediately stumbled and almost fell onto her haunches.

At this point, Theresa's complexion was already as pale as a sheet, and she seemed to be on the brink of unconsciousness.

Even so, the man on top of her wasn't letting up at all, and Theresa could only lament her own ill fortune.

A concerned look appeared on Onean's face upon seeing this. She was worried that Theresa's body wouldn't be able to hold up at this rate, so she tossed her a small vial of magic potion concocted from the fruit of the intimacy tree and hibiscus angelica dahurica. If anything were to happen to Theresa, then both of them were going to lose their lives. It pained Onean greatly to have to give Theresa a magic potion like this when she was already in such a terrible state, but she knew that if she wanted to save both of them, then she had to be a little cruel.

As soon as Theresa caught sight of the magic potion vial that had rolled over to her ear, she immediately picked it up before downing its contents.

The magic potion took effect very quickly, and her pupils dilated drastically as she was suddenly filled with a burst of energy, and her pained groans suddenly turned into blissful moans as she wound her arms and legs around Erwin's body, holding him close as he continued to ravage her.

With such passionate reciprocation from Theresa, Erwin was about to reach his climax, and the bright red color all over his body began to gradually fade amid his rough grunts.

Finally, he fell completely still as he panted heavily like an old farmer trying to sow a seed into a patch of fertile soil, but instead of sowing a seed, all he managed to do was spill poison into the soil.

Onean was quite relieved to see that he had "finished". She took a displeased glance at him, and she felt as if a massive weight had been unloaded from her chest. She then beckoned toward Christine, who was still hiding behind the pillar, so that they could carry Erwin to the side. At this point, Erwin had passed out once again from overexertion.

His life had been saved, but Onean's job was still not done. She still had to think of a way to quell the poison that had been transferred into Theresa's body. Even though her impression of Theresa was far from a positive one, it still pained her greatly to see Theresa make such a huge sacrifice for Erwin.