Esmeralda appeared in the mountain at the back of the house. She opened the door and quickly wore the overall on her body. She filled the spray bottle with the poison powder.

A few minutes later. Esmeralda emerged from the prohibited room and vanished from the mountain.

She chose to reappear in the castle to check on the situation of the boys, they were doing fine, still fighting the dark armies. She arrived just in time when another opening was created.

Was it the 5th or 6th opening? OMG! She already lost track!

She positioned herself above the opening and uses the two sprays for maximum effect - raining poison powder above the monster's head while they were exiting the opening.

It seemed the 5th opening was created while she went to the mountain for a refill. Oh, no! Horror and fear strike Esmeralda heart... what if they will release dark shadows and monsters all night long?

What's going to happen?

The men will surely grow hungry and weak without stopping for food, water, and even a few hours of rest.

If this will go on the whole night, the men will surely be defeated.

What the hell is Maxwell's plan right now!? Was he going to mutilate Ivy's body with the daggers cut? Was he planning to drain Ivy's blood all night long?

This is madness!

She will find time to enter the castle!

For now, she will help the men kill the monsters. Once the vampire stop making an opening, she will enter through the main door of the castle and find Ivy, then rescue her!

She can't find Aspen anywhere!

He must be after those fleeing monsters.

Well, she just has to continue spraying the deadly powder on the monsters' head. She can't kill all! But she will try her hardest! Her biggest advantage right now is that the enemies can't see her. She was invisible to them. Therefore she can do anything to them without them locating her presence.

A moment later the blazing barrier finally shut off and no more monsters coming out. Esmeralda left the castle's perimeters and flew away. She began hunting monsters left and right while hovering in the air.

Meanwhile...

Inside the castle.

Xenon was talking to Maxwell. "I hate those who sprayed poisonous powder to the monsters and dark shadows! It makes me want to go out there and hunt them - and smash them!" he said between gritted teeth, totally pissed.

Maxwell sighed. "Calm down, brother. What if Esmeralda was one of them and you will fatally kill her? Do you think I will still be alive by then?" he reminded him.

Xenon fell silent.

"That's why we can only attack those we can see with our eyes, as for those invisible enemies, we will catch them alive, soon!" Maxwell told him confidently. "My brilliant plan has yet to come. Trust me, we will win in the end!" he said, already celebrating inside.

"Okay, fine!" Xenon retreated into silence.

"Should we release more monsters now?" Lothaire inquired.

Maxwell shook his head. "Not now, but later. We will give the enemies the impression that we are no longer releasing monsters. We will catch them off guard. Let's give them a few hours to breathe and rest, and after that, we will release monsters again when they least expected it." He looked at the makeshift bed. "I'm taking Ivy back to her room so that her body can recuperate," he said and signal the vampires to follow him. He rose in the air going back to the vampires' den.

Xenon and Lothaire left the area and followed their brother back to their headquarters.

~

A few hours later.

Outside the castle.

The men were finally able to annihilate all the dark shadows. Thinking that the vampires will no longer release monsters, Ramza and Jegun volunteered to hunt the fleeing monsters while Agran and Zemeth chose to remain where they are, fearing that the blazing barrier will open up again and monsters will come out in droves, no one can stop them!

Zemeth watched as Jegun and Ramza flew away from the castle to hunt for monsters along the way.

The men sat on the rock nearby facing the area where the opening has opened and shut off repeatedly.

"Do you think the vampires will release another batch of monsters in the next hour?" Agran asked.

Zemeth sighed. "Maybe?" He shook his head. "I dunno - why did you ask?"

"I'm going to the island and cook some food and bring it here," Agran said.

"Okay, go ahead," replied Zemeth.

"Will you be okay here - alone for a few minutes? I will be gone more or less one hour to prepare some food for us and bring it here. Don't worry, I'll return as soon as possible!" Agran said.

"Okay, go now!" Zemeth shooed him away.

Agran rose to his feet and activated the teleportation in his mind, he was gone in seconds.

Zemeth was left alone on the ground, resting, recalling in his mind what just happened a while ago when the dark shadow as thick as the night descended upon them. It was a close call, although not all of them will perish they will be seriously injured because the dark shadows can emit deadly purple light from their mouth and hands when they get closer, and who knows how it will affect them?

Maybe they were being protected with the invisible shield that Grandpa Jegun has coated around their bodies.

His mind drifted again to Ivy in the castle. How much did she have to endure after her body was cut repetitively?

Once the barrier opens up and the monsters are rampaging out of the opening, he got busy dealing with those flesh-eating creatures and entirely forgotten that he has a mission to save Ivy!

Now, it's even harder to abandon his comrades and entered the castle to save Ivy when there are only six of them left. He can't ditch his friends in the middle of the battle!

It got him conflicted inside. What should be his main purpose? Save his beloved Ivy? Or fight the monster? Both purposes have an equal value in his mind.

But every time the opening appears, he fought the monsters fiercely and forgot saving Ivy entirely! He got distracted every time! And he got annoyed by this!

Sighing, Zemeth shook his head. Suddenly, he's getting tired of everything!

He glanced at the makeshift hut that he painstakingly constructed along with Aspen, it's no longer standing, crumbled to the ground, toppled by the fleeing monsters.

He was furious!

He wants a quick end to all of this!

~

Esmeralda hovered in the air, above the castle. She just wanted to check if the vampires release a new batch of monsters and dark shadows.

Then she saw Zemeth alone, looking dejected, sitting on of the rocks that can be seen scattered near the trees.

She reverted to her visible self and approached him. "Are you okay, Zemeth?" she asked him even if she knows that he is not okay.

Zemeth looked at the old woman and masked the anger in his eyes. He smiled a bit. "I'm okay, Granny," he replied.

"What are you thinking?" she asked, inspecting his face keenly.

"I'm so worried about Ivy, it's taken me so long to rescue her. I kept distracted every time the monsters and the dark shadows appear," he revealed his innermost struggle and surprisingly feels better afterward.

Esmeralda released a deep sigh and patted Zemeth's shoulder to comfort him. "I know how you feel. I'm worried about Ivy too. What do you want to tell her? I'm going to tell her for you," she said.

Zemeth's eyes widened. "Huh? A-are you going to enter the castle?"

"Yes. I will enter through the main door before the midnight strikes," she answered.

"What is your plan?"

"I'll plan to rescue Ivy and find the dagger. Then hopefully exit the castle with her, unharmed. But if I can't make it, rest assured that I will protect Ivy, come what may. If Aspen asks where to find me, tell him to see me in the floating piece of land inside the castle," Esmeralda said.

"How about... if I will be the one entering the castle?" Zemeth said.

Esmeralda shook her head. "No, between you and me, I am the most suited one to enter the castle. I know the inside of the castle better than anyone else, besides they won't kill me. If they caught you, they won't hesitate to kill you," she said.

Zemeth knows that granny was telling the truth.

"That is why I'm a perfect person to save Ivy. Take care of the others, I'll take care of Ivy," said Esmeralda.

"Please tell Ivy - I miss her so much!" Zemeth said, his heart was breaking inside.

"Yes, I'll tell her," Esmeralda said. She placed the bottle spray in the ground. "Give these spray bottles to Aspen, he knows how to use them. Don't use it, you will get poisoned!" she warned him and rose in the air.

"Granny, where are you going?" Zemeth asked.

"Lurking..." she said and reverted to her invisible form.

Zemeth sighed. This is a game-changer! What's going to happen once Esmeralda entered the castle? More than ever he needs to be strong and alert, not only for himself, for Ivy, and his comrades as well.

A few minutes later.

"I'm back!" Agran finally returned, he brought food with him.

Zemeth looked at him. "That was fast!" he commented.

Agran smiled. "I breathed fire," he grinned. "Let's eat, bro!" he said, placing a platter and spoon on Zemeth's hands.

The men started eating, not minding the dead bodies of monsters nearby.