The blast of energy simmered back down. Streaks of hot flames licked the floor, flickering on and off. The Tortoise brushed off the fire as if nothing harmed it.

Snow was impressed at the undead generals that Dairen had. From the looks of it, she would have guessed that these four generals were almost on the same level as a top-tier A-class hunter.

The phoenix descended from above with a scratch. Its green and black flames splashed outward, hitting against the demon general in one blast. The flames completely covered the demon from head to toe, making it look like it was one giant bonfire.

The tiger jumped in with its claws outstretched after the close after, striking fiercely without a blink of its eyes. Even the dragon swooped in from behind as they both battled against the demon.

The demon general stuttered, unable to keep up with all three attacks that it finally slipped up. The tiger lopped off its head in one fell swoop with an extended claw.

Snow was stunned. She now saw the extent of how much power Dairen had grown. She could see why he was able to continually push back the demon army with just himself and the four generals he kept close at hand for six days. If Dairen had a proper sleep, she believed he would have lasted even further, becoming much stronger.

With a grunt, the tiger growled, waking Snow up from her daze.

She looked around and noticed that all the other monsters around them were eradicated, leaving her with nothing to fight. The four generals split ways, disappearing into the crowd of the demon army.

No other small demons approached her as they could all feel the intense holy air around her, making them even weaker the closer they got.

Dairen ran over.

Snow watched the fight play out before her. When they decimated the battering ram, their demon army was slowly falling apart. The better question was, how did the demon army have so many monsters at its disposal? They were almost endless day in and day out, coming in waves as if it was just trying to wear them out.

“Snow!” Dairen spoke.

Snow took a moment to gaze over her shoulder toward Dairen but stopped. She saw something catch in the corner of her eyes.

Small black humanoid creatures were standing on top of the giant tree branches, scouting them.

Dairen followed her gaze and realized what she was looking at. He quickly pulled out his bow and arrow and fired it off straight at the shadows. His arrow landed true, causing the monster to fall dead.

Snow jogged over toward the fallen body. When she had gotten there, the body was melting into a pool of black goo. The stench was pungent and hard to breathe. She put up her hand to attempt to stop the smell from entering her nose, but it failed.

“I believe the demon king is just playing with us.” Snow frowned; she really didn’t like how she was being toyed with. She squatted down to check for anything that she could find. “Which isn’t a surprise.”

“What do you mean?” Dairen asked

“Look.” Snow pointed toward the goo and then off into the distance, where the light was getting dimmer and dimmer the longer they looked. “The energy reading from the monster is heading straight into the woods. If we follow it now, we should be at the center of the Demon army.”

“Now?” Dairen asked in surprise.

“Yes.” Snow got up, heading toward the destination that they needed to go. “Magical energy starts to wane off in the next hour. If we don’t make these changes now, we won’t have another one any time soon.”

“Understand. I'll send a message for the others to follow.”

Snow shook her head again. “Send a message to Mike, Levian, and Mr. Rogers. Leave the rest here protecting the castle. If we move in a smaller group, it will be easier to get to where we need to go.”

Dairen nodded. He summoned up a raven made out of his shadows and sent them off. All four of Dairen’s generals appeared before them, following closely behind.

Both Dairen and Snow bolted into the forest.

Snow eyes glowed gold, following the trail of energy in the air. It winded in and out as both of them tried to steer clear as they did not want to waste time. Whenever they would have trouble, one of the four generals bolted off and eradicated them to clear them a path away from or drew them away.

For a while, they move through the forest in silence. Making short eye contact, communicating with each other with simple hand gestures.

Snow's eyes were slowly but surely getting tired. It wasn’t easy to keep her eyes focused on the energy as it took a vast amount of control. Slowly, but surely doing it half of the day was starting to give her a headache. Not only that, the dark energy in the forest was becoming heavier and heavier, forcing her to use more energy than she liked.

“Snow.”

Snow had stopped for a moment, squinting to the right. The night was setting, and it was getting harder to see what was in front of her. She reached up to rub her eyes.

“You need to rest.”

“I can’t.”

“I can tell that it's hurting you. What if you go blind by the next few hours?”

“We’ll lose them if I stop.”

“There are other ways.”

Snow didn’t believe they would have another good luck any time soon. Who knew where they were at as they had tread through the forest so deeply that even she lost track of where they were.

“No, let’s go. The energy is starting to wane. We need to pick up the pace.” Snow kept moving forward, this time into a light jog.

Dairen sighed, giving up in trying to persuade her. Instead, he silently followed, watching their surroundings to make sure nobody would jump on them.

So far, they somehow were able to miss the army, and for the past three hours, they barely met anyone.

Such good fortune made Snow worried. In the past, there were bad incidents after another to the point where she just thought that her life was only about attracting ill tidings, and it was getting worse and worse.

Just when she thought the silence was too suspicious, she stopped.

The trail that they were tracking was gone.

Snow traced back and forth, trying to find any leftover magic, but so far, nothing. Even in the darkness, the only glowing magic was her and Dairen.

“Is something wrong?”

“I lost it.”

“The trail?”

Snow sighed. She finally allowed the magic that was pooling in her eyes to disperse. The wash of energy made her dizzy as she stumbled.

Snow caught herself on the nearest tree. The throbbing headache started to get intense, and her vision darkened.

“Snow?” Dairen came over worriedly.

Snow raised up her hand to stop him. She rubbed her eyes again, but nothing seemed to work. Instead, the pain seemed to increase over time, which made her completely blind.

“Ugh.” Snow groaned. She folded over, leaning on the tree.

Dairen came over worriedly. “I told you this was a bad idea,” he said in a bit of panic. His hand on her shoulder as he reached up toward her head. “You've been fighting against the dark energy in the air while amplifying yours. Such constant output is going to strain yourself.” He hissed under his breath.

“I’m fine.” Snow replied back. His constant nagging was hurting her head. “I just need some time to rest.”

“Sit down.” Dairen helped her down.

Snow fumbled around for a moment. Not being able to see bothered her, especially because she counted heavily on her sight in a fight. Now that she couldn’t see, her stress level went up.

A cold compress dabbed against her eyes. Dairen had summoned up a small towel and some water from his storage bag. When he finished, he summoned the four generals to him.

Standing up, he faced his undead. “Spread out and find any clues of the army around us.”

The four generals nodded their heads as they bolted off into the darkness. The last to leave was the Tortoise.

Snow heard the rustling of the leaves, making her flinch. She grabbed her sword that she kept on her at all times. Her ears perked up, trying to hear every movement she could.

“I sent a scout out,” Dairen spoke up, allowing Snow to relax. “We should have something soon. I’ll guard my watch; just stay here and recuperate.”

“Where are you going?”

“Up in the tree. Better vantage point.”

Snow leaned back. She closed her eyes, allowing the remaining magic she had circled around her body. She needed to restore the balance.

Dairen brought out a rope from his storage box. He wrapped it around the tree and his hand as he began his ascent.

Snow heard the scratching and shuffling of the bark as Dairen climbed up higher and higher until finally, she wasn’t able to hear anything above her head but the eerie silence of the forest ground.