Snow moved through the port effortlessly, destroying monsters left and right. Cutting through the demons as she was the spearhead of the army of Hunter and Players.

A friendly tug pulled on her wrist.

She looked down. A red and blue flower was blooming. She had forgotten about the snake-like plant.

It glowed softly, giving off a pleasant aura.

Small vines started to shake and grow.

Snow slashed against a monster that jumped at her, and she fluidly moved to beat it without any effort.

Curious, the plant tugged at her wrist again, this time harder than before.

“What are you trying to say?” Snow brought her wrist up close.

The vine wriggled, pointing a few more times toward a specific direction.

Snow turned her head toward the direction of the vine. She noticed that it was pointing straight toward the Gold Phoenix building and the sacred tree.

“Toward the sacred tree?” Snow asked.

As if it understood Snow’s words, it moved up and down.

Snow was surprised by how the vine was able to understand her.

“Are you sure?” Snow asked again, just to make sure she didn’t see things.

The vine shook up and down.

“Well, it seems I'm not going crazy.” Snow chuckled. “I’ll get you there.”

Snow waved her hand over her head to tell Mike that she was changing direction.

Mike nodded back. He then shouted, “follow Snow!”

The tide of people moved in unison. Then, they quickly changed direction, following Snow like waves.

They continued to move through the empty streets. Slowly but surely, the buildings changed from two-story buildings to skyscrapers. The closer they got toward the Gold Phoenix building and the sacred tree, the thicker the demons were present.

“Don’t stop!” Snow shouted.

A beam of light smashed in front of her, clearing away the demons that were rushing toward her.

“We must get to the sacred tree!” Snow pointed, sweat blossomed on her forehead, making her hot.

Time seems to slow down. Snow was focused on one task: get to the sacred tree.

Something was telling her she needed to listen to the vine on her wrist.

The closer they got, the more the vine seemed to shake with excitement. Even the air around the area was pulsing with holy energy, amplifying Snow more and more, giving her strength.

Everyone else could feel the swell of holy energy, the buff that Snow had given everyone else had also amplified.

Even though thousands upon thousands of monsters were in front of them, they cut through like a sharp knife.

Cloudy skies rumbled with light and thunder. Not a single ounce of rain fell around them, but the smell of rain lingered heavily in the air as static electricity tickled the air.

The wind whistled ghastly in between the skyscrapers.

The closer they got, the more light energy became stronger. Finally, exhaustion slowly washed away, giving strength to outlast even longer than before. A rally of excitement rushed through the army. A sense of momentary morale of invincibility grew as they went forward, causing them to fight harder.

The demons waned as they could not live around the sacred tree any closer. Their powers would be suppressed and sluggish, making them easy to pick. It was only the rare few demons that would dare to get close and continue their attack on Snow’s army.

Snow noticed a large group of people surrounded by demons. She bolted in, dodging a few as she slew the demons.

“Are you guys alright?!” Snow jogged over, flicking the blood off the blade.

“Saintess?!” A young woman's voice was loud with hope in her eyes.

Snow came over, healing a child that was badly injured. “How many?”

“We used to have a hundred people, but we are now down to fifty. Many of them are injured.” The young woman hiccuped, tears streaming down her face. Happy to see Snow.

“Bring them over.”

Quickly, the injured was carried over.

Snow healed them all.

Awash of relief came over the citizen. The others came over, assisting wherever they could.

“Where are you all heading too?” Snow asked.

“The sacred tree.” The young woman said, “We heard that it is the safest place in the city. Could you…” She squirmed, unable to say anything more.

“You want to be escorted to the sacred tree?” Snow asked, instinctively knowing what they wanted.

The young woman shook her head.

“It’s fine. We’re heading that way as well.” Snow replied.

The citizens sighed with relief to know that they were going to be protected. So they started their journey together.

It wasn’t until mid-afternoon when they arrived.

Snow was the first. She cleared out the last few demons that they all have ganged upon. The divine energy had suppressed the last monster to the point where it could barely use most of its strong magic.

She jogged over toward the large double door.

Suddenly, a group of people opened the door, excited to see that Snow had arrived.

“Saintess!” One of the Golden Phoenix members, a young man, named Dereck, shouted out in excitement. “You’re back!”

“Yes, how’s everything?” Snow stepped through.

“Not so good. A swarm of demons appeared from the dungeon, causing a wide-scale panic in the city. We were pushed back to the sacred tree, unable to push the demons back. We honestly thought that you had died.” Dereck said with a serious tone, “what happened?”

“Levian killed the Demon King.”

“Then wouldn’t the dungeon close without a break out of demons?”

Snow shook her head. “There was something else. Levian took over the Demon King's position.”

“Le Vian?!” Dereck scowled, “that weasel?”

“Yes.”

“I should have known. He couldn’t help himself from power, could he?” Dereck shook his head. “We should have gotten rid of him when we got the chance.”

Snow sighed. She wished she had listened to her gut instinct in the past, but she gave Levian a chance. There were so many signs that told her that Levian was cooking up something. She knew that Levian wanted something, but she denied it constantly, hoping that Levian would actually change. But, unfortunately, her gullibility had caused her a very bad decision.

“Yes, we should have.” Snow whispered underneath her breath.

“On the other hand, many of the citizens had made their way to the stadium and have been pitching up tent,” Dereck replied. “The sacred tree has been keeping us safe from the demons that encroached upon us.”

“How many?”

“We are already over ten thousand people and growing.” Dereck quickly said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if more came in the next few hours. This is the only place with the strongest safety against demons, other guild houses have been keeping the monsters away, but this is the biggest safety zone.”

“Are the army doing anything?”

“Most of them are wiped out.”

“So quickly?”

“Yes. They don’t have the firepower to go against such beings.” Dereck sighed.

Snow and Dereck took a few quick turns, heading toward another door that they had to go through. When Snow opened the door, a wash of strong light energy smashed into her body, invigorating her very soul.

She couldn’t help but take in a sharp intake of breath before she let out a long sigh. It was as if she was coming home. The soft energy whistled in the air, singing with him as they connected together.

Her eyes watered, and her heart softly palpated.

Every step she took, the stronger the light energy washed through her body.

The vine squirmed in her wrist, tugging her hard.

Out before her was a beautiful white tree filled with white flowers. It had grown even bigger than before, and it canopies the whole stadium, giving it a roof. Thousands of people were sitting out or camped around the tree.

“Saintess, the church of light, have also made their temporary residency, helping in keeping the sacred tree alive. Without them, we would have a swarm of monsters barging into the stadium.”

“Really?” Snow was glad that the Church of Light was able to help. “How many of them were able to make it here?”

“About a thousand.”

Snow sighed with relief. Even though what was left was a lot less, she was glad that the young priest and priestess were able to survive and make their way over.

“What else?”

Dereck thought it over, “Levian had taken over the city hall.”

“I see.” Snow thought it over.

Snow headed toward the sacred tree. The plant in her arm excitedly shook. She stopped in front of the tree, looking up.

She felt dwarfed under the tree.

The plants on her hand slithered off her wrist and dove straight into the ground.