“She could be of use.” The mage's voice was low, becoming close to a whisper that without good hearing, nobody would have heard what they were talking about. Luckily, Snow did. “I suggest she be brought into the church, no, maybe into your own family.”

“Your reason?” The King spoke back.

“It would bolster your family's magic. Think about the numerous generations of powerful light mages that could control the Sacred Tree.”

The eyes of the King glistened.

Snow frowned. She didn’t like what she was hearing. Her gaze landed on the mage, who flinched when he saw the fury in her eyes.

The mage stopped whispering, standing up as if nothing was wrong.

Silence descended upon the group until the King finally spoke. “My decision is set. You may stay here until the war is over. Though, what do you think about being part of my family?” He directed his question at Snow.

“I already have a husband, though I appreciate the thought of such a gesture. It’s a great honor, but I must decline.”

“You dare?!” The mage raised up his voice.

“I am not one of your people. Nor do I take too kindly to the mage who thinks I am some kind of mare that could be sold off to make children who can help bolster up a family line." Snow snapped back; she disliked the mage the longer she stayed here. "I appreciate your gesture of allowing us to stay, but we can leave if necessary.”

The King thought for a moment. A smile creeping upon his lips. He burst out laughing, eventually calming back down. “I like your straightforwardness. I apologize that it was brought up on the spot. As of now, our priority is the demon invasion.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” Snow bowed.

Ross continued to update the King of the different problems that had cropped up. Snow's mind dazed out, waiting for them to finish.

The talk went on for a bit of time. Things that she had to answer about her army of Players and Hunters coming in to raid the dungeon. She left out many things but had to think on the spot of what she needed to say.

Eventually, the King let them go. Snow headed straight back to the gates on a horse that the King lent out, where Dairen was. Even though she was curious about the giant White Tree that protected the city, she wasn’t too keen on staying around the King or the Mage. Either of them probably had some thoughts of marrying her off one way or another if they got the chance.

Dairen was busily working with Mike, talking with the other Hunters and Players. When they saw Snow ride up to them on a horse, they stopped talking.

“Snow!” Mike waved his hand over his head. “You’re back. We were wondering how long they would keep you there.”

Snow slipped off the horse, giving the reins to the stable boy that came over to grab it from her.

“It took a while. So, how's everything over here?”

“We got everyone situated and ready for the long night,” Mike spoke first. “So far, the soldiers here could be strong. I don’t know. We barely had a glimpse of their fighting style, but we might actually have a good chance.”

“We shall see. I’ll send my undead ahead away from the light magic that has been heavily surrounding this city,” said Dairen. “I should be able to filter out the weaker ones, so we have fewer casualties.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Will you be going ahead?” Snow asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m going with you.” Snow replied. She didn’t like how he was going to go alone. Even if he was a demon prince candidate and a one-man army, that didn’t mean that he could fend off the Demon King’s army by himself.”

“No. You’re needed here more.” Dairen rebuked. “It’ll be easier for me to redirect the monsters with fewer people to worry about.”

Snow scrunched up her brow. The same word that she had used on other people was now used against her. She didn’t like it, but she understood what he was trying to do. Protecting someone else was not easy. She knew this very well.

“I need something to tell me that you are alive.” Snow responded. Even still, she didn’t back down. The thought of him losing him made her uncomfortable.

Dairen smiled, happy that Snow was worrying about her. He came over, rummaged through his storage space. A pair of red and blue bracelets were present in his hand.

“This is a unique bracelet. It tells you if the other partner is alive or dead.” Dairen grabbed her wrist, bringing the gold bracelet that had red and blue jewels decorated around it. He clipped it on her hand, allowing her to take a better look at it.

She noticed a warm tingling of energy pulsating through it, almost as if it was an alive heartbeat.

“Will that suffice?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Dairen came over and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.

Mike shook his head at her and spoke his opinion. “Why don’t you just tell everyone you’re finally going out? Does it need to take five years?”

“W-w-what?”

Mike shook his head, defeated at the two slow progress. “Everyone!” He shouted, bringing everyone’s attention. “Snow and Darien are a pair. Got it?!”

People clapped and whistled. Dairen coughed, trying not to look embarrassed.

Dairen leaned in and whispered in her ear. “I’ll try my best to be back soon.” He disappeared before Snow could say anything, leaving her cheeks slightly blushed.

More people whistled even harder, making Snow’s face even redder. She coughed, trying to get emotions under control.

“I swear, Mike.” Snow punched him lightly on his shoulder.

“What?” Mike rubbed his shoulder a few times. “You guys are so freaking slow. I feel like a matchmaker or something.”

Snow coughed.

“Next, we need to make it to the wedding. Make sure you make me your best man. I have some plans for what I’m going to do.” Mike snickered. His eyes twinkled with the thought of pranks and jokes that he would play.

Snow joked back. “What about you? I know you have something going on with Lyon these days.”

Mike laughed it off, which was quite weak, “We are friends. I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Right.” Snow shrugged her shoulders and let it go.

“Anyways, what did the King want?”

“Don’t get me started.” Snow sighed.

“It’s that bad?”

“They were trying to wed me off to their family members.”

“Are you serious?” Mike was baffled at what Snow had said.

“Yes.” Snow confirmed.

“I never thought people would resort to such play, especially in the dungeon.”

“You and I both, but that is beside the point. So, how are the others?”

Snow walked toward the edge, looking at the vast forest before her. Even though there were thick and tall trees covering most of her view, she could feel the dark energy encroaching.

“So far, we’re good. Red is in the back, managing the mages. Mr. Rogers, Jay, and Falcon should be roaming around somewhere. I remember them talking about reinforcing something. I just saw Tommy and the group with the mix of Hunters. They were wondering how you were doing.”

“Tommy is here?” Snow was happy to hear that they had come to help. It has been a while since their last dungeon exploration together.

“Yea, Tamaki and even Everrett.”

“That's great to hear. I’m glad everyone came to assist. I feel a bit more at ease that they are here.”

“Same. Both Tommy and Tamaki are monsters of their own. I wonder how strong those two had gotten since the last time we saw them.”

“If I remember correctly, they should have gone up a rank.”

“I expected they would.”

“What about Levian?”

“Him.” Mike rolled his eyes. “Always doing his own thing.”

A couple days passed by.

So far, they didn’t see any monsters arrive. At first, when they heard that the demon army was coming, everyone was alert, but when the second day arrived, there was no demon army.

Snow knew that the demon army was stalled by Dairen. This was an impressive feat, but for him to continue resisting without anyone’s help was extraordinary. Nobody knew this on the first day except Mike and Snow.

Dairen didn’t come back. He couldn’t.

It wasn’t until the second day they had sent scouts to see where the Demon was. The reports came in that thousands upon thousands of undead were fighting continuously, slaying against the slew of low-level monsters.

Such a report brought back confusion, wondering why two beings were fighting against each other.

On the third day, when the first monster broke through Dairen’s army, Snow knew it was the prelude to the many difficult fights to come.