Aria quickly threw on her cloak.

"There's one more thing, about Xander..."

"I've already heard, we'll talk about it later," Hawk interrupted, his brow furrowed with concern. "Where is the demon-repelling candle?"

"I hid it in the Echo Tower. Thanatos has searched there, but I'm not sure if he found it," Aria replied, her worry deepening.

A flicker of unease passed through Hawk's eyes. "If the candle has been taken, we'll be in trouble," he said, his voice tinged with nervousness. "So, we need to leave Sovereign Stronghold now and head to the Echo Tower to find the candle. Luckily, I'm quite familiar with the layout of the royal city. Let's go, quickly."

Following Hawk, Aria left the room, feeling a newfound admiration for the astute strategist. His abilities far exceeded her expectations, seeming to have the situation under control at all times. She wondered how he managed to put four fully armed guards into a deep sleep. They stood straight, snoring softly.

"It's just a small trick, come with me," Hawk said quietly.

They avoided the patrol guards and made their way as quietly as possible to the end of the corridor in the North Tower. Finally, they stopped beside a lion statue with closed eyes. This location wasn't far from where Aria had been held captive. All they needed to do was traverse the corridor of the bedrooms and then turn into a wider hallway at the end. Stone lion statues lined both sides of the corridor.

"Yes, this is it, the lion with closed eyes," Hawk said, approaching one of the statues. He turned a hidden switch located under its tail, and a faint creaking sound followed. Behind it, there was an inconspicuous small door on the ground, blending in with the stone floor.

Before climbing down, Aria quickly glanced at the other statues, surprised to find that the eyes of this lion were tightly shut.

With a slight friction sound, the door closed behind them. The tunnel was pitch black, but Hawk skillfully lit the prepared oil lamp. "This is a passage in Sovereign Stronghold, closest to your room. It was prepared for special circumstances, like now."

The narrow stairs twisted downward, and after several turns, Aria had lost track of where they were. Despite Hawk mentioning that there were many tunnels in the royal city, they weren't interconnected. At least, the one Aria traversed was an independent passage. The tunnel was narrow, damp, and the exit seemed distant.

"Hawk, do you know about the seal?" Aria asked anxiously.

"There's a magic array there, but it can't last long."

"Is it because the king isn't here?"

"Others are controlling the array. They are proficient in magic arrays, and they can complete the task even without the king. I guess he returned only after entrusting them with it. He couldn't just watch his people be innocently killed. So, he accepted Thanatos' terms, exchanging his life for others," Hawk said sorrowfully, holding up the lamp and striding forward. Aria followed behind, feeling heavy-hearted. "But what puzzles me is that Thanatos is different this time; he actually honored the treaty. Moreover, his army didn't go towards the seal but stayed here."

"Why would he want to break the seal?"

"I don't know. As far as I know, the seal of Phoenix City is his masterpiece. I guess he has a pact with the devil, so he and his army can escape unscathed when the devil arrives."

"A pact with the devil?" Aria murmured to herself, suddenly recalling the scene when she first encountered Thanatos. The Night Ghoul seemed to have encountered something even more terrifying, prompting it to flee.

"It's an evil power, like the divine power possessed by demigods, an ability humans cannot control."

Before long, the path became smoother, and finally, they ascended for a while. When they emerged, they found themselves in a forest outside the city walls, the exit being an abandoned shallow well covered with dry weeds. Even if someone discovered it, they wouldn't suspect it to be a secret passage exit.

When they arrived at Echo Tower, it was already deep into the night.

Shadowvale was nearly deserted, and the tower stood in the center like a silent monument. Thanatos had searched here; the gates were smashed open, and the tower interior lay in disarray.

Aria hurried to her room, pulling out a brick from the wall near her bed. That day when she returned, she had hidden the candle in the most secret of places. When she opened the box and saw the black pouch suspended inside, her anxious heart finally found peace.

"The candle is still here, they didn't take it," Aria said with relief as she turned back.

Hawk looked visibly relieved too, evidently sharing her concern.

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"But your little plant, I couldn't retrieve it. It might have withered away."

"Don't worry about it. I initially intended it to give you and Father more opportunities to reconcile. Come, hand me the candle. We need to light it before Thanatos finds out," Aria urged.

As Hawk took Aria's scaled hand and unwrapped the bandage, revealing the inflamed wound, a flash of anger sparked in his eyes. "He did this to you?"

"I'm fine, it'll heal," Aria said in a casual tone, trying to downplay it.

"I need your blood to ignite it, just like lighting a normal candle," Hawk said cautiously, squeezing out a drop of blood from the wound and sticking the wick onto it. It stung a little. With a soft "pop," the candle ignited. In the dim room, Aria examined it closely and saw a small black flame.

"Why light it here?" she asked.

"We'll wait. I need to take care of..." Hawk searched her body, perhaps his aging eyesight making him look particularly closely.

"Hawk, wasn't the plan to return in two months?" Aria asked.

"We ran into some trouble," Hawk said as he began circling her with the candle. "I was supposed to arrive in a month according to the original plan, but I didn't expect the entrance to be closed. I lingered at the entrance for several days, waiting until it opened again. Later, I found out that a Celestial Sanctum had a Celestial Deer killed, an ancient divine beast of the demigods. The one that died was born together with the Celestial Sanctum, so they imposed strict lockdowns after discovering the body, trying to find the culprit."

"Did they find out who did it?" Aria asked.

"I didn't stick around to find out the result of that. Time waits for no one,so I immediately made a request to the demigods," Hawk said, his gaze becoming serious. “The demigods don't want to meddle in human affairs; they believe it's your father's mission.”

"Are demigods so heartless?" Arya was deeply shocked.

"Whether it's a blessing or a curse, we can only wait and see for ourselves," Hawk's tone was filled with both loss and guilt. "Our situation is dire. Your father has deployed all his forces to the seal, using the last of them to delay the sealing, buying us time."

Aria lowered her eyes, unable to articulate the pain of losing her home and loved ones.

"Look, it's here, the Shadepincer Beetle," Hawk tightly grasped her arm, pulling out a translucent beetle from his sleeve. After burning the beetle with a candle flame, he quickly extinguished the fire and put the candle back into his pouch. "He wanted to use the Shadepincer Beetle to track you, I figured that out early. If we don't get rid of it, he'll find you no matter where you run."

It took them some time to catch the tracker.

Just then, some light outside the window caught Aria's attention.

On the slope of the royal city, torches held high by soldiers flowed down from the iron gates like weaving fire serpents.

"They've found out you escaped," Hawk said. "We must leave quickly and head to the North Forest to meet my attendants."

"What are your attendants doing in the North Forest?"

"I sent he to find Xander," Hawk handed the candle to Aria, then hurried downstairs. Aria followed hastily. "After learning that the Death Cultists had taken over the royal city, I decided to split up from my attendants. Because your situation is the most dangerous, I have to come to rescue you myself. As for your brother Xander, I hope he's really hiding there."

"Do you know where Xander is?"

"I'm not sure, but it's his favorite sanctuary."

"Sanctuary?"

"Before Xander got injured, your father the king doted on him. Despite the dangers of the North Forest, His Majesty agreed to let him hunt small animals there. For this reason, your father built a sanctuary for Xander to rest. Whenever Xander encountered something unpleasant, he would hide there."

"Was his leg bitten by a Night Ghoul?"

"Did Xander tell you that?" Hawk stopped, his eyes flashing with light.

"I saw it in his drawings, so I guessed."

"After being bitten by the Night Ghoul, he was in a terrible emotional state," Hawk reassured Aria with a pat on her shoulder. "Alright, everything will be fine, let's go get Xander."

Under the cover of night, Aria and Hawk quickly rode away from the town.

For Aria, the flame of hope was rekindled. At least from Hawk's tone, she could sense that if Xander was hiding in the sanctuary, he might still be alive. Hawk repeatedly instructed her to be ready to light the demon-repelling candle at any time. Despite the limited number of candles, they had to traverse the Death Withering Forest at night to buy time.

To Aria's surprise, Hawk brought her back to the abandoned altar.

The broken crystal monument faintly appeared in the cold wind, with Night Ghoul corpses scattered around emitting a nauseating stench.

Moonlight filtered through the treetops, and the howls of Night Ghouls echoed in the forest.

Aria sat behind Hawk, both of them riding on one horse. Her nervous palms were icy cold because not long ago, she had been attacked by a group of Night Ghouls here.

"Hawk, I feel like there might be beasts here," Aria said worriedly.

Hawk nodded silently, gripping the reins tightly, scanning their surroundings vigilantly. The sound of their horse's hooves echoed in the quiet forest, as if announcing their arrival to the darkness.

Suddenly, there was a strange rustling sound ahead, and Aria's heart raced faster. She immediately realized that danger was approaching.

"Quick, the candle!" Hawk drew his sword, his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead. Moonlight illuminated the bushes, and the dry branches kept shaking.

Aria opened the bag and hurriedly took out a small candle.

Then, a figure stood up ahead.

The figure immediately raised both hands.

"It's okay, my servant," Hawk said.

Aria leaned out, and her tension eased like a deflated balloon.

The servant ran over, frantically gesturing in sign language.

"He said what? Hawk."

"Oh no, Xander isn't in the sanctuary, Xander has been captured by soldiers, just now. What, he's here?"

Aria took a sharp breath, she knew who it was.

Just then, a shout suddenly came from deep in the woods, followed by a few faint glows. They were distant, flickering amidst the dense trees. Aria's heart skipped a beat, despite the faint and noisy sound, she still recognized a cold voice among them, it was really him.

After the noise and the neighing of the warhorse, a sharper and more piercing scream suddenly came from there, startling a group of crows perched on the treetops. Accompanied by the mournful cawing of the crows, that sharp sound, like a cry of extreme fear, became even more intense. "It's Xander," Hawk said uneasily.

Aria's heart sank as she heard Hawk's words. Xander, her little brother, captured by soldiers? The thought sent shivers down her spine. She clenched her fists, feeling a surge of determination coursing through her veins.

"We must save him," Aria said nervously, her voice firm despite the growing panic within.

"We will, but we must proceed with caution. Thanatos is here."