A Huge Pressure

Obviously, Hunter was capable enough to deal with the wolves.

"I haven't met anyone as shameless as you," Hunter noted. "You saw that I am struggling and yet you still watched from the sidelines."

Saying nothing, she beamed in response. Defeating the wolves was easy. However, she didn't expect this man to overpower the wolf king and even killed it in one strike. Now that she thought about it, her chances of defeating this man in a close combat battle are close to none.

For a few minutes, silence descended between them. She thought of the assassins that were targeting them and couldn't help but wonder why they didn't attacked them yet.

She had been on guard because of that vision. Was it possible that they are going to attack during the night? "Are we camping here for the night?" she asked. Right now, they have collected a few eyes. She was confident that this should be enough to win them the first prize.

"Yes, we should camp out here. Staying in the safe zone is going to endanger everyone."

…..

Cassandra stared at the stars from the huge branch of a tree where she was lying. Wristwatches didn't work in areas where there are a lot of negative energies, so she could only estimate that it should be around eight or nine in the evening.

She didn't know why the assassins hadn't attacked them yet. She had been constantly on guard since she saw that vision earlier. Was it possible that those people didn't find them?

"You should sleep. I will wake you up around midnight." She heard him say.

"Do you think the prince will succeed?" she asked.

"In killing the other family members of the great four?"

She didn't directly mention this to him, and yet he already knew. It seems that she was really underestimating this man. "Yes."

"Hmmm… probably. If you asked me… the heirs of the four great families were a bit weak. I could kill them in a few minutes."

Too arrogant! She rolled her eyes inwardly. However, a part of her actually believe that he could kill them. After all, he was hiding his strength from everyone else. No one actually knew his actual strength and he could easily use this to surprise his opponent.

"How about my brother, can you kill him in an instant, too?" she asked. She wondered if a dark one is actually stronger than a Lycan who could use spells.

"Hmmm… without elements? I could easily kill him. If he used his fire… I would struggle a bit but still, win."

She nodded. This was partly because of Carmichael's temper. Once he gets angry, he would lose the ability to think and just use his instinct to fight. It was just like fighting a strong beast that lacks the capability to use any logic and strategies. Moreover, dark ones are really powerful fighters because they can be considered partly demons already.

She turned towards him. Just like her, he was occupying another branch. He was calmly sitting on it, his back leaning against the truck. The two of them stayed silent just like that until she closed her eyes and succumbed to her sleep.

A few hours later, Cassandra woke up. After asking him to sleep, Cassandra started meditating to regain the rest of her strength. Earlier, Hunter did all the fighting, so she just used her fire to store the eyes. When she slept earlier, Cassandra used some leaves that they found around them to wrap the eyes of those monsters.

'Hm?' Cassandra opened her eyes when the smell of blood wafted towards them. Her senses turned alert. She immediately roamed her eyes just as some low voices reached her ears.

Using her sense, she was able to determine that there were about four people running their way. All of them were wounded.

Wait… was it possible that it's the others?

"They shouldn't be able to follow us here. This is not the safe zone anymore. We should be safe for the rest of the night." A man said.

"Brother, are you sure this is alright? This place is… it's dark. The negative energy is too thick"

"If we just stayed there, we would have died. They will not stop chasing us until one of us died. Did you see their flames? It's black! My water couldn't even touch it!"

"But who would send them? We are from the great four… do you think it's the…"

"Shut your mouth. Come here, let me heal your wounds. My wounds are almost good as heal."

"Who would dare try to kill us?"

"And to use someone who had black flames… Do you think someone is trying to frame Cassandra La Roche?"

"She is among the top fire wielders who entered this forest. In fact, she is the only one who had black flames. But she had no reason to kill us… and kill everyone. I don't understand. Do you think the la Roche Family has a group of assassins that could wield black flames?"

"Damn! Why the hell would they try to kill us?"

"Do you think it's about the marriage?"

"Tsk. We should stop thinking about this matter for now. Our priority should be our survival. We have been running since earlier. My body is spent. I can't wield any elements. If they attack us here… we would surely die. How about you, Jude?"

"I can still cast one magic enough to protect us. Let's find another place to hide. We need to recover our strength."

"But this place is already out of the safe zone. Walking around at this time could easily attract demons." Just as the man finished his words, a loud howl echoed. No, it wasn't really a howl, but more like the sound of a lion growling.

The group immediately fell into silence. They looked at each other as they slowly took a step back, their backs against the tree.

*GROWL*

It was as if a tremendous pressure descended against them.

The four injured people immediately held their breaths and hoped that the animal wouldn't be able to feel their presence. Obviously, it was a wrong move. After all, they reeked of blood.

When they realized this, the group's already pale faces turned whiter. Is this the end for them?