At 8:13 p.m., as they passed through a swamp covered in heavy snow, the skeletal hand reaching out from the marsh seized the hoof of the undead horse Miss Aurora had summoned. It did not stop the horse from moving forward, but it caused the undead mount to suddenly mutate and frantically try to throw everyone from its back.
Destroying those mad undead took only a short time, but the newly summoned mounts remained just as crazed. Left with no choice, Miss Aurora and Miss Galina examined the swamp beneath the snow surface, dragged out the horrifying undead creature hidden in the mud with hundreds of hands, and burned it into black bone ash amid the blizzard. Only then did undead summons in this region temporarily return to normal.
The malice of the Great Swamp became increasingly apparent before these outsiders as they pressed onward. Before setting out, Shade had even been glad that this battlefield was far from human settlements; no matter how fierce the fighting became, they would not need to worry about anything else. But now it seemed that a battleground isolated in such an uninhabited region was instead disadvantageous to them. After all, Legenes Presia had the help of the Pantanal Voodoo Society, and Miss Pawo was also allied with the Voodoo Society. Reaching Lake Heart Island was as easy for them as returning home.
At 8:57 p.m., without any warning, the horse at the very rear silently vanished, along with Miss Aurora and her follower, Miss Scarlett.
Neither Shade nor the other two Great Witches had noticed when they disappeared.
But Miss Galina told everyone not to worry and to keep moving forward:
"Her summon still exists, and she is the strongest among us. Rather than Sivie and Scarlett having disappeared, it would be more