Night.
1:54 a.m.
Gaia City.
Ice and snow covered the road on the outskirts.
The little girl ran swiftly, as though she had forgotten everything around her, intent only on running in the direction she remembered.
"I remember there's a traffic light up ahead. Dad said it was easiest for us to leave the city because we didn't have to turn left or right."
"We just had to go straight!"
In the sky.
Heavy snow drifted down silently, sweeping past the dim streetlights and turning the little girl's hair white.
Her face was red from the cold, but she watched only the road.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale again.
The city was silent. In the darkness, only the little girl's panting could be heard.
She ran without stopping for a moment.
"Baxter!" she suddenly called out joyfully.
"What?" Shen Ye asked.
"That flower bed-did you see it? Once, when I couldn't walk any farther, I rested there, and Mom admired the flowers in it with me."
The little girl grew more and more excited.
Countless black figures danced wildly behind her, sometimes turning into skeletons, sometimes taking the shape of girls.
They were growing impatient.
Shen Ye looked across the road.
The Long-Haired Woman in a red robe was quietly looking their way.
The Demon of Fear!
It seemed very patient, merely watching silently from the side.
When Shen Ye looked at it, it made no further threatening gestures and said nothing.
It was as though-
The outcome had already been decided.
Shen Ye's vigilance had reached its peak.
The enemy hadn't attacked at all!
That meant it believed the situation Lanci, Xiatelai, and Peaso were about to face would favor it, giving it an overwhelming advantage.
It might even be willing to protect this course of events and let what came