Among the many mountains whose peaks were covered in thick layers of snow brought by blizzards, there was one in particular - where the parasites were located, slowly turning this place into their hunting grounds.
The parasites weren't just killing those whose time had not yet come, they were controlling the bodies of the beasts, forcing them to kill their kin, anyone they met in their way.
"Well... I should have known to check this place out..." Halvor said, looking at the tallest mountain as well as at the coldest one.
Even at the foot of the mountain, everything was covered in snow, and the mountain itself was shrouded in ice, thick and impregnable so that no one would have any desire to try to conquer it.
Evan looked at the crystal sphere, at the arrow that pointed directly at the mountain. However, the arrow was now tilted slightly downward.
"Are there any caves under this mountain?" Evan asked, shoving snow off his shoulder.
Halvor shook his head, "I don't know. I'm a hunter, not a miner. I try never to go into caves as I realize it's a home for beasts, whether predators hide there or not is irrelevant. I do not disturb those who do not risk their lives."
"How noble, but perhaps that is the reason why this cave is now a parasite lair. If you had spotted them you would surely have destroyed them." Evan said calmly, taking a step forward.
Halvor's gaze darkened as he wrinkled his nose slightly. Evan's words made him feel guilty for allowing such a thing to happen.
'You couldn't have known about this...' Hana whispered, touching his broad back.
"Yeah, but I'm the only human and mage here... Perhaps Evan is right, I should have treated this place not as a hunting ground but as a sanctuary! This parasite clearly came from somewhere else, maybe even someone brought it!" Halvor ranted, kicked a lump of snow, and walked on.
After a few hours, the sun disappeared completely, replaced by a majestic moon. The soft rays of light made the snow shimmer as if revitalizing the forest, bringing it into a night phase when predators could go out to hunt.
Naturally, parasites were one of them.
"Look!" Klaus exclaimed, pointing into the distance.
Near the foot of the main mountain, a fox ran by, hurrying to take shelter in its burrow. However, on the way it was attacked by a squirrel with a crazy look and bloody teeth.
The fox didn't expect the squirrel to decide to attack, it was just not logical to be wary of a simple squirrel that was supposed to be running away from a predator and not the other way around.
"Rrrggghh!"
The maddened squirrel sank its teeth straight into the fox's neck, cutting through flesh and blood.
The fox hurriedly threw the squirrel from itself, but the parasite was already inside it. The squirrel did not move, for the parasite had found a new host.
Then, the fox's body began to transform, becoming much larger, with sharp growths and a new pair of fangs.
"Damn, last time the transformation started when we cut off the moose's head. The parasites are getting stronger..." Klaus muttered with obvious concern.
"Yeah, it looks that way. I don't know if the demon gave me seven days on purpose or not, but we came at the right time. We must destroy the lair right now, or there'll be too many parasites." Evan nodded.
Halvor understood that too, since he was the first to see the parasites, and the more time passed the more they began to appear.
He picked up a rock from the ground, brushed snow off it, and clenched it tightly in his fist.
"Step aside, I don't want to hurt you." Halvor uttered as his Warp activated. Mana flowed throughout his body, reaching Tantum as well.
Bright flames covered the stone, quickly heating it to red hot and practically starting to melt it.
The fox, or parasite, felt the energy fluctuations coming from Halvor and turned around, only to see the flame flash already reaching its target.
BOOOOOOOOOM.
The fox's head exploded with a fiery burst, melting the snow around it. The parasite was burned to the ground, disintegrating into particles of dark ash.
"Nice shot. It's one of your spells, right?" Evan pronounced with a curious expression.
Halvor nodded, "Yeah, it's called Ignite. I can cover any object that could potentially be my weapon with fire. Creators have a similar spell, Fireball, but Ignite is potentially more powerful. A thrown rock moves a lot faster than a blob of fire, you know."
"I see... That's interesting..." Evan muttered, looking at the aftermath of Halvor's attack.
One stone, one spell was enough to destroy in an instant a parasite against which Evan would have trouble.
Then he realized once more how superior the mages were.
'Perhaps a few Knights can defeat a mage, but only under certain circumstances. The difference in their power is appalling. Some can do everything, while others can do nothing. What an unfair yet realistic world...' Evan pondered with a deep gaze.
On their way to the mountain, they encountered several more parasites. However, Halvor had no trouble dealing with them in the same way as before.
"Hm? What's going on?"
The arrow inside the crystal sphere began to spin chaotically, and then it headed straight down, deep into the earth.
"The lair is right below us?" Klaus tilted his head.
"I think so too!" Hana said actively.
Halvor scratched the back of his head, "But... it's not like we're going to dig vertically down... We need to find a passage. Considering how big this mountain is, that could take half the night!"
Evan frowned, gazing intently at the sphere.
Then, he abruptly ran off to the side, leaving the others with puzzled looks.
After a while, Evan returned, holding the very squirrel that had been the first parasite in their path.
"What are you up to?" Halvor asked, puzzled.
"I'm not sure it'll work, but... I'm going to try changing the compass task. Originally, the demon set it up so that it would show the location of the lair. However, we don't need that anymore. We need to find the entrance and obviously, this squirrel ran out of there." Evan said, cutting off the squirrel's head.
Dark drops of blood covered the crystal sphere as the arrow shone brightly. All the blood began to vaporize quickly until the arrow stopped.
Now, it was pointing east, in height being on the same level as them.
"Good job!" Klaus exclaimed happily, "Demons are risky, but they have their perks!"