As the two walked deeper and deeper into the forest, Ganta’s face grew paler, and she began walking closer to Arad, hiding in his shadow from the countless dancing shadows of the trees.

The shadows were creepy and terrifying, especially now that she knew their opponent was a shadow drakaina. She couldn’t take her eyes off her shadow, fearing that claws would come flying out of it at any second, and she wasn’t wrong.

There was nothing more horrifying than a shadow dragon in the middle of a forest filled with shadows. Those monsters can teleport from one shadow to another, control people by controlling their shadows, blinding anyone that dares get close, and their preferred method of dodging is self-bisection.

Shadow dragons aren’t born like normal dragons. They are born when a dragon dies, and their shadow from the shadow realm escapes back to the real world. It is more accurate to call them the shadow of a dragon rather than a shadow dragon.

That meant the only place that might be safe was Arad’s shadow if he was skilled enough to control his own shadow, which she highly doubted. Arad wouldn’t have needed the shadow drakaina’s power if he could control shadows better than her.

“Arad, out of everyone you know, how strong are you?” Ganta asked, her voice showing a hint of fear.

Arad started thinking, who was stronger than him? Kayden, Kali, the Overgod, Amaterasu, Kossuth, Zaleria, Gracie, Death, Asmodeus, Maharaja, Yog, Nyar, Gojo and more. “I’m not even in the top ten. I even get beaten by a demon little girl, kick my ass across the room with ease.”

Ganta paled, “A demon little girl? Shit, demons are strong, but shouldn’t be so strong to… Ah, we’re fucked. We better turn back and come up with a better plan.”

Arad failed to mention that the little demon girl is a demon goddess of destruction, but that’s an unimportant detail.

Ganta grabbed him by the shoulder, which looked funny considering he was a whole meter taller than her, three feet above her head.

“Halt, you do not know what we’re going to face. She’ll rip us apart from our legs up. We’ll die a horrible, slow death.” Her face contorted, her glowing eyes twitched, the sun rays bathed her down as her bronze skin glistened under the light, beads of sweat forming at the base of her massive horns, dripping down her cheek and past her long, blond hair.

Arad smiled, reaching down and patted her on the shoulder, sensing a faint tremble in her back. Unlike him, she was a hunter who risked her life hunting young dragons. She had probably never seen an ancient dragon, let alone faced one in combat.

Ganta would’ve been scared if they were going to face a normal adult dragon. She would’ve suggested they go back and plan first, make sure nothing goes wrong. But going in blind, looking for a shadow drakaina, a mad one at that, and one that is probably a mature adult or an ancient?

“Are you scared?”

She smiled, “Of course I am. Aella probably thinks I can kill dragons with ease, so that’s why she sent me to this with you. But she is wrong. I can’t kill such a powerful drakaina, even if I absorbed her power.” She looked at Arad with a worried face. “We’ll both die, let’s get back. I know Aella is already angry at me for making a move at you, and I know she’ll be even more pissed if I end up getting us killed like this.”

“Won’t that be her fault? For sending us without correctly assessing your power?” Arad tilted his head, and Ganta growled.

“That’s will be worse. She’ll live the rest of her life cursing herself for sending you, her husband, to die with a woman whom she sees as a rival.” She approached Arad, “Both aren’t acceptable, the second worse than the first. We’ll go back.”

“We’re going down. Find what happened to the earth dragons, and hopefully catch that shadow drakaina, and everything will be fine.” Arad smiled, and Ganta held her face in both hands.

“Listen to me, will you? Let’s go back. I’ll talk with Aella. You don’t have to risk your life here, neither do I. It is stupid to challenge such a dragon without knowing exactly what we are doing.” She looked at him and sighed. “Let’s not do this, okay?”

“Aren’t you misunderstanding something? I can handle myself well against even the most powerful dragons. You should know that I blew Vlad’s vampire kingdom to ash.” He smiled, “All you need to do is relax and follow me. It won’t take us long. Hopefully, we’ll get it done before morning.”

“You’re serious? Goddamn it…” She growled, looking back at the forest and then at him. “Then we’ll die here, eaten by the shadows from behind our backs.” She then put on a fake smile. “I don’t think you’re a suicidal freak, so, got a plan?”

“From what I was told by my butler Sebas, you should be able to sniff dragons from afar. It is your race’s ability, like how humans can smell food from afar. It only doesn’t work when the dragon is shapeshifted into a human and not actively using their magic.” He smiled, “Our drakaina is mad, constantly leaking shadow magic and her presence. She might hide in the shadows, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sniff her out. I’m counting on you for that.”

Ganta sighed, “So I’m your hunting hound?” She approached him, “I expected a better plan, one that includes how are we going to make sure she doesn’t sniff us as well.”

“You’re right. It would be bad if she sensed us before we could catch her. Last time, she ran away from me.” Arad smiled, “But don’t worry, I won’t make the same mistake.” He suddenly grew smaller and smaller until he was no taller than Ganta’s hand.

Arad flew and landed on her shoulder, “Simple, I get smaller, mask my scent and magic, and hide in your aura. That drakaina would only sense you. She’ll think you’re a great meal and come closer. Then I’ll attack and catch her alive.”

Ganta sighed, “We’re so dead it isn’t even funny.”